Page 248 of The Lies We Play

I smile against her skin and pull the underwear the rest of the way down. She steps out of it, first one foot, then the other, and I let the fabric fall.

Then I see the tattoos.

I press my mouth to it first, and Liv goes very still.

I kiss the hawk slowly.

Not teasing now.

Thanking.

Her fingers loosen on Halston’s arm, and her hand comes down to my hair again, gentler this time. That gentleness fucks me up more than the grip ever did.

I move to the key next.

Two hearts linked in the keyhole.

Halston’s breath changes behind her.

He sees where my mouth goes.

He knows what it means.

I drag my lips over the ink, then my tongue, and Liv trembles between us. Not from embarrassment. From being loved in a place she chose to mark. From having both of us here, watching, touching, understanding that the tattoos are not decoration.

They are proof she made room for us under her skin before the world made room anywhere else.

I press one more kiss to the key.

Halston’s mouth leaves her temple, and he looks down at her with that dangerous restraint of his. “Use words, Liv.”

Her eyes open.

For half a second, irritation saves her.

“Both of you are insufferable.”

“Yes,” Halston says.

I kiss the underside of her breast, then close my mouth over her nipple, slow and firm enough to make her argument break apart.

“And?” I ask against her skin.

Her lashes flutter.

Her body leans back into Halston’s, then forward into my mouth, caught between us exactly where she belongs.

“And don’t stop,” she says.

Halston’s hand glides from her jaw to her throat, not gripping, just resting there, thumb beneath her chin as he tips her face back to his. He kisses her while I suck her slowly, her body trembles between us, and her hands grabbing at both of us as if she can’t decide who to hold onto first.

I reach for him.

My hand finds his hip.

He looks at me.

I pull him closer.