After dropping Nikki off, we pulled up to my darkened house. An eerie stillness hung like a shadow over everything. Liam parked the car and leaned in, his warm breath tickling my ear as he whispered, “Stay with me tonight.” He pulled back, his searching eyes making the plea he couldn’t. A silent invitation to find solace in each other’s arms like we had done before.
I nodded in agreement and followed him out of the car and into the house. With a gentle touch on my lower back, he led me down to the basement, where Doc’s former studio apartment now served as Liam’s sanctuary. Handing me one of his long shirts, he turned away, giving me privacy to change. I shed the burdens of the day and slipped into the soft fabric, its familiar scent wrapping around me like a comforting embrace.
As I faced him, my gaze fell on his discarded, soiled clothes hanging haphazardly over the back of a chair. He stood before me, clad only in his boxers, a silhouette against the moonlit room. The solid muscles in his arms flexed as he pulled back the covers. My eyes trailed down his body and landed on a patch of black and blue dotting across his rippled midsection. His mother’s clan had done a number on him. I shook my head, caught between wanting to heal it and knowing Liam wouldn’t want to shine a light on the situation either. Not right now. He needed another form of healing.
With a shared understanding, we slipped beneath the blankets.
Nestling on the pillows, we twisted to face each other. I tucked a hand under my cheek and stared back at him, the only sound our mingled, soft breaths. After a while Liam’s eyes fluttered shut, exhaustion winning the battle between gazing at me and sleeping. The soft glow of moonlight filtered through the window, casting ethereal patterns on his face, highlighting the subtle lines of fatigue etched into his features. Thankfully, the cuts, blood, and bruising along his cheekbones and lips had started to fade away, courtesy of my salve.
An hour passed, sleep eluding me to accommodate the tears streaming down my face in a relentless downpour. I tossed and turned, my back now facing Liam, allowing me concealment as I let the pent-up emotions flow like a fizzing torrent from an uncorked bottle. Any attempt to choke them down resulted in a drowning sensation, like I had been cast overboard, shackled and sinking. I tried restraint, to allow Liam to find rest, but residual fear lingered, gripping my heart’s edges and yanking in opposite directions. We could have lost him tonight. I still had no clue what had transpired between Liam and his mother, only that she wanted her book. But why would she hurt Liam? Didn’t she know her son wouldn’t cave from a beating, no matter how brutal?
Then there was the acidic taste of Bradley’s betrayal, burning whenever I tried to swallow it. Had I been so blind to his intentions because I craved a normal friend to patch the hole in my heart Jessica left behind? Was I that naive? I wasn’t exactly sure I could answer that. And then the icing on the cake: we still hadn’t found the clan killing our townspeople. Would our team take them down unscathed or fall victim to their revenge? I still hadn’t heard back from my father or the others.
The bed shifted, a gentle dip that pulled the breath from my lungs. Liam rolled toward me and draped his arm heavily around my waist, drawing my back closer to the warmth of his bare chest. It had been over a month since we’d lain like this, and uncertainty hung in the air. I held my inhale, waiting for his response, his touch, his words. His hand enveloped my wrist, his thumb tracing delicate circles across my palm.
“I’m okay,” I whispered on my exhale, offering him an escape from the emotional labor. I knew exhaustion weighed him down, both mentally and physically. How could he not be weary? If it were me, even a bulldozer wouldn’t be able to wake me. “I swear, I’m fine.”
“Liar.” Liam’s chuckle rumbled against me as his snort tickled my ear. “No, you’re not. But that’s okay. Neither am I.”
I brushed away the tears with the heel of my hand. “Do you want to talk about what happened with Veronica?” I didn’t dare refer to her as his mother. While I yearned for him to share his burden—to let me shoulder half the weight—the thought of him shutting me out now, when he’d just cracked the door back open for me, was almost unbearable. A reminder that his own flesh and blood caused this mess might make him padlock himself back behind that barrier I’d come to hate these past weeks.
To my surprise, Liam’s voice resonated through the darkness. “Seeing my mother, hearing her speak . . .” He paused, and for a fleeting moment, I thought he might not continue. “You were right. She’s not the monster I imagined her to be. I still despise her, and I know we have to end her life, but this . . . this makes it so much harder. Because the woman I encountered tonight was the same mother I buried five years ago, and I’m not sure I can bear losing her all over again."
His confession wrenched my heart and left my lips quivering. When my own mother had resurfaced as a vengeful spirit, there had been no trace of the woman I had known and loved, making letting her go easier that second time around. Yet, Veronica retained all the qualities and traits Liam cherished. How could her son bring about her demise without sacrificing a part of himself in the process?
“I’ve thought about it. I’m going to give her the binder,” he rasped against my ear as he nestled closer. “But for now, I’m not telling anyone but you. Until I figure out what her end game is, I think the less people that know, the better. Are you with me on this?"
My body stiffened. My answer came easy, but I longed to know more and didn’t want to discourage Liam from sharing his scheme by asking too many questions. This wasn’t my first Liam Hunter rodeo, and he could easily push me away as fast as he had just pulled me back in.
“Yes. Do you have a plan?”
“Kinda.” His arm moved over my waist as I felt him shift onto his back. “I’m going to copy every page of her notebook and keep the duplicates hidden. Then, I’ll wait.”
“Wait?” A shaky breath shuddered from my mouth as I rolled onto my side, facing him. “Wait for what?”
Liam turned his head in my direction. His blue irises darkened like the night sky. “For her to find me again. Because she will. She won’t stop until she gets what she wants. We have that in common, ya know. When we Hunters desire something, it’s impossible for us to let go.” Liam’s eyes traced my lips as I wetted them, wondering if we were still talking about his mother.
The air around us shifted. The reminder of what his lips felt like on mine rode through my body on a slow-rising tidal wave. I lifted my hand to his bare chest and wrapped my leg around his torso, pulling him closer to me. “And what do you want?” I sounded like I hadn’t used my vocal cords in days.
“Not what, who.”
Clearing my throat, I tried again. “Okay. Who do you want?”
Liam’s hand grabbed my thigh, spreading his fingers wide. They dug into my skin, both a possessive claim and an unspoken answer. He glided his hand up to my hip, then pulled me on top of him in a rush that went straight to my head.
“Does this answer your question?” Liam’s hand gripped my backside as he pushed me against his center. My insides erupted in flames as I felt what he wanted to show me. A gasp slipped through my lips. I leaned forward, my hair falling on both sides of my face like curtains sheltering us. Want, anticipation, and excitement formed in the shape of wings beating inside my chest, trying to break free of their cage.
Liam removed one hand from my waist and cupped my face. “I hate that I’ve been trying to stay away from you.”
I winced. Knowing and hearing it were two different things. And what insurance did I have that he wouldn’t do it again?
His brows furrowed. “I know that look.”
“What do you mean?” I tried to glance away, but Liam’s caressing palm against my cheek insisted I stay.
“You’re afraid I’ll push you away again because I can’t handle balancing my dedication to you and my vow to Hunterland, and you’ll get hurt for a second time because of it.”
His truth rocked through me, parting my lips.
“I can’t promise I’ll always do the right thing. But I can try. I want to make it work if you’ll have me.” His husky voice and flexed chest muscles confirmed he wanted more. “Do you want that? Am I even asking for something you’d like?”
A single tear rolled down my cheek as I nodded. That was all the encouragement he needed. Liam’s hand dragged down my body and met his other hand at my waist. He flipped me onto my back and hovered over me. His lips caught my gasp as his mouth covered mine.
Our kiss deepened, and his tongue begged for entrance. A whimper escaped me as his hand went underneath my arching back, drawing us closer. We’d kissed before, but this one felt different, like the start of something real. The warmth from his lips traveled all the way to my toes, and I pulled him closer. Gone were the anger of our first kiss and the sadness of the second. In that moment, I kissed him with a raw and undeniable passion, no longer seeking escape but a way to express the depth of my true feelings.
Liam trailed his hands up and under my shirt, caressing my bare back as his lips explored my neck in sweet, tender kisses. His touch sent electric currents coursing through my veins, awakening every nerve ending. His hands’ gentle exploration blazed a trail of fire. Caught in the raw, intoxicating contrast between the soft caresses on my back and my skin’s remembrance of the earlier possessive grip on my hips, my head buzzed, heart racing with anticipation and breath quickening with longing.
My skin pebbled under his feather-light touch, and I shivered, but for once it wasn’t out of fear from impending danger. A whirlwind of thoughts and emotions collided. Was this really happening between us? Could we share a future together? Was this what he wanted, or was it the lingering effects of his traumatic day talking? I fought to push aside the doubts, to surrender to the moment, but my spine stiffened.
Liam stilled and looked up, his eyes soft. “It’s okay if you don’t want . . .”
I stared at the boy who had captured my heart the day he shot up my room thinking he saw a ghost. His cocky attitude had slithered under my skin and had never left, infiltrating my heart with his deep regard for my family’s safety, especially mine. I might regret walking away from him someday, but I’d never regret loving him. I caught his bottom lip between my teeth and sucked it into my mouth before pulling away with a smile. “I’ve never wanted anything more.”
His reservation vanished as his lips took a possessive hold of mine. He kissed me, hard and eager, and the explosion it sent rocketing up my spine in colorful bursts shone so bright the world faded by comparison. Our tongues syncopated in a fire dance that left starry trails behind my eyes. My fingers found the elastic of his boxers, nervously running along the gathering of the fabric.
Liam sucked in a breath and freed a strangled moan unlike the pleasurable ones he’d been releasing. My gaze darted down to his lower abdomen, and I gasped. Beneath the flipped band of his boxers deep purples coated his stomach like splotchy spray paint. They were worse than I had thought.
“Oh my God, Liam.” With speed I didn’t know I possessed, I jumped off and hovered over him on my knees, indenting the mattress. My hands fluttered over his as he cradled his stomach. His eyes were pinched closed.
“I’m so sorry.” My hand flew to my mouth. His body looked worse than raw meat.
Liam’s chest heaved, but his eyes soon fluttered open. He pulled my hand down and kissed the tip of each finger, one by one, until his hand closed around mine in a fist and squeezed. “I’m okay. But I think I need to slow down. Maybe I should heal up a bit.”
He rolled to the side, propping himself up on his elbow and sucking in a breath from the movement. “It’s clear Veronica’s guys have some anger issues. Now that the adrenaline and serum are completely worn off, I feel it more. Apparently, they used me as their personal punching bag. I hope I get to repay them one day.”
“I can’t believe she let that happen.” I traced my fingers lightly over his chest, scared to further hurt him.
“I don’t think she was there for it. Not like that’s an excuse.”
“Let me get my emollient.” I jumped out of bed and returned with the container from my purse. With light, dexterous touches, I applied it to the spots I hadn’t had access to before.
Liam tucked wild strands of my hair behind my ear. “I never thought we’d get to this place . . .” He cupped my cheek.
“Me neither.” I continued my pursuit, covering every inch of his exposed skin to ensure he’d heal everywhere. His breathing slowed, and by the time I finished, he’d succumbed to sleep’s embrace again. I screwed on the cap and placed the mixture on the night table, then slipped back under the covers. My mind wandered to Bradley. I was still uncertain about his role in all of this. Was he really the bad guy or a pawn in his father’s crimes? I reached for my phone on the nightstand and tapped out a message before I could second-guess myself. If the team couldn’t find him, then I would.
Tell me the truth. Did you use me to get to Liam? What are you trying to accomplish here? If you want to stay alive, I am your only hope.
I set the phone back on the table and snuggled into Liam’s arms. Uncertainty pooled in my gut as I thought about how Liam would feel when he learned about my message. Would he see my text to Bradley as betrayal? Or would he trust my intentions?
Maybe Bradley would write me back. Maybe he wouldn’t. But I had to try. If for nothing else but to end the murders in Falkville Falls. At least that’s what I told myself.