by Abby Green
My voice was snarky. ‘So what do you suggest then, Dr. Sullivan?’
* * *
Liam blinked, his brain felt fuzzy. All he could see were those huge brown eyes and all he could smell was her scent, spiked with arousal. What he wanted to say was that they’d lock themselves into his or her apartment for as long as it took to make her come so hard and long that she’d be screaming.
But he didn’t.
He realized that the sense of desperation he felt stemmed from the fact that he wanted to be the one to see her come for the first time. He took a step back. Crapola. This was veering way out of control. She fused his brain so he couldn’t think straight—one minute he’d been about to fire her without even considering the fact that he couldn’t just do that, and the next he’d been reeling to find out she’d never...come. That vulnerability had hit him right between the eyes like a sledgehammer.
Liam was used to women with voracious appetites. Who expected and demanded nothing less than the pinnacle of sexual pleasure, every time. But Caitlin looked as if she’d prefer to fake-orgasm her way through the rest of her life right now than deal with this.
Almost without realizing it, he asked, ‘Don’t you want to know what it’s like? I mean, aren’t you curious?’
Caitlin’s voice dripped with sarcasm. ‘No, I really don’t. I’m sure it’s bound to be a serious letdown anyway, like hearing about some movie for months before it comes out.’
She was avoiding his eyes now, looking seriously shifty. She slid off the stool and came close enough to Liam’s body to make his dick twitch forcibly.
‘Look, it’s late and I’m tired. I’m going to head home.’
He tried to resist. He really did. Rationally he knew that he should not pursue this. But he also knew that every time he saw Caitlin look at a guy in this bar, he would be imagining her with him, coming. Bucking against him uncontrollably while her tight sheath spasmed around him in orgasmic pleasure.
A visceral rejection of that image made him back her into the bar now, and something in him relished the way her eyes had to meet his. Even if they were flashing sparks. He pressed his body against hers and almost groaned to feel his hardness against her softer curves. He caged her in with two hands either side of her body.
‘What are you doing, Liam.’ It wasn’t a question.
Liam untangled the heat knot in his head long enough to say, ‘I owe you, pure and simple.’
Caitlin frowned, those auburn brows drawing together. ‘You owe me?’
He could feel her chest moving against his, those berry-tight nipples touching him through the thin material of their clothes.
He nodded. ‘One amazing orgasm deserves another.’ He cocked his head. ‘And actually, it’s two amazing orgasms now. The total is rising.’
He pressed his hips against her to demonstrate what else was rising. She flushed and bit her lip. Her voice sounded breathless. ‘You don’t owe me anything. Really.’
So why was there a look in her eyes that contradicted her words? A hungry look. Liam fought for control. Even though all he wanted was to lift her onto the bar behind her and rip off that vest so he could suck her nipples. He narrowed his gaze on her face. Eyes up, Sullivan. He had to put some limits on this.
‘I have a suggestion.’
Caitlin looked at him and his cock throbbed. It actually throbbed. He gritted his jaw. ‘We spend the weekend together. One weekend. Let’s get this...whatever it is...out of our systems and then we can go back to normal.’
* * *
I felt so conflicted. I hated that I’d confided in Liam because now he obviously saw my orgasm deficiency as some sort of challenge to his masculinity. But for some reason I couldn’t seem to drum up the necessary feeling of chagrin to flounce out of here, disgusted.
He was pressing me into the bar, and it was hard to think when all I could feel was that taut hard body and the insistent press of his erection. And then a small voice whispered, If he wants to get you off so badly...why not let him? What have you got to lose?
I forced myself to be clear and not sound as if I was giving this half a second’s consideration. ‘What about my job?’
Liam looked at me. A muscle pulsed in his jaw. ‘We’ve already gone way over the line here. I’m taking full responsibility for my actions. Your job won’t be affected.’
I struggled not to give in so easily even though the pull to just melt into Liam was getting harder to resist. ‘But what about afterward, how can we—’
He put a finger to my mouth. ‘I’m not looking for anything heavy, Caitlin. My life...isn’t about that right now. This is just about some...fun. I won’t have a problem with you working here. It’ll be your choice.’
Because all it’ll be to him will be sex. Once he gets the itch scratched he’ll move on. And wasn’t that all I was looking for, too? Some fun? The last thing I needed right now was to embark on a serious relationship, or develop feelings for someone who was clearly welded to his single life.
My voice sounded squeaky to my ears. ‘Are you talking about this weekend?’
Liam nodded. ‘You’re not due to work anyway, and Toby can get a buddy to help him for the cash. I’ll sort it. I have stocktaking to do, but I’ll work tonight to get it done.’
I gulped. Liam was dead serious about this. He came even closer and I wanted to scowl at his blatant diversionary tactics, but then I thought of the blow job...and getting the chance to taste him again.
‘So what’s it to be, Ryan? Are you in or are you out?’
My conscience glared at me, hello? A whole weekend with the hottest man on the planet?
As if I even needed that prompt. I looked up at Liam and moistened my lips with my tongue. His hips jerked against me, heat exploded in my pelvis.
Excitement and adrenaline flared. This was dark, decadent adventure with a side of freedom and a fun cherry on top.
‘I’m in, Sullivan.’
* * *
Hours later as Liam sat back and stretched after working through the stocktaking, he still couldn’t get that last searing kiss out of his head, after Caitlin had said, I’m in. The thrill of triumph that had surged upward was almost embarrassing to recall now. It had taken all of his control not to throw her over his shoulder and lock them in his apartment there and then. Liam scowled and threw down his pen.
The insidious accusation that he was severely flouting his own work rule not to mess with the staff mocked him. He was strict about it but he knew others weren’t. Toby was a liability, having seen off more than one heartbroken waitress. And Candy chewed up and spat out cute busgirls for breakfast. Liam had given up trying to control their libidos and had come to terms with the fact that they were too valuable to him to fire.
And all he could think of right then was spreading Caitlin’s legs apart and seeing her laid bare for him, seeing her pussy glistening with her arousal....making her come. He smiled grimly, with the best will in the world, he was only human and there was no way he could adhere to his normally rigid moral code and resist her.
* * *
I jumped about ten feet in the air when the buzzer sounded the following morning, exactly when Liam had said to expect him when he’d dropped me home on his bike last night. My palms were sweaty, my heart hammering. I’d barely slept a wink.
I lifted the intercom. ‘Hello?’
His voice was low and gravelly. ‘Let me up, Caitlin.’
Ooooh. That stern tone. Why did it have such an effect on me? A shiver went directly to the pulse point between my legs. I pressed the buzzer and heard the door downstairs slam. Hurriedly I looked around. I’d tried to rearrange my aunt’s apartment so that it looked slightly more normal and not so kooky.
I’d taken down the line of great feminists from over the bed and put them in a drawer, mentally apologizin
g to them for not giving them a voyeuristic sex show. I felt exposed enough without adding the weight of their impassive stares.
A sharp rap on the door made my whirling thoughts stop. I took a breath and opened the door. And as feared, my brain ceased to function. Liam was leaning against the doorjamb. Arms crossed. Dressed in a T-shirt and jeans. Hair looking deliciously tousled, with a clean-shaven jaw.
‘Morning,’ I managed to croak out. How was it possible that he got better looking every time I saw him?
He smiled and my hand tightened on the door.
‘Morning.’ He straightened up then and took me by surprise, asking, ‘Have you had breakfast yet?’
I shook my head, I’d been too nervous to eat.
‘Good, me neither, and I’m starving. Let’s go for a ride.’
I suppressed the urge to giggle and comment that I thought that was the aim of the weekend. This man short-circuited any intelligence in my brain.
He bent down and picked up a duffel bag that he’d dropped at his feet and threw it into the room behind me and then held out his hand. My stomach cartwheeled and in all honesty I jumped at the chance of a brief reprieve before...my blood sizzled at the thought of what was to come. Namely, hopefully, me.
Chapter Eight
‘This is the best-kept secret in New York, owned by a good buddy of my old man’s.’
I looked around the classic-American diner, taking in the fifties-inspired decor and faux red leather seats. It was heaving with obviously very loyal customers and there was a queue out the door of trendy good-looking couples and young families. But as soon as the small barrel-chested owner had seen Liam, we’d been ushered in like royalty.
‘It’s straight out of a movie,’ I said, still feeling a little stunned that Liam had driven us over the iconic Brooklyn Bridge to Brooklyn Heights. He’d said before we’d come in, ‘On the way back you’ll be able to really see the view of Lower Manhattan.’
Right now, though, the only view I was interested in was him. He sat opposite me in an elegantly sexy sprawl, arm across the back of his seat, T-shirt stretching across his chest. Blue eyes narrowed on me, making me self-conscious as I tried not to wolf down the delicious breakfast of waffles, pancakes, scrambled eggs and hash browns and endless refills of coffee.
‘You mentioned your father...does he live in New York?’
Liam nodded, but I saw how his eyes avoided mine now. I breathed in, at least I knew one way to get his focus off me.
‘He’s out in Queens.’
Curious now, I asked, ‘Is that where you grew up?’
He shook his head, definite tension in the air. ‘We grew up over the bar, in the apartment where I live now. But when my folks split up, my dad moved to Queens and my mom moved back to L.A., where she’s from.’
‘How old were you?’ My two hands were around the coffee cup, and even though it was hot outside, I felt a faint chill run through me at the stark lines in Liam’s face and jaw.
‘Fourteen. And my sister was eleven.’
Liam looked at me, and there was a hint of bitterness around his mouth. ‘My mom took my sister back to L.A. with her, so I haven’t seen her all that much. The split was very...acrimonious.’
My belly clenched. I knew all about your world being ripped apart at a young age. ‘I’m sorry,’ I whispered.
Liam shrugged and took a slug of his coffee. He smiled then but it didn’t reach his eyes. ‘That’s life, I guess. I feel sorry for the suckers who believe that some kind of fairy tale exists.’
His words touched something deep inside me that had been blasted to pieces when my parents died. I blurted out, ‘My brother, Johnny, is somewhere in New York.’
Liam looked at me. ‘Somewhere? You don’t know?’
I shook my head, familiar anxiety clutching my insides. ‘He had a big row with our older sister, Mary, about two years ago, and took off. We know he’s okay...he lets us know. But not where he is. I want to try to find him while I’m here.’
‘What about your folks? They must be worried?’
I shoved the reflex pain down deep. ‘They died in a car crash ten years ago. Johnny was seventeen, Mary eighteen. It was a tough time.’
‘I can imagine.’
Liam reached across the table and took my hand, lacing my fingers with his.
‘I’ll help you find him if you like.’
A lump of emotion made my throat feel tight. There was nothing more between us than this crazy out-of-control lust and a dubious working relationship that was about to become unprofessional in the extreme. He didn’t owe me anything.
‘Thanks.’ I knew that once this lust fizzled out, things would be awkward and in spite of what he’d said about this not affecting my job, it might not work out. So I didn’t harbour any great hopes that he would stick to his word, but still, it was nice of him to offer.
A waitress arrived beside us, all but sticking her sizable cleavage into Liam’s face, offering more coffee. He looked at me, and the recent conversation was forgotten, the air sizzling again.
‘Ready to go?’
I took a breath and just nodded. Liam threw some money down on the table, and when he saw me reaching for my wallet, he said gruffly, ‘No, it’s on me.’
He took my hand and clasped it in his, tugging me from the booth. We squeezed out past the waiting punters. Liam put the helmet over my head and then attended to himself.
Back on the bike, I wound my arms around his taut body, feeling the sting of my hard nipples pressed into his back, an ache growing between my legs. As promised on the ride back, the skyline of Lower Manhattan filled the horizon and it was spectacular.
I had a heady, exhilarating feeling that the world was laid out before me and anything was possible. Liam’s hand came over mine where they were clasped just above the waistband of his jeans. He guided one of my hands down under his jeans where all I could feel was the pulsing heat of his hard-on.
My mouth watered. The roar of the powerful engine under me caused vibrations between my legs that made me even hotter.
He pulled his T-shirt down so that it covered the top of his jeans and where I enclosed him in my fist. He was awesome. Steel encased in velvet. And all I could think about was how he’d felt in my mouth as I’d licked and sucked him until he’d swollen against my tongue and then exploded in a rush of hot release.
I really wanted to do that again. Soon.
When he came to a stop outside my apartment, I was trembling from a mix of lust and adrenaline after the ride. I took my hand away from his hot flesh and got off the bike, legs wobbly. I couldn’t seem to move. When Liam was in front of me, he gently removed the helmet from my head, and his own.
He looked at me. I’d vaguely noticed that the bright sunny morning had become dull and overcast, the air thick with the onset of a storm. It was humid. Weather befitting a debauched day in bed? I’d never done anything like this before.
‘Give me the keys, Caitlin,’ he ordered roughly. That tone again, making illicit thrills run over my skin.
I dug them out and handed them over. Liam took my hand again and led me to the door and opened it. Every step we took brought us closer to being shut off from the world, and I couldn’t wait.
Once in the apartment, the darkening sky outside gave it a slightly cocoon-like glow. My pulse was clamouring so hard I was afraid Liam could hear it.
My eyes dropped to the bulge in his jeans. For me. I bit my lower lip and Liam reached out to free it, rubbing his thumb back and forth. I looked at him and felt burnt alive. And then he stepped up to me and the world was reduced to his mouth on mine.
My nipples strained against my bra, his hands were everywhere and it still wasn’t enough. He covered my ass with a hand, kneaded it and then up, to the small of my back under my T-shirt.
&nb
sp; His other hand caught some of my hair and wound it round his fingers before gently tugging my head back, deepening the kiss, his arm drawing me even closer. I moaned, or he moaned. I wasn’t capable of being rational anymore. After that first night I never thought I’d see him again, and to be here now...was heady.
‘Clothes,’ he muttered roughly, tearing his mouth off mine. ‘Too many clothes.’
We broke apart, already both breathing heavily. Liam ripped his T-shirt off over his head and I couldn’t take my eyes off his chest. If I wasn’t careful, I might just start drooling. In a bid to try to affect a nonchalance that I didn’t feel, I backed away toward the bedroom, pulling my T-shirt off, too, as I went.
At the door I turned around and undid my bra, slipping it off and down my arms, till it fell to the ground. I could feel that blue gaze boring into me. I heard movement and a muffled curse behind me, as if Liam had got caught in his jeans.
I looked back over my shoulder, covering my breasts with my arms. Liam’s hands were on his snug briefs. Very snug. Little sparks skated all over my skin. I was playing with a master here as I watched him slowly pull them down, freeing his dick in the process.
I’d seen that stiff column of flesh a couple of times now. I’d had it in my mouth. I knew what it tasted like. Anticipation made my belly tight.
I watched as he bent down to retrieve something out of the pocket of his jeans, a fistful of condoms. For the first time I felt a sliver of trepidation. I couldn’t fake it again. He’d know. So how was this going to—
He walked toward me, eyes on mine.
‘Get onto the bed, Caitlin.’
My eyes clashed with his. Widened. My arms tightened across my breasts. Liam’s gaze narrowed, became assessing. Too assessing. But I couldn’t move.
‘You like that, don’t you?’
I felt shamed. Could he see inside my head? To where I entertained those lustful thoughts when he spoke that way? I shook my head, feeling guilty as sin. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
