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Vow of Retribution

Page 18

by Emma Renshaw


  Liam sighs again. “Sometimes I really want to punch that smug bastard in the face, but fuck, he makes it really hard not to like him.”

  I laugh, knowing exactly what he’s talking about. After all, it was James’ heart of gold that gave me the courage for everything I am today and everything I have planned.

  “Dex, the artist, asked me to give him a few days to come up with a drawing. I left. James caught me out in the parking lot and offered self-defense classes. Something in my gut told me to take him up on it. I met him after hours, shaking like a leaf knowing it would just be the two of us. He taught me every single night for a very long time how to defend myself, how to fight back.”

  Liam lays a kiss on the top of my head. I keep going. “After the first week, I trusted him. I never told him everything, but he saw the scars because I asked him if he would sit with me during my tattoo session. It was hard getting through those. Having something sharp hit my skin was just a reminder of everything that happened not too long before. He sat there hour after hour, holding my hand and reminding me how strong I am.”

  I turn toward Liam, cupping his face in my hand. “You have no reason to be jealous of James. He was always a friend, but I need you to understand. He’s more like a brother to me. He gave me back a piece of myself in that boxing ring. I rose from the fucking ashes with each jab I threw at him. I was so scared after the attack. I had my groceries delivered. He got me in that ring and made me angry for everything that happened to me. That anger fueled my drive for my safety. And one day, I didn’t cry anymore. My nightmares stopped.”

  Liam breathes in heavily, cupping my face right back, bringing our foreheads together. “I do have a reason to be jealous of him. I wish I knew you back then. I wish I helped to bring you back, but I owe James my life for being there for a girl I didn’t even know at the time. And, I’m so thankful he taught you how to fight. Not only because you can protect yourself, but because you look sexy as fuck when you’re hitting that bag.”

  A laugh escapes my throat. It feels as if it’s been years since I laughed, instead of mere hours. The noise sounds husky and raw. I kiss Liam on the lips. He hasn’t told me his decision, but I need to feel his soft lips against mine.

  “There’s just one more thing,” I tell Liam slowly, pulling back from his embrace, so I can see his face as I lay this on him. He only nods, letting me know he’s ready. I think he feels it, too. The importance of what I’m about to say.

  “When Aiden was being dragged from the courtroom after his trial, he vowed to find me again when he’s out. He was still yelling that I was his when the door slammed in his face. When he’s released, he will find me, and I have no doubt in my mind that he will try to kill me.”

  “Fuck,” Liam hisses. “I will never let that happen. I—”

  I press my fingers against Liam’s lips, needing to say this, needing to spill the last part of me. The core of me on the floor at his feet.

  “In that ring, I made my own vow. I let him live in the cabin. I’ll never make that mistake again. He will come after me. He will try to kill me, but I vowed I will kill him first.”

  There it is. My truth. My vow. I’m standing before Liam, heart ripped out of my chest, bloody from every slice of honesty’s blade, showing him all of me. I’m wholly bared to him. My heart is at his feet. I just hope he picks it up.

  33

  LIAM

  She wants to kill him. Looks like she wants me to get in line because if he comes after her, I will fillet him like a fish. No one will find his body. I will wipe him from existence. Wipe him from her mind. He will never win.

  “You won’t get a chance,” I tell Savannah.

  She looks so confused. Oh, my sassy Savannah, don’t you get it? “I will kill him myself if he comes near you. He will never lay a finger on you again—no, he will never even see you from a distance. When he’s out, and he steps foot in this town, he has a death sentence on his head. I will end him.”

  Savannah launches herself away from me and out of the bed. She’s back to pacing at the foot of the bed. I relax back into the headboard. I know I can protect her and I will protect her. Savannah will never have to worry about anything else again.

  “No,” she hisses at me. “Absolutely not.”

  Too late, gorgeous. I already decided. “He will never hurt you again,” I tell her.

  “I know,” she says fiercely. She turns toward me, looking every inch of the goddamn warrior she has become. Hands on her naked hips, hair wild from her fingers, and eyes hungry for a win. My cock twitches in my briefs. “I will protect myself, Liam. You are not getting involved.”

  “Like hell, I’m not. Get your ass back over to me,” I tell her. “I wasn’t done holding you.”

  She huffs, but I see the twitching of her lips. She will continue to deny it, but I know she likes it when I act the dirty barbarian. She crawls up the bed toward me, never breaking eye contact. She puts herself right next to me, flesh to flesh.

  “You really want to stay?” she asks in wonder.

  “I’ve wanted to stay with you since the first time I saw you,” I tell her earnestly. “You’ve wrecked me.”

  “Even after I tell you I plan to murder someone?”

  “You’re exacting revenge, getting the justice you deserve, and it will be self-defense. Let me ask you something.”

  She cocks her head and raises an eyebrow.

  “If you heard he was released, but he never came after you, would you find him and kill him?”

  “No,” she tells me.

  “You’re not a murderer, baby. You’re a survivor and a warrior. You will protect yourself and those you love. That’s different. You just plan to send the bastard to hell if he does try to come after you.”

  “He will,” she promises. I don’t doubt her, but I hope she’s wrong. If she’s right, I will protect her with my life. I know if she allowed it, she would have an army of protection.

  “I’m not going anywhere, gorgeous. You’re stuck with me.”

  She laughs and kisses my chest. “Being stuck with you isn’t so bad.”

  “Is that a compliment?” I ask her, smirking.

  “Don’t get used to it,” she tells me, full-out grinning, even after the night we’ve had with tears, heartache, and more. Seeing her grin is like a blind man seeing a sunrise for the first time. My heart stops beating, my breaths stop coming. I’m stunned by her beauty and the happiness shining in her eyes.

  I attack her mouth, sealing my lips over hers, unable to hold back any longer. She’s mine. I’m hers. Now it’s time to seal us together in the greatest possible way. I roll her on her back, settling myself on top of her.

  Framing her face with my hands, my weight balanced on my elbows, I ask her, “Are you ready for this, Savannah?”

  Her back arches up, pressing her chest into mine. “Yes, Liam. I’m ready. I’m ready for it all.”

  My lips descend on hers, sucking them into my mouth. I run my tongue along the seam of her lips, begging for entrance for a taste of her luscious mouth. I groan when my tongue slips inside. Her hips grind on my erection. Savannah wraps her legs around my hips, weaving her hands in my hair. I relish the sweet tug when I bite down on her neck before leaving it with my tongue, soothing the mark.

  My hands move to her breasts. She moans, pressing herself farther into my palm. I knead them, kissing a trail down her neck and chest. I roll one nipple between my thumb and forefinger, sucking the other through the lace of her bra. She cries out my name, making me groan around the stiff peak in my mouth.

  I lift her off the bed, popping the clasp of her bra. I go to my knees and stare down at the gorgeous girl in my bed. Her soft curves are on display.,the vibrancy of her tattoo making her body into a work of art. Savannah’s dusky rose nipples are erect points. Her hair is spilling around her head on my pillow. She is a dream.

  Her hands slide up my thighs to their junction. My cock is so hard, the bulbous head is peaking from the top of my brie
fs. She pulls them down, freeing me. Her small hand doesn’t even wrap around my girth. She pumps my dick from root to tip a few times before I pull her hand away groaning, already missing the sensation. I’m too worked up. I can’t have her touching me right now.

  I get up from the bed, intent on grabbing a condom.

  “Where are you going?” Savannah’s voice is laced with lust.

  “Condom,” I tell her, my voice just as gravelly and filled with need.

  “I have an IUD. I—I trust you.”

  34

  SAVANNAH

  I do. I trust him completely. After tonight, I can’t think of him taking me any other way than bare. I’ve never willingly been with another man without protection. I trust him and want to feel him inside of me without a barrier.

  “Fuck,” Liam groans out. He comes back over to me.

  “Are you sure?” I ask. “Even after you know everything?”

  “I want nothing more than to feel your wet, tight pussy bare on my cock. Nothing has changed, except I want you more. I admire you more. I need you more.”

  I sigh in relief. Lifting my hips, I pull down my panties, ready to feel nothing but him. He settles in between my legs. We groan at the skin-on-skin contact. I move my hips, loving the feeling of his large head rubbing against my clit. He pulls away from me, just when I find the right friction. I was so close to release. I whimper at the absence.

  “Don’t worry, gorgeous.” Liam shoots me a smirk before he kisses a trail down my body. Licking and sucking. Biting and licking. The closer his mouth gets to the promised land, the closer I get to sliding over the edge. I’m incoherently begging him and circling my hips, trying to find fiction on his body as he passes down.

  Finally, his mouth hovers over my most intimate area. He kisses and nips each inside thigh, licking a trail all around.

  “Please, Liam,” I cry out. I lift my hips, offering myself to him. I look down at him over my body.

  His hand is wrapped tightly around his cock. He gives himself two firm tugs. “Jesus, look at you,” he says. His voice is hoarse. “Giving yourself to me, like a present. Best present I’ve ever received. I can’t wait to taste your sweetness.”

  I whimper, lifting my hips higher. “Please,” I beg.

  “Play with your nipples, gorgeous.”

  My hands go immediately to my nipples, tugging them between my fingers.

  “That’s it, baby.” His knuckle skims my slit. “Is this where you want my mouth?”

  “Yes,” I plead.

  “Tell me.”

  “Wh–what?”

  “Tell me where you want my mouth.”

  I don’t think he expects me to tell him right away, but I’m too far gone to censor myself or be embarrassed. I shamelessly need him. “Lick my pussy, baby. Suck my clit, I need your mouth on my pussy. Please.”

  His eyes flash, heat pooling in them as his pupils dilate even further. He’s been skimming my slit this entire time. He sticks one finger in my pussy. “That’s my girl. Love hearing you say what you need.”

  I moan, lifting my hips higher. He pulls his finger out and wraps an arm around each leg and brings me to his mouth. He licks me from top to bottom with his broad tongue, sucking my clit, skimming his teeth. “So fucking sweet,” he moans against my pussy. The vibrations of his voice send me closer to the edge. His tongue starts to fuck me hard, his nose pressing against my clit. He is inhaling me, devouring me, consuming me. I can’t slow the race to the edge. He sucks my clit hard, slamming two fingers inside me, hitting my g-spot. I scream, “Liaaaaaam.”

  He doesn’t stop with his sucking or finger fucking until every last wave has passed. He moves up my body, pausing at my stomach to kiss the scars hidden beneath the tattoo.

  I pull him up, kissing him fiercely. I moan while sucking his tongue that tastes of me. It’s so dirty and wrong. I fucking love it.

  He breaks the kiss as he positions himself at my entrance. He slides into me slowly, groaning with each passing inch. We’re looking into each other’s eyes as I take him all the way to the hilt. I’m shaking with need. My hands scrape down his back, squeezing his firm ass. I wrap my legs around his hips, grinding up. My clit presses against his pelvis. I cry out.

  “Yes, baby,” he whispers, closing his eyes. He opens them again, looking down at me, setting my body on fire. He pumps in and out of me in slow, leisurely strokes.

  “More,” I whisper.

  He pumps harder, slamming his pelvis on my clit each time. One hand plays with my nipples while the other comes behind my head, lifting my face up. We kiss, tongues tangling and teeth gnashing. He pumps harder and faster. He breaks his lips from mine, looking into my eyes. He’s giving me himself after I laid everything at his feet tonight. I’ve never felt a connection like this. The world could be burning to the ground outside, and I would know nothing except the feel of Liam inside me and the look in his eyes. There’s something there that I’m too nervous to name, but I know it’s reflecting right back at him.

  “I’m keeping you,” he whispers to me. I come undone with his words.

  “Fuck, I love feeling your pussy flutter around my cock. You’re strangling me so tight.” He pumps hard, again and again. “So good. Never this good,” he mumbles, saying other words that don’t make sense.

  He bends his head, sucking one nipple into his mouth. He snakes his hand between our bodies and flicks my clit, strumming it with his pumps.

  “Come with me,” he says.

  I couldn’t stop my impending orgasm even if tried. “Liam,” I cry out.

  He grounds out my name, spilling hot semen in me, pumping until he’s completely empty.

  I’ve never had an orgasm—well, orgasms—like tonight. Liam stays on top of me. My hands are still on his back. I can hardly breathe with his weight on me, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. I love feeling his heavy body on top of me, still half hard inside of me, completely spent. He kisses me again before pulling out. I whimper at the loss, feeling empty without him inside me.

  Liam gets up from the bed, coming back with a wet washcloth. I try to take it from him, but he says, “Let me take care of you.” I couldn’t deny him of anything with the look he is giving me. My heart pounds harder. The look I’m too nervous to name is radiating off of his face.

  After he cleans us both, he lies on his side, pulling me close and tracing my tattoo. His fingers are skimming over the wing of my beautiful phoenix. Aiden’s name is hidden beneath the powerful wing span. “Tell me about this,” Liam whispers.

  “James suggested a phoenix to Dex after the first night in the ring. He wanted to see me come back to life. And, I did. I rose. The script at the bottom is from a Maya Angelou poem. It says, ‘Still I’ll rise.’ It reminds me to keep getting up even when the worst happens.”

  As he traces each scar over my stomach, finding them beneath the ink, a new crack in my heart and soul is healed. “You’re the strongest person I know.”

  “No,” I protest quietly. I let myself break for far too long. “Don’t look at the scars. I don’t want you or anyone to see them or feel them.”

  “I want to, Savannah. I love your tattoo. It’s beautiful. It suits you, but you would be just as beautiful if none of these scars were covered. I’m going to touch your scars.”

  “No,” I try to plead with him.

  “Yes,” he states firmly. His fingers trail over each one before he lays a kiss on each scar. “You survived. You battled. You’re a fuckin’ warrior princess.”

  “A warrior princess?” I giggle.

  “Hell, yeah. I was a bit nerdy growing up. You’re every fantasy come to life. I am in awe of you.”

  My eyes begin to burn with unshed tears. Liam peppers kisses across my stomach, whispering how strong and beautiful he thinks I am. “A fire burns inside of you, just like a phoenix. This tattoo is so perfect for you, gorgeous girl. You’re strong and stunning.” He picks his head up to look directly into my eyes. “He may have taken a knife t
o your body, but he didn’t claim you. He didn’t break you.”

  My tears start pouring down my cheeks in an unstoppable flow. “Liam,” I whisper, cupping his face.

  “You are not broken. He did not win. You fucking did.”

  Liam leans over and kisses my stomach. “I’ll worship you and this every day.”

  Tears gather in my eyes as I kiss him softly, reverently. “Thank you, Liam.”

  “The sun is starting to rise.” He kisses my neck. “Let’s get some sleep.”

  I fall into a deep slumber with a smile on my face and a gorgeous man glued to my back.

  35

  LIAM

  Savannah’s soft breaths tickle my chest as I wake up. We changed positions a few times during our sleep, but we always stayed together. She’s now lying on my chest with her leg slung over my hips. My arm is under her shoulder, wrapped around her back, and my other is holding her hand, resting on my stomach. I look down at her peaceful face. Every bit of worry and etch of anxiety is wiped from existence. There’s a small tilt of her lips as if she likes what she’s dreaming about.

  I let go of her hand to reach for my phone on the nightstand. It’s late morning—neither one of us got much sleep after our ordeal, and I still need to fill her in on some things about myself, but we’re moving in the right direction. I want to keep pushing us that way.

  I send a message to my family’s group text, killing two birds with one stone. I need to apologize to them for being an asshole, and I need them to meet this beautiful, amazing girl wrapped up in my arms. After a few short exchanges, our plans for the day are made. I look at Savannah’s peaceful face one more time before kissing her forehead and whispering that it’s time to wake up. She doesn’t budge. I roll her over gently, framing her face before kissing her lips.

 

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