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Raine sank even smaller into her chair "All of that"

"What had you planned to say to ?"

"I don’t know I didn’t…" Think Yes, he’d gathered thatfrom her "I said no I objected ed to you"

Liam froze That was more consideration than he expected But he wanted to"So he forced you?"

"No"

Raine squeezed her eyes tightly shut, as if wishing she could escape He gave her points for not lying to hiround as I should have"

Because she’d wanted Hammer so damn badly Liam wished he could say otherwise, but it rankled

"I won’t ask if you feel guilty I see that you do Instead, I’ll ask you to reain I can be a patientone"

"Yes, Sir" She took a bracing breath and worked up the courage to aze "In your shoes, I’d be furious, devastated I would have run and done my best to disappear forever"

"Where I couldn’t hurt you again" It wasn’t a question; he was beginning to understand her well enough to know the answer

"Yeah" She sent him a shaky nod "But you…you’ve confronted this head on and actually listened tounspoken Why?

And there was his clever girl again She wanted to knohy he’d chosen to give up on his wife, but would fight for her In some ways, Liao the way of Gwyneth Or because he didn’t want to fail again And yes, because she meant more to him than she should

"I have my reasons," he said cryptically for now

She nodded, as if accepting his vague answer "Can I ask how long you’ve been divorced?"

He sat back in his chair "Officially, just over a year We were separated for nearly a year before that"

She hesitated, seerapple with her next question "Why didn’t you tell me about all of this sooner?" She frowned "And why are you telling me now?"

"Answer me this first: What difference would it haveYou’d heard the ruht have told you" He shrugged "What we can do now is co of myself with you, Raine But your way is to brush me aside at every turn Quid pro quo"

She sucked in a breath and looked down, uilt "It’s not my intent to brush you aside It’s justmy mom didn’t stay around to hear what I had to say My dad never wanted to hear it Hammer" She sed "He couldn’t handle it I assu polite, but they don’t really care So I save us all the trouble" She shrugged "You’re the first person I actually believe wants to hear it Proble, I don’t kno to say it"

Liam watched as she rose, rounded the table, then knelt beside his chair and grabbed his hands "I swear, I didn’t do it to hurt you It was thoughtless And selfish After wanting soh to say no Ha to think ers and looked at hiood at telling you how I feel But if you really want to hear it, I’ll try"

She took a deep breath, and he realized that, for her, it was a big concession And a big clue that she illing to put some effort into their relationship, as Gwyneth hadn’t been

"Raine"

Pushing the dishes back, he lifted her on the table in front of him "Lean back, lass You’ve earned a reward, and I’ve a s, cradled theently over each of his broad shoulders, then stroked his palhed as he kissed his way fro tender attention to every purple htlessly left behind

"Bloody hell, woood, like sin, so hot and feminine, utterly irresistible I would taste you, Raine Give you pleasure Just relax and let me hear your cries"

Soon, she ue He teased her clit and stroked her sweet, ripe nipples As she undulated, her essence burst across his taste buds, overloading his brain with her flavor And sealed her fate as his

Her body grew tense, and she grabbed the edge of the table, anchoring herself as he drove her up higher When shefor the bit er into her pussy Groaning as her tender flesh squeezed him, Liam wished he could replace it with his cock Then he drew her clit back into histhe swollen nub until the cries of climax spilled from her throat Crearip softened, her body still quivering Raine panted, her breasts rising and falling with each breath God, he wanted to fuck her But her eyes were squeezed shut, the afterive her athe swollen pad of her pussy and looking up the length of her slender curves with a hungry stare

He clutched her waist and dragged her into his lap so she straddled him He moved to kiss her, but Raine reached him first, eyes closed, a soft joy on her face as she laid her lips over his He tangled his hands in her hair and tilted her head to take her mouth deeper Even in her kiss, he tasted her welco, and it was heady God, he could get drunk off her That he alone had tasted this sillingness spilling fro

Breathing heavily, he frohen she broke away He started to grab her closer and command her to stay when she lifted from his lap and squirmed to the floor between his feet, under the table She reached for the zipper of his pants and looked up at hi permission