Page 74 of Raise Me Up

Dark eyes flash. “Will you let me prove it to you?”

My heart kicks with an extra beat. When I told him I’d like to record something, I wasn’t expecting it to be this soon.

Liam strides into the recording room. Picking up two microphones, he positions one near the guitar and the other in front of my face. After fitting me with a pair of headphones, he moves behind the glass window in the control room.

This isn’t the first time I’ve experienced the soul-deep burn of his gaze, but the pressure to perform for a man who creates absolute art has doubt sharpening its blades.

We haven’t even started recording, and I’m already choking. It was so much easier to hide behind Noah and let him take the lead. Now, I’m up front and center. I’m exposed. A raw nerve for the poking.

“Beau.” Liam’s firm voice through the headphones snaps me to attention.

“Shit. Sorry. You wouldn’t happen to have a pack of smokes lying around, would you?”

His frown is proof I’m fucking this up. Groaning, I tug on the roots of my hair. It’s at an awkward length where it’s curling at the ends, but it’s not long enough to pull back.

I’ve been floating in this strange gray area of existence for a while now. Self-care things like haircuts have fallen to the bottom of my priority list.

“I’m wasting your time.” I deflate.

When Liam vanishes from the window, I prepare for him to kick me out. It’s obvious I’m not worthy of this opportunity.

The recording room door opens, and Liam walks in, no trace of irritation in his expression. He reaches for the guitar and sets it aside. Then he moves between my legs, gently sliding the headphones off me.

I forget how to breathe in his presence. I don’t think he understands the effect he has on me. How he makes my hands tremble and my pulse race.

Guiding me off the stool, he maneuvers my body until my back is pressed against the wall. His mouth meets mine in a crushing kiss, and lightning sizzles through my body, waking my cock right the fuck up. I slide my hands up his shirt, doing my best to match his sudden, aggressive energy.

“What’s it going to take to help you relax?” he murmurs, sinking his teeth into my jaw.

“This.” I gasp. “You.Us.”

He works his mouth back to mine. Our tongues tangle as one of his hands moves down to grip my ass and tug me closer.

“Fuck.Liam,” I whine.

His other hand wraps around my neck, right under my jaw, tilting my head back. When he licks my Adam’s apple, I almost slump to the floor.

Why is that sohot?

He slides a knee between my legs to keep me upright, but all this does is put more pressure on my erection. I moan and grind my hips against him as my hands explore the hard ridges of his abs. Gliding my hands higher, I tease his pebbled nipples. His answering growl rumbles through my entire body.

Suddenly, he tears his body away. I reach for him like I’m tumbling over the edge of a cliff.

His pupils have swallowed up the rings of dark brown. “Office.Now.”

“Office. Yeah.Yes.”

Breaking into a jog, I clutch a hand to my erection to keep it from bobbing in the loose fabric of my pants.

Liam’s on me the second I make it to his office. With a hard shove, he sends me tumbling into his leather desk chair. I mumble curses as he drops to his knees in front of me.

What have I done to earn his attention? What planets or stars have aligned in my skies? Last night I snuggled with him in his bed alongside a beautiful, sweet woman. And now he’s here, kneeling for me like I’m some kind of higher being.

Inked fingers slide up my thighs. He hooks them under my shirt, dragging it up just enough to sneak his fingers under the waistband of my pants.

“No underwear, Beau?” he murmurs.

My stomach muscles quiver, and I squirm in the chair. “Like to live dangerously.”