by Blythe Reid
“Come on, babe,” he said, leaning closer to me. He brushed the back of his hand against my cheek and my breath hitched in my throat. I wasn’t supposed to get this worked up over some asshole I barely knew.
I shook my head but I’d already decided to do it. Maybe that was because I was drunk. Maybe it was because Liam was extremely hot.
“Fine,” I said and scribbled my number on a napkin for him.
“Now, pretty lady, I want to dance with you,” he said after pocketing my number.
He held out his hand and I took it, letting him lead me to the dance floor. I was unsteady on my feet – I’d had more than I’d realized – and I was glad for his support. When we stepped onto the dance floor I tripped and stumbled but Liam caught me, my body pressed up against him. I looked up into those blue eyes and they were darker than they’d been before, pupils dilated.
“Watch your step,” he breathed but he started moving, keeping me against him, the beat of the song pulsating through him.
He gyrated his hips against mine and it was impossible to miss how hard he was through his jeans. I wanted him. Need washed through my body, tightening the muscles at my core. Liam dipped his head and he kissed me. He tasted amazing – like alcohol and the promise of something darker.
We moved to the music like this, his body flush against mine, the line of his sex pressing against my crotch and I ached for something more.
“Come with me,” Liam mumbled against my lips.
I was past the point where I wanted to say no. A small voice at the back of my head screamed that he wanted more than what I was willing to offer but it competed against the alcohol and the burning desire at the pit of my stomach.
Liam led me away from the thumping music.
“Should we be here?” I asked when he led me into the VIP area.
“Absolutely,” Liam said. He led me to the VIP bathroom and locked us inside. The music was a dim thud in the background and the two of us were alone in the stall. Liam didn’t waste any time. He pushed me up against the wall, pinning my body with his and kissed me again.
His tongue snaked into my mouth, his hips grinding against my crotch. I moaned and gasped, melting into my panties.
“You’re so fucking hot, baby,” Liam said through his kisses. He ran his hands down my body. I wore a low-cut top and a skirt tonight and in no time at all his hands were under my shirt on my bare skin.
Liam’s head was in my neck, his lips on my skin. He kissed and nibbled his way down as his hands found my breasts, pulling down the cups of the bra. He found my nipples and rolled them between his thumbs and forefingers and I cried out. My hands were in his dark hair, tugging a little.
“Yeah, baby,” Liam mumbled in my neck.
One hand stayed on my breast. The other moved down, pulling up my skirt so that it sat around my waist. Without ceremony, Liam pulled the G-string aside and pushed his fingers into my slit. I moaned softly, the feeling a surprise and exactly what I wanted, all at the same time.
His fingers played at my clit and I moaned, my body shuddering as he worked me up into a frenzy. I gasped and moaned. An orgasm built inside me, pleasure flowing through my body, spreading from my core as he fingered me.
“Come for me, baby,” Liam said and the orgasm shattered through me. The wave of pleasure rendering me useless. I was blinded by the surge of pleasure before it subsided.
Liam’s eyes were a bright blue, dark, his pupils so dilated I could barely see the rim of color around it. His lips were parted, his tongue darting out to lick his lips and I knew what he wanted.
Sex.
I could suddenly think clearer. I tugged my skirt down and stepped to the side, out of Liam’s reach.
“I have to go,” I said.
“What?”
“Thank you for a great evening,” I said and turned around. I opened the door and slipped out of the bathroom before Liam could do anything to call me back.
3
Liam
On Monday morning, Harper was still on my mind. I was pissed off that she’d taken so much and left without giving anything in return. An orgasm wasn’t a form of currency or anything but it was an unspoken rule in the world of casual fucking that to get a little, you gave a little.
And she hadn’t given at all, the cold-hearted minx. The word ‘cock tease’ came to mind yet again. There would always be those, wouldn’t there? The hottest ones, the ones that knew just how to fuck with your ego and get away with it.
Yeah, that was what the little tart had done. I’d spent so much time at the bar talking to her, getting her to open up to me and in the end, it had all been a fucking waste of my time.
Perfect.
And I still couldn’t get the woman out of my mind. When I closed my eyes, I saw the long blonde hair and those oceanic eyes again. Those curves. And the sound of her moaning still echoed in my mind.
It was infuriating that she’d left me hanging. Fuck, blue balls wasn’t just a myth.
When Joel had found me again almost two hours after him and I had gone our separate ways to ‘divide and conquer’, I’d lied and told him I’d fucked someone just so he could clap me on the back and not think I’d wasted so much of my time on a woman that hadn’t wanted to give me an inch.
It was such a fucking turn off. And a turn on. Yeah, that was the part that really pissed me off. I still wanted her. In fact, I wanted her more, now, than I had before. Why? Because she was hard – no, impossible – to get. And women like that made me come in my pants just thinking about it.
I had to have her. It had gone from a matter of taste to a fucking matter of pride.
I dug in the pocket of my suit pants and pulled out the napkin that she’d used to write her number down for me. Why the hell had she given me this when she’d been so utterly uninterested? Or was that part of the game she played? What if she’d given me false digits?
I wouldn’t put it past her.
When I dialed the number, it rang and I cleared my throat. I waited for someone else to answer for the lie to be complete.
“Harper speaking?” she answered and for a moment I froze. “Hello?”
I swallowed hard. “Harper. It’s Liam.”
She hesitated. “Liam? Where did you get my number?”
I frowned. “You gave it to me, babe.” She didn’t remember that? Well, that explained a lot.
“Right, I remember,” she said. Liar. “Uh… how are you?”
“Aching for a release, sweetheart.”
She chuckled and I could imagine her blushing.
“I’m at work,” she said.” I can’t really have a conversation like this right now.”
“So, meet me for lunch. When is your break?” I asked. I glanced at the clock. It was almost one.
“Now, actually. At one.”
Perfect. “What’s close to your office?” I asked.
“Blu Jam Café,” she said.
That was close to me, too, coincidentally. That meant she worked close. I wasn’t going to ask where – I wasn’t going to get creepy on her.
“Meet me there,” I said.
She hesitated.
“Come on, babe,” I said when she didn’t answer.
“Don’t call me that.”
I chuckled. “I’m going to stick to babe because you’re a total hottie. And the way I see it, you owe me for running out on me on Saturday. That kills a man, in case you didn’t know. Have lunch with me.” Lunch wasn’t nearly as bad as what I wanted to do to her, but I wasn’t going to say that.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll be there.”
I smiled. “I’ll be the guy with the handsome face,” I said and hung up before she could respond. I left my office to go to Blu Jam right away. I was in charge and leaving a few minutes early was a total perk.
Blu Jam café wasn’t the type of place I usually went to. Tiled floors and a raw brick wall, wide windows looking out over the street and dark leather booths made the place look homey. I sat down at one
of the booths by the window and waited.
She arrived ten minutes past one. I saw her the moment she walked through the door – her hair was tied up in a high ponytail, making her delicate face look even more so and she wore a dress suit that flared out from the waist so that her curves were accentuated. The suit was a mint green and it made her eyes look amazing.
“I came as soon as I could,” she said, sitting down.
“Thank you for meeting me,” I said. She looked at my clothes.
“You look different in a suit,” she said.
“Welcome to real life attire,” I said and she laughed. It skipped around me and I wanted to say more things that made her laugh just to hear it again.
A waitress arrived. We both ordered coffee.
“Now that we have that out of the way,” I said when the waitress left, “I have unfinished business with you.”
Harper blushed. Sitting across from me in a mediocre café wearing office clothes she didn’t look like the daring woman she’d been on Saturday. She was still a goddess but she was reserved, unsure. Shy.
“I’m sorry about that,” she said.
I blinked at her. An apology was the last thing I’d expected from her. An excuse, a sassy remark maybe, but not an apology.
“What happened?” I asked.
She looked around the café like the answer would be hiding between the other diners.
“I have a confession to make,” she said.
I blinked at her.
“Oh, God,” I said. “You’re married.” Of course, a woman as gorgeous as her would be taken.
She looked stunned for a moment before she laughed, surprised.
“No, no. I’m not married. I’m a virgin.”
“A what?”
She blushed. “Don’t make me say it again,” she said.
“No,” I said. “I heard you.” I just didn’t understand it. The waitress arrived with our coffee, giving us a break. The waitress didn’t stick around for long and when she left Harper looked like she wanted the woman to come back.
“You’re bullshitting me, right?” I asked. It couldn’t be real. She was too hot. She was too much of a tease.
Harper shook her head and I watched her, looking for something, anything that would give her away. There was nothing. In fact, she looked so damn unsure of herself right now, so innocent, that I had to believe her.
“Fuck,” I said under my breath. Her eyes shot up to mine and I lifted my hands. “Sorry. It’s just… unbelievable.”
She shrugged and stirred her coffee around and around, not making eye contact.
I turned it around in my mind, cradled the information like the rarity it was. The more I thought about it, the more unbelievable it was. An unbelievable turn on.
Harper was a virgin. No man had been in there. She hadn’t been fucked before. The more I thought about it the hotter it became. I’d wanted her before because she was hot as hell, but now…
“Why?” I asked. “If you don’t mind sharing?”
She looked up at me and a little bit of tension left her face. She pulled one shoulder up in a shrug and the gesture was cute.
“I haven’t found the right guy, yet.”
“So, nothing about religion or saving yourself for marriage or anything?”
She shook her head, her cheeks flushed again.
“It’s just because I haven’t found the right guy.”
I sat back in the booth.
“Well,” I said. “I’m sure the way we kicked it off must have been a shock, then.”
She did that one-shoulder shrug again.
“How about dinner?” I asked. “Tomorrow night. No strings attached. Just food and getting to know each other.”
She frowned at me. “Just dinner?” she asked.
I nodded. “Just dinner.”
“I have a confession of my own,” I said. If she was going to be this open with me, she deserved something in return.
“You’re not a virgin,” she said and I chuckled.
“No,” I said. “I’m not.” I was far from it. “But I do have a daughter. She’s six.”
Harper’s lips parted, surprised. After the side she’d seen of me, I didn’t blame her.
“Are you married?” she asked, throwing my previous question back at me.
I shook my head and shielded myself from the feelings that threatened to choke me every time I had to answer that question. “No, my wife passed away.”
Harper breathed in sharply. “I’m sorry,” she said.
“So am I,” I said softly.
We sat in silence for a moment.
“What’s your daughter’s name?” she asked.
“Kenna,” I said. I usually didn’t mention Kenna. I never needed to. But this was different. We both had something we were guarding from the world and that made me feel like we were equals, somehow.
Harper nodded. “Okay,” she said. “Dinner.”
4
Harper
Dinner seemed a lot safer than going to a bathroom with Liam. In hindsight, that might not have been the best idea. Apparently, I’d given him my number, too. I couldn’t remember doing that.
When he’d phoned I’d been shocked at first, but it turned out Liam was more than just a dick.
I drove across town, following my GPS. When I stopped in front of the gate, I leaned forward and looked up through my windscreen.
The place was massive. It was a modern mansion; a white architectural wonder with large windows looking out in all directions and hidden lights illuminating the night.
“Come on in,” Liam’s voice crackled over the intercom speaker and the gate opened slowly. I drove in and parked in front of one of five garage doors. The front door opened and Liam stepped out. He wore a cotton shirt that gaped open enough to show a bit of dark chest hair. He wore khaki pants with it and loafers that looked expensive.
“This is a great place,” I said when I got out. I wasn’t going to be tacky and ask what he did, too.
“Oh, thank you,” Liam said. “Come inside.” When I walked through it, the interior was just as breathtaking as the exterior. The entrance hall was filled with abstract art. Liam led the way to a living room with a wet bar along the one wall.
“Can I pour you a drink?” he asked. “Wine?”
“Please,” I said. I needed something to take the edge off. I’d been nervous coming here. Standing in Liam’s house, now, I was completely out of my depth.
I looked around. Everything was neat and clean but there were signs that Liam wasn’t a bachelor – a box with toys in the corner, a Princess Sophia children’s couch in front of the television, a forgotten doll on the coffee table.
“Where’s Kenna?” I asked.
“She’s at my mom for the night,” Liam said. “She helps me out whenever I need a sitter.”
“It’s great that you’ve got it all worked out so well,” I said.
Liam smiled. “It doesn’t always work out the way I need it to, but we make the best of it.”
He poured wine for us both. It looked a lot like a date with Kenna not being here. I would have thought she would be here and he would just introduce me as a friend. Maybe it wasn’t that simple.
Liam passed me the wine and I took a sip.
“This is good,” I said.
“It’s a Heitz Cabernet Sauvignon, one of the California classics,” Liam said. He knew wine. Was there anything sexier than a man who knew wine?
Liam walked to the couch and sat down. I followed him and sat down next to him. He was so hot. If he was this attractive when we were both sober, I was in trouble. I’d hoped that the attraction had been related to alcohol alone and that I would find him average when I spent time with him, sober.
I’d been wrong. Liam was GQ magazine handsome, he dressed himself well and he was filthy rich. There had to be something terrible about him.
Except, his wife had died and he raised their daughter, alone. God, there was nothing I could find
wrong with this guy, so far. Not even his player attitude at the club could be a problem now because he was perfectly gallant.
I was in serious trouble.
I shifted a little toward Liam. I wanted to be close to him. I wanted the warmth of his body on my skin again. I wanted to smell his cologne the way I had when he’d been kissing me in the club. Was I playing with fire? Yes, yes, I was.
Liam turned toward me, his knee pressing lightly against my leg and I was aware of how close he suddenly was.
“Thank you for coming,” he said.
“Thank you for having me,” I said. My voice was breathy. Liam smiled.
“I have to admit,” he said. “I find you extremely attractive.”
I swallowed. I was here because he’d said we would do dinner and conversation, we would get to know each other. But the sexual tension was so thick all around us I could barely breathe around it. I wanted him.
Liam kissed me as if he knew what I was thinking and I didn’t stop him. Or maybe he was aching for me the same way I ached for him. His hand slid behind my hair on my neck and he kissed me with authority and power. He was in charge and I loved it. He came across as a god, an Adonis, and I was his damsel in distress.
Liam’s hand didn’t stay behind my neck very long. He slid his hand down to my shoulder, onto my chest and onto my breast. He pulled me against him. His skin was hot through his shirt and I wanted it off his body, suddenly.
But, no, I told myself. I had to control myself. I lost myself so easily around him and I had to see that as a red flag. It wasn’t a good thing.
His tongue slid into my mouth and I let him taste and explore me.
I cupped Liam’s cock, squeezing softly. I wasn’t usually as forward as he was – but I wanted to touch him. I had an ache for him at my core that I’d never had for someone before. I’d touched myself plenty of times, but I’d never considered letting a man fuck me good and hard. Not until I found the right one. Then? All bets were off.
Liam made a small moaning sound at the back of his throat when I did.
“I want you to suck me off, baby,” he said and nipped at my lips. “I need to watch you take all eight inches of this cock in your mouth and own it.”
