Page 52 of Off Script

“I’m not—”

“You’ve been off for days,” his voice sharpened. “You won’t look at me. Won’t talk. You vanish every time I walk into a room.”

Liam swallowed, his throat working. “I just needed space.”

“No.” Jacob stepped closer. “Try again.”

Liam’s shoulders hitched. “I thought maybe if I pulled back… it would stop feeling like this.”

His eyes narrowed. “Like what?”

“Like I’m not in control anymore,” Liam admitted, sounding defeated.

Jacob stepped closer, and Liam instinctively backed up—one step, then another—until his shoulders hit the rough bark of a tree.

“You think I’m in control?” Jacob didn’t touch him, but he was close enough to feel Liam’s breath falter in the dark.

Liam’s whisper cracked. “We were never supposed to…”

“Say it.”

“…matter.”

Jacob’s reply came dark and certain. “Too fucking late.”

Something inside him broke. He grabbed Liam by the throat—not rough, but enough to own him and hold him still. Liam’s pulse jumped beneath his palm. He leaned in, lips brushing the shell of Liam’s ear. “Tell me to stop.”

Liam trembled but didn’t speak.

“Tell me to fucking stop,” Jacob whispered again, thumb stroking under his jaw.

Liam’s voice broke on the whisper. “I… can’t.”

That was all it took.

He’d built his life around control, the illusion of safety it offered. It was supposed to make him better than the mess he came from. But one look at Liam, and Jacob knew he would break all his rules just to have him now, even if it damned them both.

His mouth crashed into Liam’s—bruising and desperate. Finally giving in to everything he’d been starving for. Liam gasped, hands gripping Jacob’s shirt like he didn’t trust gravity. His lips parted almost immediately, letting him in. Jacob devoured him, his tongue sliding deep. He claimed every sound and every stuttered breath, like he couldn’t live without them.

Jacob’s whole body vibrated. He’d never—never—been this turned on. Not even during the messiest, dirtiest nights of his life. This man completely wrecked him with the helpless way he melted into him. He was hunger wrapped in skin, and Jacob was powerless to stop it.

There was no hesitation, no caution, just raw need. Jacob kissed like he meant to ruin him. Liamwhimpered,high and broken, a sound that went straight to Jacob’s cock. He growled against Liam’s mouth. It wasn’t enough, he needed more. His hand fisted in Liam’s hoodie, yanking it off and discarding it in the dirt. His own shirt followed.

Liam stood before him, chest rising and falling, hair a mess, lips swollen from kissing. He was so fucking beautiful it hurt just to look at him.

He seized Liam’s mouth again. Rougher now, as if the kiss itself was necessary for survival. Their naked chests crushed together, sparks flaring everywhere skin touched. It still wasn’t enough. He dragged his mouth to Liam’s neck—biting, sucking, teeth scraping over collarbone. Liam gasped and bucked against him with a broken sound that told Jacob exactly how far gone he already was.

He pulled back just enough to rasp: “Last chance to tell me to stop.”

Liam didn’t stop him. He grabbed him instead, dragging him back in. “Please—Jacob—fuck—don’t stop.”

Liam’s begging stripped him of every defense.

“Jesus,” he muttered. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, only chase the taste of him. He bit Liam’s neck hard, making him cry out, his head thudding against the tree.

Jacob growled. “No turning back now.”

His hand was at Liam’s fly in seconds, shoving his jeans and briefs down in one swift motion. The air between them thickened, every breath charged with something they’d both been craving. There was no hesitation, just pure need as he wrapped his hand around Liam’s aching cock. For someone who’d always considered himself straight, this should’ve felt weird. It didn’t.