by Mia Kendall
“Yes!” I grab my breasts and squeeze them together, stirring myself into a lather as Liam mercilessly works my pussy with his mouth and fingers.
And then all of a sudden the sheer sexual bliss takes over me, hot and blinding, and I arch completely off the bed and grind myself on Liam’s tongue.
“Oh, god, yes, YES!” I scream, clutching Liam’s head to my pussy.
Liam makes a sound of approval as he continues to eat me, taking in all the juices I’m giving. I can feel his eyes on me, drinking in the sight of my orgasm. The thought of that makes me come even harder in my last throes, shuddering out a final wave of climax before I fall back on the bed, completely spent like a wrung out dishcloth.
“Holy shit,” I breathe when my blinking vision finally clears. “Oh my freaking god.”
My eyes slide shut in exhaustion, but not before I catch Liam’s knowing smile from between my thighs. I haven’t even met him for twelve hours, and I’ve already come twice, so hard that I know I will never forget it.
That I will never forget him.
Oh my god, I think in growing alarm. What on earth am I getting myself into?
Chapter Five
LIAM
After our light breakfast—and the amazing show she gave me—Meg and I took a shower before heading downtown for lunch. I wore my usual t-shirt and jeans, and Meg put on her bra and a orange Bronco jersey I loaned her. The jersey shirt is way too big for her with the hem falling just above her knees, and she had to roll up her sleeves to not be swimming in it. The resulting effect is a girl who looks so cute and hot at the same that I almost stopped in my tracks when I saw her.
But there is one problem. While I’m proud as hell that Meg is wearing my shirt, at the same time I want to hide her away and throw away the key. Basically Meg has chosen to skip her panties today. She washed the pair she wore here in the sink, and the tiny white lace scrap is currently dangling off one of my clothes hangers, propped by the bedroom window like a white flag.
I’m tempted to put up my own flag in surrender. I didn’t think I can make it past the hour knowing that Meg’s bare pussy is just under my shirt, but here I am anyway, driving into town with Meg beside me.
Her face lights up like the Fourth of July as she presses her hands and nose to the window and stares at the passing town outside. I drive slowly so she can take in the landmarks.
“Oh my god, is that Joe’s Diner? It’s so different now, get a load of that decor!” She turns and checks out the cinema we just passed, which had also been renovated a couple of years ago. “I barely recognize this place,” she says in an awed voice. “In a good way.”
I say nothing, not wanting to disrupt her admiring. Because the more good things Meg recalls about this place, the more likely she is to stay. It’s a stretch, but a guy can hope.
A two storey building across the road soon comes into view, and Meg reads the signboard aloud. “The Barracks.” She turns to me with a wide smile. “That’s your pub. Are we going there for lunch?”
I check the roads before turning to drive across. “We are, and also to meet someone who has been spamming my phone non-stop when she heard that I picked you up at the airport.”
“Jules! Oh, I haven’t checked my phone since last night.” Meg bites her lip. “Is she there already?”
I grin as I pull into the parking lot outside the pub. “Yeah. She and Garrett got started on lunch already. She eats a lot now, what with the baby on the way and everything.”
I glance at Meg when she doesn’t reply. Her expression looks anxious. “You’re worried about something.” I turn off the ignition and shift to face her. “What’s wrong, babe?”
Meg cracks a smile, but her hands play anxiously with the ends of her chocolate hair. “What if she doesn’t like me?”
I’m slightly confused by the question. “Aren’t you two good friends?”
“On the phone, sure. But I haven’t met her in person since high school. What if we are awkward in real life?”
“Jules has been talking about you non-stop for the past four months. She’ll be happy to see you.” Meg doesn’t look convinced at that, so I reach out and take one of her hands. “You did great with me, didn’t you?” I prompt, letting my gaze linger on her face.
Meg turns pink, and she looks down shyly. “Uh huh.”
“And you know I’m not exactly the friendliest of guys. Trust me, you’ll do great with her.”
Meg looks unconvinced as she follows me into the pub. Her nervousness is tangible, so I place my hand on the small of her back, hoping to reassure her.
That action is overshadowed a second later when a scream comes from the booth by the windows. A blonde woman in a loose green dress half-skips, half-waddles over to us and grabs Meg in a tight hug. Meg hugs her back, but the woman’s belly keeps them apart awkwardly.
“Fuck, woman,” the scowling, hulking raven-haired guy following closely behind her mutters. “How many times do I have to tell you? No running.”
“I’m pregnant, not invalid,” Jules snips back.
Garrett gives me a long-suffering eye roll that I return with a grin. The guy is my best-friend from college—he came down to Castle Rock to visit me, which is how he met Jules—and I know that behind his gruff exterior, he’s head-over-heels for his wife.
Jules hooks her arm in Meg’s and waves her hand at Garrett. “Meg, this is my very annoying husband, Garrett Hudson.”
“Nice to meet you, Meg.” Garrett gives us a deadpan look. “And this is my very good-tempered wife, Jules.”
Jules scrunches her nose at him. “My feet are aching, my back is killing me, my skin is constantly breaking out, and my hormones are all over the place. I think I’m allowed to be snarky.”
Meg laughs, looking more at ease now. “You’re doing great, Jules. When’s the baby due?”
“Oh, the doctor says he might be coming sooner than expected. I feel him kicking me all the time now.”
We head back to the booth by the window, with Garrett and Jules sitting on one side, and me and Meg on the other. The two women continue to chat and catch up while Garrett and I talk about the game, and then the pub. Garrett is one of the investors, and also helped with the interior, which is styled like a Wild West saloon, complete with masculine, dark wood furnishing and an extravagant bar with every kind of liquor on earth. Because if you’re going to have a pub-slash-diner, you’re going to make it in any style you want—and the boys and I wanted Wild West.
Our food arrives soon, medium rare prime ribs for me, lobster mac and cheese for Meg, and a second helping of truffle fries for Jules.
Meg takes one bite, then stares down at the dish of creamy lobster in shock. “This is so freaking good.”
I grin, enjoying the way she is digging into her food. “Dylan’s a genius at anything that involves meat, produce and fire.”
Garrett sits up and holds back Jules’ hair from where it is getting into the truffle fries. “He better be, for what we’re paying him.”
I cut into a slice of beef and hold it out on my fork for Meg to try. She takes it without hesitation, and her eyes slide shut in bliss as she chews.
“Don’t look, I’m having a mouthgasm,” she mumbles around her mouthful. I grin and quickly feed her another piece.
I look back a minute later to find Garrett and Jules staring at us.
“So have you two smashed?” Jules asks bluntly. “Like, you’re already wearing his shirt, and he’s looking at you like he wants to stuff your mouth with a kind of meat other than beef.”
Meg goes on alert mode in an instant. “Uh…”
Garrett shakes his head. “Woman, you’re un-fucking-believable. And don’t try to blame it on the baby, I know you’re just saying outrageous shit because you think you can get away with it.”
That gets Jules’ hackles up instantly, she begins squabbling with her husband.
I give Garrett a look that means “You’re a goddamn savior,” and he nods back subtly. It’s
a good thing that my best friend happens to be the only person in the world who can manage Julianna, and that he has my back.
Beside me, Meg relaxes a little and returns to scraping her bowl of mac and cheese clean. “It’s funny,” she says in a soft voice as Garrett and Jules bicker across us. “Whenever I think back about the time I lived here, I only remember being restless and wanting to see the world. But now that I’m back here, I’m almost wondering why I left.”
I wish that we were alone, because then I’d pull Meg into my arms and ask her to stay. “This place will always be open to you.” I look down into her beautiful, artless face. “And if you ever want to return, I for one will be glad about it.”
Meg’s reply to that is cut off when Jules suddenly exclaims.
“Oh my god, he’s kicking me!” She takes Garrett’s hand and places it on her belly. “Can you feel it?”
Garrett’s expression is awed as he looks down at Jules’ glowing face. “Holy shit,” he murmurs with a smile. “That was a big one.”
The two of them are lost in their own world, with their heads bent close together and looking down at the little life that is about to join them. Not wanting to intrude on the private moment, I take Meg’s hand, and she looks up at me in understanding.
“Come with me,” I say softly. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”
I hold her hand in mine as I lead up to the second level of The Barracks. It was built as living quarters at my father’s request, which mystified everyone including me. My house is open to my father anytime he wants to come, but for some reason, he has chosen to take up residence over a noisy pub in downtown.
My guess is that he wants the noise, to drown out the silence and emptiness left by mum’s death seven years ago. Neither of us has gotten over her, but my father is taking it especially hard. He loved her with his entire being.
The second floor is well lit with windows, and sunlight bathes over the dark wood interior as we head down the short hallway. I rap sharply on the heavy door that we come to.
“Come in,” my father calls from inside.
Meg and I enter a cosy sitting room. My father shuffles out from his bedroom door at the far end of the room. I try to see him from Meg’s eyes. His white hair and tanned skin is the same as it’s always been, but where his physique and posture was once proud, now it’s stooped and tired. I see him every day, but I’m still taken aback by the change sometimes, as if my mind keeps choosing to remember the older version of him instead.
“Liam.” Dad smiles faintly as he comes over to us. His weathered eyes flicker to where I’m still holding on to Meg’s hand, and my jersey that she’s wearing, but he doesn’t say a word about it.
“Dad,” I greet. “This is Megan, a friend of mine.”
“Pleased to meet you, sir.”
Dad nods, looking up and down Meg. I can tell that he likes her immediately, from the way his eyes soften. “You’re new in town?” he asks gruffly.
“Kinda… I used to live here, but now I’m situated in Seattle.” Meg flashes me an uncertain smile, worried that she is saying the wrong thing.
“Meg’s here to visit over the weekend,” I finish for her. “I was just showing her the changes downtown, and the pub.”
Dad gives Meg a raised eyebrow. “And? What do you think of this place?”
Meg takes the cue. “Oh, it’s amazing,” she gushes enthusiastically. “The streets are all the same, and the mountains and the forest, and even the smell of the place. And the shops downtown are a little different too.” She tucks her hair behind her ears and laughs wistfully. “I feel like I went away for too long and missed the growing up of a niece or nephew, if that makes sense.”
“I suppose it does.” Dad smiles slowly, and not unkindly. “You seem to like it here. Why did you leave, if you don’t mind an old man’s nosiness?”
I exhale. “Dad.”
“Humor me.” My father may have grown quiet after Mum passed, but he’s still as stubborn as ever.
Meg’s hand tightens in mine. I squeeze it back.
“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to,” I murmur to her.
“No, it’s fine.” She bites her lip, looking my dad straight in the eye. “I wanted to see more of the world,” she shrugs. “I just wanted to know what else is out there.”
Dad nods slowly. “And did you find what you were looking for?”
Meg pauses. “I don’t know,” she finally says. “I don’t even know what I’m trying to find.”
“I guess the only way to find it is to keep looking.” Dad smiles genuinely for the first time that I’ve seen in a while. “Though I wonder if it isn’t right under your nose the whole time.”
After the brief visit with Dad, I stop Meg at the staircase landing just before we turn into the first floor.
I take her hand in concern. “Are you good?”
“Yeah.” Meg leans into me, and I hold her against my chest. “Thanks for introducing us.”
“He’s the most important person in my life, and you—” I look away, but keep my arms around her. “He wasn’t always like this,” I find myself saying. “He was never a loud person, but he used to be happier, until Mum got diagnosed with breast cancer. She fought the battle for five years, but ultimately she lost. And when she passed, he just stopped smiling altogether.”
Meg is quiet for a moment. “I don’t think she lost,” she finally says.
I look down at her questioningly. “What do you mean?”
“Your mum took the cancer with her when she passed. To me, that isn’t a loss. It’s a least a tie.”
This seems like one of those things that only Meg can say. I stare down at the beautiful girl in my arms, at a loss of what to reply for a moment.
So I steal a kiss from her. It’s the most intoxicating taste in the world.
“You’re so damn sweet,” I say, frowning at her in wonder.
Meg grins back cheekily. “I know, you keep telling me that.”
We head back downstairs, and as we do, I find myself thinking that my life could be a whole lot better with some sweetness in it.
Chapter Six
LIAM
It’s late afternoon by the time we leave the pub. Garrett take Jules to the doctor for a check-up, and Meg and I hop back onto the Jeep for a drive around outside of town.
The clusters of buildings and houses grow thinner as we head down the road towards the open plains. There are pine forests in the distance, and beyond us on every side are mountainous outcrops. The scent of fresh trees is so strong we can smell it in the Jeep, and I open the sunroof just a bit to let more of it in.
Meg pulls in a deep breath, then releases. “Haaa…” She draws her bare feet up and leans back in the passenger seat. “I forgot how good it smells out here. This is my first time being so far from town and not in a school bus full of annoyed high schoolers.”
I grin at her, surprised that she’s seen even less of this place than I have. “You’re in luck. I’m about to take you to a secret spot that no one knows about.”
Meg sits up in interest, and her brown eyes light up. “No one? Like, literally nobody?”
“Well, I wouldn’t know,” I shrug. “Since I haven’t actually told anyone about it.”
“Huh. Maybe everyone knows about it, but they just don’t tell others. Maybe it’s everyone secret spot.”
I give her a deadpan look, although I’m actually amused by her logic. “Do you want to see this place or not?”
“Sure.” Meg grins and throws her hands up, letting her fingers slip out of the sunroof. “It’s so much better doing this in a car. I feel like I’m rushing through the plains. Like a stallion.”
I smile. That’s exactly what goes through my mind when I drive out here. “Should I go faster?”
“Hell yeah!”
I push down on the accelerator, and the wind rushes through the sunroof, snatching Meg’s hair and tossing it about. She screams in laughter and press the
wild locks back against her neck. Outside the Jeep, faraway forests rush by, and the mountains cruise lazily, keeping up with us with no issue.
And beyond that, the sun inches closer to the tips of the mountains.
“We’re almost there.” I veer off the asphalt to go on a rocky path that leads uphill.
For the first time ever, I’m taking someone to the spot that I found not long after I moved here, on the second anniversary of Mum’s death. Dad had locked himself away to grieve alone, and I had been lost, angry, and lonely. I’d driven non-stop on this very road, wanting to get away from everything. And when I came to the end of it, I found what I didn’t know I’d been looking for—healing.
“Here we are,” I say simply as I pull up on the plateau of a small hill. I don’t say anything else because I don’t need to. The place speaks for itself.
“Oh my god,” Meg breathes, staring out at the landscape before us.
The plateau sits atop a basin of sparse forests and streams stretching farther than the eye can see. On either side of the plains leading to the horizon are the rocky outlines of mountains so far away that they appear small and faint.
And all of that is bathed in a golden glow cast by the setting sun as it lingers on the line where the sky meets the forest.
“It’s magical.” Meg is leaning off the edge of her seat now. Her hands grasp the dashboard as she stares at the sunset.
She doesn’t know that the sun is staring back at something just as beautiful.
“You’re magical yourself.” I reach out to take a lock of her hair that the sunlight has dyed and shiny bronze. “And so damn lovely.”
Meg turns to look at me, a shy look on her face. “Stop flattering me,” she gripes, even though she is smiling. “I don’t know what to do with compliments.”
“You don’t do anything with it, you just accept it.”
She laughs, and then suddenly, her expression becomes seductive. “What about this?” She reaches out and places her hand over my crotch. “Will you just…accept it, too?”