Liam

Forty minutes later, I open my front door and stay back as Aria enters the penthouse only blocks away from my office. She kicks off her shoes, passing by the rustic computer desk. My gaze narrows on her as she moves past the sitting area with television stand to the left and strides under the circular wrought-iron chandelier to the bank of windows. I shut the door, lock it, then turn back to her, finding her staring out at the L.A. skyline. “Do you like it?” I ask her.

“Like it?” She turns back to me, giving a soft laugh. “No, Liam, I don’t just like this condo. I am in love with it.”

I step out of my shoes, leaving them at the door, then begin to approach her. Energy bounces between us as it always has but seems more powerful now. Richer, even. “That’s a bit of good news, then.”

“Why is that?” she asks, a playful edge to her voice.

“Because you’re going to live here with me. Maybe not now. But eventually you will.”

She presses her back against the glass, grinning. “You’re so sure of that, are you?”

“I’m that sure, yes.” I unbutton my jacket, leaving it on the dark gray chair I pass, watching her follow me as if I am everything she needs and more. My cock hardens under the lust in her eyes. The way she’s telling me she wants me to fuck her all by a single look. When I reach her, I slide my hand across her hip, pulling her in close. “Do you have a rebuttal, Ms. Finley?”

The side of her mouth curves slightly, giving me that sexy smile that’s always owned me. “Not at this time, Mr. Maxwell.”

“Good, because I would fight like hell to win this argument.” I slide my hands across her face, dropping my lips to hers. My kiss is soft, slowly building where I want us to go. “These lips are mine.” I move my hands down her shoulders and around her back, pulling her as close as she can be, needing that all for myself. “Your skin is mine.” I thrust one hand into her hair, angling her head to deepen my kiss, loving the way she melts into me.

I place my hands on her hips turning her to face the window and reach for her shirt, pulling it up over her bra. “Fuck, sweetheart, I want you so bad.” I squeeze her breasts, relishing the moans she gives. I reach up, unhooking her bra then hastily remove her shirt and bra, returning my hands to her breasts, tweaking her nipples until they form tight peaks. I turn her sideways, licking around her nipples as she reaches for my shirt, lifting it up. I have it off over my head a second later, and she’s removing my belt. I let her undress me, while I grab hold of her nipples squeezing them tight.

She gasps and shivers, and I like the intense way I make her react. I groan, ready to fuck her against the window for all of Los Angeles to see when she pushes my pants and boxer briefs down while she lowers to her knees. She leans back on her legs and gives me a sexy smile. I slide my hand across her cheek, staring into seductive eyes when she grabs my cock and tongues the head. I breathe deep with the pleasure. “You’re a fucking temptress, do you know that?”

She grins, playfully kissing the tip. “Yes, I do know that.”

I lose sight of her eyes as she takes my dick in deep, flooding me with pleasure, sucking her cheeks in around me. I toss my head back when her lips slide down my shaft, and she draws a low groan from my throat. Her hands run up my thighs to my abs, where I grab her hand holding it there, while I drop my head to watch her suck me off like she’s been starved of my cock.

Back and forth, she bobs on the tip. I thrust my hand into her hair again, demanding her gaze meet mine. I expect to find the vixen that dug her claws into me staring back at me. Instead, I discover softness in the depths of her eyes, warmth and affection, and something yet undiscovered between us.

She kisses the tip again before leaning back on her legs, slowly stroking her hand up and down my wet shaft. “You asked me before why I’ve been single.” She presses my cock against my stomach, leaning down to suck on one testicle before moving on to the other. “And the answer is, it’s because of you.” She brushes her lips across the tip of my cock before she tongues the slit. Again, she leans away, slowly stroking me, staring me boldly in the eye. “I want you, Liam. Only you. Always you. No one else.”

Whether it’s the words she’s declared, the meaning behind them, or something else, I can’t exactly pinpoint the reason my control snaps but it does. I can no longer allow her to rule this or me. I lower my mouth down to hers, sliding my hand across her neck, tipping her head back. I kiss the pretty mouth that has haunted me for years. She’s doing what I want her to do, parting her lips, accepting my kiss until I’ve had my fill. I reach for her arms, helping her to her feet, and then I lift her up. Her legs wrap around my waist as I carry her into the bedroom.

Once we enter, I allow her to slide off my body and let her look around a moment, taking in the space I call mine. The walls are a deep, dark gray with silver accents. The light gray fabric headboard rests against the far wall with a set of light gray and dark gray sheets fitting perfectly smooth. On either side of the king-size bed is a pair of long mirrors with dark silver frames.

While she’s looking around, I turn and move to the chest I keep off to the right of the bed. A chest that is full of things I’ve imagined using with her. Things I bought at Vivian’s place before our weekend away. And there’s only a single purpose driving me now. I reach in and grab out a blindfold. When I turn back to her, she’s watching me closely. “Do you trust me?” I ask her, holding up the blindfold.

“That depends.” Her mouth twitches.

I arch an eyebrow. “On?”

“What you plan on doing to me while I’m blindfolded.” She laughs softly.

I chuckle, enraptured by her beautiful smile when I stand in front of her. “Well, love, that’s where the trust comes in.”

Her smile widens before she shuts her eyes, giving me the permission I need. I place the blindfold around her head, tying it tight. The red blindfold is stunning against her skin, calling to me. I drag my fingers over the hard line of her collarbone, across her shoulder, down her arm until I reach the curve of her breast. Using my knuckles, I caress her nipple, grinning when she trembles. “Ah, she likes that,” I murmur.

She tips her head back and moans.

I return to the chest, grabbing out a paintbrush and the small container of black paint on the small shelf. I take my time returning to her, letting anticipation build. Her chest is rising and falling quickly, and the flush of cheeks against the red blindfold stirs a lust so rich and ravenous inside me my cock grows even harder, my balls aching to blow.

When I move in front of her again, I drag the tip of the paintbrush across her nipple. Her gasp brings heat into my sac. I continue to tease her, letting her mind imagine what it is I’m touching her with and what my plan is. I like her guessing. Fuck, I like surprising her even more. Which is why I slowly open the paint, leaving the lid on the table in the sitting area of the bedroom. I dip the brush in and slide the cool paint across her arm.

There’s that half-smile again, and I smile with her, liking this between us. After which, I focus on her, painting her body in the only way that feels right between us at this moment. I don’t count the minutes, or worry I’m taking too long. I take my time, getting this right, letting the silence flow between us. We have each other, and for right now, I’m content with that.

I squat, moving the brush across one thigh. Then the other, working my way back up to her toned stomach, where I slide the brush, slowly, teasingly making her feel like it’s my tongue. One look at her nipples and I see how hard they are, how turned on she is. I don’t need to feel her cunt to know she’s soaking wet for me. Her little tremors, deep breaths, parted mouth already let me know that I have her on fire.

After my final stroke, I take a step back, studying the work of art before me. “You’re stunningly perfect, Aria.”

“Thank you,” she whispers, hands flat against the sides of her thighs.

I turn back to the table, placing the paintbrush on the lid and leaving the small glass container there when I focus on her again. I take her hand, leading her beside the bed. I position her right where I want her, in the center of the mirror, not too close, leaving her able to see the room, us, and everything I want her to see.

I step in behind her and slide her hair back over her shoulders, then I reach up and remove the blindfold. She blinks once, obviously adjusting her vision to the light. Then her eyes squint before they slowly grow wide. I regard what she’s looking at, too.

Fearless. Kind. Strong. Beautiful. Sexy. Smart. Fiery. They are all words I’ve painted across her flesh, along with a few more. “These reasons and more are why I’ve loved you from the very first moment I set my eyes on you.”

Tears fill her eyes.

I kiss her shoulder softly, running my hand down her arm. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

A single tear slides down her cheek. “The words seem to hold more meaning painted on my body like this.” She glances at me in the mirror. “I’ve never had a man love me like you love me. So fiercely. So decidedly.”

“That’s because I am the only man supposed to love you like this.”

She turns then and slides her hands across my face. It’s in this exact moment that I know I have her. Fully. Completely. Tears in her eyes, she whispers, “I’m sorry I made you wait so long.”

“You made me earn you, appreciate you, and crave you in ways I’ve never wanted anything.” I place a finger under her chin, tilting it up, ensuring she hears me. “Never be sorry, Aria. You made me see you in ways I’ve never seen anyone.”

I lean in and my lips meet hers. It’s passion. It’s desire. We’re unleashed. I press my body against hers, feeling the paint between us and nothing else, and I inch her back toward the mattress, helping her into the middle of the bed. I slide my thighs against her legs, spreading her open. “There are many ways I can take you tonight. So many kinky things I want to do to you.” I shift my hips, pressing the tip of my throbbing cock against the warmth of her slit, sliding the weight of my body against hers, pressing her down into the mattress. “But tonight, your first night in the bed where I’ve imagined you for years, you’re staying close. Your eyes on me.”

She moans and arches into me as I slide inside her. I groan against how wet and hot she is. I press my face into her neck, grabbing her hips and slowly shifting my hips, feeling her hot lower lips sliding over my shaft.

When I lean away, I note the flush of her cheeks. She likes being pinned by me, I can tell. I reach up, grabbing her wrists, placing them above her head, and pump my hips. Her rich gasps and groans are what I need. Keeping her wrists above her head with one of my hands, I use the other to grab her leg, hooking my arm around her thigh to drive inside her. Christ, I’m as close and deep as I can get, and it’s what I’ve wanted. What I’ve craved.

She’s going to make me blow far sooner than I want. I flip our positions, keeping her chest pressed against mine, the paint sliding between us. I grip her round ass, taking control of her movements, and slide her up and down on my cock, her moans a stunning raspy sound in my ear. I wrap an arm around her and then press her back into the mattress. I lean up on my hands, staring down into her soulful eyes while she raises her hands to cup my face. “Tell me,” I say to her.

“I love you,” she whispers, fully understanding what I want.

Her breasts are jiggling, her sexy body laid out before me, welcoming me in, time and time again, nothing between us anymore. I look into her eyes. “Again. Tell me.”

She slides her hands down my chest. “I love you, Liam.”

I groan and rock against her, feeling the beginnings of her quivers. I rise on my legs and grab her thighs, pressing her legs open so I can watch my cock disappear inside her. I enter her and when I withdraw, she’s soaking me, her arousal glistening off the light.

“Nice and slow, baby.” I glide my cock in and out, and her chin tips back, lips part, fingers digging into the bedsheets. Paint covers her skin now, and I assume mine as well but I’m not looking. I’m focused on the way her body is quivering. “Mmm…she likes this.”

“Don’t…stop…” She tenses against me, her legs straightening, and I growl with the way her pussy suddenly soaks and tightens against my dick. Her eyes snap open to mine, the bedsheets clutched in her hands, and she’s gasping against the pleasure. Her cheeks are pink and the flush descends down her chest.

Though it’s those eyes that get me. They own me.

And I lose myself in them. I drop down on top of her, sliding my hands back up her arms to place them over her head. I tangle my hands with hers, and I keep my rhythm slow but powerful, slapping my pelvis against hers, making her mine right here and now.

She’s safe beneath me. She’s mine to love. She’s mine to claim. And she’s arching against me, bucking and jerking her pleasure, and I ride her hard now until my cock is growing harder. I’m right where I belong. Inside her. My climax hits hard and fast and her inner muscles pull every last drop of cum I have to offer, while I roar my satisfaction.

On the last wave of energy, I switch our positions, her body flat against mine, my dick still pulsating inside her.

She laughs.

I wish I knew what was behind that laugh. Soon I will. Soon I’ll know how this woman thinks and what makes her click. For now, I ask, “What’s on that mind of yours?”

“I’m thinking that we ruined your very nice sheets.”

I chuckle, flipping us onto our sides, pushing the hair off her face. “I imagine in the years to come, we’ll ruin many bedsheets.”

She blinks, her eyes twinkle in orgasmic bliss. “Maybe a couple bed frames, too.”

Breathless, I kiss her forehead. “I will forever endeavor to fuck you hard enough to break bed frames.”

“Well, then”—she leans up, resting her hands on my chest—“that surely sounds like a pretty good happily-ever-after to me.”

She’s playful and light and happy, and I like her like this. But tomorrow we face Jackson, and now that she’s here, in my bed, a sudden intensity fills me. Possessive intensity. “Nothing else ever stands between us again,” I state, stroking her cheek with my knuckles.

Her eyes search mine. “Nothing ever comes between us again.”

And when she seals her mouth across mine, falling perfectly into my kiss, I know for certain, I have what I’ve always wanted.

Her heart.