Wilde Heart (Wilde Women Book 2) (51 page)

“O
KAY,” SHE TOLD HER RApt audience of two. “
The Avengers
or
Twilight: Breaking Dawn.
”

“
Avengers!
” came the insistent bellows from Liam and a relieved looking Roman.

She tried not to laugh at how easy it had been to get them to demand the movie she really wanted to watch. In her experience, anything
Twilight
or musical like
Mama Mia!
was sure to get a reaction that was easy to manipulate.

“I’ve got the popcorn; you two get the system fired up and we’ll meet in the theater room in ten. Okay, boys?”

When the microwave dinged, alerting her to the finished popcorn, Rhiann scurried from the master where she’d gone to freshen up. Rolling for comfort instead of style, she changed into her favorite baggy sweats, piled her hair into a messy topknot, and quickly brushed her teeth.

As she emptied the hot popcorn into two bowls, she could hear Liam and Roman arguing about the high-tech movie system as they jockeyed for who got control of the remote. Boys and their toys.

Roman commandeered the first row of recliners and told them to sit behind him so he wouldn’t be distracted when they started making out.

Rhiann teased, “Honey—we need to find Roman a girl.”

At Roman’s unamused snort, Rhi chided him unmercifully. “No? How about a boy, then? Some hairless wonder with a tight ass?”

“Can’t you do something about her mouth?” Roman asked with a growl.

“I’ll see what I can do, man” Liam chortled as he pulled Rhi across his legs and pushed her into the recliner next to his. “Be quiet, woman, or I’ll find something to keep that mouth occupied,” he whispered.

Twenty minutes in, Rhi started feeling antsy. It had been such a great day. Maybe too great. Knowing the calm wouldn’t last made her super conscious that their out-of-time-and-place adventure would soon come to an end.

Liam would return to his steel and glass tower with Roman ever at his side. Business matters would once again push to the forefront and occupy his time. It was . . .
inevitable.

And her? Jeez. With everything that’d happened, she’d have to find a new normal. There was no way she’d return to working at the magazine. Her halcyon days at
Passion
were fading in the rearview, and with all the gossip, the circulating of her private photographs, and those damnable blind items—well, the last thing she wanted or needed was to be the object of whispers and finger pointing.

As if that weren’t enough, could she face going back to her apartment? Liam and Roman tried to play it down, but she wasn’t stupid. The break-ins and having her privacy trashed pretty effectively wiped out her comfort zone.

Fidgeting, as her anxiety spiked, Rhi sighed again and tried to re-focus on the movie. With her phone set to vibrate, she nearly jumped out of her skin when it buzzed and rattled.

What’s the matter?
read the text on the screen. Liam. Sitting right next to her and texting.

Lying to him or trying something evasive was ridiculous. He was part of whatever decision-making she needed to do.

NBD. Just thinking how much I like it here. Being with you and Roman. Wishing we could stay here forever.

Don’t think Brynn and her husband would appreciate squatters in their vacation home.

Ha ha. I know.

What can I do? Can’t stand to see you unhappy
.

Not unhappy. Just sad. Don’t know what’s coming next. For me.

You’re with me now.

Jesus, Liam. That’s not what I meant. My job. Apartment. Future.

I assumed you’d be living with me. And you don’t need a job. Unless you want one. I thought you’d write. Full time.

Live with you? You assumed? I do not recall being asked . . . usually a living arrangement begins with a question. And I don’t know if writing full time is what I should do. Never mind. Texting about this is ridiculous. Talk later.

She switched off her phone and laid it aside so he wouldn’t try to keep her talking. She didn’t want to talk. Not really.

When a particularly loud action scene appeared on screen, Liam shifted and reached for her—lifting Rhi from the seat next to his and settling her on his lap.

They sat like that for a while, even munching on some popcorn from the bowl they shared. The calm before the storm?

She started what happened next. Maybe he knew she would or maybe he actually thought she’d sit there placidly and behave.

Tugging his shirt free of the jeans he wore, Rhi slid her hand underneath and stroked the skin of his abdomen. Even in the darkened room, without being able to see him, she found herself completely distracted with the task of mapping his impressive chest.

He let her—for a few minutes—then reached for her hand, brought it to his mouth where he kissed her palm, then laid it on his chest, over his heart.

For a long time, they stared at each other. When Roman loosed a chuckle at the antics on the screen, Liam glanced his way then back at her and shook his head.

She’d been ready to ravish him regardless of their audience, but Liam knew her better sometimes than she knew herself. Public displays of affection were okay, but she clung to a modesty that probably seemed at odds with her wicked mouth and sometimes outrageous conduct.

And he felt the same way. It was as if by keeping their intimacies completely private, they created a world just for them. She liked that.

Snuggling into his big body was just the most decadent thing ever as he held her safely in his embrace as the movie played on. Rhiann closed her eyes and let her other senses have the moment. He smelled so good and she could hear his heart where her cheek rested on his chest. Heavenly.

Liam would have happily sat there with Rhiann cuddled against him until the end of time. Even though he couldn’t give her definite answers about her concerns for the future, he could be her port amidst the storm.

When she drifted off to sleep, the most exquisite joy filled him up. It felt so right. The trust he needed from her, if it was even in question at this point, was right there dozing in his arms.

“Damn, but I enjoy that stupid movie,” Roman chuckled during the closing credits.

Instead of switching off the system, he made them sit through to the bitter end so he could laugh at a bonus scene. The one where the exhausted, triumphant superheroes silently sat down to enjoy some Shwarma.

His friend had a thing for the odd food choice and had once forced Liam to sample it from a food truck he insisted was the tits and the balls.

Finally, movie over, lights back on, Roman came and leaned against the recliner in front of Liam, gazing with what looked like real fondness for the sleeping beauty curled on his lap.

“She’s taking all this like a champ,” he said quietly.

“Not really,” Liam assured him just as quietly. “Underneath the game face, she’s freaking the fuck out.”

Roman grunted. “Me, too.”

They locked eyes. This whole fucking thing was surreal.

Liam rarely spoke of his feelings, but things had changed between him and Roman. The care he’d shown for Rhiann had earned the man his gratitude till the end of time.

“Still can’t believe the fucking call came from inside my team,” he murmured in an obscure reference to the fact that someone on the highest rung of BPG’s hierarchy had betrayed them all.

“Who knew we had a lunatic masquerading as an emotional terrorist on our hands.”

“This is my fault,” Liam muttered miserably.

Roman sighed and shook his head angrily. “I know it seems that way, but she was crazy a long time before you came along. You were just a convenient receptacle for her fuckery. And Miss Wilde? Her appearance in your life triggered whatever laid dormant in her fucked-up mind. Don’t beat yourself up, Liam.”

Rhiann let out a soft murmur and curled even tighter in his arms.

“If anything happens to her . . .”

An odd, tense silence unfolded that made Liam ask, “What is it?”

“Nothing.”

“Shit, Roman. For Christ’s sake—after everything we’ve been through—you must know by now you can say anything to me.”

Liam carefully assessed the big man leaning so casually in front of him. His posture was misleading because all of a sudden angry waves of hostility seemed to be oozing from his every pore.

“I was married once.”

Jesus—this was news. “What? When?”

“Long time ago,” Roman shrugged.

“In a galaxy far, far away?”

“Something like that,” the bodyguard snorted.

“What happened?” Liam was almost afraid to hear the answer. Somehow, he knew it wasn’t going to be pretty.

“Istanbul. Random, indiscriminate terror bombing. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Holy fuck,” Liam murmured.
Jesus.
He didn’t even know what to say.

“Yeah. My thought exactly.”

After a long moment of silence, Roman looked at him and said, “Cherish what you’ve got, man. That girl is the best fucking thing that’s ever happened to you. The money? The power? BPG? All that shit means nothing compared to having someone love you like she does.”

Liam nodded solemnly. He was right about that.

“Let’s fucking end this thing,” he growled.

Mmmmm.
Rhiann felt like she was drifting on a cloud. A heavenly cloud that cradled her in the most delicious warmth and filled her senses with a drugging pleasure that spread throughout her entire body. Waves of sensation made Rhi shift and writhe slowly.

Had this day been simply one of the happiest of her life? It had. And why? Because she loved Liam Ashforth and, at long last, her feelings didn’t have to be a secret, hidden from view in shadows that had denied her the right to claim him as her very own.

Ahhhh.
Something soft and warm caressed her skin. Limbs that felt heavy and useless refused to move, but she managed to reach her hands into her hair, scraping against her skull while arching her back with a sinuous grace.
Yessss.

Bolts of indescribable rapture arced along her nerve endings, racing through her body like lightning. The sensation was . . . electrifying. Mesmerizing. She never wanted to wake from this sensual dream.

Her legs shifted, but she hadn’t moved them. A sensation, like being in a boat rocking on the water, helped clear the sleepy fog from her brain. The soft warmth on her skin became insistent, almost hungry. She forced her eyes open to find she was in bed; the beautiful glow from a majestic moon shining through the window was the only light in the room.

She heard a noise. Something deep and earthy. But, wait. That wasn’t her. It was him, and for the briefest moment, she lost herself completely in the sound of his pleasure. It wound around her heart and wove through her nerve endings until she had to cry out. “Liam!”

He grunted. She heard the guttural growl at the same time she felt it on her skin. Her naked skin.

“Ooohhhh,” she whimpered. His mouth was feasting on her inner thigh as he sucked the soft flesh with a sensual slowness that drew a long moan from her. Fingers, those wonderfully strong fingers, kneaded and massaged—tracing gentle patterns on her prickling skin.