Enticing Liam (Big Sky Royal 2)

I search his back and find what I think are the scars from the barbed wire. I gently brush the long marks with my fingertips.

“These?”

He nods, and I place a kiss over the marks. Liam’s body is tense all over, all of his muscles tight under my hands.

“The wounds healed quickly, and I moved on,” he continues. “For years, we trained. More kids came in behind me, and I helped train them, too. And then Baghdad happened.”

His voice is so low, I can barely hear him.

“My team was sent in to assassinate a very bad man. All of this is classified, by the way.”

“I won’t tell anyone.”

He nods once. “We were dropped by helicopter outside of the city, and we ran to the target point. We had intel on where the mark was, how long he’d been there. We had maps. We knew exactly how it was going to go down. Quick. Easy. In and out.”

He scratches his scalp in agitation.

“We were ambushed.”

I feel my eyes fill with tears. I’m careful not to cry out or gasp. I want him to continue the story.

But my God, the pain in his voice is almost unbearable.

“Suddenly, we were surrounded. My men were picked off like in a video game. As if the bastards had been tipped off.”

“Could they have been?”

“Possibly.” He flinches when I kiss a scar on his shoulder blade. But when I kiss another, he calms. “Only Adams and I walked out alive. Well, we crawled. And we were barely alive. I had bullets up and down my back, as you can see.”

“How did you survive this? How did it not kill you?”

“You were right, I’m a stubborn ass.”

“You’re not. You’re wonderful.”

“Adams is the reason I’m here,” he says. “He knew what to do to stop the bleeding. He wouldn’t let me sleep. He was a pain in my ass, but he got us out of there, still breathing. That was the first time.”

“The first time? There were others?”

He nods. “There’s some road rash back there. Right flank.”

I lean in and kiss the roughened skin.

“Knife wounds. No one, aside from a doctor, has ever seen my back, Eleanor. No one.”

“I’m so sorry, Liam.”

“None of it is your fault. And I’m okay. Things were getting easier until Adams swallowed that bullet. Then the dreams got scary bad again, and everything came back to me. It still haunts me.”

“Of course, it does.” I kiss his entire back and work my way up to his neck. “But it’s not your fault, Liam. None of it is your fault. Any more than it’s mine. You joined the Army because you love your country, and you wanted to do right by it. You’re a brave man.”

“No. I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.” I let the tears fall now. “You’re so brave and strong. What happened to you is the result of war, not because you’re any less of a soldier.”

He turns and pins me with those dark eyes of his. “Why does being with you soothe me like it does?”

“Because you’re safe with me.” I kiss his jawline. “And because you know I won’t judge you. I’m here to support you, Liam. To care for you. And to make you feel good.”

“You make me feel,” he replies and rolls me onto my back, hovering over me. “I’ve been an expert at shutting off a lot. And then I met you, and now I can’t stop feeling. It’s not just the physical touch either.”

“I know.”

His hand strokes down my side and rests on my hip.

“Needing someone was never part of my plan, Eleanor.”

He kisses me gently, teasing my lips with his as he slips between my legs, the way he was earlier.

He’s pressed against me, moving subtly as he kisses me for all he’s worth. I cradle him to me, my hands in his hair.

“Touch me.”

I open my eyes as he presses his forehead against mine.

“Are you sure? I don’t have to.”

“Touch me,” he whispers. My hands glide down over his shoulders and move to his back. He hisses in a breath and then relaxes.

It is undoubtedly the most intimate moment of my life.

“Liam.”

He pulls back so he can look at my face. “Yes, baby?”

“I know you have a plan in place, and that because of your military background, you’re a stickler for following that.”

“But?”

“Please make love with me. Please don’t stop again.”

He sighs and buries his fingers in my hair. “I don’t think I could stop if I wanted to.”

Thank God.

“But we’re going to take our time.”

I can’t help myself. I laugh. “Of course, we are. I would be worried if it were any other way, Liam Cunningham.”

“Anything worth doing is worth doing well.” He nibbles on my shoulder, pushing the strap of my tank out of his way. “And I’m going to do you very well.”

“Well, then. Okay.”