“More,” I begged, pushing my body back into his hand. Then there were two fingers working at my ass, his hand moving more furiously over my dick, pushing me right to the brink of an orgasm. Then it was all gone, his fingers, his hand, his heat.
Looking over my shoulder to see what was going on, Parker looked down at my body with lust and need in his eyes. I watched as he slicked the lube over his own dick. “Spread your legs a little more,” he directed. Even though they were already shaking, I complied, knowing that I wouldn’t regret letting him take my body hard and fast.
With his cock positioned at my ass, he gripped my hip with his other hand. Once his wide head pushed past the tight ring of muscle, he thrust the rest of the way in. His fingers dug into my skin, bruising me. Our skin coming together in the sound of sex was the only noise in the room. My body was so full, so overwhelmed with the feel of his cock sliding in and out of me that I couldn’t even make a noise.
Changing pace, he leaned his body against mine, his chest pressed into my back. When he slid his hand up from my hip, over my waist and rested it on my shoulder, chills raced everywhere on my body. Hard and fast was what I wanted and holy fuck did I get it. “Fucking hell, Park.” My words were muffled against the cushioned arm of the couch. Arching my back, I let him take my ass deeper, harder. With my neck exposed, I begged, “Grab my throat. Please.”
He stilled for a second, wavered, thought about my request. Then something in him shifted and he relented, wrapping his long fingers around my throat, skimming his thumb sensually over my Adam’s apple. “Your ass . . . fucking shit . . . so hot, so tight . . . I can’t take much more.” His grip on my throat tightened with each hard thrust into my ass. “Ahhh fuck. I’m coming,” he cursed, as he used his other hand to pull my hips back onto him.
My ass pulsed as his orgasm spilled into me, each hot jet of his orgasm an echo of his possessive fucking. Reveling in the feel of his body resting on top of mine, I almost didn’t notice him pulling out of me. Then he was gone, standing behind me, he said, “Turn around.”
Of course I did. My dick, painfully hard and in desperate need of release, jutted from my body, bobbing under its own weight. “Stroke it,” he commanded, his eyes never leaving mine. “Keep going,” he said as he took another step toward me. Close, I was so fucking close. Parker saw it, too. Which was why he drew it out, telling me, “Slow down.”
Wrapping his hand back around my throat, a bit more gently this time, he crushed his lips against mine, kissing me slowly, somehow matching the motion of my hand on my dick with his tongue in my mouth. As he moved from my mouth, to my jaw and neck, I kept my hand at a slow, steady pace stoked the flame of my need for release. On his way down to his knees, his stopped at my chest, tonguing my nipple with fast flicks. With his lips still pursed around my nipple, he said, “Fast now.” Pulling the tip of my nipple in between his teeth, he bit down lightly, sending sparks of electricity everywhere on my body. Yet, each and every spark went right to my cock, swelling it, making it drip. “Fuck . . . Parker . . .” His name tumbled from my mouth like a long, drawn-out curse.
“Harder, Liam. Fucking jerk your cock harder. Make yourself come, now.” His words weren’t needed to let me release. Every ounce of desire I’d had for the man kneeling before me gathered at the base of my spine, raced like fire across my balls, pulling them tight against my body. My orgasm ripped through me like a freight train, threatening to split me in half.
“Look at me.” His voice cut through my haze. When I looked down, his lips encircled the head of my dick, lightly teasing the underside. I couldn’t have stopped myself from coming if I tried. At the sight of my cum hitting his tongue, my body convulsed even more. “I want to taste you. Give it all to me. Now,” he mouthed around my coming dick.
And he took it all, every last drop I had to offer him. His hands roamed over my legs, squeezing my ass, scratching red lines across my skin. My hands went to his hair again as he kissed along the softening length of my cock.
Standing in front of me, he held out his hand and I took it. Without saying a single word, he pulled me into the bedroom, lowered us into the bed, pulled the covers over us, and wrapped his arms around me.
Beyond sated and thoroughly exhausted, we both drifted to sleep in each other’s arms, letting silence be the only words needed for the moment.
The smell of a fresh pot of coffee drifted into my room. Though the bed was empty next to me, Parker’s warmth was still there. And then, as I opened my eyes, Parker walked into my room, wearing only a pair of boxer briefs, holding two steaming mugs. “Mornin,’” he greeted with a lazy smile.
Handing me my coffee, he climbed back into bed. After we’d each taken a few sips, he took the mugs and placed them on the side table. Since it was usually only me in bed, I only had one. “You slept on my side,” I said as he twisted back to face me.
“Then I’ll have to sleep on my side another night.” He winked, still smiling beautifully as he looked at me.
“So.” Nervousness set in. “I know that isn’t the only reason you came here last night.”
“No, it wasn’t.” Laughing softly, he pulled the sheet back over his legs. “But it was a damn good way to get me in the door, huh? And I don’t see you kicking me out, so it had to have worked a little.”
Shrugging, I played it off as coolly as I could. “I guess.” Cool went out the window when he moved on top of me, pinning my hands above my head.
“You guess?” he mocked, running his nose along mine, pushing his dick against mine.
My mouth fell open on a gasp of pleasure and he took the opportunity to capture it in a searing kiss. “You guess, my ass,” he scoffed, laughing as he rolled back onto my side of the bed.
After I sat myself back up, I looked over at him, sipping his coffee with a smug look of victory on his face. “I assume you came here about the other night.”
“Why would you think that?” he asked, sarcasm hanging heavily on his words. “Because I’ve called you every day since you stormed out on me? Your cell. Work. Murray’s. Because I drove past the shop hoping to see your car parked there. Because I was afraid I said or did something to push you away for good?”
Shocked by his admission, and the hurt on his face, I couldn’t say anything at first. “I . . . it’s just . . .” I stuttered before finally settling my racing brain. “There’s so much about me you don’t know.”
“So tell me.” It was a simple request, but he didn’t know the depths of what I had to reveal, the bleak darkness I’d worked so hard to keep hidden from everyone.
“You think you want me to tell you, but I promise you don’t.” Standing from the bed, I pulled on my sweats. “You’ll turn away from me. Anyone who’s ever known does the same thing. And I haven’t even told the entire story to anyone. Even the smallest pieces I’ve shared have been enough to send people running.”
“I’m not an idiot.” Parker’s voice was calm and in control, so different from mine, wavering on the edge of the emotions I didn’t want to show. He stood from the bed as well, walked around to where I stood, and grabbed my shoulders. Though I wanted to pull away from him, the look in his eyes told me not to. “You left my house when I told you about the sexual abuse charges in my case.”
“I–”
“Stop. Just let me finish.” His hands drifted from my shoulders, down my bare arms, gripping my hands tightly. “You don’t have to tell me anything about it right now or ever. It’s yours to tell when and if you’re ever ready.” He pulled us down to the bed, sat next to me and squeezed my hands reassuringly. “Last night when I saw Gabe–”
“He told you?”
Shaking his head adamantly, he said, “No. He didn’t tell me a single thing. I think we both know he wouldn’t betray your trust like that. But I told him what happened. How you all but left a Liam-shaped hole in my door when I told you about my case. His reaction was enough to confirm what I’d already thought.”
Shame crawled over me, an
invasion of insects making my skin crawl and vomit rise in my throat. Looking down into my lap was better than looking Parker in the face. Too afraid to see the disgust I knew would be there, I kept my gaze averted from him.
But he had other plans.
Tipping my chin up with his finger, he grazed a hand softly over my cheek. “What happened to you doesn’t change how I feel about you, how you make me feel when we’re together.” Pausing, he stroked his thumb over my lip. I was becoming accustomed to that gentle touch, the calming effect it had over me.
“So what does this mean?” I asked, finally allowing myself to look into his eyes.
“Nothing and everything.”
His answer confused the hell out of me. “Care to clarify?”
A sexy smile pulled at his lips as he stroked his thumb over mine again. “Well, it means nothing because it doesn’t change how I feel about you, about what I want from us. And it means everything because it’s something that obviously causes you pain.” Parker stopped me as I made a move to defend the part about it causing me pain. “It does. It has to. You literally ran away from me and hid away from me, and everyone else in your life, for days because you were hurting over it.” He shifted on the bed, his leg brushing up against mine, a casual move echoing the intimacy we’d shared.
“I’m sor–”
“Don’t,” he held my hand as if his life depended on it. “Don’t you dare apologize for it, ever. Nothing that happened to you is your fault. Don’t blame yourself for one single second. And don’t apologize for how you reacted.” His lips brushed against mine in a sweet caress. “Just promise me, from here on out, that you’ll talk to me before you run.”
Resting my forehead against his, I whispered, “I will,” because if I spoke in anything other than a whisper, the emotion I was trying my best to keep buried would surely surface.
There was no way on Earth anyone could ever look at me the same when they’d learn about my past. Even Gabe and Paulie didn’t know the entire story. Some things were just meant to stay buried, because if they were ever unearthed, the life I’d built so carefully to cover my past would crumble before my eyes.
“So,” I said on a deep breath. “What do you say we head down to the shop and get started on a few things? Paulie called to tell me some of the parts came in.” The excitement of a little boy came to life in Parker’s eyes. And I knew that his time with me fed him in the same way it fed me.
Our time together helped me forget the person I’d been trying to hide for so long and it helped him become the person he’d wanted to be for far too long.
A smile split my face at that realization. Sure, I’d been an ass for pushing him away at first, but maybe, just maybe, if I did the thing that scared me the most, I might find more happiness than I’d ever thought possible.
Maybe if I let him in, let him repair my cracks while I helped repair his, we might just be able to make it work.
“Bye, babe.” It was still dark, pitch black actually. Liam rolled over in bed, a grumpy sound accompanying him as he did so. Even though he said it was his side of the bed, he hadn’t slept there once all weekend. Not that we did all that much sleeping, but it seemed he’d given it up to me.
“What time is it?” Liam groused, pulling the covers up around his chin. That was another thing I’d learned staying with him the entire weekend. He was a blanket hog.
After sliding on a pair of sweats, I sat on the edge of the bed and tied my sneakers. “It’s just past six.” Leaning down, I pushed his hair out of his eyes and kissed his forehead. “I have an important meeting early today so I need to get home, change and get some shit together.”
Lazily, his arms came out from under the blankets and banded around my waist. “No,” he protested weakly. “Stay in bed.” With whatever strength he could gather, he pulled me down onto the bed.
We laid there face to face, in the darkness of the early morning. The last two days had been damn near perfect. We lived in a peaceful bubble of our own reality that involved eating, sleeping, working on the car, and having sex. It was a pretty amazing bubble.
But, as it always did, Monday brought reality barreling back through the door.
Combing my fingers through his messy hair, I kept my voice low, hoping I wouldn’t wake him up all the way. The time spent between fully awake and fully asleep were the most relaxing and I didn’t want to steal them from him. “Can you get away from the shop around two?”
“Mid-afternoon quickie, huh? Is that all I’m good for?” Liam opened his eyes, one side of his mouth quirking up into a playful smile.
“Mid-afternoon quickie would be amazing with you, but no that’s not what I had in mind.” Shooting him a mock-stern look, I kept running my fingers through his hair. As he blinked the sleep out of his eyes, I fell into their depths. From the first time I met him, I was mesmerized by their color, their truth, and now that I knew about it, their pain. “I was actually thinking lunch. I’ve got a crazy day ahead of me, and I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to make it to the shop tonight to help with the engine, but I still want to see you today.”
He wrapped his hand around mine, pulling it from his hair to his mouth. Placing a soft kiss to my palm, he said against my skin, “Two it is, then. I’ll see you later.”
Giving him one last kiss to the forehead, I pulled the covers back up over his shoulders and chuckled a little as he curled up into a ball.
As I drove home, the glow of the rising sun set the sky on fire. It struck me as odd that I’d left behind the place I wanted to be simply so I could prepare for the place I didn’t want to be. Despite having grown some of a backbone where my father was concerned, I knew he’d never see me for what I was. And as long as I was there, working under his thumb, there was no way any of that was going to change. I’d have to wait until after this case was over to figure out a way to deal with him and with what I actually wanted to do, but the ideas were already coming to me. To say I was excited, and scared shitless, at the prospect of opening my own firm, of finally breaking away from him and his narrow-mindedness, well, that would be an understatement.
By the time I’d pulled into the driveway, the sun was up, blazing the sky in hot oranges and bright yellows. Its task had been two-fold this morning—light the sky, and open my eyes to the possibilities of a much brighter future. One in which I’d hoped Liam was included. Not that I’d call what happened on Saturday a breakthrough, but in a way it was.
He had a past he wanted to erase and I had a future I wanted to escape. We both had our issues, but in some crooked way, we’d figured out how to make our present work, despite the hatred we both felt about other parts of our lives. We hadn’t talked about the demons we were both trying to keep at bay, yet being together halted their progress. That was good enough for now, good enough to make us both happy for the time being. And happy wasn’t something with which either of us had much experience.
It was a good change of pace. But as I walked through the doors of my enormous house, I took in the pure emptiness of the space. Having just spent the entire weekend at Liam’s tiny and beat-up home, I’d forgotten how lonely this place was. Even when he was here with me, my home only served to remind me that I’d bought it to make my father proud. As I closed the door behind me, I shook my head thinking about what a fool I’d been.
Well, as much as all the shit about my father might be weighing on me, it wasn’t the time to focus on it. The meeting with Avery Maxwell and her son was at ten. That gave me roughly three hours to get ready for the meeting I’d been dreading all weekend. Yet, knowing that I’d find out something about what really happened, kept me motivated.
After showering and shaving, I stood before my closet, towel wrapped around my waist. Thoughts of Liam standing behind me, wrapping his arm around me, pressing his cheek against my back, talking to me about the meeting and telling me it would all work out flashed in my head. Even when he wasn’t here physically, he was in my head and it wasn’t at all scary. It w
as comforting and eye opening.
Pulling out my best power-suit wasn’t only about making an impression on Avery. I’d already known all too well how she was very much into outer appearances. I knew exactly what my father would expect and I didn’t want to deal with his shit.
The charcoal Armani would be the perfect look. It was classic, yet modern. But no matter the cut or color of it, it made me feel like I was in control of the situation. Fastening the polished silver cufflinks, I looked down at the Breitling Avenger watch my mother bought me when I took the job at my father’s firm—not like I had much of a choice. Though I despised everything the watch stood for, her support of his antagonism at pushing me into something I didn’t really love, was what hurt the most. I slid it onto my wrist. The deep sapphire face reminded me of my mother’s eyes, of my own. For a brief moment, I thought maybe I hadn’t been kind enough to her, maybe I hadn’t cut her enough slack, but then again, she’d never been there for me. She never once defended me when it came to my father. Maybe he’d had just as much control over her as he did, and still does, over me. And damn him, then, for driving that wedge between her and me. Damn her for letting that wedge stay there for all these years. Fury built in my chest knowing that my family never really knew me. The anger multiplied and turned inward as I realized I’d never stood up for myself either.
A quick look down at my watch told me I didn’t have time for all this self-reflection. I needed to get my ass in gear and out the door, so I could make it to the office in time to meet with Avery and Ashton.
“Where have you been?” Serena’s voice had never been more than calm and helpful, but right now, she was rushed and worried. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with you all morning.”
Blown back by a greeting I wasn’t expecting, I dropped my briefcase to the floor. Fumbling, I pulled my cell out of my pocket. “Shit,” I cursed. “It’s dead.”
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