Page 48 of Montana Silence

Setting our suitcases at the end of the bed, Liam took my hand. “Again, just because you’re in here with me, I don’t want you to feel pressure.”

It wasn’t pressure I felt. It was nerves. Being together? I wanted it, but I…

He sat on the edge of the bed, and I went with him. Saying this out loud—truly out loud—wasn’t possible. But there was no way for me to tell him this without words.

As I stood between his knees, he watched me carefully. “That’s a look I haven’t seen before.”

I leaned in to his ear so I could whisper. “I’ve…never….”

Liam gripped my arms and pulled me back to look at him. He searched my face, but his expression was even. No signs of horror or disgust, just gentle curiosity. “It makes me sad to think you’ve never had anyone close enough to you,” he said. “But given what I know about The Family, it makes sense. Which is why we don’t have to rush this.”

Resolve hardened in me. The Family had controlled my life long enough, and the fear of the unknown held me back from too many things. This was not one of them. Yes, nerves skittered along my spine, but if there was anyone I wanted to try and learn and fail with, it was Liam.

So I leaned forward again. “Show me,” I whispered. “Teach me.”

The way he held me said so much more than words. “Are you sure?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“If you change your mind, tell me, sweetheart. Nothing bad will happen. I won’t be angry or disappointed. Okay?”

That was the reason I wanted him. So many other reasons, too, but he would listen to me and love me in a way that was safe. “Okay.”

Liam smiled with me. “We’re going slow. The rest can come later.”

Reaching up, he pulled the T-shirt he was wearing over his head. During the summer, the men on the ranch sometimes lost their shirts. It wasn’t an uncommon sight. But this up close and personal felt different. Liam lifted my wrists and put them on his shoulders. “You can touch me wherever and however you like, Mara.”

By letting me touch him first, he gave me power. So much would be new, but he offered his own vulnerability first.

Over his ribs, I saw the bruises from this morning. Darker marks on his dark skin, and I touched them gently. Liam placed his hand over mine. “Just bruises. Not serious.”

It could have been so much worse. For the moment, I put it aside. Now was not the time for it. But… “If I hurt you—”

Liam smiled so wide it felt like the sun had come back out. “Unless you’re going to punch me directly in the ribs, you’re not going to hurt me.”

My face flushed. He tucked one hand behind my neck, pulling me in to kiss me. My hands moved of their own accord, gently sliding back up to his shoulders. Theheatof his skin was so much more without clothing separating us. Last night when we’d been together in the same bed, it was all warmth. This put it to shame.

I pulled back and looked at my hands on his shoulders. Why was it so different without fabric between us? It shouldn’t make that much of a difference, but it did. I moved my hands, tracing along the line of his collarbone and down the slope of his shoulders before coming back lower.

His body seemed bigger like this, where he sat so we were the same height. But touching him wasn’t scary. New. Different. Not frightening.

Liam lifted my hand and kissed my palm, like he was testing my reaction to his mouth on my skin. I had imagined this. In the dark moments when I was feeling brave, while I was alone in my own bedroom. I tried to give myself the pleasure others talked about, with limited success.

There was also the time I’d found enough determination to look up some things on the internet. The determination didn’t last long.

Hands slid along my hips, Liam’s fingers teasing beneath the hem of my shirt. “Can I take this off?”

Biting my lip, I nodded.

He helped me pull it over my head and grinned as he tossed it aside. Liam’s eyes roved over my skin, and there was no more doubt in my mind he wanted me. The heat of his skin was nothing compared to the heat in his gaze. And that single glance made me feel more than anything I’d ever tried to explore alone.

Liam pushed back for a second and kicked off his shoes. “Trust me, it’s better when you don’t have to stop for the shoes.”

A laugh burst out of me, breaking the sexy tension strung between us. A good reminder that this didn’t need to be fraught with emotion and the overbearing awareness that it was my first time. We could simply be ourselves. And as serious as Liam was, he was still the jokester too.

I followed his example and kicked off my shoes and socks, turning to place them by my suitcase. Arms came around me, and Liam held me to him, skin on skin. He kissed the tattoo at the top of my spine. “That you trust me enough to be your first is an honor, Mara. No matter if we have to stop or slow down. It’s everything. I’m never going to forget it.”

While I wasn’t facing him, I felt braver, and I reached up to pull the straps of my bra off my shoulders. He softly kissed the skin where they had been, and I lost all of my breath. Finally, Itrulyunderstood what people meant when they said they had butterflies in their stomach.

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