Page 74 of A Vine Mess
I glanced down at myself, at my previously creamy skin nowturned golden thanks to so many hours outside, my tattoos seeming even more vibrant against the new backdrop. At my full breasts, the dip and curve of my waist and hips, my long, shapely legs.
“You’re my goddamn dream girl, Ella Delatou,” Liam added when I met his gaze again.
“You’re not so bad yourself, Wills.” I gestured to him. “And now it’s your turn. Let me see the goods.”
He shed his own robe and trunks far quicker than I had, and I couldn’t help but laugh delightedly at his haste to get naked. In that moment, I rediscovered how much I loved that sound, how much I’d missed it, and how thankful I was to Liam for bringing it back. Mostly, I loved that I’d been able to move past the dark cloud that had shifted over me with Alfie’s text.
Liam moved to the bench where my suit was and picked up my phone.
“Wade into the water,” he instructed me. I was having difficulty focusing on anything when his entire perfect body was on display, that glorious cock engorged and begging for attention. “Waist deep, Wildflower. You can play later.”
With a mock salute, I did as he asked, hissing as the heat of the spring caressed my skin, which had pebbled in the cool air.
“Now turn away from me but reach back your hand, and don’t move.”
I faced away from him but stretched out my arm, and he clasped my hand in his. I could see the vision—it would be one of those “follow me” type trends I always saw couples participating in on social media. He continued to direct me, subtly shifting my body this way and that until I was right where he wanted me.
“Hold still,” he said softly, and a moment later, I heard the shutter of my phone going off, taking several photos in quick succession.
When he was finished, he tugged me to him and held out my phone.
“I’ll let you pick which one to send.”
I gasped as I swiped through my camera roll. Taken from the waist up, only my back was visible in the photos, showing off the scrawl of words that decorated my left shoulder blade and the floral piece that covered my right rib cage and wrapped around my back. My hair had grown longer in the months since the breakup, tickling the tops of my breasts, and the slight sideways angle of my body offered a tantalizing glimpse of the side of one. The sun was a paid actor, giving my skin a healthy, beautiful glow and silhouetting my body. It was obvious I was naked, but it was tasteful. Sexy. Powerful.
Liam’s hand and forearm appeared in the bottom left corner, showing the viewer I wasn’t alone.
I wanted to frame it, to always remember this moment with him.
“Go ahead,” I directed Liam after I’d settled on one. “Send it.”
After a few taps of the screen, he turned it to face me, showing the message he’d tapped out to my ex.
You don’t speak to her anymore. You don’t even think about her. Lose this number. I’m the only one that gets her like this from now on.
My phone made that little beeping sound as the text flew offinto the ether, and I took it from Liam, turned it completely off, and handed it back.
“Put that away and come here,” I said, crooking a finger at him as I sank deeper into the water, until it lapped gently at the upper curves of my breasts.
The temperature was pure heaven, doing wonders to soothe the irritation Alfie had elicited, and I dropped lower until my entire body save my head was submerged, watching Liam as he stalked toward me and slowly descended into the spring.
“For what it’s worth,” I told him as he approached, “I fucking love your body too. The tattoos, the muscles…you’re incredibly sexy, you know.”
When he stood scant inches away from me, looming in a way that probably would’ve been intimidating had I not gotten to know the soft-hearted man beneath the bearded brawn, he tucked a finger under my chin and tipped my head back. Our gazes collided, and I swear I lived a thousand lifetimes in that look. Seeing my future stretched out before me in his depthless, clear blue eyes was disconcerting, to say the least. Something deep within me clicked into place in that moment, like I’d finally found this missing piece of my genetic makeup that I’d been searching for my entire life.
Liam.
Wills.
William Preston Danvers, III.
Hewas that missing piece.
So I whispered the three words that would change everything—but, somehow, not change anything at all.
“I love you.”
Liam’s entire face lit up like that was the best thing he’d ever heard, and a heartbeat later, his mouth was on mine. I rose out of the water to eagerly greet him, twining my legs around his waist and his arms cupping the backs of my thighs to support me. The kiss was insistent and claiming, nothing gentle about it as he nipped at my lips and drove his tongue into my mouth, exploring every inch, marking me wholly as his. And I met him with equal fervor, unable to press myself close enough, breathing harshly through my nose so I didn’t have to be separated from him for even a second.
