CHAPTER 22
Jul 10, 2025
LIAM’S POV
The kiss hit like a storm.
One second she was pushing me away, furious and breathless, and the next, her mouth was on mine—urgent, relentless, like she’d snapped and I was the only thing tethering her to this world. Her lips moved with a desperate kind of hunger, her hands fisting my shirt like she didn’t know whether to push me off or pull me closer.
“Kate,” I breathed against her lips, my voice already fraying at the edges. Her name was a whisper, a plea, and something dangerously close to a promise.
I cupped her face, thumb brushing her cheek as our foreheads touched, our breath mingling. Her eyes were dark, wide, glassy with something deeper than just want. It made my heart race.
“You don’t have to—”
“I want to,” she interrupted, her voice barely more than a whisper. “I need to.”
She rose on her toes and kissed me again, soft and shaky at first, then fuller, like she was afraid of what would happen if she stopped. Her chest pressed against mine, our bodies flush, her hands sliding under my shirt, fingertips skimming across my skin.
“Tell me this isn’t just about anger,” I said, pulling back to search her face.
“It’s not,” she said quickly, almost too quickly. “It’s everything. It’s all of it.”
And that was all I needed.
I pulled her closer, backing us toward the nearest wall. Her hands were on me like she needed to learn every inch, every scar, and I let her. My shirt came off and her palms were on my skin, her mouth trailing down my jaw, my neck, her breaths shaky and fast.
She tugged at my jeans, struggling with the button, and I helped her, both of us fumbling, clumsy with need. When her hand wrapped around me, small and sure, I groaned into her hair.
“You drive me insane,” I whispered, my voice rough. “I think about you constantly. Even when I try not to.”
Her chest was crushed against mine, our heartbeats a frantic mess of rhythm and want. My hands slid down from her face, one tangling in her hair, tugging just enough to make her gasp into my mouth, the other gripping her waist like she’d disappear if I didn’t hold her hard enough.
She moaned, the sound muffled against my lips, and I took it as an invitation, my tongue sliding into her mouth. She tasted like sin and rage and need, and I couldn’t get enough. Her hands roamed over my chest, fingers twitching like she wanted to rip me open, and I wanted—no, needed—to feel her skin against mine.
I broke the kiss just long enough to yank my shirt over my head, and she was on me in a second. Her hands were hungry, tracing every scar, every inch of muscle, her nails digging into my flesh as she pulled me back to her.
Our lips collided again, and my hands went everywhere—cupping her ass, squeezing hard enough to make her whimper, sliding up her sides to brush the underside of her tits.
“Fuck, Kate,” I groaned, my voice frayed as I pulled back to look at her. Her eyes were wild, dark, needy, and it wrecked me. I was barely holding on. “You’re driving me crazy.”
“Good,” she breathed, voice trembling as she reached for my jeans. “Now shut up and fuck me.”
I didn’t need to be told twice. My hands were on her in an instant, lifting her like she weighed nothing, and she wrapped those perfect legs around my waist as I carried her to the nearest surface—I don’t even know what it was. A table. A wall. It didn’t fucking matter. All that mattered was the way her heat pressed into my cock, the way my lips found her neck, sucking and biting like I wanted to brand her.
“Tell me you want this,” I demanded, voice raw as I fumbled with her jeans.
“I want it,” she gasped, hands tangling in my hair. “I want you. Fuck me, please—”
I didn’t let her finish. My hand slid into her panties, fingers slick immediately as I found her clit, rubbing slow, deliberate circles that made her gasp, her body twitching in my arms.
“Fuck,” I muttered, breath hot against her skin. “You’re so fucking wet for me.”
“Because of you,” she moaned, grinding against my hand. “Always because of you.”
I lost it.
I yanked her jeans and panties down in one brutal motion, and then I was inside her, buried to the hilt in a single, devastating thrust. She screamed my name and I held her tight, my grip bruising as I fucked her with every ounce of need I’d kept caged for too damn long. Every stroke hit that spot deep inside her.
“Fuck, Kate,” I groaned, forehead pressed against hers. “You feel so goddamn good.”
“So do you,” she gasped, nails digging into my shoulders like she needed something to hold onto. “Don’t stop—please don’t stop.”
I didn’t. Couldn’t. I fucked her harder, faster, until her body clenched around me and she came undone, trembling and gasping and beautiful as hell. I followed her, groaning as I emptied inside her, holding on like I’d never let go.
We collapsed together, a tangled mess of sweat, heat, and something dangerously close to more than just lust.
And for the first time in what felt like forever, I felt whole.
