shoulder. When her fingers started tracing the grooves on his chest, he grabbed her hand and held it to his heart.
“Sleeping only,” he growled.
“Fine,” she laughed. “Goodnight, Liam.”
“Night, sweetheart.”
7
Elle opened her eyes and smiled. For the first time in a long time she was comfortable, and warm—no, cozy was a better word—and she felt amazing. Like she’d just had the best sleep of her entire life. She liked the feeling, but it was strange, and she remained still as she tried to figure out what had caused something so magnificent.
Then the arm around her waist tightened a fraction, and she realized the source of the warmth. Liam had spent the night in bed with her—finally—and right now, he was pressed up against her back with nothing but his pajama pants and her nightshirt between them, and her nightshirt was bunched around her hips, exposing her lacy white panties. She could feel his cock pressing into the slit of her ass, but she tried her best to ignore it, even as the desire to push back into him nearly overwhelmed her.
God, what the hell was wrong with her?
Her cheeks heated at how bold she had been the night before, when she’d basically begged him to stay in her bed, and though nothing physical had happened between them, she had fallen asleep feeling fun and flirty—and wishing for more.
Now, though, in the light of day, she just felt stupid.
Liam had shared some details about his PTSD, added chairs for her in his favorite solitary places, and even admitted to liking her—and believing that Gavin had been trying to set them up—but that didn’t mean he wanted their fake marriage to be anything more than friendship. No, she had made that stupid assumption on her own, had mistaken his desire to sleep in his own bed as having something to do with her. And now she felt like an idiot.
Even though there was no place she could truly run, she had to get out if the bed—out of his embrace—before she made herself crazy. She grabbed his hand, intent on moving his arm to his hip so she could escape, but he tightened his grip around her.
“Good morning, sweetheart,” he said, his voice low and dreamy. The tone reminded her of someone talking to a lover, and as he kissed her shoulder, all thoughts of escaping fled.
“Morning.”
The word came out breathless, barely a whisper, as he nuzzled her neck, and he laughed as she arched her back and pushed her ass back toward his cock. The thick rod felt huge nestled between her ass cheeks, and she couldn’t wait to feel him deep inside her core. The few men she’d had sex with in the past were small compared to Liam, and though size wasn’t the only thing that mattered, every single one had left her wanting.
Liam pulled her shoulder toward him so she would be flat on her back, and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.
“How’s your head?”
He kissed a path down her chin while he waited for her answer, and then he started kissing her breasts through her shirt.
“God, you are so sexy,” he growled. His hand grabbed the hem of her shirt, and started pulling it up. “Take this off, I want to see all of you.”
She raised her ass to free the material, and then pulled the garment over her head and blindly threw it…somewhere. All she knew for sure was that it wasn’t on the bed, and surprisingly, that didn’t bother her at all. Normally, she would feel self-conscious lying beside a man in only her panties, but Liam wasn’t just any man. He was her husband—and a good man—and she wanted to share everything with him.
Liam growled again, and then he sucked one of her nipples into his mouth. His long hair brushed against her skin as his tongue circled the hard, pebble-sized flesh, and she arched her back, desperate for more. Instead of giving her what she wanted, he licked her nipple one final time, and then released the sensitive flesh. On instinct, she threaded her fingers through his hair and fisted the strands, silently begging for more.
Luckily, he gave her exactly what she wanted, and moved to her other breast. He gave that nipple the same delicious treatment before moving back to the first and starting all over again. Back and forth he moved, licking, teasing, and gently biting until she was close…so close…but it wasn’t enough.
She needed more, and as if reading her