Before Sunrise Read online

  “Santa Claus is not a black man,” laughed Liam.

  “Yes, he is.” Kennedy smirked. She began to sing and his curiosity was piqued. Apparently there was a song about Santa being black that he’d never heard before. He couldn’t stop laughing.

  “Now that’s settled,” she said, then went on to tell him about the gift exchange at the Washington house. Liam dropped back against the sofa and listened to her talk.

  She put the record on spin and looked to the kitchen. “Where’s dinner?”

  “Shit, I forgot. Came out here and saw you, then Santa was black and the talk of kids….”

  “Very funny. Stay there. I’ll fix it.”

  Diana Ross and her Supremes crooned Joy to the World, and Kennedy sang in harmony. Liam felt nervous energy, warm tingles, building in the palms of his hands. He rubbed them over his thighs and blew out a breath. He tried to relax, focus on the sweet sound of her voice and the record playing, but his chest grew tight with anxiety and a new feeling he hadn’t felt before: dread. Was a future with Kennedy really possible? She was so young and optimistic, especially about his ability to adapt to her life. Kennedy’s family loved her and she loved them. She had no major drama with them, unless you considered the fact she kept secret a twenty-two-year-old boyfriend.

  What happens when she graduates high school? What happens when she goes off to some Ivy League college and starts dating men who can give her more than he would ever be able to?

  “Baby, do you want a beer?” she called out.

  “Yeah, um, I put them in the fridge.” Liam closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. What happened when there was no reason to sneak around anymore? How would he explain himself to the Washingtons?

  “Voilà!” She emerged with the big bowl of spaghetti noodles mixed with his spicy ragu and overcooked ground beef—his specialty. Kennedy had even cut the garlic bread into thick, buttery slices. “Now we eat.”

  Liam rose, taking the tray from her hands. She ran into the kitchen and returned with two beers. He didn’t say anything when she kept one for herself. What the fuck difference did it make now?

  “Why are you so quiet?” She plopped down next to him and passed over a fork. “Pasta is best eaten together, same bowl.” Before he could answer, she forked some noodles into his mouth. Liam decided not to ruin their time together with his bullshit insecurities. Kennedy leaned over and licked the sauce from his chin.

  “Are you happy?”‘

  “Yes.” He chewed. “But you know what would make me even happier?”

  “What?”

  “You. Eating spaghetti with all these clothes off.”

  Kennedy slowly stopped eating. Her large brown eyes ringed with dark lashes latched to his. A slow-moving sexy smile spread over her lips. The light of agreement in her eyes made his blood pressure rise. He actually felt feverish with anticipation. Her energy matched his in every conceivable way. “How about in my underwear? Black lace with pink bows.”

  Liam pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it to the side, leaving just his T-shirt and jeans. “You’re on.”

  Kennedy leapt to her feet. She changed the record while he reclined and got ready for his Christmas gift, the only one he needed this year. Eartha Kitt’s Santa Baby, that sultry and sexy voice, poured into the room. Liam had to admit this was perfect. Her sweater went up and over her head, dropped to the floor. The lacy black bra cups only covered half of her tits, her dark large nipples swelling and pushing against the restraining fabric. There was a tiny pink bow to the center and delicate, thin, pink satin ribbons woven through the straps. Her skin was evenly brushed a flawless brown. He couldn’t find an imperfection on her as his eyes slowly went down the flat curves of her tummy. Kennedy undid the top button, lowered the zipper, then hooked her thumbs in the sides of the jeans and pushed them down her hips.

  The fabric eased down her shapely thighs as Kay sang with Eartha. She turned and he was rewarded with the back view. The lacy confection of her panties rested on the firm mounds of her ass and slipped into the cheeks. Tiny pink bows adorned the thin trim at her hips. Kennedy sang of her desire for a mink, convertible, and a trip to Tiffany’s because she’d been a good girl all year. The long ends of her braids with the pink and black beads swayed past her shoulders. She moved her ass in a slow grind that had him tugging his Johnson. Giving him a sexy wink over her shoulder, she shook it for him once more. That’s it! Liam rose. He crossed the short distance to stand behind her. His control hung by a thread. He took a steadying breath when the soft cushion of her buttocks brushed his groin. Dinner plans forgotten, he closed his eyes and placed his palms to her hips. He dropped his face to the back of her head. She might have been teasing about their future, she might have been a little loopy from her first beer. Still, in that moment, he began to believe.

  Together they moved, the music having long ago stopped. He slipped his hands around her stomach and ran them up and down soft, taut skin until one hand dipped to the front of her panty and the other went up to cup her breast. Her head dropped back on his shoulder and he saw her take a swallow, felt the acceleration of her heart as he held her left breast in his hand. But that wasn’t where she felt the softest. His hand slipped lower, under the lace, to caress the lips that were easily coaxed to part. Kennedy gasped softly. She wiggled her ass a bit more. The tease had his inner beast clawing to get out. He could feel his cock drop down the length of his thigh. It pulsed with such a need to get in her, he bit down on her shoulder to maintain.

  “Ow, Liam! Too rough!” She elbowed him. He grunted and she spun on him, eyes flaming with anger.

  “Sorry, babe.”

  “Don’t bite me, not yet,” she smiled, softening. She eased up against him once more. Every sweet curve of her body was pressed up against his chest and pelvis. “You’ve been a bad boy and I’m hungry,” she whispered against his lips. She pushed him off then walked back over to the dinner on the coffee table.

  Liam groaned, his erection a throbbing muscle of iron in his pants. He wiped his hand down his face and cursed. He could hear her laughing and chewing behind him. He could feel the red heat to his cheeks and decided to play it off by turning off the record player in favor of the radio. He found a blues station with B.B. King howling with his guitar Merry Christmas Baby.

  It was a worthy distraction. He willed his dick to ease into a manageable state. He had to rub the fucker to get it to behave.

  “Liam, come on. Stop stalling. I know you’re hungry,” she teased.

  “You are going to pay for that, Kay.” He grabbed the back of his head and twisted his torso until the cramp in his lower back and dick melted. Finally in control, he sauntered over and reclaimed his cool. Kennedy guzzled down her beer. She wiped her soft, kissable lips with the back of her hand. When he sat, she immediately began to feed him. He tried not to look at her breasts that kept rising and falling with each excited breath. He struggled and eventually caved, staring at them for long pauses.

  Through the rest of their dinner, he peeked at every inch of her he could. The beer gave her the giggles and she started talking about every and anything that popped in her head. He nodded and answered a couple of times as if he were listening. When she was satisfied that he had suffered enough punishment over the bite to her shoulder, she eased up against him. At first he played her off. That never worked long with Kennedy. She pushed him back on the sofa and straddled him.

  “Do you want your Christmas gift now?” Her face was so close their noses touched. He inhaled the sweet and spicy on her breath. His eyes dropped to her lovely breasts, hovering in their lace cups.

  His cock twitched. She wanted to play. Games with Kennedy could leave him with blue balls. Any other girl he’d get frustrated, and push on. Somehow her teasing was the balance to his roughness. They each gave and took what they needed.

  “Nah, I don’t want a Christmas present unless….” He licked his lips. “Unless it’s the dessert we talked about.”

  “You will wan
t this gift.”

  “Kay, fuck, stop with the games. I want you….”

  She eased her hand down his chest to the buckle of his belt. Liam eyes went down the line of his chest. He watched her slender fingers unbuckle, unzip, and release his cock. She eased back down his thighs until she sat just below his knees. The rounded head of his cock stood erect, angry over its neglect. Her mouth descended, covered the tip, and wet heat slowly sheathed him as she swallowed three inches.

  “Fuck!” Liam groaned. She had never sucked him off. He had never wanted to push her. And though her teeth scraped his shaft and her descent would abruptly end when she tried to swallow, she was much better than he imagined. Liam gripped the top of her head and shot his hips up slowly. She found her groove and so did he. Liam’s eyes rolled into his skull, his pelvis shuddered, and he began to pump the top three inches of his cock in and out of the sweetest suction he’d ever known.

  “Stop, Kay, stop…stop….” he warned.

  She lifted her face in time and his need to explode rolled into a tight knot that sent painful spasms down his shaft into his boys. She covered his mouth with her own and eased his suffering. His hands roamed her curves. He grabbed both halves of her ass and pressed her down on his groin while he ground his hips up into her honeyed slit.

  “Condom?” she asked through the kiss.

  “Jacket,” he stammered.

  Kennedy withdrew and he yanked her back down hard. She shrieked then giggled as he flipped her on the sofa. “You make me crazy, Kay.”

  “So…what are you going to do about it?”

  Liam smirked at her. “I’m better at this game than you.” His gaze lowered as he did, his tongue tracing the centerline of her tummy, dipping into her navel, and she moaned. He pressed a kiss there. Smiling, he untied the pink strings to the left and right sides of her hips, releasing her thin panty. When his face lowered to her mound she parted her thighs for him. Liam smiled at the slick, plump dark brown lips and the pink tender center of her sex.

  “So beautiful….” Liam whispered.

  The first touch of his tongue on her pussy sent a deep quiver through her. Her thighs vibrated in his hands. Kennedy’s heady, tangy scent edged with spice left him intoxicated.

  “Liam, kiss me there, please,” she whimpered.

  “You wanted to tease me. Now you want to make demands?”

  “Not anymore.” She thrust her pussy up into his face. “Please…”

  He punished her by tracing her slick entrance with the tip of his tongue before taking a quick plunge, then withdrawing. She groaned and he grinned, blowing over the feverish heat of her desire, causing her to move her ass in slow circles. He decided it might be best to slip on the condom now before things got so far out of hand he didn’t want to. He tried to pull away, but she countered by grabbing the back of his head and smashing her sex against his lips. His sweetie would not be denied. Still, she made him sit next to her and eat without touching. She deserved her punishment. He gave her slit a long lick, then drew away.

  “Ugh! Damn it, Liam!”

  He chuckled and rose to remove his T-shirt. He found his jacket and dug out the box of condoms he had shoved down deep in the pocket. When he looked back, she was doing away with her bra. The sight of her full breasts, with the colored blinking lights playing shadows and designs over her skin, was so damn sexy. She got up and did away with the cushions to let out the bed. Liam took the time to strip down his pants and boxers. Standing there in his socks he watched her move around, putting on the sheets and blanket that she’d gotten at some point. He almost launched himself at her again when she turned her back to him. Instead, he sheathed his cock then tossed three more packs to the bed to be sure they were still in reach.

  “You know you could help me, Liam,” she said, seeing the packs land on the sheet.

  “On the bed, Kay. Now,” he rasped.

  Kennedy crawled over the freshly laid sheets and sprawled out for him. He was on her again, kissing her, soft pliant lips until they swelled and grew even softer. He pulled her under him. He would make love to her next, nice and slow, but first he had to get in her. Connect with her, possess her. She clawed at his back and he groaned as her nails nearly broke skin. He looked down at her and he knew she wanted to go there. She should know better than tease the beast. She does know better.

  Without warning, he pushed forward, sinking his cock into her tight heat. Her channel contracted all around him, causing him to grunt loudly as pleasure split his spine. He pulled out and thrust again, rocking against her body as he tried desperately to hold back the tightening in his balls. He was on overload, the pressure spiking in him with each push of his hips as she thrust back. Liam forced her legs up, back and straight. Rising on his knees, he pumped his cock in and out of her, fast and furious. She gripped the sheets, thrashing, as he beat harder and stronger. Liam dropped forward, pinning her legs to her chest as he got in deep, long strokes. She scratched and clawed at his arms and he slowed a bit. But his mind and body were one organ now, throttling her sex for dear life.

  “Oh God, Liam, puhlease,” she panted. He let one leg down, then the other, but kept moving in and out of her. She clung to him and moved beneath him with so much rhythm, the urgent need to dominate her was calmed. He could relax enough to love her with his kisses and pamper her pussy with soft strokes. Kennedy shook and shouted out her cries of pleasure as she climaxed. It would be a long time before he joined her. He withdrew, flipped her, and grabbed her by the back of her neck. Her braids fell over both sides of her shoulders to the front of her chest and he helped her to her hands and knees.

  “Do me Liam. Do me harder.”

  “Say it. Say the words,” he grunted.

  She resisted. He knew she didn’t like to curse, but damn it he loved it when she did.

  “Fuck, I love this pussy. Say it. Say it for me, Kay.”

  “Fuck me. Fuck me hard,” she groaned.

  He covered her body with his own. He got in deep and found himself barely able to balance them both. He put more of his weight on her as he squeezed her clit and slammed his cock into her again. He rode her until her pussy fluttered and clenched again.

  “Harder. Harder, fuck me harder.”

  She rolled her ass as he thrust his cock in and out. The rush of pleasure was so extreme it was almost pain. He lifted off her, grabbing both sides of her hips. He slammed in and out of her repeatedly until she bucked and lost it. Collapsing on the bed, her moans muffled by the pillow, Liam rode the wave until his dick pulsed and jerked its first release of the night.

  Wiped out, with the sounds of Ray Charles’ smoky voice in the background, Liam rested on her. At length, he summoned enough strength to rise from her and roll away. He reached for her and she came to him. Her face, neck, shoulders were all covered in a slick sheen of sweat, but her eyes were bright and alert.

  “We’ll take a little break and do it again.” She grinned.

  Liam laughed.

  She rolled onto his chest. “I love you. Merry Christmas.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “W’sup. brother?”

  Liam opened the door.

  Eric walked inside, bringing in the cold. “Just checking in on you. Thought you’d have a bitch of headache this morning.”

  Liam slammed the door, shutting out the hard breeze. He followed Eric into the living room. His friend looked at the bare tree, then back at him.

  “You decorating already?”

  Liam smiled. “Me and Mac. Gonna pick her up, decorate the tree and pick out some things for her room. What you think?”

  “Cool. I think that’s cool. And Kennedy?”

  “She’s not speaking to me, but I got a plan.”

  “Not sure I like the sound of that,” Eric said.

  “No, it’s going to be okay. Christmas is our holiday. It’s why Mac was born early, I think. It’s going to bring me and my family closer. That and a little therapy.” Liam was only half joking.

 
Eric stared at him for a moment, then glanced back at the tree. Liam crossed his arms, determined. He loved his friend, but fuck him if he was going to come with that ‘go slow’ shit. He didn’t believe in waiting on his life. He sure as hell had let too much time pass him by. He didn’t get the woman of his dreams by doing what was expected of him. He wouldn’t do it now.

  Eric dropped his shaven head, then cut Liam a look. Slowly, both men smiled. “Sounds like a good fucking plan, bro.”

  Liam nodded. “Might need your help.”

  “Cool. Count me in.”

  “Got a question for you.”

  “Shoot?”

  “You take a stroll around the perimeter last night?”

  “Come again?”

  “When you dropped me off drunk. Did you go out back?”

  Eric looked to the back of the house. “Nah, just dropped you off and left. Why?”

  “Tracks, men’s shoes size eleven or ten. I found some leading from the door to the gate.”

  “Fresh?”

  “Yeah.” Liam nodded.

  “Interesting. House been empty for awhile and we got plenty of kids around here. Could be some. Caught a crew hanging out here like my fucking place was their clubhouse.”

  “Yeah, I kind of figured it was like that.”

  “Want me to check it out?”

  Liam felt the doubt creep in. He wasn’t crazy. And he didn’t want to come off as paranoid either. “Nope. It’s cool. Now let me tell you what you can do for me. Will need you to get Harper to help, too.”

  “Lay it on me, man. I got your back.”

  Liam slapped hands with him. “Like always, brother.”