by Leah Holt
Shaking my head, I kept my gaze on my feet. “I didn't know that.”
Stopping short, Liam's arm reached out and snagged my wrist. Turning me on my feet, I stumbled slightly from the sudden change in direction. But he didn't let me fall. His strong arm swept in, curling around my waist and tugging me into his chest.
He didn't speak as his other hand came up and captured my jaw, tipping my head up so our eyes connected. He held me, never looking away, never loosening his hold on my waist.
Dragging his tongue over his bottom lip, Liam's thumb traced the curve of my jaw, following the line in one slow stroke.
Oh my god. . . What is he doing?
Is he going to kiss me?
Every nerve, every vein and strand of muscle in my body came alive. I could feel his heart beating through his thumb as he held it against my skin and cupped my chin. I could feel the air between us, growing thick and dense.
His chest puffed as he took in a long breath, exhaling warm air over my face. He was drawing strings from my arms, forcing them to gently brace his chest as I found solid ground to cling to.
Kiss me, please kiss me.
Parting his lips, he leaned in, gently placing his mouth on mine. And I accepted, tilting my head to give him room to kiss me deeper.
My mouth opened, tongue tempting the edge of my lips as he slipped his inside. Licking and tasting, my eyes closed, giving in to the drunken lust and forbidden freedom one single kiss was able to deliver.
I felt lighter than air caged in his arms, safe and protected against the world.
Liam pulled away, causing me to wobble on my feet, dizzy and woozy from the feelings he left me with.
With a tight smile, Liam stepped back and ran his hand through his hair. “Did you know that I've wanted to do that all fucking night?”
Lifting my fingers to my lips, I touched the warm skin, still able to feel his shadowed presence. Shaking my head, I tried to catch my breath. I couldn't think, I couldn't find words or capture letters to make a sentence. My brain was blank, fumbling around the sensations he drummed up.
Braiding our fingers together, he started walking again. “Do you want me to walk you hom—”
Cutting him off, I told him exactly what I wanted. “Back to your place, walk me back to your place.”
His fingers tightened around mine, tender yet greedy. “Let's go.”
I didn't want to go home. I wanted to finish what his kiss started. I wanted to feel more of him, I wanted him to touch me, to caress me, to deliver a sliver of goodness in this fucked up world.
The city was still, a few cars drove by here and there, and the occasional light was on in a window of the buildings we walked past. But most of the city was asleep, long before we left that bar. The distant chirp of sirens and the echo of a dog filled the silence around us.
I liked it, I liked feeling like we were the only ones there. In that moment, the city, the street, the sky and the moon—it was all ours.
“I'm up here, around the corner.”
“Wait, you're staying in the Hull?”
“Yeah, why?”
“That's the most expensive place around.”
Shrugging his shoulder, his fingers tightened around mine, thumb rubbing the nub on my wrist. “It's home for now.”
“How long are you staying for?”
“Until I get what I came for.”
“You still haven't told me what that is.”
Liam's lips thinned as his eyes settled on my face. “I thought I knew before, but things have changed. Something special brought me half-way across the country, and it's not what I expected at all.”
“You're not going to tell me what it is, are you?”
“Nope.”
The hotel's front plaza emerged as we rounded the corner. Granite steps led up to a set of double glass doors. The center of the glass was frosted with the hotel name etched over the surface in looping swirls of calligraphy.
“I can't believe you're staying here.”
Glancing down on me, his head tipped into his shoulder, a single brow arching high. “And why's that?”
“I don't know, it's just that most of the time the only people I know that stay here are senators and the occasional famous actor or musician.” Staring down at the steps, I watched the black onyx swim in long streams through the white marble. “Most of the tourists stay over at the Gully or the Red Swan.”
“I'm not most tourists.” The doors slid open and I followed Liam to the elevator, hand in hand. Nodding at the receptionist, he hit the button and looked up at the glowing arrow.
I felt out of place and under dressed for that hotel. Looking down at my dirty jeans and paint stained sneakers, I uneasily twisted my toe into the fancy marble tiles.
“You alright?” he asked as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open.
“Yeah, I'm fine, I just don't feel like I belong here.” Plucking at my shirt, I looked myself over. “I mean look at me, I'm a mess.”
“You're not out of place here. If anything, this place doesn't fit you.” His smile warmed me, making my stomach do acrobatic tumbles.
“Thank you.” Stepping onto the elevator, Liam pushed number twenty-three, and before the doors even had time to close all the way, he was on me. His hands came up and tangled in my hair, his lips found my neck kissing and nipping.
Moaning softly, my head tilted back, giving him all the room needed. My sex was hot, throbbing and pulsing as his hands traced my ribs and teased the trim of my pants.
“Fuck, Glory, it's been hard as hell to keep my hands off of you.” Teeth nibbled the tender skin behind my ear, his tongue swirling over the surface and gently suckling my earlobe. “You have no idea how fucking hard it's been not to touch you. The walk here was torture.”
“I've wanted you to touch me, I've been waiting for you to touch me.” The words spilled out as I exhaled, my fingers curling around his back to pull him closer.
Everything about us was raw, primal, driven by lust and desire. My brain had shut down, running on adrenaline and alcohol.
Did I know what I was doing? Absolutely.
But what was making the choices and decisions was debatable. I could say I was in charge, I could say that my mind was working at full speed and all of this was planned.
Except it wasn't. The day had scarred me, it had made me want to hold onto something that made me feel good.
Because losing everything was too much for me to bear. It hurt, it stung, it created an open gash in my heart that needed immediate fixing.
And he became the glue I wanted to mend me.
Liam's mouth found mine, his tongue dancing over the ridges. We were lost in each other, the passion and need all consuming.
The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened to release us into the hall. But we didn't break apart from each other. Liam guided me backwards out of the elevator, his mouth still on mine, refusing to let go. Our steps were awkward and unbalanced as his arm wrapped my waist and my hands raked through his hair.
Reaching a door, he pushed me against it, trailing rough kisses down my throat as he pulled the key card from his pocket and unlocked the door. Throwing it open, Liam's hands gripped under my ass and lifted me off my feet.
Yes! Take me, give me something good to remember.
Kicking the door shut behind us, he carried me to the bed and threw me down. The mattress squeaked beneath me, replacing my voice. I didn't need to tell him what I wanted, my body said enough.
Looking up, his face was no longer that of a man, it was no longer human. . . He had turned wild. Fueled by sexual desire, Liam had lost all sense of himself and was being guided by animal instinct.
And I was ready for him to devour me whole.
Tearing his shirt over his head, he climbed on top of me, digging his fingers into my hair and tugging at the roots. “Fuck, I need you, Glory.” His words took shape over my skin as he whispered into my ear.
Arching my back, I exhaled a labored br
eath. “Take me, fuck me, just make me yours.” Rolling my hips, I opened my legs wider, pushing my mound against his lower belly.
“I'll make you mine, I'll make you mine over and over again.” Thick fingers tore my jeans open, ripping them down over my legs in one quick pull.
Throwing them to the floor, Liam raised up and started unbuttoning his pants. His cock was engorged, pushing angrily against the coarse fabric, begging to be set free.
My thighs shook, belly scrunching up tight as nerves ran rampant and fired off electric snaps. I needed this so fucking bad, I needed to feel a release, I needed to feel him.
Kicking his jeans to the floor, his thick dick stood firmly behind his boxer briefs. The gray, form fitting fabric left little to my imagination.
I could see everything. His length pulsed, crown jumping out, trying to touch me.
Holy shit.
“You want that?” he asked, following my eyes to his hard muscle.
Biting my lower lip, I nodded, touching my neck and rolling my head to the side. Rubbing his hips with my thighs, I ran a single finger down my belly and stopped at the trim of my panties.
Liam let out a throaty growl, ripping my panties off in one pull. Pushing my shirt up, he fondled my breasts, pinching and plucking my nipples. “I'm going to make you scream, I'm going to make you remember me for the rest of your life.”
My pussy ached, wet and swollen. “Fuck me, stop talking and just fuck me.”
Slipping his boxers down, his cock bounced free. Gripping the base, Liam guided it towards my entrance. Rubbing the crown up and down over my clit, my body trembled.
The tender bundle of nerves on my sensitive button sent a wave of heat coursing through my body. There was no up and down, there was no day or night. I was fixated on the drug before me, ready to take my first hit.
My pussy grew wetter and wetter as the tip of his cock teased my entrance, forcing me to whimper with a hard exhale.
His eyes never left mine, they stayed there, stopping the seconds from ticking away, and slowing down time. It was just us, nothing else. There was no hurt, there was no sadness or anger. Suspended in a permanent fragment of time, the world had shrunk down to two people.
Liam and myself.
Leaning over the edge of the bed, I heard him rustle around in his jeans. Foil paper cut through the air as he tore open a condom and slipped it swiftly over his hard dick.
With one push, he was buried deep inside my pussy, his cock stretching my walls to their max. Lowering down onto his forearms, he started off slow. Rocking his hips, he pulled away, then drove back in, each thrust deeper than the last.
My lids snapped shut, back jumping off the bed, as my heart steadied inside my chest. It was as if he was feeding my body, like I hadn't eaten in ages and he was keeping me alive. In that moment, I needed him more than the air around me.
Pistoning his hips, he slid in hard, hitting my lower belly. Everything went silent, I couldn't hear his lungs as he took in thick breaths, I couldn't hear my heart as it careened around inside my chest.
All I could do was see. I saw him, felt him, embraced him and what he stood for.
Liam was my hero, he was my savior, and right then. . . He had become my freedom from everything weighing me down.
His heavy breaths raked my throat, each grunt a soft burst against my skin. Thrusting with animalistic vigor, he forced my body to move little by little up the mattress.
Curling my nails into the blanket, I held on tight, wrapping my legs around his waist. Moaning, I met his pace, gyrating my hips and forcing my clit against his furry base. His lips captured mine; kissing me, tasting me, ravaging me with a deep seeded passion I could feel in my bones.
“Mm, fuck, Liam.” My voice was scratchy and harsh.
I felt the tingle in my stomach, growing and morphing as his speed picked up and his cock thickened inside me. A thin sheen of sweat coated his chest, making him sparkle in the soft light of the hotel room.
He looked like a Greek god with his muscles flexing and his hair falling into his eyes. It felt surreal to be in his arms, to feel him inside me. A few hours ago I didn't know him, I had no clue he even existed.
And in a blink of an eye, he had become my everything.
The tension of the day melted away as his fingers dug into the small of my back, holding me still as he fucked me.
His thick cock teased my walls, forcing my thighs to spread like butterfly wings as my pussy milked his length.
Unlocking his lips from mine, Liam suckled my tit, nibbling on the pebbled bead. Dragging his tongue across my chest, he bit the other nipple and rolled it between his teeth.
“Harder, harder, don't stop.” Goosebumps jumped off my skin as the orgasm took shape, forcing my stomach to clench. I was ready, standing on the edge of insanity and eagerly waiting to jump.
And as the orgasm swept in, stealing me away, a small piece of my soul broke off and claimed this man. He was no longer just an ordinary guy, he was my safety.
Thrusting his hips, he gave one last hard push, and stilled on his arms above me. His cock throbbed, jerking violently and pulsing its life blood into the thin skin separating us.
Rolling off me and onto his side, he slid the condom off and dropped it into the trash beside the bed. Laying his arm over my stomach, he pulled me into his chest. I felt him nuzzle his face into my hair, as his fingers tickled up and down over my spine.
He didn't speak, I didn't speak, and we both drifted off to sleep.
I didn't think about what we had done. I hadn't allowed my brain to use its rational side or tell me that I wasn't thinking this through. My body had been in charge, calling all the shots.
And as sleep came in and took hold, I didn't think about my gallery or what had happened. I didn't think about the stress I had been dealing with or the assholes who were trying to take it away from me.
Liam's arms held me close, they made me feel like I was untouchable, and that reality could never reach me.
For that one night, I was happy.
* * * *
I felt the warm sun on my face as a soft glow lit the back of my lids. Blinking my eyes open, I felt a surge of pain slam into my skull.
Clutching the sides of my forehead, I rubbed vigorously, trying to ward off the hangover before it hit me like a tsunami with no remorse.
The light stung my eyes as I opened them wider, searing my pupils like hot needles. Rolling over fast, I groaned, stuffing my face into the pillow.
Memories of the day before flooded my brain, and I shot up in the bed, raking my nails through my hair. Glancing around the room, I tried to piece together all the images flashing behind my eyes.
Liam's hotel room. . . I'm actually here.
In my drunken state and alcohol hangover, my first thought when I woke up was that it was all a dream. That we had parted ways after the bar and the rest was just my crazy imagination.
That was not the case.
Looking around, the bathroom door was open, but the light was off inside, and Liam was no where to be found.
“Liam?” I asked, calling out. No response.
The wide, open room, blended with a full kitchen, and a small nook, with a long beige couch. But he wasn't anywhere I could see.
Where is he?
Lifting a hand to Liam's pillow, I touched it gently, and felt that it was cold.
He's gone. He's been gone.
The room was dead silent, and all I could hear was my heart pounding inside my chest.
I was a one night stand.
The thought made me cringe, angry and frustrated at myself for allowing it to go that far. In the moment, in my alcohol induced state and angst over the destruction, I had allowed myself to be free.
But that freedom had gone too far.
Pressing my fingertips into my temples, I squeezed hard. I felt ridiculous for what I had done. Swooned by sex appeal, muscle, and pure lust, I tossed my morals out the window for one night of passion.
&n
bsp; It was good while it lasted. You knew what you were doing. He never promised you anything.
It was just sex, plain and simple.
I wasn't sure why, but that stung. The thought of just being a quick roll in the sack with Liam hurt. It was a bad ending to an already horrible day.
Scooting to the edge of the bed, I pushed the tips of my toes into the plush carpet and looked around for my things.
My jeans were on the floor, my shirt was on the nightstand, my bra was sprawled out over the chair beside the window. But my panties. . . Picking them up off the end of the bed, I held the torn and ragged lace in my fingers, they were unusable.
Dropping them into the trash by the bed, I pulled on my clothes and grabbed my purse. Taking one last look around, a small piece of me was hoping to spot a note laying on the table or the dresser. There was nothing.
Another stab sliced my heart, forcing it to beat lazily. I wasn't sure what I expected really. I guess I just didn't think that he would take off while I was sleeping and leave me like that.
There weren't really any expectations. So why was I surprised and sad to see he was gone?
Slipping my feet into my sneakers, I ran my fingers through my hair and fixed it the best I could, eventually pulling it back into a low pony tail.
Standing in the elevator, I hit the button for the lobby. I didn't have time to wallow over this little bump in the road. I had shit to do.
Just forget him already. He did a nice thing, and he showed you a good time. That was it.
Rolling my eyes to myself, I leaned back against the wall, anxiously ready to be out of the hotel and as far away from any reminder of Liam I could get.
I'm not going to forget him, who am I kidding?
The memory would always be there, and there was no doubt it would bring a smile to my face.
He was too good to be true.
I should have known, I should have expected that to begin with.
I wished I had the ability to see what was coming, I wished I had the foresight of the road I was about to travel. It would have made everything a hell of a lot easier.
Unfortunately, crystal balls didn't exist in the real world.
Because this wouldn't be the last time I would see my knight in shining armor.