Marked

by Drew Elyse

  “Where are we going?”

  “My bed,” he clipped.

  “Oh.”

  He groaned. “Give me a break, and please don’t say that again until I’ve got you naked. Yeah?”

  I felt myself get wet from the promise in those words.

  “I can do that.”

  His head came down, and I took the hint, craning my neck up to kiss him.

  “I haven’t stopped thinking about that mouth,” he confessed as he carried me into his room.

  How many times had I thought about that kiss? How many times had it crept into my thoughts even when I wasn’t sure I wanted it to? I couldn’t even count.

  I traced his full bottom lip with a finger. “I like yours, too.”

  He nipped at my finger before I snatched it away. “I’ll make you more than like it,” he promised.

  I had no doubt he could.

  Liam set me down beside his bed, and I unabashedly took a minute to look around. The furniture was all black stained wood, the bedding a light gray. On the walls though, there were paintings and framed drawings that were full of color and life.

  “Are they all yours?” I blurted, moving from one image to the next.

  He followed my gaze, landing on the largest painting of an old ship on a stormy sea. It had elements of classic tattoo style to it mixed with broad, exaggerated brush strokes.

  “Not all of them,” he answered. “But that one is.”

  “It’s incredible.”

  “My second favorite piece at the moment.”

  “What’s the first?”

  One hand came up, gliding under my hoodie, then beneath my shirt on my side. He pushed the shirt away, revealing the side of my tattoo that he could see from in front of me.

  “Liam,” I whispered.

  “I was up against men I respect who are talented as fuck, and I created what you liked best. I got to get you in my chair and in my life. That gypsy might be my favorite piece forever.”

  I threw myself at him, again.

  There was no more stopping, no more distractions. It took no time at all for the heat between us to boil over. I reached for the hem of his shirt at the same time he pushed my hoodie from my shoulders. I let it fall while he pulled his shirt away, then went after mine. Each item went, one by one, our mouths drawn immediately back to each other any time they were forced to break apart. I managed to get his belt undone with unsteady fingers. My shorts and panties fell to the floor when he pushed them past my hips, and he yanked me tight against him, skin to skin. His kiss became impossibly deeper, like he was drinking me in as his hands roamed my back down to my ass. He groaned deep, the sound radiating from his chest through my own, as he cupped me there.

  With a firm hold on each cheek, he lifted me in the air and laid me down on the bed. I gasped as I fell, but he swallowed the sound. His lips left mine, traveling down my neck. He teased with licks and nips down, down, down, until he sucked the tip of one breast into his mouth. My back arched, pressing up into his mouth.

  “Oh,” I moaned.

  Liam growled, moving to the other nipple while one warm hand covered where his mouth had been. He teased the other breast until I was writhing beneath him.

  “Liam,” I begged.

  His head came down, forehead against my upper chest. “Tell me you’re ready for more. I need to hear you say it,” he said on a constant, low groan there.

  “Please, give me more.”

  In a flash of movement, he was bent low, lifting my legs above his shoulders, and his mouth went between them.

  I cried out as he gave a long lick on my clit, then sucked it hard. He ate me like he was starved, like he’d been so hungry for a taste it nearly undid him. He ate me like he wanted me to feel as wild as I’d made him.

  He succeeded.

  I buried my hands in the length of his hair, loving that I could hold onto him there. My hold on the strands only pushed him further, speeding the lashing movements of his tongue.

  “Oh. Oh. Oh,” I panted. “Liam.”

  He didn’t stop, didn’t waste time on words. He was driving me over the edge, and that was all that mattered.

  “I…I…”

  Just when I thought I was going to reach the precipice, he thrust two fingers inside of me.

  I shattered.

  My body, my thoughts, any sense of anything beyond the pleasure he was creating was lost. There was just Liam, his tongue, his fingers, and the way he owned my body in those moments.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Liam

  She was going to unman me.

  The sight of her, the way she tasted, the feel of her soft thighs on the sides of my head had me harder than I’d ever been before. When she’d wrapped her fingers in my hair and I’d felt her pussy start to clench with her oncoming orgasm, my balls had drawn up. When she’d come apart for me, it was a fucking miracle I hadn’t peaked right along with her.

  I lay my head down on her stomach, trying to get myself under control. I’d been thinking too long about this, even fucking longer since the last time I’d had a woman. Hell, I wasn’t even sure when I’d last gotten off with more than my own hand.

  “Lee,” she called, her voice still heavy with pleasure.

  Lee.

  No one had ever called me Lee. That was hers.

  “Right here, gypsy. Just need a second.”

  “Oh.”

  Fuck. How did one fucking word do this to me? My cock actually throbbed just hearing it.

  I chuckled against her, placing a kiss on the soft skin beside her belly button, tracing the curve of the indent with my tongue.

  She swatted at my shoulder. “That tickles.”

  “You liked it a minute ago.”

  “Mmmm. Yeah, I did.”

  I laughed outright at that, even as her agreement made me want to fuck her.

  After a minute, I stood. Reaching down, I went to redo the button on my jeans.

  “What are you doing?”

  I looked down at her laid out on the bed, completely bare besides the art I’d put on her. She looked fucking spectacular. I could draw and paint her a hundred times and never do the real thing justice.

  “We don’t need to do anything else.”

  She sat up, and my dick protested the tight confines of my jeans as I watched her heavy tits shift.

  “Come here,” she coaxed.

  “Kate,” I protested—weakly.

  She reached up, hooking her fingers into the belt loops of my jeans. She pulled, her eyes fixed on mine, and I couldn’t resist.

  She shooed my hands away, then pulled down the zipper. Laying her hands flat above my hips, she slid them down until her fingers dipped below the band of my boxers… and I lost it.

  With my hands under her arms, I hauled her up the bed, climbing onto it with her. I took her mouth again, tasting her pussy between our tongues. Her hands were everywhere, running through my hair, over my shoulders, down my back. They left a trail of fire in their wake and the burn felt so good.

  She shifted her thighs beneath me until they were on either side of my hips, and then she was reaching to push my jeans and boxers down. I snatched her by the wrists, bringing her arms up to pin them to the bed above her head.

  “You’re sure you want this?”

  Her eyes were warm with desire and affection. “Yes.”

  I thrust down against her, my cock desperate for any relief. Her head flew back. She was still so fucking worked up for me, and that spurred me into motion more than even the incessant throbbing of my dick.

  I tore off my jeans and boxers and rifled through the nightstand for a condom. When I was set, I hoisted her up yet again, lying down where she had been with her on top of me.

  “Ride me, gypsy. I want to see you wild on top of me.”

  Her breathing picked up, and I knew she wanted it, but she didn’t hop right on. No, first she leaned over, her hair falling all around us, the soft length of it tickling my face. She placed a deliber
ate, slow, maddeningly tempting kiss on my lips. I could feel every fucking curve of her against my bare skin, and there had never been anything so sweet.

  Only when she had me good and ready to lose it did she pull back, keeping her eyes on mine, hypnotizing me with that gaze as she lined me up and slid down inch by inch.

  She was a vision. A queen on her throne. A fucking goddess.

  I could lose all feeling in my cock, and seeing her just like that would do it for me still, but with the tight, hot grip of her? It was heaven.

  “Take it all,” I groaned.

  Her head flew back as she sank down all the way, burying me to the hilt then extending the pleasure for both of us as she ground her clit against me. I grabbed onto her hips, needing to feel her move every way I could.

  I couldn’t help it, my hips started to pump up and down. “You feel so fucking perfect. I’ve never felt anything better than you wrapped around my cock.”

  She kept going, riding me like she was made to be there. Her head was still tilted back, her eyes shut. I couldn’t stop the flicker of unease that went through me.

  “Say my name,” I grunted. “Say my name while you take my cock.”

  “Lee,” she moaned instantly, and her rocking motions sped, then turned to full bounces up and down, riding the full length of me. Yes, she was right there with me, completely mine in that moment.

  My eyes roved over every inch of her, unable to focus on any one feature. The ecstasy on her face, the sway of her tits, the sight of my cock disappearing into her pussy. It was all too fucking much.

  “I need you to come,” I nearly begged her. “I need to feel that sweet cunt come around me.”

  I gripped her hips, using the hold to jack her on and off of my cock, giving it to her harder as she cupped her breasts, teasing her own nipples. I moved her faster, feeling the muscles tighten under my hold.

  So close. Just a little longer.

  Her eyes flew open right before I felt the first ripple of her pussy tightening.

  “Oh,” she cried before it dissolved into a long, high moan as she came.

  It was too tight to resist, not that I even tried. The second she got there, I let go and followed her over. Wave after wave hit me, rocking me so hard I thought I might black out.

  She was ecstasy. My beautiful gypsy.

  I traced patterns up and down the length of her spine, loving the feel of her beneath my fingers.

  “That feels so nice,” she sighed. I hadn’t been sure if she was asleep or not, from the lazy sound of her voice, she was somewhere right on the edge.

  I’d managed to drag myself from the bed to get rid of the condom. When I came back, she’d been sprawled out in the same spot and even spent, my dick stirred at the sight of her. He could fucking cool it, though. I’d laid back down, adjusting her until she was nearly on top of me.

  We’d been that way for nearly an hour if I was right.

  I tilted my head her way, kissing just above her temple as I kept rubbing her back.

  “Are you okay?”

  Me? Was she really asking that?

  “I’ve never been better.”

  She nuzzled against my shoulder, tensing her arms against me in a pseudo-hug. I could get used to having her just like that. I hoped like hell I’d get the chance.

  “Are you?” I asked.

  That was the real question. I was fucking thrilled she’d come here to give this a shot, but I knew that didn’t mean things were magically all fixed. She was still grieving, some part of her always would be. If I was lucky, I’d get the chance to help her through those struggles now.

  “Yes,” she replied, and I heard the hint of surprise. “I don’t know that I’ll always be or—”

  “I know,” I cut in. She didn’t need to explain that to me, try to prepare me. This was only the beginning of the road. “One day at a time.”

  She sighed, the relief in it palpable. “One day at a time,” she echoed.

  “You sure about that?” I asked.

  It was the next morning, and Kate had just suggested I go with her to pick up Owen after I’d offered up the idea of going out to breakfast since we both had the day off.

  “Of course. He likes you, and I want you two to spend time together. I wouldn’t try to explain anything about us to him yet, but…”

  “That’s not what I meant, gypsy,” I interjected. “I know you’re good with me being around Owen. We’ve done plenty of that, and none of what he gets from that needs to change. I meant are you ready for me to go with you to pick him up this morning from Daz and Avery?”

  Her eyes widened a bit, and I realized she hadn’t thought through the repercussions of that. She and Daz were close, and he was Joel’s brother.

  “I need to talk to him first,” she voiced what I’d been thinking as well, though it was said with trepidation.

  “Yeah.”

  “It’s not that I want to hide this,” she tried to assure me—or maybe herself.

  “Was I not the one that just pointed out that maybe us both going there wasn’t a good plan?” I teased.

  She rolled her eyes. “So funny.”

  I watched her. There was a bravado to her sass. She was nervous. It was right there in every line of her body, the tension that had overtaken her. She didn’t want to hide this, I did believe her on that, but she wasn’t looking forward to telling him, either.

  “Just relax, okay?” I hooked her around the waist, pulling her to me. “I’m not going to turn into a dick about this. I know this isn’t an easy situation, and I’m here to ride it out for the long run.”

  “Okay.”

  I kissed her, just a quick one. Anything more, and I’d be liable to pull her back into bed.

  “Why don’t you head home, get ready, then get Owen, and I’ll meet you guys for breakfast?”

  She looked relieved like she was worried I was going to cancel our plans today because of a slight setback. “That sounds good. Do you want to invite your mom and Connor?”

  “Not today. I just want you and Owen.” Her smile grew more assured. She’d settle into this. We both would. “I did want to talk to you about Mom, though.”

  “What about her?”

  “Do you remember her complaining about Tracy when we had dinner there?”

  She winced a bit. “It’d be kind of hard not to.”

  Yeah, she had a point there. Mom had gotten herself on a roll a few times. “Well, that was an issue because Tracy started dating a guy a while back and didn’t tell Mom for about two months.”

  That time, the wince was full-out. “Yikes.”

  “I’m not saying I have to tell her right now, but…”

  “You can tell her.” Her response was immediate and firm.

  “You’re sure?”

  She toyed with one of the sleeves of her hoodie. “I need time to talk to Daz properly because I’m worried this might be difficult for him at some level. I don’t want to tell everyone until I can do that, but your family is different. I don’t want you to keep anything from them for me.”

  “It’s okay if you need some time to adjust first,” I assured her.

  She looked up at me. “I don’t. I came here last night because I was ready to try. This is part of that. If anyone, your mom is probably a good place to start.”

  Because Mom would understand if we had setbacks if Kate started to struggle.

  “Fair warning, she’ll probably insist on us coming over again ASAP.”

  She nodded. “I figured.”

  Another reason to tell Mom first. It gave a safe trial run for us to be together with people we knew.

  “Okay, I’ll call her.”

  “Okay.”

  I kissed her again, lingering this time on her soft lips just a little longer. I didn’t know when I’d get another taste, so this one had to last. She sank into me, and I couldn’t hold back. I took her mouth until we were both breathing heavily. Her lips were swollen just a touch, and I wanted to make them look
that way all the fucking time.

  “Go,” I rasped. “Get your boy. I’ll see you in a while.”

  When she left, I had to wait a while for the hard-on she’d left me with dissipated. Only then did I call my mom and let her scream in my ear for a while with her excitement.

  Then, I took my woman and her boy to breakfast.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Liam

  “Come on, gypsy. It’s not that far.”

  She just blinked at me.

  “Okay, it’s a little far,” I conceded. “But he’ll love it.”

  We were at the farmhouse, hanging out in the kitchen while Owen showered in a bathroom just a couple doors down where Kate could easily hear if he needed anything. For the rest of the evening, the two of them were mine, if I could just get Kate on board with the plans I’d made.

  “We can get ice cream in town.”

  “Not like Happy Jack’s we can’t.”

  Her lips tipped up at the corners even as she bit them in the middle.

  “What?”

  The mirth in her eyes might have made me nervous if I didn’t enjoy it so much.

  “If we go, how many times do you think you’ll say that name?”

  “Happy Jack’s?”

  She started to giggle despite the fact that she was still pressing her lips together. “Mhm.”

  “What’s so funny about the way I say Happy Jack’s?”

  She shook her head, but she was still laughing at me. I didn’t even care. She could direct it at me all she wanted as long as I got to watch.

  I reached out, snagging her around the waist to pull her in, my free hand sneaking up under the hem of her shirt. Right there, just inside of her hips, she was ticklish. I’d discovered it by happy accident that first morning I’d had her in my bed. Now, I couldn’t resist.

  “Don’t you dare!” she nearly shrieked, lashing out at me.

  “You think the way I say Happy Jack’s is funny?” I demanded.

  “Stop it!”

  I didn’t. Turning her so her back was pressed against me and her arms were pinned, I kept right at it.