wasn’t going to sit back and accept it.
Tatiana Cordova belonged to me and I belonged to her. I’d waited a whole year for last night, and I wasn’t about to let her run without fighting for her.
Chapter 8
Liam:
She would be filming all day, so I waited until the evening to Skype her. It was late – eleven my time, ten in Dingle, but she was online. I wondered if she was going to hide from me.
She didn’t. “Hey,” she said when she answered, and her face flickered into view on the screen. My rabbit looked tired and sleep-deprived. I repressed a hell-yeah grin at that.
“Hello rabbit,” I replied. “You ran away.”
She made a face. “Before your incredible vanity takes over, Liam,” she said, rolling her eyes, “let me clarify that I was called away for a role in a TV series.”
I laughed. Ah, Tia. She was meeting offence with more offence, and hoping I’d rise to that comment about my vanity. I wasn’t going to be distracted. “Why’d you run last night, Tia?”
“Because I don’t think last night was a very good idea,” she replied. She met my eyes reluctantly. “I’m sorry. It was my fault. I should have never pushed you to punish me, and I should have never asked you to fuck me.”
“I believe your exact words were Make love to me, Liam ,” I interjected.
She hissed. “Low blow, Callahan,” she snapped. “I’d just been spanked. Undoubtedly, all these endorphins that Lucia and Alice keep talking about played a role in that request.”
I filed away the image of Lucia, Alice and sweet Tatiana discussing sex for later spank-bank material. What could I say? I was a guy. Sue me.
“Did you not want it?” I asked her. “Should I have stopped?”
Some emotion flashed in her eyes for a second, but she blinked, and it was gone. “No,” she said softly. “That wasn’t what I meant to imply at all. I’m sorry.”
“Then tell me what’s wrong?”
“Liam,” she sighed. “You are my friend. This can’t end well.”
I rolled my eyes. My initial hypothesis was correct, this was some kind of fear based crap. “You have some kind of magic power to read into the future, Tia?” I asked her. “That is bollocks.”
She looked wounded for a second, and I drew my breath in sharply. I didn’t want to ever hurt Tia. She was too important to me. “Tia,” I said. “If you really want to walk away, then I’ll respect that. But know that no matter what happens, whether we date or not, whether it ends well or poorly, I will always be here for you. I will always have your back. That’s never subject to change.”
She looked down at her nails. “What if you end up hating me?” she mumbled.
“Never going to happen.”
“I’ve never had good sex,” she said, out of nowhere. “Well, except for last night.”
My face must have shown its shock, because she bit her lower lip in a way that wanted me to catch a flight to Shannon right away, drive the four hours to Dingle and kiss that lip, and then every other part of her body. “What do you mean, you’ve never had good sex?” I asked.
“Apart from last night,” she corrected.
I smirked a little, and she rolled her eyes. “Vain much?” she asked me, and I laughed.
“Thanks for the compliment, rabbit,” I grinned at her. “But you aren’t answering my question. Never had good sex. Explain.”
“My first sexual experience was a little traumatic,” she said, choosing her words carefully. “I guess that I’m affected by it. I can’t orgasm during sex, I can only come when I’m doing it myself.”
Except for last night, I thought, but I held it back with difficulty. “Wow,” I said.
She smiled a strained smile. “You should see the expression on your face, Liam. You look utterly horrified. Surely, what I said can’t be that rare.”
I shrugged. “Beats me,” I replied. “I am the manager of a BDSM club. Everyone’s very tuned to their sexuality. Besides, you came last night.” Okay, I had to
Learning to Kill: Stories