Page 24 of The Wing
He stumbles into me from the force of me pulling him, and his hands rest on my chest. Blue eyes meet mine, and he licks his lips. Liam shakes his head and yanks his hands off me and steps back. His ankle rolls, and he throws his arms out to gain his balance. I lurch forward and grab his jacket in my fist and yank him towards me with all my strength. There’s no way I’m letting him fall and hit his head.
He topples into me, and I sway back and wrap my arms around his waist. I clutch him and wait for my heart rate to calmdown after his near fall. I suck in a noisy breath and blow it out, ruffling Liam’s hair in the process.
“Okay?”
Liam blinks owlishly at me and shakes his head. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
“In such a rush to get away from me you risk falling?” I tease, hoping I’m not right.
“No,” he whispers. “No, I just didn’t want to invade your personal space.”
My heart pounds for a different reason now, and my hands tremble on his waist. “You can invade my personal space anytime you want.”
Liam tilts his head, and his eyes flick to my lips. I lick them. “Really?” I nod, and Liam shuffles closer until his chest presses against mine. “I hope you don’t regret saying that,” he says and wraps his arms around my neck and tugs me down.
I gasp at the feeling of his soft lips on mine. His skin is warm, and his tongue swipes across my bottom lip. My mouth drops open, and our tongues brush together. My knees go weak as if I just played eighty minutes, and I haul him tighter against me, so I can feel the length of his body on mine, and lift a hand to brush a thumb across his cheek. His cheek is hot on my thumb, and I shift to cup his jaw and tilt his head to the side to change the angle. Having Liam kiss me is like seeing the glacier for the first time. Inspiring, with a sense of wonder filling me.
The difference with Liam’s lips on mine is the need formore.More skin, more of his small moans, more or everything. When the need to breathe is urgent, I pull away panting and rest my forehead on his. My eyes flicker open and meet blue.
We catch our breath together, and I rub my thumb back and forth over his cheekbone and trail it down to brush his bottom lip. He presses a gentle kiss to my thumb, and a slow smilespreads across his face. One I return automatically and tug him into a proper hug, tucking his head to my shoulder.
I breathe his scent in, faintly floral, tinged with sweat from our hike. I could stay here forever with him tucked against me.
He pulls away to look at me, and his arms sling around my hips. “Regret saying I can invade your personal space?”
“Not even a little bit.” I peck his forehead and release him reluctantly to grab our backpacks and my drink bottle. “Come on. I have questions for you, and the sooner we get home the sooner we can decide on a bath or the hard fuck you wanted.” I turn to him and find a dazed look on his face and swoop in to taste his lips. He made the first move by kissing me. I said nothing about not pursuing him after I knew how he felt. So I don’t feel too bad for putting that expression on his face or kissing it off him. In fact, I’m rather pleased with myself. Charlie was right. This is going to be fun.
“Come on, darling. It’s your choice, but the longer we stay here, the more people we’ll have to battle to get home.” I glance at the growing groups of people despite the fact it’s winter. I guess the good weather was too enticing. No one’s looking at us, but I’d prefer not to give everyone a show.
Liam takes his backpack from me and squeezes my hand quickly. “Okay, but I’m not answering anything about the new series.” He frowns playfully at me. “You’ll have to put in more work than that to get the idea out of me.”
“A little hard work never scared me.” I nudge him in the direction of home and follow him with tingling lips, a pounding heart, andhope.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Liam
The drive home was…distracting. Hemi kept his hand on my knee as I drove, rubbing circles around and around, causing me to hit the kerb for the first time since I passed my licence. And that time Daisy screeched when she saw a group of dogs being walked with rainbow coloured leads.
My lips still tingle and buzz from his. I kissed him. And he kissed me back.Me. The reclusive writer who watches him on TV when he plays in front of thousands of people.
I can’t believe it. It doesn’t make any sense, but I grin when Hemi rubs his hands over my shoulders, squeezing gently and massaging my sore muscles while he waits for me to unlock the front door.
Walking back from the second lookout, he’d brushed my hand, fixed strands of hair tickling my eyes, and stole kisses when there were less people on the track. As if once I showed my interest, he couldn’t stop himself from the small touches.
My cheeks hurt from smiling.
I open the door, hold it for Hemi, and slip my shoes off, wrinkling my nose at the smell. My cheeks heat, but Hemi is probably used to it from the sheds with the rest of the team after practice or a game, so I ignore it and stride to the kitchen. I gulp water and pant when I finish draining the glass.
Arms wrap around my chest and waist from behind, and Hemi rests his head in the crook of my neck. He holds me tightly and presses a soft kiss to my jaw. I turn in his arms, and when Hemi smiles at me, I swipe my thumbs across his cheekbones. “I’m gonna shower, okay? Then maybe we could make dinner together?” I ask. We grabbed groceries on the way home, and Hemi mentioned wanting to cook. It’s only the afternoon, but I’m tired enough to eat early and go to bed.
“I’d like that.” Hemi kisses my forehead, and his arms drop from me.
I shiver, not realising his arms were keeping me warm, but I’m desperate to change into my normal clothes and out of sweaty sports clothes I never wear. And probably need time to think through whatever is happening between us. I’m assuming it’s just for the week while he’s here recovering. He lives in Auckland and is a famous rugby player. Well, famous in New Zealand.
And…that’s fine. If it’s just for the seven days we have left, I’ll soak up what I can.
I pad to the hallway and head for my room, but pause when Hemi says, “I’ll be here when you get back.”
