Know Me Well

by Kait Nolan

  “About that, is there a time attached to this surprise of yours? Reservations or anything?”

  “No. Why?”

  She stepped away and headed back to the front door. “Because we’re going to be late to dinner.”

  “We are?” Were they about to have some serious Talk?

  “See, I have a surprise for you, too, and you’re going to want to unwrap it here.” Her expression was very serious, but Liam could see the sparkle in her eyes and he relaxed.

  “I am?” He made a show of looking around for a box. “Where is it?”

  “Right here.” She locked the door and stepped into him, sliding her hands up his chest and around his neck. “My mother is out of town. For the entire weekend. We are finally, blessedly alone.”

  In a second, Liam’s plans for the evening shifted and his body stirred. “There is a God.”

  “There’s an Autumn, and I can’t even get annoyed at her interference. She’s Mom’s ride to Lawley, so there will be no interruptions.”

  “Remind me to send her flowers next week.” He gripped her generous hips and pulled her closer to his growing arousal. “Is tomorrow Mom’s Saturday to work?”

  With a hum of pleasure she rubbed against him. “It is.”

  “Better and better. How do you feel about an entire weekend of debauchery and delivery food?”

  Delight lit her face. “I love that idea almost as much as I love the fact that you just used the word debauchery.”

  “Seems the appropriate term for what I have in mind.” He skimmed his hands over her curves. “I’ve given it a lot of thought since December.”

  “Have you now?”

  “Thorough, detailed thought.”

  “Then you’d better come to bed and show me.” She rose to her toes and rubbed her lips over his—an invitation, a promise—before she took his hand and led him upstairs.

  The bedroom was larger than he’d have expected, given the size of the other rooms in the duplex. It was a mishmash of furnishings, dominated by a queen-size bed and an assortment of wood pieces that matched only insofar as the distressed pale green paint. Mosquito netting was draped artfully around the head of the iron bed, which was already turned down, waiting. Liam sniffed, accustomed by now to the fact that she’d have some essential oil diffusing wherever she was. This one smelled sweet and exotic with an undertone of something woody.

  “Ylang ylang and sandalwood,” she explained.

  “You’re you, so I know they’re not just for atmosphere. What do they do?”

  “They’re aphrodisiacs.”

  “You are all the aphrodisiac I need.” He slipped his arms around her waist.

  She sighed. “You’re really good for my ego.”

  Despite the pounding in his blood, Liam dipped his head to take her mouth in a languid kiss. He’d dreamed of being with her for so long, he wanted to relish it.

  “Liam,” she said, against his lips.

  “Mmm?”

  “You should unwrap your present.” She turned in his arms and presented her back.

  With slow, deliberate hands, he slipped the zipper down. Through the narrow gap where he expected skin, he saw a row of laces. Intrigued, he spread the back of the dress and felt his mouth go dry. They were corset laces. Black satin ribbons running the length of her spine, from beneath her shoulder blades to her waist. The corset itself was cream-colored, with some kind of elegant black pattern woven in the fabric.

  “This is the sexiest goddamned thing I’ve ever seen,” he said, aware that his voice had gone to gravel.

  She looked at him over her shoulder, her eyes heavy lidded and hot. “Don’t stop there, Boy Scout. You gotta get the full effect.”

  Liam ran a knuckle down her bare shoulder. “I was never a rip the paper off my presents kind of guy. I like to savor.” He dropped his head to the juncture of her shoulder and drew in her scent, something subtly floral and lemony. “Anticipate.”

  Riley made a small, sexy whimper and melted back against him, sliding her hand around his nape, skimming her nails down the back of his neck in a move that made him want to growl. Her eyes drifted shut as she tipped her head to the side, a surrender that had his willpower fraying. He closed his own eyes and dug deep, looking for patience. They had time and he wanted to take it.

  ~*~

  Riley’s skin came alive as Liam slid his work-roughened hands over her shoulders, pushing the dress down her arms, easing it past her hips to reveal the wisp of black satin that was her underwear.

  He swore reverently and helped her step out of the dress. “Okay, I have to know. Were you wearing this when we went to Magnolia Heights?”

  “I was.”

  He knelt and unfastened her shoes. “If I’d known…”

  “If you’d known?”

  “I spent half that night mentally reciting weapons components to keep from being a giant walking hard-on.”

  “Really?” Delighted, she turned to face him. “I spent the whole night thinking you weren’t affected at all.”

  “If I’d known this was underneath, I don’t think I could’ve stopped myself from trying to seduce you.”

  “I’d have probably let you.”

  “I’m glad I didn’t know.”

  Riley pouted a little. “Why?”

  “Because that would’ve just been lust.” Liam cupped her face, stroking a thumb along her cheek. “This is more.”

  Her heart trembled at the look in his eyes. Their relationship was so new, she’d meant this to be simple, fun. But it wasn’t new. Not really. And it wasn’t simple. In truth, it had never been simple.

  Before she could reply, he kissed her again. She could feel him working at the knot in her laces, feel the whisper of satin against her legs as he began slowly unlacing the corset. For a moment she thought to stop him, explain how to loosen the lacing to unlatch the front because it would take forever to relace the thing correctly. But he’d said he wanted to take his time, so instead she reached between them to tug his shirt free from his pants. By the time she’d bared his glorious shoulders, he’d only made it about a third of the way up the lacings.

  “Okay, seriously, how the hell did you even get in this thing?”

  Riley chuckled softly. “Normally it stays laced. Just loosened.” She reached back, made a few tugs to ease the upper laces, then unlatched the steel busks.

  Liam’s eyes went all but black as she shrugged out of it, standing before him in nothing but the panties. “Let me just say, that’s a glorious little piece of engineering. I’ll remember it for next time.”

  It was a thrill to know there would be a next time.

  “At the moment, I’m mostly concerned with this time.” She tugged him toward the dresser, until he stood behind her at the mirror.

  His hungry gaze met hers. “One of your fantasies?”

  Dropping her hands to his, she drew them up her bare torso. “I want to see you touch me.”

  “Your wish,” he murmured, getting with the program and cupping her breasts in his big, broad palms.

  She loved the feel of his hands, bold and possessive. Loved, too, the sight of his darker skin against hers. His calloused thumbs brushed her peaked nipples, and Riley went wet. With a hum, she pressed back against him, glorying in the heat of his chest against her back and the evidence of his desire.

  Liam stroked his hand over the soft curve of her belly, down to cover the scrap of satin between her thighs. She gasped at the touch, part shock, part pleasure. Her body flushed and she rocked into his hand, wanting, needing more.

  “Have you ever watched yourself come, Riley?”

  Speechless, she managed to shake her head once. If he kept talking to her in that voice and looking at her with that unwavering, laser-point focus, she was going to find out in a hurry.

  Liam lifted her hands to loop around his neck. “Hold on to me.”

  She did as ordered, fingers gripping the taut muscles of his neck as he slid the satin aside and went to work
. The sight and feel of him stroking, possessing her, had her knees melting, her body going pliant. And when she shattered, the only thing holding her up was the grip she had on him and the arm he banded around her waist.

  “So goddamned beautiful.” Liam spun her, taking her mouth, even as she still quaked from pleasure.

  When her legs tried to give out, he lifted her up, resting her butt on the dresser as he took her nipple into his mouth. Feeling an answering tug much lower, Riley wrapped her legs around his waist, settling against the bulge behind his fly.

  “Too. Many. Clothes.”

  He turned toward the bed, blindly lowering her, letting her go only long enough to strip out the rest of his clothes with a speed and efficiency she admired almost as much as his beautiful body. Then the mattress sank as he joined her, slowly crawling up her body, lips and hands igniting every inch.

  Restless, aching, she reached for him. “Now, Liam.”

  He started to pull away from her.

  “What—?”

  “Condom,” he muttered, pressing a kiss to the inside of her thigh.

  Riley took a firmer grip. “Birth control.”

  He shifted up, settling himself in the cradle of her hips. “I’m clean. You sure?”

  She wanted him, all of him, with no barriers, no more walls. “Yes. God yes!” Her answer shifted into a shout as he slid inside. “More.”

  “I like the sound of that.”

  He draped one of her legs over his shoulder and thrust forward until she could feel every hard, hot inch of him buried deep.

  “Okay?”

  “Perfect,” she managed.

  Dipping his head, he made love to her mouth as he withdrew and thrust in again, an achingly slow rhythm that kept her deliriously on the brink. She lost track of everything but the flex and play of muscle and the glorious friction of his body moving in hers.

  Riley nipped his lip. “Harder.”

  “Hang on.”

  She curled her hands around the spindles of the headboard. He drove deeper, harder, pausing just a moment at the end of each stroke, so her body clung to his. She matched him beat for beat, feeling the wave begin deep in her core. He cried out as she crested, clenching around him, and they rocked into each other, chasing the last delicious streaks of pleasure.

  Riley lay boneless beneath him, flushed and sated. Liam’s face was pressed against her throat, his breathing hard.

  “I’m crushing you.”

  As he started to move, she groaned in protest, sliding her leg from his shoulder to wrap around his waist to keep him buried inside her. “Not yet I love the aftershocks.”

  Liam propped himself on his forearms and gave a slow swivel of his hips that had her body quivering.

  “Mmm. You feel wonderful.” Riley dragged her hands down the muscles of his back.

  “You are a constant surprise to me.”

  She tucked a pillow beneath her head. “Why?”

  “You’ve got this incredibly wholesome, girl-next-door vibe, so the fact that you know what you want from a lover and aren’t afraid to ask for it is this amazing turn on.”

  “Well, it’s not like people are psychic. If you don’t ask, it’s not likely to happen just by accident.”

  “True enough. I guess I just didn’t expect you to be so comfortable with your sexuality.” There was just a hint of worry in his eyes.

  Riley traced patterns over his chest. “I think what almost happened to me colored your perceptions more than they did mine. At least for the long-term. If you hadn’t been there, things probably would’ve turned out much different. But you were, so I never had to deal with that beyond the realm of what if. You made sure of it.”

  His arms tightened around her and he rolled so she straddled him. “I worried about you when I left.”

  Not so long ago, Riley wouldn’t have believed him. But she understood him better now. Somewhere in the past few weeks, she’d let go of her anger and dropped the walls she’d built all those years before. So she let the thought of him worrying about her slide through her, warm and sweet, like sun-warmed honey.

  She pressed a kiss to the hollow of his throat. “It’s nice to be at a place where we don’t have to worry about each other anymore.”

  Liam brushed a kiss over her brow. “Nice, too, to be in your bed rather than under it.”

  “Good surprise?”

  “Superior surprise. Mine’s going to pale in comparison.”

  She folded her hands over his chest and rested her chin. “What is it?”

  “Where are my pants?”

  Riley grinned and wiggled. “I’m pretty sure I already got the surprise in your pants.”

  “And it’s yours any time you want it. But no, that’s not the surprise.” He shimmied across the bed, one hand possessively on her butt, until he could stretch his arm to the floor to grab something.

  She loved that he wanted to keep touching her and stay close.

  A moment later he came back up with an envelope. “Open it.”

  Riley sat up and took it, wondering if he’d gotten tickets to something. But whatever was inside was several pieces of folded paper. The envelope wasn’t sealed, so she slid the contents out and unfolded them.

  Mississippi State Board of Contractors

  Liam’s name and contact information was filled out on the front page. She flipped through skimming the rest.

  Riley frowned, not really making the connection. “You’re applying for your contractor’s license?”

  He stroked her thighs. “I told you that night at dinner that I wasn’t sure I was cut out for civilian life. That I didn’t know my place anymore. You told me to build my own.”

  She went still, watching him.

  “I’ve spent seven months trying to figure out how the hell I fit here, and it wasn’t until you that I felt like I did. I hate that you’ve been slapped with all this pain in the ass need for repairs, but it’s helped me figure things out. You helped me figure things out. I like building stuff. I like seeing measurable progress to the work I’m doing instead of a big ass pile of rubble and destruction.”

  Riley smiled at him. “That’s perfect! You weren’t made for life behind a desk. And I see why we’re celebrating, but how exactly is this a surprise for me? Or did you already know about that fantasy I have about you and your tool belt?”

  Liam’s lips curved, but his expression remained serious. “I wanted to give this to you as proof that I’m serious and I’m committed. I didn’t want you to worry that I’d leave again.”

  What began as a tremble shifted to a quake as her heart cracked wide open, all the adolescent hero worship, all the lust and affection gave way to a love that warmed her down to her toes. That he’d think of that… Her throat went tight, and for a moment, Riley was terrified she’d cry. She swallowed the lump and cradled his face. “Thank you.” Then she kissed him, pouring out everything she wasn’t yet ready to say.

  His arms wrapped around her, his hand snaking into her hair as he answered with equal passion. He stirred inside her, and she murmured against his lips, “You promised me celebration, Boy Scout.”

  He took a firm grip on her butt as he thrust up “Let it never be said that I don’t give my girl what she needs.”

  ~*~

  Liam woke Sunday morning with regret. Not that he’d been with Riley—if there was a better way to spend a weekend than making love to a beautiful woman, watching classic movies, and noshing on Chinese and pizza, he didn’t know what it was—but because their alone time was almost over. Who knew when the next opportunity would present itself? Determined to make the most of what time they had left, he slipped out of bed and headed downstairs.

  Riley was not a morning person. He’d known this about her in an abstract sense, but seeing the truth in action was a whole different thing. She was so adorably befuddled in the morning until she’d had her coffee. Granted, she’d gotten very little actual sleep, but Liam had a feeling that didn’t matter much, so he went ahe
ad and started the coffee. As the Columbian brew began to drip, her cat wandered into the kitchen and began to meow pitifully. Valium had finally deigned to show himself during their movie marathon yesterday. Or maybe it was just that they’d finally surfaced long enough to notice him.

  While he searched out the cat food, Liam thought back to the problem of their lack of privacy. There were only two possible solutions he could see. Either he went ahead and got his own place or Riley’s mom moved out. Getting himself a place would be simple enough; though, time was an issue until he finished renovations on the pharmacy. He didn’t want to wait that long. He wanted her beside him when he went to sleep, in his arms when he woke. The truth was, he didn’t want his own place. He wanted a place with Riley.

  That realization slammed into him, leaving him stunned.

  And he’d thought his mom would push once he got serious about a woman?

  Valium sank claws into Liam’s leg, reminding him to actually put the kibble in the bowl. Shaking off the cat, Liam finished feeding him and poured coffee before heading back upstairs. Riley was still sleeping. Not wanting to disturb her, he sat on the chair in the corner to drink his coffee and think.

  That night they’d had dinner at Magnolia Heights, she’d told him to build his own place. Liam wondered what she’d say if she realized he’d been building that place around her? He wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about that himself. It was way too damned soon to talk about moving in together. Which meant the easier solution was helping Sharilyn get her own place. That would alleviate Riley’s burden of taking care of her financially and give them the option for privacy when they wanted it. Win-win, really.

  Riley stirred, reaching across to his side of the bed. “Liam?”

  “Morning beautiful.”

  She propped herself up on one elbow, expression faintly confused as if wondering why he was all the way across the room.

  “I made some coffee.” He nodded toward the travel mug on the bedside table.

  Sleepy blue eyes blinked, shifting between him and the coffee. Something in her face softened. “Come here.”

  Liam crossed to the bed, bending close at the crook of her finger.

  She brushed her lips over his. “I got to sleep in and a sexy man brought me coffee in bed. I had to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.”