The Awakening: Liam (Entangled Covet) (23 page)

loving her, completely content to just kiss and touch her for hours.

He lifted her up into his arms, never once taking his lips from hers as he carried her across the garage.

After setting her on her feet, he grabbed the folded quilt she’d given him last night and spread it on the

cement floor, then placed the lone pillow on top. An apologetic expression crossed his face. “It’s not very

comfortable. But I don’t want to chance going into the house.”

She lifted a brow. “Since when have we ever kept things strictly to a bed? Do you remember the time

you took me at the café? That wasn’t a very soft floor, either.”

He stoked her hair as his eyes caressed her with such tenderness her chest tightened.

“I’m not taking you this time, Ava.” He curled his hand around the back of her neck and drew her

close. “I’m making love to you.”

Then his mouth recaptured hers. Just as sweetly and gently as before, his lips brushing, lingering, then

brushing some more, as one of his hands slid around to lie lightly against her cheek. Emotions squeezed her

throat from the loving way he touched her.

Breaking the kiss, she sat down on the blanket. He gazed down at her with such sadness, such regret…

as if he’d already left her. She held out her hand, beckoning him to join her, silently begging him never to

leave. They would have everything that had been denied them. They would make up for every second

they’d lost over the last eight months, and might never have again.

Finally he her took her hand and settled beside her. Trembling fingers fumbled at the first button on her

shirt before she curled her hand on top of his, stopping him.

“Let me,” she whispered. When he nodded and withdrew his hand, she quickly unbuttoned the top. For

once, he allowed her to be strong when he wasn’t able to be. She had no clue what was going on in his

mind right now, what thoughts were torturing him, but she wanted to banish them, erase the sorrow that

never left his gaze.

As he’d done earlier today, she lifted his hand and placed it against her breast. “Touch me.”

“I never want to stop touching you, Ava.” He brushed her shirt open and down her arms as he kissed

along her shoulder.

Warmth spread until it pooled between her legs, and she heard the growl from deep within him. She

closed her eyes, embracing everything he was, accepting his beast, accepting him as she would have if he’d

shared how to bond to him.

One day she would complete this man…the way only she could.

Somehow.

…

Heart squeezing, Liam gently pressed Ava back against the pillow as he propped himself up on an

elbow. He gazed down at her, fanning her hair out across the pillow. “You’re so beautiful.” He barely got

the words past the tightness in his throat.

This woman had been born to make him whole. He was supposed to spend eternity with her by his side.

He ran the back of his hand down her cheek. Right now, this was all they could have…maybe all they

would ever have.

And it was enough…at least for his beast. As it always had, the animal was content in just having her in

his arms, a whirring vibrated through his flesh as it pressed its feline body against his ribs. But the human

side of him wasn’t satisfied. Would never be satisfied with just this.

He wanted it all. Everything he was entitled to as a shifter…all of it.

Two quick bites on his shoulders at the perfect moment, and he would have it. He was so tempted to

ask. And she would do it. But what then?

When everything he’d warned her about came true, when her sister started to suffer, she would grow to

hate him. Then she’d be bonded to a man she could never escape.

He wouldn’t cloud their eternal union with those unthinkable possibilities.

He traced her bottom lip with a finger, then trailed it over her chin, down her neck to the valley between

her breasts. Memorizing her. Locking it away, while praying it wouldn’t be the last time he’d be with her

like this.

She loved him…had never stopped loving him. She wanted his hope chest, wanted him to make more

chests filled with memories of the children she wanted to have with him. She was ready to accept him, to

Fewse
her soul to his.

And as much as that knowledge should have brought him happiness, bitterness overshadowed the joy.

Instead of leading her through the bonding ritual, he was forced to accept the possibility that he’d go to the

other side without her, that they would never be reunited, and he would spend his eternity mourning his

lost love.

Even so, he’d still die for her, without hesitation.

“Liam?”

A warm touch to his cheek brought him out of his turmoil, and he realized he was still staring down at

her, probably every emotion he just felt showcased for her to see. He grabbed her hand and kissed the

middle of her palm. “I’m okay.”

“We don’t—”

He shook his head. “I have to be with you, Ava.”

Leaving the “one more time” unsaid. But it was there, beating at him, reminding him that everything

would end with the stop of a heartbeat.

Cupping the back of her neck, he lifted her head to meet his lips. He put every bit of his heart, every bit

of love, into his kiss as he covered one of her breasts with his palm. She arched toward him, her arms

wrapping around him again, urging him down to the blanket. As he lowered her head to the pillow, he

grazed his mouth down her neck as he removed her jeans and panties. Seconds later, his clothes joined

hers.

He didn’t want this to be fast, but he needed to be inside her and believe in that moment, while her body

was joined with his, that they were inseparable.

He rolled and pinned her beneath him. Closing his eyes, he enjoyed the feel of her naked body under

his, enjoyed the way her fingers ran up and down his back. He opened his eyes, and his breath caught at the

soft smile on her lips. And he was granted what he’d wished for.

It was as though they hadn’t been separated for the past eight months. It was as it had always been like

this.

Them. Together. Deeply in love.

Words of love…of a future…pushed at the back of his teeth, but that would be unfair to both of them,

so he settled for saying it in his mind.

I love you, Ava Michaels. From now, for eternity, you are mine, even if I can’t be yours
.

The last part caused excruciating thoughts of her finding love again, with someone else, of her belly

swollen with child as another man wrapped his arms around her waist, both with joy on their faces as they

caressed her protruding stomach. He forced the unwelcome visions away, refusing to dwell on them.

He’d made the choice to save Emma, instead of allowing Ava to bond to him. He would lay down his

life for her. As much as it pained him to think of her loving another, he wanted her to have that, if eternity

was not possible for them.

But the future wasn’t set in stone. That vision could still be of him feeling his unborn child move within

the body of the woman he loved. They could still have a family. Have it all.

And he would fight for it until he took his last breath.

Her brows furrowed and she shifted until his body was embraced firmly between her legs. “I need you

inside me, Liam. Please.”

And he needed the same. He held her gaze as he slowly entered her, didn’t allow the ecstasy of having

her body wrapped around him again force his eyes to close. He didn’t want to miss a single moment.

As he slowly thrust, she cupped his face, tears forming in her eyes. And he realized she
had
read every

thought on his face. She’d seen the sorrow that shadowed their reunion.

“No, Ava,” he muttered. “No tears. Just feel me.”

She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, and gave a jerky nod. Without a doubt, she knew he

would kill for her, and give his own life if he had to. And that there was nothing she could do to stop him,

since her death would sentence him to hell, anyway. He hated that she’d had this realization, had wanted to

save her from it, but she wouldn’t have been the woman he loved if she hadn’t pushed for answers.

Demanded he gave them.

“I love you,” she said in a broken whisper.

“I know,” he forced out around the tears that threatened to spill from his own eyes.

Then he took her lips, moments from breaking down, needing to feel just her and not the finality that

surrounded them. He lost himself in her mouth, her body, and thought of nothing else…just Ava, the

woman he loved, in his arms again, the soft gasps of her breath caressing his mouth as he thrust, her warm

flesh squeezed around him.

And when she moaned her release in his ear, her arms tightening around him as if they’d never let him

go, he finally allowed his own, knowing they would always have this moment.

She held him to her, her loving whispers enveloping him, and all he could think was how happy he

would be to spend a lifetime in this woman’s arms.

They’d finally found their way back together.

But one man could rip them apart again.

For all eternity.

Chapter 12

God, it’d been like he was saying goodbye.

After making achingly sweet love, Ava clung to Liam as he tucked her against his side, his arm wrapped

around her body, keeping her warm from the slight chill in the air. Everything about their lovemaking had

been…heartbreaking. The moments of complete anguish that had crossed his face when some terrible

thought had seized him had nearly shattered her.

She tilted her head back, uncertain what to say, but needing to reassure him. “We’ll both survive this,

Liam.”

He turned his face toward her, a forced smile on his lips. “I know.”

I know.
The same words he’d used when she’d whispered she loved him. No ‘I love you’ back. Not that

she needed to hear them to know he did, but his refusal to verbally declare his feelings had left dread the

size of a rock sitting in her stomach.

Those words had always come so easily to him before. And now he couldn’t even say them. He used to

not be able to walk past her without sliding a hand around her hip, nuzzling his head in her neck and

whispering those three little words in her ear. Why was he holding back now? What if, God forbid,

something happened to her…to him...and she never again got to hear that special husky timbre he used

when he told her he loved her. She burrowed closer into his side.

The thought of losing him terrified her, but what terrified her even more was making a stupid decision

that would wind up getting herself killed and leaving him in that horrible state he’d described. A shiver ran

through her body.

His arm tightened around her and he lifted his head to glance down at her. “You cold?”

“A little,” she lied, not wanting to add to the burden already weighing him down.

He sighed and sat up. “We should probably get dressed. You need to get back inside. We’ve been out of

sight for longer than we should already.”

“He doesn’t know, Liam. Detective Calhoun said her team is out in the woods, searching for him.”

Liam’s hand stilled as he reached for her clothes, his brows furrowing. “No, he probably doesn’t. It

won’t last though. He’ll be back, so you need to get inside.”

“Emma will be home soon, anyway, and I need to get dinner started. She’s going to a play tonight at the

school, so she’ll eat and run.” She paused in buttoning her jeans. “Maybe I can meet you later?”

Hope refused to die.

No emotion crossed his face as he regarded her, then glanced away. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,

Ava.”

Even though she knew he was right, his words hurt and she lowered her gaze to the floor. “Of course…

that…that was stupid of me.”

Already she was making stupid decisions. Making things harder for him.

She struggled to her feet and was about to hurry back into the house when his hand encircled her wrist

and stopped her. Swallowing, she stared straight ahead, refusing to witness the regret she knew would be

on his face, the bleakness in his eyes. She’d spent enough time seeing it while they’d made love. She

couldn’t take any more.

“I want you with me, Ava. Believe that. I never want to let you go.”

But he would. Both pain and elation shafted through her, squeezing her heart tight. The only response

she could come back with was the same one he’d used earlier. “I know.”

She tugged her wrist out of his grasp and left the garage, silently closing the door behind her. Leaning

her back against the wood, she pressed her hand to the ache in her chest, truly understanding now why he’d

used those words. They both knew how the other felt. But the response wouldn’t change the outcome. They

were still not free to be together. Repeating words of devotion, of love, was downright agonizing.

She pushed away from the door and stepped into the kitchen. Routine. It was what helped her when

she’d come back to this house yesterday. It’d be what got her through tonight, and each night, and every