Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 41627 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41627 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
“You said that wasn’t Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I thought that’s what your father taught,” Liam murmured.
Seth nearly smiled again. He didn’t know if the conversation was to help distract Seth or Liam, but he went with it. “It is, but I learned a number of fighting styles while in college along with how to use a wide variety of weapons. I’ve learned even more since joining Ward Security.”
“Sven mentioned that Andrei is a former fighter. He’s the COO, right?”
Seth grunted. “Yeah, and trust me, getting married and having a kid has not slowed that man down one bit. He’s a scary motherfucker, and I’ve learned more from him in the past few years than I thought possible.”
Liam grabbed a bandage, pulled off the protective backing, and pressed it to Seth’s jaw. “Okay. It’s not bad. You were just dripping blood everywhere.”
Seth nearly apologized, but he lost the ability to speak when he looked up into Liam’s eyes. Liam’s thumb brushed across Seth’s chin and along the line of his lower lip. The heat there stole his breath away, but there was something else lurking in those beautiful green depths.
“Once I got past being terrified for you, I…I couldn’t look away. You were stunning. So amazing to watch.”
“Thank you,” Seth whispered. He was so damn lost to the spell Liam was weaving with his soft voice and gentle touch.
“Thank you for protecting me,” Liam murmured. He leaned in, his breath caressing Seth’s parted lips. It was like he was giving Seth the chance to pull away, to stop him, but nothing could have made Seth do anything that would rob him of this moment.
His eyes fluttered closed at the first faint touch of Liam’s perfect lips. The kiss was absolutely disarming. He’d expected the heat and mind-blowing hunger that consumed them both. But this kiss was sweet and so amazingly tender, sweeping all Seth’s defenses aside as if they were made of papier-mâché. Liam kissed him again and again, each one as gentle as the last. There was only the slight hint of tongue, a scrape of teeth to remind him of the powerful man he’d slept with already, but this gentleness was something new. Seth had never been touched quite like this before.
He was suddenly sure that he desperately needed more moments just like this with Liam. And only with Liam.
Chapter Eight
Liam didn’t regret those soft kisses at all. Seth had gotten hurt defending him, and yeah, it was his job, but it had still been hard to swallow.
Watching Seth wield that stick had been thrilling, though. He’d never seen anything like it. The bodyguard had moved with an innate grace that flat-out awed Liam. Like a dancer. Or an acrobat. He’d taken down those much bigger men with the sexiest confidence Liam had ever seen. Just thinking about it made his dick twitch in his pants.
But now, they were being more cautious than usual around each other. As he made them a quick dinner of omelets, he turned to find Seth watching him, a contemplative expression on his face as he held a cup of coffee. Liam reached for the pepper and sprinkled it over the eggs. He’d chopped up onions and ham and folded them in with the cheese for inside the omelets. Steam rose from the pan, fragrant from the onions.
“Thanks for the meal,” Seth said.
Liam glanced over his shoulder again, having a hard time keeping his gaze off Seth. “It’s no problem. Least I can do.” He walked to his freezer and opened it. “I’ve got some frozen hash browns I can whip up as well.”
“Just the omelet will be fine. Smells fantastic.” Seth took a sip of his coffee.
“Good. I don’t have a lot of meals in my repertoire, and eggs are easy.”
“I cook a lot of them myself. Nothing easier after a long day. Most of the time, I get takeout.”
Liam threw him a quick smile. “Same here. As you well know after this week. I have every local place on speed dial. There’s a great Thai food place nearby we can hit up tomorrow night. If you like Thai food, that is.”
“It’s my favorite.”
“We have that in common, then.” Liam dished up an omelet and set it in front of Seth before going to work on one for himself. He broke more eggs, whisked them with some spices in a bowl, and poured them into his skillet.
“Tastes great,” Seth said behind him, his fork scraping along the plate.
Just as Liam was plating his own food, someone knocked on the front door. Seth held up a hand to keep Liam in place as he walked to the window and peeked outside. “Cops.” He opened the door as Liam walked over to join him. Two uniformed men stood on his threshold, and Liam had a bad, bad feeling.