“You are so fucking amazing. Do you see that?” he asked, then he turned her head again. Forced her to face forwards. Directly across from the shower were the sinks and mirrors. She moaned when she saw their reflection, his sinewy arms wrapped around her naked body, his head leaning down to kiss along the shell of her hear.
“We're amazing,” she whispered back.
“Damn straight. Now move that fine ass, I have some pretty big plans for it.”
Ayumi had never had sex in her parents' house, so it felt odd, knowing she was in Liam's mom's home. Even with the assurance that everyone was gone, and would be gone for a while, she was nervous. On top of that, she wasn't in the habit of running around naked in front of anyone. Standing in a steamy, dimly lit shower was one thing – a fully lit hallway was another. She basically sprinted ahead of him, hurrying into his room and kneeling on his bed.
“Glad to know you're this eager,” he laughed as he came into the room behind her. Liam clearly didn't have the same issues with his body and he strutted around naked like it was something he did all the time. Her tongue got stuck to the roof of her mouth as she stared at him. Surfing did a body really fucking good, it seemed.
But then she realized he was reaching for the light switch.
“Wait!” she said, holding out her hand. “No lights.”
“What? Are you getting shy on me now?” he teased as he walked towards her. “I just had my tongue in your vagina - with the lights on, I might add.”
“So? In the dark is just as good,” she replied, raking her fingers through her damp hair. “Sometimes it's even kinkier.”
“Miss Thing, you do not want to be talking to someone like me about kinky,” he chuckled low in his throat as he leaned over her.
“Why not?”
“Ayumi, I own a sex club that also hosts sex parties and conferences. I could probably fuck you in ways you didn't even know were possible.”
“That's, um ... interesting.”
He kissed her slowly as he forced her back on the bed. It wasn't completely dark in the room – the blinds were drawn, but sunlight was still creeping in around the edges. It was enough to just barely see each other.
“So one of your kinks is having sex in the dark?” he whispered against her ear, and she shuddered when he bit down on her earlobe.
“I don't think I have a kink,” she replied, then she gasped when he bit down even harder on the side of her neck.
“Sure you do. I already know what one of them is.”
“Really? Enlighten me.”
“Control,” he breathed as his mouth traveled down to her breasts. “You like to be in control.”
“No, I don't.”
“You control sex by making deals,” he said, then smoothed his tongue across her nipple. “You control the relationship by determining when sex is going to happen. You control your life by denying everything that doesn't fit into your grand scheme of things.”
“Doesn't seem like I'm in control right now,” she was starting to pant as his hands squeezed and molded her breasts.
“That's only because I'm so very talented,” he chuckled, sweeping his hand down her flat stomach.
“Oh yeah? Prove it.”
And for the next hour and a half, Liam did just that.
I should've slept with a sex club owner a long time ago ...
HER THROAT WAS SORE from shouting. Her ass was stinging from spankings. Her hair was a massive knot on the back of her head, and she was pretty sure she'd been fucked so hard, she'd actually developed a case of asthma.
So. Incredibly. Worth it.
When Ayumi had approached Liam about reinstating their deal, she'd been pretty confident that he'd be down for a booty call. She'd had no idea, though, how much pent up sexual energy the man stored. He was like an energy bunny. The only reason they weren't still having sex was because she'd begged for a break. Literally begged, the whole way through her third orgasm.
Just a teeny, tiny break.
Liam had granted her a reprieve, but only because she'd asked so sweetly, then he'd informed her he was going to finish the shower she'd interrupted. Then he'd smacked her on the ass before walking out of the room, jauntily whistling as he went.
A couple minutes later, and she felt like maybe she could feel her bones again. She sighed and moved around so she was laying properly in his bed. She buried her head under his pillows, breathing in his scent. But she was still hot from their little work out, so she kicked the sheets away from her legs.
Wow. Wow. She didn't care if sleeping together was a mistake. Sex with Liam was so good, it didn't matter. She was pretty sure she'd seen her own brain. The very things that kind of made him awful – his ability to see through women and know what they wanted and then use it against them – was also what made him so good in bed. He knew exactly what to say to her, how to touch her, how to get her completely revved up.
Ayumi hadn't had a lot of sexual partners, but she'd had her fair share, and she could honestly admit Liam was the best. At everything. Anything. When their little vacation was over, she hoped he'd be willing to keep the arrangement going. She didn't want to find someone new. He may have had lots of bed partners for options, but Ayumi's pickings were slim.
That thought made her wince and brought her back to reality. Liam was also good in bed because he'd had a lot of partners. He slept around. So what was heart attack inducing for her was probably just more of the same for him. How did she compare? How could she compete? She didn't like feeling inadequate, not around him.
She was so lost in her train of thought, she didn't hear the bedroom door opening. The pillow was covering her face and she had her eyes closed, so she didn't notice the lights in the room being turned on. It wasn't till she felt his fingertips against her leg that she even knew Liam was in the room.
“Ayumi,” he said in a soft voice. “What is this?”
His touch was brushing down the inside of her left thigh, and she swallowed thickly.
“It's nothing,” she finally responded.
Why isn't he in the shower!? He was only gone like five minutes!
There was silence for a second, then he was lifting the pillow off her head. The harsh overhead light was on, blinding her for a second. When she was able to look around, she saw him sitting next to her, his toiletry bag on the mattress by his leg. She gripped the sheet to her chest and pushed herself upright, but when she started trying to tuck her legs back under the blanket, he stopped her by gripping onto her ankle.
“Talk to me,” he urged. “What happened to you?”
She let out a deep breath and watched as he pushed her leg back so the inside of her thigh was showing. She stared down and tried to hold still as he touched her again.
Both their eyes followed his finger as he traced it along a scar. It was almost ten years old and had faded to almost her natural skin color, but it would always be raised up and ugly. Starting at the top of her thigh, it was over six inches long, and easily half an inch wide. Thank god she'd done it on the inside of her leg – anywhere else, and it would've been impossible to hide.
“I did it,” she said simply, tucking her hair behind her ears.
“You did this!?”
“Yeah.”
“Jesus, with what, a weed whacker?”
“A butter knife,” she replied, and Liam's eyes snapped to hers.
“Why did you cut open your leg with a butter knife?” he asked point blank. She shrugged.
“I was young. Stupid. Like ... seventeen? Eighteen? And I was mad at everyone and the whole world and mostly myself,” she tried to explain.
“So you ... what? Tried to kill yourself? Became a cutter?” he pressed. Anyone else and she would've been offended, but Liam had a way of talking about the strangest things and situations as if it were all no big deal. He made her feel at ease.
“No, it wasn't like that. My mother is a very demanding person,” she said slowly. “Like whatever you're thinking, she's more than
that. I was a straight A student, I was a valedictorian, I had a four-point-two grade point average when I graduated high school. You know what she said to me?”
“What?”
“She said 'well, it's not a four-point-five, is it?', and then she didn't even come to my graduation,” Ayumi told him.
“Fuck. Now I can see why you like my family so much.”
She nodded.
“Exactly. Nothing was ever good enough, and she always had to be in control. She picked out my class courses, she dressed me, she signed me up for extracurricular activities. I didn't have an identity. So here I was, this like shell, and I'm always being told I'm horrible at everything and ugly and stupid, and I guess ... I just wanted my outsides to match how I was feeling inside,” she told him. He was starting to frown and she couldn't stand it. Couldn't stand pity. That's why Wulf was the only person who knew the whole story – pity didn't come naturally to him.
“That's awful, Ayumi,” Liam said.
“I had just gotten accepted into Stanford. Harvard had wait listed me. She told me I was an embarrassment to her, that I was too stupid and too ugly to go somewhere like Harvard. I finally snapped. I took a pair of scissors and cut up all my school clothes, then I locked myself in the bathroom with the knife and I didn't stop dragging it up and down my thigh until my father got home. He had to break down the door to get me out.”
There was silence for such a long time, she finally glanced up to make sure he was still there. He was still sitting on the edge of the bed, now staring back down at her scar.
“But it was a really long time ago,” she assured him “I was a teenager, all stupid and hormonal. I would never do anything like that now.”
“That's why you wear the tights,” he mumbled.
“Excuse me?”
“You're always wearing tights, or stockings, or pants,” he pointed out. “Or that ridiculous bathing suit cover. It's because of the scar, isn't it?”
She nodded and leaned forward, pressing her palm over the old wound.
“Yeah. It's ugly. I know I'm not ugly, I know she just said those things to hurt me. To control me. It's funny, I cut myself to take away the pain from her words, but now that I'm old enough for her words to not matter, the scar has branded them on me forever,” she said with a small chuckle.
Liam let out a soft moan, then shocked her when he bent down and gently kissed her scar.
“It's not ugly,” he breathed, moving and kissing her knee before he sat upright again.
“Liam, it's horrifying. Any time anyone sees it, there has to be this long story, then a bunch of pity I don't want. It's just easier to hide it and keep everything in the dark,” she explained.
“You're beautiful,” he said, finally staring her in the eye. “Every part of you. Including this part. You should never hide it. Own it. Those were her words, but this is your body. You need to reclaim it for yourself.”
She was shocked to feel herself tearing up.
“I wouldn't even know how,” she sniffled, looking away from him.
“Then I'll help you figure it out,” he whispered back. Ayumi smiled.
“You know what?” she said, tapping her fingers down her scar. “I'm really glad I came on this trip, Liam.”
“Me, too, Ice Queen. Me, too.”
10
Liam could tell that Ayumi was genuinely sad to leave his family the next day. Shocker, considering she'd never wanted to meet them. But she hugged every single one of his aunts, and practically had to be dragged away from him mother. He was pretty sure he even saw her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
It made him feel good, though. He really did love his family, and they were awesome people. They liked to make other people feel good, and Ayumi could definitely use some goodness in her life.
After the scar discovery, Liam had gone back to his shower. Stood under the spray for much longer than was necessary and stared at the floor.
What the fuck is going on?
First they're fucking in his laundry room. Then going their separate ways. Then she shows up on his doorstep and next thing he knows, they're glimpsing each others souls in his mother's house.
He hadn't planned on liking Ayumi Nakada, mostly because he never really had. Sex was just sex; he had sex with lots of people he didn't like – Brighton Stone being the perfect example. Ayumi's little arrangement was right up Liam's alley. Good sex with a hot chick with no commitment and no need to pretend to be something he wasn't? Sign him up!
What he'd gotten instead, though, was fucking amazing sex with a beautiful human being. She hid it well because she let a scar full of words control her entire personality, but underneath it all, Ayumi really was beautiful. Goddamn stunning.
If she could just see it for herself.
So Liam added it to the list of things to do while they were on vacation. Teaching someone their own value, though, was kind of difficult, so he started with the easiest thing to teach her first.
“Wait, what are you doing?” she asked him after he'd stopped the car along some utility road in the middle of the Los Padres National Forest. “Are we allowed to be here? That sign says it's for forest service use only.”
“Don't be such a baby,” he chuckled as he climbed out of his seat. “Slide over.”
“What?”
When he opened the passenger door and started to push her, she seemed to get the idea and she slid over till she was behind the steering wheel.
“Everyone should be able to drive stick,” he informed her as he sat down. “What if you're caught in the zombie apocalypse, and the only get-away vehicle is a manual?”
“I don't believe in zombies. I don't want to do this,” she insisted, staring down at the pedals as if she'd never seen any before.
“It'll be fun. Okay, first of all, push the clutch in,” he told her, then he burst out laughing when she started looking at the dashboard.
“What? I've never done this before, jack ass!” she snapped, punching him in the arm.
“The little pedal, way over there on left, by itself,” he said, leaning across her and pointing at it. “Push it in with your foot and hold it down. The car won't turn on if you don't have the clutch in.”
She got those instructions well enough to get the car on no problem, but then she immediately took her foot off the clutch. The car hiccuped and the engine died.
“What did I do? Did I break it!?” she exclaimed, holding up her hands like she was under arrest.
“No. Try it again, but keep your foot down. You can't let out the clutch till your pressing down on the gas, okay?” he said. She did as told and the engine roared to life. “Now, this is the tricky part – making the car go. You want to ease off the clutch slowly, all while pressing down on the gas. It may take a while to get the hang of it, but it'll happen.”
“Got it. Okay. I can do this!” she said through clenched teeth, and she started to move her feet.
Fifteen minutes later, Liam wasn't so sure. They'd bunny hopped quite far down the service road, but she still hadn't been able to get the car rolling forward. She seemed incapable of understanding what he meant by “ease off” and as soon as the car would start to move, she'd dump the clutch.
“Stop!” he finally shouted after the umpeenth time.
“I told you I didn't want to do this,” she grumbled. He raked his fingers through his hair and glanced around, then got an idea.
“Here, we're going to do this old school style,” he said, then he squeezed in close to her and reached down between her legs.
“Um, I don't think that's going to help me, Liam,” she told him.
“You wish I was fucking you right now,” he snorted, then he grabbed the bar under her, forcing her seat to slide backwards.
“Why did you do that? Now I can't even reach the pedals,” she complained, stretching her legs out.
“But I'll be able to. Scooch forward.”
It was awkward at first, and she set off the horn when she leaned agai
nst the steering wheel, but eventually Liam was pretty much sitting behind her. She was between her legs, her ass sitting uncomfortably on his crotch. He tried to adjust himself and got a glare thrown at him.
“This is supposed to be a driving lesson, not a lap dance.”
“Good, because you suck at lap dances,” he replied. Before she could argue more with him, he grabbed her hands and put them back on the steering wheel. “Okay, my feet are on the pedals. Put your feet over mine and feel what I do. We'll drive for a little, then you can try again.”
He got them all the way to second gear, then together they turned the car around and started back down the way they came. Finally, after letting her feel him shift a couple times, he stopped the car.
“If I can't get this, we're giving up,” she warned him, turning the ignition.
“If you can't get this, then you're not nearly as smart as I think you are,” he replied.
He stretched his arms out along the back of his seat and waited. She took several deep breaths, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the steering wheel. Then she leaned back into him, looking down so she could check on her feet. One more deep breath, and he felt her leg starting to move. Slowly, very slowly, she let out the clutch, while at the same time pushing down on the gas.
It was excruciatingly slow, and the car shuddered once, but it didn't die. They eventually rolled forward and magically kept going. The clutch was all the way out and she hadn't kill the car.
“I did it!” she squealed, slamming on the brakes. The car hacked and leapt forward, instantly dying. “That doesn't count, I was excited. I got it to move!”
“You totally did, Ice Queen. Good job,” he laughed, reaching around her and holding out his hand for a high five. She slapped him on the palm, then even did a fist bump.
“Now I would so survive a zombie apocalypse. Can I try again? Can I shift this time? When do I get to learn how to do a donut?”
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