Wicked Heart (Starcrossed #3)(81)

“So you guys have really never . . . ?”

He shifts so he can look down at me. “No.”

“Why not? Didn’t you ever just want to make the best of a bad situation?”

He’s quiet for a moment, and then he says, “We tried. Once. It was right after the Rageheart premiere. We were both freaking out about the screaming fans and fame. I think we both figured we’d try to find comfort in each other, but . . .” He shakes his head. “I couldn’t get you out of my head. Or body. Angel tried her best to make me forget, but I couldn’t . . . uh . . . perform.”

I glance down at how tented the sheet is over his crotch. “Seriously? Because I’ve never known you to have any problems in that department.”

“Yeah, well, that’s because you’ve always made me harder than titanium. But most of the women on this planet don’t affect me like that. Not even Angel. To be honest, I don’t think she finds me attractive, either.”

I sit up on an elbow and stare at him. “Are you kidding? She has eyes and a vagina. How on earth can she not be attracted to you?”

He laughs and smiles at me. “Believe it or not, there are women on this planet who have zero interest in me.”

“Pfft. Lesbians and grandmas, maybe.”

“Actually, I’m pretty popular with grandmas.”

I smile, then snuggle back down into the crook of his arm. “I’m not going to lie. Knowing you and Angel have never jumped each other makes me happy, but I still hate that she was hurt by those pictures yesterday. We need to talk to her. Tell her the truth.”

“I agree. She’s been my only friend through this whole crazy ride, and she deserves better. Maybe when I’m out of the picture she can find a guy who appreciates her. I’ll talk to her after rehearsal today.”

“What about the fans? You can’t just come out and say, ‘Hey guys, guess what? We’ve been deceiving you for years.’ They’d lynch you.”

He strokes my hair. “Yeah, the irony is, in order to let them down easy, we’d have to lie to them more. I hate it, but I don’t see an alternative. Maybe Anthony will have some idea of what to do.”

“What if he tells you to just wait out the contract?”

I feel him tense. “No.”

“Liam—”

He pulls away and looks down at me. “No, Liss. That means another couple of months of pretending and not having you. No fucking way.”

“If you guys break up now, it could hurt the show, and you can’t do that to Marco.”

He lets go of me and swings his legs onto the floor so he can sit up. I can see the tension in his back as he leans his elbows on his knees and drops his head. “So, what? We just go about business as usual? How the hell am I supposed to hide my feelings for you?”

I kneel behind him and wrap my arms around his shoulders. “You’re an amazing actor. You’ll find a way. Just remember that I love you.”

As soon as the words have left my mouth, he turns to me, and his face goes through a spectacular range of emotions. Finally, his expression melts into one of awe.

“So many people say that to me every day. People who don’t even know me. But you . . . you’re the one person I crave to hear it from. Before last night, I didn’t think I’d ever hear those words from you again.”

He cups my face and stares into my eyes. “I used to think that if I just waited long enough, fate would bring us back together. That our stars would align, or whatever, and you’d come crashing back into my life to stay. But that didn’t happen. So now I say, screw it. I’m done waiting. Sometimes, fate is what you make it, and I’m making my life with you.”

He kisses me and pushes me onto my back, and I gasp as he covers my body with his. Lord, that much Liam is hard to handle. I run my hands down his back and over his magnificent ass. I love feeling his muscles tremble beneath my touch. So much strength wrapped around his sweet heart.

“We don’t have long,” I say, already breathless. “I have work to do before rehearsal.”

He presses his erection against me in ways that make me moan. “Don’t need long. Just need to be inside you.”

He kisses down my chest, and grinds against me at the same time. Within seconds, every muscle that was complaining about our epic lovemaking of last night is begging for more.

I lift my hips and urge him forward, and with minimum repositioning, he slides into me. When he’s fully inside, he lets out a quiet moan before going still.

“Along with you saying you love me, I’m also never going to get tired of this,” he says, his voice tight. “Ever.”

He moves, slow and restrained, and I breathe in time with his thrusts. “I still find it hard to believe that Liam Quinn, the world’s most desirable man, is inside me.”

He bends down to kiss me. “And goddamn . . .” He closes his eyes and pants. “The world’s most desirable man is about to come in record time because you feel so damn good. God, Liss . . .”

I don’t know how long we make love, but I know that it’s even better this morning than it was last night. Last night, it all seemed like a dream. Today, it’s a very sexy reality. Even though we know we’ll have to sort through a massive mess to make it happen, we’re no longer going to let anything stand in our way.