Page 141 of Best Kind of Trouble
“You met my aunt?” Tears form in my eyes. “She didn’t mention anything earlier.”
“I think she knew it was supposed to be a surprise. She told me I have a cute butt.”
“You do.” I hug him closer. “But I wish you hadn’t done something so dangerous for me.”
He pulls back slightly, looking me in the eye. “I’d do more for you. I had to dosomething.”
I can hear the meaning behind his words. He’d needed to make a move against my father after what my dad had done to me—what he was still doing to me. And Liam had made a calculated risk instead of acting off the cuff.
This was a statement.No, we will not be playing by his rules.
“What are we going to do with it?” I ask.
“Whatever you want. Burn it. Make a crown out of it.” His mouth lifts higher on one side. “I kind of like that idea. We could crown you at midnight tomorrow.”
The world is full of possibilities suddenly. It’s Liam. When we’re together, I feel like we can lift this brewery up out of its troubles and shake them off as easily as if they were cobwebs.
My gaze lowers to the plaque that has hung over my head for as long as I can remember. Those awful, cruel words, telling me that I wasn’t enough.
“I want to chop it into firewood,” I say. “I want to feel it breaking. But first…”
I release him and approach the barrel. Holdinghis gaze, I step out of my shoes, then slowly strip off my stockings and panties and climb onto the plaque-topped barrel.
“I want you to fuck me while I’m sitting on top of it.”
“You have a thing for criminals?” he asks as he stalks closer, one corner of his mouth lifting higher than the other in a positively wicked smile. He captures each of my thighs with his hands.
“I have a thing foryou. I want you, Liam. I want the man who cares enough to take a very stupid risk to make me feel better.” I grip the collar of his shirt and pull him in for a kiss. “And you better never,everdo something that stupid again.”
“Yes, boss.”
He grins at me as he spreads my thighs wide, his fingers pressing into my flesh in a way that adds to my excitement. One of his hands drifts up, caressing, and settles at my center, rubbing rough circles that send pleasure coursing through me.
I’m so ready for him, so needy. It’s only been a few days since he was last inside me, but it feels like a year.
“Now, Liam. Now,” I whisper. “I need you inside me.”
He reaches down, and the sight of him unbuckling his belt with his big, callused hands is nearly enough to make me come in anticipation.
When he steps toward me, I scoot to the very edge of the plaque and wrap my legs around him.
He takes my mouth in a kiss as he thrusts into me, the back of the plaque banging sharply against the wall. An almost feral sense of pleasure floods me as I cling to him, pushing up to meet his thrusts. He keeps kissing me as he moves inside me, and I suck on his lips and tongue. I want all of him, everywhere. I want to paint my name on his body with my lips.
We’re both wild with need, and it doesn’t take us long to finish. Me first, taking him over the edge. He finishesinside me, his face buried in my hair, but keeps his arms wrapped around me like he doesn’t want to let me go.
“I don’t want to lose you,” he whispers into my hair. “I can’t lose you again.”
When he finally lifts me up off the plaque and sets me on my feet, I kiss him before looking back at it.
It’s cracked right down the middle, and I feel an effervescent sense of joy.
We’re breaking all the rules.
In fact…
“I don’t want to hide this,” I say as he zips up his pants. “I don’t want us to be together in secret. If we’re going to try this, I want it to be out in the open. Even if people talk.”
He lifts my hand and kisses it, his gaze holding mine. “People are going to talk anyway. It’s impossible to keep them from talking. Believe me when I say I’ve tried.”
