At Any Cost (9 page)

Livy drew in a sharp breath that was half pleasure and half shock. How long had it been since a man touched her? The entire four years she'd been in hiding? Nick's cock throbbed harder at the prospect of being the one to reawaken her body after so long.

Her hips rolled up to meet his and he answered the motion with a gentle thrust. Through the fabric of her bra, Nick continued to circle the tight bead of her nipple until her quick breaths transformed into low, desperate moans. He continued to kiss her, his mouth parted just enough to taste her. Her tongue flicked out at his lips and he pulled away. Nick didn't usually get off on teasing a woman in this way. He was more of a down and dirty, get to business sort of guy. But Livy was different. Drawing out her pleasure and driving her to the point of mindless abandon became more important than simply satisfying his own lusts.

He wanted to make her beg.

Her long-sleeved shirt covered far too much of her body. Nick eased away and Livy came up from the couch, following his mouth as though she couldn't bear for him to stop kissing her. Nick smiled against her lips before he pushed himself upright and grabbed the hem of her shirt. He paused for the barest moment and took in the sight of her.

Livy's hazel eyes burned with a heat that seared every inch of his skin. Her chest rose and fell with quick little breaths and her cheeks were flushed. Her lips, full and dark pink, formed into an almost-pout that made him want to nip at the tender flesh with his teeth. Nick pushed her shirt up her torso and Livy raised her arms so he could remove it the rest of the way.

Seeing her fully clothed was enough to cause Nick's libido to take notice. But the more of her naked skin he revealed, the harder his cock became. By the time he got her pants off, it wouldn't be Livy who was begging, that was for damned sure.

She wore a sexy little red lace bra, the cups barely concealing her nipples from his view. The dusky half-moon of her areolas peeked out from the fabric and Nick swallowed down a groan. He was the one being teased, and it was goddamned cruel at that.

“Holy shit, Livy.”

Nick scrubbed a hand over his mouth. A slow smile curved her decadent lips and it was all he could do not to take her down in a tackle. He shed his own shirt, desperate for the skin-on-skin contact, and lowered himself over her. She stretched her arms high above her head and her nipples sprang free from the low-cut cups of her bra. Nick groaned and he enjoyed the erotic sight for a moment before he brought his mouth to one stiff peak.

Livy's back arched off the couch and the barest whimper left her lips. He swirled his tongue over her nipple before sucking deeply. Livy's hips rolled up to meet his and she reached up to take his forearm in her grasp, the blunt tips of her short nails digging into the skin. Nick groaned as he grazed his teeth over the delicate flesh. Livy's muscles twitched and she let out an almost surprised gasp that filled Nick with smug satisfaction.

As though she'd been shocked at the pleasure she felt.

Had no one ever made Livy feel so good with such a seemingly innocent touch? Taking her breast in his mouth was virginal compared to what he wanted to do to her. Nick continued to tongue her nipple while he reached out to roll her other nipple gently between his thumb and forefinger. Livy squirmed beneath him, her hips thrusting up to his. Her gasps of pleasure became low moans that made his cock throb.

He'd make her feel so damned good she'd never think of another man again. Especially that bastard Meecum.

Chapter Nine

Livy couldn't be bothered to feel embarrassed by her reaction to Nick's touch. She hadn't so much as flirted with a man in four years and before that she'd only had a couple of not-so-serious boyfriends before she'd focused her attention on taking care of her mom. The whole of her sexual experiences could be summed up in a word:
uneventful
. That is, until now.

Nick had barely touched her and Livy's body came alive. Every nerve ending on her body sparked with sensation. Her skin heated and her blood pumped hard and fast through her veins. The moment his mouth sealed over her nipple, Livy's world spiraled out of control. And when his teeth teased the aching peak, her pussy clenched as a renewed rush of wetness spread between her thighs.

You'd think a man had never touched her like that before. Of course, no man she'd ever known could compare to Nick Brady.

He jerked down the cup of her bra and captured her other nipple between his fingers. Livy's nerve endings fired, her muscles twitched, and a contented moan rose up in her throat as she writhed beneath him. The hard length of Nick's erection brushed between her legs and even through the barrier of their clothes, Livy thought she might come if the delicious friction continued for only a little longer.

“Nick. Oh my God, Nick.” She was lust-addled, drunk on pleasure, and want, and the man tucked between her thighs. She was past the point of coherent thought, unable to make a rational decision. The years of self-imposed isolation and loneliness melted away with every touch. Emotion swelled in her chest and tears stung at Livy's eyes. She didn't know how Nick felt about this moment but for her it was
everything
.

Nick switched to her other breast. He kissed, licked, sucked, nibbled at the pearled peak until Livy's breath came in desperate pants. He lavished her with passionate attention for what felt like hours. And still, he didn't show any signs of stopping.

“I love your nipples.” Nick's heated murmur brushed the swell of her breast and Livy shuddered. He grazed the pad of his thumb over one and Livy's back came up off the couch and her eyes drifted shut. The sound of Nick's deep voice was a full-body caress. It touched every part of her and stoked the flames of her passion to a near inferno.

“You do?” Livy had always been a little self-conscious about her athletic build. She was lean and hard without the lush curves and full breasts that she thought made a woman attractive. Nick's words, the heat in his tone, made her feel desirable and it banished any niggling doubts left in her mind.

“Oh yeah.”

He latched his mouth over the other nipple to emphasize his point and sucked. A jolt of sensation rushed through Livy's center that caused her clit to throb. She kept herself from crying out but even so, a whimper escaped from between her lips.

Nick stilled above her and silence stretched between them. Livy peeked through one eye and then opened the other to find him looking at her, his dark eyes blazing with intensity. He held her gaze as he covered the tip of her nipple with the pad of his forefinger. “These are perfect.” He brought his fingertip to the sensitive skin of her areola and traced a circular pattern that spiraled outward. “I love the color, the shape. You're so soft here.” His touch became lighter and Livy shivered. “You fit perfectly in my mouth and when I suck”—he lowered his mouth and sucked her nipple briefly into his mouth—“your nipple gets hard against my tongue. Do you like when I do that, Livy?”

She nodded. Words refused to form on her tongue. It was as though she'd forgotten how to speak, how to think in Nick's presence. All she could do was
feel
.

He took her into his mouth and sucked again, this time nibbling the tight peak before pulling away. “How about that?”

She was like an eager puppy, nodding her head in anticipation of another scratch.

His voice went lower. Dark and demanding. “Tell me. I want to hear you say it.”

Dear God. Livy thought she might burst into flames at any second. “I like it,” she said on a breath.

He repeated the action on her other breast. “How much?”

“So much that I'm pretty sure I've forgotten my own name.”

His brows came down over his eyes and something that Livy couldn't identify passed over his expression.

He swirled his tongue over one nipple. Livy sucked in a breath, her own curiosity over Nick's furrowed brow forgotten under the onslaught of pleasure.

Nick kissed the tip of her nipple, around it, over the shallow swell of her breast, across her collarbone, and up her throat. He dragged his teeth up her neck before placing a hot, openmouthed kiss just below her ear.

“I want my mouth on your pussy,” he murmured. Livy sucked in a breath. No one had ever spoken to her the way he did and it set her on
fire
. “I can't wait to taste you, Livy.”

She wanted him there too. So much so that she reached between them to unbutton her pants and work the zipper down. Nick didn't move, though. He kept his mouth by her ear while he continued to fondle her breast with his left hand. He stroked her thoroughly, lewdly, covering her entire breast with his large palm before bringing his fingers together to pluck at the pearled nipple.

“I'm going to lick you until you come on my tongue. I want my fingers inside of you, your clit in my mouth. I'm going to lap up every drop of you. Would you like that? Would you like to come against my tongue?”

“Yes,” she said on an anxious breath.

It was a miracle Livy's own tongue wasn't lolling out of her mouth. If he kept up with the dirty talk, his mouth wouldn't need to be anywhere near her clit to bring her to orgasm. Nick gave a gentle thrust of his hips and Livy let out a whimper. If he didn't get her—and himself—naked soon, she was pretty sure she'd burst into flames.

“I bet you taste like honey.”

Holy shit.

“Is your pussy wet, Livy? Is it dripping with all that sweetness for me?”

Her underwear had been damp since the moment he'd kissed her. Wet was an understatement. She was embarrassingly ready for him, every inch of her begging for it. Nick took her earlobe between his teeth.

“If I slipped my hand into your underwear, would you be wet?”

“Uh-huh.”

She felt him smile against her throat.

“I want to fuck you.” Nick inhaled a deep breath and let it all out on a rush. “God, I've wanted to fuck you since the moment we met.”

He had? The admission made Livy want to purr.

“I think about what it's going to feel like to be inside of you and it makes me so damned hard it hurts. I want to fuck you slowly. Hard and deep. I want to fuck until we're too exhausted to move. I want to make you moan, Livy. I want you to scream. I want to hear you say my name when you come. Would you do that? Would you scream my name?”

In Livy's mind, she'd already experienced at least a dozen orgasms. Nick painted a vivid picture with his words, colored in shades of raw, vibrant passion that nearly blinded her with its brilliance.

He wanted her to scream his name? Already, she was prepared to do or say any damn thing he wanted.

* * *

“I'll scream whatever the hell you want me to Nick, as long as you don't stop.”

Her breathy reply tickled Nick's ear and tingled down his spine. His cock throbbed and his sac ached and if he didn't bury himself to the hilt in her slick heat soon, he was going to fucking explode.

Admitting all of the hot, dirty things he wanted to do to Livy felt like absolution somehow. As though he'd made his confession and with every agreement from her lips, she'd forgiven him. For what? For wanting to fuck her until neither of them could form a coherent thought?

Nick didn't like to beat around the bush. He called it like he saw it, never shied away from what he wanted and never felt bad about how he went about getting it. Now, though, he felt the slightest twinge of regret tug at his chest. He might've been straight with Livy about all of the lewd things he wanted to do to her, but Livy thought Nick was someone he wasn't. Sort of.

Wasn't she playing the same game, though? Technically, they were on level ground. So really, he had no reason to feel even an ounce of regret. Right?

God, she smelled good.

Nick nuzzled Livy's neck. She was so soft, so responsive, so goddamned desirable that he could hardly control himself. He wanted to strip her bare. Bury his face between her thighs. Lick, suck, and bite until she couldn't form a single word to save her life. He wanted to fuck her so hard and so deep that he lost all sense of where his body ended and hers began. Nick wanted to lose himself to Livy.

He was already halfway there.

“Tell me you want my mouth on your pussy.”

He wanted to hear it from her lips in her sweet, seductive voice. Wanted her to twine his hair through her fingers and shove him between her legs. He wanted to feel her thighs quiver against his face, wanted to hear her cries. Nick wanted all Livy could give him.
All of her
. But was it because he truly wanted to make her his or because he was hell-bent on taking something that Joel Meecum wanted?

Nick's obsessions bled together until he couldn't distinguish between them anymore. And maybe he didn't want to.

“I want your mouth on me, Nick.” The desperation in Livy's tone tested his control. “I don't think I can wait anymore.”

Part of him wanted to make her wait. To continue to talk to her. To tease her until Livy begged him to take her. Common sense threatened to spoil the moment as Nick's sense of honor scratched at the back of his mind. He could stop. He could end this before he crossed a line and did something he might regret. Nick pulled away to find Livy's head tilted back, her eyes closed. His gaze wandered over her pale, delicate breasts that swelled over the cups of her bra and any resolve he might have had shattered.

Not even his own goddamned morality could stop him now.

Nick leaned back on his knees. The couch wasn't exactly the most comfortable spot for what he wanted to do but he wasn't going to waste another second getting Livy naked. The couch, the floor, the recliner . . . he didn't care. He'd take her on the front porch in a foot of snow if that was his only option.

Livy's eyes came open. The hazel depths burned with molten heat and Nick kept his gaze locked with hers as he finished what she'd started and unzipped her jeans the rest of the way. Careful not to drag her underwear down with the denim, he eased them over her thighs and Livy obligingly brought her legs up between them so he could pull them the rest of the way off. He discarded the jeans behind him but kept hold of her ankles. The half-moons of her ass peeked out from the legs of her underwear that looked more like tiny shorts and served to whet his appetite for her.

The light blue fabric was darker where it covered her pussy, soaked with her arousal just like she promised him it was. With the pad of his thumb, Nick stroked her there, softly, and she moaned.

“Does that feel good?” He stroked her again.

“Yes,” Livy said on another moan.

He spread her legs and stroked her once more. He teased himself as much as he did her. When he finally took her, they'd both be mindless. Urgent. Starved. Nick could hardly wait.

From the kitchen the sound of glass shattering on the tile floor sliced through the quiet. Livy sat up with a start, nearly knocking her head against Nick's. Her eyes were wide with fear and her brows pinched. She struggled to free herself from their tangle of limbs as she disengaged from his hold. She scrambled to her feet and snatched her shirt from the floor, pulling it over her head in a flash of turquoise blue. He'd seen that look of panic before—the fight-or-flight reflex that couldn't be controlled—and it wrenched his heart. Her gaze darted from the kitchen to the front door and back. “Oh my God, what was that?”

Nick tried to calm her but she'd nearly steamrolled him in her haste to get off the couch. He reached out and caught her wrist as he stood from the couch and hauled her against him. Violent tremors rocked her body and her eyes glistened as though with unshed tears. Her expression rocketed Nick into his past, trying to calm his own sister after her fear and anxiety had gotten the better of her.

“It's okay, Livy. I've got you.”

She glanced toward the kitchen as though what he said didn't even register. “Was that the window? Did someone break the window?”

It didn't sound like it, but Nick knew that Livy wouldn't be convinced unless she knew for sure. “I don't think so, but I'll go check, okay?”

He tried to let go of her but she kept an iron grip on his forearm. Her fear vibrated through her limbs into his and Nick clenched his jaw. He didn't want Livy to be afraid. Couldn't stand her fear. It damned near crippled him. He'd do whatever it took to make sure she didn't feel that way ever again.

“Come on, Livy. Let's go see what's up in the kitchen.”

Nick's gut knotted up as they rounded the corner. Her anxiety rubbed off on him and he half expected a crew of leather-clad bikers waiting to drill a bullet into both their heads. Instead, he found a very smug-looking Simon perched on the countertop. Below him on the floor was a shattered glass. Nick eased Livy to his side though she resisted. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and tucked her against his body.

“I think someone was jealous he wasn't getting all of the attention.”

Livy relaxed against him and Nick had a feeling that if he wasn't holding her upright she would've fallen square on her ass. “Simon!” The relief in her tone allowed Nick's muscles to loosen. “You're a bad boy!”