Chapter 12—Eve

“Wow.” I laughed softly, the gesture draining what little energy I had left. “That was…wow.” There wasn’t a word for what had just happened. My heart beat out of control, my throat was dry, and my entire body was limp. But I was satisfied in a way I hadn’t been in a very long time. I couldn’t explain it, exactly, but it wasn’t just my body that was sated, it was my mind and my emotions. My soul.

“My God, Eve.” Liam showered my neck with tiny, heated kisses, and I trembled, which caused him to press his lips harder to the curve of my shoulder. “I’ve never come so hard and fast before.”

It took a moment for his words to settle in my still-fuzzy mind, but once they did, I couldn’t stop from asking the one thing that had been bothering me for almost two years. “It was really that good for you? I mean, you’re satisfied?”

He put his weight in his arms and peered down at me. It was a mistake to look into his eyes, because the second I did, I was lost in them. In him. “Are you kidding me?” He ran his tongue over his bottom lip and shook his head with disbelief, like he couldn’t understand why I’d asked such a question. “I have never been as satisfied as I am right now.” He eased out of me, and I had to fight back the urge to cry at the loss of contact. But then he rolled onto his back and pulled me with him so that I was tucked tightly to his side, my head on his chest. “Why would you ask me something like that?”

I sighed. “Because I know I don’t satisfy Derrick anymore. I haven’t for a couple of years now.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.” He kissed my forehead, his fingers trailing up and down my bare arm.

“It takes him forever to come when we have sex,” I whispered, embarrassed. “Makes me feel like it’s not good enough, or that I don’t do it for him anymore.”

“Eve, honey.” He put his hand under my chin and tilted my head so he could see my face. He had that same tormented look in his eyes that he’d had right after he’d shared me. “You have no idea how incredible you are, how good it feels to be buried balls deep inside of you. If I could have prolonged my orgasm, I would have. But not because you don’t do it for me, but because I wanted more. I wanted it to last longer. I’m sure that’s all it is with Derrick, too.”

“Yeah, maybe.” I hoped that’s all it was. But I knew better. I put my head back on his chest and traced the lines of his abs. “This is another thing Derrick doesn’t do anymore.”

“What?”

“Hold me like this after sex. He usually rushes out of bed, grabs an armful of junk food for me, then takes a shower.”

Liam’s hold on me tightened. “Well, you’re going to need a crowbar to pry yourself out of my arms tonight.”

I wasn’t sure if I should be pleased or disappointed with what he’d just said. I was pleased he had no intentions of leaving me in bed alone, but I was disappointed about the “tonight” part. I wanted more than one night. I wanted every night. Taking a deep breath, I forced those thoughts from my mind, knowing I couldn’t ever have Liam the way I wanted him. No matter what he said or how hard Derrick sold the idea to me, there was no way a three-way relationship could work.

“So, five years?” I asked.

“Five years,” he confirmed. “Since the moment Derrick introduced us, I’ve wanted you.”

My heart fluttered at his confession. I vividly remembered the first time I’d met Liam. I’d shown up at Derrick’s apartment for our weekly movie night, and Liam had been there sitting on the couch, arms extended along the back, legs parted. Even back then I couldn’t help but notice the ever-present, impressive bulge between his legs. When I’d walked in, he’d looked up at me, pinning me with the sexiest eyes I’d ever seen on a man, and then he’d proceeded to look me over from head to toe. He’d made no secret of what he was doing, either, because he’d taken his time, letting his gaze work over me. I’d been frozen in place, not wanting to move. I’d enjoyed the way he looked at me. And Derrick didn’t seem the least bit bothered by it. That should’ve been my first clue that something was off.

“I never knew you felt that way,” I said.

“I know. I made sure you didn’t. But Derrick knew.” Liam’s tone took on a hardness I hadn’t heard before.

Of course, Derrick knew. The two were best friends. That also explained why Derrick had sort of pulled away from his friendship with Liam over the past few years. “My first thought when I met you was that you were sexy.” Laughter rumbled from his chest, making me smile. “And my second thought was that there was no way in hell I could ever handle a man like you. Which, in retrospect, was a really weird thought to have.” I laughed.

“You’ve handled me just fine this weekend,” he said, his hand settling on my waist.

“Have I?” Because I felt like I had no idea what I was doing.

“Mm-hmm.” He rolled me onto my back and leaned over me. One hand rested lightly on my stomach, the other found its way into my hair. “There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wonder what would’ve happened if I had met you first.” He lowered his head, his lips barely brushing over mine. Then he suddenly pulled away. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be saying things like that to you.”

“It’s okay.” But he’d already flopped over onto his back, arm draped across his face. I turned onto my side and pressed my lips to his. His response was swift and determined. He palmed the back of my head, parted my lips with his tongue, and kissed me with a passionate desperation that stole every breath from my body. My chest suddenly clenched at the thought that by this time tomorrow, he’d be gone. I whimpered, and he kissed me deeper, our mouths melded together so perfectly not even a breeze could pass between us. I flung my leg over his waist and straddled him.

He groaned as he grabbed my hips, holding me in place like he was trying to let me know what I was doing was okay. His erection rested snugly between my thighs, but it wasn’t enough. I needed more. Another memory to hold on to when he was gone and I was feeling lonely. I needed him inside of me again. I rotated my hips, and his cock jerked. “Liam…”

Lifting me up enough to slip his hand between us, he grabbed the base of his cock and held it. Then he captured my gaze, his eyes dark and demanding. “Ride me, Eve.”

Bracing my hands on his chest, I eased down on him, savoring the slow burn of him stretching me. “Ah…God…” I still couldn’t get over how big he was or how hard he always seemed to be.

“Fuck.” He grunted, his stomach clenching as I wiggled my hips, trying to fit all of him in me. “God damn, Eve. I swear to fucking God you get tighter every time I’m in you.”

I kissed him, then slowly began to move, my hips rocking forward then rolling back, each stroke of his cock against my core was diabolical. “Feels so good,” I mumbled, finding his lips and kissing him. Each flick of my tongue was timed with each downward impalement, but I kept my motions slow and steady.

“I’ll never get enough of you.” He groaned, his large, warm hands smoothing over my ass cheeks a second before he spread them, driving himself even deeper.

I cried out and bore down on him, the pressure starting to build. As badly as I wanted to come again already, I wanted this to last even more. I slowed my pace, my movements languid but deliberate. And he never once demanded I go faster or harder. He let me set the pace, and he matched my thrusts. Before I realized what I was doing, I was making love to Liam. I was no longer trying to prove to him or my husband or myself that I could play their games and measure up to all the women who’d been with them before me. No. I was simply making love to a man I was falling for. A man who wasn’t my husband. A man who was going to walk out of my life tomorrow and take a chunk of my heart with him.

“That’s it, baby. Ride my cock.” He wrapped his arms around me, holding me to his chest, our lips locked in a kiss that I never wanted to end. “I want to feel you come again, Eve.” Keeping one hand firmly on my back, he slipped the other down to cradle my ass, his palm pressing against my skin as he guided me up and down on his shaft. “I want to hear you scream my name when you do.”

My toes tingled, and my limbs tensed. My orgasm was building, seconds away from tearing through me with enough force to make me pass out. My body moved of its own volition, whipping him into the same frenzy I was currently swept up in. I couldn’t stop now if my life depended on it. I was lost in the moment, a slave to the raw sensations ricocheting through me. “Liam,” I gasped against his lips, but he didn’t release my mouth. He only kissed me harder, his teeth nipping at my lips and tongue.

“Feel how fucking hard I am for you?” His words were a raspy exhale as his body tensed beneath me. “No one has ever made my cock as hard as you do, Eve. No one.”

I could feel him swelling inside of me, getting harder and bigger, each thrust stretching me even more than I already was. “I’m gonna come.”

Locking his hands around my back, he rammed his cock all the way in me, triggering my orgasm. And then he held me so tight, I couldn’t move despite the fact that’s exactly what my body wanted to do. I wanted to ride the waves of pleasuring crashing over me, but I had to admit, being forced to remain still as my pussy clenched around him was the most intense feeling in the world. It only magnified every second of my orgasm. Crying out in ecstasy, I buried my face against his neck, biting at his shoulder to stop the piercing scream that threatened to tear free as my release spilled over his cock.

“Fuck, yes.” He lifted my hips, easing me off him until just his cockhead was nestled in me, and then he yanked me down. I screamed his name, and he came, hot and thick inside of me. His body jerked with each spurt until he had nothing left, and then he relaxed.

I collapsed on top of him, fighting to catch my breath. Trying to understand what the hell was happening between us. How could I possibly be falling in love with another man when I’d promised to love and cherish only Derrick? For a brief second, I hated my husband for putting me in a position like this, for allowing this to happen. Because he knew it would. He knew how I felt about casual sex, that I couldn’t—wouldn’t—be intimate with a man I didn’t care for.

“You should’ve been mine, Eve,” Liam whispered as he caressed my back and kissed my shoulder.

The longing I heard in his voice broke me, and my breath hitched on a sob I fought to keep hidden. Now it made sense—the constant torment I always saw in his eyes, the desperation behind every kiss, the love he poured into every touch. I kept my face buried in his neck so he wouldn’t see the tears pooling in my eyes. But there was nothing I could do to stop him from feeling my thundering heart.

As I laid there on top of him, memorizing every soft caress, I realized something that would forever change my life. My tears weren’t because he wanted me and I couldn’t give myself to him; they were because I wanted him the same way he wanted me, and I knew it could never happen.