Chapter 184: Next Time

Liam woke to pale light and the dull throb of his ribs.

For a moment he didn’t move. The cut above his eyebrow had crusted over. His knuckles were stiff, the skin tight across the splits. When he finally pushed himself up, the ache in his side flared sharp enough to make him pause halfway.

A soft knock came at the door.

He looked up.

Jessica stood in the doorway holding a glass of water and a small bottle of painkillers. She was dressed simply dark top, fitted pants, hair pulled back.

The careful distance she usually wore was still cracked from the night before. She stepped inside when he nodded and set the glass on the nightstand.

"You said you’d check on me," Liam said.

"I did." She uncapped the bottle and shook out two pills. "Take them."

He did. She watched him swallow, then took the empty glass when he held it out. Their fingers brushed. Neither of them commented on it.

Jessica’s eyes moved over the tape on his eyebrow, the way he was sitting carefully, the faint wince he didn’t fully hide when he shifted.

"You should have stayed in bed longer," she said.

"I’ve had worse."That doesn’t make this smart.

She said it without heat. Just quiet fact. Liam studied her for a moment. The softness from last night hadn’t disappeared with the morning.

If anything, daylight made it clearer the way she stood closer than usual, the way her gaze lingered, the absence of the wall she normally kept between them.

"Sit," he said.

Jessica hesitated, then sat on the edge of the bed beside him.

Not touching. Close enough that he could feel the warmth of her. The mattress dipped slightly under her weight.

For a while neither of them spoke. Rain still traced faint paths down the window.

Somewhere downstairs a door closed. The villa felt calm in a way it hadn’t in weeks.

"Derek really walked away?" Jessica asked eventually.

"Yes." And Stone Cold? "He got what he came for. He’s not an enemy."

Jessica nodded slowly, absorbing it. Her hands rested on her thighs, fingers loosely laced. After a moment she glanced at his ribs.

"Does it hurt to breathe?"

"Only when I do it."

The corner of her mouth moved. Almost a smile.

Then it faded. She reached out before she seemed to think better of it and carefully touched the edge of the bruise visible above his waistband where his shirt had ridden up. Her fingers were cool. Light. Testing.

Liam didn’t stop her.

Jessica’s touch lingered longer than necessary, tracing the edge of the discoloration with a kind of quiet focus.

When she realized what she was doing, she started to pull back. Liam’s hand covered hers before she could fully retreat, holding her fingers against his side.

She looked at him. The air between them changed. "Last night," Jessica said quietly.

"I remember."

"I almost" She stopped. Her throat moved. "I don’t usually lose control like that."

"I know."

Her eyes dropped to his mouth, then back up. The conflict from the night before was still there, but weaker.

The part of her that had been softening since the kidnapping was winning more ground with every second she stayed this close.

Liam lifted his free hand and brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Jessica’s breath caught. She didn’t pull away.

If anything, she leaned the smallest fraction into the contact, eyes half-lidding for a second before she forced them open again.

"You’re still hurt," she said, but the protest was thinner than before.

"I can handle it."

Jessica’s fingers flexed under his hand, still resting against his ribs.

The heat of her palm soaked through his skin. Liam’s thumb stroked once across her knuckles. She exhaled shakily.

Then she closed the distance. The kiss was slower than the almost from last night. More deliberate.

Jessica’s mouth was soft, careful at first, as if she was still deciding whether she intended to do this.

Liam let her set the pace. When she deepened it, he answered, one hand sliding to the back of her neck, holding her there without force.

Jessica made a quiet sound against his mouth. Her hand left his ribs and settled against his chest, fingers curling into his shirt.

She shifted closer on the bed, thigh pressing against his. The careful woman who had walked into the room with painkillers was slipping, moment by moment, into something hungrier.

Liam’s hand drifted from her neck to her waist. Jessica arched slightly into the contact when his fingers slipped under the hem of her top and found bare skin.

She was warm. Smooth. Her breath fractured when his thumb stroked along her side.

She broke the kiss first, but only far enough to speak against his mouth.

"We shouldn’t."

"Tell me to stop." Jessica’s eyes were dark. Her lips were parted, faintly swollen. For a second she looked like she might actually say it.

Then she kissed him again instead, harder this time, her hand sliding up his chest and around the back of his neck to pull him closer.

Liam eased her back against the pillows carefully, mindful of his ribs. Jessica went with him without resistance.

Her legs shifted to make room as he braced above her, weight on his good side. The kiss turned deeper.

Wetter. Her fingers dug into his shoulders when his hand fully spanned her waist under her top and then higher, brushing the underside of her breast through her bra.

Jessica arched.

A soft, broken sound escaped her. Liam kissed along her jaw and down the side of her throat, feeling her pulse race under his lips.

His hand cupped her breast properly, thumb dragging across the nipple until it tightened under the fabric. Jessica’s hips shifted restlessly beneath him.

"Liam..."

Her voice was rough. Wanting. Still edged with the last of her restraint.

He lifted his head and looked at her. Flushed. Breathing unevenly. Eyes half-glazed. The controlled distance she had worn for so long was gone. In its place was something open and unfinished.

Liam brushed his thumb once more across her nipple and watched her shudder.

Then he slowly withdrew his hand and eased back.

Jessica stared up at him, lips parted, chest rising and falling. Confusion and frustration mixed with the heat in her expression.

"You’re stopping."

"Yes."

"Why?"Because if I don’t," Liam said, voice low, "I won’t stop at all. And you’re not ready for that yet.

Jessica’s throat worked. She looked like she wanted to argue. Then the truth of it settled over her features.

She was softer. Closer. Hungrier than she had been last night. But the final wall was still there, thin and cracking, not yet gone.

She closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again.

"You’re infuriating."

"I’ve been told."A faint, reluctant breath of laughter left her. She sat up slowly, adjusting her top with hands that weren’t entirely steady.

The flush still sat high on her cheeks. When she looked at him again, the awareness between them was thick enough to touch.

"I should go," she said.

"You should."

Jessica stood. At the door she paused, hand on the frame, and glanced back at him. The softness was still there. The hunger too. Neither of them pretended otherwise.

"Next time," she said quietly, "don’t stop."

Then she left, closing the door behind her with a soft click.

Liam lay back against the pillows, ribs aching, body tight with unfinished want. The taste of her was still in his mouth. The feel of her breast in his hand still lingered.

Next time.

He stared at the ceiling and exhaled slowly. Jessica had drawn the line again.But it was thinner than ever.

And both of them knew it wouldn’t survive a third meeting.