by M. S. Parker
Actually, it had only gotten worse every time I saw Liam and watched as he deliberately averted his gaze.
I was pretty sure I remembered all of last night – had I done something and forgotten about it?
He sure as hell seemed to be determined to ignore me today.
Not that it bothered me, I insisted to myself, rolling onto my back and staring up at the sky.
The water lapped at my body, and I thought that I could just happily stay like this.
A couple of the people I’d met up with earlier shouted my name.
Shifting to tread water, I cocked my head, listening.
“We’re ready for lunch. You?”
“No, but you go on,” I called back.
A few more lingered in the water, closer to shore – and Liam – than I was.
Liam.
He was driving me nuts.
I stopped treading water and started to swim, lazy strokes at first, then faster. Harder.
I was out of breath when I stopped, and I looked back toward the shore, a little dismayed by how far I’d swam. I started back, well aware that I needed to be more careful.
I didn’t know how far I went before the muscle cramp all but seized my entire body, emanating from my left leg.
I went under, choking on water. Scrambling and clawing, I fought my way back to the surface. I opened my mouth to shout for help, but I was still half-choking on the water, and nothing came out.
I went under again.
I was a good swimmer, a strong one. But I’d never had this happen, and panic swept through me, eradicating any rational thought.
I clawed my way to the surface once more – or I tried.
My left leg felt all but useless, and the muscle cramp all but had me ready to sob, it hurt so bad.
My lungs screamed for air.
I beat ineffectively at the water, but the surface seemed to be getting farther away…and darker.
Vaguely, I saw a dark shape come between me and the surface.
Helplessly, I lifted a hand toward it as the darkness swam in closer, closer, closer…
A strong arm around my middle caught me, pulling me back against an equally strong body. The pressure on my belly had me gagging, but I fought it back.
Reality started to set in, and I began to shiver, even as Liam swam us both back to the shore – and safety.
Several people were gathered around, and he barked for them to get out of the way as he hauled me up into his arms.
I shivered again, wishing I could sink into that warmth.
A coughing fit overcame me, and Liam lowered me to the sand where I emptied myself of the salt water I’d choked on. The second he put my weight down on my feet, though, the muscle in my leg knotted up on me and I gasped in agony.
“What in the hell were you thinking, swimming out so far?” he demanded, grabbing my shoulders and hauling me closer.
Water sparkled off his eyelids and drops clung to his lashes.
“I…” I started to tell him, but my leg knotted up again, and I whimpered, sinking to the sand with my affected leg curling up underneath me.
Some of the pain I was feeling must have shown on my face because his features thawed a little, and he reached for my ankle, slowly drawing my leg out. I whimpered again.
“You cramped up,” he said softly.
I nodded, blinking back tears. My head was spinning from the adrenaline, and my heart raced inside my chest.
“Come on.” Liam picked me up, settling me once more against his chest. “Let’s get you out of here.”
I turned my face into his chest as he walked, more than willing to get away from the prying eyes of those who’d been watching.
I felt stupid, silly. I knew better than to swim so far from the shore alone, but I’d done it anyway.
Part of me had wanted to be reckless, to challenge Liam in the face of his unbreakable calm.
Well, I’d gotten through his wall.
He was pissed.
I could still feel the anger burning in him when we reached my bungalow, and I waited for him to put me down, but he managed to brace my weight against his body, keeping me off my feet as he swiped the keycard.
I nudged the door open.
The air-conditioned, chilly air made me shiver even harder, and Liam carried me over to the couch, dumping me onto the top of it with little ceremony. But then he picked up a blanket and wrapped it around my shoulders.
I clung to it.
“Let me see your leg.” He sat next to me on the couch, closer than he’d ever gotten to me.
He stretched my leg out once more, then cupped the back of my thigh where the muscle continued to cramp and knot up.
He dug his fingers into the knot.
I groaned. “That hurts,” I complained.
“It will keep hurting until you work the cramp out too,” he replied. And he set about doing just that, rubbing, stroking, at times digging into my muscle. Bit by bit, the cramp eased.
And my head got clearer.
Slumped back against the couch, I closed my eyes.
“You saved my life,” I said.
His hands slowed in their task slightly, then he resumed. “Doing my job, ma’am.”
I lapsed into silence, staring at his averted face as he worked on my leg.
“I think it’s gone now,” I said softly after a few more minutes.
It had actually started feeling better a while back, but I’d enjoyed the feel of his hands on me a little too much to make him stop just yet.
He eased my leg off his lap and turned to face me. “Are you alright? You weren’t under for long, but you obviously swallowed some salt water. How are you feeling?”
“Foolish,” I admitted. “I know better than to swim so far out. I wasn’t paying attention. Thank you.” He went to shrug, but I put my hand on his shoulder. “Seriously, Liam…thank you.”
He looked at me then, mouth parted as if he was going to say something.
But no words came out.
This time, I didn’t ask him to kiss me.
I kissed him.
It was a quick, easy kiss…or it should have been. He tensed and broke away.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He shook his head and got up. “I’m glad I was there to help, Mila,” he said, his voice stilted. Formal, even.
I’d rather he yell at me like he had on the beach.
“Are you mad I kissed you?” I asked him as he turned his back on me.
He glanced over his shoulder. He didn’t look at me. It was more like he was giving the appearance of that consideration, because his gaze stayed far, far from mine.
“I’m not mad,” he said calmly.
“Then why are you so tense now? What’s with the wall you keep shoving between us?”
He rose from the couch and paced a few feet away before turning to look at me. There was a faint flush to his cheeks as he met my eyes. “There is no wall. I work for you – for your father, at least. And as for your kiss…you should save it for somebody who appreciates you the right way.”
He went to turn.
“I think you could appreciate me just fine,” I said softly.
He looked back at me then, and for a few seconds, there was no wall. It was just…him. A bleak look crossed his face. “I doubt that.”
15
Liam
I’d hoped she’d let it go at that.
But what was I thinking?
Mila apparently didn’t understand letting go.
She came after me, putting her hand on my shoulder. I froze where I stood, torn between the need to shrug her touch away and just…feel it. No. I wanted more than just her hand on my shoulder, but I sucked at this.
That had been made more than clear during my one and only attempt.
“What makes you think you can’t appreciate me the right way?”
She’d circled around to stand in front of me and now met my gaze with her chin up and her eyes solemn.
I wanted to cup that chin in my hand, press my mouth back to hers. That kiss had been so fleeting, I had no idea how she tasted, and I suddenly wanted to know. Badly.
But…
“Because I’m no good at…this,” I told her, forcing the words out of a tight throat.
She blinked, shaking her head. “This?”
“Sex,” I finally growled.
Hoping she’d leave it alone now that I’d completely humiliated myself, I cut around her.
But Mila wasn’t done.
“What makes you think you’re no good at sex?”
Frustrated and pissed, I spun around and faced her. “Because the one time I ever had sex, the woman made damn sure to tell me I sucked at it, okay?”
Mila’s mouth parted.
I waited for the laughter.
It didn’t come. Her eyes narrowed after a few more seconds, then she smoothed her hair back with her hand. A slow smile bowed her lips up, and she said, “I need a shower and to get out of this wet bathing suit.” Her eyes dipped to linger on my chest, where the t-shirt I’d never bothered to strip off still clung to me. “And I think you should join me.”
“Uh…”
I gaped at her as she walked by, and she stopped in the doorway to turn and look at me. “It takes two to make great sex, and it takes two to make lousy sex. Whatever went wrong last time wasn’t entirely your fault. And I can prove it.” She held out a hand. “Come on.” She winked. “I’m an expert at this, remember. I know what I’m talking about.” When I didn’t move, she added, “This is both our jobs, remember? You’re protecting me while I provide you sexual freedom.” She licked her lips. “You did your job. Let me do mine.”
I told myself to turn away. To leave. I didn’t need the kind of trouble this would bring me. But instead of turning away, I reached out and folded my fingers around hers. She backed the rest of the way into the bathroom, her eyes on mine.
Without batting an eyelash, she stripped the top of her bikini off and let it fall to the floor. I could no more have stopped myself from looking at her than I’d be able to stop myself from breathing.
Mila didn’t cover herself or act like it bothered her to have me look either. Instead, she arched her back and smiled at me, moving in closer. She reached for the hem of my wet t-shirt.
I told myself one more time that this wasn’t smart.
But I was past the point of caring.
After she stripped my shirt off, she reached for her bikini bottoms, shucking them off in a quick, neat motion. She moved over to the shower and sent me a coy look. “I’ll leave you to handle your shorts, and I won’t look…for now.”
My heart thundered in my ears as she gave me a view of her long, slender back. Her waist dipped in before flaring out, and the curve of her hips, the lines of her ass had me clenching my fingers in want.
My hands felt like clumsy sticks on the end of my arms as I went to work my wet shorts off.
Mila kept her word, keeping her back to me as she adjusted the water, then moved over to the sink. She rummaged around in the drawer and pulled something out. My face heated as I saw what it was.
Condoms.
I hadn’t even thought that far ahead.
For a few seconds, I thought just maybe I should get out while I was still ahead. But Mila slid into the shower in the next moment and called out, “Come on, Liam…I’m waiting. Don’t be nervous. I won’t bite…much.”
And damn if that didn’t make my cock throb.
I liked the idea of her biting me a little more than I would have expected.
Slowly, I moved toward the shower, leaning forward to look around the edge. She stood under the spray, her back still facing me.
I took another step, then another.
She turned and reached out, catching my hand. Then, with that same cat’s smile on her face, she pulled me the rest of the way into the open-front shower.
She wrapped her arms around my neck and pressed her body to mine.
Heat exploded through me.
“You can touch me, you know,” she said, rising up on her toes to press a kiss to my jawline. “I won’t break.”
Slowly, I settled my hands on her waist.
She moved her mouth to my ear, and I closed my eyes as she bit me lightly. “Is that the only place you want to touch me?”
I shook my head, but when she drew back, putting space between us, I had to fight the urge, again, to back away. She caught my right hand and guided it to her breast. “How about we start here?”
She filled my hand, and the dark skin of her nipple taunted me. I licked my lips as I stroked my thumb across the lower curve of her breast.
“Do you want to put your mouth on me?” she asked.
I nodded.
“Then do it. Suck my nipple into your mouth, Liam. I’ll like it.”
I went slowly, ducking my head and taking the rigid flesh between my lips. She gasped out.
I froze.
“Don’t stop,” she said. “I promise I’ll tell you if I don’t like something…and I’ll tell you when I do like something too. And I like your mouth on me, Liam. Suck on me harder…harder…ahh…” She cupped the back of my neck, urging me on. “Just like that.”
I gripped her hip with my free hand, and letting pure instinct rule me, rolled my hips against her.
The soft pad of her belly met my cock, the water making us both slippery wet.
Pleasure jolted through me. I pumped against her again, still sucking on her nipple as she whispered and groaned.
I broke away when she tugged on my shoulders. “The other side feels neglected,” she said with a teasing smile.
I glanced down before slowly cupping the other breast.
She tugged me with her until she was leaning against the wall. “I’m heavy,” I protested when she pulled me closer.
“I know. I want to feel it…feel you. Keep on touching me, Liam. And turn your brain off. Some things are all about…instinct.” She whispered the word against my lips before teasing them with her tongue.
I opened my mouth, desperate and determined to have her taste.
She made it easy, licking her tongue into my mouth, bringing an echo of the ocean with her.
She kissed me hungrily, and I was all but starving for air when she finally broke away. Her head fell back, and she guided my mouth to her neck. “There. Suck on me there…bite me.”
I did, my hands going to her breasts again.
She shivered against me, and I lifted my head to peer into her eyes, but they were closed, her mouth open. I went back to tracing the line of her neck with my mouth, curious to discover everything I could.
And Mila made it so easy.
She made noises of pleasure as I slid my lips from her neck down to her breasts again.
I had to duck my head to take the swollen peak between my lips, and that pulled my body farther away than I liked. I wanted to feel more of her, not less.
Logic decided to pay a visit. I could pick her up…and so I did, bracing her with a forearm under her hips while using my free hand to mold her other breast. She was incredibly soft – except where she wasn’t. Like her hard, tight nipple stabbing into the roof of my mouth as I sucked her deep inside.
Her other nipple was hard as a pebble as I rolled it and tugged on it.
She whimpered, and I froze, jerking my head up.
She caught my head between her hands and guided me back to where I was. “Turn your brain off,” she said again. “Just…feel…”
She moved against me then, shifting and wiggling until her knees hugged my hips.
She moved again, and it was like lightning had replaced my blood. I felt the wet heat between her thighs kiss my cock, and I thought it would drive me crazy.
She moved again, and this time, I moved with her. It sent my dick sliding across that wetness, and I shuddered.
“Put me down,” Mila said just before I thought I’d explode from the pleasure. I was shuddering with the need
to do more than rock against her, but I obeyed. She caught my hand, and holding my eyes, guided it between her thighs. “Touch me here.”
Bracing my free arm against the wall of the shower, I buried my face against her neck as I cupped her.
She rocked her hips forward, a greedy moan rising in her throat. “More,” she demanded. “Touch me, Liam. Find out what I like. Show me what you like.”
I slid my finger along the slick folds and found her entrance.
“Yes…”
She worked a hand between us, and I jerked when she wrapped her fingers around my cock and began to pump.
All but mindless at her touch, I thrust my finger into her wet heat.
She arched closer. “Just…yeah…that’s…Liam, that’s good. Go faster, please…I want you to make me come.”
She pumped my cock.
Lost to everything but her, I began to thrust my finger harder, faster, feeling the hot suction of her pussy grasp at me. Adding a second finger caused her to moan harder, and I curved them until she hissed out my name.
“More…” she begged.
Yeah, a lot more.
Then she bucked against me and her legs buckled, and she started to convulse, her entire body clenching. “Mila?”
“Don’t stop,” she panted, working herself against my hand. I realized she’d slid her free hand between her thighs and I drew back, staring at her as she stroked herself.
“I love having my clit played with,” she said when I glanced back up at her.
“Can I…”
She wiggled around, reaching between her thighs again, adjusting my hand. “Now…use your thumb. That’s it…” She shuddered against the wall. “Right there. Circles. I like circles. Not too hard…Liam!”
I recognized the plaintive tone in her voice, so this time, I didn’t stop, fumbling until I found a rhythm that had her moving against my hand while she gripped my biceps and squeezed.
She came again, and I closed my eyes, pressed my face to her neck.
“See?”
I lifted my head and met her eyes.
“You most certainly don’t suck at this, Liam.”
She curled her hand around my cock and arched her back off the wall, the position lifting her breasts.
