Claiming Beauty (Taking Beauty Trilogy 2)

“Is it hard for you to see him?” Catherine asked.

“It’s easier with time,” I replied. “He looks a lot like Ally, so that makes it difficult.”

She nodded, her green eyes peering into mine.

“Do you see him often?”

“No, not really. Usually, when we’re in America, he’ll fly in to go to the hospital with us like he did today. He lives in Los Angeles; that’s where the office for the charity is. I’ll see him again when we get there.”

“I see,” she said.

“Enough about Callum. Let’s talk about you, and this sexy dress you’re wearing. Luv, I think I can see every curve of your body in that thing. Tell me - did you wear this for me?” I asked. My cock was quickly growing in my jeans and I wanted to run my hands over every one of those curves.

“No, I didn’t wear it for you,” she replied, shaking her head.

“No? I’m hurt,” I said, frowning.

“Don’t be.”

“Well maybe you can make it up to me,” I replied.

“Not that I need to, but just for fun, how would I do that?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Let’s refresh our drinks and find a quiet place on the balcony to talk, away from all of these boring people. Please?” I asked.

“Are those manners?” she asked teasingly. “I didn’t know you had them.”

“I’ve got a lot of things you haven’t seen,” I shot back.

“Hardly,” she scoffed. “I think I’ve seen your…biggest…attributes,” she joked, gesturing between my legs.

“Luv, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet,” I replied, with a teasing wink.

“Maybe not, but I’m still along for the ride,” she said. Was she flirting with me? “So, hit me with your best shot.”

Oh, she was definitely flirting. This night was picking up quite nicely now.

“You might live to regret saying that,” I teased back.

“I think I can handle anything you’ve got, Liam,” she said, lifting her chin.

“You’re a brave little minx, aren’t you?” I asked, reaching up and tracing the line of her jaw with my fingertip. Her skin was smooth and warm.

“I like to think so,” she replied, her eyes holding my gaze.

“Let’s go,” I said, grabbing her hand and heading for the bar. I got us both drinks, and led her out to the balcony.

Bad idea.

Ian was standing there, talking quietly with Rhone. When he saw us, he groaned and turned to leave.

“Ian, you can’t stay mad at me forever,” I said.

“Piss off, Liam, I’m sick of your shit,” he replied, his eyes shooting daggers at me.

“For fuck’s sake, it was just one verse that I changed.”

“You know that pisses me off, Liam. You know everything that pisses me off, and you do it anyway. You have no respect for me,” Ian seethed.

“Sure I do,” I replied. “I couldn’t do this without you.”

“Well, you have a seriously fucked up way of showing it, mate!” he yelled, before shoving past me, leaving Catherine and I standing alone on the balcony. I watched through the windows as he left the room, thundering past the dozens of people inside. They all turned back, watching for my reaction.

Who could blame them? It was a classic Liam move they were waiting for. Surely, I’d throw a chair, hurl an insult at Ian’s back, or throw my drink or something, right? What would it be tonight?

I was so tired of the old Liam. I didn’t feel like doing any of those things.

In fact, there was only one thing on my mind, and she was standing in front of me like a fuckin’ siren just waiting to put me under her spell.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” I said, grabbing Catherine’s hand and going back in, streaming past all the curious eyes, leaving them behind to make up whatever story they wanted to.

I didn’t give a fuck anymore what anyone said about me. No matter what I did, every one just thought the same thing about me anyway.

Let them say whatever they wanted. Let Catherine print her story, hell, print the truth, I didn’t care. Tell the world that they were right. Liam Mercury is a piece of shit, a loser, a disrespectful, immature, spoiled party boy. None of that mattered right now. None of it ever really did.

I was surprised, but Catherine let me lead her down the hallway to my room without any protest at all. In fact, she hadn’t said a word.

“Now, where were we?” I said, putting my drink down and pulling her into my arms as soon as the door closed behind us.

“We were just going to find a place to talk, remember?” Her eyes flashed up at me and breathed in her fresh, peachy scent. My cock had wilted a little during the Ian fiasco, but now it came back to life in an instant. Her skin was smooth under my fingertips and I trailed my hands over her arms and up to her chin, lingering at her face, running my thumb along the thickness of her bottom lip.

“Is that what you want, luv? To talk?” I asked, my voice thick with desire.

Her lips parted and she nodded silently.

“Is that all, luv?” I lowered my head, the promise of her luscious lips pulling me closer. The last thing I wanted to do was talk. I wanted to forget about everything and loose myself in discovering every inch of her. Her breathe was hot against my lips as I inched closer and just before I made contact, she turned her head, my lips landing on her cheek.

“Liam, we shouldn’t,” she protested, her hand on my chest, pushing me away.

“Why the bloody hell not?” I asked. I couldn’t think of one good reason why we still had our fuckin’ clothes on.

“I’m here to write a story about you, not fuck you,” she said, turning and walking away. She walked over and sat on the couch that lined the wall of my suite. Her long legs jutted out away from her body, and I couldn’t stop looking at them. She crossed them at her ankles, and I imagined myself wedged between them, my head lowering until I could taste her sweet pussy.

“You don’t fancy a fuck?” I asked, jokingly. Humor had a way of breaking through all barriers.

She laughed, throwing her pretty head back and exposing that long, smooth neck.

I sat down next to her and she turned towards me.

“You never stop, do you?”

“Stop? Stop what?”

“Slow down. Turn it down a notch. It’s like you’re always ‘on’.”

“I don’t really think anyone wants me to turn anything down,” I replied. “I’m expected to be like this. You should see what happens when I stay in my room and read a book. Everyone loses their shit.”

She nodded, looking at me thoughtfully. Her hair was flowing over her shoulders in loose waves, and I reached over and ran my fingers through it.

“Work, Liam. We’re here to work,” she said.

“I’m tired of working. You can interview me tomorrow. Let’s talk about you,” I said. “I’m bored to tears with me.”

“Okay, what do you want to know?” she asked.

“Tell me something that most people don’t know about you,” I said.

“Hmm, well…let’s see,” she replied, her eyes darting away from me. It took all my strength not to lick her neck. She was so close, so fuckin’ beautiful, it hurt not to touch her. “I’m a songwriter.”

“What!” I exclaimed, pulling back and looking at her face. “No shit!”

“Yep,” she said. A gleam appeared in her eye, and I could tell she had just told me something she was very proud of.

“Have you written anything I’ve heard of?”

“Maybe…”

“Well, bloody tell me already!” The sound of her laughter was like music to my ears. I wasn’t expecting her to say she was a songwriter. It was the only thing I couldn’t do better than Ian, which I regretted terribly, but I’d learned to live with it. Hell, if it wasn’t for Ian’s songwriting abilities, we’d never have gotten out of our parent’s basement.

“I wrote ‘Fade Away’, it was recorded by t