Before Sunrise (14 page)

“
Can I kiss you,
Kay?”

His eyes could barely be seen under the
shadow of his cap. Kennedy got that tingly feeling over her skin,
but this time it was accompanied by a butterfly that seemed to be
trapped within her chest. She felt wild flutters in her heart.

“
Yes, if you take off your
hat,” she said, wanting to see his face.

“
Take it off for me,” he
whispered.

Kennedy removed his cap. She set it behind
her. His hair was pressed down on his head. She touched the damp
strands. Liam just stared into her eyes. She wasn’t afraid. Maybe
she should be. She had built him up in her head to mythical
proportions. Her first real crush, this was a guy she could see
herself with. Her mom would flip out. Not only was he white, but he
wasn’t country-club material, either. Maybe that’s what she liked
about him. Her daddy had grown up in Brooklyn. He told her that he
had been arrested as a kid, and that’s when he turned his life
around. Though her mother had been born into privilege, her daddy
had not. He’d become the handsome, rich and successful banker
through hard work. Kennedy thought she saw some of her daddy in
Liam. Her mind rambled over these things and more, as if to prepare
herself mentally for what was to come next. After all, she had set
this up. She was going to see it through.

His face drew closer. Kennedy lowered her
gaze. All she could see were his full lips and the thin mustache
that reached the corners of his mouth. He had the mouth of a man,
firm lips that seem to lift at the corners with a sly smile. That
excited her. She remained perfectly still. Her eyes crossed when
his lips softly brushed hers. That tender press became sweeter than
anything Sierra’d ever described. Liam eased his tongue in and she
parted her lips. The taste of his barley-laced breath and a hint of
tobacco hit her first. His tongue moved around hers and she did the
same to him. It was easy. Better than easy, it felt nice.

She lifted her arms to his neck and tilted
her head to an angle, which allowed her to perfectly control the
rhythm of their kiss. Other than that, Liam didn’t touch her. He
kept his hands flat to the table. But the kiss went on and on. He
flicked his tongue at the roof of her mouth. He swept it deep, then
he drew it out to run over her lips. There were so many different
ways to enjoy his kiss. She panted, struggling to breathe.

Then he stopped. He licked his lips, and his
gaze dropped to the front of her sundress. Her breasts weren’t
uncovered but her nipples tightened from the way he stared.

“
I think I better take you
back, Kay,” he said, but made no move to step away.

“
No. I don’t want to go
back. I-I want to stay with you.”

Liam glanced up at her, then looked out
behind her. She almost turned to follow his stare when he glanced
back over his shoulder. What was he searching for? He seemed
relaxed when his eyes returned to hers. He wanted the same thing
she did. Kennedy scooted back on the blanket that covered the
wooden planks of the picnic table. She removed her sweater. She set
it aside. Her sundress had spaghetti straps, and stopped barely
mid-thigh, but she reclined. Liam came forward. His hand eased up
the skirt of her dress, and Kennedy closed her eyes.

Liam bent to kiss her exposed skin. She
tried not to giggle. Lying down made the alcohol swirl in her
veins, bubbling a flurry of thoughts to her head. She felt him tug
at her panties and tensed. But she didn’t remove his hands. Opening
her eyes, she saw him ease the yellow satin off her legs.

Sierra had pounded into her head not to
forget the condom. That no matter what happened, to make sure he
used it. Kennedy sat up and reached for her sweater but it fell off
the picnic table to the bench below.

“
I, um, we need protection,”
she said, embarrassed.

Liam paused, looking from her to her
sweater. He sighed. “Relax. I’ll take care of it.”

“
No. I want you to use a
condom. I mean, we have to.”

“
We will,” Liam assured
her.

He kissed her again and she did relax. Liam
reached in his pocket and removed his wallet. She saw he, too, came
prepared. Kennedy closed her eyes, kind of disappointed. If he
carried condoms in his wallet, then that meant he did this with a
lot of girls. The idea of him and another girl made her chest tight
with anger. Her raw emotions were soon soothed when he kissed her,
below.

Kennedy’s eyes flashed open.
She closed her thighs but he pushed them apart and licked her
there. When he reached her clitoris, she shivered. Then he swirled
his tongue in ways she never imagined, never could have imagined,
until she felt the prickle, tingle, all of it build, and pull and
stir pleasure that enveloped her. She squeezed her eyes shut,
embarrassed, but the feeling grew intense, more persistent. She
tried to push his head away. He grabbed her thighs. His hands were
so strong. There would be no release from his hold. Kennedy thought
to warn him, but she only grunted as her body went rigid and to her
horror, she released. The starburst of sensation and warmth flooded
her core and left her gasping in shock. She scrambled back, trying
to recover.
An orgasm
! He’d actually made her come…with his tongue. Sierra had
neglected to mention this part.

Kennedy’s thighs shook. She wanted to curl
up and carry that feeling between her legs with her forever. But
she heard him ripping the condom packet and imagined he already had
his penis out. Before she could catch her breath, he was on her. He
was so heavy that she pushed on his shoulders. Then his hips
shifted and the thickness of his penis bumped at her, seeking
depth.

She stared at the roof of the pavilion with
her eyes so wide they felt cold. This was it. They were going to
make love. Liam licked her neck, then sucked the tiny diamond in
her earlobe and she grabbed his shoulders. He thrust into her.

“
Wait!” she cried.
“It—”
It hurts
,
she screamed inside her head, unable to form the words.

Liam lifted his head and looked at her,
confused, more than a bit dazed. He pushed in a little more and she
dug her long fingernails into his arm. “Kay, what is it?”

She blinked away her tears.

“
Are you—are you a
virgin?”

Kennedy shook her
head
no
.

“
Damn it, don’t lie. Are
you?”

She nodded
yes
, completely
embarrassed.

“
Do you want to stop?
Because I swear, Kay, I don’t think I can.”

“
No, Liam, I want you to do
it. I want it.”

He stared at her for a moment, as if in
disbelief. He’d barely pushed in at all—even she knew that—and it
burned something awful. But she rose up and kissed him to convince
him to continue.

“
Why didn’t you tell me?” he
groaned, coming down on her so their torsos were perfectly aligned.
He thrust into her twice and she swore she felt like she was being
ripped apart. But then his hard length breached her hymen and he
was all the way in.

“
So good, Kay. Mmm, you feel
so good. You’re so tight…fuck.”

Kennedy laid there, waiting, listening to
him take tense, shallow breaths. He started to move. It didn’t feel
good at all. In fact, she was seconds from saying she’d changed her
mind when he lifted his face and the shadows cleared. She could see
his eyes. They were such a clear blue, like the sea under
moonlight. He grabbed her arms in one hand and pinned them above
her head. With the other hand, he reached up to caress her cheek.
He began pumping in and out of her with swift, sure strokes.

“
Put your legs up around my
waist, Kay.”

She did as she was told and
it helped, but not much.
It hurts so
bad.
Kennedy stared into his eyes, focused
on the way he looked at her. It couldn’t go on forever. And he
really seemed to be enjoying it.

“
Damn, Kay. You’re good, so
beautiful. Amazing,” he said between kisses.

Her hands were clutched into fists, her arms
still tightly pinned down at the wrists. Her knuckles rubbed
against the wood planks with each thrust. She stretched her fingers
long, wondering if he planned to free her arms. He pumped harder
and faster and she heard the table creak. He started talking so
dirty in her ear, about her pussy being the best, the hottest, that
she almost giggled. She would have if spasms of pleasure hadn’t
begun to ripple through her, stealing her breath.

Suddenly, he went stiff. He grunted hard and
nipped her earlobe. Kennedy gasped beneath him, finding her own
rhythm. Liam groaned and then shuddered. He started to beat his
cock in and out of her with such fury tears clouded her vision and
then it ended.

He lay on her, breathing hard against her
temple. Her arms were still stretched above her head. She waited
and waited, until he pulled away. His withdrawal burned as much as
his entry. Kennedy hoped the pain would subside quickly. She sat up
and touched herself. When she brought her fingers up to the minimal
light, she saw blood.

“
It’s normal, Kay. It um,
gets better. I…um, you okay?” Liam panted. He tossed his rubber
over to the trash, and then looked at her. His face crumpled in
concern for her. Kennedy wondered what her face must look like.
“Kay? Talk to me. Are you all right?”

“
Yes. It just…it
burns.”

“
Why didn’t you tell me?
Damn, I’m so stupid. How old are you for real? Jesus, please tell
me you’re at least eighteen.”

“
I told you—”

“
Don’t lie to
me!”

His shouting scared her. Her
eyes watered. She wanted to run back to Sierra and get the hell
away from him. He’d fucked her and now he was hollering at her?
Screw him.
Asshole
. She crossed her arms and glared.

“
Okay, I didn’t mean to
yell. But be honest with me. Please. How old are you?”

“
I’m seventeen.”

“
Holy fuck!” he cursed. “I’m
so fucking stupid.”

“
Liam, wait.”

He turned from her with his hands to his
head. Was he angry? She prayed he wasn’t. She was too scared and
confused for him to be angry with her now. He walked over to her
and touched her face, repeating his intimate gesture of just
moments before. The raw beauty of his eyes took her breath
away.

“
You shouldn’t have done
this. We shouldn’t have. You understand? I could go to fucking
jail.”

“
No you can’t. And I won’t
tell anyone.”

“
What is wrong with you? You
don’t know me. I could have been some psycho, you could have gotten
in over your head. Do you understand how stupid this
was?”

She nodded. Then it happened. She burst into
tears. He hugged her to his chest, held her tight to him. She cried
for reasons she didn’t understand. When her tears stopped, he
lifted her chin and kissed her. Suddenly, she felt better. He
kissed away her tears and stroked her face.

“
You are one brave, crazy
girl. You know that?”

She smiled, sniffled, and wiped her cheeks.
“You don’t hate me?”

“
Nah, I think I love you.”
He laughed.

Kennedy grinned.

“
I’m kidding, Kay,” he said,
his eyes widening.

She shook her head. “No, you’re not! You
like me, and now you won’t be able to leave me alone. Will
you?”

Liam picked her up and threw her over his
shoulder. She squealed as he turned her around. Kennedy laughed.
She hurt between her legs, but not as bad as before. Things felt
normal again, right. He lowered her to her feet, and then stooped
to pick up her panties. When she went to get her sweater he spoke
behind her. “You got, um…there’s…on the back of your dress.”

“
What?”

Kennedy looked over her shoulder, extending
her skirt to reveal spots of blood. “Oh, no.”

“
Come on.” He took her hand
and led her into the public restroom. The light buzzed on when they
walked inside. “Take it off.”

“
Huh?”

“
Take off the dress, let me
scrub it out. You can wrap the sweater around your waist when we
walk back.”

Kennedy’s gaze swept the room. It looked
kind of grimy. He stood there in the light, with a smirk. They’d
had sex, but he hadn’t seen her body. Seeing her body was
different. And he was holding her panties.

“
Well?”

Kennedy nibbled her bottom lip, considering
her next move.

“
Look, I’ll turn
around….”

“
It’s okay.” She zipped the
dress down and stepped out of it, then held it out to him. Liam
didn’t speak. He just stared at her body. Did he think she was fat?
Her hips and breasts were overly developed but her waist was tiny
and her stomach flat. Her thighs were shapely but slender.
“Something wrong?” she asked.

“
Wow, you’re sex—um,
beautiful. I knew it, but damn.” He pulled his Green Day T-shirt
off and handed it to her. Kennedy took her time pulling it down
over the front of her breasts, realizing it barely slipped to the
curve of her thighs. She smiled when she saw him trying not to
stare at the vee of her sex. “Thank you, Liam.”

“
I must be out of my goddamn
mind,” he took the dress to the sink. She watched him scrub the
stain under cool water. It just turned into a wider pink stain on
the white linen fabric. There wasn’t much more he could
do.