Page 247 of The Lies We Play

I smile against her skin. “We like hearing you ask.”

Her fingers leave my hair and reach behind her. At first, I think she’s grabbing Halston’s wrist, but then she catches the hem of his shirt and tugs.

A laugh almost leaves me.

Of course.

Of course, she would be half-naked, trembling, nearly out of her underwear, and still decide the room is unfair because Halston has too many clothes on.

“Liv,” he says.

“Off,” she whispers.

One word.

Soft. Commanding. Almost embarrassed by how badly she means it.

Halston looks at me over her shoulder.

I nod.

He pulls his shirt over his head.

The sight of him hits me low and hard. Halston is lean, all slim muscle and restrained strength, the toned body of a man who works out like he’s preparing for a fight he refuses to name. His abs tighten when Liv’s hand drags down his stomach. His skin is warm under her palm, his breath caught behind his teeth. For a second I just stare at them.

My two impossible people.

Her softness against his strength. His control wrapped around her desire. Her hand on his body while mine holds her hips. I want to put my mouth on both of them. I want to live inside this exact second until the rest of the world stops asking us to explain what we are.

Liv looks down at me.

My hands resume their slow path.

I drag her underwear lower, over the curve of her hips, down her thighs. She shifts, trying to help, but I press a kiss to her stomach.

“Let me.”

Her breath leaves her in a small broken rush.

Halston’s mouth moves to her temple. “Let him.”

She shivers.

I take the fabric lower, inch by inch, and follow it with my mouth. My teeth graze the inside of her thigh, not enough to hurt, but enough to make her knees go weak. She squirms, and Halston catches her before she can move too far, one arm wrapping around her middle, his palm flat beneath her breast.

I look up.

The image nearly kills me.

Liv naked above me now, except for the underwear caught around one knee. Halston shirtless behind her, holding her upright, his mouth close to her ear, his eyes fixed on me like he knows exactly what I’m thinking because he’s thinking it too.

I kiss her thigh again.

Higher.

She makes a sound that is half protest, half plea.

“Creed.”