Page 35 of Southie
“Whoever killed my Nana might have still been in the house. I wouldn’t have been there to protect you like I wasn’t there to protect her.”
“Liam.” My voice came out breathless.
He moved forward until his mouth was inches away from my lips, his eyes staring into mine. “Whoever did this could’ve hurt you.”
The tremor in his voice, the heaviness, and the fear made me want to take all his pain away any way I could.
“I’m fine, Liam. I just needed to make sure she was all right.”
My fingers moved through the scruff on his face, and I enjoyed the softness of his beard. He rested his forehead against mine, and a wisp of air left his mouth. I wrapped my arms around his neck and, for the first time, in a long time, wanting to be with someone unconditionally engulfed me.
I’d only been with one other man, and he hadn’t evoked the feelings Liam had. Even though I’d been with Frankie for a long time, I’d never experienced this before; the unyielding want and desire to be with someone in any way possible. Sexually. Emotionally. Physically. I wanted that kind of connection with Liam.
His eyes closed, and I kissed him before he decided that being this close to me was a mistake. I desired him. I craved to feel him inside me. His soft lips moved slowly against mine. Our kiss was soft, unhurried, and almost hesitant at first.
I understood and was sure Liam did as well through our actions—neither one of us was certain if this was the best thing. He had baggage from what I’d gathered from our brief conversation, and Lord knows my life was a mess. Yet, to me, being in his arms, tasting his sweet lips…it felt destined.
The swipe of his rough tongue across my lips forced them to open slightly, which he took full advantage of. The caress of his tongue with mine as he explored my mouth had me in a lust-filled daze. So much was being said that we didn’t voice, with this one kiss. Trust. Need. Want. All the things I wanted to give him in return.
We were both vulnerable and it should have mattered to me, but I didn’t have it in me to pull myself away. Even if I should have given him space to grieve instead of giving in to the longing I’d had for him, I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. At this moment, none of that was as important as being Liam’s arms. The foreign feelings he had racing through my system were what mattered to me. That was all the push I’d needed to explore whatever this was.
Mrs. Daugherty’s death hit both of us hard, him more than me, but we wanted each other more than anything. We longed for intimacy, craved closeness, desired each other. We needed to cling to each other in our grief. Regardless of the baggage that came along with him, or the baggage that came along with me, we yearned to be in each other's arms. If it only lasted one day, we’d get lost in each other and deal with the consequences tomorrow.
I coveted Liam Daugherty and whatever he had or wanted to give me. No worries about the death of Mrs. Daugherty, Frankie, or what was going on between my father and Paddy O’Connor crossed my mind. It was just me and Liam enjoying one another while exploring each other and the sexual chemistry between us.
His scarred hands gripped the sides of my face. He deepened the kiss, and the deep, throaty moan that slipped from my mouth when his tongue caressed the inside of mine sounded foreign.
When he lifted me, my legs automatically wrapped around his lean waist. He grunted, squeezing my ass with his rough hands, and I pushed my throbbing, drenched pussy against his erection. With my hands twisted in the hair at the nape of his neck, he guided us up the stairs toward what I assumed was his bedroom.
As soon as we crossed the threshold, the door slammed, and he pinned me against it. His lips trailed kisses down the column of my neck while he pushed his erection against my center.
“Camilla, if you don’t want this, you need to stop me now, baby, before we go any further,” he whispered against the crook of my neck, followed by a gentle caress of his tongue against my ear. “Because, once we start, I won’t want to stop.”
He placed me on my feet, voice thick with lust. Darkened eyes the color of the greenest fields drifted slowly over my body before he made eye contact with me again. I didn’t have on anything special, just a pair of blue jeans and a knit cardigan, but the way he looked at me, it was like I had the body of the most desirable woman on the face of the Earth.
He licked his lips, pulling the bottom one in between his perfect white teeth. There was no way in hell I didn’t want this. I hadn’t been with anyone in a while, and I’d be crazy not to want to sleep with him. I’d dreamt of his calloused palms all over my body. His kisses and caresses. Now, he’d make all my fantasies a reality. He was beyond gorgeous and genuinely seemed to care about my feelings. I desired him and only him.
I lifted my sweater over my head and let it drop to the floor. Then, I unclasped my bra and dropped it on top of my sweater. Both breasts gathered in my hands, I gazed at Liam’s hooded eyes and sauntered forward, putting a little more sway in my hips before I stopped in front of him.
Those butterflies in the pit of my stomach began fluttering like crazy looking between his mesmerizing emerald eyes with gold flecks and his thick, pink lips.
He traced my lips with his index finger. My tongue darted out, and I licked his finger with the tip. He groaned and gripped my hip, pulling me closer to him.
“I want this, Liam. I want you.”
To further prove my desire for him, I lifted his green Henley T-shirt above his head and tossed it on the floor, giving me a show of what I’d craved since we first met. My manicured nails moved across the hard, hairless planes of his chest, tracing the outline of the intricate black and white tattoos that covered its entirety, down his abs to the waistband of his sweatpants that hung low on his hips. Liam’s body was a work of art I wanted to explore.
“Beautiful,” I mumbled.
His muscles quivered against my touch.
I flattened my tongue against his nipple, licking then swirling around it before brushing the tip across it. He hissed, gripping a handful of my hair and pulling my head back. For a brief second, he stared in my eyes. I wasn’t sure what he was thinking or what he was searching for, but a smile stretched across my face. His grip tightened on my hair, and his lips crashed onto mine.
We scrambled to get out of our shoes and the rest of our clothes, pulling away from our intense kiss. He unbuttoned my blue jeans while I fumbled to push his sweats and briefs down.
Once we were disrobed, a trail of clothing leading from the door to the bed, he walked me backward until the back of my knees hit the edge of his California King. I slid onto the unmade bed and he followed me, stalking me like a predator who’d found its prey.
When it was impossible to move back any further, his bulky frame settled over me, pushing my legs apart with his knee. My eyes followed the motion of his tongue as he licked his plump, pink lips, and I sucked in a deep breath when his large hand wrapped around my neck. He leaned forward, his mouth lingering by my ear and causing his minty breath to tickle my skin.
