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Chapter Twelve

I stumbled into my room after looking through the Order books again for hours. Familiars. Petrifying bodies. Were those books even helpful at all? I couldn’t find a damn thing useful in any one of them.

I shut the door to my room behind me and pulled my shirt off. I unbuttoned my jeans and pushed them down, stepping out of them as I made my way to the bed.

“Norah?”

I jumped, my heart flying into my throat. The bed creaked, and a body turned toward me.

Liam.

“Holy shit. What are you doing in here?”

“I was waiting for you to come up. I must have fallen asleep.”

Still trying to wrangle my emotions in, I didn’t fully ascertain that it was Liam in my bed. Liam. I prowled forward in my bra and underwear. “Are you okay?”

He nodded. “I’m sorry I’ve been out of it lately.” He sat up. “I’m sorry I’ve hurt you. I don’t know what else to do. It’s this…thing.”

I pulled him to me, practically crushing his head against my chest. “I know,” I said. “I’m so sorry. I’m trying, Liam. We’re working on it.”

“I know.”

His grip around me tightened, and the air in the room shifted. He pulled me close, his head rising so he could look me in the eyes. “I’ve missed you.”

A whisper of breath rushed from my lungs. “You have?” I hadn’t meant it to sound so girly, but Liam was being himself, and he hadn’t felt that way for a long time now.

He nodded and moved closer, throwing his feet over the side of the bed. He placed his hands on my hips. “Can I kiss you?”

I didn’t even bother to answer him. I pulled him close, sealing our lips to one another. I appreciated kissing him before this, but from now on, I was going to appreciate it even more. I soaked up this feeling, reveling in the way his lips felt on mine. It had been too long since we were close like this. He didn’t even want me near him, let alone touch him. A muscle in my stomach danced around as if it waited for this for too long too.

Liam laid back and rolled until he was on top of me. He pushed my hands above my head and held them there before pulling away. “I want you.”

“God, yes,” I said, the ache intensifying between my thighs.

Liam nipped at my skin until he traveled to the swell of my breasts. His hot breath made my back arch, hoping he’d kiss me there. He didn’t. He kept going lower and lower. Kissing and nipping at my skin until he got to my panty line. “You’re so beautiful,” he murmured.

I hooked a leg around his waist and pulled him down. His hips met mine, and I sighed at the hard cock I found waiting for me. I wiggled out of his grasp and pushed him over until I was on top. I helped him out of his shirt, then trailed kisses down his body like he had on mine until I got to his boxers. I tugged them down, teasing his cock as I went past with my hot breath and whisper of a kiss.

The look in Liam’s eyes eased my soul. He was back. I couldn’t take it anymore. As soon as I dropped his boxers to the floor, I lay down next to him and pulled him to me, kissing him with everything I had. He moaned and turned, pulling my hips to his. “We have to get you out of these,” he said, tugging on my panties.

“You know what to do,” I said, teasing him. Without even a second to think about it, he ripped my panties from me, and my heart stuttered. “Fuck yes, Liam. Oh my God.” He hadn’t needed encouragement that time.

“See? I learn,” he said.

“You don’t need to learn,” I said. “You’re already perfect.”

He swallowed as he took me in. Then, he lowered his head, pulling my bra cup down where he—finally—took my nipple into his mouth. He savored it, kissed it until it hardened, then he did the same with the other. Liquid heat pooled between my legs. His hand slid down, pushing just his fingertip inside me. “You’re ready for me.”

“God, yes.”

He teased me for a couple seconds, circling my lower lips before hiking my leg around his hips and pulling me close.

I took his face in my hands and stared. He smirked, his eyes growing cold. “This might hurt.”

His irises flashed black. My heart stopped, sinking into the pit of my stomach as I saw the serpent lay its head on Liam’s cheekbone. Liam pushed his hips forward, but I backed away. “No. No!”

I scrambled out of bed. Liam sat up, his feet thrown over the side of the bed before he stalked after me. “I thought you wanted it, Norah. Isn’t that what you told me?”