“Liam, I…” Fi began.
He looked up from her waist, his gaze searing hers with its intensity, his breath ragged.
“Let me give you pleasure,” Liam whispered.
“But I want to… you…” Fi groaned as he slipped a hand inside her panties and found her, already aching for him.
“Shhh, my spitfire… let me taste you,” Liam said, and then Fi could think no more as he found her sweetest spot with his mouth. He sampled her like a fine wine, taking his time with her and bringing her sharply and deliciously to the edge before she careened off, arching against him and gasping out his name.
When he pulled back, Fi smiled at him.
“That was… you do that well,” Fi said.
“Giving brings me pleasure. Women are meant to be cherished,” Liam said.
Fi reached up to him, her hands at his belt.
“No, not like this,” Liam said, and Fi looked at him in confusion. His eyes drooped and in an instant she could read the drink and the pain and the confusion flashing through his mind. “You’re… you’re special, Fi. Not like this.”
“But…” Fi looked down at her naked body and up to him.
“I… can I just hold you? Just like this? I want you to always remember pleasure from this night.” Liam looked dead on his feet, and if she’d ever seen a man about to hit the deck, it was now. “I don’t want to be alone.”
Sighing, Fi stood and kicked her clothes to a corner. Pulling a t-shirt from the drawer, she dropped it over her head.
“Off with your boots then.”
Liam gratefully undressed, and as much as Fi wanted to lick her way down his muscular body, she took pity on the exhausted and emotionally drained man. He climbed into bed and pulled her to him so she fit snugly against his chest, and drifted to sleep in a matter of seconds.
In the morning, he was gone.
Chapter 4
He’d left a note. Not that it had mattered, as Fi didn’t intend to call him. She’d lain awake much of the night fighting the sense of absolute rightness that had crept over her while nestled in his arms. It was as if her heart was telling her she’d found her home – yet Fi’s mind urged her to run. Settling down, whether with one man, one town, or one job, was not something that was currently on her agenda.
For a brief moment that morning, she’d allowed herself to feel sad that he was gone. But it was for the best, as she hadn’t wanted to form any unnecessary attachments.
I’d like to see you again. I’m sorry for leaving so early, but I have a meeting. I didn’t want to wake you. Call me.
She’d crumpled the note up and tossed it in the bin so she wouldn’t be tempted to call him. Two weeks later she’d left Croatia, having accepted a new position at a university in France that was translating some Celtic mythology books.
And so her life had continued. There’d been many men after Liam, though Fi was selective about whom she took to her bed. More than one man had lingered, providing her with companionship and meeting her needs until she tired of them or accepted a new job in another location. It wasn’t that she was careless with men, for she enjoyed their company – it was that Fi never let herself take the long slow slide into love. She’d done that – once. And had learned her lesson.
His name had been Brian. They’d met their first year at university. Blinded by the big-city lights of Dublin and Brian’s sharp American accent, Fi had fallen in love – and into his bed – with a speed that had astonished her.
Gracie had come down to visit for a weekend and had left worried, with a warning on her lips for Fi to protect herself. But blinded by Brian’s smooth words and edgy taste in music, Fi hadn’t listened.
She still remembered the day she’d told him about her gift, opening herself to show him the shadows of her soul – things she never shared with anyone. At first, he’d laughed it off. Then he’d been entranced, peppering her with questions for hours. She’d performed for him, hadn’t she? All these years later, the memory still rankled. He’d tested her over and over on her ability to read minds and she’d gone right along, thinking it was because he was fascinated with her.
It was only when she met him at his mate’s party the next night that she’d realized how wrong she’d been. Walking in, Fi knew immediately something was off. Somebody flipped the switch on the music, and like a bad teen movie, all eyes had landed on her.
“That’s the psychic!”
“She’s a witch.”
“Maybe she’ll help me cheat on my exam…”
“Does she know what I’d like to do in bed with her?”
“Think she can read me the lotto numbers?”
The whispers hit her like shards of glass in a hurricane, cutting her from every direction, as her eyes sought Brian. Finally, they landed on him, tucked on a sofa next to a curvy blonde, a smirk on his face.
Fi had walked right over to him, hands on her hips, and stared down at him until he had no choice but to meet her eyes.
“What have you done?” Fi demanded, her heart hammering in her chest as the room fell silent once again. Not that it mattered – she could hear people’s thoughts pinging around her head like a manic pinball machine.
“What’s the big deal? I thought it was cool,” Brian said, shrugging a shoulder and looking away.
“This isn’t how you treat people you love,” Fi said, blinking back tears, her voice low with fury. “You don’t do something like this. It’s not right.”
“Ah, what’s the big deal, Fi?” Brian scoffed, glancing back up at her. In that moment, Fi read in his eyes what she should have allowed herself to read from his thoughts all along. The only person Brian loved was Brian.
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Fi whispered, and then turned to the room. “This man said he loved me. Is this how a man in love should treat someone?”
“How could I love you after you told me about… that?” Brian waved a hand at her head.
“Yeah. Couldn’t you just read his mind and see how he felt?” His mate, Luke, set the room laughing. Fi drew a shaky breath, willing the panic back. A tear escaped, dripping down her cheek as she stared Brian down.
“Aww, the freak is crying.”
Brian laughed at that, high-fiving his mate, and Fi’s sadness turned to rage. It took everything in her power not to lay Brian’s secrets bare to the room, but she couldn’t resist sharing just one.
“Just like Brian cries after sex.”
The room exploded in laughter. Fi caught Brian’s horrified look before she turned on her heel, running from the house and their laughter with her heart shattered in her chest.
She’d vowed then and there to keep men at a distance. Being vulnerable just wasn’t worth the risk.
The rule had served her well – right up until she’d met Liam. The night she’d lain in his arms, feeling the rightness of him, was still embedded deep in her brain.
Why was Liam on her mind today? Fi wondered as she picked up her paper and her cup and wandered to the kitchen sink. Of all the men she’d been involved with through the years, her time with him had been the shortest. And yet he seemed to have left a lasting impression on her.