So Bad It Must Be Good

by Nicole Helm

  His mouth trailed down her chest, her stomach, and it took her far too long to realize what he was doing. It didn’t fully come together in her head until he slid off the bed and pulled her easily until her ass was at the edge.

  Her chest clenched, a hard fist of nerves. No one had ever . . . She wasn’t even really sure she’d ever wanted someone to. It seemed so . . .

  “I didn’t mean that you had to . . .” But his tongue touched her, one long, slow, delicious slide of friction, deeper and more insistent than his finger had been. His dark hair between her legs, his big, scarred hands on her thighs.

  “Did you want me to stop?” he asked, his gaze meeting hers over the length of her body. His eyes fierce and sharp, and everything about the moment a little bit scary and yet she was brave and daring and that had felt so very good.

  “No,” she whispered.

  She thought maybe she caught the quirk of his mouth before it returned to her pussy—a word she’d said aloud—and then as his tongue entered her, she forgot everything. She’d kind of wanted to watch, but the pleasure was too much, her eyes squeezed shut. Her body moved compulsively against his mouth.

  She could feel his beard against her inner thighs, and somehow he was licking at her, into her, and using his fingers. When his tongue flicked across her clit, her gasp was loud and echoing.

  She had to fist her hands in the sheets to keep from bucking off the bed, to keep from pressing herself against him, and still Liam licked and sucked and seemed determined to make her gasp again and again and again.

  She was hot, too hot, and everything inside of her was coiled too tight. She realized belatedly she was chanting his name, and as he slid two fingers inside of her, his tongue pressing against her clit, she shuddered apart into a blistering, sparkling orgasm. Wave after wave, moving through her like nothing else—no one else—ever had.

  She realized she’d been bucking against his mouth as much as his arms around her legs had allowed, but once she stilled he slid his arms from around her legs. He kissed her inner thigh, and then the other, then her belly button, slowly crawling back over her.

  The grin on his face was impossible not to return. She felt dazed and dazzled, and he seemed so contained, so perfectly happy to have given her something.

  So she reached out, quickly shoving her hands under his shorts and grabbing the hot, hard length of him. She held him in one hand as she tugged down his shorts and boxers with the other, and then she got to her knees.

  He’d broken her apart with only his mouth and hands, and now it was her turn to do the same to him.

  * * *

  Liam was pretty sure he’d lost his mind somewhere along the way. Maybe he’d been electrocuted in his workshop and this was a very elaborate dream.

  But he kneeled next to Kayla on his bed, and her hands felt very real as they smoothed up and down his thighs.

  Her tongue felt more than real as it slowly licked up the length of his dick. At the very tip, she flicked a gaze up at him, swirling her tongue around.

  He groaned low and guttural and though some rational part of his brain told him not to, he settled his hands around her scalp, threading his fingers through her hair, urging her mouth to take him inside.

  She didn’t hesitate, didn’t fight the slight pressure of his palms. She just opened and drew him in, a slow, slick slide. It was as if his entire existence was centered there, her pretty pink lips around his thick shaft.

  Sucking him in, drawing him out, her hands balanced on his thighs, her red hair a riot of flame around her pale, freckled face. The beautiful pink of her nipples drawn to a point and moving in time with her gentle bobbing.

  He tried to think beyond the need to curl his fingers in her hair, tug her closer, make her take him deeper, but the more she moved her mouth up and down his cock, the more thinking was impossible.

  She didn’t even jerk away or look at him alarmed as his fingers curled tighter into her hair. If anything, she simply sighed against him and took him deeper into her mouth.

  “You like it?” he asked, his voice rough at best, but he wasn’t sure he could trust his own eyes. He needed some kind of confirmation, some kind of...

  She pulled back, though her lips didn’t quite leave the head. “Yes,” she breathed, and he jerked at the bolt of ecstasy that was her breath against his wet cock. “Do you?” she whispered, causing another jerk and his hands to tighten in her hair even more.

  “Yeah, I like your pretty mouth on my cock.” He shouldn’t say things like that. He knew he shouldn’t. But she moaned against him as though she liked it, taking him deep in the wet heat of her mouth.

  His eyes fluttered closed, but he fought it, wanting to watch her face, her pale, slim fingers splayed over his hips. The way her lips stretched around him, drawing him in and out. Kayla. This beautiful, sweet, once-timid woman. The taste of her pussy on his tongue, her blue eyes looking up at him from her bent-over position.

  He could feel himself tightening, the crushing blow of climax just a few more swirls of her tongue away.

  “Kayla.” He tried to pull her back and away, but she only sucked him deeper, her nails faintly digging into his thighs. So he surrendered to it, the orgasm, holding her there as it roared through him. His body pulsed, his vision suffused with some sparkling light and Kayla’s dark blue eyes watching him through the whole thing.

  Slowly, she pulled off of him, and he supposed he should let go of her hair so she could pull completely away, but he didn’t want to let her go. Even limp and satisfied he wanted her right here.

  He tugged her head up, bending his own down, brushing his mouth across her swollen one. Her mouth curved, as self-satisfied as he’d ever seen a person, and it made him smile in return.

  “You know, if this wasn’t what you were trying to start back in the kitchen, I’m going to be a little embarrassed,” he managed to say as he finally forced himself to unclench his fingers from her silky hair.

  “Only a little?” she asked, rubbing a palm against his jaw, still so damn satisfied he had no doubt she was teasing.

  “You seemed to enjoy it all right even if it’s not what you intended.”

  She laughed, the sound lazy and husky as she stretched out and laid back on the bed. “Mm. I’m pretty sure that’s what I intended.”

  He looked down at her and wondered if he’d ever forget the image of Kayla Gallagher naked in his bed. Maybe he should take it all at face value, but he’d been burned a few times in that department.

  Carefully, he pulled up his boxers and shorts. He lay beside her, mirroring her sprawled position. He stared at the ceiling, hoping the words didn’t come out stupid. “So that wasn’t uh . . . too much?”

  “I feel very much like just right Goldilocks right now.” She stretched her arms out, walking two fingers across his chest and back until he looked at her. She grinned. “Definitely not too much.”

  “Good,” he managed lamely. Her riot of red hair was tangled across his pillow, her skin a slight pink where his mouth or hands or beard had been.

  She yawned, curling toward him on her side, her hand resting lightly on his chest. Her eyes were half closed, but the smug little smile hadn’t left her face.

  Just right, yes she was.

  “I could run out and get some condoms,” he murmured sleepily, everything about getting off Kayla’s warm body making him sluggish. But sex seemed like a good idea, in a minute or two, once the use of his muscles returned.

  Kayla’s eyes had completely closed though. “Mm,” was her only reply, her breathing slow and even.

  He should probably set his alarm. He had early appointments in the morning, but all he managed was to pull the discarded bedspread up and over the both of them and fall asleep.

  Chapter Nine

  “Shit, shit, shit.”

  Kayla was jerked out of sleep by that repeated word and the bed she was in moving as though she were in an earthquake.

  She blinked her eyes open, realizing for the
second time in a week she was in Liam’s bed.

  Heat suffused her cheeks this time though because she was quite sure of all the things she’d done with Liam last night. There was no fuzzy memory or wondering what might have happened.

  She remembered it all in great detail.

  “Shit,” he was muttering over and over, pawing around in drawers, pulling on a pair of jeans and then a T-shirt.

  “What’s wrong?”

  He didn’t spare her a glance. “I’m supposed to meet my dad at seven to go over some business stuff before our first appointment of the day.”

  Kayla glanced at the old digital clock on his nightstand. Well, shit was right. It was already seven.

  “Is there anything I can do? Do you need me to—”

  “You’re fine,” he said, plopping down on the bed and pulling on socks hurriedly. “Take your time, feel free to eat anything in the kitchen, and I’ll leave you my key so you can lock up.”

  “But how will you get back in?”

  “I’ll stop by your place on my way home from work.” He popped off the bed again, grabbing his phone and shoving it into his pocket.

  “Oh, okay,” Kayla managed, still drowsy with sleep and not quite putting everything he said together. Except he was leaving, which was not exactly how she’d planned to spend the morning.

  “Sorry.” He gave her a hurried kiss and almost missed her mouth completely, just hitting the corner. “I’m never late.” And with that, he strode into the bathroom.

  His words made her smile. No, Liam wasn’t the type of man who would be late. She never would have listed punctual as an attribute she needed in a man, but the thing about Liam never being late was that it spoke not just to his deep sense of responsibility, but to the fact he was a man you could trust.

  The kind of man who’d put a woman, if not first, at least on equal ground. He cared that other people were okay, and if they weren’t, he wanted to help. That was quite the amazing thing.

  She had the terrible tendency of dating guys who treated her as more of an afterthought. Someone to pursue, but ultimately be bored with the moment the catch had been made.

  Come to think of it, that’s probably what had happened with Aiden. He’d been interested until she’d so enthusiastically said yes to him asking her out.

  Kayla bit her lip as she pulled the blankets up to her chin. Truth be told, she hadn’t thought about Aiden in days. Had she put Liam in an awkward position by ending up falling for him instead?

  She rolled her eyes at herself. Yes, because Aiden had been so interested. Interested enough to miss their date, send his brother, and spend the next few days not contacting her in any way.

  Yeah, Aiden was fine.

  Liam came out of the bathroom, keys in hand. He was twisting what she presumed to be his house key off a ring. “My last appointment should be over around five. Will you be home?”

  “I should be.”

  He placed the key on the nightstand. “I’ll text first, but I’ll swing by and pick it up. Sound good?”

  Kayla nodded. He shoved his keys into his pockets, giving her only the most cursory glance.

  “I’ll see you later then,” he muttered, and was walking quickly out the bedroom door before he’d finished the sentence.

  Kayla watched him go. She should get up and get dressed and get out of his house. She had résumés to send out, job listings to scour. She had things to do. But before she could put her mind to any of them, Liam reappeared.

  “Fuck it,” he said emphatically, and for the first time this morning his eyes were on her. Fierce and hot, like she was something he had to possess. The shiver that went through her had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with excitement, and then she was crushed against him, his mouth hot and wild on hers, his tongue delving into her mouth with no preamble.

  She wound her arms around his neck and he all but pulled her off the bed with simply the strength of his arms around her.

  No one, ever, had kissed her like she was something both precious and necessary. No one, ever, had made her feel this heart-pumping desire mixed with some chest-constricting warmth. But Liam made her feel both things, and so many more unnameable reactions.

  He pulled his mouth away, though his arms remained around her, keeping her pulled slightly above being prone on the bed. He was breathing heavily, a bit of a dazed expression on his face.

  She had dazed him. Her. It was that power from last night. It was a giddy rightness. All things she’d never had. Never known she’d wanted. But oh, oh, she wanted him and all he could do to her.

  His crystal-blue eyes ablaze with something Kayla felt like she understood on some cellular level even though she couldn’t put it into words. She just knew it was . . . more. So much more than she was used to.

  And she liked it.

  “Stop and get condoms before you come over tonight,” she managed to say, though she was panting as if she’d run a mile.

  His mouth curved, sharp and all the more lethal because he employed it so infrequently. “I might forget my own name, but I will not forget the condoms.”

  “Now, go,” she urged, smiling at him. “I hear you’re never late.”

  The smile he wore now was softer, the quirk of one side. Responsible, kind Liam as opposed to feral, lustful Liam. So many facets to this man she never would have guessed at.

  “I’ll see you soon,” he replied, giving her one quick kiss before letting her go completely. He stepped out of the room, glancing back once and offering a wave.

  She knew she was probably letting her heart lead and gallop ahead when it would be more sensible and responsible to keep her feelings in check, to wait and see how things went. She should be careful if only to avoid getting hurt.

  But she was always careful. Always waiting for someone else to make the first move or show her the next step, and the thing was, it had never once stopped her from getting hurt. Being the timid, fragile doormat didn’t keep you from getting stepped on or broken. It just kept other people from having to see they’d done it.

  No more. Improved . . . Well, “Improving Kayla” was not going to be cautious. She was going to embrace this new hand she’d been dealt.

  And if Liam wasn’t on the same page, well, she’d survive. She’d at the very least get some sex out of the deal—and if actual sex was anything like last night, it would well be worth a little heartache.

  * * *

  “You got a girl.”

  Liam jerked at Dad’s accusation as he bandaged up the scrape across his knuckles. He didn’t bother to look up and into what would be Dad’s too-shrewd gaze. He focused on getting a bandage over the cut.

  “Girl?”

  “Girl. Woman. Whatever. You’re never this distracted, son. Hell, you had better focus when you had mono.”

  Liam shot Dad a wry glance. “Exaggerate much?” Except maybe today it wasn’t that big of an exaggeration. He’d thought about Kayla all day. Too much. Far too much. He was a guy who liked sex. What guy didn’t? Sometimes he’d wondered if it was a bit much, all in all, but it had never been this bad, this all-encompassing need.

  But this whole distraction thing wasn’t solely about sex or the almost having of it. It had more to do with the woman herself.

  “Well, since you aren’t sick, best as I can tell, it’s got to be a woman.”

  “Maybe it is.” Liam finished with his bandage and then went to his toolbox to put away his tools. It was already almost five o’clock and he’d put in a full day with Dad. He still needed to stop somewhere and buy condoms, actually use said condoms with Kayla, and, if he had an ounce of sense left in his head, he’d go home and do some work in his shop for the market on Wednesday.

  “Going to tell me about her?”

  Liam shrugged. He supposed he could tell Dad that it was Kayla Gallagher, but if he told Dad, Dad would tell Mom, who would mention it to Aiden, and as of yet Liam hadn’t had any luck getting ahold of Aiden to tell him that his little plan of getti
ng Kayla was over.

  She was Liam’s now.

  Some people would probably consider that a pretty archaic way of thinking, and those people could go fuck themselves.

  He locked his toolbox and nodded to Dad as they headed out of the Coreli’s house where they’d managed to fiddle with their ancient dishwasher enough to get it working again.

  “Not getting any younger,” Dad commented as he pulled open the truck bed so Liam could shove the toolbox into its spot.

  Liam gave his father a doleful look as he fastened the box to the truck bed. “Neither are you, and yet you won’t retire.”

  Dad grunted and let the subject drop as Liam had known he would. Dad didn’t want to discuss retirement, and Liam wasn’t sure he wanted to discuss Kayla quite yet, so that worked out all in all.

  They both climbed into the company truck and Liam watched out the window as Dad drove them back home. Liam glanced at Dad, then shifted as casually as he could to pull his phone out of his pocket.

  “I don’t suppose you’re calling your mother to let her know we’re on the way?” Dad asked, so innocently Liam snorted.

  “No.” He warred with himself for a second, then went ahead and typed a text to Kayla, Dad’s smugness be damned.

  Dad pulled the truck up the driveway of Mom and Dad’s house and they both got out. Dad gestured toward the door.

  “Don’t suppose you’d want to come in and have dinner with me and your mom?”

  “I, uh, have plans.”

  “Of course you do,” Dad replied with a genuine smile, but it faded almost as quickly as it had bloomed. “Don’t suppose you know anything about where your brother’s disappeared to?”

  Liam sighed and shook his head. “No.”

  Dad sighed too and Liam noted how similarly it sounded to his. Was he already turning into his father? Did that bother him? Liam wasn’t sure. He loved and respected his father more than any other man in his life, and he . . . Well, he had certain flimsy ideas of what a future might look like some day, and it looked a heck of a lot like what Dad had built.

  “Your mother’s worried,” Dad said, taking his hat off his head and mashing it between his hands. Mom never let him wear it in the house.