Beautifully Cruel (Beautifully Cruel #1)(86)

“Hi. Who’s house is this?”

“Mine and my brother’s.”

“So that’s what Estancia Los Dos Hermanos means: house of two brothers.”

“Two brothers’ ranch,” he corrects, drawing me closer. He leans in and nuzzles my neck, sniffing me exactly the same way I sniffed him earlier. He makes a noise of pleasure low in his throat.

“Liam?”

“Aye, lass?”

“Does this family ranch of yours have condoms?”

He pulls back and grins at me, so handsome it takes my breath away. “I should put you on nonstop international flights more often.”

“It’s just that I don’t know how soon the FBI will be arriving, and I want to make sure I try to fit a lifetime worth of lovemaking into whatever time we have left.”

Liam kisses me softly on the lips. “The FBI won’t be arriving.”

“Oh. Right. They’re a US agency. What’s Argentina’s equivalent?”

“The Federal Police Intelligence. They’re not coming, either.”

“How can you be sure?”

“They have no reason to be looking for me.”

I crinkle my forehead. “But you’re a fugitive from the law.”

“No, lass, I’m not. Now about those condoms—”

I sit up abruptly and look down at him, my heart revving like a race car’s engine. I say loudly, “What do you mean you’re not a fugitive? I saw you on TV being arrested by the FBI!”

“Did you?” His smile comes on slow and heated. He trails a finger up the inside of my arm.

I am so going to smack him.

“Yes, I did! You were on the evening news! There were like six federal agents leading you up the steps of—”

When I falter, understanding blossoming in my fevered brain, Liam’s grin grows wider.

I whisper, “Killian?”

“Having an identical twin can be incredibly convenient for that sort of thing.”

“But—but—he’s not in prison, either! I saw him at my apartment! He gave me the ticket and the passport, and at first he had an Irish accent but then he didn’t, and he told me he was a spy…”

I gasp. “Hold on. Are you a spy, too?”

Liam chuckles, pulling me down by my shoulders to give me a deep, soulful kiss. When we come up for air, he says, “You’re adorable.”

I hide my face in his neck and whimper. “Please tell me your Irish accent isn’t fake.”

He wraps his arms around me and presses a kiss to my hair. “It’s not fake. His isn’t, either. He’s just learned how to fake a lot of other accents during the course of his life. Comes in handy for the spy gig. You should hear him do an Australian accent. He sounds just like Crocodile Dundee.”

I push away from him, sit up, and stare down at his face, shaking with all the adrenaline coursing through my veins. “Okay. What’s happening? Short version. Go.”

Liam props himself up on an elbow and smiles at me, reaching out to caress my cheek.

He murmurs, “You’re so beautiful. I’ve always thought so. Those eyes…” He sighs. “That’s what got me, you know. Right from the beginning. I took one look into those sea glass eyes when you were helping an old woman cross the street and—”

I push him onto his back, straddle him, and shout, “Shut up and tell me what’s happening already!”

He laughs, pulling me down to his chest to wrap his arms around my back. “What’s happening is that we’re here, we’re safe, and you love me. Everything other than that can wait.”

Then he kisses me, hard, his hands dug deep into my hair and his mouth demanding.

When he reaches behind me and unzips my uniform, I let him.

He’s right: everything else can wait.



Several hours later, we’re sweaty and sated, lying in each other’s arms as rainfall patters softly on the rooftop and turns the emerald pastures into a fairyland of sparkles and rainbow mist. Off in the distance, a lone rooster begins to crow.

The sound reminds me of Texas. My head resting on Liam’s chest, I smile.

Rousing to glance down at me, he says, “What are you smiling about?”

“Roosters.”

His chuckle is a deep rumble through his chest. “Ouch. My ego.”

“You’ll live. It’s just that they’re so stupid. They’re supposed to crow at dawn, but every rooster I’ve ever known has put up a racket at all hours of the day and night. You’d think they’d figure it out, the dumb things.”

Toying with a lock of my hair, he says, “Maybe there’s a pretty hen nearby and they’re showing off.”

I think about it. “That makes sense. Roosters have a lot in common with men.”

Liam rolls over, pushing me onto my back and throwing his heavy leg over both of mine. Propped up on an elbow, he smiles down at me, making my insides melt.

“We’re both just stupid animals, huh?”

I’m sure I have little hearts for eyes when I whisper, “Totally.”

We enjoy a lazy, lingering kiss. Against my mouth, he murmurs, “If I tell you the story, I have to start at the beginning. And it’s a long story.”