Page 77 of Ward Willing
“It reminded me of you.”
I almost ask if he remembers that I was wearing a violet behind my ear the night in Catalina, but I think better of it.
The rest of the walk is quiet, and when we get into the car, Liam’s finger pauses over thestartkey, and I look up to find his eyes on me.
“I’m proud of you, little rebel,” he says quietly, his voice a dark purr. “Really fucking proud of you.”
If I were a peacock, I’d be preening at his words. Instead, I smile and blush, looking out of the window as he pulls out of the parking lot.
It also doesn’t go unnoticed that praise seems to come easily to him, and the entire drive back, I think of the kinds of things he would say to me in bed.
Because I’m no longer in control when I’m around you.
The problem is, you’re everything I want, and everything I can’t have.
He needs someone to push him. He’s so stubborn that he won’t act of his own accord unless he’s inebriated, and it’s not like I can force alcohol down his throat, knowing he refuses to drink around me.
But what else can I do to get his attention?
To show him, in his own way, that I want him?
Because as his large hand shifts us into third gear, and as my eyes peruse his corded arm, I can’t help but be entirely worked up over the idea of him losing control again.
I have to see it, his face, his eyes…
Ineedhim.
An idea begins to form in my mind. It’s absolutely crazy, and like nothing I’ve ever done before, but without the weight of the LSATs and law school weighing on me, I feel… free.
For the first time in a long time.
And that freedom has given way to something dark and dangerous when it comes to Liam.
What I’m doing isn’t working.
I have to make abiggerstatement. I have to show him that I won’t stop trying to pursue this thing between us. I can’t. Not anymore. It went from a crush to something so massive that it scares the hell out of me, but his words from earlier ricochet inside of me.
Life is short.
I want him, and I know he wants me.
Plus, there’s something about him that makes me want to keep pushing—keep beating against this barrier he’s erected between us. We know each other well, and I’ve never done anything this big to provoke any of my past Doms. I don’t have to pretend to be polite because heknowsme better than anyone.
In a way, being around him is freeing.
He’ll never make the first move, never find his way to me through the fog of the guilt and shame he carries inside of him.
So maybe I’m going to have to show him the way.
Maybe I’m going to have to do something so crazy, and it might backfire completely.
But… I have to try.
CHAPTERTWELVE
THE PROVOCATEUR
Liam
