Beautifully Cruel (Beautifully Cruel #1)(20)

He studies me intently for a moment, then turns his attention back to the carpet. He thinks for a while. He drops his head, passes a big paw over his dark hair, squeezes the back of his neck, and sighs heavily.

Then he says in a low, rough voice, “Turn over onto your other side.”

Scorching hot and violent, adrenaline explodes into my bloodstream. Heart pounding, I roll over and stare wide-eyed at the wall.

The mattress moves as Liam stands. I hear rustling and the slither of fabric, then the mattress dips with his weight.

Then he stretches out behind me and tucks his legs up under mine.

Very gently, he slides his left arm under my head until his biceps is supporting my neck and my cheek is resting on the pillow. I’m frozen except for my heart, which beats frantically.

How much of his clothing did he remove? Is he naked right now? Is the wolf lying totally naked right next to me? No—he’s still got his shirt on. His arm under my neck is covered by a sleeve. But maybe he took off his slacks? Definitely his jacket. What about his tie? Shoes? Belt?

Underwear?

I’m having a heart attack. This is it. Oh god. I’m going to die right here and now.

“Breathe,” Liam murmurs.

I exhale in a huge gust, shuddering.

“Better.”

Closing my eyes, I listen to the roar of my heartbeat for several long minutes. Behind me, Liam is silent and still. The only parts of our bodies that are touching are the front of his knees, the backs of mine, and my neck resting on his arm, but I’m excruciatingly aware of every inch of him, head to toe.

He’s generating so much heat I could be snuggled against a furnace.

When my tongue remembers how to form words, I whisper, “Liam?”

“Mmm.”

“I…I’m glad you’re here.”

His quiet exhalation stirs my hair. “Go to sleep.”

He thinks I could sleep at a time like this?

I worry my lower lip with my teeth, feeling how fat and sore it is and wondering how much it’ll hurt when he kisses me—because he has to kiss me, it’s just a question of when—until I freeze again because Liam has nuzzled his nose against the bare nape of my neck…

And is gently inhaling.

Every inch of my skin breaks out in goose flesh. My nipples instantly harden. I almost groan out loud.

His big warm hand curls around my upper arm and squeezes. He murmurs, “Easy.”

Maybe I did groan out loud. Hell, maybe I soaked the sheets, too. There’s a distinct throbbing between my legs that’s probably sending out shockwaves he can feel, like a Richter scale picking up the rumblings of an earthquake.

I turn my face to the pillow and whimper.

His voice turns thick. “I’ll get you some of your pain meds.”

I want to roll over and bash him with my pillow. Instead, I say, “We both know you’re not that clueless.”

He doesn’t reply. A minute goes by. Two. I blow out a long breath through my lips, silently, counting to one hundred and back again. Eventually, I calm down.

Liam stays perfectly still the entire time, all heat and nervy tension, until he senses I’m okay. Then he exhales, too, and starts to rub his thumb slowly back and forth over my upper arm.

But then he stiffens and growls, “What’s that?”

I open my eyes and cock an ear, listening for the noise to come again. It was a dull thud, and it sounded like it came from inside the apartment.

Wait, there it is now. Repeating at an even pace…

Thud. Thud. Thud.

When I hear the muffled moan, my face turns to fire.

We listen together in crackling silence, until Liam says, “I take it your roommate has a guest.”

“Her boyfriend,” I whisper, nodding. “They were broken up, but they must’ve…”

Thud. Moan. Thud. Moan. THUD THUD THUD MOAN.

Over another of Ellie’s full-throated moans, Liam says through gritted teeth, “Gotten back together.”

We can hear him now, Ellie’s on-again, off-again ex Tyler, groaning lustily toward his climax as he pounds and thrusts and plows the headboard of Ellie’s bed into the wall.

Oh my god. This isn’t happening.

The thumping goes on forever, until it abruptly stops. Ellie and Tyler scream simultaneously, loudly enough to make my windows rattle. The neighbors across the hall are probably picking up the phone to call the police and report a murder.

Behind me, Liam is rigid, breathing raggedly, his chest pressed against my shoulder blades so I feel how wildly his heart pounds.

Either he pulled me against his body or I flexed back, but either way, I’m flush against him now, my back against his chest and stomach, my butt against his crotch.

His heartbeat isn’t the only thing I feel.

His erection is big, hot, and digging hungrily into my bottom.

When Ellie and Tyler’s cries of pleasure have faded and the only sounds are our own uneven breaths, I exhale and stretch my legs restlessly under the covers.

Liam moves his hand from my arm to my hip and squeezes me there. He says roughly into my ear, “Don’t move. Give me a moment.”

I freeze.

We stay like that for what feels like an eternity, until he presses his cheek to the back of my neck and exhales. His warm breath fans over my skin, slipping under the collar of my shirt and skimming down my shoulder blades, lighting all my nerves on fire.