Page 102 of Liam
Aleria nods slowly, her eyes never leaving mine. “I do.”
The air between us is heavy with all we’ve been through. I take a shaky breath, steeling myself. “I understand if it’s too much. If you need time, or space, or?—”
She cuts me off, pressing a finger gently to my lips.
“Liam Valeur,” she says, “I’ve spent the last forty-some hours imagining a world without you in it. Trust me when I say that’s not a world I ever want to live in.”
Her words wash over me, a balm to wounds deeper than any physical injury. I tug her closer, ignoring the protest of my ribs, and press my forehead to hers. We breathe together, finding our rhythm again.
“You know,” Aleria whispers, a hint of her usual humor creeping into her voice, “for a genius, you can be incredibly dense sometimes.”
A chuckle escapes me, turning into a wince. “Hey, go easy on the injured man.”
She pulls back, her eyes shining. “I’m not going anywhere, Liam. Not now, not ever. You’re stuck with me, broken ribs and all.”
“I love you, Aleria. I think I’ve been in love with you since college. I was just too blind to see it back then, too scared. I’m sorry it took me this long to figure it out.”
Her eyes soften, a warmth spreading across her face. “I love you too, Liam,” she says, her voice steady, but the intensity behind it makes my heart lurch. “I love you with everyneuron firing in my brain, every quark in my being. I love you in ways that defy logic and reason.”
A small, self-deprecating laugh escapes her. “I love you in the most embarrassingly cliché ways, too. The kind that would make any respectable scientist cringe.” Her free hand comes up to cup my cheek, her touch feather-light against my bruised skin.
“I love you, Aleria, wholly and completely. In the only way worth loving—with everything I am.”
Chapter Thirty
LIAM
“What are you doing?” Aleria asks, her voice husky, her eyes half-closed from sleep. She’s lying in my bed, her hair tousled against the pillow. Since I got out of the hospital a month ago, she’s been here, sleeping beside me. My woman. And I never want her to leave.
The thought catches me off guard. Mine. She’s mine, and I want her here with me, always.
“Why do you have a glass of ice?” Her eyes narrow.
I pull out a single ice cube, raising an eyebrow. “You’ll see soon enough.” The cube rests between my teeth as I climb over her, tossing the blanket aside.
Her eyes widen. “Liam?”
I don’t answer. I can’t, not with the ice in my mouth, but I also don’t need to. Instead, I lower myself overher, the cool air brushing her bare skin. My breath catches at the sight of her, every inch of her calling to me. Where to start?
I drop my head, pressing the ice cube against her nipple. She gasps, her body arching off the bed. “Liam!”
I don’t say a word, just move the ice around her now taut nipple, savoring the way it hardens beneath my gaze, the trail of water glistening in its wake.
I press the ice cube between my teeth, grinning down at her as I slide it lower, letting it melt as I guide it over her stomach. The cold leaves a wet trail down her skin, her body quivering beneath me. Her eyes are wide, her chest rising and falling in shallow breaths, anticipation thick between us.
“Cold,” she murmurs, her hands fisting the sheets, but her hips still rise to meet me, seeking the heat I haven’t given her yet.
I hold the cube with my fingers.
“Wait for it,” I rasp, pushing her legs apart with my knee and placing the cube between her thighs. The second it touches her there, her body jolts.
“Liam!” Her voice is sharp, her fingers tangling in my hair as if she can stop me. But she doesn’t really want to stop me. She shudders, torn between the cold and the heat that’s building inside her.
I replace the ice with my mouth, my warm breath rushing over her wet skin, chasing the icy trail with my tongue, and her moans melt into the air. I tease her, alternating between the sharp sting of cold and the soothing warmth of my lips, watching as her body tightens under the sensations. She’s burning up now, even though her skin is slick and cool from the melted ice.
Her legs tremble, and I don’t stop. I let the last remnants of the ice cube slip between my fingers, pressing it against her clit. She gasps, but I’m there, following the cold with the heat of my mouth, my tongue circling her sensitive nub. Her breath hitches, her body writhing beneath me, caught between two extremes: the ice fading and the fire I’m stoking rising higher.
She’s right on the edge, her body tensing, her thighs clamping around my head as I slip the ice inside her, pushing it deep before replacing it with my fingers. Her moan is a desperate sound, her hips lifting to meet my hand as I work her with everything I have, my fingers thrusting, curling inside her as my mouth focuses on her clit, sucking, licking, teasing until she’s trembling.
