Part of her wanted him to unleash it, but she knew it would come later. When she was whole and ready, he would give her all of him. The unyielding weight of her orgasm crashed over her and she cried out against his mouth. Liam soon followed, his cries mingling with her own, the heat of his cum exploding within her, even encapsulated in the condom he wore.
Olivia fell onto his chest, exhausted by their efforts as well as the extreme day. Liam kissed her forehead and eased out of the tub as she closed her eyes and continued to enjoy the balmy waters.
She felt herself lifted from the tub sometime after.
“Falling asleep in the tub? You must be completely worn out.” Liam chuckled as he dried her off. She was too tired to reply, allowing him to care for her. It felt odd to have someone take over such menial tasks, but the intimacy of the action wasn’t lost on her, either.
Soon after, Liam carried her into his room and laid her down in his bed. As she quickly drifted back to sleep, she felt the bed dip and Liam crawl in behind her, tugging her into his embrace.
Chapter 17
Liam watched Olivia fade back into slumber. He wasn’t sure she’d been conscious when he’d hauled her from the tub; the fact she’d yielded to him caring for her was proof she wasn’t completely coherent. Yielding wasn’t something Olivia did. As quiet and unobtrusive as she thought she was, when cornered, she fought with hackles raised. She was a fiery woman hidden underneath layers of self-doubt and fear. He was lucky enough to have seen through them. Olivia was fighting to break through, he knew it, but it was slow going as her true self came to the forefront.
If he could break through those layers, he was confident there was a woman within who would blossom into something spectacular. He wanted to be the man to see the woman she hid within. Others hadn’t seen it in her, or if they had, they’d not been man enough to stand up and make her see herself for what she was. Perhaps her barbed tongue had pushed any others away as well. Lucky for him, he didn’t scare easily.
And he knew she was his.
Tonight, he’d claimed her in the most sensual way, letting her know what he wanted. He’d felt how tight she’d been and knew from her surprised reactions she’d gone over an edge she’d never faced. Liam was glad to have given her that, yet he sensed there was much more where that had come from, enough to quench his need for her and more. She was a passionate woman when she let her guard down. That was the problem, making her drop her walls.
He had a battle on his hands.
He was ready.
* * * *
Olivia awoke, pleasurably sore, and alone in bed. It was dark outside, a driving rain creating a symphony of pitter-patter as it hit against the windows. Confused, she sat up in a bed that wasn’t her own. Conflicting emotions filled her as she remembered the night before. Awkwardness merged with satiation and she drifted on the line between. Her night with Liam was too incredible to feel guilty about, but she’d never truly experienced a morning after. As dark as the windows were, she wasn’t sure it was quite morning, but it would suffice.
The scent of coffee brewing hit her nose and she knew then he was up and about. Olivia rose; her body ached from PT and their adventure, but she wouldn’t change it for the world. She spied one of his button-down shirts cast over the arm of a chair and she grasped it as she stood, covering her nudity as she slowly sauntered out into the living area.
Liam was fixing a cup and looking over the newspaper when she emerged, his gaze transfixed on whatever he was reading as he stirred the coffee with a spoon. He was nude from the waist up, his brown locks disheveled from sleep and their activity. Olivia slowed her speed, taking a moment to stare at him when he was oblivious to her. His body was so well formed, muscles from regular exercise refined to a toned delight. She knew he regularly went to the club to swim laps; she’d spied him on a couple of occasions getting out of the pool and showing off his incredible physique.
He looked quite the same, but this time was different. A part of him was hers now, their night bonding them in a way. She wasn’t stupid enough to think he was hers after one night but they’d shared an intimacy and she saw him in a different light.
He was now her lover.
The thought brought a smile to her face. Liam was kind, intelligent, handsome, and her heart was completely lost to him.
His eyes lifted and his gaze caught hers, his smile mirroring her own. “Good morning, baby. Did you sleep well?”
“Is it even morning? And I believe I did sleep well.” Olivia continued walking into the kitchen, rising to sit on one of the tall island stools beside him.
“It’s dark and gloomy outside, but it is morning. Can I get you some coffee?”
“Yes, please.”
He filled a cup and placed it before her, along with the cream and sugar. She fixed her drink as she liked it, feeling the weight of his stare on her. The awkwardness was inching back in. She wasn’t sure how lovers treated one another after a night of passion. Lifting the cup to her lips, she thought about what she should say, the time she spent sipping giving her extra time.
“I called your family last night and told them you were safe.”
She jerked in surprise. She hadn’t even thought to call them herself. She’d been exhausted last night and had been dead to the world. “Thank you.”
“You were fast asleep and I knew Maria would worry about you. I tried to be as tactful as possible with her questions.”
Her mother was going to have a field day when she finally went home. “Did she play twenty questions?”
“I was able to shut her down at three.”
Olivia slurped more coffee. “You’re a champ. I can never get away without at least fifteen.”
Both settled into silence. She sensed he wanted to speak, but remained quiet. She had no idea what to say, so there was no point in trying to fill the void.
“I’m off today, but I’m on call. Do you have plans?”
She had some writing to do and her first batch of edits was supposed to arrive that day. “I have some work that I need to do.”
“It’s not dark and gloomy inside here. Not with you here with me. Blow it off.”
His smoky tone rippled across her, lust spiking within. She wanted him more than she’d wanted anything else in the world but she couldn’t stay. “I have work.”
“Can’t you put it off until tomorrow? It’s
just
writing, right?”
His comment made her freeze, her coffee cup halfway to her lips. “
Just
writing?”
Liam immediately seemed to realize his mistake based on the look on his face. His eyes grew large and his lips began to move, although no sound came out. He eventually found his voice after a few seconds. “You know I didn’t mean it that way, Olivia. I just meant you could write tomorrow.”
Olivia was tired of being marginalized. Her new job would hopefully give her freedom. Eventually, her writing could pay the bills if she treated it with the respect due a staid position. No one seemed to take her seriously. That was over. It was time for her to prove she could stand on her own two feet.
“My writing is just as important to me as medicine is to you.”
He nodded, his gaze capturing hers. “Yes, I know that. I didn’t mean to make it sound like anything less.”
She slipped from the bar stool and lowered her cup to the counter. “It’s time for me to go.”
Liam sighed loudly. “I don’t want you to go. Stay the day with me. I’m sorry for what I said.”
“I’m not leaving for that. I have work to do. I can’t lie around here when I have to forge my way into this new life you’ve given me.”
“Have dinner with me later, then.”
Olivia’s mind went to Bastian’s invite. She’d accepted. Would it be bad form to cancel now? They were two friends having dinner, nothing more. She saw no reason to back out.
“I have plans.”
“Plans? What plans?” His eyebrow rose as he asked.
“A friend … asked me to dinner.”
“What friend?” He rose off the stool and began to follow her into his bedroom.
“Why the twenty questions?”
“Why are you evading answering me?”
“I’m having dinner with Bastian. As friends.”
Liam leaned his head back and looked to the ceiling, his jaw tightening for a moment. “Bastian York has slept with half the women in Charlottesville. No one is just friends with him. I shouldn’t have asked that asshole to work with you. I put you in harm’s way. You can’t go to dinner with Bastian.”
“He’s nice. And I told him I wasn’t interested in more than friendship. Everyone has been pushing me to make more friends and now when I do that, you tell me I can’t? You don’t own me, Liam.”
“You said for yourself you don’t want to be hurt. Bastian will take advantage of you and leave you in pieces.”
“He’s a friend. That’s all. It’s dinner. Nothing more.”
“No one only has dinner with him. He wants you.”
“You don’t trust me.”
“I trust you. I don’t trust
him
.”
“Then you should trust me to do the right thing. I’m going to dinner with him tonight. As a friend. That’s all.”
“Don’t.”
“Or what?” She began dressing as she watched emotions rush across his face. Anger washed through her as she stuffed her legs into her pants.
Liam watched her from the doorway. “I can’t seem to do anything right by you, can I?”
She drew her shirt over her head then slowly turned to look at Liam. “I’ll call a cab.”
“No, I’ll drive you to your car.”
She nodded to him, not willing to argue further. She had a lot on her mind, specifically, what her future really held for her. He threw on some clothes quickly as she considered if she was once again throwing their chances to the wind. She wouldn’t be controlled and told what she could and couldn’t do. First it was her career and now it was her friends.
The car ride was silent, the heavy weight of their mutual discomfort suffocating her. There was so much to say. There was nothing to say. As they pulled up to her car in the near-empty lot, snowflakes began to drift down around the car. The dense gray sky above reflected her mood.
“I don’t want things to end like this.” Liam’s words shattered the silence. He looked straight ahead into the dark morning, his gaze never moving to hers.
End? He was ready to let things go because of one dinner with someone he didn’t approve of? “Has anything really begun?”
His head whipped to gaze at her. “Yes. It has. Don’t deny there is something here between us. You may be fighting what it could be, but don’t negate its existence.”
Olivia looked down to her hands. “It shouldn’t be this hard.”
“You’ve made it that way. You take everything I do or say as a nail in the coffin. I can’t keep walking on eggshells forever.”
“Eggshells? You want to control me. I want to be trusted to live my life, a life you seemed so eager to give to me. I don’t think that’s asking too much.”
“He’s not going to be satisfied until he has you.”
“Stop.” She turned and looked at the fat flakes falling outside, knowing they were as cold as she felt inside. “I’m sorry. This is all just wrong.”
When he said nothing, she opened the car door and escaped the emotional well inside. She walked to her car and got in, turning over the engine and pumping up the heat. She shivered in the cold, rubbing her arms to warm them up. A knock on the window made her jump. She rolled down the window once she saw it was Liam.
“‘I’m sorry’ is bullshit.”
“What?”
After a huff, he reached into the open window and kissed her hard. He pulled back and gazed at her a few seconds before speaking. “Figure out what you want in life and then when you miss me in it, give me a call.”
Olivia bit her bottom lip as she watched him march back to his car and slip inside. As he drove off, she shivered, not so much from the cold as his words.
She already missed him.
* * * *
“So are we going to talk about you and Liam all night? I thought this was my chance to show you I was a good choice.”
Olivia flushed, not realizing she’d monopolized the conversation in regards to her and Liam’s failed attempt at a relationship. “I’m sorry, Bastian. I hadn’t realized what I was doing.”
Bastian smiled at her from across the table. “It’s okay. I can see you care a lot for the guy. I pretty much thought it when I saw you two together, but now I have confirmation. And you were very clear you were only interested in being my friend. I had hoped to change your mind, but I can see you’re crazy for Liam.”
“Crazy for Liam? I think that’s a pushing it a bit.”
Bastian’s eyebrow rose. “I don’t. You’ve got it bad. And it sounds to me that you’re scared and running away from him.”
Olivia flushed again. “Just how do you figure that?”
“You’ve spent all night listing the reasons why you shouldn’t date the controlling, pigheaded male.”
She cringed, realizing how right he was. She hadn’t even comprehended what she was doing. Bastian probably felt as though he’d been in hell. “I’ve been horrible, haven’t I? I’m sorry.”
“You haven’t been horrible. Love makes us nuts.” Bastian sighed and took a gulp of his wine, his expression shifting, his gaze becoming distant. “Believe me, I know.”
“I’d say there’s a story behind that look. I’ve monopolized the conversation, so it’s your turn. ’Fess up.”
“There’s nothing really to say.”
“Oh, come on. We’re friends, remember?”
Bastian smiled at her, placing his empty wineglass back on the table. As he grasped the wine bottle to refill it, his gaze drifted again. “I was left at the altar.”
“Oh, Bastian, I’m so sorry. How long ago?”
“About three months.”
“Who in their right mind would leave a catch like you at the altar?”
“I’ve been asking myself that same question for months now. I’m such a catch.” Bastian winked at her and chuckled before growing serious again. “We were happy. Or so I thought. I’d been a player most of my adult life and I found the one. I was ready to settle down and be a one-woman kind of man.”
“Now I feel even more horrible. I’ve been going on and on about some other man after all this has happened to you.”