Captivated

003

Alyssa swiftly turned around, the movement so fast that the weight of the bag on her shoulder nearly toppled her over. Liam saw this, pushing himself quickly off of the wall he had been leaning against and grabbing her before she fell over. Once she had righted herself, with his help of course, she made the mistake of looking into his eyes. “Oh god,” she muttered. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?” Liam asked, confused.

“Like a lost puppy,” Alyssa replied, feeling like his hand was burning her arm. Liam let out a chuckle, scratching the back of his head lightly.

“Er, sorry,” he stuttered, not sure what to say. Yes, he had waited outside for her to come out, but he wasn’t sure why he had done that, either. Yes, he thought she was gorgeous and yes, he wanted to leave things on a less sour note, but he also knew it would have been so much easier to have just let her go. He was going to be gone in a couple days, and then he’d probably never see her again.

Something, however, kept pulling him back to her. After all, hadn’t he used the same reasoning to make a resolution to not talk to her in the first place? And how well had that turned out?

As he looked her over though, he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. She really was beautiful, and he didn’t need to spend hours talking with her to know that she was beautiful on the inside as well. “I figured you’d be long gone by now. Well, more like hoped you’d be. Either that or still in the locker room,” Alyssa admitted.

“Why?”

“Because…” she started, pushing the hair out of her face. “Because I’m kind of embarrassed. I’m not the kind of girl who hooks up with random strangers in saunas.”

“I know that,” Liam assured, his hands finding hers and using his thumbs to stroke her skin. “I’m not usually the kind of guy that does that type of thing either. But that doesn’t mean I’m sorry about it. That doesn’t mean I’m not glad I met you.”

Alyssa couldn’t stop the smile that made its way onto her face, and Liam gave her hands a squeeze in response. She looked down at their locked hands, her eyes catching his watch and widening. “Holy shit,” she muttered, bringing his wrist closer to her face. “Is that the time? Oh my god, I have to go. I have to be up for work in like four hours.”

She went to pull away, but Liam panicked at the thought of her leaving so soon and tugged her back in, pressing his lips to hers. He kissed her slowly, feeling her instantly respond and melt into the kiss. “Call in sick tomorrow,” he pleaded, resting his forehead against hers. He resisted the urge to add “Call in sick for the rest of your life,” biting his tongue to keep from opening his mouth.

“Liam, I-”

“Look, I’m going to lay it all out on the table right now. I’m leaving Chicago the day after tomorrow, and I literally travel the world for my job. It would be insanely unfair to ask you to dive into any sort of relationship with me, which is why I tried staying away from you earlier tonight. It’s why I tried talking myself out of kissing you in the hallway; it’s why I told myself to let you just leave instead of waiting up for you. But it’s like….it’s like I can’t stay away. There’s something about you that fascinates me and you keep drawing me in. There’s a part of me that knows I couldn’t even start a friendship with you because I don’t know how it would work out. But there’s a bigger part of me that doesn’t care. I want to get to know you, Alyssa. I want to know every part of you, inside and out, and that is honestly freaking me out. I’ve only just met you. But that’s the thing…I’ve only just met you and you’ve already turned me inside out. You make my damn heart race, more than any other girl ever has. Not only that, but it’s racing more at the thought of being able to get to know you than the thought of having a one-time hook up with you. I’m captivated.”

Alyssa was completely silent as she soaked this all in. She didn’t understand what he wanted from her. Sex? A relationship? Friendship? Or nothing at all? He had mentioned all of the above possibilities in his hurried speech, so she wasn’t sure where exactly he had made his intent clear. “Um…what-”

“Oh, hell,” Liam growled, grabbing Alyssa’s face and crashing his lips to hers once more. He had finally cracked, and Alyssa had noticed it. She didn’t have much prior experience with Liam, but she did know that no matter how into it they had gotten with each other in the gym, not once had he ever been like this. He was rough and frenzied and demanding, so much so that Alyssa felt like she had no choice but to succumb to it.

Not that she wanted to resist anyways, not with the way he was clutching at her and running his tongue against hers and making her shiver and moan. Liam began walking her backwards aimlessly, grabbing her bag from her shoulder and hoisting it onto his own as he continued to kiss her.

“Car,” he voiced in between kisses.

“Um,” Alyssa pulled away to look around the parking lot, causing Liam to redirect his kisses to her neck. “There, it’s right there,” she pointed out, biting her lip. Liam stepped back completely, grabbing her hand and jogging over to her car with Alyssa trailing behind.

“Keys,” he held out his hand, grabbing the car keys from Alyssa. He unlocked the doors and unceremoniously threw their bags into the backseat, and Alyssa felt as if she was on autopilot as she dropped down into the passenger seat. She was worried for a moment that with Liam being from England, he wouldn’t be well adapted to the American driving system, but he seemed very well adjusted as the only words spoken between them were directions to her apartment. Once he threw the car in park and exited the vehicle with her, Liam locked the doors and grabbed her hand again.

Their bags were forgotten in the backseat as he yanked Alyssa into the elevator with him, kissing her instantly as she fumbled to press the right button. The trip from the elevator and into her apartment was a blur, Alyssa having no idea how Liam managed to find the right key to open her door on the first try. They stumbled in through the door, shutting and locking it behind them before Liam lifted her up and guided her legs around him like he had done earlier.

The last time they were in this position they had ended up in a sauna, but thankfully now they ended up on the cool cushions of her couch. This time Liam laid back, Alyssa straddling his waist as she leaned down and kissed him. His fingers once again found their way under her shirt, resting just below her bare breasts. A strangled whimper barely made its way out of her throat when be brushed his thumbs against the soft flesh.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” A loud, exasperated voice groaned behind them. Alyssa flew off of Liam, landing on the ground hard. Liam sat up instantly, reaching for her to make sure she was alright before they both looked up at the other person in the room. She was only clad in an oversized t-shirt, her hair thrown up in a messy bun high atop her head. She had one hand resting on her hip, while the other hung listlessly at her side and wielded a baseball bat. Liam’s eyes widened at this, and he sat up a little straighter. “With all the noise you were making I thought we were being robbed.”

“What are you doing here? I thought you were working the night shift?” Alyssa asked her roommate.

“I did, I just got home like ten minutes ago. It is nearly three A.M you know,” the other woman’s mouth lifted into a smirk as she looked over at Liam. He sat there for a moment, unsure of what to do before springing to his feet.

“Sorry about the ruckus,” he started, seeing her eyebrow raise at his accent. “Liam,” he introduced, outstretching his hand. He watched her shift the baseball bat to her other hand before taking his.

“Aimee,” she replied, looking him over shamelessly. Liam had had an inkling about her before, but the spark of recognition in her eyes just now confirmed it. She knew exactly who he was. Now he just had to wait and see if she said anything. She looked into his eyes and saw his silent plea at wanting to remain anonymous. She gave him a small nod before waving her bat in the air nonchalantly. “And don’t worry about it, no harm done. Well, I’ll let you two get back to…” she trailed off, wiggling her eyebrows and grinning at Alyssa.

Liam turned around to walk back to the couch, and behind his back Aimee gave Alyssa a thumbs-up and fanned herself while pointing to him. Alyssa motioned for her to go away, trying to keep her movements small and discreet. Aimee shimmied backwards into her room, making inappropriate gestures to Alyssa the whole time. Upon hearing the door close, Alyssa turned and looked at Liam, her cheeks pink. She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Aimee blasting music from her room. Since they had a loft apartment, Alyssa wasn’t worried about her neighbors hearing the loud noise, but the thin walls within the apartment were definitely not something she was fond of. Liam was fighting a smile, thinking that Aimee’s move was very well played out as he listened to his own voice filter through from her bedroom.

She was sending him a message loud and clear, that she definitely knew who he was and he better be respectful as “What Makes You Beautiful” blared from her speakers.

“Sorry about that,” Alyssa stated, referring to both Aimee’s intrusion and the loud music.

“No worries,” he said to her, plopping back down on the couch and pulling her with him. He set her in his lap, her legs to the side as his hands rested along the side of her thighs. “I’m starting to wonder if us getting interrupted again is a sign though,” he continued, resting his forehead against her temple. Alyssa trailed her fingers along his collarbone, letting a sigh escape her lips.

“Me too,” she answered, feeling her eyelids start to get heavy. After all, she had been awake for almost a whole day straight now. She had no idea how she was going to last at work later.

As if reading her mind, Liam reached his arm around her to the side table, where the cordless phone rested. “Call in sick,” he urged, handing her the phone and putting his arm back around her to stroke up and down her back. Alyssa dialed the familiar number, leaving a message at the firm that she wouldn’t be in later. She hung up and tossed the phone to the other side of the couch, leaning further into Liam and resting her head on his shoulder. She pressed a kiss to his neck, feeling his warmth completely engulfing her body.

She hadn’t realized she had fallen asleep until she felt him stand up and begin walking. He stopped at a few doors before finding her bedroom, closing the door with his foot and laying her down gently on the bed. Alyssa made sure to hold onto him in her sleepy haze, not wanting him to leave. She smiled as she felt him lay down next to her, kicking off his shoes and pulling his shirt over his head. He dragged the blankets over them, throwing an arm around her to pull her close to him.

“Go out to dinner with me later tonight,” Liam whispered in her ear. Lyss turned around in his arms and looked up at him through tired eyes.

“I am so confused about what you want from me, Liam. I thought nothing was going to happen, and then I thought we were going to just keep in touch, but then you practically jumped me and if it hadn’t have been for Aimee-”

“I know, I know. But I’m glad Aimee interrupted. As attracted as I am to you, I don’t want to just have a one night thing. I already know I’m not going to be able to get you out of my head, so I need some kind of reassurance that we’ll be in contact. I want to take you to dinner. I want to get your phone number; I want to be able to call you and text you when I’m on the road. I want to be able to come back here and visit you, spend time with you without it being awkward or weird.”

“Wow,” Alyssa giggled, staring up at him through her lashes. “I think once you get to know me you’ll realize I’m not that special and you’ll wish you would have just gone for the sex.”

Liam frowned, brushing the bangs from her eyes as he stared deeply into them, making her feel as though he was looking right through her. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just put yourself down and say that I look forward to working hard for you, because you deserve someone who will.”

Having lost her ability to coherently form sentences at his words, Alyssa lifted her head and pressed her lips against Liam’s, reveling in his soft groan. He rolled over onto his back, chuckling at the small squeal Alyssa gave upon falling on top of him. He pressed his lips to her forehead and tucked her to his side, sighing contentedly. “Goodnight,” Alyssa said into the darkness.

Liam was silent for a moment, listening to himself and his mates singing “One Thing” in the bedroom down the hall. He realized the words were scarily accurate regarding his encounter with Alyssa, and it caused a slow smile to spread onto his face. “Goodnight,” he replied, hearing Aimee turn the music down, as if she knew.

Alyssa did have that one thing though, that one thing he couldn’t describe or put his finger on, but that he knew his friends would understand once he got to tell them about her. He tightened his hold on her at the thought, feeling her return the squeeze as she drifted off to sleep. He had only met her several hours ago. He didn’t know her last name or her favorite film or what she did for a living, but he didn’t care. He was looking forward to learning these things about her, and that was what mattered.

So get out, get out, get out of my head
And fall into my arms instead
I don't, I don't, don't know what it is
But I need that one thing

So get out, get out, get out of my mind
And come on, come into my life
I don't, I don't, don't know what it is
But I need that one thing
Yeah, you've got that one thing
♠ ♠ ♠
Alright so this was the original ending, but I've actually written about 2 chapters worth of extra material for this, so stay tuned. It will be out shortly!!

I know this is a story written for a particular person, but I really would love to hear feedback from the rest of you :)

Enjoy!