I do. I trust him completely. After tonight, I can’t think of him taking me any other way than bare. I’ve never willingly been with another man without protection. I trust him and want to feel him inside of me without a barrier.

“Fuck,” Liam groans out. He comes back over to me.

“Are you sure?” I ask. “Even after you know everything?”

“I want nothing more than to feel your wet, tight pussy bare on my cock. Nothing has changed, except I want you more. I admire you more. I need you more.”

I sigh in relief. Lifting my hips, I pull down my panties, ready to feel nothing but him. He settles in between my legs. We groan at the skin-on-skin contact. I move my hips, loving the feeling of his large head rubbing against my clit. He pulls away from me, just when I find the right friction. I was so close to release. I whimper at the absence.

“Don’t worry, gorgeous.” Liam shoots me a smirk before he kisses a trail down my body. Licking and sucking. Biting and licking. The closer his mouth gets to the promised land, the closer I get to sliding over the edge. I’m incoherently begging him and circling my hips, trying to find fiction on his body as he passes down.

Finally, his mouth hovers over my most intimate area. He kisses and nips each inside thigh, licking a trail all around.

“Please, Liam,” I cry out. I lift my hips, offering myself to him. I look down at him over my body.

His hand is wrapped tightly around his cock. He gives himself two firm tugs. “Jesus, look at you,” he says. His voice is hoarse. “Giving yourself to me, like a present. Best present I’ve ever received. I can’t wait to taste your sweetness.”

I whimper, lifting my hips higher. “Please,” I beg.

“Play with your nipples, gorgeous.”

My hands go immediately to my nipples, tugging them between my fingers.

“That’s it, baby.” His knuckle skims my slit. “Is this where you want my mouth?”

“Yes,” I plead.

“Tell me.”

“Wh–what?”

“Tell me where you want my mouth.”

I don’t think he expects me to tell him right away, but I’m too far gone to censor myself or be embarrassed. I shamelessly need him. “Lick my pussy, baby. Suck my clit, I need your mouth on my pussy. Please.”

His eyes flash, heat pooling in them as his pupils dilate even further. He’s been skimming my slit this entire time. He sticks one finger in my pussy. “That’s my girl. Love hearing you say what you need.”

I moan, lifting my hips higher. He pulls his finger out and wraps an arm around each leg and brings me to his mouth. He licks me from top to bottom with his broad tongue, sucking my clit, skimming his teeth. “So fucking sweet,” he moans against my pussy. The vibrations of his voice send me closer to the edge. His tongue starts to fuck me hard, his nose pressing against my clit. He is inhaling me, devouring me, consuming me. I can’t slow the race to the edge. He sucks my clit hard, slamming two fingers inside me, hitting my g-spot. I scream, “Liaaaaaam.”

He doesn’t stop with his sucking or finger fucking until every last wave has passed. He moves up my body, pausing at my stomach to kiss the scars hidden beneath the tattoo.

I pull him up, kissing him fiercely. I moan while sucking his tongue that tastes of me. It’s so dirty and wrong. I fucking love it.

He breaks the kiss as he positions himself at my entrance. He slides into me slowly, groaning with each passing inch. We’re looking into each other’s eyes as I take him all the way to the hilt. I’m shaking with need. My hands scrape down his back, squeezing his firm ass. I wrap my legs around his hips, grinding up. My clit presses against his pelvis. I cry out.

“Yes, baby,” he whispers, closing his eyes. He opens them again, looking down at me, setting my body on fire. He pumps in and out of me in slow, leisurely strokes.

“More,” I whisper.

He pumps harder, slamming his pelvis on my clit each time. One hand plays with my nipples while the other comes behind my head, lifting my face up. We kiss, tongues tangling and teeth gnashing. He pumps harder and faster. He breaks his lips from mine, looking into my eyes. He’s giving me himself after I laid everything at his feet tonight. I’ve never felt a connection like this. The world could be burning to the ground outside, and I would know nothing except the feel of Liam inside me and the look in his eyes. There’s something there that I’m too nervous to name, but I know it’s reflecting right back at him.

“I’m keeping you,” he whispers to me. I come undone with his words.

“Fuck, I love feeling your pussy flutter around my cock. You’re strangling me so tight.” He pumps hard, again and again. “So good. Never this good,” he mumbles, saying other words that don’t make sense.

He bends his head, sucking one nipple into his mouth. He snakes his hand between our bodies and flicks my clit, strumming it with his pumps.

“Come with me,” he says.

I couldn’t stop my impending orgasm even if tried. “Liam,” I cry out.

He grounds out my name, spilling hot semen in me, pumping until he’s completely empty.

I’ve never had an orgasm—well, orgasms—like tonight. Liam stays on top of me. My hands are still on his back. I can hardly breathe with his weight on me, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. I love feeling his heavy body on top of me, still half hard inside of me, completely spent. He kisses me again before pulling out. I whimper at the loss, feeling empty without him inside me.

Liam gets up from the bed, coming back with a wet washcloth. I try to take it from him, but he says, “Let me take care of you.” I couldn’t deny him of anything with the look he is giving me. My heart pounds harder. The look I’m too nervous to name is radiating off of his face.

After he cleans us both, he lies on his side, pulling me close and tracing my tattoo. His fingers are skimming over the wing of my beautiful phoenix. Aiden’s name is hidden beneath the powerful wing span. “Tell me about this,” Liam whispers.

“James suggested a phoenix to Dex after the first night in the ring. He wanted to see me come back to life. And, I did. I rose. The script at the bottom is from a Maya Angelou poem. It says, ‘Still I’ll rise.’ It reminds me to keep getting up even when the worst happens.”

As he traces each scar over my stomach, finding them beneath the ink, a new crack in my heart and soul is healed. “You’re the strongest person I know.”

“No,” I protest quietly. I let myself break for far too long. “Don’t look at the scars. I don’t want you or anyone to see them or feel them.”

“I want to, Savannah. I love your tattoo. It’s beautiful. It suits you, but you would be just as beautiful if none of these scars were covered. I’m going to touch your scars.”

“No,” I try to plead with him.

“Yes,” he states firmly. His fingers trail over each one before he lays a kiss on each scar. “You survived. You battled. You’re a fuckin’ warrior princess.”

“A warrior princess?” I giggle.

“Hell, yeah. I was a bit nerdy growing up. You’re every fantasy come to life. I am in awe of you.”

My eyes begin to burn with unshed tears. Liam peppers kisses across my stomach, whispering how strong and beautiful he thinks I am. “A fire burns inside of you, just like a phoenix. This tattoo is so perfect for you, gorgeous girl. You’re strong and stunning.” He picks his head up to look directly into my eyes. “He may have taken a knife to your body, but he didn’t claim you. He didn’t break you.”

My tears start pouring down my cheeks in an unstoppable flow. “Liam,” I whisper, cupping his face.

“You are not broken. He did not win. You fucking did.”

Liam leans over and kisses my stomach. “I’ll worship you and this every day.”

Tears gather in my eyes as I kiss him softly, reverently. “Thank you, Liam.”

“The sun is starting to rise.” He kisses my neck. “Let’s get some sleep.”

I fall into a deep slumber with a smile on my face and a gorgeous man glued to my back.