“Because you like a challenge. Like I do. Once you realized that regaining control of your phone would end our game.”
“And what makes you think I like playing games?”
“You’re here, aren’t you?”
She licked her lips again, but this time, he got the distinct impression it wasn’t in search of rogue chocolate.
“And you wouldn’t have so elegantly breached my security if you weren’t toying with me just a little. I mean, Robin Hood? Tell me that wasn’t all about making a statement.”
She smiled. “Pure hubris. Signing your work is the kind of sloppy that gets you caught. And I knew I shouldn’t have, but your system was so amazing that when I beat it, I just...”
“You wanted me to know you won. You wanted me to know who you were.”
There was a shift in the air, the way her throat worked as she swallowed made him remember last night, the way she’d tasted when he’d dragged his tongue up her neck. How good she felt pressed up against him, writhing under his touch.
“So who are you?”
Seconds ticked by in which Liam wasn’t sure she’d answer. And then, “AJ. My name is AJ.”
“Just AJ?” he asked.
“Well, that proves you haven’t been paying attention, Tiger.” She got up and circled the table, stopping behind him. Liam’s body tightened at her proximity, even before she placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned down, her lips a hairbreadth from his ear. “Because there’s nothing ‘just’ about me.” Her soft words raced through his blood as she tugged off his Ray-Bans.
Then she straightened up. “And you can drop the host-with-the-most act. Let’s not kid ourselves about what’s happening here.” AJ donned his sunglasses and walked over to the rail, leaving him no choice but to follow.
The breeze tossed her curls around as she stared out at the sparkling water. She looked out of place in her structured black clothes, like armor, cautioning people not to mess with her.
Despite the warning, he stepped closer, bracing his forearms against the railing. “What is happening here?”
She looked over, and he wished she didn’t have his sunglasses on so he could see what was going on in those big brown eyes of hers. She didn’t know it, but they gave her away, not so much with expressions, but with the suppression of them.
“The same thing that’s always happening when two people who have absolutely nothing in common can’t stay away from each other, despite their better judgment.” A resigned smile tipped the corners of her enticing mouth. “Good old-fashioned lust.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
AJ TURNED TO face her smoking-hot adversary head-on. “Why else would you have invited me here?”
Liam rubbed a hand against his rough jaw, and she ignored the answering tingle in her fingertips, the sudden longing to run them across his stubble. Last night, he’d been freshly shaven. Her pulse picked up as she wondered at the tactile differences she might notice if she kissed him now, all disreputable and scruffy.
“I wanted to see you again.”
Her pulse thrummed its wholehearted approval of his plan. It was a little embarrassing.
“That’s a good answer. It rings true, and yet there’s a sweetness to it that keeps you from coming off like a sex fiend. Did they teach you that at the International Playboy Academy? Flirting 101?”
The flash of his smile screwed with her equilibrium a little, blinding her despite her pilfered shades. She had a thing for straight white teeth.
“I wouldn’t know. Skipped straight to the advanced course. I’d be happy to give you another demonstration if you’d like.”
The wave of attraction was not unexpected, but that didn’t make it less potent. AJ squeezed her thighs together. Common sense lost the battle to her baser instincts at the resulting flare of heat, and she pushed him back against the railing.
“Cocky,” she mused, reaching out to undo the buttons on his shirt so she could slide it down his arms. She didn’t pull it all the way off, though. Instead, with a couple of strategic twists of the material, AJ used the shirt to catch his wrists behind his back and affix him to the handrail. “Maybe it’s time I took the reins for a bit. Remind you exactly who’s in charge here.”
Liam gave a cursory tug, testing his linen bonds. “I would challenge you on that, but this is a new shirt.”
She smiled, but not at the joke. Liam’s abs jumped as she scraped her nails down his bare chest. Lower. Lower still.
“I know you think you’ve got me right where you want me.”
His eyes grew dark, and something wicked sparked in their depths. “Not right where I want you, but you’re getting warmer.”
“You think I’m here because of your little countdown clock.”
“That reverse hack was masterful and you know it,” he challenged.
With agonizing slowness, AJ unbuckled his belt, unbuttoned his button, unzipped his zipper. “I’m here because I choose to be here. And don’t ever forget it.”
He swore as she lowered herself to her knees, and a trill of feminine satisfaction unfurled in her belly.
She’d forgotten the power of this position.
It had been a long time since she’d bothered with a blow job.
Years since she’d cared enough to want to.
No, not cared, she reminded herself as she dragged the elastic of his boxer-briefs out of her way. This was about taking what she wanted, and inconvenient or not, she wanted Liam.
Her breath caught as she freed his erection, and she took a second to appreciate the hot, hard length of him. Male. Primal.
Liam’s muscles jerked as she closed her hand around him, air sawing from his lungs as she leaned forward, licking up the length of him before taking him in her mouth. She gave herself a moment there, to familiarize the texture and taste of him, to explore his crown with her tongue, and then she started to move. Took him deep, until her mouth reached the hand she’d fisted around the base of his cock, before pulling back, only to repeat the movement as she settled into a rhythm that worked for her. She placed her free hand on his thigh, for balance, and his muscles bunched beneath her fingers.
“Jesus, AJ.”
Her heart jarred against her ribs. Hearing him say her name was so much better than having him call her baby. She looked up at him, reveling in the intensity she saw in his face, the tight set of his jaw as he watched her pleasure him.
“Take off the glasses. I want to see you.”
Heat rushed between her legs at the request, at the harsh need in his voice. Liam had this disconcerting way of taking over situations. Even now, semi-bound in his shirt and at her mercy, he was still...well, if not outright in control, at least equal.
She did as he asked, sliding his sunglasses to the top of her head, applying a little more suction as she reached the tip of him, and his knees buckled as they stared into each other’s eyes.
The connection was intense, too much, and AJ dropped her gaze as she dug her fingers back into his rock-hard thigh. She bobbed her head again, taking him a little deeper, testing her comfort level.
He groaned, giving her the confidence to take him deeper still.
“Your mouth is fucking amazing. I’m this close to losing control.”
Power throbbed along her skin at the compliment, and she lifted her head, never breaking the rhythmic stroke of her hand. His muscles contracted, bracing against the pleasure she was giving him.
“Maybe I want you to lose control.”
“Not without you. You need to stand up.” His voice was harsh, edged in desperation, but she’d already given in to one of his demands. She wasn’t giving up her tactical advantage again.
AJ smiled up at him. “I don’t know if you’re really in the position to be giving orders right now.” She swiped her thumb across the tip of his erection, and he shuddered under her mini
strations.
“I told you once wasn’t going to be enough, and I meant it. Get up.”
The command sent a shiver of delight through her. This power struggle they had going on was thrilling. There was something incredibly potent about overseeing his pleasure, holding him captive to the suction of her mouth and the stroke of her fingers. Part of her wanted to finish him off right now just to prove she could.
But the rest of her couldn’t resist the siren song that was the throb between her legs, the pleasure she knew he could give her. With a naughty grin, she leaned in one final time, dragging her tongue up the length of his cock before she pulled back, unhanded him with a final squeeze, never once breaking eye contact. He might be the one giving orders, and she might be the one on her knees, but they both knew who wielded the control in that moment. Her lips curved in a smile that was heady with power.
* * *
Fucking hell.
If he’d thought she’d been spectacular last night, well, this afternoon was better by far. And he wasn’t even talking about the blow job.
Because last night, she’d been hiding. Dressed to kill, sure, and so damn sexy it hurt, but there were only glimpses of the ball-breaker who’d stormed his yacht.
Liam liked this version of her even more than the one he’d met last night. And not only because she’d just taken him halfway to paradise and he was eager to finish the journey. He liked that she seemed more real somehow, dressed in black layers and daring him to back down. More authentic than when she’d been trying to blend in with the dull people at his dull party. He liked knowing her name.
He watched as AJ got to her feet, pulled the sunglasses from her hair and slipped them back on. She was brash, confident, and her warrior stance let him know she thought she’d just beaten him at whatever game it was they were playing.
Lust flooded his veins.
He’d always been competitive; it was one of the reasons he loved business so much. But with success came money, and with money came a bunch of people kissing your ass all the time. It was the part of being rich he hadn’t expected...the way people started giving you things once you had the money to buy them. The way you were suddenly granted time and attention as your material wealth grew.
But not AJ.
This woman challenged him, outwitted him, and when he got the jump on her, she’d wrest the power back and the whole dance would start over.
It was exciting. He felt alive in a way that he hadn’t for months. Maybe ever.
Of course, that didn’t mean he was going to roll over and let her have the upper hand without a fight, either. He stepped away from the rail and shrugged back into his wrinkled shirt, lacing his grin with an extra dollop of the cockiness she’d accused him of earlier.
There was something incredibly satisfying about watching the realization that he’d freed himself from her clever trap dawn on her face. About letting her know this thing between them was nowhere near finished.
Liam reached out and hooked a finger in the waistband of her jeans, tugged her close, kissing her slow and deep, until she melted against him, softening under his hands. It took everything in him to pull back from her mouth.
“You,” he told her, pulling his Ray-Bans off and hooking them on the neck of her T-shirt so he could see her eyes, “are the only person who’s ever come aboard this yacht and put on more layers.”
She looked mutinous at the comment, dropping her gaze to the deck, her shoulders stiff and petulant. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m never going to be one of your buxom bikini babes.”
“What makes you think I’m disappointed?”
Her head snapped up at the question, and a strangely charged moment descended over them. She stared at him, and something shifted in her eyes—and for a split second, he could see the woman behind the badass. Something vulnerable and real softened her eyes, and Liam’s heart lurched in response to the show of trust.
“AJ—”
She attacked his mouth with a ravenous kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck, and Liam grabbed the backs of her thighs, lifting her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist. He walked blindly forward, taking the stairs that led up to the main cabin as quickly as possible as she all but tongue-fucked his mouth.
The woman short-circuited his synapses.
He set her down as soon as they breached the threshold of the room, and it was a race to get naked, yanking off clothes and dropping them where they fell.
There was a quick pause while he donned a condom, and then she was on him again, and they were fumbling their way to the bed, crawling onto the California king mattress.
He followed her down, groaning as his cock nestled against the wet heat between her legs, and she writhed under him, pushing him closer and closer toward climax.
Fuck. He was so turned on. And she felt so damn good.
He knew he was skimping on the foreplay, so he made a half-hearted attempt to lower his head to her breast, to get one of his hands out from beneath her so he could put it to better use, but the second he did, her dark eyes snapped to his.
“What are you doing?”
“Foreplay.”
“Fuck the foreplay,” she countered. “We’re way past that.”
He didn’t need more encouragement than that. He was so fucking primed from her mouth on his cock, desperate for her. With a growl, he drove into her with just enough restraint to keep from shoving her into the headboard. Jesus. He was on fire for her, and she was right there with him, her nails biting into his back, her moans driving him higher as he thrust again and again.
Every nerve in his body begged for release, but even half-mad with pleasure, he wasn’t going over without her. He tried to hold on to the edge of sanity as she wrapped her legs around his waist, sank her teeth into his shoulder.
And then finally, mercifully, she cried out, her body shuddering beneath him, and Liam let himself go, his hips jerking as he came.
CHAPTER NINE
AJ STEPPED ONTO the deck of the yacht, the gleaming wood warm on her bare feet.
After their shower, he’d lent her a fluffy robe and given her directions to the magical guest room so she could find something more seaworthy to wear. True to his word, it was filled with brand-new clothes, towels, toiletries, anything his jet-setting guests might need. Her hand had stopped on a black bikini as she’d riffled through the drawers of bathing suits. She’d considered it for longer than she cared to admit before she’d pulled her own clothes back on. Her only concession to yachting was that she’d left her socks and her beloved Doc Martens back in the room.
AJ knew better than most that even the simplest offers tended to come with strings, and until she understood Liam better, she wasn’t willing to get bound up in any of his.
And speaking of Liam...
His short hair was still wet from the shower and slicked back from his face. Somehow, he was pulling off olive cargo shorts and a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up his forearms. It looked expensive. Probably some fancy designer. Ralph Lauren, maybe. Rich guys on boats wore Ralph Lauren, didn’t they? For some reason, he didn’t look like a preppy douchebag. He just looked hot, and completely at home with his aviator sunglasses reflecting the cloudless California sky. She couldn’t help but admire his deft, economical movements as he poured himself a drink from the bar cart that had been rolled onto the deck.
I could get used to this.
The thought sucker punched her.
Shit. She should never have come here.
She’d known it, had even listened to her good sense and started walking away from the sex god and his stupid yacht, and then at the last minute, she’d fucked it up anyway. Jumped onto the boat. Oh, she knew why she’d done it. Because this game of cat and mouse they were playing made her feel alive. Really alive. In a way she hadn’t in years.
He fogged up her
brain, revved up her body.
Liam fascinated her. And she didn’t like it.
She slipped on the Ray-Bans she’d stolen from him before things had gotten all naked and sexy and took a step away from the stairs that had brought her up to the deck.
Liam glanced over so immediately that it made her wonder if he’d been aware of her lurking the entire time.
“You’re still here.”
“We’re on a boat. Where else would I be?”
He gave an easy shrug of broad shoulders. “You took so long, I thought you might’ve grabbed some tech and made a swim for it.”
It was really annoying that he was so charming all the time. Even when he was taking a jab at her for last night.
“Lucky for you, my outfit’s not exactly saltwater compatible, and like I said, this is my favorite jacket.”
“It must be, considering it’s eighty degrees out and you’re still wearing it. Did you want a drink?”
“Sure.”
He set a short round glass in the middle of the cart. “One bourbon, coming up.”
“Make it a gin and tonic.”
Liam’s laid-back grin was a punch in the estrogen. She didn’t like how easily he turned her on, and it lent some snark to her voice. “What?”
“Couldn’t have given me that one, huh?” He tucked the glass away on the lower shelf and chose another one.
She strolled toward him as he used fancy metal tongs to fill the fancy tall glass with cubes from a fancy silver ice bucket. “I don’t follow.”
Liam sent her a sideways glance as he free-poured some gin from a decanter. “Remembering someone’s drink is a time-tested way to build rapport.”
“Oh?”
He nodded. “Makes them feel seen. Remembered. Special.” There was a soft hiss as he twisted the cap off a bottle of tonic water and topped up the glass. “Business is never just business. It’s always personal. That’s why I could have poured the perfect drink for every single person at the party last night.”
“Minus one,” she reminded him.
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