41. Liam

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

liam

April walks into my private plane on unsteady feet.

"Are you afraid of flying?"

"No. But I'm terrified of what happens after we land."

Doing things halfway didn't get me to where I am in life. I'm not as old as April likes to tease, but I am old and rich enough to know time is the most valuable resource there is.

One I don't plan on wasting.

I don't have experience with this, but I'll put her fears to rest, because if there's one thing she doesn't need to worry about, it's us.

As soon as the seatbelt lights are off, I'm onto her. I set myself free and turn to April to get her full attention. I hold her face with one hand to keep her gaze locked on mine. As always, we fit. She rubs her softness on my roughness and I promise myself I'll never take her trust for granted.

"The moment you walked into that restaurant, I wished it was you that was headed for my table. Even though I thought there was no chance in hell someone dressed so prim and proper would be my escort for the night."

"Hey! That's my slutty dress."

"Then let's go shopping, Doc." She pokes me in the ribs and shakes her hand in mock pain. "But let me get to my point."

I take a sip of my drink, blaming the plane's atmosphere for my throat going dry.

"Yes, it was the way your pussy gripped me that had me thinking about booking you again as soon as I was first inside you, tossing my stupid rules out the window. But that was just the hook. It's the sounds you make, the way your whole body responds to mine."

My index finger trails a path down her arm, raising goosebumps in its wake, proving my point.

"It's the way you smell after you come. How you're always running that smart mouth of yours. Your dry humor, your sarcasm." The edges of her mouth go up, pushing her reddening cheeks higher. "The way you don't back down and fight to the end for what you believe is right. How mighty powerful you are. How you're not intimidated by my size, money or general asswholeness. Your values."

My eyes stop tracing my wandering fingers, and I stare into her for a few quiet seconds. "I'm not surrounded by many people who value things they can't buy. But you? You're an admirable woman, Dr. Hadden. And I've grown to adore you."

April hollows her cheeks and gulps. The column of her throat struggles to swallow, even though she has nothing in her mouth.

What? Has that sharp tongue of hers run out of things to say?

Time to lay it all on the table.

"I asked you before if you were a good listener, because I'm a great one. For example, this morning, you said you had to go home. You said you needed to go home. But you never said you wanted to go home, did you?"

The confrontation makes her face the clouds instead of me.

"Your statement made me question what I want." I lean my body close enough to run my nose along her ear and park my lips there. "And what I want is you."

When I pull back, her attention is back on me. Liam, One. Sky, Zero.

"I can't conceive of waking up tomorrow and not getting to see you, kiss you, feel your warmth. I will not accept not being on the same continent as you, April. The possibility of you getting on a plane without me was tearing my heart in half. And I'm still a bit pissed you were going to do it, while the lovefool here feared he might cease to function if you got away."

Her brows go up at the sound of ‘lovefool'. The tip of her tongue is glued on the roof of her mouth, behind her teeth, but no sound comes out.

"Fuck yeah, you're a good listener." She laughs it off, but the smile lingers on. I'll shower her with all the words of affirmations she needs until it cracks through that thick skull of hers.

I run my fingers into her hair and park my hand behind her ears to hold her head and attention. "It has to be love, April. It's got to be if I don't want to stay in a country without you. It's got to be love, if the mere thought of you puts a smile on my face." The smile she gives me in return makes my heart triple in size.

"If it's not love, how else would you explain you populating my every thought? Why else would I let you break, smash, disintegrate all the rules that got me safely to where I am? It's got to be love if I feel so much better, so much happier, when you're by my side. So tell me, Doc. Is there another possible diagnosis?"

"Liam, we were never meant to last." Fucking hell. Her stubbornness is still fighting this.

That's okay, she's just afraid. She'll catch up eventually. I have an eight-hour flight to fuck her into believing she's in love with me too.

"April, we were never meant to begin with. But we did. And now you're going to have to bear with me, because I'm not letting you go. I found a lot of success knowing where to invest and when to quit. And this?" I set one hand free and gesture between us. "This is invaluable. Priceless. I'm not giving up on us, April. Not now. Not ever."

I hope she doesn't have any counter arguments to what sounded like something between a threat and an impromptu proposal, but I press my lips to hers to shut her up, just in case.

She breaks the kiss, her hands diving under my collar as she rolls my neck between her hands. "It wasn't easy, you know." April doesn't face me and I let her talk to my shirt buttons instead of me. "Of course I didn't want to leave you. I cried the whole ride to the airport."

"I know." Guilt taints my words, and I watch what it did to her face. There's still a bit of puffiness under her eyes and the remains of some eyeliner or mascara. A black smudge of something. "Terry called me and said I was the ‘stupidest asshole alive'. And yes, I'm quoting him."

"He did?" Oh, great . That makes her look me in the eye. "Oh, he's a sweetheart." It's short-lived and her head sinks down again, chin hitting her chest. "But I didn't have a choice, Liam. You gotta understand that."

"I know, beautiful."

I pull her to sit on my lap, straddling me.

"Preston is my family. It would be like Katherine or Noah asking you for help. You'd do the same. I know you would." Her words come out in a rapid stream, with a hint of apology and embarrassment.

"April. You got his back. And I got yours. I'm going to help you help him."

She goes stiff for a second, as if I've said something weird or terribly layered. I just smile at her and rub her arms. "I have no idea how that works, Liam. But I kind of like the sound of it."

"I've never done this couple thing either, but we'll figure it out."

A dirty idea comes to mind. Well, April is on top of me. Of course any idea I'd come up with would be obscene.

"I've never been in love either, and I don't think I can wait until we land to make love to you."

She's rubbing her sweet cunt on my hardening cock before she plays coy. "But someone could hear us." She rubs harder. "Catch us."

"And that's why you're going to say yes, right?" Her eyes snap open and she nods. Fuck, I love this woman. And I'm going to show her just how much. "Stand up, gorgeous. Close those curtains and come back here. Then lose those joggers."