by Stark, Avery
Liam looked up with his pearly smile and welcomed him.
“Have a seat, old man.”
Arthur plunked down the tray and sank into the seat on Audrey’s other side.
“I may be old,” he said with a smirk. “But I’ll still whip your ass at chess any day.”
“It’s true,” Liam confessed and pulled a few paper plates and plastic forks out of his bag. “How many times have I beat you?”
Arthur scoffed, “Two too many.”
Liam winked at Audrey and went back to work, serving each of them a triangle of the sandwich and a heaping scoop of the tropical fruit salad. As he did, Arthur poured three glasses of the lemonade that he brought.
When they were done, Liam settled back into his seat and shoved a golden chunk of pineapple in his mouth. A small bead of its juice rolled past his full lips and into the light stubble that shadowed his chin.
“Dig in, guys.”
Audrey didn’t need an invitation; she was starving.
True to Liam’s word, the sandwich had layers of Italian meats and sliced artichokes under a dressed salad of greens and balsamic, covered with a red pepper relish that fragranced the entire lot, all of which was pressed tightly between two chewy pieces of bread. When Audrey bit into it, she let her head fall back as the complex mingling of flavors danced over her taste buds. All of the textures and tastes melded together perfectly, from the spicy meats and arugula to the sweet balsamic and pungent garlic.
“Oh god,” she said with her mouth still full. “Where have you been all my life?”
Arthur was kind enough to swallow his bite before he responded, “Liam here is quite the cook. I don’t think anyone misses a party at his place.”
“That’s true, too. It’s always a full house. Which reminds me,” he said and pointed to the hotel’s owner. “You still owe me a bottle of rum.”
“Ask Bessie, I know she’s good for it.”
The two laughed, which prompted Audrey to cut in.
“Who’s Bessie?”
“An alligator.”
“Excuse me?”
Liam quickly took down another bite of his sandwich and continued, “There’s this big bitch of an alligator that comes around sometimes that we call Bessie. Anyway, she showed up during a party last month and Arthur here thought that she would appreciate a drink.”
“Did she?”
“Um, not much, no,” Arthur replied through quick laughs.
“But she did appreciate smashing the bottle and chasing this guy around the yard for a second. I’ve never seen him move so fast.”
Audrey laughed and polished off the last piece of her sandwich. After that, she dove into the fruit that sat in a pool of sugary, fresh juice with the fork that she was given. When it hit her taste buds, the sweetness was deliciously kept in check by a tart spritzing of lime juice. Each flavor, from the pineapple and mangoes to the melon and citrus were perfectly balanced.
“I didn’t know that you Cedar Key folks partied like that,” she said.
“Not all of us,” Arthur answered. “But everyone at least knows how to have a good time.”
Liam nodded his head in agreement and the three went on, finishing their meal quietly amidst the peaceful beach that surrounded them. By the time that they finished and packed away the mess, it was almost 3.
Liam stood up from his chair and stretched his arms above his head with a groan, allowing the bottom of his shirt to pull up and expose part of the thin trail of light hair that ducked down below the waist of his jeans. It was a tempting peek for Audrey; one that she found hard to tear her gaze away from.
“Hey Arthur, do you think I can borrow Audrey for the rest of the day?”
Hearing him say her name managed to pry her eyes up to meet his.
“Why’s that?”
Liam’s arms rested atop his messy hair as he looked down to answer her question.
“I’m playing with a friend over in Yankeetown and wanted you to come and watch.”
Audrey turned to Arthur, who sat back in his chair with both hands folded over his round, full belly.
“I suppose that would be fine.” He looked to Audrey. “Can you be back tomorrow to finish?”
Yet again, Liam took her off guard. She wasn’t expecting to go anywhere that night, let alone to a strange new town with some guy that she hardly knew. But at the same time, she couldn’t resist his rugged, laid-back charm.
“Sure,” she answered and dusted off her white, strapless top. “Why the hell not?”
Liam pushed the re-packed cooler to the center of the sand-beaten table.
“Do you mind if I leave this here?”
“Of course not,” he replied and tapped his nose. “But I can’t promise you that the gulls won’t find it.”
Liam pulled Audrey up from her seat and responded, “If they can get to it, I guess they deserve it.”
“Fair enough.”
The two started toward the door, but Arthur didn’t follow.
Audrey called back to him, “You coming?”
The old man kicked his feet up on the table and propped his hands behind his head.
“Not yet. Susan is up there to handle things for now. I’ll be on my way in a little while.”
“See you tomorrow.”
The two took a quick walk through the lobby and out the front door, where Liam’s beast of a motorcycle waited for them. When she saw it, Audrey stopped in her tracks.
“When you said bike, I didn’t know that you meant a motorcycle.”
He handed over what looked like a brand-new helmet after he took it from where it hung on the left handle bar.
“This place is almost an hour away going sixty. Now if you want to pedal all the way there, you’re more than welcome.” He strapped on his helmet and pulled on a pair of fingerless, leather gloves. “Which would you prefer?”
She pointed to his guitar case, which was propped up against the rough, stucco wall.
“What about that?”
Liam picked it up and lowered the strap over her head so that the hard shell rested on her sticky back.
“I was thinking that you might help me out. You know,” he said and swept the stray hairs out of her face that he messed up with the strap. “I give you a ride on my bike; you give my guitar a ride on your back.”
“What if I blow away?”
He laughed and took the helmet out of her hands, then carefully snapped it onto her head. For a few minutes he fiddled with the straps, making sure that it was on tight. When he was satisfied, he smacked the side of the hard shell with an open palm.
“There. It looks good on you.” He motioned for her to follow. “And you’re not going to blow away. Just hold onto me and don’t do anything stupid. You’ll be fine.”
“I can only promise one of those things,” she replied and watched as he kicked his leg over the seat, lowered down and waved for her to follow. He didn’t even look back, like he had faith that she would eventually arrive.
Audrey pressed both hands into the lowest part of her stomach. The butterflies of nervousness and anticipation were almost enough to make her throw up, but that didn’t stop her feet from complying with Liam’s patient demands.
Her shaking legs closed around the seat’s tight leather and her arms snaked around Liam’s waist. In the front, she laced her fingers together and pinned her body to his.
“Relax,” he said loudly and roared the engine to life. When he continued, he had to holler over the deep, powerful rumble that felt like it was concentrated between Audrey’s thighs. “It’ll be fine.”
By the time that they reached the main road that meandered along the marshy coast, Audrey’s death grip on Liam loosened to the point of almost being acceptable. With the tight helmet’s visor open, she let the hot summer air blast her face. It was so thick that she could almost taste it on her tongue and feel it in her pores.
Audrey leaned forward a little more so that she could rest her head on the back of his sh
oulder and hugged him from behind. When she did, she felt his body respond in the most subtle--though telling--way: the firm muscles that flanked his sides twitched and his breaths started to run a tiny bit faster.
Liam’s shining motorcycle rolled along the western Florida coast for well over an hour, almost two. As promised, he was careful and slow. It made Audrey grateful that at least one man in her life was willing to make good on the vows that he made, though it was one that she never expected.
By the time that they rounded the last two curves in the road and pulled up to the shack-like bar, she silently hoped that he would just keep right on driving.
Only a handful of cars were scattered about the gravel parking lot. Mixed in, three other motorcycles and a single bicycle waited for their owners to return. Liam parked next to the slightly-raised patio and silenced the engine, which left Audrey with a low ringing in her ears.
“See,” he said and looked over his shoulder. “We made it in one piece. Well…two pieces, I guess.”
Audrey squeezed his waist one last time before she let her hands slip away.
“You did good, kid.”
Even though the ride was more relaxing than she expected, there was still a sense of relief as her toes planted back down onto the solid ground and she stripped off the constricting head gear.
Their footsteps rang hollow as they trudged up the rickety stairs that led from the parking lot. Beyond that, a short porch gave way to the entrance of the cozy indoor area. To the left, a few tables littered the path leading to the bar in the rear, where most of the patrons were seated. To the right, a swiveling door was marked for “Employees Only”, while two double doors leading onto the patio sat open nearby, allowing the fresh air to rush through and make the wine glasses over the bar clink and tap their sides together like chimes.
Out on the patio, a surprising number of people filled the tables; close to 40. Liam led her through the crowd and to a table off to the side of the stage, where he finally took back his guitar and motioned for her to sit.
“Kick back and relax. Order anything you want.”
She flicked his finger tips with hers and asked playfully, “Anything?”
He leaned down and kissed her on the lips. It made her suddenly conscious of all the eyes on them.
“Anything.”
Audrey didn’t order much more than a couple waters that night. She was too busy getting lost in Liam’s simple performance; in the talented, powerful strokes of his arm over the guitar’s tight strings.
It was only him and another man, who looked about the same age but sang with a soulful easiness that Audrey hadn’t heard from someone in person before. Between his voice and Liam’s soothing guitar, they serenaded the mingling crowd until the soft lights overhead flickered to life and the glowing sun started its descent below the horizon.
When they finally finished their set and got a resounding applause from the small collection of attendees, Liam returned with a brow full of sweat and a rosy blush from running up and down the strings that covered the tips of his left fingers.
“So,” he sighed and flopped onto the ground near her feet with his guitar still in hand. “What did you think?”
“I think you’re much more talented than I gave you credit for.”
Liam blotted his head with a paper napkin and rested his instrument back in its case.
“What, exactly, did you give me credit for, then?”
She chuckled and answered, “A lot of things. I just didn’t know that you were so good.”
“Well thank you.” He took a few deep breaths and slipped his hand onto her thigh. “It’s getting dark. Do you want to head back now?”
“Not yet,” Audrey said and brushed the hair out of his eyes. She could see that he was tired, but more than that, she could see that he was the kind of guy that she dreamed about when she was younger. One who cared about what happened to her, who wanted to make her happy. Though she still didn’t know if her growing feelings for him were okay, it was painfully apparent that they were there, regardless. “Why don’t we go and get some air.”
Liam nodded and licked his lips.
“You read my mind.”
A narrow staircase near the stage led down onto the beach, dumping both of them out onto the sandy shore. They left their shoes and socks behind on the last step and started toward where the sizeable waves crashed and spread before they were sucked back out to sea.
“Surf’s picking up,” Liam said and looked out to the foamy breakers while he grabbed her hand.
“Yeah,” Audrey said and tucked a fluttering bunch of her hair back behind her ear. There were so many things that she wanted to say, but couldn’t find the right words to express any of it.
They walked for a little while without speaking, letting the constant hiss of the waves and wind fill the lull in their conversation. Around a squat dune, they happened upon a long-fallen tree which was half-buried in the pristine sand.
Liam brought her down so that they sat side by side. His arm dipped down and wrapped around her waist at the exact same time as her phone chirped the arrival of a text message.
Audrey sighed and pulled it out of her pocket. Down on the screen, the first part of a message from Max displayed:
UR BEING A BITCH. CALL ME NOW OR I...
“That’s pretty brutal,” Liam said.
Realizing that Liam read the text made Audrey quietly start to panic.
“It’s, uh,” she searched furiously for something to answer with. “An ex.”
“Hm,” Liam said and helped her slip the phone back into her pocket. “He kinda seems like a dick.”
He put his arm back around her waist and pulled them together tight. It was quiet for a while after that as they stared out to the undulating waves at their feet. As the time slipped by and the sky over them went from a deep navy to the pure black of night, Audrey was relieved that he was willing to drop the issue completely.
“So do you like it here?”
“Of course,” she responded, paying careful attention to the way that his fingers started to inch inward from her hip. “It’s a little windy, though.”
“That’s not what I meant.” His hand eventually left her hip and pushed on until it sat pressed against her soft stomach. “Do you like it in Florida...in Cedar Key?”
Audrey tore her eyes away from the rolling ocean and met Liam’s stare. She instantly locked on his irises, which reflected the beautifully dark skies.
“I’m starting to.”
Those simple words were like pulling the pin on a grenade. In a matter of moments, she and Liam found themselves again entangled in their lust, kissing and massaging each other with a fevered passion neither one expected.
Liam slipped down from where he sat and moved so that he could kneel between Audrey’s legs. With both hands clasped around her face, he pressed their toned bodies together, making sure that the growing bulge in his pants pressed outward against the seam of his partner’s shorts.
When she felt his member starting to grow between her thighs, Audrey couldn’t stop a chill from making her shake.
Liam pulled her closer and asked, “Are you cold?”
She kissed him again and bit the very bottom of his lip as she pulled away to answer, “Not anymore.”
“Good,” he said with a breathy tone and grabbed her ass with both hands.
Audrey closed her eyes and let him explore her feminine curves. His touch was greedy and rough, moving up her shirt and under her bra without hesitation.
Liam massaged both of her erect nipples, sending pleasurable chills racing through her body yet again. Before long, however, they took a decidedly southern path. His probing finger tips inched down over her stomach again but continued on, eventually pushing past the waist of her shorts and into her damp panties.
“Liam,” she gasped and ran her hands over his shoulders.
He shushed her and slipped two fingers into her lonely folds, pushing up inside just enough to
make her moan.
Audrey arched her back and rocked her hips over his hand, letting go of the apprehension that was there just moments before. He was irresistible, which made it impossible for her to stop either one of them from pushing deeper into their taboo lust.
After a few minutes, Liam jerked her shorts and panties down and forced her to sit back down on the rough driftwood log. When he got her there, he pushed her knees apart and started to leave a light trail of kisses that led to her warm, quivering folds.
Audrey’s eyes pressed together and she cried out as his lips wrapped around the very precipice of her slit and he began to suckle in short, quick bursts. She felt him slip his fingers back inside and start to thrust in time with his skilled tongue’s licks.
She ran her fingers through his long hair and used it as leverage to make him go deeper and harder. All of the hurt and fear that she collected only made the desire for him burn hotter. She needed to feel something else; needed to feel the passion whose existence was all but forgotten.
It didn’t take long for the powerful grip of release to take up a spot in the very pit of Audrey’s stomach. Her nails dug down into his scalp and she threw her thighs apart as her screams echoed over the thunderous sea. The waves of pure ecstasy sped through every last nerve.
“Yes,” she cried out and finally opened her eyes to get a good look at him between her legs as she came--almost violently--onto her lover’s fingers and lips.
Liam was careful to ease back out only when she was completely finished. After, he wiped his talented mouth with the inside of his shirt. Audrey watched him carefully but didn’t move. She was stuck against the fallen tree and gasped for air like a fish out of water with knees that trembled so hard she was sure that they would start knocking.
Her partner rose back up between her legs, never once even hinting that he expected her to return the favor.
“I have to get you home.” He leaned over her and pecked her chin. “You’ve got work in the morning.”
Chapter 7
Audrey dipped her head beneath the stinging hot needles of water that cascaded from a shower head just above. So too did the fresh memories of her encounter with Liam the night before.