Except for that tiny groan that had made my pulse race and my ni**les harden. They were hard even now, aching points of awareness as my backside pressed against him.
Okay, maybe he'd been asleep and hadn't realized that he'd groaned aloud. Maybe he didn't realize that my bottom was pressed up against his groin, and I could feel his c**k growing hard. Guys got boners when they slept, right? Right. No problem. I'd just sneak away, hop into the shower, and make enough noise that would wake him up and we'd go back to our normal companionship.
After all, there were no cameras around right now. There was zero benefit to kissing me. None. Zilch.
I rolled onto my back, slowly, and opened an eye, daring a look at Liam.
He was awake. His hair was nearly dry, he'd shaved, and the look in his eyes was sleepy, but he was awake.
Heat flushed through my body all over again, and I lay there, frozen in place, my heart thumping in my chest. He was inches away from my face, his arm still around my waist.
He'd groaned while awake.
My ni**les were so incredibly hard at the realization. We were in bed together. Alone. For the first time since we'd started this crazy journey, we were alone.
And suddenly, I wanted to kiss him again. I reached out, hesitant, and brushed my fingers along the planes of his jaw. He gave another soft, low groan, but didn't move. His eyes watched me with intensity as I stroked my fingers along his skin, then brushed them against the ring on the side of his lip, the mark that Brodie's elbow had left on his mouth, and then just traced his lips because they were there.
He nipped at my fingers as I did.
I whimpered then, feeling heat pool between my legs. I leaned in closer, until my forehead pressed against his, and my gaze went to his mouth. I hesitated for a moment, then changed the angle, slanting my face so I'd meet with his mouth in a light, teasing kiss.
"Katy," he whispered, my name a mere breath on his lips. And that made me shiver all over again.
I brushed my lips against his once more, then ran my tongue along his lower lip, exploring it. His mouth parted under mine, and I sucked on his lower lip, gently, tasting him. He groaned against me, and his tongue brushed against my lips, a silent entreaty. I angled my mouth against his again, and met his tongue with mine. Suddenly, the kisses changed in intensity from a slow exploration to a wild hunger. The kiss grew deep, and I felt Liam's arm tighten around my waist, dragging me closer to him in the bed. My ni**les brushed against his chest and I gasped, even as his tongue thrust into my mouth.
And then I forgot about everything but that kiss. Because holy hell, the man could kiss. His tongue stud flicked against my mouth, at once foreign and titillating as his tongue stroked over mine. The kiss deepened again, his tongue stroking deep into my mouth, even as his thigh moved over my leg, twining my body with his. I dragged a hand to his hair, wanting to twist my fingers in those dark locks, and gasped when he used his tongue stud to flick against my tongue again. I whimpered when the kiss grew deep once more, as his hips rolled against mine in a suggestive manner that left nothing to the imagination, and felt my own body move in response.
He groaned and his hand slid from my side up to my breast, cupping it. I felt his thumb brush over the hard, aching peak and my cry of pleasure was swallowed into his kiss. I pushed against his hand, need ratcheting upward as our kisses grew more intense.
And then my stomach growled. Loud.
I broke the kiss in horror, my eyes flying open.
Liam chuckled. "Hungry?"
"I…I guess." But he was still giving me that sleepy, delicious look that made me want to fling my arms back around him, roll him onto his back and then straddle those hips that had rocked so deliciously against mine a second ago.
"Your stomach probably has more sense than us," he said in a low voice. "We should eat a big meal and sleep it off before continuing on the race."
"You're probably right," I said, my voice sounding far more normal than I felt. "How long was I asleep?"
"About two hours," he told me, and rolled away to sit on the edge of the bed. "You want to take a shower? We can head out afterward."
"Okay," I said breathlessly, but didn't move. My body was still thinking about that deep, wicked kiss, the way his mouth had moved against mine, the way his hips had ground against my own. That strange and wonderful tongue piercing. His big hand on my breast.
But Liam put on his earbuds and dragged his backpack over to his lap, and began to tap out a song. It was as if I wasn't there all over again. And that made me feel…weird. Like I was just a convenient stand-in for Tesla.
Frowning, I slid off the bed and grabbed my own backpack, heading to the shower.
The shower did a lot to restore my mood. By the time I emerged from it, fresh scrubbed and in a clean set of clothes, I felt almost human again.
Liam sat up when I emerged from the bathroom, my wet hair twisted into a sleek knot on top of my head. "Shall we go out to dinner?"
I smiled, still feeling a little out of sorts after our kiss. "I guess we can't visit Italy and not eat some food before we go, right?"
"Exactly right."
We left our backpacks in the room but kept our necessities - money, passports, room key - with us. I was disappointed to see there was a cameraman waiting in the hall when we left our room, but I supposed that was his job. I ignored it and headed down the hall with Liam, both of us trying to act like we weren't being tailed.
We exchanged a bit more of our money and then walked the city streets, trying to find a place to eat that wouldn't be too pricey. One place smelled absolutely heavenly, but the prices on the street chalkboard were more than I'd wanted to spend.
Liam stopped in front of the restaurant, as if reading my mind. "We could split the food and only spend half the money."
"Now you're talking," I told him, and we headed inside.
As we sat down at one of the tables, I smiled over at Liam and put my napkin in my lap…and froze. This was…
He noticed the weird look on my face and laughed. "This feels like a date, doesn't it?"
I nodded. "You feel it, too?"
"Can't help it," he told me as the waiter approached. He glanced over his shoulder, where the cameraman hovered, still filming. "That kind of kills the mood, though."
That it did.
Our waiter didn't speak a lick of English, but between him and a helpful person at another table, we managed to communicate that we wanted to order one plate and share it. We didn't know what to order, so the waiter suggested in rapid-fire Italian that we get the special of the day. And it wasn't Italian food without wine, so our helper at the next table ordered us two glasses, despite our protests. We looked like a nice young couple, he told us, which made me giggle nervously.