Taste Me Deadly (Sensory Ops) (13 page)

“The beach.” She laughed, but it was a sad one. “There was a private section of beach I used to visit. Rocks blocked it off from the rest of the world. As screwed up as things got, it was always perfect.”

He nodded and turned the car back on. He couldn’t take her to the escape that had been Opal’s, but he could give her the next best thing because he suddenly knew of the perfect place to keep her safe. At least for the night.

Grey tried to imagine what might be in Liam’s head. The scenarios ranged from hate to rage and allowed for other possibilities. She had asked him to take her home because she owed him. She had owed him gratitude for looking out for her. Now she owed him for saving her life even if she didn’t know how he’d known where to find her.

He said nothing as he turned away from home. At least nothing to her. He pulled his phone from the pack he’d set between the seats and dialed a number. The call was answered quickly and Ava’s voice filled the car.

“Liam.”

“Ava. You remember that option?”

“Of course. Let me get H.”

A moment later a strong, male voice came through the speakers. Liam muttered acknowledgements as H gave him instructions on bypassing a security system. Even after he ended the call he said nothing to Grey. He didn’t even look at her as he drove to a secret place.

Thankfully, the confinement of miserable silence in the car seemed to be a short one. He pulled into an empty parking lot of an unimpressive white building. There was no sign to announce what the place was or suggest why they were there instead of at Liam’s.

Like he’d taken to doing every time, he leaned over her and opened her door. The brush of his arm on her breast, the closeness of his face, in those beating moments, quickened passion’s pulse.

That made her think about the promise he’d made that morning about kissing. He would kiss her once a day, but he hadn’t kissed her yet and the day was almost over.

Liam pulled back and took his pack as he exited the car. The chill of rejection froze her. He wouldn’t be kissing her; she’d killed the desire.

Grey moved mechanically as she got out of the car and followed him to the building’s main entrance. He entered a code into the door pad and when she was inside with him he entered it again.

The moonlight shone through the large windows, allowing her to see the basic leather chairs and couches and the reception desk. Turning from the stark entrance, she followed Liam down the dark hall in a creepy silence and couldn’t help but ask, “What is this place?”

“Safe,” was his only answer as he went in and flipped on a light in a locker room.

The place was white, cold. She wouldn’t have described it as safe, though Liam didn’t seem concerned with what she may be thinking as he grabbed some towels and blankets from a cabinet. Maintaining his silence, he led her back out, flipping the light off as they left.

Down the hall, he pushed a quick release bar on the back door and stepped outside. Here, for the first time, Grey noticed the sound of the ocean. She only saw trees, though, until Liam turned down a sand path.

The water grew louder. A short time later they stepped onto a beach. It was a private one lit only by the moon and stars. It was a slightly larger version of the one she used to visit.

“Liam. Seriously?”

He shrugged with the blankets and towels still in hand. “Ava’s soon-to-be husband keeps this a well-guarded secret. I thought we’d sleep here tonight and figure out the rest in the morning.”

It was the most he’d said to her all night and, damn it, the words made her want to cry. He was backing down from his need to call the shots and offering her a night in a haven. With her throat thick, she went to Liam and pushed up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “It’s perfect.”
You’re perfect.

“I’m glad.” He swallowed and stepped back. “Go explore or sit and stare or whatever. No one will see you except me.”

Grey wanted to say something, to explain how much his thoughtfulness meant to her. To ask what he was thinking and how he’d known where to find her and that she was in danger. The words wouldn’t come. With a brush of her fingers along his arm she walked toward the water, stepping out of her shoes as she went.

She glanced back. Liam spread the blankets out and then set the towels on a corner. A part of her wanted him to join her at the water, but she didn’t ask. Instead of joining her, he sat on the blankets and watched.

She had messed up by leaving, possibly enough to drive a wedge between them, but the man had just given her the one thing she’d missed most since leaving five years earlier. She was going to enjoy it and do as he suggested. She’d worry about the rest tomorrow.

Turning to the water, Grey unfastened her capris and let them slip down her legs. She tugged her shirt over her head and dropped it. If she didn’t have an audience she might have stripped all the way, but Liam was watching.

She smiled. What did it matter that Liam watched? He’d seen her naked before, and she hadn’t been shy.

He was watching, and she wanted him to kiss her. She was going to remind him he wanted to kiss her.

Grey reached around, popped the bra hooks and eased the straps down her arms. She dropped the satin torture device and sighed. Arousal trembled to life as she tucked her fingertips beneath the waist of her panties and pushed them down.

Exhilaration flooded her. With an audience of one, an audience who made her body sing with a touch, she sauntered closer to the water. The wet sand was cool and smooth between her toes. The gentle waves as they rushed in and out swept her skin like a lover’s caress.

The farther she went the more constant and persistent that touch became. Cool water brushed between her legs. Heated ripples of desire tightened her stomach. She was ready, eager, for an orgasm that would come so easily. Indulgence would wait.

She went farther, embracing every inch of water that pulled her deeper and deeper into its embrace. She stopped when the slippery surface rested along the bottoms of her breasts.

Stretching her arms out, she rested her hands palm up on the water. Moonlight bathed her in perfection until all that existed was bliss.

Violence and death, lies and betrayals, nightmares and impossible dreams all slipped away. They flowed out the tips of her fingertips and were washed away. Freedom had never been so real. And it wasn’t something she’d had to fight for. It was a gift she’d been handed by a man who understood more than she could have hoped.

Greycen Craig was a skin Opal Donovan had donned out of necessity. The conflicting women in her head had pulled at her ever since, but now, the salt in the ocean waters exfoliated the old. It buffed away the shell she’d never felt comfortable in and gave her space to discover herself.

She wasn’t only Opal any more than she was only Grey. She was a work in progress and her newest revelation lay in knowing exactly what she wanted. At the moment she wanted Liam to kiss her.

She smiled as she approached the beach. She closed the distance between them, springing off the balls of her feet. She was naked and he was looking. The awareness of those facts preceded every step until she stepped onto the blanket, dripping wet. With a swallow, Grey stepped over his legs and lowered herself until she straddled his lap.

He tilted his head just the tiniest bit. “Enjoy yourself?”

She kissed his right temple. “More…” then his left, “…than you…” then his right cheekbone, “…may…” his left, “…ever…” his right jaw, “…know.” His left. Grey eased back and looked at him seriously. “I need to apologize for running away when you’ve only tried to help. I want to be able to explain myself and tell you everything that’s happened.”

“But you can’t.”

She shook her head. “I can tell you I feel lighter, more at peace.”

“H and Ava swear the water here is healing.”

“I feel lighter, but I also know the stress and fear will come back.”

“And when it does you’ll start arguing again.”

“Or try to run,” she admitted.

He moved his hands to her hips. “You won’t get far.”

“You’ll tell me later how you came to be on that beach.”

He shrugged. “Maybe.”

He
would
tell her; she’d make sure of it. Later. “Right now I want something else.”

“What, Grey? What do you want?”

“I want that kiss you promised this morning.”

Chapter Eleven

Grey was wet, naked and beneath his hands. He wasn’t breaking the touch after craving it for so long. Fun didn’t need to be out of the picture, though. Liam checked his watch by twisting his wrist and leaning left a little. “I still have thirty minutes before the day is over.”

She wiggled a little, which brushed her breasts against his chest. She wasn’t big, barely a handful, but size didn’t matter with perfection like hers.

“It’s been a rough day, Liam. I think you’d agree.”

Beyond rough and things weren’t easing up in some regards. “A rough day is no reason to rush things.”

“Then kiss me and make it last.”

“Is that all you’re asking for, Grey? Do you want it to stop at a kiss?” He had to have hit his head when he tackled her shooter. Why else would he hold out?

“I’m asking you to kiss me. I’m not sure I’m ready for everything else you do to me.”

As admissions went hers blew him away in its honesty. He had a weakness for honesty. Hell, he had a weakness for Grey.

“Are you sure you’re ready for my definition of a kiss?”

“Yes.” She moved closer, definitely close enough to feel how she affected him, not that she should be surprised there.

“Okay.” He grinned as he leaned in. If he had to stop at a kiss he was going to make it good for them both.

Copying her kisses when she’d first straddled his lap, a move that had hardened him more than watching her undress or enjoy herself in the water, he kissed her right temple. Liam granted her nothing more than a close-mouthed peck on the temple, but she leaned into it.

He eased away and kissed her other temple. Again he lingered just long enough for her to lean into it. Pulling away, he moved from her right cheekbone to her left, taking his time to savor the lingering scent of her morning shower.

Grey sighed as he placed his lips to her right jaw. Unlike the last caresses he opened his mouth this time. He blew a warm breath along the edge of her jaw and ear. She squirmed. He grinned as a shiver slid over his arms. Then he kissed her left jawbone and again blew a long breath before closing his lips.

She arched her back, shifting the silk of her skin beneath his fingers. They curled of their own accord into the flesh of her waist. It wasn’t enough. None of it was enough.

Her nipples pressed against his chest, begged for attention. A flick of his fingers would be cheating, worse, a flick would lead to a squeeze, which would lead to all out groping.

Poking the tip of his tongue between his lips he ran it from her jaw down to the hollow of her neck. “You taste like salty sea,” he murmured.

She dropped her head back on a sigh. Her pussy rubbed the length of his dick. His eyes rolled back in his head. Liam bit down on his tongue to keep from sinking his teeth into her.

“Liam.”

“I’m just getting warmed up.”

Her moaned response was all the encouragement he needed to continue. Her sides quivered beneath his gliding hands. When she rested her hands on his shoulders he allowed himself the briefest brush of thumb against nipple. She jumped. Power surged in his veins and melted his muscles.

He gripped her shoulders and eased her back. Cravings crashed in her gaze, mirror reflections of his own. He ached with his body’s tightening need to plunge deep. Her pelvis rotated forward, teasing him. He’d deserve a box of medals if he held out all night.

Liam growled as he swept in and claimed her mouth. Even if she asked for sex he didn’t have a condom so they’d have to stop, but he’d be damned if he didn’t yearn for it. She opened for him, angled left while he angled right. Tongues danced. Lips brushed.

Grey rolled her hips again. Her heated wetness seeped through his shorts. His hips rose to meet hers. She grabbed his head and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. He explored the inner recesses of her mouth, slid his tongue between her gums and teeth.

She ground against him, moving faster. The lining of his running shorts became slippery with her arousal as she neared orgasm.

Liam ripped his mouth from hers and sank his teeth into her neck. She rubbed herself against him. He suckled on her neck.

Orgasm built, drew closer and closer with each panting breath. The moment he began to go over the ledge, Grey arched her back and pressed herself close.

The layers of his shorts muffled the flexing pulses of her orgasm, but he was too attuned to her to miss them. He moved his mouth back to hers and kissed her gently until her pulses eased. He’d promised to stop at kissing and while he wasn’t sure if he’d kept that promise he couldn’t regret it, because no kiss had ever been so hot.

Grey rested her head on Liam’s shoulder and huddled close as he pulled the spare blanket over her. The darkness, gratefully, hid the flush heating her cheeks. She’d asked him to stop at kissing and then she’d rubbed herself off on him.