The Price of Freedom

Chapter 22: A Smart Woman

DINAH

I woke up curled up in a ball to the side of my bed somewhat alone. I could feel Liam on the other end. I’m all for cuddling, but when I sleep, I need my space, I want to feel comfortable. If I feel restrained in any way, I feel like I’m suffocating, I even use thin blankets because I feel like a comforter is smothering me.

Waking up next to him has got to be one of the highlights of my life, I don’t think I could ever get used to it. Reality hasn’t set in yet, it’s just us right now, no intrusions, no one asking for anything. We’re in our own little heaven.

Turning over to face Liam, he looked like a god, the light coming in from the windows made him look like he was glowing. His hands were resting underneath his head making his muscles bulge.

“Thank god you’re awake,” he said rolling on top of me. He rested his head in the valley of my breasts, my fingers tangled in his hair and my legs were expertly placed on either side of him.

“What’s wrong?”

“You don’t like to be touched while you sleep, I learned that the hard way the first time you slept in my bed. I had to wait until you woke up,” he answers wrapping his arms around me. Liam placed a soft kiss on the swell of my breast causing my bud to harden within seconds.

“Do you want to eat breakfast?” I ask looking down at him probably showing my double chin. If he stays after seeing me in the morning then I know it’s real.

“We could, or I could eat something else for breakfast,” without another word he slid under the covers, completely waking me up within seconds.

As soon as his beard stubble brushed up against my inner thigh that was my undoing. He was so good it had me wanting to give him everything I owned and just be at his beck and call.

After the most amazing wakeup call, I had ever received we decided to shower and spend the day together. It was going well at first, very productive. I rinsed the conditioner out of my hair and was starting to wash my body with soap.

Liam started rubbing soap into my shoulders with his body pressed up against my back and his magical pretty d**k poking into my back I knew this shower was going to take longer than anticipated. His hands moved over my shoulders and began to massage soap into my boobs.

“We’re supposed to be showering,” I told him trying to hold the little composure I had left from snapping.

He turned me around his hands cupping each breast, his thumbs softly flicking my n*****s breaking the little resolve I had left down. “We have all day.”

“Jump,” he ordered grabbing onto my thighs.

Giving up on pretending I didn’t want this; I did as he said. My legs wrapped around his waist; my arms found their way around his neck. Liam was gently nipping at my throat and without a second thought, he latched onto a soft spot on my neck making me moan out loud.

He pinned me to the shower wall and in one swift move he impaled me with his sweet d**k. My head lolled back and my eyes rolled to the back of my head. With every stroke, I could feel him bottoming out in me. I was seeing stars.

The shower water started running cold and I knew that we’d been in here for too long. He made me climax over and over without giving me a moment to catch my breathe.

“Whose are you Dinah?”

“Yo—you—ah!” I tried to tell him I was all his, but he had me crumbling like a Mazapan candy and I couldn’t string one sentence together.

“Answer me,” he growled in my ear as he continued to pound into me.

“Yours! I’m yours!” And I felt him stiffen before he released himself in me filling me to the brim.

“Good girl” he said as he continued working his come into my walls

My legs felt like jelly, the only thing keeping me up was being pinned to the wall and Liam’s hands gripping my ass. He left me drowning in intense waves of pleasure and he f*****g knew it. I was putty in his hands and he could work me any way he wanted.

He finally put me down and we finished washing up, but not without the occasional soft touch. I wrapped a towel around me and handed one to Liam. It only now dawned on me that he didn’t have any clothes to wear this morning. “I can iron your pants since their wrinkly?”

“It’s okay, I have an extra pair of sweats and trainers in my car,” he told me. I quickly got dressed and asked him for his car keys so I could go get his clothes. He handed me the keys and told me where his gym bag was. I wasn’t sure if he was planning on staying over, or if he just happened to carry a bag around, but I wasn’t going to complain.

I was glad I showered and changed before running downstairs. I met a few of my neighbors and I didn’t want them to see me freshly f****d and sweaty. I might not care for them, but I still have to live next to them.

When I came back upstairs, I found Liam making coffee and tea. I will never understand the fascination Europeans have with tea, but to each their own.

“Are you okay with a spinach melt?” He asked me as he looked through the fridge and pulled out ingredients.

I sat on a kitchen stool and just stared at him in wonderment. His back muscles twitched with every movement he made, and his hair was still wet and floppy hanging over his face. He looked delicious; I wonder why I haven’t just had him for breakfast. “I like when you cook for me, it’s incredibly sexy.”

“It can happen a lot more often,” he winked at me.

Before I could answer his obvious suggestion about living together, my phone started ringing.

It was Henri.

“Hello?”

“Dinah, it’s Henri, can you come into the office today?” He asked me, his voice remained calm and coordinated.

I’m a bit worried, we shouldn’t have to be dealing with any bad PR yet. I’ve been checking online every hour, and there hasn’t been anything put out there, plus the company is new here, not many people know of the new branch.

“Umm sure, is something wrong?”

“It’s about the gala, I won’t keep you long,” he told me his voice still impassive.

Agreeing to meet in an hour I hung up the phone and looked at Liam. He was still putting together our breakfast and poured me a cup of coffee. We said we would spend the day together, but now I have to go to work and I don’t know how to tell him.

“I’m sorry I have to go to work,” I blurted out.

He sat my plate in front of me along with the cup of coffee and then sat across from me. “I can wait for you, you promised to spend the day together.” A huge smile inadvertently spread across my face. Usually when men don’t get their way, they throw a tantrum, perhaps I’ve just been hanging around the wrong type of men.

I don’t want him to have to wait for me when he could just spend the day doing something productive. What if I take longer than expected? “Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

We quickly finish our breakfast and got dressed. I made sure to keep my distance since I’m on a time crunch, and the sooner I got done with work, the sooner we could start our day together. We had arrived with five minutes to spare, so we quickly made our way up to my office. Henri was already waiting for me there.

“Good morning Henri, this is Liam, he’s just going to wait for me here,” I explained when he looked over at Liam walking in with me. I didn’t expect them to be best friends, but I at least expected common courtesy from either of them. Liam said he would just wait out on the main floor while I talked to Henri.

“He’s following you around like a puppy now,” Henri stated clearly unamused.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but he’s my boyfriend. I know you said you had feelings for me, but I’m with Liam now, please respect it, if not as my friend, than as my boss.”

“Whatever makes you happy,” he scoffed

I pretended like I didn’t hear the obvious annoyance in his voice and just asked him why he had called me in on a Saturday morning. He explained to me how one of his rival businesses is wanting to hold a gala the same weekend. We needed to hold a press conference and send out invitations before they do.

“Okay, I’ll let the team know, and we can hold the conference tomorrow or Monday, your choice,” I explained going around to my desk and looking through some papers.

He was still standing in front of my desk scowling at Liam who was sitting in a sofa right outside my office.

“We can aim for tomorrow,” he told me turning back to face me, his arms now crossed over his chest.

I nodded agreeing with him, “Alright, I’ll get it set up and let you know the time.”

“Also, whenever you’re done with the invitations let me know, I have a few business partners overseas I need to send them to.”

I wonder who his overseas partners are. They must be important if he’s inviting them to the gala.

When Henri walked out of my office, he didn’t even glance at Liam. Liam waltzed in as soon as the lift doors closed signaling Henri was gone. “Your friend doesn’t like me, does he?” He pointed out, it sounded like a question, but I clearly knew he was just stating a fact.

I walked around my desk and casually placed my arm around his waist. I had to crane my neck to look him in the eyes. I’m sure this would cause future spine problems, but it would be worth it if I could look at his pretty face. “It doesn’t matter what he thinks because I love you.”

He looked at me with a charming smirk on his face, I just realized that this was the first time I said ‘I love you’ to him and I did it in my office. My eyes must have been saucers and I’m sure my face was fifty shades of red by now.

Liam brought his face down to meet mine, his lips so close to touching mine I could smell his minty breathe. “Say it again,” he whispered making my lips tingle.

“I love you,” I repeated with a smile.

He kissed my lips softly; it was tender and sweet. It wasn’t lustful or hungry, just pure love. I reluctantly pulled back knowing that I’m still at work. “Do you want to wait; I have to make a few calls and get some work done really quick?”

Liam gave me a quick peck on my nose, “I’ll wait.”

A little over an hour, I was finishing up my work and Liam was sitting in the chair across my desk. I close up my laptop after sending Henri one last email confirming all the details for the press conference tomorrow.

“I’m done,” I said going over to stand in front of him.

He swiftly pulled me onto his lap and wrapped his arms around me rubbing my thigh. “Liam,” I squealed, “I’m at work.”

“No one is in the office,” he countered.

He was right, I laid my head on his chest as he held me for a baby. I felt so comfortable in his arms. H.E.R. was right, his touch does make me feel a way.

As soon as he said that the office was empty, the elevator pinged and I saw Jesse step out of the elevator through my glass walls.

“f**k, let’s go,” I urged him, as I got up off his lap and pulled him up. He came to a full stop as I attempted to drag him out of the office.

I don’t want to address Jesse right now. My day is going pretty well, I woke up next to Liam, we had a really great morning, and I got some work done. Now I just want to spend the rest of my afternoon with Liam.

He turned to me and held my shoulders, “Are you avoiding that guy?”

“He’s the worst,” I whisper.

I just realized that I made Jesse sound worse than he actually was. He could have definitely been kinder, I’m just wary of men, and he rubs me the wrong way.

Liam looked me straight in the eye and held my face in his hands, “Do you want me to punch him in the face for you?”

“You’d do that?” I asked. He looked extremely serious and I couldn’t suppress the smile on my face. He would actually punch someone in the face for me.

“I’ll go do it right now,” he said turning around to go after Jesse who was probably at his desk now.

I contemplated whether it would be worth it for a couple of seconds, I’m not going to lie. I grabbed his hand and pulled him back before he actually hit him. I’m petty. “I appreciate it but you can leave him alone. I can handle him.”

He pushed a loose strand of hair out of my face, “I don’t doubt that.”

We walk out of my office hand in hand but are sadly intercepted by Jesse before we reach the lift. I put my pettiness aside and greeted him instead, he didn’t say anything just stared down Liam.

“Jesse, what are you doing here it’s Saturday?” I asked him

Jesse finally acknowledges my presence, “Henri said the press conference is set for tomorrow, I thought you would need help getting it organized.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you, but I already got it taken care of,” I responded trying to be as professional and kind as possible. He was being an ass and it hurt me to be nice to him.

“He only told you like a few hours ago,” he mentioned with obvious doubt in his tone.

“Yeah, and I only needed half of that, funny what you can accomplish when you have breasts,” I joked.

This guy obviously didn’t think much of me. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was a woman or because he genuinely thinks I am incapable of doing my job.

We excused ourselves, not wanting to give Jesse any more time than we already had and left.

We drove back to my flat, but Liam stopped me before went back inside, “Do you want to go for a walk in the park?”

I would love to go for a walk in the park, but Liam is well known, and I'm sure that there are people following him around to see if he slips up. “Won’t people recognize you?”

He wrapped me up in his arms again, and I couldn’t help but look around to see if anyone was watching. I’m not sure why I’m hesitating, I just want to show him off like he’s my piece of arm candy. But the reality is, that I’ll be seen as the woman who’s dating Liam Evans not as Dinah Muñoz.

“If you’re okay with it, I want everyone to know you're mine.”

“They’re going to think you're slumming it,” I muttered.

“If I remember correctly, a smart woman once said ‘It doesn’t matter what they think because I love you’ or something along those lines.” He said, his blue eyes were shining bright and his smile melted me to the core.

Even though he’s been reassuring me constantly, there’s a small part of me that feels he’ll grow tired of me once someone better comes along. It’s an irrational fear, but it is there nonetheless. “Can you promise me something?”

“Anything.”

I debated on whether I actually wanted to tell him, but I should be an adult and just put it all out there. “If you ever get tired of me, or you want to date models, can you tell me first. I don’t want to have to find out from gossip magazines”

“Dinah trust me love, you’re it for me.”