by Ranae Rose
“I have a better idea.”
He withdrew his touch, and next thing she knew, he’d gathered up all the bed pillows in his arms.
His hands were all over her body as he lifted her, placing the pillows beneath her belly, elevating her hips so that he wouldn’t have to get so low to get inside her. With her hands behind her back, she relied on him to steady her as he positioned the support just right, hands roving to cup her breasts, fingers teasing her nipples, which had long since gone hard.
“Can you get your knees up on the edge of the bed?” he asked.
“Let me try.” She could – it took a little wiggling, but she did it. The resulting position – kneeling with her face against the blanket, hands useless against the small of her back and pussy completely exposed to Liam – sent a shiver of awareness down her spine. She couldn’t remember ever feeling more vulnerable in her life.
The fact that she wasn’t uncomfortable proved how much she trusted him.
“Jesus,” he said. “That should work.”
CHAPTER 21
Alicia was about to agree when a simple sound stopped the words on the tip of her tongue – the noise of a zipper being undone.
The small sound sent another shiver racing down her spine, making everything inside her tighten again. She turned her head as best she could, peering over her shoulder to see him standing behind her, zipper undone, cock shoving against the split teeth, underwear strained thin.
He removed his duty belt, undid the button above his fly. His uniform shirt came untucked as his pants slid several inches down his hips and he jerked his underwear down, freeing his dick.
He looked so good she could practically feel him inside her already. The ghost of a climax rolled through her, stealing her breath and blurring her vision, preparing her for the real thing as she watched him reach for the nightstand, grabbing a condom.
He rolled it over his erection in a few quick motions, then curled his fingers around the base of his shaft as he gripped one of her hips with his other hand.
He was still dressed, the midnight blue of his uniform dark against what little bit of his skin was exposed. His sleeves had been rolled up to bare his forearms and his undone clothing showed a strip of skin at his waist. Then, of course, there was his cock, bare save for the transparent sleeve of the condom. That was it and that was enough to have her biting back a moan, saving it for the moment he’d push inside her.
The floorboards groaned the tiniest bit beneath the soles of his boots as he widened his stance, and as he leaned against her, the mattress made noise too.
She didn’t feel his weight, at least, not in a bad way. The pillows and mattress provided a lot of cushion as the head of his dick nudged the folds of her pussy, sending electricity racing through every synapse in her body, lighting up her nerves, her senses.
Then came the breathtaking moment of entry, the solid shove of his shaft inside her, stretching her inch by inch. There was something about the angle the pillows placed her at, something about him taking her from behind like that. He went deep and hit hard, even though she got the impression he was trying to be gentle with her.
She lost all her breath in a rush, couldn’t even think straight enough to say his name. She was trapped against the bed and him, hands bound behind her back.
She’d never felt anything so intense.
“Fuck,” he breathed, like he hadn’t either. “Alicia…”
Her insides drew tight, reminding her all over again how deep inside her he was, how hard. A burst of sensation swept through her, and she knew she’d come before it was all over, probably sooner rather than later.
The feeling of him rocking straight into her, each deep-reaching stroke building on the last, was so overwhelming that she tried her bonds again – a virtually involuntary reaction – making the little chain go taut.
Being reminded that she was well and truly caught that way until Liam slipped that little key into the lock gave her another thrill, brought her that much closer to the climax she was already aching for.
The bed shifted beneath her, absorbing most of the force of his motion. How many times would she feel it rock like that before she simply shattered, the intensity building inside her reaching breaking point?
She tried pushing back into him, giving as well as taking.
It didn’t work very well and definitely wasn’t sustainable; the pillows were too soft, and without the use of her arms, she had no real way to push back. That didn’t stop Liam from groaning, then thrusting harder on the next stroke, making her forget all about trying to contribute motion from her position over the edge of the bed.
She smiled anyway, lips curling against the comforter. It felt good to hear him react, to feel him respond to her movement, no matter how small. It showed her that he felt every little thing in as much detail as she did, made her think that maybe he was just as close to coming as she was.
Closer, maybe. He was still groaning, gripping her hips with both hands, each stroke deliberate.
She cried out, couldn’t have stifled it if she’d wanted to. He was deep enough now that it felt like he was physically forcing the air from her lungs, filling her body with so much intensity that there was no room for air and no real need to breathe anyway.
At least, that was how it felt. In reality, she found herself gasping, desperate for more air, oxygen to sustain the heightening of her senses, the exertion required to simply ride out what they were doing, whether she was actively helping things along or not. Kneeling bound and bent by the edge of the bed was more work than she’d initially thought it would be; every muscle in her body heated and tensed, unable to keep from responding even if she was mostly still, save for a little writhing.
“Alicia.” He said her name again, gripped her hips harder in one hand while he ran the other up her back, burying it in her hair, holding a thick enough fistful that it didn’t hurt when he pulled back.
Peering over her shoulder again, she met his eyes for half a second – that was as long as she could keep him in focus, as long as she could resist closing her eyes, shutting out sight in favor of devoting her attention to the bliss building inside her.
Breathless, countless seconds slipped by before she reached breaking point, before she felt her climax slipping over her, catching her in its grip before she’d even realized it had begun.
Not surprisingly, she came hard, body shrinking tight around Liam’s shaft, creating friction that burst through her in a torrent, setting fire to her senses. The pleasure moved in waves, leaving her crushed into a million tiny, happy pieces when it was over.
Liam pulled out, and she felt his absence in her core, just like she felt her surprise. “Why’d you stop?”
She’d taken time to catch her breath before speaking, and in those moments, he’d lifted her from the pillows, turning her to stand and face him on shaky legs, supported mostly by his grip.
He brought her down onto the bed with him, lying stretched on the mattress this time. It felt amazing to simply lie there on her side, her body cradled by the bed, tired muscles unchallenged by the new position. It felt even better when he ran his hands all over her body, caressing every curve and then retracing the pattern of his touch on her breasts with his lips, pulling her nipples into his mouth.
“So I could do this,” he said a minute later, turning onto his back and pulling her on top of him.
“I’ll lose my balance.” She was straddling him, thighs spread across his hips. His hard cock pressed against her pussy, pinned between her body and his flat stomach. She still felt the force of his thrusts in her bones and was afraid that if she rode him this way with her hands behind her back, she’d fall face-first onto him.
“I won’t let you fall,” he said, sliding a hand up one of her thighs and gripping her hip. “Come here.”
She was already on top of him, but she knew what he meant. Rising a little, she watched as he took his erection in hand, thick fingers curling around a significantly thick
er shaft. He guided himself to her that way – to her and into her, sliding nearly as deep as he had in their last position.
He was right – she didn’t fall. Her thighs trembled a little but desire made her strong, and it was a delight to be able to rock against him, controlling their rhythm for a while. Best of all, she could see all of him laid out beneath her, could watch his face as his muscles tensed, signaling that he was close.
He cupped her breasts, hands hot against them, fingers teasing her nipples until they ached instead of tingled. When she sighed, he rocked harder beneath her, reclaiming control. His rhythm was powerful and she didn’t try to keep up – just focused on staying upright as he poured himself into her, pushing hard and groaning.
He never let go of her, instead keeping her steady on top of him, until he stopped. Then he pulled her down onto him, held her close. His hands went to the cuffs binding hers behind her back, fingertips slipping over silver metal and her skin. After a minute he released her with the key, rubbing her wrists where the metal had touched.
It wasn’t late – wasn’t even really dark yet – but they stayed in bed for a while anyway. He was probably as tired as she was, and in any case, lying there unmoving, listening to him breathe, was bliss after what they’d just done.
Vague thoughts of an evening in – cooking something easy for dinner, or maybe calling in takeout – swam through her mind, but she hadn’t quite recovered enough to be truly hungry yet.
It was a sound that pulled her out of the haze, bringing her fully back into the present moment. The sound of some faint movement coming from downstairs, not completely unlike the soft whip of fabric she’d heard one evening in her own hallway.
Probably just Holden.
A little shiver raced down her spine at the memory of the time she hadn’t been able to explain, but it was gone quickly. Liam didn’t seem bothered and she couldn’t be either when he was by her side. Lying in the shadow of his body, feeling his arms around her, she felt a deep sense of safety.
“Alicia,” he said, stirring a little beside her, creating deep wrinkles in the already disheveled comforter.
“What?”
“I’m glad you’re here.”
Her smile was reflexive, a curling of the lips she couldn’t have suppressed if she’d wanted to. “Me too.”
“I don’t mean just for the night – I mean I’m glad you moved in next door. Glad we met.”
Her answer was a repeat of her last, and she meant it.
“Really.” One of his hands was on her hip and he squeezed, not to steady her this time, just to impart a deeper touch. “I feel so damn lucky, lying here next to you.”
“Luck is just a step away from fate.”
She’d said it before she’d really thought about it, her words a reflection of the thoughts that had haunted her mind continuously for the past few weeks. What were the odds that she’d meet a guy like Liam, let alone move in next to him, let alone be pushed together by admittedly unusual circumstances… What were the chances, and who or what did she have to thank?
Lucky stars – the universe? Sheer serendipity? She didn’t know, couldn’t stop feeling like life had dealt her a luckier hand with her move to Riley than most people were ever fortunate enough to experience in a lifetime.
Maybe the ghosts and gators and felons were the other side of the coin – there to balance out the wonder of having found Liam.
“You think we’re fated?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Do you ever get the feeling that there’s something moving behind the scenes, making life happen the way it does?”
A part of her felt ridiculous for suggesting that what had begun as voyeurism was a fated relationship, a meeting that’d been destined to happen.
Another part of her felt like everything she’d experienced so far with Liam – even the shower spying sessions – were too good to be true for no good reason.
“Yeah.”
His answer surprised her. She hadn’t expected Mr. Skeptic, who smirked at her ghost stories, to be receptive to an idea as ambiguous and unprovable as fate.
“Really?”
“Have you ever seen a water moccasin?” he asked.
Another shiver struck her. “Ugh. You mean those venomous snakes that live around here?”
He nodded.
“No. Luckily. I think seeing one of those would scare me worse than Brutus.”
“Well I have. More than once, but the first time I saw one, I was nine. I was playing around a creek with some of my cousins – throwing rocks, looking for salamanders and crawfish. Kid stuff. I picked up this stick I saw poking out of the water, thought it would be hilarious to stir up the water with it, splash my cousins. Only it wasn’t a stick.”
Realization crept up on Alicia, and it was like a weight had been dropped into the pit of her stomach.
“It was a snake,” he said. “Water moccasin. I’d grabbed it right around the middle, like an idiot.”
She grabbed a fistful of pillow and squeezed as a queasy feeling settled over her. “What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“It didn’t bite you?”
“No. And I swear, I stood there just holding it for several seconds. Looked right into its eye and saw it looking back at me, dripping with creek water, like it was wondering why I’d bothered it. Then I saw my oldest cousin staring at me and the snake, face white as chalk. That was when it really hit me that I was in trouble.
“I dropped the snake. It landed right in front of me, and I felt its body wriggling against my shin as it swam away, out into the water. It was probably about two feet long, but at the time, that seemed huge. I couldn’t stop watching it until my cousins started screaming. Then we all ran home.
“I was too rattled by what’d happened to try to hide it from my mom. She about had a fit, told me two things over and over again: that I couldn’t play in the creek any more, and that I must have a guardian angel. I couldn’t get the image of that snake’s eye out of my head, like a copper and black cat eye, and I guess I believed her.”
“That’s awful and amazing at the same time,” Alicia said. “I can’t believe it didn’t bite.”
Visions of the horrific water moccasin nest scene in Lonesome Dove crowded her mind, causing goose bumps to spring up all over her arms.
“Yeah. I felt so lucky afterward that I figured maybe there really had been something watching out for me. Maybe it’s just that people are prone to making up explanations for things that defy the odds, but thinking of that snake has always been kind of a good memory for me, as weird as that must sound.”
“Really?” She knew she sounded incredulous, couldn’t help it. It was hard to think that the feel of reptile flesh could provide even the coldest bit of comfort.
He nodded. “That snake had every reason to bite me. But it didn’t. Feels good to know that sometimes bad luck can pass you over for no reason. Makes me think that if I ever end up in another tight spot, things might turn out okay anyway.”
A tight spot? Visions of squirming snakes were replaced by visions of shattered glass. “You mean like at work? Or something related to work?”
“That, or anything, really. Sometimes life takes a bad turn. And sometimes you get lucky. Fate – whatever you want to call it – takes over, and you live to do something stupid on another day.” He flashed her a smile, and the goose bumps on her arms slowly faded.
“I like thinking that too.” Because lately the citizens of Riley County were more likely than usual to find themselves in trouble, and in light of Liam’s job, a little extra luck, or fate, or whatever, couldn’t hurt.
CHAPTER 22
“So just to be clear, I don’t want jewel tone blues in the arrangements. Absolutely no sapphire. I want the lilies to be a pale turquoise, almost sea foam. That way they’ll compliment the satin draping, but won’t overpower it.”
Alicia leaned back in her ergonomically designed chair, glancing longingly out the window with its wonderful
ly maintained antique casement. For once, she was actually in her little office at Wisteria. Talking to the high maintenance bride whose wedding was a mere two and a half weeks away had drained the energy out of her, diminishing her will to stroll the grounds as she spoke on the phone.
“I’ll speak to the florist and make every effort to implement your wishes for the arrangements,” she said, “but this is very short notice, and I’m not sure lilies come in sea foam.”
Actually, she was dead sure that a sea foam colored lily had never sprouted from Earth’s soil, but she knew that little tidbit wouldn’t go over well with her client, who’d need to be eased into reality.
“Flowers can be sprayed in any color, but honestly, sprayed flowers just don’t provide the same aesthetic as authentically colored ones. Spraying also shortens the life of your flowers significantly.”
The bride huffed into the phone. “Well, I don’t see how that’s a problem. The flowers only need to look good for one day.”
“Yes, but I can promise you they won’t look as good as flowers that are allowed to remain their natural color. I know how important an elegant wedding ceremony is to you – I strongly recommend not having the flowers sprayed. Instead, why don’t we consider lilies in a natural color that will complement the aqua draping?”
“Well…”
With serious persuasive effort, Alicia was able to coax the bride around to her way of thinking. By the time she was done, her phone battery was more than halfway depleted. It was only eleven o’clock in the morning, and she had no doubt she’d be hearing from the woman again before the day was out.
So, she decided to make the most of her phone while it was still functioning. Can’t wait ‘till tonight, she texted Liam, knowing he’d see the message eventually.
It was Monday – the day they’d finally be making their trip to Wilmington, having their first ‘honest to God’ date. The Levinson brothers were still at large, but Liam was insisting on taking her to dinner anyway.