Fighting Solitude (On The Ropes #3)(77)

“If you need it, I want to be the one to give it to you, Liv. I felt that way then, and I feel it even more now. So I stayed.”

When her eyes landed on my mouth, I offered her my most charming smile, being sure to pop the dimple I knew she loved so much.

“It wasn’t exactly a hardship. I hate that apartment, but I’d have taken up residence on a park bench if that’s where you were.”

Her eyes fluttered closed, and a single tear rolled from the corner. I brushed my lips against her mouth, letting them linger without actually kissing her. Her body slacked in my arms as our breaths mingled between us. Sucking in deeply, I reveled in the feeling of more than just my lungs being filled. The hollowness I had been carrying my entire life vanished with every inhale.

“I gutted the guesthouse to make a gym. I come here a lot when I need to be alone. I wasn’t lying to you about that, but you’re right. I am a liar,” I admitted on a whisper.

Her eyes popped open.

“I could stay in that apartment with you for the rest of my life, but I started to worry that, one day, you’d want to move out on me.”

“What are you talking about?” She pushed on my chest.

I pushed back—with my lips.

She struggled for only a scant second before she melted. Our tongues tangled together. Slanting my head, I took it deeper, forcing a soft moan from her throat. My cock thickened between us, and Liv inched closer to press against it.

I was ready to throw her down and take her on the floor when she suddenly backed away.

“What have you been lying about?”

I groaned at her retreat, rushing forward, not stopping until her tight body was once again flush with mine. Lifting her off her feet, I walked to the couch and confessed, “I pay you shit as my assistant. Seriously, it’s near criminal. But, if I’d paid you what you deserved, there’s no way you would have stayed in our apartment with me. I couldn’t risk you leaving.”

A flash of relief hit her face, and then her lips tipped up, brushing against mine as she murmured, “I buy all of my shoes on your credit card.”

I nipped at her bottom lip and gently lowered her to the couch. “I know. Which is why I haven’t been eaten alive by guilt over the years.”

She giggled then gasped as I settled on top of her, my hard-on landing at the junction between her legs.

“Goddamn it, I hate when you wear jeans. How about you use my card to buy some f*cking winter dresses?”

“I can do that,” she replied, tugging my shirt off.

Sitting up, I peeled the shirt over her head and made fast work of stripping her jeans and panties down her legs and then removing my workout pants before moving back on top of her.

Her mouth landed on mine as I shifted to my side and squeezed my large frame into the back of the couch, my hand immediately diving between her legs. Her hips writhed as I alternated between gliding through her folds and circling her clit.

“Please,” she moaned into my mouth.

She was drenched by the time I gave in and pressed a single digit into her tight heat. Her mouth disengaged from mine as her head flew back on a strangled cry.

Her dark nipples tightened as her hips bucked against my hand. I temporarily quelled her need by adding another finger, but it came with a price.

“Say you’ll move in here with me,” I ordered.

“Quarry,” she breathed, circling her hips off the couch when my hand stilled.

“After that shit last night, I don’t feel safe with you in that apartment anymore.” I nuzzled her with the stubble on my jaw, feeling her breathy mews breeze across my skin. “I want you here, behind a security system and a gate.”

“Please,” she whined. “We can talk after you f*ck me.”

She was right. But that wasn’t the way I was playing this. Without a doubt, she was going to fight me, but after my dream, there wasn’t a chance in hell I was taking no for an answer. I’d been in a cold sweat all f*cking morning, trying to figure out how I could keep from failing her again. I hadn’t been planning to tell her about the house yet, but maybe her finding out the way she had was a sign from whichever god I hadn’t pissed off yet.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” I twisted my hand and again found her clit with my thumb. “Say you’ll move in here. This is different than the last time. We’re together. We’re starting a life. I need peace of mind that you’re safe.”

“It’s too soon,” she cried, rocking herself against my hand. “Please, Q. I need to feel you inside me.”

I rolled on top of her, spreading her legs to accommodate my hips. Poising myself at her entrance I demanded, “Move in here with me.”

“Fuck me,” she ordered as a reply. Lifting her greedy little hips, she stole an inch of my length.

I watched in awe as she rode the tip of my cock from the bottom, moaning like she could come off that alone.

She was so f*cking beautiful.

It was Liv though, so that wasn’t exactly a surprise.

She was my undoing.

She was also mine now. And it was my responsibility to take care of her.

The one task I couldn’t afford to fail.

Pressure mounted in my chest.

Through a ragged breath, I rasped, “Move in here with me.” Even I heard the desperation in my voice as I finished with, “Please, Rocky.”