by India Lee
She was no longer mad. But of course, she wasn’t about to let Liam know that.
what do you think i told you this would happen liam
i’m sending my friend randi from college to check on you. she lives in omaha
Amanda giggled to herself as she sent the messages. She was having entirely too much fun watching the ellipses indicating Liam’s typing on her iPhone screen, laughing as they paused and came back over and over until he finally settled on a response.
Tell Randi to go home. I’m just watching a movie in the hotel room. I’m fine Amanda.
Amanda snorted as she sent an instant reply.
liam. all I want is for her to see you for one second and tell me that you’re actually fine and not actually still at the hospital and that I’m not actually texting terrence rambis right now because he’s trying to cover the fact that you’re actually hurt really badly.
Amanda wasn’t even sure that last text made sense but she didn’t care. She was laughing too hard at this point, her giant sunglasses sliding off the bridge of her nose. Clutching her bare midriff, she reassured Harper’s driver that she was indeed laughing and not crying, eventually catching her breath enough to read the sudden flurry of responses that came from Liam.
Jesus Christ
Say actually one more time
I told the front desk. You can take a deep breath now
“Such an smart ass,” she giggled to herself, hardly able to contain her excitement to see him any longer.
Upon finally arriving at the big, shining chain hotel at which Liam was staying, Amanda snorted to herself, realizing what her visit probably looked like to the hotel staffers behind the front desk.
“Here you go, Miss… Randi.” The coiffed gentleman in the navy blazer offered her a stiff smile as his eyes darted from her floral bustier to the shorts that were almost too short to be considered real clothing. In her rush, Amanda had hardly noticed just how small they were. Now, she couldn’t stop laughing to herself over them — especially since they probably solidified the front desk’s suspicions that she were some escort or former one-night stand of Liam’s who had come to keep him company during his briefly extended in Nebraska.
“Thank you, love,” Amanda flashed a brilliant smile as she accepted the room key, turning peppily on her espadrille before strutting away. “Love,” she decided, seemed very much like a pet name that a “Randi” would call someone. Either that or she was just enjoying her disguise a little too much.
Upon stepping out of the elevator onto Liam’s floor, Amanda did a quick check of her reflection in her phone, making sure that none of her straightened auburn hair was sticking out from under her wavy blonde wig. She figured that tricking Liam into believing “Randi” for even a second was a low price to pay for startling her with yet another health scare.
Without so much as a knock, Amanda slipped her key into Liam’s door, shutting it quietly behind her upon realizing that he wasn’t in the main room of the suite. Setting her tote bag on the floor, she crept in her espadrilles across the sitting room and to the cracked door of the master bedroom, through which she could hear a sports program of sorts playing on the TV. With her fist frozen next to her ear, she savored the silence for a couple more seconds before giving the door several sudden loud and hard knocks.
“Coming in!” she announced in an obnoxious voice, pushing open the door despite Liam’s protest.
“One second — ”
Standing in the doorframe, Amanda stared in surprise at Liam in bed. Her mouth curled into a wide smile as she savored his utter discomfort and confusion as he stared back at her, his left foot elevated on the bed and his right arm frozen mid-reach toward the love seat, on which his black basketball shorts were strewn.
“Really. You were going to open the door for Randi without pants on?” Amanda asked, her attempt to stay in character totally shattered by the sight of Liam in just a T-shirt and boxer briefs. He didn’t answer her, appearing still completely confused.
“What the… fuck?” he finally squinted and in a way so uncharacteristically lost that Amanda had to coo.
“Hi. It’s me,” she giggled, removing Harper’s sunglasses along with the headband. She shed her shawl cardigan, letting it drop to the floor so that she was down to the blonde wig, bustier and shorts. Liam’s eyes swept her from head to toe as he slowly resumed his upright sitting position. Very slowly, the corners of his lips began to turn up. “I told you I’d come after you if you got hurt,” Amanda said, her head tilted as she watched Liam’s eyebrows ascend, his gaze pausing at her bare midriff.
“This… isn’t a dream.” He shook his head. “I’m not on enough painkillers for this to be a dream.”
Amanda frowned as she took a seat at the foot of his bed. “How many painkillers did you need? What exactly happened?” she asked, gingerly touching the bandages wrapping both his ankle and foot. Liam seemed not to hear her question. He sat up straight, slowly shifting himself closer to Amanda with his left leg still extended and elevated. “Stay still,” she scolded. “Your ankle needs rest.”
He heaved a sigh, pushing himself back against the headboard. “Then come closer.” Amanda scooted over a few feet, just enough for Liam to take her hand. He stroked his thumb against her palm. “Okay, so it is you.”
“I told you that. Now tell me what’s going on with you.”
“Sprained ankle. Broken toes. Not a concussion,” Liam answered distractedly, his eyes on the hem of her shorts as he gently tugged on her arm. “Why won’t you come closer?” he frowned, looking probably more frustrated than he meant to let on. Amanda smirked, crediting the painkillers for the lack of his usual ability to hide emotion.
“This is your punishment for putting me through this again.”
“It’s not as bad as Terrence is letting them report it. These are all injuries that ten-year-olds get in gym class. All I need is to rest one day.”
Amanda withdrew her hand from his, clucking playfully. “You could’ve let me know about the actual severity by answering my calls.”
Liam frowned as he stared at his empty hand, his ability to detect her tone apparently impaired by the medication as well. “I was getting cleared from the hospital. And I didn’t think a few missed calls would lead to you hopping a plane to Nebraska.” He paused. “Not that I’m complaining at this point.”
Repositioning herself so that she knelt on the bed, Amanda gathered her blonde waves around her shoulder. “Fine. Well, now that I’m here, I’m not going to waste my time being mad at you,” she said as if she hadn’t made the resolution hours ago.
“Good,” Liam said casually though his slightly wider-than-usual eye and crooked little smile gave away the fact that he thought he’d just gotten away with murder. Amanda decided to let him think that. Suppressing her own smile, she noted how cute Liam was when he actually feared her wrath. “So, how’s work been?” he asked, no doubt trying to change the subject. Amanda smirked.
“Work’s good,” she answered, biting back the giant grin forming on her lips. Despite her run-in with Connor at the end of the night, reliving her little victory with the Leadoff staffers on Friday still made her smile. Liam raised his eyebrows inquisitively, eyeing her lower lip as it dragged lightly between her teeth. “Finally had a good day in the writers room,” she said, twirling a long blonde lock around her finger. “No thanks to your friend Connor.” Oops. It just came out.
Luckily, Liam seemed too distracted to really notice, his gaze now traveling across Amanda’s extremely bare thighs. “Yeah, he said he might reconsider Tom’s offer,” he murmured, reaching out for her again. “Come here.”
“Not yet. You’re still being punished,” Amanda said briskly as she began unpinning her wig. Once finished, she gladly tore it off, closing her eyes with relief while shaking out her hair and feeling her scalp tingle. “God, that feels good,” she groaned quietly, opening her eyes to see Liam’s lips parted as he shook his head at her.
“You were
n’t kidding about punishment.”
“Hm?”
“That tiny little top. Doing that thing with your hair while you’re just out of my reach. You’re only safe because I can’t move.”
“I’m well aware,” Amanda grinned as she massaged the pads of her fingers against her scalp, her eyes on Liam as he simply watched her, smirking because there was nothing else he could do.
“Smart ass,” he murmured as she flipped her hair forward, massaging her scalp for a few more seconds before flipping it back, letting her auburn tresses graze the tops of his shins along the way before they tumbled down to frame her face. Leaning back against the headboard, Liam rubbed his lower lip as Amanda stretched, rolling her neck and arching her back as far as she could. “Really?”
“I had a long flight,” she defended herself.
“Fine. Just get your ass over here. I’m in enough pain as it is.” When she didn’t immediately move toward him, Liam nodded. “Okay. Two can play this game.” Sitting forward, he reached behind his back and whipped off his T-shirt, tossing it aside on the mattress. Still kneeling a few yards in front of him, Amanda blinked at his hard chest and cut abs. There was a row of butterfly strip bandages below his bruised right collar bone and his smooth skin looked a shade more golden and tanned than it had the last time she’d seen it. She watched the defined sections of his six pack ripple as he sat back, leaning against the backboard to study her. With his healthy foot, he pushed one of her knees apart from the other so that she suddenly knelt before him with her legs spread wide.
“Or I’ll just enjoy this view,” he said with a smug grin, perking Amanda’s eyebrows as hand grabbed hold of his hard shaft through his boxers.
It didn’t take long before she found herself crawling over to him.
“Thank Christ,” Liam exhaled with a quiet laugh, cupping her cheek once she was close enough and pulling her in for a kiss. He rumbled something low and deep when she straddled him, her face above his as she knelt over his lap for a few seconds, letting Liam try to tug her down onto him by the back pockets of her shorts. Giggling against his lips, she quietly undid her button and zipper, giving him a surprise when his next tug of her pockets pulled her shorts halfway down her thighs. He pulled away from their kiss with raised eyebrows, eyeing her lacy black boy shorts as she gripped the backboard behind him to stand up and over his lap, letting her shorts fall the rest of the way down so she could kick them off.
He didn’t hesitate once she hooked his fingers into the top of her underwear. Pulling them down as she stood before him, Liam sat eagerly forward, letting his mouth travel opposite the southbound path of her boy shorts, drawing an instant gasp from Amanda as she felt his tongue where she’d never felt it before. Her knuckles turning white as she gripped the headboard, her knees grew closer and closer to giving out. Thankfully, Liam steadied her.
With one strong hand on the back of her thigh, the other reached to free himself from the confines of his charcoal boxer briefs. Grateful for its firmness, Amanda’s toes curled against the mattress, her eyes squeezing shut as Liam’s hot mouth continued to unravel her. Once secure on her feet again, she felt his hand leave the back of her thighs to run between them, his fingers sliding gently into her, parting her to joining his tongue in a matching rhythm between her legs. Amanda’s jaw dropped though no sound came out of her lips. She could hardly even breathe anymore. Her body frozen stiff, she felt Liam’s steady pace quicken, working to release her muscles along with the breath caught in her throat.
Soon, with a loud, ripping gasp, Amanda’s knees buckled hard.
And though the crashing pleasure rendered her body briefly limp, it took only minutes for her to find herself with an energy so resurgent that she briefly wondered where it had even come from. Only briefly though. She was too busy to entertain the thought for too long.
“Stay like that,” she panted, laying on her back and catching her breath as Liam moved to climb on top of her. Flattening a palm against his broad chest, she pushed him back in his sitting position. “You need rest,” she breathed, rolling onto her stomach and grabbing her denim shorts from the floor. She reached into their pockets till her fingers felt what she’d slipped in there during the plane ride from New York.
“Really?” Liam lifted a pleased eyebrow as he watched Amanda return to a kneeling position, her hair tumbling around her face as she looked down at her fingers, which unwrapped the little gold packet. Tossing the wrapper aside, Amanda returned to a straddle over Liam, his hungry eyes on hers as she watched her own fingertips gingerly slide the condom over his length.
His chest heaving, Liam nodded. “Just sit here then,” he confirmed, lifting his awed gaze up to her.
“Yes.” Amanda lifted her hips above him, her hand wrapped around the base of his shaft, positioning him just so. She watched his unblinking eyes and the way his mouth lips parted wider and wider with every second she waited.
Biting the corner of her lip, Amanda finally lowered herself onto him.
“Holy shit,” Liam groaned immediately, trying desperately to keep his eyes open and fixed on Amanda as she began to ride him.
She exhaled hard, her hands squeezing his shoulders and her fingers digging into his skin as every last of him filled her. Her head rolling back, Amanda felt the ends of her hair touch the tops of his thighs. She closed her eyes, burning hot all over her body, completely lost in her bliss and savoring every last pleasured sound that escaped Liam’s throat. Slowly, she picked up the pace of her rocking, her muscles relaxing, her arms letting go of Liam’s shoulders to instead wrap themselves around his neck. She felt him hands grab a hold of her hips as she ground on top of him, opening her eyes to relish the image of his knitted brows and gnashed teeth. She lifted her hips higher now, sinking down harder on him, over and over until she could hear the growl building in the bottom of his throat. With one arm wrapped tight around his neck, Amanda held Liam’s jaw with her free hand, watching his wild eyes slice into hers as she rode him hard. Her lip curling, she could feel her own pleasure building and twisting, too, parting her mouth wider and wider as it clenched in her muscles. Squeezing her eyes shut for a second, Amanda dug her nails into Liam’s back, letting out a soft but long moan. She opened them to see him studying her, awe gleaming in his eyes and a smirk dancing on his breathless lips. “Shut up,” she exhaled.
“Make that sound again,” he breathed.
“Make me.”
He complied, gripping her hips tighter, lifting them just a few inches. “Come,” he panted, pulling her into a hard kiss and giving deep upward thrusts into her so that she had hardly any choice but to do what he said. He groaned as she let out a hot, pleading breath into his mouth. But just before she let her entire body collapse onto him, Amanda tore away from Liam’s kiss, swatting his hands off of her sides and pressing her own palms against his chest. She pushed him against the backboard, her hips moving in hard figure-eights until she felt her pleasure build to its highest peak, shattering the moment Liam grabbed a handful of her hair, bringing her moaning mouth to his for a deep but brief kiss that broke apart for the pleasured growl that tore from his own lips.
And finally, Amanda let every last muscle of her body relax and melt against Liam’s hard chest, laying on him, closing her eyes, her mouth wearing a faint smile as she caught her panting breath.
Chapter 15
Didn’t quite think this through.
Amanda laughed to herself as she climbed out of Harper’s car in front of the Waltman Global building, noting the time on her phone. Just a little past 8:30AM. For once, she wasn’t outrageously early for work — though probably only because her flight from Nebraska had landed thirty minutes ago. If anything, she was cutting it entirely too close. But it’d just been hard to leave Liam in the morning.
Rifling through her bag full of Harper’s clothes, Amanda tried to find an outfit appropriate for work.
This’ll do, she snorted as she pulled out a lightweight black leather T and a pair o
f black skinny jeans. The outfit was bound to draw a comment or two from her snark-happy coworkers but she didn’t care. She was riding enough of a high to laugh off a week’s worth of sarcastic jabs and insults.
Despite how vigorous the first round had been, Amanda and Liam had still found the energy and need for a second before falling asleep around 2AM. Laying on his chest, Amanda had stirred awake around four, oddly enough because the TV had finally turned off. Attempting to open her groggy eyes, she had heard the sound of Liam setting the remote quietly down before feeling him run a gentle hand through her hair. His touch alone relaxed her heavy lids back to a state of slumber. She’d felt his light kiss on the top of her head just before dozing off once again, about certain she had heard him whisper something with the word “love” in it before falling back asleep himself.
When she awoke again several hours later, she couldn’t bring herself to wake him up. He had looked entirely too peaceful — uncharacteristically sweet, even.
And so with a note on his nightstand, Amanda left for her flight home. She had a feeling he wouldn’t like that but she hadn’t had much else of a choice. Following their workout, he was bound to sleep in and she had work to do in New York, what with Leadoff’s premiere party taking place in a day and its first episode premiering on television in just a week.
After changing in the bathroom of the bagel shop across the street, Amanda walked quickly in her own black heels — the pair that she had been wearing to brunch with Ian before receiving the word on Liam’s injury.
“These are a different pair, huh?”
Amanda’s step quickened before the rest of her could react. But she didn’t even have to look up to know who was standing to her side.
“I like these on you, Amanda. More casual.”