My heart speeds up. Why does Adrian Maguire care? How does he even know who I am? When Liam said that he thought I was in league with the police chief, I almost burst out laughing. Police Chief White was at my house, but that doesn’t mean I wanted him there.
I meant it when I said that I had no love for the police chief. He wasn’t there when I needed him most, when I begged for help to get away from Randy. The whole police force turned their back on me, including the chief.
I take a deep breath. “My husband was a cop before I… before he died. Your brother was canvassing my neighborhood a couple weeks ago, and he saw the police chief at my house. It was the one year anniversary of Randy’s death. He was just extending his condolences, but I guess Adrian got the wrong idea.”
Liam’s eyebrows raise. “Oh.”
I take a deep breath. “My husband…” My chest squeezes. The only person I’ve talked to about this is Stella, and my therapist. But I run my fingers over Liam’s chest and I focus on the feeling of his skin under mine. “My husband wasn’t a good man. He was…” my breath hitches. I take a deep breath and try to stop my eyes from misting. “He was angry and violent. He hid it well. No one knew, or maybe no one wanted to know. I tried to ask for help, but… he was police.”
“Ashley…”
I shake my head. A lump forms in my throat, and I force myself to look Liam in the eye. “It ended when he died. It took me a long time to forgive myself for… everything that happened… but I’m fine now.” I blink and a tear slides down my cheek. I brush it away angrily. I’m sick of crying for Randy. I’m sick of crying for the man that made my life a living hell.
Even if I’m not crying for him, I’m crying for what he took from me. I don’t want to be weak anymore. I shake my head and laugh mirthlessly.
“I think the police chief knew. I tried to tell him once. He just walked away from me. He saw some bruises on my arm a few times, and…” I take a deep breath. “But the police are a different breed. They’re loyal to their own.”
I stare at Liam, pursing my lips. “So no, I’m not friendly with the police chief. I didn’t want him anywhere near me, or my house. I don’t want to think about him, or what he didn’t do when I needed him. I don’t want to be anywhere near anyone who was complicit in… in…” I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “Complicit in my abuse.”
I frown, keeping my eyes closed as I try to stop my lip from trembling. It took me months to say the word ‘abuse’ out loud, and it still makes my heart burn with shame. But this time, when I say it, it doesn’t feel like a slap in the face. It doesn’t feel like I’m a failure for letting it happen. It feels like it happened, and it’s over. I’m stronger now.
Liam squeezes his arms around me and makes a noise. I open my tear-filled eyes and look at him, and he pulls me close. He lays my head on his chest and holds me tight as his heart hammers against mine.
“If he wasn’t dead already, I’d kill the bastard,” he growls.
“Then you’d be in jail, and I wouldn’t want that. You can’t kill a cop and get away with it.”
“I can’t believe… I don’t know what to say.”
I laugh. “You and everyone else in the world. Thank goodness for my sister.”
His hand drifts to my arm, and he touches my scar. “Is this…?”
My heart hardens. “He liked to smoke when he drank. That’s when things got really bad.” I can’t look Liam in the face. I don’t want to see the pity in his eyes. I don’t want to see anything in his eyes. I just want to forget it ever happened and move on with my life.
“Jesus Christ, Ash,” Liam breathes. “You are so strong. So fucking strong.”
That makes me laugh. “Everyone keeps saying that. I don’t feel strong.”
He just inhales and cups my cheek with his hand. I lift my eyes to him and my heart thumps when I see his eyes. There’s no pity. There’s no sadness. There’s no confusion or embarrassment or wanting to avoid the situation. There’s genuine admiration in his eyes.
He strokes my cheek with his thumb. “I won’t let anyone hurt you, Ashley.”
“I don’t think you have that power, even if you’re an almighty Maguire.”
“I mean it. If I can help it, I’ll protect you. You’re…” he sighs. “You’re special.”
“I don’t need a knight in shining armor, Liam. I don’t need to be saved. I just need to be…” my voice breaks before I can say the word.
I just need to be loved.
It hangs between us, unsaid. Liam’s eyes soften and his pupils dilate. He tangles his fingers into the hair at the nape of my neck and pulls me in for a kiss. I shift my legs to straddle him, cupping his face with my hands as I kiss him like never before.
With one hand in my hair, Liam runs his other hand over my breast, down my side, and over my hip to grab my ass. He pulls me toward him, pressing my center against his as he kisses me harder.
A growl rumbles through his chest and I whimper. I can feel him getting hard under me as my own body reacts to his touch.
I want him. All of him.
I reach down between us and unbuckle his belt. In a frenzy, I roll over and kick off my shorts as he tears off his pants and underwear. I watch him reach for his wallet and roll a condom down over his thick, throbbing cock. Then, he turns toward me.
I put a hand on his chest and bite my lip. I nod to the pillow behind him, and his eyebrows arch upward. Following my lead, he lays down on his back. I slip my legs over him and kiss him gently. I kiss his lips, his jaw, his neck. I put my hand on his chest and reach down to wrap my fingers around his length.
He’s hard, and hot, and I’m ready. I slide my wetness over his cock and he groans. Then, I place him at my opening and lift my eyes up to his. His fingers sink into my thighs as I slowly, gently sheathe him inside me.
We both hold our breath.
It’s the first time I’ve had a man inside me in over a year. It’s the first person that I’ve wanted inside me in many, many years.
My body resists the unfamiliar feeling at first. I sink down on top of him as my tight opening slowly stretches for him. He lets out a long sigh as I sit down.
I take a breath, biting my lip.
“Take it as slow as you need to, baby girl.” His voice is low, and soft, and heavy with desire. His eyes are dark as his hands slip over my thighs and gently squeeze my ass.
We keep looking at each other as I start to roll my hips. Hesitantly at first, and then deeper and deeper I take him inside me. He exhales, closing his eyes and pumping his hips up to meet mine.
He fills me up completely. I can feel every inch of him and it feels so right, so good that I could scream. I curl my fingers against his chest and suddenly, my body gives in. Instinct takes over as I bounce on top of him, our wet, wanting flesh colliding as our hands grapple over each other.
He lifts himself up to a seated position, curling my legs around his waist and wrapping his arms around me. Rolling his hips, he pushes even deeper inside me and I gasp. We’re chest to chest, intertwined, connected, and closer than ever before.
He pumps his cock inside me as I ride him. I start screaming without realizing it, and then I hold him tight and leave deep, red scratch marks down his back. My body burns up, every inch of me exploding with pleasure. I sink my teeth into his shoulder as he tangles his fingers into my hair and pushes himself deeper inside me.
When I start to come, he pulls my head back and fucks me hard. My hair is firmly in his grasp and he thrusts inside me with hard, possessive grunts. I gush all over him, riding wave after wave of pleasure as he fucks me into oblivion.
His cock gets even harder, and I feel it pulse as he grunts, thrusting again as he empties his seed inside me. I milk every drop from him until we both collapse in a messy, sweaty, satisfied heap.
24
Liam
We have sex three times that first night, and each time is as frantic as the last. It’s like something has clicked between us, and
the walls that kept us distant have started to crumble.
I watch Ashley sleep for a few, long minutes and I run my fingers through her hair.
I can’t let Adrian hurt her. I can’t let anyone hurt her.
When we wake up, I make love to her again, more slowly this time. I hold her close and kiss her as she comes. I fill her with my seed and then groan contentedly. We don’t say much to each other. She leads me to the shower and washes me gently, and I can’t resist making her come with my hand. Then, I wash her beautiful body and we wrap towels around ourselves.
“Coffee?”
“Sure.” She leads me to her tiny kitchen and puts on a pot. I watch as she hums to herself, starting the coffee and then opening the fridge.
“Eggs?”
“Sounds good.”
“How do you like them? I like them poached.”
“Can you poach eggs? Every time I try it turns into a big mess. The eggs literally explode in the water.”
A smile splits her face. “I’ll show you how. So, first, the temperature of the water is super important.”
I try to pay attention, but I keep being distracted by her smile, or her eyes, or the way the light reflects on her hair. I don’t remember the last time I had a Sunday morning like this. Ashley puts a pot of water on the stove and then nods toward the bedroom.
“I’m going to get dressed, can you watch this?”
“Sure.”
“Don’t do anything until I get back.”
“What, you don’t trust me?”
“I remember the words ‘eggs literally exploding’ being uttered just a couple minutes ago,” she laughs. She gives me a quick kiss and goes to the bedroom. When she comes back, she’s wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and she’s carrying my phone.
“You have a message from your brother. I swear I wasn’t trying to read it, it just flashed, and…”
“It’s fine,” I say, taking my phone from her. “I trust you.” I grin, nodding to the stove. “You should trust me too. No exploded eggs.”
She laughs, and then bites her lip. I frown, and she nods to my phone. I look down and swipe it open. There’s a message from my brother.
Adrian: You get rid of the girl yet? Don’t make this a problem, little brother.
I sigh and toss my phone on the table. I take Ashley’s face in my hands and kiss the tip of her nose. “Don’t worry, Ash. I’m not going to ‘get rid’ of you or do anything to hurt you.” She sighs, leaning her head against my chest. I squeeze my arms around her. “I’m going to get dressed, too.”
I slip into my clothes from yesterday and come back to the kitchen in time to see Ashley taking out two perfectly poached eggs from the pot. Taking my phone from the table, I slip it into my pocket and wrap my arms around her waist.
“I thought you were going to show me how to do that,” I grin, nuzzling my face into her neck. The toaster dings and two golden slices pop up.
“A woman has to have her secrets,” she laughs. She puts the toast and eggs on a plate and hands it to me, then turns back to the stove to make her own.
I sit down at the table and watch her, smiling.
Whatever Adrian says, I’m not letting this woman out of my sight. I’m not firing her or getting rid of her. I’m keeping her as close to me as I possibly can.
For the first time, I feel like I’ve met someone who sees me for who I am. She gets me—flaws and all—and she accepts me. Ashley has been through so much, and yet she still was able to be empathetic when I told her about my running career.
She takes me seriously, and that means more to me than I can say. I’ve always been the jock, the joke, the fuck-up.
With her, I feel like I’m worthy. She makes her own plate and then turns toward me, surprised.
“You haven’t even started!”
“I was waiting for you.”
“What a gentleman,” she grins. She sits down across from me and grins. “I’m starving, and I can say with 10 percent certainty that I would not have been so polite.”
“It’s all those orgasms you’ve been having. You’ve worked up an appetite.”
She laughs but doesn’t answer because she’s already forking eggs into her mouth.
We spend the day eating and laughing and fucking. We order takeout for dinner and watch movies for as long as we can stand without tearing each other’s clothes off. Lying in bed, Ashley sighs and looks at me.
“What are you going to tell your brother?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“At least wait until I get my first paycheck before you fire me,” she grins.
“Don’t worry, I’m not firing you.” I kiss her temple and sigh. “I don’t know what I’ll do.”
“The election is in three weeks, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Well, maybe once it’s over, he won’t care so much. I can lay low, put other people’s name on press releases, hide out in the washrooms if he ever comes to the foundation… that kind of thing.”
“Why, Miss Ashley King,” I grin. “I never took you for a rebel. I thought you were miss goody-two-shoes.”
“You don’t know anything about me,” she says. There’s a hint of something in her voice, but then she laughs and shrugs. “What do you think? Then, once the election is over, you can bring it up with him and explain that the whole thing with the police chief is a misunderstanding. Your brother is free to be as corrupt as he wants to be, and I won’t care. I don’t want anything to do with politics, or the police, or anything. I just want to live my life.”
My heart thumps and I frown. Even though I want her—I want to be with her—I don’t like to hear her talking about corruption. The less people know about my brother and the construction deal, the better.
Doubt worms its way into my heart as I watch Ashley get up to grab a glass of water. I bite my lip. Is this a mistake? Should I be loyal to my family? They did pay for my heart surgery and saved my life, after all.
Am I ruining my brother’s chances at a political career? What if I’ve got her all wrong?
Ashley could be playing me, and I wouldn’t even know it.
But then, she glances at me and smiles. Her smile fades slightly when she sees my face. “Everything okay?”
I force a grin and nod. “Everything’s fine. Just don’t want to go to work tomorrow. Mind if I have a sip of your water?”
She settles in beside me and I try to calm my nerves.
I’ve never been wrong about someone’s character. I’m not wrong about Ashley. Adrian’s paranoia is getting to me, that’s all. I put my arm around her shoulder and pull her close.
“I think your plan is good. We’ll just lay low for the next three weeks and deal with my brother once he’s got what he wants.”
She smiles at me. “Deal. Only if you promise to fuck me like you did last night as often as you possibly can.”
My cock throbs, and a grin spreads across my lips. “Your terms are acceptable, Miss King. I’ll fuck you every single night until you forget that other men even exist.”
She blushes. “I already have.”
My heart thumps, and I pull her in for a deep kiss.
25
Ashley
For the next three weeks, Liam and I try to fly under the radar. His brother only visits the office once during the three weeks, and I just take a long lunch. In the evenings, I go to Liam’s house or he comes to mine. We cook, eat, laugh and make love. A lot. The days fly by, and I’m living on much less sleep than ever, but I’m happy.
I dust off my keyboard and start playing music almost every day. Liam takes me out running with him, and I see his eyes brighten more and more as he does it.
A couple days before the election, I glance at Liam as he’s chopping some onions for dinner. I don’t remember the last time I was this happy. It was when I first met Randy, probably.
I had the same overwhelming, out-of-control feelings for him, too. It scares me to think it might be happening again. Lia
m glances at me and smiles.
“You okay?”
I nod. “Yeah. Just the onions.”
“They’re bad!” He says, wiping his eyes and grinning. I smile with him and try to forget the growing dread in my heart. I don’t know if I’m self-sabotaging, or if there really is something to be worried about. I don’t think my heart can take another betrayal. If Liam turns out to be a different person than I think he is…
I shake my head and take a deep breath. I can’t think like that. Liam scoops the onions into the waiting pot and wraps his hands around me. He nuzzles his face into my neck and I laugh.
“You smell like onions.”
“I wonder why.”
I laugh, twisting in his arms and planting a kiss on his lips.
Even if this all comes tumbling down around me, it has to be worth it. I feel so utterly happy, so complete, so… his. I don’t think he’ll break my heart. I hope he won’t. I just need to let go and trust myself, trust my instincts, and trust him.
At work, we try to keep it professional, but Marcus figures it out pretty quickly. The day before the election, when I think that Liam and I have succeeded in keeping things under wrap, Marcus twirls his chair toward my cubicle.
“So you and the boss, huh? You saucy minx.” He twirls his moustache and arches an eyebrow at me.
“What?”
“Oh come on,” he grins, glancing at Tristan and then Belinda. “We’re not blind. And neither is Liam, obviously.”
A blush creeps over my cheeks and I shake my head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Okay, you can play it cool,” he says, tapping the side of his nose. “I won’t pry.”
I roll my eyes and Belinda laughs. “Give her a break, Marcus. I haven’t seen Liam this happy since… ever.”
My heart grows in my chest, and I steal a glance toward Liam’s office. Tomorrow, the election will happen and we won’t have to be so careful about going out in public anymore.
If Adrian wins, Liam and I can come clean to him about our relationship. We can stop sneaking around. I can explain that I have no special connection with the police chief, and Adrian can run his city the way he wants to.
Love/Hate: The Complete Enemies to Lovers Series Page 30