Falling In (9 page)

Yet
again, Liam took her off guard.  She wasn’t expecting to go anywhere that
night, let alone to a strange new town with some guy that she hardly knew.  But
at the same time, she couldn’t resist his rugged, laid-back charm.

“Sure,”
she answered and dusted off her white, strapless top.  “Why the hell not?”

Liam
pushed the re-packed cooler to the center of the sand-beaten table.

“Do you
mind if I leave this here?”

“Of
course not,” he replied and tapped his nose.  “But I can’t promise you that the
gulls won’t find it.”

Liam
pulled Audrey up from her seat and responded, “If they can get to it, I guess
they deserve it.”

“Fair
enough.”

The two
started toward the door, but Arthur didn’t follow.

Audrey
called back to him, “You coming?”

The old
man kicked his feet up on the table and propped his hands behind his head.

“Not
yet.  Susan is up there to handle things for now.  I’ll be on my way in a
little while.”

“See you
tomorrow.”

The two
took a quick walk through the lobby and out the front door, where Liam’s beast
of a motorcycle waited for them.  When she saw it, Audrey stopped in her
tracks.

“When
you said bike, I didn’t know that you meant a motorcycle.”

He
handed over what looked like a brand-new helmet after he took it from where it
hung on the left handle bar.

“This
place is almost an hour away going sixty.  Now if you want to pedal all the way
there, you’re more than welcome.”  He strapped on his helmet and pulled on a
pair of fingerless, leather gloves.  “Which would you prefer?”

She
pointed to his guitar case, which was propped up against the rough, stucco
wall.

“What
about that?”

Liam
picked it up and lowered the strap over her head so that the hard shell rested
on her sticky back.

“I was
thinking that you might help me out.  You know,” he said and swept the stray
hairs out of her face that he messed up with the strap.  “I give you a ride on
my bike; you give my guitar a ride on your back.”

“What if
I blow away?”

He
laughed and took the helmet out of her hands, then carefully snapped it onto
her head.  For a few minutes he fiddled with the straps, making sure that it
was on tight.  When he was satisfied, he smacked the side of the hard shell
with an open palm.

“There. 
It looks good on you.”  He motioned for her to follow.  “And you’re not going
to blow away.  Just hold onto me and don’t do anything stupid.  You’ll be
fine.”

“I can
only promise one of those things,” she replied and watched as he kicked his leg
over the seat, lowered down and waved for her to follow.  He didn’t even look
back, like he had faith that she would eventually arrive.

Audrey
pressed both hands into the lowest part of her stomach.  The butterflies of
nervousness and anticipation were almost enough to make her throw up, but that
didn’t stop her feet from complying with Liam’s patient demands.

Her
shaking legs closed around the seat’s tight leather and her arms snaked around
Liam’s waist.  In the front, she laced her fingers together and pinned her body
to his.

“Relax,”
he said loudly and roared the engine to life.  When he continued, he had to
holler over the deep, powerful rumble that felt like it was concentrated
between Audrey’s thighs.  “It’ll be fine.”

By the
time that they reached the main road that meandered along the marshy coast,
Audrey’s death grip on Liam loosened to the point of almost being acceptable. 
With the tight helmet’s visor open, she let the hot summer air blast her face. 
It was so thick that she could almost taste it on her tongue and feel it in her
pores.

Audrey
leaned forward a little more so that she could rest her head on the back of his
shoulder and hugged him from behind.  When she did, she felt his body respond
in the most subtle--though telling--way: the firm muscles that flanked his
sides twitched and his breaths started to run a tiny bit faster.

Liam’s
shining motorcycle rolled along the western Florida coast for well over an
hour, almost two.  As promised, he was careful and slow.  It made Audrey
grateful that at least one man in her life was willing to make good on the vows
that he made, though it was one that she never expected.

By the
time that they rounded the last two curves in the road and pulled up to the
shack-like bar, she silently hoped that he would just keep right on driving.

Only a
handful of cars were scattered about the gravel parking lot.  Mixed in, three
other motorcycles and a single bicycle waited for their owners to return.  Liam
parked next to the slightly-raised patio and silenced the engine, which left
Audrey with a low ringing in her ears.

“See,”
he said and looked over his shoulder.  “We made it in one piece.  Well…two
pieces, I guess.”

Audrey
squeezed his waist one last time before she let her hands slip away.

“You did
good, kid.”

Even
though the ride was more relaxing than she expected, there was still a sense of
relief as her toes planted back down onto the solid ground and she stripped off
the constricting head gear.

Their
footsteps rang hollow as they trudged up the rickety stairs that led from the
parking lot.  Beyond that, a short porch gave way to the entrance of the cozy
indoor area.  To the left, a few tables littered the path leading to the bar in
the rear, where most of the patrons were seated.  To the right, a swiveling
door was marked for “Employees Only”, while two double doors leading onto the
patio sat open nearby, allowing the fresh air to rush through and make the wine
glasses over the bar clink and tap their sides together like chimes.

Out on
the patio, a surprising number of people filled the tables; close to 40.  Liam
led her through the crowd and to a table off to the side of the stage, where he
finally took back his guitar and motioned for her to sit.

“Kick
back and relax.  Order anything you want.”

She
flicked his finger tips with hers and asked playfully, “Anything?”

He
leaned down and kissed her on the lips.  It made her suddenly conscious of all
the eyes on them.

“Anything.”

Audrey
didn’t order much more than a couple waters that night.  She was too busy
getting lost in Liam’s simple performance; in the talented, powerful strokes of
his arm over the guitar’s tight strings.

It was
only him and another man, who looked about the same age but sang with a soulful
easiness that Audrey hadn’t heard from someone in person before.  Between his
voice and Liam’s soothing guitar, they serenaded the mingling crowd until the
soft lights overhead flickered to life and the glowing sun started its descent
below the horizon.

When
they finally finished their set and got a resounding applause from the small
collection of attendees, Liam returned with a brow full of sweat and a rosy
blush from running up and down the strings that covered the tips of his left
fingers.

“So,” he
sighed and flopped onto the ground near her feet with his guitar still in
hand.  “What did you think?”

“I think
you’re much more talented than I gave you credit for.”

Liam
blotted his head with a paper napkin and rested his instrument back in its
case.

“What, exactly,
did
you give me credit for, then?”

She
chuckled and answered, “A lot of things.  I just didn’t know that you were so
good.”

“Well
thank you.”  He took a few deep breaths and slipped his hand onto her thigh. 
“It’s getting dark.  Do you want to head back now?”

“Not
yet,” Audrey said and brushed the hair out of his eyes.  She could see that he
was tired, but more than that, she could see that he was the kind of guy that
she dreamed about when she was younger.  One who cared about what happened to
her, who wanted to make her happy.  Though she still didn’t know if her growing
feelings for him were okay, it was painfully apparent that they were there,
regardless.  “Why don’t we go and get some air.”

Liam
nodded and licked his lips.

“You
read my mind.”

A narrow
staircase near the stage led down onto the beach, dumping both of them out onto
the sandy shore.  They left their shoes and socks behind on the last step and
started toward where the sizeable waves crashed and spread before they were
sucked back out to sea.

“Surf’s
picking up,” Liam said and looked out to the foamy breakers while he grabbed
her hand.

“Yeah,”
Audrey said and tucked a fluttering bunch of her hair back behind her ear. 
There were so many things that she wanted to say, but couldn’t find the right
words to express any of it.

They
walked for a little while without speaking, letting the constant hiss of the
waves and wind fill the lull in their conversation.  Around a squat dune, they
happened upon a long-fallen tree which was half-buried in the pristine sand.

Liam
brought her down so that they sat side by side.  His arm dipped down and
wrapped around her waist at the exact same time as her phone chirped the
arrival of a text message.

Audrey
sighed and pulled it out of her pocket.  Down on the screen, the first part of
a message from Max displayed:

UR
BEING A BITCH.  CALL ME NOW OR I...

“That’s
pretty brutal,” Liam said.

Realizing
that Liam read the text made Audrey quietly start to panic.

“It’s,
uh,” she searched furiously for something to answer with.  “An ex.”

“Hm,”
Liam said and helped her slip the phone back into her pocket.  “He kinda seems
like a dick.”

He put
his arm back around her waist and pulled them together tight.  It was quiet for
a while after that as they stared out to the undulating waves at their feet. 
As the time slipped by and the sky over them went from a deep navy to the pure
black of night, Audrey was relieved that he was willing to drop the issue
completely.

“So do
you like it here?”

“Of
course,” she responded, paying careful attention to the way that his fingers
started to inch inward from her hip.  “It’s a little windy, though.”

“That’s
not what I meant.”  His hand eventually left her hip and pushed on until it sat
pressed against her soft stomach.  “Do you like it in Florida...in Cedar Key?”

Audrey
tore her eyes away from the rolling ocean and met Liam’s stare.  She instantly
locked on his irises, which reflected the beautifully dark skies.

“I’m
starting to.”

Those
simple words were like pulling the pin on a grenade.  In a matter of moments,
she and Liam found themselves again entangled in their lust, kissing and
massaging each other with a fevered passion neither one expected.

Liam
slipped down from where he sat and moved so that he could kneel between
Audrey’s legs.  With both hands clasped around her face, he pressed their toned
bodies together, making sure that the growing bulge in his pants pressed
outward against the seam of his partner’s shorts.

When she
felt his member starting to grow between her thighs, Audrey couldn’t stop a
chill from making her shake.

Liam
pulled her closer and asked, “Are you cold?”

She
kissed him again and bit the very bottom of his lip as she pulled away to
answer, “Not anymore.”

“Good,”
he said with a breathy tone and grabbed her ass with both hands.

Audrey
closed her eyes and let him explore her feminine curves.  His touch was greedy
and rough, moving up her shirt and under her bra without hesitation.

Liam
massaged both of her erect nipples, sending pleasurable chills racing through
her body yet again.  Before long, however, they took a decidedly southern
path.  His probing finger tips inched down over her stomach again but continued
on, eventually pushing past the waist of her shorts and into her damp panties.

“Liam,”
she gasped and ran her hands over his shoulders.

He
shushed her and slipped two fingers into her lonely folds, pushing up inside
just enough to make her moan.

Audrey
arched her back and rocked her hips over his hand, letting go of the
apprehension that was there just moments before.  He was irresistible, which
made it impossible for her to stop either one of them from pushing deeper into
their taboo lust.

After a
few minutes, Liam jerked her shorts and panties down and forced her to sit back
down on the rough driftwood log.  When he got her there, he pushed her knees
apart and started to leave a light trail of kisses that led to her warm,
quivering folds.

Audrey’s
eyes pressed together and she cried out as his lips wrapped around the very
precipice of her slit and he began to suckle in short, quick bursts.  She felt
him slip his fingers back inside and start to thrust in time with his skilled
tongue’s licks.