chapter Thirty-One
After the meeting adjourned, Liam was trying to make his way back to his dorm room, only to be stopped by the one person he didn’t want to see. Lauren. He averted his eyes, hoping it would show her just how much he didn’t want to talk to her.
“Liam, I would really love the chance to be able to sit down and talk to you,” she told him softly, reaching out to touch his elbow lightly.
He pulled his elbow back, almost like her touch burned him. “Right now is not the time,” he bit out as coldly as he could.
“There’s never a good time for you,” she argued. “All I want is a chance to explain my side of things. There are always two sides to every story, Liam. I think you owe me that much.”
He finally looked at her, really looked at her, and he felt remorse for the way he was treating the woman had given birth to him. After dealing with Richard, he knew that he could change things in his life. He didn’t have to be a bastard to everyone. He didn’t want to be a bastard to everyone. Maybe this was his chance to alter the way their relationship had been for so long. Being with Denise had changed everything. He would never allow Drew to talk to his mother the way he talked to Lauren. Purposely, he softened his voice.
“Look, right now seriously isn’t a good time.” Did he tell his mom he was in a hurry to get back to his dorm and get laid? He needed to be with Denise more than he could breathe at this moment, he needed to prove to himself that everything was okay and they were going to make it. “But how about tomorrow or even later on tonight. I promise you, I will make time. We will talk.”
“That’s all I’m asking for. You can even have that woman you care for so much with you, if you want. If she’s the reason for your change of heart, then I want her there. You’ve changed, and it’s for the better,” she told him, her blue eyes the mirror image of his.
“We’ll see,” he relented. “I’ll come find you. I promise, Mom.”
Tears came to her eyes. He hadn’t called her Mom since she’d left. Even as a six-year-old, he’d called her Lauren. “I’ll hold you to that.”
He took a minute to put his hand in hers and give it a gentle squeeze. Not for false hope, but because he actually did have hope this time. Maybe things would change and they could move on.
It took him a while, but when he finally got back to his dorm, he opened the door only to find Denise nowhere in sight. He didn’t think she had left, there was still a presence in the room.
“Denise?” he called out.
“In here,” he heard her from the bathroom.
As he got to the bathroom, he heard the shower running. Sick of waiting, he began disrobing. He’d be damned if he would let anyone interrupt them this time. Thinking better of it, he turned around and flipped the lock on the bedroom door before all but running for the bathroom.
He stepped in the shower behind Denise and circled his arms around her body.
“I was beginning to think you forgot about me,” she grumbled good-naturedly before turning under the spray so that they could face one another.
“I’d never forget about this,” he whispered as he leaned in to nip at her lips with his.
The look on his face was so serious it gave her goose bumps. There was no hint of joking around or taking any of this lightly. Not that there would be any of that this deep in the game, but she still had trouble believing that this was real even after the events from earlier. Their relationship was in the infant stages, and she was learning so much about him. It was hard to recognize the facets of the man in front of her. He was happy-go-lucky at times, chill and laid back at others, but sometimes he was so serious that it scared her. Needing to feel close to him, she shoved her fingers through his hair and pulled his mouth down to hers. His hands came around her backside and cupped her ass, using his leverage to pick her up. On instinct, she wrapped her legs around his waist, moaning as she came into contact with the evidence of his arousal.
“You love going all caveman on me, don’t you?”
His blue eyes glowed, and the corner of his mouth tilted in amusement. “You love it when I go all caveman, don’t act like you don’t.”
She shivered as he pressed her against the cold tile of the shower, bringing their bodies closer together. “That I do,” she moaned as he leaned her back slightly. Just before her breasts, he stopped and lifted his head, his eyes pinning her with a hard gaze. The beard on his face gave him a dangerous edge and his forehead creased as he bent his head and used his teeth to tease her nipple. She opened her mouth at the sharp prick of pain before he used the flat of his tongue to soothe the ache.
The sound of water beating down on them roared in her ears as she held on tightly to his shoulders, giving him free reign as he held her upper back in his strong hands. It allowed her to lean even further backward, giving her a feeling of being weightless. Out of the blue, the water went cold, causing her to shriek, bringing her out of the haze of pleasure he’d weaved around them.
“You’re gonna love this,” he promised.
Already their body heat was turning the water warmer, and she had to admit the bite of the cold was arousing. It caused her already hard nipples to stiffen further as the coolness trailed down her body. She couldn’t help but writhe against him, trying to coax him inside the warmth of her core.
“What about shrinkage?” she challenged, her eyes teasing.
“I don’t think we’ll have a problem with that,” he growled, plunging into her body. He pulled her as close as they could be, trailing open mouth kisses down the column of her throat, making noises as she squeezed around him.
She groaned as the cold water invaded the heat of her body. It was exciting, the difference in temperatures. Much more arousing than she had ever imagined. Her fingers flexed on his biceps as she pushed them apart. Immediately his mouth covered the tip of her nipple and his cheeks hollowed when he sucked sharply. Again the feeling of his warm mouth around the icy coldness of her skin caused her breath to hitch. Never before had she done anything like this, and the unknown was almost as arousing as the feelings he made course through her body.
Tightening her legs around his waist, she spurred him on, wanting to feel the fullness that only he could give her.
“You like that?” he asked as he shoved roughly inside of her.
She nodded, bringing her lip up between her teeth.
“I can’t hear you baby, you gotta tell me.” He pulled out, leaving just the tip of his cock inside her, teasing as he waited for her to tell him what he wanted to hear.
“I like it,” she whispered.
“You like what?”
Damn him. He wasn’t making this easy for her. It wasn’t like her to tell him exactly what she wanted, exactly what she liked. Hell, she was still learning what she liked if she were honest with herself.
“I like everything that you do to me. I like feeling your cock deep inside me,” she whispered, heat coming to her face.
“Yeah?” he asked, griping her hips tighter in his hands.
“Oh yeah,” she answered back.
The flat of his hand took her by surprise as he smacked it against the flesh of her ass, causing her to let out a garbled moan. He loved that sound she made it when she got some sort of unexpected pleasure. It made him harder, just thinking about the fact that he was the man to give her that pleasure, to wrench that noise from her throat.
“C’mon baby,” he urged her on. Bracing her body tighter against the wet wall of the shower, he moved one of his hands down to her core and rubbed his finger along the hard nub of her *. “Fall apart for me,” he coaxed her, not sure how much longer he would be able to keep up the punishing pace he had set.
Denise bucked her hips against his finger and the hardness of his cock slicing her in half. He could feel her tightening, and he fought valiantly to hold off his own explosion. The effort caused him to tighten his abs, his ass, and his arms. She opened her eyes, seeing his teeth clenched.
It was that display of maleness that sent her over the edge. The thought of him trying to hold himself together so tightly for her pleasure. It set off every feminine trigger in her body.
“Oh God,” she cried, tears springing to her eyes at the emotions that erupted within her.
Liam buried his head in her neck and bit down sharply, sucking as he spilled himself inside her. Lethargy immediately swamped his body, and he fought to lift his head. The steam from the shower swirled around them causing him to close and open his eyes swiftly, trying to focus.
“You wore me out,” he accused, not moving his head from her shoulder.
“No, I’m pretty sure you wore me out,” she laughed, gingerly removing her legs from around his waist.
He cautiously sat her down, waiting to see if her legs would support her after being in that position for so long. When they buckled, his large hands grasped her hips and held her still for a few moments. As he kept her body close to his, he reached over and turned the warmth of the shower back on as they concentrated on regulating their breathing. She stomped her feet a few times against the floor, hoping to get feeling back into her legs.
“You are a force to be reckoned with,” she giggled.
His smile was purely masculine. She did things to him that no other woman ever had. Made him feel like such a man, like he could lift a car with his bare hands or break a steel plated door. The feeling wasn’t one he ever wanted to go away. His eyes traveled over her body, admiring the way the water slid over every nook and cranny, getting himself all worked up again. As he lifted his gaze to her neck, he cursed softly.
“What?” she asked, bringing her hand up to the spot where her neck and shoulder met. The place where his eyes were now looking so intently.
“How do you feel about being the mother of thirteen-year-old twins and having a hickey?”
Her eyes bugged, and her mouth dropped open. “You gave me a hickey? I’ve never in my life had a hickey,” he could hear the panic in her voice.
“Well, you do now,” he told her, trying to hide the smile that spread across his face.
“I’m not sure how I feel about this. A hickey after my teenage years. I need to see how trashy it looks.”
As he got them out of the shower, he couldn’t help the swell of pride he felt. “That’s my mark of ownership.”
“I think everybody got that before you gave me the hickey,” she joked.
He walked them over to the sink and stood behind her as they looked in the mirror. He used his hand to tilt her head to the side, admiring his handy work. “That’s f*ckin’ hot.”
“Men,” she blushed. “I will never understand.”