by Lori Wilde
It was time to let go of his fears. Time to understand there was something valuable to be had in this experience. Time to realize there was always something new to learn, always valuable insights to be gained. His life did not have to be buried in work, success and the pursuit of revenge.
“Make love to me, Liam,” she begged.
“Dammit, woman.” His cock throbbed as he watched her touch herself.
“You know what you gotta do to have me.”
Liam stalked across the patio. He grabbed her by the shoulders, pinned her against the chaise and kissed her with a fierceness that pulled a feral growl from his throat.
Katie let out a soft, whispered breath.
In that moment, her small sigh told him something important. She had goaded him into this because whenever things started to get emotionally intimate between them, she reached for a physical remedy.
Katie Winfield, he now recognized, was afraid of her tender feelings.
The seductress image was all a ruse, a protective defense mechanism she hid behind. She cloaked her real self with sexy clothing, adventurous sex and casual relationships. The real Katie disappeared inside parties and flirtatious behavior and frisky role-playing. But there was so much more to her than her sexuality.
Here, with his body pressed against her, he could feel the emotional surging of this deeper, richer, more complex personality. He wondered if she even understood the dynamics of her alluring behavior. Somehow, he doubted it.
Liam felt himself dragged down into the tempting whirlpool of mystery. They stared into each other’s eyes and his world narrowed to one simple thing.
Katie.
She was right. He couldn’t resist her.
Compelled, Liam scooped a giggling Katie into his arms and carried her back toward the bedroom. She nibbled on his upper arm, driving him straight to distraction. He couldn’t wait to get out of his clothes and into her.
He laid her gently down on the bed, but immediately, she popped to her feet.
“Let’s do it on the floor.” With a wicked gleam in her eyes, she reached for his belt buckle.
“The bed’s more comfortable,” he said, tussling his T-shirt over his head as she pulled his belt through the loops in a sensuous slither of leather.
“The floor’s more adventuresome.” She undid the snap on his jeans.
“Adventuresome sex makes me come too fast. For once, I want to take things nice and slow.” He kicked off his shoes. “Which is damned hard to do.”
“How about on the bathroom counter in front of the mirror?” She tugged down his zipper.
“How about you resting on fresh sheets with a pillow tucked under your beautiful butt while I find new ways of pleasuring you with my tongue?” He wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“How about in the swimming pool?” She tugged both his jeans and his underwear down his hips in one fluid motion, releasing his aching erection from its restraints.
Liam kicked out of the jeans. Feeling giddier than he had the first time he’d made love, he flung himself onto the bed, grinned at her wolfishly and patted the spot beside him. “Come here, Miss Winfield.”
KATIE SHOOK her head. Her throat constricted and her fingers went inexplicably numb. “How about we do it on the kitchen table?”
He lay on his side, propped up on his elbow. He looked like a lion, long and lean and powerful. “I know you like adventure, sweetheart, but there’s something to be said for tradition. Let’s just rock this bed till the slats break.”
Sweetheart.
It was the first time Liam had ever called her sweetheart. The word formed a precious knot of terror inside her stomach.
She shook her head. “How about in the shower?”
Liam sat up, cocked his head and gave her the strangest look. “What’s wrong with the bed?”
Katie shrugged. How could she begin to explain this nameless sense of dread at the thought of sinking down onto the mattress with him?
A look of sudden insight crossed his face. “You’re afraid to make love in a bed.”
“I’m not,” Katie denied.
“Then prove you’re not afraid. Come here.”
Katie stayed at the door. Her knees wavered strange and loose and her hands were shaking. “I don’t have to prove anything to you.”
“Why, you’re stone-cold terrified.”
“No one is scared of making love in a bed,” she scoffed, but her voice came out breathless, airy.
He held out a hand, curled his fingers in a come-hither gesture.
She hung back.
“What’s wrong? I thought you were hot for this?”
She shrugged.
“Katie?”
“It just feels weird.”
“It’s not weird. You’re used to hiding behind masks and darkened movie theatres and the shadow of midnight.”
“Not necessarily.”
“And you like it hard and fast and anonymous. When you have sex, you pretend to be someone else, don’t you? A French maid, a 1920s movie siren, a good-girl blue blood gone bad.”
“I don’t,” she squeaked.
“What are you so afraid of, Katie?” he murmured.
“I’m not afraid,” she denied. But it was true. All of it. She’d never made love in a bed and she preferred having wild, quick sex in adventurous places while role-playing. “I like sex to be exciting and spontaneous and innovative and—”
“Impersonal,” he finished.
“That’s not what I was going to say.”
“Maybe not, but it’s accurate.”
Until this moment, until he’d called her on it, she’d never caught on that she avoided having sex in a bed. She thought it was because she was impulsive and creative, but now she knew that wasn’t the truth. Now she understood the reason why she’d eschewed beds for floors and swimming pools and closets and movie theatres. Why risk and danger and quick, hurried mating with men she barely knew had been her modus operandi.
Beds were where married people made love. Beds were for committed, long-term relationships. And she just didn’t have that kind of staying power. Everyone said so.
“What are you so afraid of?” Liam repeated
You! The way you make me feel. The stark terror that if I let myself love you, somehow I’ll lose who I am.
He swung his legs over the bed, got up and stalked toward her, his naked, erect penis bouncing jauntily with every step.
Katie took a step back from him until her bare bottom butted up against the door. She wanted to turn and flee, but Liam wasn’t about to let her get away.
He planted both hands against the door over her head, leaned in, lowered his head and looked deeply into her eyes. “I understand you completely, Katie Winfield. Maybe even better than you understand yourself.”
Hypnotized, she stared into his eyes, waiting for him to tell her what was wrong with her.
“Doesn’t it get tiring?” he asked.
His question was unexpected and made her feel as if he were peeling off the edges of her skin, digging for the woman who lay beneath the surface. Her throat was closing off.
“What?” she whispered.
“Staying in motion, staying busy, trying to outrun your feelings.”
“I’m not…” Katie broke off at the tenderness in his eyes. She couldn’t talk against the pressure weighing down on her chest.
“It’s okay to be ordinary,” he murmured. “It’s okay for things to be boring once in a while. There’s nothing wrong with taking a time out. In fact, when you slow down, you’re really able to experience your adventures.”
“Oh, that’s rich.” Her laugh sounded hollow. “Coming from you, Mr. Workaholic.”
“Hey, it’s the lesson you taught me. You’ve helped me to realize, all work and no play makes Liam a dull boy. But what I’m trying to tell you is that all go and no staying power makes Katie incomplete. Slow down with me, sweetheart. Let’s explore this whole new experience together.”
As she looked into his eyes, she knew he saw her for who she really was. He saw past the flirtation and the fun and the flair for the dramatic. He saw the vulnerable Katie who was hiding behind a live-for-today motto. He knew her.
To the very essence of her soul.
Tears rolled slowly down her cheeks. Liam dipped his head and kissed them away. Then he gently lifted her up into his arms again and took her back to the bed.
This time, she didn’t protest.
“Just look into my eyes until the fear passes,” he said. “You’re safe. I’ve got you.”
Katie smiled up at him through a mist of tears. He settled her against the pillows, tenderly brushing his fingers through her hair.
He was watching her, his eyes taking in every curve and dip of her body. His glance traveled from her shoulders, to her breast, to her waist and lower, up and down the length of her legs. Then stopping to linger a moment at the blond apex between her thighs.
Awareness and a dazzling heat prickled her skin. She’d never felt so exposed. She’d thought that night he’d taken her on top of the Lamborghini was sexually charged. But that time, because he’d taken her from behind, she’d been unable to read his reaction to her body. Now, she saw every erotic thought that crossed his face.
And she understood fully the power she held over him. It simply blew her away.
Her body ignited with the heat of his gaze. That un-abashed stare of appreciation caused her heart to knock against her rib cage.
He kissed her lightly, sweetly, drawing it out.
“That’s it sweetheart,” he said when she moaned softly. “Relax and enjoy every minute of this. We’ve got all weekend and then some.”
Lowering his head, Liam pressed his lips to her bare belly and then kissed his way back up to her nipples, which were aching with desire.
She quivered at the luscious sensation.
“How’s that feel?”
“Mmm.” It was all she could manage.
He flicked his tongue over one straining bud and then carefully bit down. Reedy blades of pleasure sliced deliriously throughout her breast. She moaned louder.
“You like?”
“No.”
“No?” He stopped.
“I love,” she purred.
He grinned and went back to work—his mouth suckling, his tongue caressing, fingers tickling.
Brilliant. It felt like shooting stars.
After a long, leisurely exploration that left her hauling in shallow gasps of air, he left her nipples and traveled downward. He spent some time at her navel, playing with that little gold hoop, teasing it in and out of his mouth. The gentle pulling sensation produced crazy, erotic ripples in her belly that undulated all the way down into her throbbing clit.
When his lips reached her straining, hungry clit, he stopped short of touching her with his tongue. His breath was hot against her sensitive flesh, inflaming her beyond understanding.
She arched her hips again, trying to bring his mouth and her clit into contact but he moved with her, keeping his mouth just out of her reach.
“Brute.”
He laughed.
“You enjoy torturing me.”
“Oh, yeah,” Liam admitted. “Stick with me, sweetheart. We’ll get there and I promise you it will be worth the wait.”
She didn’t want to wait. She wanted him to make love to her with his mouth right this very minute. Her brain glazed with lust, her blood pumped feverishly.
Gingerly, Liam spread her thighs wider and moved his body around so that he was positioned between her legs. “So beautiful,” he murmured.
The head of his cock throbbed against her knee as he leaned forward. Katie’s excitement catapulted. What sweet, desperate pressure.
His big fingers caressed her clit as his tongue probed her folds. Katie’s eyes slid closed, blocking out everything except his touch.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes.”
His tongue captured her hooded cleft.
Never in all her life had she been pleasured this way. It was rapture. It was ecstasy.
Liam seemed to know exactly what she needed even better than she knew herself. He reveled in her and he made her feel cherished. It was dangerous territory, these tender feelings, but she couldn’t stop them, so she rode, letting the anxiety build, experienced it and then allowed it to drop away.
While he toyed with her clit, Liam slipped an index finger into her slick, wetness. The walls of her womanhood tugged at him, gripping and kneading him in rhythmic waves, pulling his finger deeper and deeper into her.
Sound was altered and she existed in the delicious void of ocean waves and heavy breathing. She floated, bodyless. She was total awareness, her entire being a giant throb of sexual energy.
She surfed his tongue, owned it. She hovered on the brink of orgasm, but he would not let her experience release. A steady strumming vibration began deep in her throat, emerging as a wild moan.
“Liam, Liam,” she cried his name.
“What is it, sweetheart?”
“Make me come.”
He let loose then, giving her everything, holding nothing back. His tongue danced, his fingers manipulated. She let go and allowed him to take over. It seemed he was everywhere. Over her, around her, in her, outside of her.
He was magic. He was wonder. He was amazing.
“More.” She thrashed her head. “More, more. Give me more.”
He gave it to her just the way she asked for it, pumping his hand into her with his fingers. His thumb pressed her clit like a trigger, shooting off the secret button of her release.
“Come Katie, come for me,” he coaxed.
She exploded.
The orgasm overtook her in great, writhing pleasure moans.
She cried out, her voice echoing around the room. Laying there, she trembled with the power of what he’d just done to her.
And she realized that making love in a bed hadn’t been boring or predictable or uninspired. In fact, it had been the most intimate, intense, moving experience of her life.
13
LIAM TOOK HER to dinner at an elegant restaurant, specializing in Pacific fusion, not far from the bungalow. Utilizing indigenous seafood, the chef paired French cooking and Asian flavors. Adventuresome Katie ordered squid and sushi. Liam, sticking with more traditional fare, went with the tuna.
They were seated at the best table near a romantic waterfall surrounded by exotic vegetation. He looked dashing in his suit, although she couldn’t wait until she could get him out of it again.
Liam ate like a man whose appetite had been whetted. Tilting her head, she watched him in the candlelight and couldn’t believe she’d underestimated his passion. This was a man who could really enjoy himself when he allowed his playful side to come out.
Briefly, they discussed both his ad campaign—which was almost finished—and the bungalow’s profitability. Liam’s opinion was that her family could make more by keeping the bungalow and renting it out than by selling it. Then, he presented the downside to renting versus selling. But this dinner wasn’t about business and they both knew it.
“Which way would you go do you think?” Katie quizzed. “Sell or rent?”
“When you’ve got something valuable, you should hang on to it.” He was gazing at her, and she knew he wasn’t talking about real estate.
“Is that the outlook that turned you into a tycoon?”
“No. What’s got me where I am today is recognizing a great opportunity when it falls into my lap.”
Katie felt a blush of heat radiate up her neck. The more she was around him, the more she found to like and admire. He was strong and masculine, but also tender and kind. And he made her hope for something she’d never hoped for in her life.
She savored her dessert of bananas foster while Liam sipped a brandy. He raised his glass and winked at her.
Katie winked back, noticing how his hazel eyes darkened with appreciation whenever he looked at her.
He paid
for the meal against her protest that she owed him for flying all the way to Fiji to assess her family’s property, but he hushed her by saying, “We both know that’s not why you invited me. Nor was it the reason I came.”
For one heart-stopping moment, she thought he knew about her Martini dare, but she quickly realized that was impossible. She’d almost forgotten about the silly dare herself.
He held out his hand to her as they left the restaurant. “Stroll on the beach?”
“How about skinny-dipping in the moonlight?”
“To be honest,” he said, “I never found sex on a beach quite what it’s cracked up to be. Too much sand in all the wrong places, and now that I’ve been introduced to the wonders of regular bed sex, I don’t want us to lose our momentum.”
“Okay,” she agreed without protest because she was enjoying the bed sex more than she wanted to let on. She slipped her arm through his, snuggled up close against his warm body. Sated happiness, sweet and light, filtered from her head to her toes.
When they reached the sand, Katie took off her sandals and hooked them around two fingers. Hand in hand they walked along the beach, the surf lapping at their feet.
The night breeze was balmy, but the heat rolling off his body was sizzling. Her own body heat was inching upward as she thought about what would happen when they got back to the bungalow. Every time she caught a whiff of his cologne, she felt a jolt of desire deep inside.
She loved the feelings he generated, wished she could feel them forever. He let go of her hand to slip his arm around her waist, and she rested her head on his shoulder.
Fifteen minutes later, having gotten their fill of ocean and moonlight, they picked their way up the path to the bungalow.
Liam took the keys from her, unlocked the door and held it open for her. Once they’d crossed the threshold, he drew her into the circle of his embrace. While he kissed her, he inched down the zipper on the back of her aqua-and-white floral sheath dress.
Every nerve in her body came alive. Katie shivered as his mouth moved slowly from her lips to her chin to the smooth column of her throat. Her dress slipped off her shoulders, fell past her hips. Dreamily, she stepped out of it.
