Ayumi woke up to something wet sucking on the back of her calf. She let out a shout and kicked her leg out, scrambling to get away.

“Wakey wakey!” Liam yelled, grabbing her ankle and pulling her across the mattress.

“What are you doing?” she demanded, trying to shove her thick hair out of her face.

“I've been saying your name for the last two minutes,” he laughed. “You sleep like the dead. So I gave you a hickey on your leg.”

“You did not!”

She twisted around, trying to see her calf. He didn't give her a chance to find it, though. He grabbed her arm and gently pulled her out of bed.

“C'mon, we're going to the beach, sweetheart. Get ready,” he instructed, patting her on the butt before shoving her towards her luggage.

“The beach?” she asked, frowning at she stared down at her clothes.

“Yeah. I'm a beach bum, I was born on a surfboard,” he told her. “We're heading out in half an hour.”

“Maybe I'll just stay home, I'm not really a beach person,” she said. He made a choking sound.

“If you don't like the beach, then we can't be friends.”

“We're not technically friends right now.”

“Shut up and put on a bathing suit. I'll be back in thirty minutes to drag you to the car, regardless of your state of dress,” he threatened, then he hustled out of the room.

Ayumi chewed on her bottom lip and dug her bathing suit out of her suitcase. She put the blush colored two piece on and looked in a mirror. She knew her body looked good and could tell she filled out the bikini in the exact way god had intended, but she still felt self-conscious. The only person who'd ever seen her in a bathing suit was Wulf, and he was basically like her brother. No reason to feel self-conscious in front of him. Liam was a whole different story.

No one said you had to go in the water ...

She remembered she'd packed a cover! A gauzy black bathing suit cover that was slightly sheer. It covered everything from her collar bone to her knees. She put it on and checked herself out in the mirror. Feeling comfortable again, she grabbed her makeup bag and headed to the bathroom to finish getting ready.

Even thought it was eight in the morning, the whole house was buzzing. Flor and her sisters were in the kitchen, drinking coffee and gossiping while they started making breakfast. Liam was stealing pieces of cantaloupe as fast as his mother could cut it up, earning him a smack on the hand with a wooden spoon.

Everyone said hello to her and there was more hugging and double-cheek kisses. Then Liam said goodbye through a mouthful of fruit before dragging her outside.”

“Sometimes if you don't cut and run, they'll keep you all day,” he warned her.

“How come you don't speak Spanish with them?” she asked. She noticed that he never did. He would say a couple words here and there, and she'd seen lots of his family speaking to him in Spanish, but he only ever responded in English.

“Because I don't know how,” he replied.

“What? I thought you did.”

“I can understand it,” he said. “For the most part. And I can kind of pidgin-speak it back, but I never learned. Landon picked it up real easy, he and my mom used to talk for hours in Spanish.”

“Does your dad speak it?”

“Nope. That's probably why I don't – I was always talking to him,” he chuckled.

She wanted to keep on the topic, maybe somehow figure out a way to convince that his family adored him, but she was distracted by what she saw on their garbage pile of a car.

“I don't think I've ever seen one in real life,” she commented as she leaned into the backseat. A surfboard was wedged behind the driver's seat and tilted to the side as far as it could go.

“Blasphemy,” he chuckled, running his hand over the smooth board. “This here is my first love. I saved up my allowances and my paper route money for months to afford her.”

“That is a beautiful love story, Edenhoff.”

“Isn't it, though? And it's your lucky day – I'm offering free surf lessons all morning!” he told her as he opened her door for her. She threw her beach bag into the back before sitting down.

“Too bad I don't want to learn how to surf.”

It was December and cold out and early, which Liam said was the perfect recipe for an empty beach. As they walked down to the wooden steps and across the sand, Ayumi saw that he was right. There were a couple people off in the distances, and two or three surfers lingering about in the break, but other than that they pretty much had the beach to themselves.

“It won't stay like this,” he warned her as they parked their stuff down close to the water. “It'll start getting busier as the day goes on.”

“That's okay, I'm just gonna read.”

“Weird, I didn't know 'read' was synonymous with 'surf',” he said, then he yanked his t-shirt off over his head. He was wearing a wet suit under his pants with the arms tied around his waist, which he quickly pulled apart.

Ayumi stared at his chest for a moment, remembering what it felt like under her fingertips. It was a pity that they'd only gotten to have sex once. The longer she watched him, the more found herself wanting to run her tongue over every inch of his skin.

“Stop objectifying me,” he said, and when she jerked her gaze up to his, he winked at her. Then he worked his arms into the suit and pulled up the zipper. “Save it for when I'm on the water.”

Of course she'd seen people surfing in movies and on television, and probably even at a distance when she'd been visiting other beaches. But she'd never actually taken the time to watch anyone surf, had never seen it up close. She'd never had any sort of interest in it, found it kind of boring.

Watching Liam, though, he made it seem exciting. He was clearly in his element, doing something he absolutely loved. Even when he was knocked off the board, he came up smiling and laughing.

She forgot all about her book for most of the morning, instead standing with her feet in the water and moving up and down the beach so she could watch him. He went down hard one time and didn't come up for so long, she almost had a panic attack. She yelled at him for that one, earning herself another wink.

Another time his board actually went air borne. She was sure there was some sort of cool term for it, but she didn't know – she just knew that for a second, he was flying. She was positive that he was going to bite it, but he stuck the landing and stayed upright, riding the board all the way into the shallows.

“Friend of yours?”

Ayumi turned, a little startled at hearing a voice so close to her. Some guy in a wet suit was standing behind her and he was watching as Liam zig zagged around on a small wave.

“Yeah, sort of,” she replied. He chuckled.

“Sort of? What's that mean?”

“It means I'm his accountant.”

“Wow, I didn't know surfing involved math,” the guy laughed. “Your friend is pretty good. You surf?”

“No, not at all,” she said, turning back to watch the ocean. Liam was off the board, clinging to the side of it and wiping water off his face.

“I could teach you. I give lessons on the weekends,” surf dude offered. Just then, Liam turned to look at her.

“No thanks, I won't be here on the weekend,” she said, glancing over her shoulder.

“That's fine, I'll teach you now. Consider it a freebie,” he said.

“Thanks but no thanks.”

“C'mon, it's fun. I promise. No better rush than riding a wave.”

“I'll have to take your word for it,” she sighed. Why wouldn't this guy leave her alone? “But really, I'm not interested.”

“Aw, c'mon, why don't we just -”

“Hey, Ice Queen,” Liam's voice was loud as he jogged out of the water and up to her side. “Give up on the book?”

She smiled as she turned back to him.

“I never picked it up. You're really good on that thingy,” she told him, gesturing to his board.

“Thingy?” he and the other surfer said in unison.

“Board. Whatever.”

“Can you believe this chick?” Liam groaned, jerking his thumb at her as he spoke to surf-bro. “Comes to Santa Cruz and basically had to be begged to even come to the beach, and then doesn't even want to go in the water.”

“Maybe she just needs the right swim partner,” surfer dude said. Awfully bold of him. She wondered if Liam would get upset. Mad, or jealous. He burst out laughing, surprising her a little.

“Maybe she does,” he agreed. “But if it's not me, then it's sure as shit not you, bro. Go troll for beach pussy somewhere else.”

There was some glaring and some grumbling under his breath, but the other dude finally walked away.

“Beach pussy?” Ayumi asked. Liam nodded.

“Sorry. Beach vagina,” he corrected himself. “You gonna be okay if I go back out there? I don't want to come back to find out some other surfer has stolen your heart.”

“Not possible, so not a problem,” she replied.

“That's my lil' Ice Queen.”

She finally did go and read after that, rolling up a towel and putting it under her head. After a while, though, the sun became too much. So she laid her book over her face and eventually fell asleep. She didn't wake up again until she felt someone touching her.

“Wait,” she said, startled as she was lifted off the ground. “What are you doing!?”

“You came to the beach, Ayumi. It's time to get in the water,” Liam was laughing as he strode through the shoreline, cradling her in his arms. She started struggling against his hold.

“No, Liam,” she gasped looking down to see that he was already thigh deep in the water and getting deeper. “You don't understand, I can't -”

Before she could finish, he tossed her up in the air. Literally threw her. She managed to get out one shriek before she hit the water.

... I can't swim.

She clawed through the water, resurfacing for a moment. She choked on one breath of air before going back under. She kicked her legs and thrashed around, but nothing moved her in an upwards direction. Before she could panic, though, strong arms wrapped around her waist and yanked her back to the surface.

“Jesus, Ayumi, I didn't know,” Liam was breathing hard as he twisted her around in his arms.

“I tried to tell you,” she said, still coughing up water while she tried to shove her hair out of her face.

“Maybe should've mentioned something back at the house,” he chuckled, forcing her legs around his waist. She coiled her arms around his neck and clung to him while he tread water.

“You wanted to come down here so badly, it seemed silly,” she replied. “I didn't have any plans to go in the water, so I didn't think it was worth mentioning.”

“So many things to teach you on this trip,” he sighed.

“What do you mean?”

“Can't swim, can't surf, can't drive a stick shift,” he listed off the things she couldn't do. “I swear, by the end of these two weeks, you will be able to do at least two of those things.”

“I don't need any of those things to live in San Francisco. Are you going deeper!?”

“Relax,” he said in a soothing voice and she finally focused on his eyes. He was staring very directly at her, his eyes large and warm. “I would never let anything happen to you.”

“You wouldn't,” she replied. “My body and the ocean might have other plans.”

“It's like dancing. You said you couldn't do that, and after you relaxed, we moved perfectly together. Just move with me, Ayumi,” he urged.

There was that voice again. Like he was speaking only to her – like she was the only person he ever wanted to speak to. She tried to harden her heart against it, reminded herself that he'd spoken to many other girls in that voice, including girls she knew personally. But it was hard not to have that little voice whispering in her mind “but with me, he means it.”

So she trusted him. She relaxed her body and let him paddle them around. He never let her go, not once, until he finally brought them in enough so he could stand upright. Then he had her stretch out on her back and just free float, always keeping a hand under her back or on her hip.

“This is nice,” she sighed, the combination of ocean and sunshine lulling her into a feeling of warmth and security.

“I don't think I've ever seen you look this relaxed,” he chuckled, and the hand under her back gently swept up and down. “You should come to the beach more often.”

“I didn't know it could be like this.”

“Maybe you should come with me more often.”

He didn't explain exactly what he meant, and she didn't ask. She just smiled to herself and somehow she just knew he was smiling back.

*

LIAM DIDN'T GO BACK out on the board. They floated around for a while, then he pulled her into shore. Sat on her beach towel for a while. It was strange that they had worked together for a couple months without having any real sort of relationship, but then one night of sex could help them realize that they actually had a lot in common.

“I had fun today, Liam,” she said as they loaded their stuff back into the car.

“Another compliment!” he gasped. “You better be careful, Ice Queen, you're perilously close to actually liking me.”

“Let's not get carried away,” she started to laugh, but then it died in her throat when he unzipped his wetsuit and peeled the top half down to his waist. He tied the arms together, but didn't bother putting on his regular clothes. Just slipped on a pair of flip flops and climbed into the car.

“Gotta give the ladies something to ogle on the drive home,” he explained when she looked at him with her eyebrows raised.

Women did ogle him during their drive, but it all made Ayumi think. He was doing it to get attention. Validation. To feel good about himself. He had said once that he wanted to help her learn to like herself – maybe she could do the same thing, for him.

“I have a fun conversation with your dad last night,” she told him when they pulled into his driveway.

“Oh yeah? He's a pretty goofy guy,” he replied, hauling his board into the garage.

“He told me something interesting.”

“Was it his colonoscopy story?”

“What? Ew.”

“Just wait. It's coming.”

“No,” Ayumi shook her head and followed him into the house. “Jesus. He told me you're his favorite son.”

Liam stopped so abruptly she rammed into his back. As she stumbled to the side, he turned around.

“He told you that while you guys did dishes?” he asked in a skeptical voice.

“No, not like that,” she replied. “We were talking about funny you and he are, how you have the same sense of humor. And he said that he loved both of you, but that he always had the best times with you.”

“He didn't say that,” he continued walking into the kitchen.

“He did. Liam, why do you think your family doesn't like you?” she asked.

“I don't think they don't like me – I just know they like Landon better,” he replied, digging around in the fridge and pulling out a Capri Sun.

“I don't know. Based on what I saw last night, your family is in love with you,” she told him.

“You've never seen them when we're here together.”

It was a very valid point. She didn't know any of them well enough to be making any sorts of judgement at all, and she definitely shouldn't be meddling. But once she started, she couldn't stop herself.

“Maybe that's true,” she said slowly, stepping up close to him. “But from someone whose family is actually, really disappointed in them ... I think you're very lucky to have the family you do, and I'm very thankful I got to be a part of them, even if it was just for two nights.

It was a somewhat heavy moment. Liam stared down at her, the drink pouch forgotten in his hand. She stared up at him, wondering what was wrong with her. Wondering why she couldn't just stay detached from the whole situation. Stay detached from him.

“Thank you for saying all this,” he finally responded. “It means a lot, coming from you. Can I give you some advice of my own?”

“I guess so,” she replied, then she held her breath when he closed what little distance there was between them.

“There is absolutely nothing about you that could ever disappoint,” he informed her. “And I feel bad that your family doesn't get to know the amazing person you are. You can borrow mine whenever you want.”

There was another heavy moment. Was he going to kiss her? Did she want him to kiss her? Where was his family? She licked her lips and his eyes tracked the movement. Then he gave her a tight smile and stepped away.

“I'm gonna go shower, get rid of some of this sand. My mom's at a church thing, they'll be gone till almost dinner time. Make yourself at home, I'll find you when I'm done,” he told her, turning and heading for the stairs as he spoke.

Ayumi stayed downstairs for a while, wanting to give him space. She wandered around the living room. There were pictures everywhere, all over the walls, lining every shelf, and she looked at each one. Two little boys, identical except for different colored jackets, smiled out of one picture. In another one, they were almost teens. She guessed the one with long, shaggy hair was Liam – he was grinning at the camera, while his twin stood in the background, his face pinched and taciturn.

There was a whole shelf dedicated to Landon, she saw. His awards and copies of his degrees and graduation photos. It was very impressive at first glance. But upon closer inspection, there were by far more photos of Liam around the house. Him holding up a trophy for some local eating contest. Apparently, at the age of seventeen, he'd managed to eat seventy-five tacos in just eight minutes, beating a record of some sort. In what had to be his prom pic, he was standing in the center and rows of girls stretched off to either side of him. Six on each side. His shit eating grin was in full effect and even Ayumi had to laugh.

There were pictures of him as an adult, too. Him with his mother, his aunts, his grandmother. One of him cutting a ribbon at The Garden, the very first day he'd opened the club under his ownership. Another one she had no clue what was going on in it – he was shirtless and completely covered in mud. It was smearing down his cheeks and he was smiling broadly at the camera.

Her favorite, though, was a small picture at the end of one shelf. Him and his dad were in it, standing side by side, looking very dapper in suits. She'd never seen Liam all cleaned up. Most of the time, it looked like he didn't even bother to brush his hair. But whatever they'd been doing that evening, he'd gone all out. His hair was tamed and his suit was tailored to perfection, accenting his broad shoulder and calling attention to his narrow hips, his long legs.

She'd always known Liam was attractive, and only recently she'd fully realized just how sexy he was – but she'd honestly never thought of him as handsome. Handsome was a word she reserved for gentlemen. For three piece suits and wine tasting and opera tickets. For people who weren't Liam Edenhoff.

Yet there he was in glossy technicolor, looking sinfully handsome.

She was at the top of the stairs before she questioned what she was doing. He hadn't invited her to shower with him, maybe he wouldn't welcome the intrusion. Their deal was off, which was a good thing. Having sex while taking a trip would just complicate things. The whole point of her arrangements was so there couldn't be any attachment. Spending twenty-four hours a day together, though, that already meant they were attached. Sex would just confuse things.

Yet when she got to the bathroom door, she didn't stop herself. She could hear the shower running, knew he was in there. He could've used his en suite, she argued. Then there'd be two doors between her and him, as well as a private room. He'd used the guest bathroom, though. Basically a gilded invitation.

Ayumi slowly turned the knob and let the door fall open. The shower was absolutely huge and the ceiling above it was all one gigantic rain style shower heard. Water was pouring down, but the large stall was empty.

Liam was standing at the sink, still halfway wearing his wet suit. He was just finishing up shaving and he glanced over at her.

“Hey, what's up?” he asked, stretching his jaw to the side and dragging the razor down it. “Did you need something?”

Ayumi moved so she was standing right next to him. She watched him for a second, then reached up and pulled the razor out of his hand. He looked down at her in surprise, watched as she tossed it into the sink.

“I've been thinking,” she started.

“Uh oh. I've told you about dangerous that can be.”

“It's probably a really bad idea if we sleep together,” she informed him. His eyebrows shot up.

“It's a little too late for that, Ice Queen.”

“But if you can promise to stick to the original rules, I think it could still work,” she said.

“I find it hilarious that you're so sure I'll break your precious rules,” he laughed. “When you're the one who keeps coming to me for sex.”

“Liam?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

She stood on her toes and smoothed one hand up his bare chest. Her other hand curved around his neck, her fingers combing through the hair at the back of his head.

“If this is what I get for teaching you how to swim,” he started. “Then I better get head when I teach you how to drive stick.”

“We could work on your stick right now,” she suggested and a huge grin spread across his face.

“Be still my beating heart, she makes a pun. I'm telling you, we're soulmates.”

As if to prove just how much he meant it, he leaned down and kissed her. It was different from the other ones they'd shared. There was none of the over-the-top sexual intensity. No crashing teeth and heavy tongue. Just his lips molding themselves to hers while his hands slid over her hips.

They stayed that way for a second, then he started to gently push her backwards. The bumped into the glass of the shower, then he opened it and suddenly they were under the spray. Warm water was cascading over her, washing away the ocean and sand and every inhibition.

“Is thing actually attached to you?” she breathed as she yanked and pulled at the edges of his wet suit.

“You're the one who wore a bed sheet to the beach. What is this?” he teased her as he peeled her bathing suit cover up and over her head. He moaned when he saw her in the bikini. “Baby girl, your body is a work of art. You should be showing it off, always.”

That first time, in his laundry room, they had been in hyper drive. Moving fast so their worries couldn't catch up with them. Now they were taking their time, exploring each others bodies. While they touched and kissed and licked, he helped her peel the wet suit away from his hips and down his legs.

“You're not so bad yourself. How do you look like this when all you do is eat tacos and fried goods?” Ayumi asked, tickling her fingers up his abs.

“Blessed by god,” he joked.

He slowly turned her around and untied the strap across her back. She put her palms against the glass walls of the shower, braced herself as the strap tied around her neck went loose. The scrap of material fluttered down to their feet.

He stepped up against her, forcing her to step forward, pressing her breasts flat against the cool glass. She could feel his erection against her ass and she arched back into him, wanting to feel more.

Then he was moving. Kisses trailed down her spine and his fingers curled into her bikini bottoms, pulling them down as he got lower and lower. As she stepped out of the fabric, she felt his lips on the back of her thigh while his fingers curled around the front.

“You know what,” he breathed. “I just realized – today is the first day I've seen your bare legs. You always wear tights.”

His statement was like a splash of cold water and Ayumi pushed away from the wall. Closed her legs.

“I like tights,” she replied. He chuckled, then she felt his teeth against her hip.

“I like your naked skin,” he whispered, sweeping his hand up the center of her legs, making her gasp before moving onto her chest. He stood upright and both arms came around her, cupping her breasts.

“Don't tell anyone, but I think it likes you, too,” she laughed, then moaned as both nipples were pinched simultaneously.

“I gotta say, Ayumi,” he said, turning her to face him. “I always thought you were a smart girl. But this little idea of having sex with me whenever you want puts you in the category of 'genius'.”

The shower was large enough that Ayumi could lay down flat in it, as Liam proved when he helped her down to the floor. She wondered what he was going to do, though, as there was no way he would be able to stretch out. She about to offer to switch positions, get on top of him, when he bent her legs at the knees and shuffled around till he was in between them.

“What are you doing? I don't like ...”

Her sentence trailed into a sigh when he lifted her hips off the ground and lowered his face between her legs. His tongue swam in circles, heating her up more effectively than the shower ever could. She let out a long moan and raked her fingers through his hair.

“Don't like what?” he breathed as he kissed his way over her pelvic bone. “The way I turn you on?” There was a long, slow lick from her belly button to her right nipple. “The way I make you feel?” Now he was nibbling along her collar bone. “The way I kiss you?” He emphasized the last point by gently pressing his lips to hers.

“No,” she panted. “I love all of it. All of it.”

He sat upright, letting his hand trail over her breasts before grabbing her arm. He pulled her up onto her knees and held her tightly, kissing her as he did so.

“You have a choice to make,” he whispered, his teeth skimming along the side of her jaw.

“What?”

“We can finish this right now and you get fucked on this tile floor, or we can finish this in my room.”

The shower was hot and steamy, but a real bed sounded heavenly.

“Your room. Now, please. Right now,” she urged, almost jumping to her feet. She went to reach to pull the door open, but then he was grabbing her from behind. One arm went around her torso and his free hand cupped her jaw, forcing her to look over her shoulder so he could kiss her.

“You are so fucking amazing. Do you see that?” he asked, then he turned her head again. Forced her to face forwards. Directly across from the shower were the sinks and mirrors. She moaned when she saw their reflection, his sinewy arms wrapped around her naked body, his head leaning down to kiss along the shell of her hear.

“We're amazing,” she whispered back.

“Damn straight. Now move that fine ass, I have some pretty big plans for it.”

Ayumi had never had sex in her parents' house, so it felt odd, knowing she was in Liam's mom's home. Even with the assurance that everyone was gone, and would be gone for a while, she was nervous. On top of that, she wasn't in the habit of running around naked in front of anyone. Standing in a steamy, dimly lit shower was one thing – a fully lit hallway was another. She basically sprinted ahead of him, hurrying into his room and kneeling on his bed.

“Glad to know you're this eager,” he laughed as he came into the room behind her. Liam clearly didn't have the same issues with his body and he strutted around naked like it was something he did all the time. Her tongue got stuck to the roof of her mouth as she stared at him. Surfing did a body really fucking good, it seemed.

But then she realized he was reaching for the light switch.

“Wait!” she said, holding out her hand. “No lights.”

“What? Are you getting shy on me now?” he teased as he walked towards her. “I just had my tongue in your vagina - with the lights on, I might add.”

“So? In the dark is just as good,” she replied, raking her fingers through her damp hair. “Sometimes it's even kinkier.”

“Miss Thing, you do not want to be talking to someone like me about kinky,” he chuckled low in his throat as he leaned over her.

“Why not?”

“Ayumi, I own a sex club that also hosts sex parties and conferences. I could probably fuck you in ways you didn't even know were possible.”

“That's, um ... interesting.”

He kissed her slowly as he forced her back on the bed. It wasn't completely dark in the room – the blinds were drawn, but sunlight was still creeping in around the edges. It was enough to just barely see each other.

“So one of your kinks is having sex in the dark?” he whispered against her ear, and she shuddered when he bit down on her earlobe.

“I don't think I have a kink,” she replied, then she gasped when he bit down even harder on the side of her neck.

“Sure you do. I already know what one of them is.”

“Really? Enlighten me.”

“Control,” he breathed as his mouth traveled down to her breasts. “You like to be in control.”

“No, I don't.”

“You control sex by making deals,” he said, then smoothed his tongue across her nipple. “You control the relationship by determining when sex is going to happen. You control your life by denying everything that doesn't fit into your grand scheme of things.”

“Doesn't seem like I'm in control right now,” she was starting to pant as his hands squeezed and molded her breasts.

“That's only because I'm so very talented,” he chuckled, sweeping his hand down her flat stomach.

“Oh yeah? Prove it.”

And for the next hour and a half, Liam did just that.

I should've slept with a sex club owner a long time ago ...

*

HER THROAT WAS SORE from shouting. Her ass was stinging from spankings. Her hair was a massive knot on the back of her head, and she was pretty sure she'd been fucked so hard, she'd actually developed a case of asthma.

So. Incredibly. Worth it.

When Ayumi had approached Liam about reinstating their deal, she'd been pretty confident that he'd be down for a booty call. She'd had no idea, though, how much pent up sexual energy the man stored. He was like an energy bunny. The only reason they weren't still having sex was because she'd begged for a break. Literally begged, the whole way through her third orgasm.

Just a teeny, tiny break.

Liam had granted her a reprieve, but only because she'd asked so sweetly, then he'd informed her he was going to finish the shower she'd interrupted. Then he'd smacked her on the ass before walking out of the room, jauntily whistling as he went.

A couple minutes later, and she felt like maybe she could feel her bones again. She sighed and moved around so she was laying properly in his bed. She buried her head under his pillows, breathing in his scent. But she was still hot from their little work out, so she kicked the sheets away from her legs.

Wow. Wow. She didn't care if sleeping together was a mistake. Sex with Liam was so good, it didn't matter. She was pretty sure she'd seen her own brain. The very things that kind of made him awful – his ability to see through women and know what they wanted and then use it against them – was also what made him so good in bed. He knew exactly what to say to her, how to touch her, how to get her completely revved up.

Ayumi hadn't had a lot of sexual partners, but she'd had her fair share, and she could honestly admit Liam was the best. At everything. Anything. When their little vacation was over, she hoped he'd be willing to keep the arrangement going. She didn't want to find someone new. He may have had lots of bed partners for options, but Ayumi's pickings were slim.

That thought made her wince and brought her back to reality. Liam was also good in bed because he'd had a lot of partners. He slept around. So what was heart attack inducing for her was probably just more of the same for him. How did she compare? How could she compete? She didn't like feeling inadequate, not around him.

She was so lost in her train of thought, she didn't hear the bedroom door opening. The pillow was covering her face and she had her eyes closed, so she didn't notice the lights in the room being turned on. It wasn't till she felt his fingertips against her leg that she even knew Liam was in the room.

“Ayumi,” he said in a soft voice. “What is this?”

His touch was brushing down the inside of her left thigh, and she swallowed thickly.

“It's nothing,” she finally responded.

Why isn't he in the shower!? He was only gone like five minutes!

There was silence for a second, then he was lifting the pillow off her head. The harsh overhead light was on, blinding her for a second. When she was able to look around, she saw him sitting next to her, his toiletry bag on the mattress by his leg. She gripped the sheet to her chest and pushed herself upright, but when she started trying to tuck her legs back under the blanket, he stopped her by gripping onto her ankle.

“Talk to me,” he urged. “What happened to you?”

She let out a deep breath and watched as he pushed her leg back so the inside of her thigh was showing. She stared down and tried to hold still as he touched her again.

Both their eyes followed his finger as he traced it along a scar. It was almost ten years old and had faded to almost her natural skin color, but it would always be raised up and ugly. Starting at the top of her thigh, it was over six inches long, and easily half an inch wide. Thank god she'd done it on the inside of her leg – anywhere else, and it would've been impossible to hide.

“I did it,” she said simply, tucking her hair behind her ears.

“You did this!?”

“Yeah.”

“Jesus, with what, a weed whacker?”

“A butter knife,” she replied, and Liam's eyes snapped to hers.

“Why did you cut open your leg with a butter knife?” he asked point blank. She shrugged.

“I was young. Stupid. Like ... seventeen? Eighteen? And I was mad at everyone and the whole world and mostly myself,” she tried to explain.

“So you ... what? Tried to kill yourself? Became a cutter?” he pressed. Anyone else and she would've been offended, but Liam had a way of talking about the strangest things and situations as if it were all no big deal. He made her feel at ease.

“No, it wasn't like that. My mother is a very demanding person,” she said slowly. “Like whatever you're thinking, she's more than that. I was a straight A student, I was a valedictorian, I had a four-point-two grade point average when I graduated high school. You know what she said to me?”

“What?”

“She said 'well, it's not a four-point-five, is it?', and then she didn't even come to my graduation,” Ayumi told him.

“Fuck. Now I can see why you like my family so much.”

She nodded.

“Exactly. Nothing was ever good enough, and she always had to be in control. She picked out my class courses, she dressed me, she signed me up for extracurricular activities. I didn't have an identity. So here I was, this like shell, and I'm always being told I'm horrible at everything and ugly and stupid, and I guess ... I just wanted my outsides to match how I was feeling inside,” she told him. He was starting to frown and she couldn't stand it. Couldn't stand pity. That's why Wulf was the only person who knew the whole story – pity didn't come naturally to him.

“That's awful, Ayumi,” Liam said.

“I had just gotten accepted into Stanford. Harvard had wait listed me. She told me I was an embarrassment to her, that I was too stupid and too ugly to go somewhere like Harvard. I finally snapped. I took a pair of scissors and cut up all my school clothes, then I locked myself in the bathroom with the knife and I didn't stop dragging it up and down my thigh until my father got home. He had to break down the door to get me out.”

There was silence for such a long time, she finally glanced up to make sure he was still there. He was still sitting on the edge of the bed, now staring back down at her scar.

“But it was a really long time ago,” she assured him “I was a teenager, all stupid and hormonal. I would never do anything like that now.”

“That's why you wear the tights,” he mumbled.

“Excuse me?”

“You're always wearing tights, or stockings, or pants,” he pointed out. “Or that ridiculous bathing suit cover. It's because of the scar, isn't it?”

She nodded and leaned forward, pressing her palm over the old wound.

“Yeah. It's ugly. I know I'm not ugly, I know she just said those things to hurt me. To control me. It's funny, I cut myself to take away the pain from her words, but now that I'm old enough for her words to not matter, the scar has branded them on me forever,” she said with a small chuckle.

Liam let out a soft moan, then shocked her when he bent down and gently kissed her scar.

“It's not ugly,” he breathed, moving and kissing her knee before he sat upright again.

“Liam, it's horrifying. Any time anyone sees it, there has to be this long story, then a bunch of pity I don't want. It's just easier to hide it and keep everything in the dark,” she explained.

“You're beautiful,” he said, finally staring her in the eye. “Every part of you. Including this part. You should never hide it. Own it. Those were her words, but this is your body. You need to reclaim it for yourself.”

She was shocked to feel herself tearing up.

“I wouldn't even know how,” she sniffled, looking away from him.

“Then I'll help you figure it out,” he whispered back. Ayumi smiled.

“You know what?” she said, tapping her fingers down her scar. “I'm really glad I came on this trip, Liam.”

“Me, too, Ice Queen. Me, too.”