Marked Heart (Marked Heart #3) (10 page)

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Pacing in front of her door, Liv waited for Braden to arrive. After spending the first forty five minutes she was awake, lying in bed, thinking about the last two days, and her conversation with Charlotte when she stopped by the shop, she came to a decision. If she wanted mad, passionate sex, and Braden wanted to give it to her, then why the hell not. Charlotte had suggested setting a few rules for having sex without relationship type attachments. She'd get around to that. In the meantime, there were things she had never experienced and wanted to try. Braden was still all the things she needed him to be to make it through day to day life. This was sex. Just sex. It didn't change anything between them. It only meant a little redefining to their friendship.

Liv glanced at the clock, then down at herself. Her white fitted night tank fell right above the center of her thighs. Reaching down, she made sure her white tube socks with red rings around the top were pulled all the way up to her knees. An eager smile formed when she recalled him saying her socks were sexy. It was good he thought so because it was rare she went without them. Over the years, Liv had acquired forty two pairs of the exact same socks, to insure she always had a clean pair available to wear. She knew it was a bit odd, but there was something about knowing they were there in her drawer, that gave her comfort.

For a moment, she wondered if she should do something with her hair. It was brushed but a little wild without being fixed. Dashing to her bathroom, she felt pressed for time. He would be here any minute now. Sweeping her hair up into a loose bun, she did one last quick check in her bedroom mirror as she walk past it before hurrying back to the living room.

Before she made it back to the door it opened. Wanting to lunge at Braden, she fought the invisible pull, forcing herself to stand still.

"'Morning," he greeted, closing and locking the door behind him.

His coppery red hair wasn't combed back like it normally was. It was short in the back but the top was wild, messy and almost stood straight up all by itself.

She wanted to run her fingers through the front of his hair, but remained in place, repeating, "'Morning."

Narrowing her eyes at him, she watched a smile start at the corner of his mouth before it spread across his face. He wasn't going to move.

Braden was just under five feet away from her, heightening the anticipation. It was an interesting little game he was trying to play. One that she was sure would spark excitement if things started to get a little boring. However, simply waiting for him to arrive was all the buildup she needed, and if he thought he was going to win he was wrong.

With a smirk on her face, she informed, "I'm not wearing underwear."

The smile fell from his face seconds before Braden was right in front of her, pulling at her hips and kissing her relentlessly.

~

In the shower, Liv mentally checked off living room floor from her sex list. She liked the variety of locations but even up against her door the first day could still be somewhat considered missionary. As much as she disliked the idea, she was going to have to have a sex conversation with Braden. There was no good reason not to, but since she had been avoiding the subject for years with him, it made her feel uncomfortable. Sure, there was a joke here and there, for the most part, that was how she kept things on a friendship level. Not necessarily so she didn't think about him in that way, more so he wouldn't think she thought about him like that.

Liv walked up to the table while Braden was sitting there eating French toast and looking over his list. She couldn't keep herself from relishing the fact that he was eating her food. It was silly in a way. One of her favorite things about him was that she could tell he enjoyed eating what she cooked. He always bit off too big of a bite then took his time chewing. Almost like he couldn't wait to get the food in his mouth but once it was there he wanted to savor it.

Pulling the chair next to his out, Liv sat down and placed her elbows on the table. Folding her hands together, she rested her cheek against them, waiting for him to look over at her.

"What's up?"

"How experienced are you?"

With a confused smile he replied, "In..."

"Sex."

Setting his fork down on his plate, Braden shifted to face her.

"Why?"

Blowing out a loud breath, Liv griped, "Just answer the question."

"I haven't slept with a lot of women," he answered with an uneasy tone.

With a slight laugh, she replied, "Good to know. Not what I was askin' though."

Seeming a bit more at ease now, he admitted, "I don't know what you mean then."

"Positions, scenarios, locations, you know, experience."

~

It took Braden a good minute of Liv sitting there with eyebrows raised, and dead silence for him to comprehend what came out of her mouth. Acknowledging the fact that he didn't know much about her in that area, he couldn't help wondering why she was asking.

"Are you?"

"You really need to work on your conversation skills."

As things he'd like to do to her flashed through his mind, he could feel himself starting to sweat.

"I can't answer unless you do."

Giving him a dirty look, she blurted, "Why not?"

"I don't have anything to compare it to."

Glancing around, Liv appeared to be thinking things over.

Leaning back in her chair she was matter of fact as she stated, "Mostly in bed. I've done it in a car twice. Except for that, only in bed up until Monday. Missionary. Nothin' fancy."

He could feel his throat constricting as he tried to swallow. The palms of his hands started to ache. Needing to be filled with some part, any part of her.

Clearing his throat, the only thing he could get to come out of his mouth was, "Damn shame."

A smile broke out across her face as she offered, "I'm down if you are."

Pushing his plate to the center of the table, he reached over and pulled her out of her chair and onto his lap.

~

Standing by the stove next to Auggie, Braden thought about how backwards it was that the girls were in the living room waiting on dinner and the guys were in the kitchen preparing it.

"You rode with Liv?"

"Nah, we just got here at the same time."

Seth gave a curious expression as Braden confirmed, "Really, I'm not being sarcastic."

"How's the library comin'?" Auggie asked, opening the stove to pull his roast out.

Backing out of his way, Braden replied, "Slow, I spent all damn day at the grocery store yesterday, then the paint I ordered didn't match the curtain and..."

Seth started laughing as he closed the oven door behind Auggie.

"What?"

"He's cooking, you're grocery shopping and decorating."

Auggie looked up from his roast with a hard scowl before teasing, "Guess that means your gonna have to take up sewing."

Braden laughed, adding, "You never heard the saying real men crochet?"

"I think sewing and crochet are two different things..."

Patting Seth on the back, Auggie laughed, "You would know."

Seth's face turned a little red as they laughed and called the girls into the kitchen for dinner.

~

Once Penny and Seth left, Liv said it was time for her to take off and Braden saw no reason to stay either. After thanking them for dinner, because Auggie made the best roast he'd tasted in a while, he caught up with Liv at the end of the driveway.

"See you tomorrow," he assured, walking past her on the way to his car.

Lowering her voice, she shared, "We can pick back up Friday."

Swiftly turning, Braden felt panicked as he reminded, "It's Thursday."

"We're still on for beer and pizza."

Giving her a confused look, he shook his head at her.

"I'm pretty sore."

Braden's chest swelled at her words, "Oh yeah?"

Rolling her eyes with a smirk on her face, she replied, "Later," sliding into her car.

Turning back to his car, he opened the door and slid in.

There was no way he'd be able to hold out until Friday. Really, it was in her best interest, not to skip a day. Everyone knows sore muscles need to be worked out. Besides, she wouldn't be able to hold out either. He was going to make sure of that.

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The farmhouse had been in Braden's family for generations. Passed down to Kieran, from his father. The Caffrey's were tradesman. Each sect had its own skill and for the most part they stuck with it. Kieran's bunch happened to be markers. The only people who ever saw the inside of the marking room were the markers, or a man set on permanently declaring their heart with a Celtic one on the left side of his chest. It was a Caffery tradition, one that had never left the farmhouse. That was until Penny took over the title, moved the marking room to her house and now here Braden was about to paint the ceiling purple.

As Braden leaned against the wall, staring at the old marking chair in the corner of the room, the one Penny wouldn't take because she said it reminded her of a dentist chair. He rubbed the left side of his chest. Liv called it his badge of honor in order to poke fun at him. Looking back, he had no idea why he wanted it so bad. He recalled falling in love with it the moment his mom showed him the lily drawn on a square scrap of paper. Even after Lily married Kevin, he kept it folded in his wallet. Carrying it with him for years until he had, what he thought at the time, was a reason to have Kieran place it on the left side of his chest. When he thought about it now, it was less of a reason and more of an opportunity that presented itself. Braden hated Lily and everything that came from his relationship with her. Except for his tattoo. There was a part of him that knew he was meant to have that mark. Brooks asked him once why he didn't get it covered up. That was honestly never a thought for him. Lily may have been the reason behind it but the crazy part was, she never even saw it. It was over between them, for the last time, before he'd had the chance to show her.

Closing his eyes, Braden shook his head at himself.

"You takin' a break?"

Surprised to see Liv standing in the doorway, he pushed off from the wall, questioning, "What are you doing home?"

"Penny has a doctor's appointment so we closed the shop for the rest of the day."

Smiling wide, he nodded, walking towards her.

"No."

Stopping in order to pout, he repeated, "No?"

He could tell she was having a hard time being firm with him as she held out her hand saying, "Get to work. I'll make lunch in about an hour."

~

Walking out of the doorway and down the hall into her room, she closed the door behind herself. She kicked her shoes off and then stretched out on the bed. Liv wasn't a cold person, although she knew that's how everyone saw her. She just couldn't afford to be warm on the outside. People see too much of you when you're soft. You forget. You make mistakes. But if you let them know up front that you're hard, it isn't as easy for them to get to you. And when it turns out they didn't really want you after all, there's a comfort in that loss. They only had what was on the outside, anyway.

Smiling to herself, she closed her eyes, thinking of the way Braden made her feel. Deciding to skip today was the right call. Thursday's needed to be preserved. Besides, it wasn't like she lied. She was sore, but it was a good sore. Her muscles ached in the best way possible. Every time she moved, it reminded her of why. She could feel herself growing warm at the thought. The warmth she felt was simply a reaction to what he did to her body. He warmed her. Taking a deep breath, she recited in her mind, 'sex is not the same as making love'. She thought she was in love with him once. Now she knew better. This was sex. Back then she was young and naïve. She knew better this time.

~

The first coat of paint rolled onto the ceiling smoother than he thought it would. The guy at the hardware store had sworn it was all in the prep-work, he was right. Braden set his paint roller down onto the tray and walked to the kitchen.

After washing his hands, he walked back down the hall to Liv's door so he could ask her where to rinse out the roller. When he called her name and there was no response, Braden opened her bedroom door thinking she may have fallen asleep. Confused for a moment as he stared at her empty bed, his body caught notice before his mind did. His muscles stiffened and his palms ached. Her bathroom door was pulled to, not closed, and he could hear the sound of sloshing water. Liv was taking a bath.

For a moment he hesitated. In the scheme of right verses wrong, it was a clear invasion of her privacy. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time. Taking a step towards the bathroom door, Braden worked at containing his enthusiasm. The last thing he wanted was to run in there like he'd never seen a woman naked before. Even though, in all honesty, that was how he felt.

Slowly pushing the bathroom door open, the first thing he spotted were Liv's feet. Crossed at the ankle resting against the corner of the shower wall, her toe nails were painted almost the same color purple as he was painting the ceiling of her library. Braden's eyes followed her legs all the way to the tub. Making his way closer he saw her. All of her. With her colorfully tattooed arms crossed behind her head, only her face was above water. Her eyes were closed and her black hair seemed to be floating all around her. She was beautiful. So damn beautiful. His first impulse was to curse because her kind of beauty cut right through his chest.

Liv's poem entered his mind. As sexy as he found it the first time he read it, looking at her now, gave the words all new meaning. She reminded him of his first acoustic.

Braden's heart jolted in his chest as she opened her eyes. Startled in expression, she didn't move. She just laid there staring at him. His eyes wandered across her body once more, lingering on her luscious hips, tracing the curve of her waist to the soft round of her breasts. Almost back to her eyes, he noticed on the inside of her right arm was a simple black outline of a guitar, his initials making up the body.

As soon as his eyes met hers again, she sat up. Steam rose from her body as she stood. Dripping wet, naked and silent. She didn't say 'no,' fuss at him for being in there or make any snarky comments. This moment was a gift. He could have lunged at her, pushed her up against the shower walls and taken her. Instead, he stood there silent with her, appreciating the moment. Until he saw her shiver as goosebumps formed across her arms.

Grabbing both towels from the rack, he laid the first one down for her to step out on and held the second open for her to step into. Carefully drying her off, Braden walked her back. He folded the towel right at the small of her back, until she was up against the ledge of the sink. Smiling down at her, she looked worried. The look in Liv's eyes showed him more of who she was, than she had ever revealed. She never said it and he never noticed, but she was always worried, about everything and everyone. Leaning down he softly kissed her lips. This wasn't about him. It was about her and he wanted to show her that she didn't need to worry about this moment or any other one they shared.

It was insane the way he felt. All he wanted was to please her. Brushing Liv's damp hair away from her ears, he picked up her blue tooth ear buds off of the counter next to the sink. It was the first time in his life he wanted to give without anything in return. Braden slid the earbuds into her ears one at a time, placing a light kiss against her ear after each one. When her eyes started to question him, he pressed his lips against hers, and pulled away. Grabbing her phone from next to were her earbuds where, he opened her playlist.

Braden scrolled through her playlist and selected 'The Judge' by Twenty One Pilots. Liv's eyes lit up as he set her cell down and smiled. Gliding his hand down the curves of her body, he went down on one knee in front of her. As he glanced up at her, she bit her bottom lip, silently accepting his proposal. It had nothing to do with commitment to anything other than this moment. Rubbing his palms around her hips, if she was sore, he was going to make it better. Adjusting himself slightly, he lifted her leg over his shoulder. Leaning in, he passionately kissed her until she was gripping the sides of the counter, arching her back, shouting his name.