Unplugged (22 page)

Once Ruby Riot finish playing, people drift away
to other more interesting venues, the pub descending into relative quiet. I return to the corner that I shared with Liam; and to my surprise, the others come over too.

Will
pushes a hand through his short black hair and flicks his tongue piercing over his teeth. “What did you think, Liam? Reckon we could give the next Blue Phoenix tour a go?”

Liam relaxes next to me, arm across my shoulders.
“Not my call.”

“
But we’re good, yeah?”

“
Not bad.”

“
We
are
good, I know. Not your kind of music, huh?” Will asks me.

“
What makes you ask that?”

“
Umm. Dunno. You don’t look like you’d like us.”

“
Why? What do I look like?”

My earlier feeling of rewinding to my pre-Ella days, of losing myself and fitting in, screeches to a halt. Heat spreads across my back as the realisation I don
’t fit in hits. I dressed down, yes, but my dressed down still makes me look like I should be with different people. Other mothers. Who am I kidding?

“
It’s fine, forget it,” says Will, shifting in his seat.

“
You mean I don’t have enough tattoos and piercings to be cool enough to watch your band?” I snap.

“
Naw, you just don’t look like a normal fan. Look, I didn’t mean anything. You’re cool, okay?”

Sure
, but if my hair was a different colour and I was wearing the correct clothes, I’d be ‘cooler’. Despite the fact I’m in a darkened corner, I feel as if there’s a spotlight on me.

“
I need the bathroom,” I say to Liam and stand. My small black handbag rests on the seat next to Liam and I stare at it. Nobody else here has a handbag.

Stumbling
toward the bathrooms, I keep my eyes to the floor. I’m not much different in age to these people, younger than the Blue Phoenix guys, but I may as well be ten years older. The black walls drip with condensation in the hallway, and couples hang round chatting. Thankfully, there’s no queue to get into the Ladies and I push myself through the door.

Gripping the dirty sink in the brightly lit bathrooms, I stare at my reflection. My carefully applied make-up enhances my big brown eyes, my lipstick a natural colour. Next to me
, a girl with thick black hair reapplies heavy black eyeliner on her powdered pale face, and touches up her perfect red lipstick. This girl wears a disguise, part of the scene.

I
’m Cerys, mum on a night out.

I worried that my lack of similarity to Honey would be the issue if I
dated Liam, but this is the bigger one. My life doesn’t fit his. I doubt anyone else here has a five year old staying at a friend’s so she can have her first night out in six months.

With the decision to tell Liam I want to go home made, I head out of the bathrooms.

Liam’s waiting outside for me, resting against the opposite wall, and I pause in surprise.

“
You okay?” he asks.

“
I’m okay. Getting tired, can we go?”

He approaches and
smoothes my hair, concerned eyes searching mine. “You’re not okay, I can tell.”

“
I’m feeling out of place, that’s all.”

Liam sighs.
“Did I do the wrong thing bringing you here? I thought you’d enjoy this. I remember you and Lou used to sneak in to see us play. You were mini-rock chicks.”

I smile weakly.
“We can’t rewind life.”

“
Why not? I have. I rewound to you.” He touches my lips. “You make it sound like you can’t have fun anymore. I think you need to let go and enjoy the world.”

Back in Liam
’s presence, I’m less self-aware. Out of the two of us, if anyone’s going to get noticed, it won’t be me. “A night out with a badass rock star could be counted as fun.”

“
Hmm. But you got stuck with a sweet one.”

I
circle Liam’s taut waist and pull him close. He’s right. Who cares if I don’t fit? I fit him, the man cupping the back of my head and pulling my mouth to his.

“
Don’t be sweet then,” I say quietly.

Liam sucks in a breath then knocks mine out by slamming me against the wall, hungry mouth closing over mine. In that one move, he wipes away thoughts of anything but
the daily obsession over what sex with this man would be like. I slide my hands beneath his T-shirt, exploring the tight abs and digging my nails into the muscles of his lower back. Liam growls and pushes against me, his obvious arousal spiking my own as we continue to explore each other’s mouths. I can’t move and barely breathe, lost in the heady kiss.

Liam
pushes his hand beneath the thin material of my top and trails his finger lightly along my side. My legs weaken and if he didn’t have me pinned against the wall by his hips, I’d be a heap on the floor. When Liam’s large palm closes over my breast and his fingers slide into the thin lace of my bra and brushes my hardened nipple, I know sweet isn’t anything to do with Liam tonight.

He
stops as quickly as he started and rests his head on mine. “Cerys, I want you on your own. No Ella, no Blue Phoenix, and no dickheads making you feel like you’re beneath them.”

I lick the taste of Liam from my lips wanting more
, and determined more is what I’m going to get.

Tonight is all about
Liam, freedom, and me.

“
Let’s go home,” I whisper and nip his bottom lip.

CHAPTER
20

LIAM

We climb the steps
toward Cerys’s front door, I’m behind, and her gorgeous ass is close enough to touch. As she flicks the lights on inside the house, I grab Cerys and turn her to me, sliding my hands across the rough denim holding that ass.

She turns me on so fucking much.

If I didn’t have the willpower I’m fighting to keep hold of, I’d push Cerys onto the stairs in front of us and pull those jeans off.

No Ella around.
Finally
.

Cerys disentangles herself and steps around me to close the front door. Without a word
, she heads to the kitchen. I kick my shoes off, huff, and follow.

“
Do you want a coffee?” she asks, back turned.

“
No,” I say gruffly.

“
Tea?”

“
No.” I step behind her and run my hands along her stomach, slipping my fingers beneath the waistband of her so-tight-it’s-criminal jeans. This is our opportunity and I’m not wasting it with niceties. “I want you.”

Cerys turns, about to speak
, but I close my mouth over hers before she gets a chance. That kiss at the club. That fucking awesome, mind-melting kiss held the expectation of what hangs between us now. Am I over-stepping the line? Will she send me home aching for her? Fuck, I hope not. She tastes of a sweetness I crave whenever she’s not around. Six months I left her, six fucking months and a huge mistake.

Cerys grips my head too, returning my kiss with the ferocity she did at the club. I fumble with her jeans again, undoing the button. She allows me, unbuckling my belt at the same time. I slam her against the door and continue my devouring kiss, pulling at her clothes. I want her naked. Against me, beneath me, on top of me…fuck, any
way as long as we don’t stop. The way her fingers brush my stomach as she undoes my jeans doesn’t help my self-restraint. I grab her legs, wrapping them around me as I push my hardening cock toward her soft centre. Too many clothes. I drop her legs and succeed in pulling her jeans down, my fingers grazing her oh-so-soft skin as I run my hand up her inner thigh.

She tenses as my fingers edge toward her panties. I still my hand.
“Too much?”

“
I’m a bit drunk,” she says.

Shit.
“You mean you’re not sure?”

“
I didn’t say that. I know what I’m doing. I mean I might say things I wouldn’t normally.”

“
Mmm? Such as?”
Stop fucking talking, Cerys
.

“
Such as can you be badass rock star Liam, not sweet-guy Liam.”

“
Sweet?” I hold her by the shoulders and stare into her face. “This idea I’m sweet, I don’t know who told you, but you’re wrong.”

Cerys
’s breath rushes out in surprise. “So you keep saying.”

“
Let’s just say I know when to hold a girl’s hand, but I also know when to pull her hair.” I wind my fingers through her hair and tug her head back, dropping kisses along her collarbone, enjoying her gasp. “I’m more than ready to show you how wrong you are.”

“
So show me,” she says.

This, the breathlessness and
flushed face, are the green light I need and I release her hair. “You fucking bet...”

Roughly, I push her top
up; unclasp her bra releasing the awesome tits I’ve wanted my mouth on for months. She helps me tug the black shirt over her head and I lift her again so I have perfect access to them.

“
You’re beautiful,” I say, dragging my tongue across her skin to take her hard nipple in my mouth. The softness and taste of Cerys and the small noise from her continues to threaten my restraint and I’m getting painfully hard already. I hold her in the small of her back as she arches toward me, eager for me to explore her further. The need for her begins to blind and I pause, rest my cheek against her skin and pull in the disappearing self-control.

“That’s not very badass,” she whispers.

I hesitate, digging my fingers into her sides.
“What?”

She giggles so I
press myself into her, pinning her so she can’t move. “Exactly what do you mean?” Cerys’s breathing speeds up at the action.
Okay, this is unexpected
. “What do you want me to do?”

“
Whatever you want.”

“
You really shouldn’t have said that.” I release her and step back to open the door. “Get upstairs.”

“
Make me.”

“
Fuck, Cerys. Teasing me is such a bad idea. Especially when all you have on now is your panties.” I push her through the door into her tiny lounge until she trips against the sofa. As she falls backwards, I pull her up by the wrists. “No, I said upstairs.”

“
No.”

Her drunken giggling continues and she wraps her arms around my neck, her hardened nipples brushing my chest. This is too fucking much. Spinning her round, I slam Cerys against the wall and push my hand against her damp panties. I groan. This is
way
too fucking much, because she’s wet for me and I’ve hardly touched her. The plans I had to make love to her gently and not scare her disappear from my head.

“
Get upstairs or I’m going to fuck you here,” I growl, holding her hands against the wall, over her head.

“
You have too many clothes on,” she whispers. “You can’t.”

“
Jesus Christ, woman!” I drop her hands and step back, dragging a hand through my hair
. Fuck it
. I hoist her over my shoulder, gripping her legs as her hair falls down my back. “You are in so much fucking trouble.” I slap her backside harder than I should and she responds with a shriek of laughter.

This is not how I expected tonight to end.

****

CERYS

Liam dumps me on the bed and
he can’t get his clothes off quick enough. I lie back and stare at his chest where the light from the open curtains casts across the firm muscle, taking in the sight of every inch of his sculpted physique. He leaves his briefs on but there’s no denying the size and hardness of him.

Liam kneels on the floor and drag
s me roughly toward him by the ankles, his face directly in front of my sex. Slowly, he traces a finger along the cotton and as his fingers slide between the cotton and my skin. I hear a sharp intake of breath followed by the rough sensation of him yanking the lace panties down my legs. Seconds later his mouth replaces his fingers, tongue flicking my clit. I gasp as he eases his fingers inside me, stroking against a part of me I never knew existed. This man turns me on so easily it should be illegal.

I moan his name and
Liam laughs against my sex, the vibration making things worse as he teases me with his fingers. I push myself against him, whimpering as he sucks and licks at me. He pays close attention to the growing volume of my moaning because when I’m on the brink of coming he stops and sits back.

I push
my head back against the bed in frustration at the loss of his hands and mouth. “Any better?” he asks.