by Zara Keane
“Still haven’t gotten the hang of my bedroom, I see.”
“No,” he mumbled, rubbing his sore head.
“Too injured to have sex?”
He caught her eye, and she grinned. “Hell, no,” he said. He placed a hand on her hip and slid it beneath her blouse. The skin beneath was soft and silky smooth. He heard her intake of breath and the small moan when he circled her navel with a fingertip. “You definitely need to lose the clothes. I prefer you naked.”
Jill slid a hand down to cup his left buttock. “I prefer you without clothes, too. Nice to know we’re on the same page.”
Liam pulled the clip from the back of her hair and let it spring free. “I love your hair.”
Red tinged her cheeks, and she patted her hair down. “I hate it. My classmates teased me for having pubic hair on my head. My sister and I were the only mixed-race kids at our school.”
“Your classmates were wrong.” He ran his fingers through her hair, marveling at its texture. “Your hair is gorgeous. Some people see ‘different’ and equate it with ‘bad.’ Those people are idiots.”
“Yes, they are.” Jill found the buttons of his shirt and began to undo them. When she’d tugged his shirt off, she gasped at his bandages. “What happened to you?”
“Injured on the job,” he said lightly.
“That looks painful.”
He shrugged. “Two busted ribs and a flesh wound. I’ll be fine.”
Uncertainty clouded her dark eyes. “Are you sure you’re up for sex? I don’t want to hurt you.”
“We might need to get creative with the position.”
“That won’t be a problem,” she said with a smile, running a fingertip over his biceps. “Your tattoos are true works of art. Do they date from your time in the Navy?”
“Yeah.” He indicated the one of Neptune and his trident. “This was the first I got done, right out of boot camp. And Ceto, Goddess of the Sea, was my reward for completing BUD/S.”
“BUD/S is the training you did to become a Navy SEAL?”
“It stands for Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL, the first stage in the training program to qualify as a Navy SEAL.”
“Is it hard?”
He gave a bark of laughter. “It’s hell. I nearly quit three times.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Pride. I told everyone I knew when I was accepted into the training program. No way was I going to admit I couldn’t hack it.”
“Crazy man.”
“Right now,” he murmured against her ear, “I’m a man who’s crazy about you.”
“Right now, you’d say just about anything to get into my pants.”
Her low laugh tickled his chest and made his heart rate quicken. “You might not know much about me, but you have me nailed. So what’s the sex toy I’m supposed to try out on you?”
“You get to choose.”
“You have so many?”
She flashed him a wicked smile. “Perk of the job.”
When Jill walked across the room, he was riveted by the gentle sway of her hips and the way it drew attention to her tight little ass. She slid a box out from underneath her bed and flipped open the lid.
“Whoa,” Liam said, eyes widening. “That’s some collection. What do they all do?”
“Most of them are a variation on a theme, clitoral stimulation being the goal.” She poked her tongue between her teeth. “I’m afraid I don’t have anything just for men.”
“No couples toys?”
Her teasing grin made him want to grab her and kiss her senseless. “I might have one or two.”
“I’m teasing. I’d like to use one that will bring you pleasure.” He chose a pink vibrator from the box and pressed a switch. “Holy fuck. This thing can move.”
“Not as fast as this one.” She selected a purple silicon bat.
“What the hell is that? A weapon of mass destruction?”
“It’s Blush Shoppe’s patented Magick Wand. The world’s most powerful cordless vibrator with eighty settings and twenty-five speeds to choose from. It also comes with a downloadable app so it can be operated from afar.”
“Why would one do that if it’s right there?”
She rolled her eyes. “Use your imagination. It’s meant for long-distance sex.”
“Uh, okay.” He was getting hard just imagining all the things he’d like to do to her, and all the things he’d like her to do to him. He picked up the wand. It was heavier than he’d expected. “Does anyone need so many settings?”
She poked her cheek out with her tongue. “Probably not, but it helps to justify the price tag.”
“How much does it cost?”
“Two hundred euros.”
He whistled. “That’s insane.”
“It also comes in a solid gold and platinum version. They cost over thirty thousand euros a pop.”
“People spend that much money on a vibrator?”
“Rich people with more money than sense do.” She took the wand from him and tossed it back in the box. “We don’t sell too many of the gold ones, but they sure look good in the catalogue.”
“In other words, they make the other products seem like a bargain.” Liam picked up a weird little O-shaped device and examined it carefully. “What does this one do?”
“Oh, that’s the Cleopatra. It simulates cunnilingus.”
He blinked. “Why would you want to fake oral sex?”
She cocked an eyebrow. “Why do you think?”
“O-kay.” Yeah. He was hard. Rock hard and horny as hell. He let the device drop back into the box. He rooted around, letting her explain what each device did and how popular it was with Blush Shoppe’s clientele. With each explanation, his sexual desire increased until he thought he was going to explode. Then he paused, gaze riveted on a rainbow-colored tail. “What the heck is this?”
“It’s a butt plug.”
He turned it over in his hand, still transfixed by the tail. “What the fuck?”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of butt plugs?”
“Sure I have, but this looks like one of my daughter’s toy ponies.”
“That’s the whole idea.”
“And I thought I’d seen it all.” Liam scratched his stubble and picked up the oral sex simulator again. An image of Jill naked and masturbating hit him in the solar plexus. Holy shit, he needed to get himself under control before he disgraced himself by coming before they’d shed their clothes. “Wanna see what my love rival can do?”
She ran her tongue over her lips and Liam’s heart pounded in his chest. “We need to get naked first,” she said in a silky voice
“I’m working on it.” He reached for the buttons of his jeans and undid them, aware of her interested gaze. Watching her watching him was making him hard. After he’d removed the rest of his clothes, he stood before her, butt naked.
Jill cocked her head to the side. “Not bad.”
“You wouldn’t kick me out of your bed on a cold winter’s night?” he teased.
“No, I think I’ll keep you around on this particular winter’s night.”
“Now it’s your turn to get naked.” He let his gaze rove over her curves. “Need help with the zipper?”
“No, but I’m guessing you’d like to undo it all the same.”
She turned her back to him, and he placed one hand on her shoulder and let the other unzip her purple dress. When the zipper was fully open, Liam eased the dress off her shoulders, down her torso, and past her hips until it pooled onto the floor.
Jill stepped out of the garment and turned to face him, hands on hips.
She wore matching bra and panties the exact shade of her dress, plus black stockings. “Whoa. You are one sexy lady. More Blush Shoppe products?”
Her lips curved into a come-hither smile, making his breath catch. “Of course.”
“You’re a walking ad for the place,” he said huskily. He reached out and toyed with her bra strap. The sk
in underneath it was smooth and the shade of his fave French hot chocolate. And just as delicious. He ran his tongue over her shoulder, hearing her small gasp of surprise. “Pretty as this bra is, it needs to come off.”
“Go right ahead,” she teased. “See if you can do battle with a bra strap.”
“I consider myself an expert at bra removal.” His fingers found the clasp and skimmed the skin beneath.
“Another skill they taught you at SEAL school?” Her breath was uneven, her pupils dilated.
“I’d already picked up that particular talent before I joined the Navy,” he said with a chuckle. He unhooked her bra and pushed down her shoulder straps, revealing two pert breasts. He sucked in a breath. “They’re even prettier than I’d remembered.”
“You’ve thought about them?” she asked, half coy, half surprised.
“Oh, yeah. I’ve thought of them every damn night since the summer.”
She stared at him in disbelief. “Yeah, right.”
“Jill, I didn’t mean to hurt you. When I heard Katy was in Ballybeg, I panicked. I couldn’t risk running into her in the pub or a café.”
“I know. We’ve already been over this.”
“Doesn’t mean I feel any better about hurting you.” He drew her into his arms and kissed her. She tasted of peppermint gum and strawberry lip gloss. And, if it had a flavor, hope.
“You were supposed to be a fling,” he said when they broke apart. “I never meant to get emotionally attached.”
“But you did,” she said softly. “And so did I.”
He pushed her hair back from her forehead and kissed the bridge of her nose. “Then let’s make the best of the time we’ve got.”
6
Jill squealed when Liam picked her up and carried her over to the bed. This time, he was careful not to crack his head against the ceiling.
She smiled up at his handsome face, now shadowed by dark stubble. “You’re getting the hand of my ceiling.”
“Slowly,” he replied with a grin and tossed her onto the bed.
She landed with a bounce and squealed when he leaped onto the bed and began to tickle her. “Stop,” she begged breathlessly. “You’re torturing me.”
“That is the whole idea.” He trailed kisses from her neck to her breasts, making her shiver in anticipation.
“You are so beautiful,” he murmured, and her nipples pebbled under his warm breath.
“You’re not too ugly yourself,” she teased. “But I can’t decide if your French or your American accent is sexier.”
“I can use whichever one you want.”
“I want the one that’s real,” she said, tracing his tattoos.
He brushed a rebellious tuft of hair back from her forehead and stared down at her, his eyes darkening. “American it is.”
And then he lowered his mouth to her breasts. The sensation of his lips on her nipples was pure bliss. Her breathing quickened in time with her heart rate. He tugged on one brown nipple playfully, and then the other. When he moved downward to her belly, she gasped. “Don’t stop now.”
“Oh, I don’t intend to.” Liam ran a palm over her stomach. When he touched her navel with his tongue, she drew in a sharp breath. “Your bellybutton is the perfect shape. Just like the rest of you.”
He continued to trail kisses in a downward direction, eventually reaching her thighs. Each kiss was a promise and a tease rolled into one, exquisite but leaving her aching for more.
“Time for the toy?” He reached into the box and extracted the Cleopatra. “I hope I can get it to work.”
He pressed the device against Jill and hit a button.
The vibrator buzzed at full force. Jill jerked back. “Ouch. Steady on.”
“Too strong?” Liam frowned at the device and fiddled with the controls. “How’s this setting?”
The vibration changed from violent to oh-so pleasant. “Ooh.” She settled back against the pillows. “Now that feels good.”
While the toy buzzed and teased, Liam’s mouth meandered to the tender flesh of her inner thighs. The sensation of his stubble against her soft skin sent an electric awareness shooting through her veins. Jill ran her hands over his short hair, exploring the contours of his head. “I miss your longer hair.”
“I don’t.” He grinned up at her. “It itched.”
“It was a wig?”
“Yeah. I was worried it would come off when we were having sex, but I guess I used enough glue to make it stick.”
“My goodness,” she murmured, biting her lip at the vibration between her legs. “I never noticed.”
“Shh. Right now, the only thing you should be noticing is what that device is doing.”
“Oh, I’m very interested in what it’s doing.”
Continuing to massage her breasts, Liam increased the speed slightly, eliciting a groan from deep within Jill’s throat. This was bliss at its most decadent. A sexy man, the perfect sex toy, and a night of pleasure stretching before her. Jill leaned back and let her imagination run wild. As the pressure built, so did her desire to replace the toy with Liam. She was greedy for him, wanted to possess him in any way she could.
She placed a hand over his.
“Not good?” he asked with a cheeky grin.
“Too good.”
His laugh made her skin tingle. “Want to toss the device?”
“If tossing the toy is synonymous with you taking its place, then yes.”
“Consider it done.” Liam switched off the vibrator and flung it onto the floor.
Her heart skittered when he slid into place and claimed her clit. And when his tongue touched her, Jill pressed her head back into the pillow and moaned. No amount of sexual pleasure could tamper her anger at Liam for disappearing, but the man sure knew how to pleasure a woman, and she was not averse to allowing him to satisfy her.
Liam used his tongue to devastating effect. Each flick, each touch, brought her a fresh jolt of pleasure. The pressure inside her increased until she thought she would explode. Liam licked and sucked her pleasure bud that showed her he’d paid close attention during their passionate weekends together during the summer. He remembered exactly what she liked, including being tickled behind her knees during oral sex.
Each movement of his mouth inched her closer to the edge. Whenever she neared climax, he paused, only to renew the torture a moment later.
“You’re enjoying teasing me,” she gasped. “Why don’t you just let me come?”
He kissed her inner thighs and ran his thumbs over the backs of her knees. “Do you want me inside you first?”
Her breath caught in her throat. Did she want that? An image of his hard cock made her ache with want. “Yes,” she whispered, “but hurry up.”
He grinned and climbed off the bed to locate his wallet. When he’d rolled on a condom, he joined her on the bed again and showered her with angel kisses—light and feathery and as much of a tease as his movements when he’d gone down on her.
Jill ran a finger down his hard shaft, pausing to tickle his balls. He exhaled a groan. “You make me wild for you, woman.”
“Ditto.”
Jill spread her legs and wrapped them around his hips. With her help, he eased himself inside her, pausing to allow her a moment to adjust to his not inconsiderable size. By the time he thrust into her, she was close to climax, but his slow movements prolonged the sublime torment.
“You are an amazing woman, Jill Bekele,” he whispered against her neck.
“And you are a dick, Liam Ryan, but very good in bed.”
He roared laughing and nibbled her ear, making her inhale sharply.
She put her arms around his shoulders and pulled him closer, angling her pelvis to allow him deeper penetration. For the next while, neither of them spoke, each thrust bringing them closer to the edge. She ran her hands over his strong shoulders and back, down to his toned backside, and over his balls.
“You want it from behind?” he murmured into her ear. “Because I really
want to admire your ass while I fuck you.”
“Oh, yeah.”
He eased himself off her and Jill rolled onto her stomach and allowed him to pull her up onto all fours. When he entered her from behind, the different angle hit her in all the right places.
“You are a goddess,” he said, moving in and out of her with increasing speed. “And you have the best ass on the planet.”
His obvious pleasure in her body was a major turn-on. Jill had never been shy about sex, but Liam made her feel like the sexiest, most desirable woman in the world. His every movement increased the excitement building inside of her. As the pressure mounted, her heart rate accelerated and her breathing grew shallow. When her orgasm hit, it was the most powerful she’d ever experienced. She cried out, not caring how loud she screamed.
Liam kept up the pace, hitting his own peak a minute after she’d reached hers. His cry heralded a second flurry of pleasure waves inside her. Less intense than the first, but sweetly pleasurable.
When they were both sated, he pulled out and rolled her onto her back.
“That was spectacular,” he said, gasping. “Even better than I’d remembered.”
Liam collapsed onto the pillow next to hers, pulled her close and kissed her forehead. “So how do I measure up to your treasure chest of sex toys?”
Jill put her head on his chest and listened to his heart’s rapid beat. “You’ll do if the batteries run out.”
This made him chuckle. He slapped her bottom. “Cheeky.”
“Seriously, I expect a repeat performance before you disappear from my life again.”
“It’s a deal.” He ran his fingers through her hair, stretching the tight curls. “I’ve missed you, Jill. So damn much. I don’t want tonight to be the end. We had something good going over the summer and I fucked it up.”
Jill opened her mouth to respond but bit down on the words. She wanted to ask him to stay in Ireland. She wanted to offer to quit her job and run after him. Neither of these suggestions was sane and sensible.
“It sounds like your job was to blame for you going AWOL,” she said in a shaky voice. “As for us making a go of this, you’re about to go back to the States, and I’ve barely begun my job at Blush Shoppe. How could we ever be more than a pre-Christmas fling?”