Midnight Summer

Three

A chill goes down my spine the minute those words leave his mouth. I have never kissed someone and I am not sure how it even works. I just don't kiss strangers but Liam has me realising that some things I thought about myself are not true.

The way his eyes study mine makes me feel something foreign settle in my heart. He is attracted to me and so am I. It is only a kiss and by tomorrow maybe he will be gone to Canada and will forget it.

Why do I wish he doesn't? Fuck it. I nod unable to form words. I literally smell like fish. I pull back realising how disgusting I actually smell. Liam looks at me in a daze.
"I smell like fish." I blurt out under his scrutinizing gaze.

"Like hell I care of you smell like a dumpster." Liam surprises me by leaning closer and brushing his lips against mine. Fire. I feel a sudden spark at that moment and I think he feels it too because he pulls back a little before leaning in more and capturing my lips.

Instinctively, our lips begin moving against each other and the more we kiss, the more I get lost in this new feeling. He kisses hard but yet so soft. His lips against mine feel like the sweetest liquor I have ever drunk. Can someone get drunk from just a kiss? I feel drowsy with each stroke of his tongue against mine.

He tastes like strawberry wine and a whiskey, so addicting. I don't want to stop when I feel my toes curling. My stomach is already erupting with butterflies and I can feel an unfamiliar itch between my legs.
By the time we break apart, we are breathless.

Liam keeps his hand on my face like he is trying to memorize how my skin feels.
"That was amazing." he breathes out with a grin.
"The best kiss I have had in my life." Who am I kidding? It is the first kiss I have had and the best in my opinion. I can't picture anyone kissing better than Liam. I can still feel his taste on my tongue and a shadow of his lips on mine. I can't stop the tingling as we grin like fools.

"The feeling is mutual. I just want to kiss you again and again until I can't let go." he murmurs his lips inches away from mine. I want him to kiss me again until the both of us can't breathe. I don't care that tomorrow I have to wake up at seven to go down in the market.

"Then what are you waiting for?" I smirk at him before he closes the gap between us. Who knew the night will end up with me receiving not only one but two kisses from this handsome stranger. Now that I have got a taste of him, I don't want to stop.

I don't know how long we have kissed but we just can't seem to get enough of each other's lips. We have been kissing and then pulling away for air and kissing again.
"We should go before I do something I would regret." I blush at the sight of his erection.

Perhaps we went further than we thought. Liam holds out his hand for me to stand and I proudly take it. I stare at him in a daze when he removes his jacket and puts it on me.
"I don't want you getting cold and sick." he smiles warmly. I feel my inside warm too. No one has ever cared for me like this. It has always been me for myself but now that he is doing this for me, I feel good.

We walk hand in hand and Liam makes sure to pull me closer to him which feels weird at first but then I love it. I want to be close to him forever. Too much for dreaming.

I am not even sure of what we are doing.
"Where are we going?" I ask him when he stops a taxi.
"At my hotel room." I gape at him in horror. I can't. I have work tomorrow and only God knows what time it is.

"Spend the night with me Emma. We don't need to have sex if you don't want and I won't touch you without your approval. I want to spend this night with you doing whatever you want. It sounds insane but I don't want you to go."

My heart is a thumping mess and my brain is already haywire. Why does he have those really nice eyes? They remind me of my favorite blue shirt and make it difficult for me to decline his offer. Hell, I don't want to go too but what happens when the night ends, we both walk separate ways. I think it is a good idea we break up right now before things get more complicated.

"Liam," I beg. My eyes are pleading for him not to push it.
"Please Emma," It comes out like a plea for a helpless broken man. I know deep down I shouldn't go on with it. I should ignore his pleas and get a taxi to my apartment but my heart says otherwise.

"Okay. Just a few hours." I know I have sealed my own destruction when I let that sentence out. Liam grins immediately before opening the cab door for me. All the ride to his hotel is a hush except for his hand holding mine. He keeps rubbing his thumb over my skin which keeps distracting my mind.

I am trying not to over think everything, the whole night. I can't stop myself from feeling whatever I am feeling right now
Everything is new to me and it feels overwhelming. I can see it in his eyes that he is as nervous as me about what is going on but he is handling it rather better than me with keeping a neutral face and giving me that smile that has my insides melting each time.

The driver turns on the radio where a certain song is playing. It is slow just like a love ballad but the only difference is that the singer's voice is soft and high making the lyrics sound condescending and mind capturing.

When the music stops, we are going to turn away.
We are holding onto what's left
Even when we know we are doomed.
We are heading for a fall.

Listening to those lyrics sends something in my heart like pain. I feel Liam's hand hold mine tighter. The lyrics are getting to him as they are getting to me.

Baby forget me not.
Kiss me like we are never ending.
Hold me like this is forever.
Tell me you will always be mine
Because my heart is yours.

"Can you please turn it off? The driver obliges and with the look on Liam's face, we are on the same page. Did such a song have to come at such a time?

"You want to know who sang that song?" he asks and takes the cue to answer when I nod.
"Louis Cornwall. It is called Forget me not."
"You know so much about music, don't you?" I find myself asking.
"Music is like my addiction." he replies. I think my addiction is you. I don't say that a loud but I would want to.

"I didn't even ask. Are you like a real singer or you just sing in small bars faraway from home."
"Something like that." he shrugs not giving a straight answer. I don't push it if he doesn't want to talk about it.

The taxi halts in front of his hotel which looks like a five star hotel. I have never dreamt of staying in such a hotel apart from working there.
"You stay here?" I gape unbelievably.
"Yeah." he replies calmly.

"Oh my God, I am guessing you spent a fortune to get a room."
"Not quite a fortune but it was expensive." he shrugs like it is no big deal. If he is able to stay in this hotel, that means the local bars he sings for pay him some good money.

When Liam senses my hesitation, he quirks a brow to me.
"I can't Liam. Look at how I look and how you look. They are definitely going to chase me away or look at me like rubbish." My face turns in a disgusted look at the last sentence.

"They are not going to chase you and you definitely don't look like rubbish."
If he is trying to calm me down by saying that, it is not working. He looks like he stepped out of a magazine and I, I look like a lost cause.

"How are you sure about that?" I narrow my eyes at him.
"I can't let them do that to you and they won't since you are with me." he murmurs.
"That is not reason enough." I nervously stare at him.

"I also think I am falling for you Emma."