Winter Heat

by Jennifer Lucia

  “Oh, stop," I said, pleased. "You know, you don't look half bad yourself." Liam rubbed my neck softly, stroking back and forth with one finger. I shivered in anticipation. After a long moment, he removed his hand and cleared his throat. "I'll just get the truck started, and we can head out." He strode out the front door.

  I packed all my essentials into my clutch while I waited- lipstick, gum, and my burner phone. Liam honked the truck horn, and I hurried to the front door and grabbed my coat on the way out. I double-checked the locks and bounded down the stairs, avoiding the icy patches scattered down the walkway so that I didn't fall flat on my face in my admittedly not so snow friendly heels. I managed to make it to the truck safely and hopped into the passenger seat and buckled up.

  The town hall that the Winter Ball was being held in was only a five-minute drive, but Liam managed to stuff those five minutes with safety warnings and assertions that we would leave at the first sign of trouble. I nodded my head and rolled my eyes at these unnecessary warnings. I was buzzing with excitement as we pulled up to the building and Liam cut off the engine.

  “Okay, repeat back to me what we’re going to do in here,” Liam said, turning to me.

  “Dance, drink, blurt out our true identities and reason for being in Langdon Falls," I answered. "I know what to do, Amos, my unemployed Floridian husband. Let's go have fun now."

  Liam's mouth was set in a humorless line as he double checked that he was armed. He got out of the truck and came around to the passenger door, extending his hand to me after swinging the door open. I grasped it tightly as we walked to the city hall entrance, ostensibly for balance on the slippery ice. We walked through the front door hand-in-hand and were immediately greeted by Daisy and Dolores.

  “Amos! Agnes! You guys are stunning!” Daisy exclaimed. Dolores looked Liam up and down with an appreciative wink.

  “You know, young man, if you can't find work in construction, you could always try your hand at modeling," Dolores said, leaning into him.

  I quickly glanced at Liam's face in amusement but turned back to Daisy when I saw his displeasure. Clearly, she had told the townspeople quite a bit about us. Real story or not, Liam was bound to hate the violation of his privacy. I locked eyes with Big Mouth, who was clueless about Liam's displeasure. I wiggled my eyebrows and tried to communicate with her. Stop talking. Daisy looked at me quizzically, mouthing What? I sighed and steered the conversation in a safer direction. “Is there anything to drink? I’m parched, and far too sober.”

  “There’s some punch over there by that wall in the corner, and there are sodas, wine, and beer next to the punch bowl,” Daisy said.

  “Agnes, let's go get something to drink," Liam said, taking me by the elbow and leading me to the drink station. Once we were out of earshot of Daisy and Dolores, Liam leaned in close to my ear and whispered, "Your friend has a big mouth."

  “Well, good thing she doesn't know anything real about us," I hissed back at him. I was determined to have a good time tonight, and sitting here and getting chewed out by Liam wasn't exactly my idea of a good time.

  The ensuing silence gave me a chance to take in our surroundings. The organizers had taken great care to decorate the City Hall meeting room for this party. Red and green drapes glistening with sparkling snowflakes and tinsel adorned the walls. Ornaments ranging in size from miniature to beach ball hung from every ceiling tile, and the room was lined with eight-foot-tall fir trees, all decorated in different themes. The beach-themed tree was the best, and the safari-themed tree was the most confusing. The room looked wonderful.

  I handed Liam a cup of punch and poured one for myself, taking a gulp. I sputtered, coughing and gasping for air. Someone had dumped quite a bit of vodka into the punch bowl. Liam smirked at my coughing fit as he sipped his drink. I took Liam by the hand and led him around the room, pointing out interesting trees or people. He nodded disinterestedly, casually scanning the room for threats. I tugged at his hand, causing him to look down at me.

  “Lighten up, would you?”

  Liam frowned but didn't get a chance to respond. "Isn't the punch lovely?" Dolores asked, appearing beside us with a gaggle of older women trailing right behind her. They were all ogling Liam, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by him. His mouth tightened in a grimace that Liam must've thought passed as a smile, and held his hand out to each lady as Dolores introduced them one by one. I was introduced similarly, but I was far more polite about it. The group of ladies was very interested in hearing all about the newcomers here on vacation from Florida ("How exotic!" declared one woman), asking us question after question. Liam looked desperately uncomfortable.

  People were starting to filter onto the dance floor as the spiked punch took its effect. Liam grabbed my hand and excused us from the giggling women. “If you’ll pardon me, ladies, I'm going to take my wife for a spin around the dance floor." He nodded tersely at the women and left them swooning behind us as Liam led me to the dance floor.

  A Norah Jones song came on just as we stepped onto the tile, and Liam grabbed me by the waist, placing my arms around his neck. I smiled up at him and settled my face into his chest as we swayed. I was starting to feel the effects of both the spiked punch and the slightly too warm room, and my head felt pleasantly heavy. I squeezed Liam’s neck tightly and sighed.

  "How are you enjoying the ball, Mrs. Day?" Liam murmured. I lifted my head from his chest to look into his face. He scanned the room again, then his eyes settled on me, crinkling at the corners.

  “It’s wonderful,” I said. “Thank you.”

  Liam inclined his head to whisper in my ear. “You look beautiful tonight.”

  I caressed the nape of his neck, smiling. “You said that already.”

  “It bears repeating,” he replied, moving his fingers back and forth on my hips. He gripped and pulled me closer to him, fitting me tightly against his groin. I looked up at him in surprise. His normally sardonic expression was replaced with a new look, one of raw hunger. The evidence of his arousal jutted against my right hip, causing me to gasp lightly. Despite our layers of clothes, it was evident that he was blessed in that department.

  “Liam,” I whispered, closing my eyes as his fingers worked their way to my lower back.

  "Ssh," he said, kissing my neck. I turned my head and captured his mouth in my own. I stroked my tongue against Liam's, pulling him closer to me. He bit my lower lip, making me moan. Wetness pooled between my legs, and I pulled his arousal flush against me, rubbing him as we kissed. Liam's fingers tangled in my hair, messing up my curls, but I didn't care. I wanted him all over me, in every inch of me. I was lost in him and this moment, and I was ready to tear my clothes off right then and there.

  I heard a faint clicking sound just before I saw the flash. Liam stiffened, letting go of my hair and looking around in alarm. “Fuck.”

  “What?" I asked stupidly, unsure of what was going on. I was thoroughly aroused by our kiss and wasn't thinking straight. I rubbed the lip that Liam had just been biting and had to refrain from launching myself back into Liam's arms.

  “Someone just took a photo of us," Liam said. My arousal was doused with that cold bucket of reality, and I gawked at Liam. He grabbed me and pulled me back to him, resuming our dance. "Act normal. We'll finish this dance, then make our excuses and go home."

  “Chances are we aren't even in that picture," I said as we continued to sway awkwardly. "Don't overreact before you have a reason to."

  Liam looked at me mockingly. "You're unrealistically optimistic. Come on. We're not taking any chances. Let's go home." The song had just ended, and Liam took me by the hand and pulled me off the dance floor. I tried to tug my hand from his grasp to loosen the tight grip he had on me but to no avail. Liam made his way through the crowd, ignoring the waves from people bidding us goodbye. I glued a smile on my face and tried to look happy about being dragged out of the dance by my caveman husband.

  Liam only stopped to get our jackets from coat check, then got int
o the truck parked right out front. Liam opened the passenger side door, slamming it shut as soon as my feet were inside. He came around to the driver side and hopped in, putting his keys in the ignition. He paused, leaning his head against the steering wheel in silence. I placed my hand on his arm in concern but pulled it away when he reared his head back and started smacking the wheel repeatedly.

  “Damn it!" Liam ran a hand through his hair. I kept silent, not wanting to say anything to make him angrier. Liam started driving, not looking at me during the entire drive home. Once back at the cabin, Liam got out of the truck and slammed the door. He stomped up the front steps, leaving me to get out of the truck by myself. I opened the door and jumped down lightly. I walked slowly into the cabin, dreading the coming confrontation.

  When I got into the living room, Liam was standing with his arms crossed waiting for me. “We were incredibly stupid tonight,” Liam said. I nodded. “I would never have agreed to go to that dance tonight if you hadn’t kept nagging me.” Nagging? “Or if you weren’t so beautiful that I’m desperate to do anything to please you. Or if I thought about anything other than getting you naked and underneath me.”

  I inhaled sharply but furrowed my brows as Liam took a step towards me angrily. "You know nagging is a sexist term, right? You've got to stop saying that."

  "Shut up, Kelsey." I shut up as Liam stopped right in front of me, looking at me with eyes blazing, searching, deciding. He seemed to come to a decision, and his mouth came down on mine hard, punishing, firm.

  I moaned into his mouth and grabbed his face. He pulled off my coat without breaking our kiss and lifted me up by my hips, carrying me to the wall and pinning me there. The slightest pull, and my legs opened wide of their own accord, allowing Liam to align himself against me completely. I gasped at the sudden contact of his erection to my soaked panties. Liam trailed kisses along my neck as his hands explored, going from my hips to my breasts, which he palmed through the thick material of my dress. I looked on, mesmerized, as he worked my body like a fucking fiddle.

  “Do you know how sexy you are?” he murmured, kissing me again. “All the things I’ve been fucking dying to do to you since I first saw you in that office? You’re unreal.”

  I didn't say anything but responded by kissing him deeply instead. Liam was the one that was unreal, I thought as his hands explored lower and lower. He reached between my thighs, fingering the black lace of the thong I'd worn tonight. Liam grinned as he ripped the underwear off me in one move. He winked at me while putting it in his back pocket.

  “Naughty boy,” I whispered, grinning back at him.

  “You haven’t even begun to see how naughty I can be.”

  “Show me." I bit his ear, spurring him on. I gasped when he licked his thumb and placed it directly on my clit. Liam rubbed back and forth as I writhed, needing more. He drank in my reaction, his jaw clenched, his eyes never leaving mine. I gyrated my hips, and Liam plunged a finger into me, crooking it so that he made contact with my G-spot. I screamed. After weeks of sexual tension, I was ready to fall apart in Liam's arms.

  “That's it, baby, come for me," Liam urged, pumping his finger in and out of me as his thumb worked my clit. "You promised to do as I say for the next week. Come on my hand. I command it." My breaths were getting shallower and faster now. The tension in me was building towards the edge of something fierce. Liam took my earlobe into his mouth and sucked, and I broke apart with a cry. I rocked on his fingers as I rode out wave after wave of my climax, eventually going limp in his arms. Liam placed a gentle kiss on my head and lowered me from the wall to the floor. I stood on shaky legs, looking at him through a haze of desire.

  “Let’s go to bed,” I said, taking him by the hand.

  “Kelsey," Liam said. I turned back to him and was bowled over by the dark desire in his eyes. I pulled him down for a long kiss, smiling up at him, then pulled him into the bedroom, where we stood facing each other in silence.

  I pulled my dress down slowly, standing before Liam in just my heels and necklace. His eyes drank me in thirstily, and the bulge in his pants was painfully hard. Liam shook his head slightly to clear it, then pulled his pants off while maintaining eye contact with me. He pulled the covers back and jumped into bed. He patted the space next to him, and I grinned, then climbed in next to him and slid my body against his. I reached under the covers and grasped his erection.

  Liam hissed softly at the pressure and his hips lifted in encouragement. I stroked up, holding Liam's gaze so that I could savor his every reaction. He leaned forward to kiss me, and our tongues danced while I continued to stroke up and down, increasing my speed but never changing my grip. I watched Liam's breaths grow shorted when I played with his sac. I used my finger to put pressure on the sensitive area just below his sack and his eyebrows furrowed. Liam shouted his release and ropes of hot, sticky liquid jetted onto my hands. I wiped him and my hands off on the bed sheet, then gave Liam a peck on the lips. He smiled at me languidly, gathering me up into his arms and placing me on top of him so I was straddling him. I leaned my head against his chest and sighed.

  “I’m sleepy,” I said, tracing circles in his chest hair.

  Liam grunted. I looked up at him through my eyelashes. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was becoming slower and evener. He was falling asleep.

  “Kelsey?” he murmured.

  “Yeah?” I looked up into his tired face.

  “We’re never taking a chance like that again,” he grumbled.

  I prepared myself for a fight, but Liam had fallen asleep. I shook my head and leaned my head back down on his chest, closing my eyes. Our fight could wait for another day.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  I wake up bound by my hands and feet. The dark basement that I'm in is vaguely familiar. I struggle against my restraints and begin desperately searching for any means of escape. I'm alone here, and the only objects in this windowless room with me are the chair I'm bound to and the ropes that are tying me.

  I get a flash of deja vu as the door opens and the silhouette of a large man appears. He pulls the door open wider, the light revealing his face. I suck in a breath as Jack Nelson comes closer to me. His handsome face is twisted into something darker, sinister as he walks toward me with contempt.

  “So you think you can hide from me, bitch?” he sneers, kneeling in front of my chair.

  I shake my head, hot tears falling onto my cheeks. “No. Jack, please.”

  “Please?” Jack leans into my face. “Please what? Please don’t do what you have coming to you for being a filthy fucking liar? For being a typical woman?”

  I tremble, hating myself for being so afraid, so weak. Jack leans in closer, grabbing my shirt and ripping it open. Jack stares at my bare skin, entranced. “All that pretty, unsullied skin. So pale. I wonder what your body looks like under that skin.” He pulls a knife from his waistband and slides it over my torso, increasing the pressure as he scrapes it from my belly button to my breasts. His mouth twists with distaste. “So unsightly. I’ve never understood the appeal. Maybe I can do you a favor and remove them?”

  I cry out as the knife's pressure deepens, causing blood to dribble down onto my lap. The tears start flowing harder now, and everything turns black.

  ***

  I awoke with a start, sitting straight up in bed. Liam was fast asleep next to me. I sighed, grateful that I hadn't been vocal during my dream. I couldn't explain why, but I didn't want Liam to know that I was still having nightmares, or that they were becoming more frequent and more vivid. I pushed myself up off the bed, wincing at the wet spot that my sweat had left behind. I swung my legs out of bed, being careful not to wake Liam as I tiptoed to the bedroom door. I grabbed my robe and wrapped it around myself before quietly shutting the door behind me.

  I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as I padded into the kitchen to start the pot of coffee. After pouring my cup, I stood at the kitchen sink, staring out into the snow. What if that picture had captured my face last ni
ght and it somehow became public? Up until now, I hadn't thought it was possible for Jack to find me in this tiny town in New Hampshire. Had I taken a stupid, fatal risk all in the name of alleviating boredom? Had I inadvertently placed myself in danger? I usually think of myself as a pretty smart cookie, but I had been stupid last night.

  Last night. One thing I didn’t regret about last night was Liam and his miraculous fingers. I grew warm at the memory of his touch, my anxiety melting away as the memory of his kisses set me aflame. I raised my mug to my upturned lips and sipped my coffee as my mind wandered off into happier territory.

  A brawny pair of hands encircled my waist, startling me from my reverie. I lowered my mug and leaned my head back against Liam's bare chest. I smiled up at him over my shoulder. "Good morning." Liam placed a light kiss on my temple. "Good morning," he murmured. He twisted me around to face him, lifting me up and placing me on the kitchen counter so that my legs cradled his hips. "How'd you sleep?" he asked, his fingers idly toying with the edge of my robe.

  “Great,” I lied. I leaned forward eagerly, urging him to finish what we’d started last night. Judging by Liam’s morning wood, he was just as eager as I was. I grabbed the nape of his neck, pulling him down to me and kissing him deeply. He pulled back from the kiss and pushed the sides of my robe down, baring my breasts. Liam's eyes widened, and he grinned wolfishly. "No clothes? Naughty girl." I bit my lip as I nodded. "You know, you should consider making this a permanent change. You can stay here all day, waiting for me in the buff."

  My laughter died as Liam's head dipped down. He took a nipple into his mouth and rolled it softly between his teeth. I moaned and threw back my head, grasping the kitchen counter for balance. Liam palmed my breasts, kissing one, then the other, looking up at me through his auburn eyelashes the whole time. I squirmed to relieve the pressure between my legs as that spot grew heavy and swollen. He held my gaze, asking me a silent question. I nodded jerkily.