“You’re Addison Stewart, right?”
“She is. She was with Liam at the box this afternoon.”
A pair of young women had walked up behind me. They wore slim dresses with interesting patterns—very fashionable.
“Oh, hello. Did you see who I was just talking to? Do you know who that was?”
Both women shook their heads as one. “No, sorry. How are you enjoying the party? It’s rather dull, but that’s expected with this crowd.”
I shrugged. “If you say so. I don’t know anyone here, so I’ve just been staying with Liam all night. Who are you ladies?”
“I’m Trish,” said the one on the right.
“And I’m Lisa. Our fathers are on Liam’s board of directors at the bank.”
The bank was Liam’s primary company, and the source of much of his wealth. If a blackmailer were to go after something that would destroy him, the bank would be a huge target.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
The women edged closer.
“What’s it like sleeping with Liam Windsor?” Trish asked. “We’ve known him forever, but he refuses to get involved with us because of his relationship with our fathers.”
“I’ve heard he has a big cock,” Lisa said.
Trish nodded. “Like, really big.”
“And I bet he knows how to use it, too.”
“He’s such a charmer.”
“And so nice.”
“And so handsome!”
I looked back and forth between the two. “Um, it’s nice. He’s great in bed.”
They seized on my words like a pair of crows fighting over a scrap of meat.
“Of course he is!”
“He had to be.”
“He’s Liam Windsor. If he were rubbish in the sack, it would ruin a perfect man.”
“I wish I had the chance to fuck him.”
“Not more than I do.”
“In your dreams.”
“Especially in my dreams.”
“I’ll get there first.”
“Not if I beat you to it.”
The two noticed me fidgeting. The girlfriend of the man they were discussing hunting as if he were a choice morsel.
“Not that you two aren’t wonderful together.”
“Lovely, so lovely.”
“It’s a delight seeing you in the papers every day.”
“Makes me morning, it really does.”
“Wish you all the best.”
“Yes, yes, of course.”
“Do you think you’ll marry him? Do you love him?”
“What kind of a stupid question is that? Of course she loves him. Who wouldn’t marry Liam Windsor? You’d be daft not to.”
“That’s a good point.”
I felt like I was back at the tennis match, watching the ball go back and forth across the net.
These girls are too much. I need to get away.
“Oh, you’re done? It’s too soon to be talking about marriage. If you’ll excuse me, I should get back to Liam. He’ll be looking for me.”
I didn’t mention that it felt like they were on the verge of locking me in a broom cupboard so they could have him to themselves. Their frenetic energy was impossible to match.
“Yes, of course, it was a pleasure meeting you.”
“Do find us again. It was a great chat. You’re very funny.”
“Tell Liam we say hi.”
“And that we miss him.”
“Tell him we should hang out soon.”
“I’m free any time—at least for him.”
“Me too.”
“We’re both free.”
I waved my hand and backed away. “I’ll let him know. Bye!”
Before they could say anything else, I turned and walked at full speed in the opposite direction, almost colliding with a waiter carrying a platter full of champagne glasses.
“I’m so sorry!”
He scowled at me as he adjusted course to avoid my assumed clumsiness.
Holy hell. That was intense.
I picked my way back across the hall and found Liam not far from where I left him, laughing with Arthur. Our hands slipped together like they were coming home.
“There she is,” said Arthur. “My favorite American girl. Liam was just telling me about how you graduated from MIT. That’s quite impressive.”
The journey hadn’t answered the questions I’d hoped it would. If anything, it brought more up. Who was that woman that she didn’t even want me to know her name or how she knew Liam?
Why didn’t her accusations match with what I knew of Liam? I’d spent almost a month with him and had seen no hint of the darkness she’d intimated was there.
Unless she’s the blackmailer, and it's all part of her plan.
12
~ Liam ~
Life was a hazy, pleasurable blur of business and Addison.
I’d never taken so much time off work, but if given the choice between sitting in a meeting or strolling through a gallery with the fiery redhead, it was an easy decision every time. Days rolled together and into weeks with incredible ease, all of it filled with Addison’s silvery laugh and dashing intellect.
I was hooked.
I knew it. She knew it. I knew she knew it.
The worst part was that she felt the same way. I knew it in my soul, in the depths of my heart. It was in the way she looked at me after a kiss and the way her fingers found mine any time we were near each other.
But she wouldn’t admit it to herself. Couldn’t admit it to herself.
She’d drawn the line in the sand early, and it was a point of pride that she couldn’t back down now.
Even if she knew how silly it was at this point.
We sat on the sofa together, watching a movie, fingers entwined as I held her hand.
I moved in for a kiss.
And she backed away, a pained look on her face.
“Liam, you know we can’t.”
“Why? Why is this” —I squeezed her hand— “okay, but kissing isn’t? Sex isn’t?”
Addison sat back from me. “We’ve been over this, Liam. Many times. Too many to count.”
“And it makes as little sense now as it did the first time. We’re dating in all but the sex, Addison. You know it’s true. It’s not just an act anymore.” I held up our joined hands. “We aren’t doing this for anyone else. No one’s watching.”
As if she could erase the damning evidence, she unlaced her fingers from mine.
“Sex is different, Liam. Sex will change everything, and it won’t be pretty.”
I leapt off the sofa and paced. “It doesn’t have to change things, Addison. I don’t even know if it could. Hell, I already care for you. I already have the feelings as if we’re sleeping together. We both know how incredible it can be. So why don’t we just do it? This is torture for both of us.”
Addison bit her lip. We’d had the exact argument before, but this time, she looked like she might be wavering.
I knelt in front of her and put my hands on her thighs.
“Think about how good it would be to kiss. Not the tame ones we do in public, but really kiss. Like we did that first night while dancing. Like we did after we got back here.”
Her breathing sped up, and she said nothing but looked at me with wide eyes.
I used my hands to spread her legs apart.
“I want to taste you, Addison. Run my tongue along your gorgeous pussy and lick you until you moan. I want to put a finger inside you and feel you contract around me. I’ll make you come until you scream, until you beg to have me inside you.”
Addison’s mouth parted as I spoke, and she made a little sound that might have been a moan as she spread her legs wider. I ran my hands further up her thighs until my thumbs were an inch away from her hip crease. I pressed in and pulled apart so she’d feel the stretch in her lips.
“Liam…”
“I want to feel you underneath me, welcoming me into you, your hand
s pulling at my back as I give you what we’ve both been aching for. I want you to feel my cock as I push it all the way inside you.”
Her heart pounded so hard that I could see the pulse in her neck, and it made my mouth water more than it already was.
“Let me fuck you, Addison. Let me possess you.”
We sprang toward each other so fast that our heads almost knocked together. Addison came to the edge of the sofa, and our bodies pressed together as we locked lips in a fiercer kiss than I’d ever had.
Her mouth opened, and our tongues sparred as we let loose the hormones and the desires and the need that had been held back for too many weeks. The simple shirt she wore was barely a barrier to my questing hands as I struggled to contain myself, running my hands over her body as if I needed to touch every piece of her within a single second.
My mouth broke from hers so I could bring my lips over her neck. I licked the spot I’d seen earlier and could feel her heartbeat under my tongue as it went wild.
“Oh, God,” Addison moaned. “Yes. Right there.”
Her hands weren’t idle, either. She grasped at my shoulders, pulling herself against me. She squeezed us together as though if she pressed hard enough, she’d climb inside my body and we’d merge into one.
I dropped my mouth further, kissing and licking her collarbone and gifting it with my complete focus. Addison squirmed under my touch, moaning almost constantly as I ravaged her.
Her upper breast was next, only the top part underneath her collarbone visible above her shirt.
This shirt needs to go.
I needed to have access to what I wanted.
I slid my hands under the offending garment, but we were too close to lift it. Unwilling to separate long enough to sort the situation out, I grasped the fabric in both hands and jerked as hard as I could.
A loud tearing sound filled the room as the shirt shredded. The tattered remnants fluttered against Addison’s back.
“Oh, my God!” she said. When she leaned back to look at me, the front of the shirt fell away and exposed her breasts to my gaze and my hands.
They were as perfect as I remembered, the small handfuls fitting on her lithe body. My hands cupped them, treating them more gently than I thought I could handle.
“Oh, Liam.” She pulled me closer, her tongue diving into my mouth as she moaned her encouragement.
Her hips shifted as close to the edge of the couch as she could go until she wrapped her legs around me. The only thing that separated my hard shaft from her womanhood was a few layers of clothing. She rocked her hips, bringing sweet friction that didn’t feel as great as sex, but was a hell of a lot better than the weeks of imposed abstinence we’d struggled through.
I needed more. I pushed Addison back into the couch and dropped my hands to her belt. “I need your pants off. Now.”
She bit her lip as she watched me undo the clasp of her belt and start on the buttons on her pants.
“I’ve been waiting for this for far too long,” I said. “You’ve been such a naughty girl, denying me—denying us—for so long. I will repay you with a teasing the likes you’ve never seen. You’ll be dripping from it before I even lay a finger on your pussy.”
Addison’s face changed when I mentioned the denial.
“Liam…”
I knew that tone of voice.
“Goddamn it, Addison. Don’t you dare say what I think you’re about to say.”
“We shouldn’t, Liam. We really shouldn’t.”
“Fuck!” The shout was so loud that it shook panes of glass in a few of the china cabinets across the room.
I leapt to my feet and stared at the woman on the couch. “I don’t know how you expect me to rein it in after this.”
She stared back up at me, her chest still heaving, her face the embodiment of someone who knew they fucked up and wondered how to shove the genie back in the bottle.
“I’m sorry, Liam. I shouldn’t have led you on like that.”
Her words did nothing to ease the aching mass of manhood that strained to be released from my pants.
“I’ll be in my room,” I said. “I suggest you don’t come in unless you decide you’re willing to help deal with this situation.” I gestured down.
Addison’s eyes dropped to where I pointed, and she licked her lips. I growled.
Goddamn it, that’s not even fair.
She realized what she did and put her hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s fine,” I said, even though it didn’t feel anywhere close to fine. “I’ll see you later for dinner.”
I’d gone almost two months without sex, waiting for Addison to cave, and if it didn’t happen soon, I’d burst.
13
~ Addison ~
“Yes, right there. Fuck, yes. Keep going, Liam.”
I spoke in breathy whispers, so quietly that I could barely hear myself say the words.
I was alone.
After almost giving in and fucking Liam, he wasn’t the only one who needed time for personal relief.
I’d picked up a few toys a couple of weeks into the living arrangements with Liam, and they’d gotten more use than I would ever admit to him. Almost every night, I’d have to relieve myself after being so close to him for so much of the day—it was the only thing that kept me from jumping his bones at every opportunity.
And it still almost happened.
It wasn’t an accident that my favorite toy—the one currently inside me—was the same size and shape as Liam. The thought of his cock drove me wild, and if I denied myself the real thing, then I had to have the next best.
“That’s the spot. Right there. Come on, baby, give it to me. Fuck me, Liam. I want you to fill me up.”
The dirty talk to an imaginary lover above me was new, but I was so wound up from the action in the living room, I couldn’t help myself—the words just flowed out.
“Yes, Liam, I’m almost there. Keep going! Yes. Yes. Yes! Oh, Liam!”
The climax flooded through my system, robbing me of my senses and rendering me unable to move. Pleasure peaked at my core and spread along my nerves like electric shocks, terminating at my toes and fingertips.
“Oh, fuck.”
As I lay there, awareness of my surroundings crept back in.
My heart dropped. How loud had I been in the moment? I’d started softly with the dirty talk, but there was no way of telling how carried away I’d gotten in the throes of orgasm.
Liam’s room was right across the hall.
I listened as hard as I could for any sign he’d heard me. Nothing.
He might just have better control than I do.
I sighed and rolled out of bed to pick an outfit for dinner.
Am I being stupid?
Liam thought so—but then again, my convictions stood in the way of him fucking me, so that wasn’t surprising.
I wished I had a friend to confide in, but there was no one in London I could talk to about this—there wasn’t anyone in the world I could talk to. The cover had to stand so that Liam’s blackmailer wouldn’t get suspicious, and Liam and I were the only ones who knew of our arrangement.
That’s not entirely true…
James had set us up. If he hadn’t given me Liam’s card, we never would have met. Never would have fucked. I wouldn’t be driven out of my mind with lust and emotions.
I couldn’t call James though. I’d betrayed him. There was no chance he’d be willing to talk.
The thought stayed with me as I looked through my wardrobe. I knew what James would say, anyway. He’d tell me I was being an idiot and that I should just sleep with Liam if that’s what I wanted to do. And he’d probably echo Liam’s arguments.
I twirled a strand of hair around my finger. Liam made some good points. And the more time went on, the stronger they became.
It was impossible to define our relationship. Aside from the few hours a day Liam spent attending to business and I used to examine the emai
l encryption, we were barely apart. Sometimes, we stayed inside the apartment, but mostly, we were out in public. I’d had no understanding of the relentless social life that came with being part of the royal family—and the richest royal, to boot.
Every day, there were countless invitations to brunches, lunches, tea, dinners, and parties. Liam’s secretary filtered out the majority before passing them on, and even then, we had to decline most simply because they overlapped and there weren’t enough hours in the day.
Being popular is a full-time job. And it can be grueling.
When we were outside the apartment, we had to act smitten with each other. Considering the raw attraction that had pulled us together in the first place, it wasn’t long before that act had become full-blown reality.
That’s what made shutting down anything further so difficult.
I might be falling in love with him.
I shoved the thought away as soon as it formed. I couldn’t be falling for him. Liam was a billionaire royal, literally one of a kind—there wasn’t anyone else like him on the entire planet.
That was another reason to keep him at arm’s length. He was used to getting everything he wanted, without fail, without question. Maybe what was between us wasn’t real. The crazy, half-sham spectacle of our relationship wasn’t built on the strongest of foundations, and there might be only one thing propping it up.
I might be the only woman who’s ever said no to him.
Men lived for the chase. If I let him in, what would be the draw?
This is the right decision.
It might make my loins burn and drive me crazy, but it was the correct course of action.
That’s what I told myself as I dressed for dinner. Liam had reserved seats at one of the most romantic restaurants in the city. The perfect occasion to wear a full, formal dress that concealed everything and gave us both time to cool off.
Except that I hadn’t cooled off. Despite the orgasm earlier, need still drove me. And that need led me to dangerous decisions.
Like wearing a new dress I’d bought the week before. One so sexy it would probably be illegal in some backward states. It clung to my body like a second skin, the fabric stretchy in a way that emphasized every curve. Panels of the dress in strategic locations were made of a gossamer, translucent material.
Bad Boy Boxed Set Page 21