‘And damage your pristine reputation?’
‘I don’t care about my reputation.’
Chloe knew her scepticism must have shown because Liam ran his hand through his hair in frustration. ‘I don’t. I learned a long time ago that if you valued the opinion of others above your own then you would be unhappy and make everyone else around you miserable as well. Sometimes you have to seize the moment.’
Chloe felt her throat tighten up at the thought. ‘See now I sort of did that once and it didn’t work out so well for me.’
Embarrassed and upset she turned to go and felt Liam’s fingers fix onto her waist from behind, preventing her from leaving.
‘Don’t leave l
ike this, Chloe.’
She stilled. ‘You have a party to attend to.’
‘No, I don’t. I only have you to attend to.’
***
Liam felt Chloe go utterly still and his gaze dropped to where his hands circled her waist. His thumbs were pressed against the pearl like bumps of her lower spine, his fingers spread out over her warm, soft belly. Chloe’s body trembled beneath his hold and it was all Liam could do not to haul her back against him and show her just how much he desired her. But this had to be her decision, not his.
‘Stay.’
His breath stirred the tendrils of hair at the nape of her neck and he couldn’t stop his need to press his mouth to her bare shoulder and bite down gently. She gasped and jerked against him and his hands tightened on her waist to hold her steady.
‘Liam.’
His name was a decadent whisper on her lips and her hips vibrated beneath his touch. God, he wanted her right now. He’d give up almost anything and everything to have her. ‘You know I got a ninety five in English senior year because I remember almost every syllable that came out of your pretty mouth,’ he murmured, laving the space he had bitten with his tongue and breathing in her heady, musky scent.
She turned within the circle of his arms and he let his hands slide around her as she did. Her hands rose to his shoulders and when he saw the naked flame of desire darkening her irises he felt a thrill of victory flood through him. ‘You did?’
Liam gave a husky laugh at her guileless expression. ‘Yes, I did.’ His hands smoothed over her back and he stepped closer to her. ‘I want you Chloe. I want to kiss you and lick you all over and then I want to make you come until you can’t even remember your own name.’
‘I…’ her throat bobbed as she swallowed and he pressed his lips to the pulse point throbbing just beneath her delicate skin. She moaned and gripped his shoulders more firmly and he stroked his lips up her throat and sealed his mouth to hers in a kiss that didn’t even pretend to be tentative.
Immediately her tongue wrapped around his at the same time as her hands forked into his hair, the movement flattening her firm breasts to his chest.
Liam growled low in his throat like a wild animal that had been kept locked in a cage for too long. His mind had already forged past the idea of foreplay and had him opening her legs so he could plunge inside her.
‘Liam.’ She writhed against him as if the same desperate need that was driving him was driving her as well.
Muscles bunched he lifted her, carried her to the bed and laid her down. Her long hair spread out on the cream bedspread like a red flame and Liam came down over the top of her. He balanced his weight on his elbows and their eyes locked together. For a minute he felt slightly unsteady. ‘Are you sure about this, Chloe?’
Her smile was steady and clear and beautiful. ‘Yes. I don’t care about the past or the future just… touch me, Liam. Please. And don’t stop.’
Chapter Six
But of course he eventually did have to stop touching her and the future eventually did have to intrude. For Chloe that happened as soon as she woke up from a sex-induced sleep securely wrapped in a man’s arms. In Liam Hunter’s arms.
Oh, God. She had slept with Liam Hunter. She at once wanted to giggle and scream and cry all at the same time. What was she doing? And why?
Not finding any of those answers in her empty head, Chloe gave up and decided that the best thing to do next was to leave. As quickly and as quietly as possible. But how to do it and not disturb the man who was spooning her so deliciously in his sleep?
‘I’m not asleep.’ His rough voice made her quiver. ‘And I can tell you’re having all sorts of regrets.’
Chloe moistened her lips. ‘Not regrets per se. Just…’ Just what? ‘I just need to get home.’ She just needed some space to think about this day and what she had just done.
The sheets rustled as Liam moved behind her. ‘It’s three am.’