Back to Life (14 page)

Before
I realized it, lunch was over and it was time for Nick and Liam to leave. I
gave Nick a hug and another warning glance as he mentally undressed Samantha
one last time. Liam wrapped his arms around me in a sweet embrace, and pulled
me into a steamy kiss. “I’ll see you in a few hours,” he whispered into my ear.

“I
can’t wait,” I breathed. Once I could focus my vision, I said, “So, are you
going to at least give me a hint as to where we are going?”

He
grinned and shook his head. “If I did, it wouldn’t be a surprise.” With one
last quick kiss, he said, “I’ll see you at five.”

“Bye,”
I said, and I felt myself start to drool as I watched him walk out the front
doors. Every muscle south of my belly button clenched anticipation of tonight,
and I had to fan myself with my hand.

Samantha
walked over to me from behind the desk. “Good God, Rory. He is so gorgeous!”
she said. “He seems so nice too.”

“He
is, Samantha. He’s freaking perfect,” I said, giggling.

“So,
what’s up with his friend?” she asked me. “Is he single?”

Oh
boy. “Yeah, Nick’s single, but he’s not a monogamous guy by any means. I love
him like a brother, but I’d steer clear if I were you.”

She
just shrugged. “Maybe he just hasn’t met the right girl yet.”

“I
don’t know about that,” I said, and gave her a wave as I headed back onto the
salon floor ready to be bombarded by more compliments and questions about Liam.

Four
hours later, Liam was right on time to pick me up, and I was already dressed
and ready for our date. He told me to pick something that I was comfortable in
and that I normally would wear to go out. I went with my signature look and
wore a pair of tight skinny jeans, black peep toe boots, and a Black Rebel
Motorcycle Club shirt that I had cut and tied to fit even more snug. I wore my
hair in a messy bun with little curls hanging down my neck, and I had changed
my gauges to my hot pink ones with the black stars in the middle. When I walked
out of the salon, he was waiting there by his car, looking drool worthy in
black jeans and a gray Henley. “You look so fucking hot,” he said, pulling me
into a kiss.

I
boldly pressed him against the door of his car and devoured his mouth. “You do
too,” I growled.

“So,
are you hungry?” he asked me.

“Hungry
for you,” I whispered to him, and he smiled.

“No
time for teasing right now, babe. We need to go eat if we are going to make it
there on time,” he said, and I shoved off him and walked to the passenger side
with him behind me.

“Make
it where on time?” I asked as he opened the door. He just shook his head and I
sighed. I slid into the car and admitted defeat. I was happy that he was
surprising me with something, but I couldn’t wait to get through his surprise
so I could give him one of my own later tonight.

Dinner
was one of the best I’d had in a while. He took me to this tiny little burger
joint that I’d never been to, and their bacon cheeseburger was hands down the
most amazing sandwich I’d ever had. Once we had dinner and he paid the check,
we were on our way to this mystery location. As we were driving, I said, “Okay,
Liam, this is killing me. Will you please tell me where we are going?”

He
sighed. “Well, I was going to wait until we got there, but you are just not
going to let it go until we make it, so here you go,” he said, reaching into
his sun visor and handing me a rectangular piece of paper. Confused, I took the
piece of paper and when I looked at it, my face lit up.

“Oh
my god, you’re taking me to see Bad Blooded Rebel?” I squealed. I was a metal
fan, and Bad Blooded Rebel was my absolute favorite band. I wasn’t able to get
tickets in time and I thought that I was just going to miss it. But, once
again, Liam surprises me and probably used his police connections to get me
tickets. “Liam, you are fucking awesome!” I yelled.

He
laughed and reached a hand to my cheek. “I knew you’d be excited,” he said, and
we pulled into a parking garage just outside the venue. I could barely sit in
my seat as he paid for a parking pass and found a place for his car. I
immediately jumped out as soon as he turned off the ignition and ran around to
the driver’s side of the car. Pinning him to the door, I shoved against him and
planted my mouth on his. I shoved my tongue into his mouth, clicking my tongue
ring on his teeth in the process. We hardcore made out for a few minutes before
he pulled away. “Rory, if you keep doing that to me with your tongue, we won’t
make it inside to see the show,” he said, breathless, his voice full of carnal
intent.

Still
seeing stars, I said, “Okay, sorry. You’re right, let’s go,” I squealed. I
placed my hand in his as we walked out of the garage and toward the venue. If I
hadn’t been sure about us sleeping together before, I was definitely sure now.
Liam Tanner was the sweetest, sexiest guy alive and I never felt luckier in
that moment to have met him.

“So,
did you have a good time tonight?” Liam asked me, sweat glistening to his
forehead.

“Hell
yes, I did. I still can’t believe you got these tickets. They’ve been sold out
practically since they went on sale.” We were walking hand in hand as we left
the venue and walked toward his car.

“Well,
I got connections,” he said, winking at me. “Anything for my girl.”

I
smiled and warmth spread through me and I leaned up and kissed him. Suddenly, I
realized I forgot to call Marissa to let her know I definitely wasn’t coming
home tonight. If this was going to be our first time tonight, I didn’t want it
to be at my apartment with my brother and my best friend in the next room, who
more than likely would be doing exactly what we would be doing. After I
demanded Brody talk to Marissa the night Liam and I had dinner with his
parents, he happily made the right choice and jumped in feet first to a
relationship with her. After about two weeks of dating, his sleeping
arrangement went from the couch to her bedroom. I know that it’s weird to think
of my brother and my best friend having sex, but I can’t get away from it when
they are going at it like rabbits in the room next to mine. That’s another
reason I don’t want to take Liam to our place. I don’t know if Liam makes any
noises during sex, but I know that I could definitely get loud. I broke our
kiss and fished my phone out of my pocket. “Hey, I have to call Marissa real
quick and let her know where I am.”

“Sure,”
he said, kissing the tip of my nose before taking his keys out and unlocking
the doors. He opened the door for me and I dialed her number as I got inside.

She
answered on the second ring. “Hey, Rory. How did it go tonight?”

“It
went amazing, girl. He took me to see Bad Blooded Rebel, can you believe it?”

“No,
I can’t! How did he get tickets? Haven’t they been sold out forever?”

“Yeah,
they have. He said he had connections,” I said, placing my hand on his leg and
giving him a squeeze. He covered my hand with his own for a moment before he
started the car.

“I’ll
bet. If it’s not the cop thing, it’s the rich parent’s thing. So, what are you
doing now? Are you heading back here?  If you are, let me know and we can get a
pizza or something.”

I
cleared my throat. “Um, actually, we’re not. I was thinking we might stay at
his place tonight,” I said, looking over at him. His eyes snapped to mine,
realization and desire burning in them as they went from bright to deep blue in
a flash.

“Wow,
that’s…huge. You’re sure you ready?”

I
felt my muscles deep in my belly clench.  “Beyond ready,” I said, my eyes still
on his.

“Okay,
well…if you’re ready, I’m so, so happy for you. You deserve to be happy again,
Rory,” she said, sounding emotional.

“We
both do. You have no idea how happy I am that you have Brody. He’s a great guy
and I love you both so much.”

“I
love you too, Rory. You take care, have the time of your life, and call me
tomorrow if you can, okay?”

“I
will, to all the above. Good night, Marissa.”

“Good
night, Rory.” I hung up the phone with a shaky hand. I was suddenly nervous,
and Liam and I still hadn’t looked away from each other. His bright blue eyes
were full of anticipation, yet there was concern there.

He
cleared his throat. “Rory, are you sure you want to come home with me?” I was
about to answer him when he raised a hand to stop me. “I know that we have been
back and forth with all the teasing and joking, and it’s been fun. But, I am
still serious about making sure that we do this right, and for the right
reasons.” My heart was pounding in my chest. He moved his hand and ran his
thumb along my bottom lip.

“The
right reasons? Liam, you came into my life like a rocket and you broke down
every wall I built up around myself out of grief. You are my
only
reason,” I said, my voice breaking off into a whisper. He opened his mouth to
say something, but then stopped. He leaned in and kissed me softly. He pulled
away, smiling, and we didn’t say anything else as he backed out of the parking
space and drove to his apartment.

When
we got there, we were still quiet the whole way from the car to the elevator,
and then from the elevator to his front door. He unlocked the door and we
walked in together. I felt butterflies in my stomach as he turned on the
lights. I felt him behind me and he leaned in to kiss my neck. “Wait here,” he
whispered against my skin, sending shivers down my spine. He backed away from
me and walked down the hallway to his bedroom and closed the door behind him. I
quickly ran toward the bathroom so I could freshen up. Luckily, I had my bag
with me that had all my essentials for tonight, just in case it happened. I
didn’t know where he was taking me, so I packed my makeup and various things to
make me pretty, and thank God I did. I didn’t want to look back at our first
time and me being all sweaty from thrashing around at a metal concert. I
quickly splashed water on myself to cool my hot skin, and then sprayed a little
bit of my perfume. Thankfully, my makeup was still intact so I didn’t need to
fix that. I was going to take my hair down, but quickly changed my mind. Liam
always told me that he loved my hair, and loved to play with it, so I wanted
him to be the one that took it down when the time came. After taking a few deep
breaths, I walked out of the bathroom and went to sit on his couch. I was only
there for a few moments before I heard the bedroom door open and he came walking
out to me. My heart, which was already pounding, was threatening to burst from
my chest when he came sauntering toward me, wearing only his jeans and a white
wife beater. He stopped in front of me and held out his hand to me. I placed my
hand in his and he lifted me to my feet. “Rory,” he whispered, and then his
lips found mine. I rested my hands on his bare biceps as his tongue slid into
my mouth. I groaned and moved my hands down to the bottom of his shirt, ready
to tear it off. Suddenly, he stopped me. “Rory,” he repeated, “I have to tell
you something. You need to hear this before we do anything.”

I
was instantly worried. “What is it?” I asked, fear radiating out of me.

He
ran a hand across my cheek to calm me. “Rory, you are the most incredible woman
I have ever known. You came along and turned my world completely on its axis,
and I thank my lucky stars every single day that I finally found you. I feel
like I’ve waited forever for you, and I just wanted to tell you now that…” he
said, trailing off. He was the one that looked scared now.

“Tell
me what, Liam?” I whispered.

After
staring into my eyes for a few moments, he swallowed hard and said, “I love
you, Rory. I have never said that to any woman in my life because I’ve never
been in love before. I have never felt in my life one tenth of what you make me
feel just by smiling at me, or when you laugh. You are everything to me, and
I…I love you.”

By
now my eyes were brimming with tears. This beautiful man loves me. He could see
apprehension in his blue eyes, and when I opened my mouth to speak, the words
flowed through me organically. “I love you too, Liam. You brought me back to
life,” I said. A tear fell from my eyes, and he reached up to wipe it dry. He
pulled me in close to him, and I could feel the heat of our bodies radiating
through our thin shirts. Placing a hand on his cheek, I looked deeply into his
eyes, and whispered, “Make love to me, Liam.”

In
that instant, he moved and scooped me up into his arms and slowly carried me
down the hall to his bedroom. I had to blink a few times when we walked through
the door. He’d lit candles everywhere, and the scent was heavenly. I almost
fought back a laugh…what man keeps candles all over his house? He very slowly
set me down onto my two shaky feet, resting his hands at my waist. His fingers
curled around the bottom of my shirt, and I lifted my arms, silently telling
him to take it off me. He obliged, and slowly pulled my tee shirt over my head.
He gasped when he looked down at me standing in front of him in my black lacy
bra.