Liam had a moment of panic when Ali opened her door and he saw the tears running down her face.
All he could think of was fixing whatever hurt she was feeling. Pulling her in, holding her tight and telling her everything would be all right. He’d find a way to make it happen.
There was part relief that her tears were happy ones, and part sadness too. He knew what she was feeling as he often felt it when he thought of his own father. He’d hoped time would make things better but had a feeling it might be a pipe dream at best on both their parts.
Even though he hadn’t lived on the same side of the US with his parents for years, he was pretty close to both of them. Being an only child tended to make that happen.
“I had planned on going out, but now I’m thinking of changing my mind,” he said, watching as she picked up the photo albums she must have been going through. He grabbed one before she could put it in a box and flipped through, finding pictures of Ali as a teen and Anthony looking much younger than he had when Liam had just seen him today.
Wait? Did that thought just cross his mind? No, he wasn’t going down that path. Not here and not now. He wasn’t seeing ghosts, nor was he carrying on annoying conversations with them.
“I don’t have anything to cook here. Or nothing that’s thawed. I’d actually thought of just making a salad tonight. I could run to the store and get something though.”
“Why don’t we bring these photos with us and go back to my place? I’ve got some steaks I can grill and potatoes to add with it. Simple enough. It will give us time to just talk.”
“That sounds like a good plan.”
He grabbed the box the albums were in while she went to get her jacket and purse, then locked up, and they left.
It didn’t take long to get to his house on the lake, or hear her suck a breath in. “Okay. I didn’t expect this.”
He looked at the house as they pulled down the long driveway. It was a one-story house with a pitched roof in the center. If she was impressed by the front, she had no clue what she was going to see in the back, as the lake view was by far the most impressive part of the house in his eyes.
The back of the house was all glass up to the pitched ceilings. In the center was the main living area, all open, living room, dining room, large kitchen. One side of the house had the master suite and his office, and the other side had three bedrooms and two baths. The basement was finished too, but he never used anything down there other than the home gym. It was a lot of house, he knew, but his parents had often come to visit and it allowed everyone the privacy they all needed.
“Did you build this?” she asked.
“No. I did renovate it.” They pulled into his garage and walked through a mudroom, then down the hall where the three guest bedrooms were housed. “This part of the house was here originally. I opened up the main living area all the way to the ceilings, knocked down walls and redid it all. Then I put the addition on the other side to make the house seem more balanced rather than lopsided.”
“I would have never known that one side of the house wasn’t here.”
“That was the idea.”
“Holy shit.” Her hand flew to her mouth. “Sorry. This is beautiful.” She was turning in a circle and looking everywhere, then walked over to the four glass doors off the living and dining room that opened to a covered patio. “It’s like indoor and outdoor living here.”
“That was the object.”
“You’re going to cook out there, right? It’s like there are two kitchens here,” she said, looking at the outdoor one that housed his grill.
“For now I can still use the grill. Pretty soon it will be too cold for it, but I use it as much as I can and try to keep any snow from under there too.”
“This is much better than going to a restaurant.”
He’d set the box down on the couch, then pulled her in and kissed her hard. “I’m glad I had a change of mind then.”
“Did you have any other ideas for tonight?” she asked, her eyes glowing like a sparkler on the Fourth of July.
“Are you trying to test me?”
“I’m thinking I’m sick of testing myself. That maybe it’s time I took a little initiative.”
“Did I ever tell you I like a woman that takes control?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “You didn’t, but I can be someone you like.”
It was the look in her eyes telling him he was in for one hell of a treat and he couldn’t wait. He swung her up in his arms and started walking to the other end of the house. She was giggling, but he kissed the noise from her lips.
It seemed like he’d been waiting for this day for years rather than weeks. He was thinking...needing...craving her in a way that only a man ready to lay it all on the line ever wanted anything. Ever thought of throwing it all away for just that one person.
He’d never felt or thought that before and knew that tonight was the turning point for him.
He laid her on the bed, then came down on top of her, just feeling her body under his. Fully clothed or naked, at the moment it didn’t matter when he knew he was going to have her. When he knew she was going to yield so easily...when she was feeling the same way.
“Liam?”
“Yes,” he said, his lips moving all over her neck. She tasted like honey and he’d always had a sweet tooth.
“I want to remind you that I was the one that was taking the initiative, but I’m willing to hand it over if you get up and let me get naked.”
He laughed. “I can do that.”
Rolling off of her, he stood up and started to undress, then watched as she did the same, the two of them reaching for one another quickly after. “Don’t get any ideas about going slow tonight. There is plenty of time for slow at a different date. Now I just want it too much.”
“What is it you want?” he asked, returning them to the same position on his bed.
“If I need to explain it to you I’m going to be really disappointed.”
“I want you to tell me,” he whispered. “I want you to tell me what to do to you.”
“I want you to hold me tight while you make me yours. I want to feel you inside of me stretching me like I’ve never felt before because I caught a glimpse of you and I know I can’t wait much longer.”
He gulped. “I can do that.”
“Then do it now.” He could add demanding to controlling and a small part of him was lost forever.
He rolled over to open the drawer next to his bed, then grabbed a condom, but she was taking it from his hand before he could get it on.
“Let me have the honors,” she said, then she opened it up and rolled it on him like a pro. Before he could do anything else, she was pushing him down on the bed and swinging her leg over his, then sliding down. She wasn’t kidding about not wanting to really wait.
“Any objections?” she asked as she slid up and then glided back down. The only thing he could do was shake his head since the sight of her naked and riding him wiped out his ability to speak, let alone think. But who needed to talk when there was a hot woman riding you? “Good, then hang on because I’m going to make us both happy people.”
His hands went up and cupped her breasts while her hips started to move. He might have been gripping her a bit rough, but she didn’t seem to mind when she tossed her head back and told him to do it again.
His thumb and finger found her nipples, pinched once and then twice, and since it caused her hips to jerk up even faster, he did it a third time.
Her breath was laboring now, matching his own. He was trying to let her control the show, but his hips decided they needed to move and show he had his own pace to set.
Her hands came down hard around him, forcing him to move his hands to her hips, her mouth covering his. Their tongues dueled, his fingers gripped her tight and made sure she kept up the pace as he was slamming into her.
Before he knew it, her hands were moving into his hair and tugging at his scalp. The pain was nothing because at that moment they both started to fall and he was there to catch her. He told himself he’d always be there to do it, never letting her hit the bottom.