“Oohhhh.” She sat up straight and rolled her hips. With her face turned to the side, her arms stretched above her head, and her fingers tangled in her wild red curls.
“Babe… babe, you’re killing me.” I gripping her hips to still them, slid my hands up under her skirt, and hooked my fingers into her g-string panties. With a tug, the strings on the sides of her panties snapped, and I pulled them from her, baring her to my hungry view.
Shaved almost completely bare, there were only a few curls at the apex of her thighs. I threaded my fingers into her curls, and her moisture coated them as I gently slid them through. I found her nub, and my thumb glided over it. I felt it begin to swell. I traced her entrance with my fingers as my thumb continued to massage her clit. Dipping one finger and then two into her center, I moved them like scissors, stretching her walls, massaging her faster and faster.
“Liam!” She shouted, reaching up higher over her head, her chest heaving, her nipples hardening. Her cheeks flushed, masking the freckles sprinkled across them. A little bead of sweat ran down the hollow between her breasts and across her flat stomach, disappearing into the waistband of her mini skirt.
“Liam, I want…” she rushed out, “I want…”
“I know baby, I know.” I rubbed faster, feeling a rush of wetness flood my fingers and drip onto my belly. Reaching down with my other hand, I grabbed my cock and guided it into her welcoming center.
She rose up on her knees and then came down, seating herself on me. Her channel gripped me as she rode my cock, and I drove her higher and higher.
I felt my release. It was so close. The pressure began centered in my cock, and I felt myself swell. Sweat formed beads behind my knees, and my backside clenched as my hips bucked up into Maggie.
“Liam, I’m close. Oh God, I’m so close.” She twisted back and forth, trying to find her release, grinding harder and harder.
“Come for me, baby.” I thrust my hips faster, my thumb still circling her clit. “Come with me.”
“Unnngghhhhh…” Her spine stiffened and I felt her walls spasm around me, squeezing me until I couldn’t hold it in any longer. Finding my release, I rode the wave of my orgasm until we both collapsed, spent.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Liam
“I cleared out this space for you. You can set all your stuff up here.” Maggie led me by the hand to a newly created space beside the dining room table. “After seeing your work station in the cabin, I had a pretty good idea of what you’d need.” She pointed some changes out. “I had a carpenter extend this shelf, take out part of the bench, and turn it into a desk for you. There’s only the two of us, so we still have plenty of space at the dining table.”
“Maggie, this is perfect. You even added more electrical outlets! And ergonomic arms for my monitors!”
“I figured if you didn’t need to use counter space to hold your screen, you could fit more equipment in a smaller space.
“It’s brilliant.” I scooped her up and planted a kiss on her lips. “I’ll start hooking everything up right now!” Practically giddy, I dashed out to my SUV to carry in the first of a dozen boxes in the trunk.
“Liam! Liam!” Maggie stood in the doorway of the bus. “We’re supposed to meet the guys for dinner in fifteen minutes!”
I stopped, the first box half in, half out of the trunk, and looked over at her. “Oh.” I stared down at the box in my hand. “Okay, I’ll just carry them in and then we can go.”
Passing her in the doorway, I kissed her again. I just couldn’t resist her.
“This is perfect, babe. When I’m in the states, I can run the company from your bus and use it as home base. Ben and Leo are perfectly capable of dealing with the day to day office stuff. I’ll still need to travel for work, but I can always come back here.”
My thoughts exactly.” She grinned up at me. “I kinda like having you around.”
Maggie
“Promise me we can still escape to the cabin periodically,” I said.
“Absolutely. I wouldn’t want it any other way.” Liam pulled me to his side and kissed the top of my head.
“I can’t wait.” I looked up at him, so ridiculously happy I couldn’t contain myself.
“You need to get out there. Your fans are waiting.” Liam jutted his chin toward the stage. “Don’t keep them in suspense any longer!”
I leaned up on my tiptoes and kissed him quick and hard before popping in my earpiece. I clapped my hands once, shook the blood into my fingers, and ran out on stage.
“Hello, Dallas!”
I grabbed the mic and started singing. The stage, lights, and fans sent me to that place deep in my soul where the music was born.
I poured my heart into it, feeling the words seep out through my pores with the sweat. The temperature and sound level rose as the fans jumped, gyrated, and sang with me. My audience moved like a single creature, undulating in front of me and feeding my soul with its energy.
I sang through three sets, going on until my body vibrated with exhaustion and my mind soared on a musical high.
Off stage, life was a little different. I had to double my standard security. I had a second-string team vetted by Liam providing not only security for me, but also the entire band anywhere we stayed, and all the venues we played.
If I hadn’t had Liam to come home to, I’m not sure how I would have handled it. Secure in his love, I could chase my dreams knowing he kept me safe.
Liam
Life settled into a routine. I’d spend a week or so with Maggie, running the company, taking on jobs, assigning cases, and sending my teams out on assignments. After a bit, I’d head out into the field. It was nice, particularly on difficult cases. I would assist with the research, and when something piqued my interest, I would head to wherever I was needed. Maybe I’d take out some dictator, rescue a kidnapping victim, put down an uprising, or solve whatever problem needed solving. As a fixer, a company of recovery specialists, Scorpion Securities’ skills were in high demand.
This was Maggie’s big night. I slipped on my black pants with the satin ribbon down the side of each leg. I was just fastening the top button when Maggie wandered out of the bathroom.
Clad only in her slip, she was dewy and fresh from her shower. Her hair was piled on top of her head with tendrils cascading around her bare shoulders.
“Come here.” I wrapped one hand around her waist and pulled her toward me.
“Liam!” She playfully pushed against me, “You’re going to mess up my makeup!”
“Nah. You’re too beautiful for that to happen.” I reached up, pulled the clip out of her hair, and her curls fell in a red and gold cape around her. I couldn’t help myself. I reached out and caught a curl around one finger, tugged it gently, and watching it spring back.
She raised a hand and cupped my cheek as I weaved my fingers through her hair and around the back of her head. I pulled her in for a hit that turned carnal.
“Liam,” she breathed out before wrapping her hands around my biceps and leaning in to kiss me back. All thoughts of dressing for the award ceremony gone, we moved to the bed. I lowered her down and held myself up on my arms above her.
I peppered tiny kisses on her lips and up her jaw. Nibbling the shell of her ear, I palmed one breast and felt her nipple pebble in my hand. Catching the silk of her slip, I inched it up her torso until I exposed her mound. I ran a finger up the inside of her thigh. Her flesh was smooth and perfect. She shivered, wrapping both legs around my waist, and reached for my pants.
That’s all it took, and I was lost.
She freed me from my cloth prison, pulling me out and stroking me. Her touch sent lightning bolts of pleasure through me, and soon all I could think about was burying myself in her hot, wet, center.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Maggie
Looking around, I saw all my favorite people in the audience. Liam sat to my right, looking incredibly handsome in his tux. Eli and the boys sat to my left, prou
d as peacocks and so happy for my nomination.
Liam squeezed my hand as the names were read. I don’t know why I was so nervous. Just being nominated was an honor for a new artist like me.
“And for female vocalist of the year, with her song “Heartbeat to Heartbeat,” Maggie Lane and Indigo!” My jaw dropped, and all the breath left my body. I started to shake. The world around me faded away as my vision narrowed to the man on stage, who held his hand out to where I sat. Did they really just call my name?
The crowd around me went wild. Elijah and the band jumped up and down, hugging each other, and Liam turned to where I sat, frozen in shock.
“Maggie! Maggie! That’s you, babe! You did it! You won!” He beamed down at me with a giant grin stretching from ear to ear and his eyes sparkling.
“I won?” I turned to him in wonder. “I won?!” My hands tingled, and I could feel sweat trickling between my breasts. My heart sped up, threatening to beat right out of my chest.
“I’m so proud of you, babe.” Liam stood, grabbed my upper arms, and gently pulled me up and into an embrace before turning me toward the stage. “Go up there and show the world what I already know—you are a star!”
I stood for a moment on shaky legs before making my way on six inch heels down the aisle. I climbed the steps to the stage to the sound of thunderous applause.
“I—” I cleared my throat while I waited for the cheering to die down. Then I started again. “I don't know what to say. I’m so overwhelmed by love and gratitude for you all. Many of you know this has been a rollercoaster year. But I’m proud to say we survived it. I couldn’t have done it without my band.” I held a hand out to them. “Guys, stand up, please.” Elijah and the gang stood and waved. “And the man who inspired the song and without whom, I can no longer imagine my life. Liam, I love you. We will always be together, heartbeat to heartbeat. Thank you all!”
I held up the award, blowing kisses and waving at the crowd as I floated off stage and back to Liam and the rest of our life together.
THE END
Read ahead for a sneak peak at Noah: The Lost Billionaires, Book 4!
Noah: The Lost Billionaires, Book 4
Noah: The Lost Billionaires, Book 4
Chapter 1
Lena
Crash!
I ducked as a beer bottle sailed past my head, shattering into a million tiny pieces against the far wall.
“Dad, stop!” I screeched, wishing I could physically stop him, but I knew trying would just make it worse. Instead, I stood by helplessly as he grabbed my mother by the hair and dragged her to the table. Her back arched at an unnatural angle, and her face crumpled in pain.
“What is this slop?” He held her face inches from his plate, the veins in his neck bulging as spittle flew from his drunken lips.
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I’ll make you a fresh plate!” She would promise anything to appease him, trying to keep him from smashing her face into the oily, congealing mess.
The nine of us had sat for dinner hours ago when it was still a hot meal of sausages, baked beans, and corn. They were all cheap but filling foods she had scrounged from damaged or ‘expiring soon’ sales at the mini mart where she worked.
“You’re damn right you’ll make me a fresh plate! How dare you serve me this cold shit!” He yanked her hair again, pulling her away from the plate, and knocked it to the floor with one hand as spun her around to face him with the other. In the blink of an eye, his fist flew into her face again with a crack! The kids behind me cried out.
The impact of fist to flesh threw her backward into the counter. She barely managed to grab hold of the formica edge and stop her trajectory before she fell to the floor.
“I’ll make you a new dinner right now. Just give me a minute.” It took both her hands to hold herself up and turn herself around. She paused for just a moment, bracing herself against the counter before shuffling to the refrigerator with one arm wrapped around her bruised ribs.
“I’m so sorry. I tried to keep it warm.” She turned away from where we huddled, trying to hide her blackening eye. I viewed my mother like an outsider looking in. She appeared decades older than her forty years with thin, stooped shoulders and shaky hands. My siblings and I stayed silent as we watched her grab a clean pot to heat the beans and a pan to cook fresh sausage, which she removed from the now empty refrigerator.
Instead of coming home after work to the hot, fresh dinner Mom had ready for him, Dad went to the bar to drink up his paycheck. Now inebriated, a violent slovenly beast, we were all paying for it. There was no telling how long this drunken rage would last.
“You!” He swung to look at me where I stood at the kitchen table with my siblings huddled around me, all of us too afraid to move or make a sound. Anyone who dared disturb his buzz was swiftly rewarded in pain.
I slowly lifted my head to look him in the eye. We all learned quickly in this house that even a hint of sullenness or insubordination would be met with violent discipline. Our father wasn't going to tolerate misbehavior from his kids. Fist, belt, or any handy object would do. We had felt them all at one time or another.
“Yes, Daddy?” I squeaked out. Even at 21, I was cowed. I still lived at home under his iron fist. I had no other options. Not yet.
“Move your ass. Clean this mess up and get your brothers and sisters to bed. Your mother and I have things to discuss.” He swung his head back to look at her. “And hurry it up. I worked hard all day and I’m hungry.” He teetered drunkenly before falling into a chair.
“Yes, Daddy.” Dropping my eyes, I shooed the kids into the other room with a wave and a whispered, “Go on. Get ready for bed.” They scattered in a hurry, relieved to be out of the danger zone. When I was sure they were all out of the kitchen, I made my way to the sink to stand next to my cowering mother, and grabbed a sponge.
“Hurry up, girl. Ain’t no one gonna want to marry a slowpoke. I hope that fancy night school isn’t giving you any ideas.” He tugged on his suspenders, stretching them out before letting them snap back against his chest. The thin elastic strips were the only things keeping his pants up under his voluminous gut. “I keep telling your mother that when a man works hard all day, he wants to come home to a hot meal, a quiet house, and a willing wife.” He slapped her ass, making her jump.
Chuckling at his effect on her, he went on. “I can’t believe I have to put up with this shit. You would think she woulda learned by now.” He puffed his chest in proud display. “This is what I get for taking on an ‘educated’ woman.” He took his place at the table, hitching his pants up over his gut again before sitting to survey ‘his women’ at work. “I don’t know why I let you take those damn night classes. You should be home helping your mother. You got responsibilities to this family.”
I silently dropped to my knees, running the sponge over the worn but previously sparkling clean floor, now littered with the drying bits of his dinner.
“But I’m a good father. I let my kids get their learning.”
“No, Daddy.” I shook my head. “I’m not getting any ideas.” I crawled to his chair to wipe up the last of the beans. “My classes don’t get in the way of my responsibilities.”
“Good. Now git.” He pushed me back with a knee. “I don’t want to hear another peep outta those kids for the rest of the night. Tell ‘em they’ll be sorry if I hafta come in there.”
“Yes, Daddy.” I stood, dropped the bits of food in the trash, set the plate in the sink, and rinsed the sponge. Hip to hip, I exchanged silent words and knowing glances with my mother before slipping out of the kitchen. On high alert, I crept down the hall to the bedrooms, making sure there was nothing out of place to set my father off. Even a stray sock or a glass left on a side table could bring pain down on us all.
The four boys shared one room with bunk beds on both walls. Twins Pete and Andy shared one set and baby Toby and my brother Russ shared the other. We kept a chair pushed up against Toby’s mattress to keep him from rolli
ng out at night. The four of us girls had the other room.
I hurried them all through washing their faces and brushing their teeth, cycling them through our one tiny bathroom. Afterwards, I quickly herded the stragglers back to their rooms and tucked them in before going to stand at the small window at the end of our room. I leaned my head against the glass, the faint glare of a street lamp falling across my face. I closed my eyes and dreamed of one day getting out of here.
“Lena!” The feedback screech from the intercom penetrated my concentration as I sat transcribing a pile of notes.
“Yes, Mrs. Buckingham.” I paused and stood, facing the big desk behind the glass walls at the front of the room.
“The boss needs a girl to take notes at a meeting. You’re up.” She peered at me over her spectacles, the long beaded glass chain swung, framing her gaunt, wrinkled face.
“Yes, ma’am.” I smoothed my skirt and walked from my desk at the back, up past everyone who had been there longer than me, to her monstrous desk in the ‘fishbowl’ at the very front.
“Third floor, Lena. Don’t be late.” Ms. Buckingham pronounced imperiously when I finally stood next to her. She handed me a fresh legal pad and two pens and pointed wordlessly at the elevator against the far wall.
“Yes, ma’am.” I bobbed my head at her and then turned, tucking stray hairs into my bun as I hurried to the elevator. I hugged the notebook to my chest, wobbling a bit as I tripped on a bump in the floor along way.
Liam: The Lost Billionaires, Book 3 Page 16