by Sara Desai
They wrestled for control, but he finally pinned her with the weight of his body, his breath fanning the side of her neck. “How should I pleasure you first?” he mused, amusement dark in his voice. “I need to make you feel so good you’ll never make me climb over your roof again.”
Desire flushed through her veins, heating her skin. Why did she react this way to him? It was like her body was tuned to his frequency, tingling at his every touch. “You already make me feel good. I can be myself around you. I don’t have to worry about being too serious, or too odd, or sharing weird numerical facts, or making plans and lists, or having a sense of humor that no one seems to get.”
His mouth took hers, firm and hot. Pressed against him, she could feel the power of his hard body, the rumble of his pleasure.
“I get it.” He rolled to the side. Desire flushed deep in his face, softened his lips. “I get you, Daisy. And the things you mentioned are what I like most about you.” His hand dropped down over her stomach to unbutton her jeans.
Daisy lifted her hips so he could slide them down and help her kick them off. “Your turn.”
A growl lumbered from him. “Promise not to move. I love you like this, spread out on the bed for me like a delicious treat.”
Laughing, she nodded. “I promise.” She had no interest in moving when Liam stood and unbuckled his belt. He had a magnificent body. She drank in every defined ridge, every powerful muscle, as he dropped his jeans to reveal a pair of black boxers and an erection so thick and hard everything below her waist tightened. She licked her lips and his blue eyes darkened.
“Temptress.” He climbed up beside her and tapped his fingers right above her mound, where the Hulk’s face was prominently displayed. In anticipation of something happening tonight, she’d worn a matching bra and panty set. After all, it never hurt to be prepared.
“This dude . . . watching me . . .” Liam shook his head. “He has to go. There can only be one alpha in this bed.”
“Jealous much?” She pushed up to press a soft kiss to his chest.
With a groan, Liam stretched out on the bed and pulled her into a straddle over his hips. Almost giddy at the prospect of taking control, she let her mouth roam, slicking her tongue over the ridges of his muscles, delighting when his hard, powerful body quivered beneath her. He was so strong, he could easily unseat her, but the restraint he showed as she worked her way down to the waistband of his boxers made her smile.
“Kisses go here.” Liam stopped her when she reached his belly button and pointed to his lips.
“What about here?” She flicked her tongue over the hard bulge in his boxers.
“Fuck.” Liam groaned, head falling back on the pillow.
“Not yet.” Daisy grinned and eased his boxers over his hips. “I believe the plan was to make you feel so good you would never want to go.”
“That was my plan.” He slid his hand through her hair, tugged her head up. “And there’s only one place I want to go right now.”
“Impatient.” After stripping off his boxers, Daisy settled between Liam’s legs and licked the length of his shaft, ripping another groan from his throat. Heat radiated from him, his skin hotter than normal.
“I liked it better when I was on top,” he grumbled, his hand tightening in her hair.
“I’ll go slow.” She took him in her mouth, marveled at the heady masculine taste of him, the power she could exert just by tightening her lips or stroking with her tongue. His body went rigid, the powerful muscles of his thighs taut beneath her. She stroked and licked until he was rock hard, but before she could take him to the edge, he gently eased her away.
“I want this. Fuck. I want this. But I want you more.” He didn’t wait for an answer. A heartbeat later she was on her back on the bed, wrists pinned over her head in his strong hand, her body at the mercy of his mouth.
Still, he took his time, brushing kisses along her jaw and down to the hollow of her throat, then over her sternum to the crescents of her breasts. Despite his tight hold, she arched to rub up against his chest, her nipples hardened to tight buds.
“Let’s get rid of the competition.” He released her hands to strip away her bra. His rumble of pleasure as he revealed her breasts vibrated between her thighs.
Liam’s demanding mouth captured her own and she opened to the wet heat of his kiss. Groaning, he moved down her body, his lips heating a trail from the hollow at the base of her throat to her breasts, where he proceeded to lick and suck her nipples until she was writhing on the bed.
She reached between them, stroked along his hardened length.
“Not yet.” He gently moved her hand away. “I made you a promise that I intend to keep.” Kissing his way down her body, he hooked his fingers into her panties and tugged them off. “Hulk’s gotta go.”
Warm hands held her firm as he settled between her legs. His warm, wet tongue drew lazy circles around her sensitive flesh, so gently at first, she hovered between pleasure and pain, and then harder, faster, until the ache inside her blossomed into edgy need. He slid one thick finger into her wet heat, and then another, a sensual intrusion that stole her breath. And then his lips closed around her aching nub.
She cried out, throwing back her head, hands fisting his hair, pleasure cresting and flooding through her veins, trickling out to her fingers and toes.
With a low growl, he pushed up and sheathed himself with a condom he pulled from his pocket. On instinct, she rolled her hips, wrapped her legs around his hips to pull him close. Liam grabbed the edge of her headboard with one strong arm and plunged inside her.
She gasped at the exquisite sensation and tightened her legs around him. Need pulsed beneath her skin.
“Move, Liam. Please. I won’t break.” Her body took over, hands gripping his thick biceps, hips rocking, taking him deeper.
A strangled groan escaped his lips and he gripped her hip so hard she knew his fingers would leave bruises. Braced against her headboard, he pulled out and pushed in deep and hard, shoulders straining as he gave in to her demands, filling a need she didn’t know had existed, taking her outside of herself, beyond control.
The bed squeaked, swayed. The headboard hammered against the wall in time to the rhythm of his thrusts. Need coiled inside her, tighter and tighter, until finally she peaked. Her spine arched, her orgasm sweeping through her body in a tidal wave of pleasure, filling her with heat.
Liam growled her name, corded throat tightening, muscles going rigid as he followed her into oblivion.
The sound of wood splintering startled her, made her heart jump. Liam dropped down, covering her with his body as the headboard split in two and crashed down on top of them.
“Oh my God.” She panted beneath him. “We broke the bed. Are you okay?”
Liam heaved the headboard up so she could slip out from underneath him. When she was safely away, he lifted it onto the floor and gave a satisfied growl. “Now, that was good sex. Where’s my phone?”
“You are not posting a picture of this.” Daisy’s heart pounded as she surveyed the destruction. “What if someone in my family saw it?”
“It’s just for me.” He grabbed his phone and snapped a quick picture. “But if anyone did see it, they’d be jealous that you are with a fucking sex machine who is so powerful he ripped your headboard in half.” He curled his arms, popped his biceps. “The Hulk is no match for the power of these pythons.”
“I see another python is also proud of the fact that my room is destroyed.”
Liam cupped his semi-erect length and gave a manly tug. “The desk is next. Or should we do it on your dresser? You’ve got a weapon of mass destruction at your beck and call. Just point me in the right direction.”
Laughter bubbled up in her chest. She loved this playful, joyful side of Liam. Maybe he’d never really had a chance to embrace that part of his personality when he was growing
up, but he was definitely making up for it now.
“Are you seriously comparing yourself to a weapon of mass destruction?”
“Look at this room.” He opened his arms wide. “We rocked the fucking world.”
Daisy made her way across the broken shambles of the bed. It didn’t look girlie anymore. They’d managed to knock off the pink duvet, and all the fluffy pillows, and tangle the delicately flowered sheets in a heap.
Definitely time for a change.
“Where are you going”—he growled—“wiggling that sexy little ass at me?”
Daisy looked back over her shoulder and smiled. “You said something about a desk?”
• 23 •
Friday, 3:30 A.M.
DAISY: Are you awake?
LAYLA: I am now.
DAISY: I had sex with Liam.
LAYLA: Is that your idea of a joke? It’s too early in the morning.
DAISY: We broke my bed and my desk and my collection of Disney princess teacups.
LAYLA: OMG. I can’t even . . . Are you CRAZY?!!?
DAISY: Maybe.
LAYLA: He’s supposed to be your FAKE fiancé.
DAISY: It was just a onetime thing. I’m about to send him home. He’s sleeping on my collection of stuffed pigs because there are splinters in my sheets.
LAYLA: What are you going to do when your dad comes home?
DAISY: Tell him I had a nightmare.
LAYLA: I hope it’s a nightmare and Sam is going to wake me up and I’ll be in my bed not texting you in the middle of the night.
DAISY: It was soooooo goooood.
LAYLA: Stop. You’re hurting my eyes.
DAISY: He’s waking up.
LAYLA: We need to talk about this. Send him home now. Don’t do anything stupid.
DAISY: GTG. He wants MORE!
* * *
• • •
SUNDAY morning, Liam drove up the narrow lane leading to the distillery, with Jaxon bouncing excitedly in the back seat behind him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been to visit but he was shocked at the state of disrepair. The white wooden fences were gray and worn, the low stone walls crumbling, and the cobblestone drive was bumpy with holes. Looking at the run-down buildings and rusted barns, he wondered if Daisy would think their arrangement wasn’t worth the effort.
He’d spent a lot of time during the last couple of days wondering what she thought. What would she do if he texted her before their next date for no reason other than to see how she was doing? They hadn’t made a rule about texting, but they did have a rule against developing feelings. It was a stupid rule and he was stupid for agreeing to it, especially because the feelings were already there. And now that he’d slept with her, he was even more certain that the feelings he was having were going to get him into trouble, and there was nothing he could do about it.
“Go faster, Uncle Liam. I want to see the horses.”
“Sorry, bud.” He caught Jaxon’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “This is your mom’s car, and I don’t want the gravel to chip the paint. She might not let us go on any more adventures together.”
A few minutes later, he rounded the final bend of the long road and parked outside the visitor center alongside Joe’s blue pickup truck. As soon as he stepped out of the car, he could smell the grains cooking, the scent of slightly sour bread. It was a smell he associated with his grandfather, and he felt a sudden pang of sadness in his chest.
Jaxon ran across the gravel to see the horses in the neighboring field as soon as Liam helped him out of the car, stopping briefly to say hello to Joe who had come out to greet them.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you out here.” Joe wiped his hands on his coveralls before shaking Liam’s hand. At seventy-five, he was slightly stooped, his dark hair thinning and gray, but he was still strong and fit, his mind as sharp as it had ever been.
“It’s been a while and I’ve been wanting to stop by. When Lauren asked me to look after Jaxon today, I thought we’d make a day of it.”
Joe sighed. “Good idea, since it’s all coming down in a couple of weeks anyway.”
“No one is tearing it down,” Liam said firmly. “Your job is safe, Joe, and the jobs of the other employees here, too.”
Joe lifted an eyebrow. “So that girl you told us about at the will reading . . . She’s real?”
“Very real. Her name is Daisy. She’s the sister of an old friend. She knows what it’s all about and she’s okay with it because the arrangement benefits her, too.”
“I thought she hated you.” Joe leaned against the faded white picket fence that surrounded the visitor center.
“I think we may have worked that out.” He wasn’t sure how Daisy felt about him, but after the other night, he was pretty sure hate wasn’t at the top of her list.
“Well, good for you. I won’t say anything. As far as I’m concerned, you’ve known her forever.”
“I have known her forever, but we’ve gone on dates to make it seem more real.” He pulled out his phone to show Joe the pictures of him and Daisy at the clothing store, the restaurant, the hockey game, and the one he’d taken when he’d declared her the winner of their Guitar Hero marathon.
Joe gave Liam a quizzical look. “You sure it’s fake? Looks like you two are having fun.”
Liam stared at the picture they’d taken at the hockey game. She’d kissed him, not the other way around. And it hadn’t been for show. He’d seen something in her face—something soft and raw and real. And then, just when he’d thought it was all over, when his past had come back to haunt him, she’d shown him just how strong she really was, and made him want her even more.
“It’s supposed to be fake.” He frowned, disconcerted by the question. “It has to be fake. She wants it to be fake.”
“What do you want?” Joe asked.
Liam shrugged. “I don’t do relationships. As you know, I didn’t have a good role model in that department.” He waved Jaxon over, and they walked together to the visitor center.
“You’re not your old man,” Joe said. “You’re your grandfather’s boy. I saw it in you then, and I see it in you now. That core of goodness. Inner strength. Selflessness. And the sheer Irish stubbornness that meant that no matter how many times you were knocked down, you kept getting back up. Your dad saw it, and he hated you for it. He knew he would never be half the man you were at thirteen. You were everything his father had wanted him to be. Your grandfather was so damn proud of you. He kept tabs on everything you did right up until his last days.”
Emotion welled up in Liam’s throat, the pain and grief he hadn’t allowed himself to feel when his grandfather died threatening to rip a hole in his chest. He pulled out his knife and closed it in his fist. “I lost all those years with him.” His voice cracked, broke. “I couldn’t forgive him for not helping my mother. I couldn’t forgive any of them. It was only when he got sick . . . when I knew I was going to lose him . . .”
Joe clasped his shoulder. “No one knew how bad it was with your mom. She didn’t tell anyone, and you boys didn’t say anything. You kept your secrets. We only found out about the abuse after your father died and your uncle Fitz called your mom in Florida to see if she wanted to come to the funeral. That’s when she told him the truth. Fitz and the others decided not to tell your grandfather. His health was already bad and they didn’t want to cause him any stress.”
No one knew. He couldn’t even begin to process what Joe had told him. All those years of thinking his family had turned a blind eye to the abuse, when they didn’t even know. And he was partly to blame. He’d kept his mother’s secrets, just as he was keeping secrets now. Secrets destroyed relationships. He didn’t want to make the same mistake again.
He left Joe to his work and took Jaxon for a tour of the malt house, one of three large warehouses where the w
hiskey was made, then went to the mash tun to watch the malt and water being stirred by giant paddles. They followed the liquid wort as it was passed into the old wooden wash back tanks where the yeast was added and fermentation began, and then walked into the stillroom.
“Look down here, Jaxon.” Liam squatted beside one of the oak casks where the whiskey was aging. “This cask came all the way from Ireland. This is where all the Murphy men leave their mark.” He pointed to the last name on the list. “That’s me. My grandfather gave me a knife to cut my name there when I told him one day I wanted to run the distillery.”
Jaxon squatted beside him. “Where’s Dad’s name?”
“Your dad and your grandfather were busy with the car business and didn’t have time to run the distillery.”
“I want to run it. I’m a Murphy man.” Jaxon stood up tall. “Can I put my name there?”
“Sure you can.” Liam pulled out his knife, and together they carved Jaxon’s name beneath Liam’s in the soft oak, and then blew out the sawdust for luck.
They had just started a game of hide-and-seek when Joe appeared in the doorway, his face creased with worry.
“You’d better come quick. There are a couple of contractors here. They say Brendan hired them to do site prep for tearing down the distillery. They’re planning to bring the demo crew out next week.”
His good humor faded in an instant. “What the f—” He cut himself off just in time. “Take Jaxon and give the estate lawyer a call. I’ll talk to them.”
He found the contractors in the visitor center, checking out the display of whiskey bottles in the tasting area.
“What the hell is going on?” His boots thudded over the worn, dark wood floor. The exposed beams in the ceiling had been painted to match, contrasting with the dingy, whitewashed walls covered in framed pictures of the Murphy distilleries over the years.
Usually the familiar scent of whiskey calmed him, but today it reminded him of everything he could lose.