Clarity 2 (13 page)

“Maybe. Maybe not.” I shrug mischievously. “Who cares? I’m a writer and it will make for a really great story.”

The car driving along the highway feels as smooth as though it might be a boat cruising through water. I have no idea what time it is, but it’s very, very late. The party ran into the early hours of the morning, and Liam needed some time to sober up before driving. Owen and Caroline were so drunk that they were nearly unconscious, and it took some considerable effort to stuff them into the car. Luckily, by the time Liam drove to their apartment, they were conscious enough to walk and use the elevator on their own.

Now, I am sitting in Liam’s passenger seat as
he ferries me home. I am imagining that we are in a yacht, steering through the rocky waves of the ocean. Every bump in the road feels like a large swell of water rocking the boat. My head rolls from side to side slightly, and I acknowledge that I am also somewhat drunk—but the perfect amount of intoxication. The world seems a little more magical, but I haven’t completely lost my senses.

“Is it normal h
ow Owen and Caroline argue about everything?” I ask Liam. “They only seem to get along when their lips are connected.”

“
Their attraction is mostly a physical one,” Liam explains. “They do seem strange to the uninformed onlooker. But they have their own... language. Underneath all of that craziness, they really are good friends.”

“I like them,” I say to him with a lazy smile. I reach out and try to touch his leg, but my hand accidentally drifts a bit too far up his thigh. I giggle to myself a little. “And I really like you.”

“Winter,” Liam says with warning, clearing his throat. “I’m driving.”

“Mmm, am I distracting you?” I ask sleepily. I let my hand
brush against his manhood, stirring him to life. I suddenly feel curious and explorative, like when I was swirling the glass of wine within my hand. I trace my fingers in a teasing circular pattern along the front of his pants.

“Whoa,” he says, his voice suddenly hoarse. “
Remind me to give you wine more often. It makes you really bold.”

“
Yeah,” I murmur, releasing my seatbelt. “I feel so good. Like nothing bad has ever happened. Like nothing bad ever could happen. I feel no pain. I feel like I can see all the colors in the whole world. I feel like I’m floating. Floating over the water with you.”

“The water?” Liam asks in confusion.

“Yes,” I say, leaning over to rest my face against his shoulder. I snuggle closer to him and wrap my arms around his torso. I let my hands caress his firm abdominals which must have been developed from plenty of judo. “In the boat,” I explain sleepily, “over the water.”

“Okay,” he says with a little laugh.

I doze off against his shoulder, until I find him gently shaking me. To my surprise, the car has stopped moving. It feels like I was barely asleep for a second, but several minutes must have passed.

“We’re here,” Liam tells me softly. “At your house.”

“Dammit,” I say, sobering up almost instantly. It’s time to cautiously sneak up into my bedroom once again while trying to avoid Grayson. Even though I feel very weak and sleepy, I will also have to slide my dresser in front of my door. I release a loud yawn. “At least he’s unlikely to be awake at this hour,” I assure myself. “So the coast should be clear.”

“You’ll be fine,” Liam says, caressing my hair. He places a kiss on my forehead.
“Just ignore that asshole. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

I nod in agreement.

“I’ll open your door for you,” Liam says. He pulls away from me and exits through his side of the vehicle.

I feel
cold due to the sudden removal of his body heat, and I pull my coat closer around me. When my door opens and he offers me his hand, I accept it and step outside with a smile. “This was a really great night,” I tell him, “as always. Thanks for inviting me out.”

“We’re going to have a lot of amazing nights,” he assures me.
“I love spending time with you. I want to take you everywhere. I want to experience everything with you.”

“I’d like that,”
I say softly, reaching for his tie to tug him down for a goodnight kiss.

Liam responds with gusto. He holds nothing back as he
dives into my lips, whisking me away to that outer space again, almost instantly. I am not sure how he does it. No one has ever had this effect on me. I am dazed with pleasure when he plasters my body against the side of his car and slowly presses kisses along my chin and neck. His touch sends shivers of excitement directly through me, converging at my center. In an effort to be closer to him, I hook one of my legs around his, pulling him tighter against my body as I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him deeply.

“I wish you didn’t have to go,” L
iam groans between kisses.

“Me too,” I whisper.

“This feels right, doesn’t it?” Liam asks me. “You and me?”

I sigh and murmur against his mouth. “Yes. Definitely.”

“Soon,” he says quietly, pressing his lips against my cheek and then my earlobe. “Once we get past this doctor-patient stuff, I’ll make you mine. And I’ll keep you for good.”

“I’m impatient,” I say, tugging on his tie again. “I want
to be yours now.”

“But Winter...”

“Stop talking and kiss me,” I command him.

He does not hesitate to comply.
He slips his hand behind my head, letting his fingers get tangled up in my hair as he kisses me soundly. He lets his other hand trail over my collarbone and underneath the neckline of my blouse.  I feel his fingers exploring downward to trace the edge of my bra. The sensitive, warm skin there responds to the cold and gentle touch of his fingers, and I arch my back to encourage him. He tenderly cups my breast in his hand and begins to massage my flesh. A small moan escapes my lips, and I am about to give him permission and beg him for more when I am startled by the noise of a door slamming. Liam rips his hands away from my body, and straightens himself.

For a moment, I am worried that it’s my dad. I feel like a teenager terrified that my father has caught me fooling around in the car with my boyfriend. Then, I recall the greater threat.
I am too stunned, being brutally yanked out of my bliss, to properly register the danger.

“Get the fuck away from her!”
Grayson shouts as he moves toward us.

I feel like ice has been poured into my spine. I am suddenly frozen and unable to move.

“Relax, man!” Liam says. “Just relax. Helen is an adult, and she can do whatever she wants.”

“I said to get the fuck away from her!” Grayson yells again, his voice rising to a fanatical screech.

My stomach contorts with nausea at the loathsome sound of his voice.

“Get in the car,” Liam whispers to me, opening the door and swiftly guiding me inside. “Duck down below the glass.”

When he shuts the car door, I follow his instructions and lean forward, lowering my head and torso. Only after I am crouching below the protection of the metal panel do I realize why he has asked me to do this. Grayson’s gun. Just as I realize what’s happening, the deafening sound of a shot being fired causes me to jump. I no longer care about my own safety, and I grab the handle of the car door and try to swing it open.

“Liam!” I scream in horror.

“Stay down!” he yells at me, shoving the car door closed again. “I’m fine!”

Another
earsplitting shot is fired, and I flinch as I feel the glass window above me shatter. My heart sinks as I imagine Liam shot and bleeding to death a few feet away, outside the car.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Grayson shouts.
“Keeping her out all night and treating her like your little whore?”

Another shot is fired, but this time I
hear Grayson grunting in pain. There seems to be some sort of struggle, and the sound of a metal item clattering to the floor. There is a loud thump followed by Grayson howling bloody murder.

Another gunshot.

Everything goes quiet.

“Liam?” I whisper fearfully.
With a shaking hand I reach for the handle and push open the car door. I swing my legs out, causing pieces of the shattered glass window to fall from my lap and clatter to the ground. I move forward in a daze, afraid of what I’ll discover. I take a few more tentative steps before my toes collide with a motionless body. I stand completely still, staring down in shock. I wish I could see the scene before me so I didn’t have to crouch down on my hands and knees and try to identify the lifeless man on the ground.

This can’t be happening.
Liam was laughing with me and kissing me just a moment before. I have only just found him, and the thought of losing him like this rips my heart in half.

I can’t lose him before I have ever had the chance to really call him mine.

Please, God. Don’t let him be gone.

“Liam?” I say softly again, into the emptiness of the night.
I can feel my frosty breath tickle my lips. I wait. Nothing. No response. Tears spring to my eyes. The panic in my chest builds to a feverish scream as my voice bursts out of my chest like one of the gunshots echoing into the distance.
“Liam!”

Book #3 will be released soon!

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