by Nora Ash
Breathing heavily now, he ripped his lips from mine and pressed them to my throat instead, kissing down my neck with fevered heat. When he got to my shoulder, he tugged the robe off me. It pooled around my hips and then fell to the floor when he shifted his grip on me, leaving me naked against the cool surface of the window.
“Liam… people can see us,” I moaned when he sucked a pebbled nipple into the hot cavern of his mouth.
“Let them watch.” His voice was deep and raspy and sent sharp sparks of urgency to my core. Used muscles clenched, and I felt myself dampen for him, my body responding to his need like a finely tuned violin.
I let my head fall back against the window with a whimper of surrender. For the first time in my life, I didn’t care if anyone saw me be something less than perfect.
Saw me.
Something hot and hard nudged against my sex, and my opening softened in welcome. I bit my lip and braced for what I knew was coming.
He pushed the head of his broad cock inside in one, smooth thrust, and it stretched me so perfectly with its core of steel wrapped in silky softness.
It felt even better than it had before.
“Fuck.” I clenched my hands uselessly against the impulse to ignore my brain’s sudden arrival. “Condom.”
Liam’s swearing was quite a bit more adventurous than mine. It took him a few deep breaths before he found the strength to pull out and release me.
I slid to the floor with an involuntary whimper of disappointment, but I wasn’t alone for long. Liam pretty much sprinted to the bedroom and was back within twenty seconds, foil package in hand. He ripped it open and slid the rubber on, fisting his girthy hardness with one hand. With an impatient grunt he lifted me back up against the window with his free arm and pushed fully inside of me in one smooth stroke.
I whimpered, the back of my head connecting with cool glass once more as my pussy fluttered around the intrusion. My few but thorough experiences with Liam’s frankly intimidating size had awakened a previously unknown hunger in me, a hunger to be forced as wide as possible. Something about the sensation of being taken so completely sent my mind spinning and drove my body past the brink of ecstasy.
Still, it was a harsh stretch, and it took me a moment to accommodate him without discomfort.
“Fuck, you feel so good,” Liam growled against my throat. “How do you feel so fucking good?” He wrapped both arms tight around my waist, settling me fully on his cock as he took my weight. Buried his face at the side of my neck. And then rolled his hips up.
“God! Liam!” His body moved underneath me, forcing inch after delicious inch into my tight heat, grinding against my G-spot on every reverse movement. It was maddening bliss, and I clung to my lover as the world faded to bland nothingness, leaving him my only anchor to sanity.
“Liam! Liam, I lo—” He swallowed my voice with a scorching kiss that had my toes curling against his hamstrings and my fingers clutching at his hair. The roll of his hips turned harder, forcing me to focus on only the molten, sweltering sensation of the animalistic ecstasy being pressed into me.
He’d been an intense lover every time we’d joined before, but this time was different. There was something desperate underneath the rhythm of his body, in his searing kiss and in the strength of his grip as he held me to him as if he was scared I’d disappear. It made my heart swell until it ached and my body move against him to bring the relief he was chasing with every thrust of his cock into me.
I don’t know how long we fucked up against the window, lost to anything but the desperate yearning wound tight in the gasped breaths between us. I only snapped out of the hypnotic bliss when Liam shifted his grip on me so he could press a thumb against my clit.
“Fuck!” My vision exploded and my pussy clamped down hard. My climax came roaring up from the tips of my toes, and when Liam grunted, “Give me everything, love,” into my ear, I lost myself. I came screaming his name, my core clutching on his thick length as he gave me the last few, hard thrusts until he joined me with a low moan that sounded somewhere between pain and pleasure.
It was only several minutes later, when I slowly came down to the sensation of Liam softening inside of me and his lips pressing gentle kisses to my shoulder, that I realized I’d almost told him I loved him.
11
Liam
It was only just past sunrise when I rolled out of Audrey’s bed to look for my pants.
I found them within seconds and pulled them on as quietly as I could so as not to disturb her.
She lay curled up on her side with her dark hair spread out over the pillow in a messy fan and most of her soft skin covered by the duvet. There was still an imprint in the bedding next to her where I’d been holding her close all night.
Looking at her made my chest tight, and I rubbed distractedly at it before I turned to find the rest of my clothes.
I’d done this thousands of times before—gotten out of bed after a hot night with a bird before she ever woke up, if I wasn’t in the mood to deal with any promises I may or may not have made while in the heat of the moment.
Neither of us had said anything last night, but what’d happened between us wasn’t just a regular shag. I’d screwed plenty of girls, many of them more than once, and nothing had ever felt like last night. I couldn’t put words to why my heart felt too light and too heavy at the same time, but I knew that at some point during that fuck, we’d crossed a boundary. As I’d laid with her in my arms after, listening to her breathing turn slow and steady, I’d felt… at peace. More than the kind of satiated relaxation I always got after a good shag. Different from the instinctive sense of calm I got from having Louis near me.
It was the kind of peace I’d seen in Blaine’s eyes when he looked at Mira as if it was just the two of them in the world, and the implication made my gut clench.
I couldn’t afford to care for a girl right now, not with how fucked up everything with our Family was. If anyone found out about her, she’d be in constant danger.
And then there was the fact that neither Louis nor I had ever really been too bothered about any of the girls we’d been with.
We’d had so many one-night stands and short affairs neither of us would likely be able to recall even a third of the women’s faces. Many of them we’d both been with without their knowledge. The one thing that was always a guarantee was that, by the end of it, it was just Louis and I. Even with our large family, even when our mum was alive, to some extent it’d been just me and Louis from the day we were born. We were two parts of the same whole, and if something ever dented the bond we shared, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be whole again.
No. Whatever it was about Audrey that felt so good, I’d need to put a stop to it right the fuck now, or things would get too complicated. I didn’t like complicated, especially not when I was already trying to orchestrate my own father’s goddamn murder.
I walked over to the bedroom door, intent on getting out of there and away from the turmoil of unaccustomed emotions rolling in my gut, but something made me hesitate before I stepped over the threshold. I glanced at the sleeping woman over my shoulder and my chest tightened harder around my lungs.
I’d never really worried about what the girl I ditched felt like when she woke up alone. Most of them probably expected it—I knew I didn’t exactly give off the most commitment-happy impression. But Audrey would be hurt, I knew that much. She’d clearly not had a no-strings fling before.
I grimaced at the memory of how she’d asked to see me again—told me she needed it. I should have said no then. I was going to, but the vulnerability that had radiated off her despite her best attempt at seeming unfazed had kicked me in the gut like no amount of tears from other girls had ever managed to. And hell, I’d wanted to see her again. Badly.
Fuck.
I walked back to the bed, to her side, and bent to gently shake her bare shoulder. “Audrey.”
“Mmm.” She groaned in protest but cracked an eyelid. “Hmm?”
She frowned, clearly fighting the haze of sleep. “Is something wrong?”
“No, love. Just need to go deal with some business,” I fibbed. “Just go back to sleep.”
“Mmm,” she agreed, her eyes closing as she buried deeper into the pillow. “See you later.”
“Yeah,” I lied. “See you later.” I bent to brush a kiss over her temple. She sighed in response, and my chest constricted again.
When I shut her front door behind me a moment later, an elderly lady was just getting out of the door opposite Audrey’s, a small, poofy dog on a leash by her side. A flash of our first night against that door made my lips twitch.
“Lovely morning to be doing the walk of shame, eh?” I greeted her with a wink.
Her lips pinched up as a scandalized look passed across her round face. She looked me up and down with obvious disdain. “I see Miss Waits has taken to bringing ruffians home. That’s what comes of young women living on their own—they start keeping questionable company. Not that you would care what having your sort loitering on the premises does to the property value.”
She ignored my amused grin with a huff as she turned away from me and started down the stairs.
I trailed after her down the stairs, both hands in my pockets. “Sure, love. Property value’s nothing to joke about. Not that I necessarily agree that a bird getting a bit of action will crash the market. Does your flat lose value every time your husband gives you a good rogering, hmm?”
We’d reached the ground floor. The old biddy turned around to me, and I thought she was gonna give me a good tongue lashing. I didn’t notice her bag in her leash-free hand before she’d swung it at me with a surprising amount of force for her age. It hit me square in the face with a heavy thump.
“You need to learn respect for your elders, you delinquent! I shall be having words with Miss Waits about her taste in gentleman callers.” She turned her back to me with another look of disdain and exited the building with her head held high and the poofy dog in tow.
I rubbed my sore face, chuckling despite what felt like a shiner beginning to bloom around my left eye. Okay, so maybe I’d deserved that, but damn.
“Did you get into a fight?”
I sighed at the incredulous tone in my twin’s voice when I entered our kitchen and saw him sitting by the cafe table with a cup of coffee.
“Nah. You’re up early. Or is it late?” I walked to the coffee machine and poured myself a mug.
“Mate, you’re sporting a black eye. There’s no way we’re going to pretend that’s not a thing. What the hell happened?” His lips quirked up at the corners. “Did one of your lady friends spot you out with someone else?”
I grimaced at the uncomfortable twang in my chest at the thought of Audrey. I determinedly pushed it away. “Some old biddy called me a delinquent and smacked me with her handbag.” I sipped the too-hot coffee and rested against the kitchen counter. “I had it coming.”
Louis snorted with amusement. “I’m sure you did. Ah, what I wouldn’t have given to see that.”
“Harsh.” I put my coffee-free hand to my chest in mock-hurt. “And you call yourself my brother.”
My twin grinned, his eyes twinkling. “Where were you, anyway? New girl, or the little prude who made you limp earlier in the week?”
“Same girl.”
Something in my voice must have tipped him off, because his smile faded somewhat and his eyes narrowed. “What’s going on?”
Bloody twin-bond. Sometimes it was really fucking inconvenient that lying to each other was nearly impossible. “Nothing’s going on. What about you? Hooked up with someone I should have a go at, too?”
I wasn’t expecting the twinge of disgust in my gut at uttering that question, and I hid my frown from Louis by taking another sip of coffee. Since when did the thought of fucking a bird Louis had pulled give me anything other than a mild thrill from knowing she’d never realize she was getting screwed by both of us?
Fucking hell.
Louis gave me a long look, and I knew he wasn’t buying my “nothing” claims, but he obviously decided against pushing me. For now. “Well, I figured one of us should probably get some rest before we try and get the Perkinson on board tomorrow, so no.”
I bit the inside of my cheek at the subject change. “We’re really doing this, aren’t we? Setting Dad up.”
“Yeah.” Louis dragged his fingers through his messy, ginger hair, and I knew the pained expression on his face perfectly mirrored my own. “We have to. None of us are safe as long as he’s alive.”
“I know,” I said, pushing down the wave of sadness. We’d both felt the sting of William Steel’s leather belt growing up, but I knew our older brothers—especially Jeremy—had run interference, oftentimes taking a beating to save us. As a result, we hadn’t felt as much of his infamous violence on our own bodies as our brothers, and I knew we had a better relationship with our father than they did as a result. But any lingering sense of family bond to him had died when we learned what he’d done to Isaac and Jeremy.
Everything for the Family was the Steel motto, and we’d done so much terrible shit over the years to protect our father’s interests, up to and including killing men who’d betrayed the Family. Justifying it with unwavering loyalty to the Steel name. But it’d all been a lie.
The man we called Father had murdered his eldest son and betrayed another, and in doing so, he’d killed any justification we’d clung to in order to do the work he expected of his sons. There was no more Steel Family—not as long as we let a monster rule us.
12
Liam
“You must forgive me… I find myself mildly skeptical that the mighty William Steel’s favorite sons would waltz into my home and ask my help in assassinating their beloved father… I’m sure you understand.” Brian Perkinson, the patriarch of the Perkinson Family, steepled his fingers as he regarded Louis and I from the other side of his wide desk.
I managed to conceal my grimace with a smirk. We hadn’t exactly “waltzed in.” Getting into Perkinson’s estate for this meeting had been a fucking Mission Impossible-style endeavor, to make absolutely sure no one saw us entering.
“Our father’s reputed to be many things, but beloved’s never been one of them,” I said.
He arched an eyebrow at me. “Perhaps not. But the Steels are quite famous for their motto… Everything for the Family, isn’t it? Now what could possibly have made you two forget that pretty little proverb?”
Louis and I exchanged glances. It wasn’t easy, saying it out loud to someone outside of the Family. To someone who’d spent the past few months looking for a way to overthrow the Steel empire and likely kill all of us in the process.
“He had our brother murdered. Double-crossed another and let him rot in jail. None of us are liking the possibility that we might be next on that list.” Louis’ voice was quiet, but firm. “We still stand by our Family motto, Brian, do not think anything differently. It’s he who’s chosen another path.”
Perkinson whistled low. “Well, I’ll be damned. So that’s what happened with Isaac? I did wonder why William seemed incapable of pulling the right strings to get him off with a slap on the wrist. And the murder… Marcus?”
“No,” Louis said.
“Jeremy,” I continued, steeling myself against the gut-punch of pain talking about the loss of our oldest brother still delivered.
“He covered it up by telling everyone he’d left for the States to deal with some overseas business. Marcus fled the country to avoid a similar fate,” Louis finished.
Perkinson leaned forward a bit. The interest was clear on his shrewd face. “And you have proof of this?”
I lobbed a folder on his desk. “Of the Isaac thing, yes. There was a recording of our father ordering Jeremy’s murder.”
“It was lost in the fight with Brigs a few months ago,” Louis said.
“Hmm.” Perkinson flicked through the folder, an
eyebrow arching as he got to a couple of CCTV print-offs. Finally, he closed the folder and looked at us.
“All right. Say I believe your motive. I take it you’re here because you need manpower. What do I get out of putting my men’s lives on the line?”
“Forty-five percent.” Louis said.
“You will rule London with us and our brothers. Once our father is dead,” I continued.
“Seems to me you have quite a long ways to go before your father is, indeed, dead. If you want my help with it, how about we say seventy-five percent.” Brian Perkinson leaned back in his chair and raised both eyebrows at us. “Because if you’d had any other choice, you’d never have sought outside help for this little endeavor.”
“Forty-five.” Louis’ voice was as cold as the steel our Family was named for. “Because if you say anything other than yes, you know you’ll never get a foothold in this city. We know you’ve been trying for months to find a way to take our Family out. Wanna know why we haven’t smacked you down yet? Because you’re no threat to the Steel empire. You haven’t got the strength, Brian, and you never will. Not without us. We only come to you because the other minor Families have gathered around you. It’s a courtesy. We could easily have gone to any of their patriarchs and offered them the same deal, and you fucking know they’d snatch it up with both hands and turn their backs on you. And, once the dust’s settled, they’d be the Family who got to rule alongside us. Wanna continue playing in the gutter like a rat?”
“Or are you ready to step up to the fucking silver platter we’re offering you?” I finished, folding my arms across my chest and leveling him with my best Steel glare. I knew my twin and I had a reputation for being the most easygoing of William Steel’s sons, but any British criminal worth their salt knew you only pushed a Steel so far.