Power Play - A MFMMM Reverse Harem Billionaire Romance (You Can't Resist a Bad Boy Book 6)

by Layla Valentine

  Liam grimaced. “I’m a bit of an overachiever. I was that guy in college who was doing all of the extracurricular programs and having to pull all-nighters because of it. I’ve started a venture recently to make our technology more environmentally friendly and set up partnerships with other companies to start relying on solar and wind power for our factories, that sort of thing. There are plenty other projects that I contribute to, but I wish I had time to be more hands-on, y’know? It’s hard to balance work and all of the things I want to help with.”

  “I always got the impression that CEOs had plenty of free time,” I admitted. “That they just raked in the cash.”

  “A lot of them do,” Liam admitted. “It’s pretty annoying, actually, knowing that they’re just sitting on things. But I want to actively direct the company and make sure everything’s up to code. It takes a lot out of me.”

  “Hence the parties,” I noted.

  Liam acknowledged that with a tilt of his head. “Yeah. They were Jason’s idea originally, but I liked them. I got to have fun for a night or two and unwind for a while, no strings attached, and my friends enjoyed it.”

  “Have you ever wanted a more serious relationship?” I asked, genuinely curious.

  “Not like this,” Liam admitted. “Most of the time, it’s just felt like too much work and too much risk when I’ve got so much going on already. How would I know that someone wanted to be with me for me, and not for my money? I imagine you feel the same way, being a model.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, suddenly remembering I had a fake identity to maintain.

  “Well, you must wonder if someone wants to date you because they really like you or if they’re doing it because they just want to say they had sex with a drop-dead gorgeous model.”

  I blushed. “I’m not… I’m okay, I guess.”

  Liam laughed. “C’mon. Now you’re the one who’s being too hard on yourself. You’re beautiful.”

  “Thanks,” I said, feeling self-conscious.

  Liam frowned. “What? You must get compliments all the time. I thought that was all that people did all day during shoots.” He imitated a photographer. “Beautiful, perfect, the camera loves you, darling!”

  I burst out laughing and Liam grinned, pleased.

  “True,” I said, resigning myself to sticking with the cover story. “But after a while it feels fake, you know? You don’t know if they’re saying it just to say it, to keep you happy, or if they really mean it.”

  “Well, I really mean it,” Liam told me. He sounded so earnest and I had to swallow hard around the lump in my throat. He really thought I was beautiful. It was kind of overwhelming.

  “Thanks,” I whispered.

  I realized that we’d leaned into each other, Liam’s hand barely an inch from mine. When had we gotten so close? And why couldn’t I look away from his eyes?

  The food arrived then, shattering whatever moment we’d been sharing. I pulled back, thanking the waiter as he set my plate down.

  For a moment or two, we ate—and I had to admit, the food really was amazing. I told Liam as much and he smiled, clearly pleased. “Told you so.”

  I rolled my eyes at him playfully.

  “So, what about you?” he asked. “How did you end up modeling? Was it something that you’d always wanted to do?”

  I thought for a moment, pretending to be reminiscing, but actually scrambling for a cover story. “No, actually,” I told him. “I originally wanted to be a writer. But I got into modeling at college and, well, it was a lot more money then I’d get with my English degree. So I just kept doing it.”

  “But you don’t really want to do it,” Liam guessed.

  I let my actual frustration at my current job seep into my voice. “I feel like I’m stuck. What I really want to do is write about the things that I care about. I don’t want to be stuck with this…fluff.”

  “What about?” Liam asked.

  “What?” I replied, surprised.

  “What do you want to write about?” Liam clarified.

  I couldn’t very well tell him what I really wanted to write about, since that would be revealing that I was a journalist. But then I thought about what had always drawn me to those big important stories, the political missteps, the world-changing information.

  It had always been the people.

  The people at the heart of the story, the villains and the heroes, because it was never as black and white as everyone wanted to think. The reasons why they’d done what they’d done. The human story behind the sensational actions, that was what intrigued me.

  “A biographer,” I said. “I want to write about people. The movers and shakers. I want to give readers a chance to see all of who a person is. Especially the kind of people that we should be focusing on and admiring. All of these awful people get tons of press and it shouldn’t be about them. It should be about people like you, people who use what they have to help others and make the world a better place.”

  Liam looked like he was blushing a little. “I’m not sure… I mean, I wouldn’t say that anyone should write a documentary about me. I’m just me.”

  “But you’re not just sitting on your wealth,” I pointed out. “You’re using it to help create great programs and to donate to charities that you don’t have the time to be personally involved with. I think that’s worth writing about.”

  “You could write a biography about me,” Liam joked. “It would give us a chance to have more time together.”

  I felt more heat creep up into my face. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d blushed this much. “You’re pretty sweet for a guy who hosts sex parties,” I said, scrambling to gain the upper hand.

  Liam’s eyes darkened and he leaned in slightly. “I could show that side too, if you want,” he said, his voice low and curling inside of me like hot coffee. “Although I’m not sure that it would be appropriate for a public dining area.”

  I shivered. The way he just turned on that dominance was so unbelievably hot. “Maybe later,” I replied, struggling to make the “maybe” part sound convincing.

  Liam flashed me a wolfish grin and leaned back. I squeezed my thighs together, a little dizzy at how fast my body had woken up and all but begged for him to keep talking to me like that.

  The main course arrived, and I thought over what I’d told him. Maybe it was truer than I’d wanted to admit—that I’d gotten into journalism because I liked finding the real story, the story about the person. That wasn’t what I was doing with Liam and the parties. I was giving into the need to deliver a scandal. How did that make me any better than the paparazzi?

  I’d been working on nothing but gossip stories for forever now, always resenting it, but not truly fighting it. I’d talked myself into going along with it when I could have made a stand and quit and found a job that was more in line with my principles. But I’d compromised. I’d become complacent.

  I felt ashamed. What kind of person had I become? Someone who compromised what she really wanted and what she thought was important. Someone who had stagnated.

  I didn’t want to be that person anymore.

  “Hey…” Liam cleared his throat as our plates were taken away and a dessert menu was left on our table. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell you this, but would you mind not telling anyone about the parties? I’m sure that whoever told you about them told you to keep it under wraps, but I just want to remind you.”

  “Of course,” I said. “I mean, if it got out, I’d be in just as much trouble.”

  Liam sighed. “The press would love to get their hands on something like this, even though we’re not doing anything illegal or wrong. Everyone is there because they want to be. We have extensive talks beforehand so that all the girls feel safe and comfortable. We’ve never had a complaint. But the press would make it seem so…sordid and exploitive. Filthy rich billionaires who have nothing to do but spend money. It would ruin us and any girl we’d ever invited.”

  I swallowed hard, g
uilt sinking into my stomach. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stomach dessert at this rate.

  Liam picked up his menu. “I’m sorry, I’m getting all down on you.” He shrugged. “I think the parties have been weighing on my mind lately. Do you want to try the chocolate cake?”

  “Sure.”

  The waiter came by and we gave our order. I asked, “Why have they been on your mind?”

  Liam sighed. “I’ve just been bored by them lately. You were the first interesting person I’ve met there in a long time. I’m thinking maybe it’s time for a change.”

  “I’m not sure if your friends would enjoy that.”

  “They’re welcome to keep borrowing the boat and doing it,” Liam replied. “Jason can organize it on his own. I hardly helped out this last time, thanks to a merger we were working on. But I think it’s time I stopped attending.”

  “And why is that?” I asked, my curiosity coming to the fore again.

  “I’m not sure,” Liam admitted. “I’ve been trying to figure it out.”

  Our dessert arrived, and he smiled. “Enough of that. I want you to tell me what the deal is with your friend. She seemed very protective of you.”

  I laughed and launched into the story of how Kelsie and I had met in college. By the time Liam settled the check, we had fallen into an easy, light-hearted rhythm.

  We walked back out and were waiting for the car to arrive from the valet, when Liam put his arm around my shoulders. “Hey… What would you say if I asked you to come back to my place for a nightcap?”

  I looked up at him. He was trying to keep his voice nonchalant, but I could tell that he definitely meant more than just a drink.

  I didn’t have to think about my answer.

  “I’d love to.”

  Chapter 16

  Gabrielle

  We drove to a beachfront neighborhood. I’d read that Liam lived along the coast, but reading about it hadn’t prepared me for the sweeping view of the ocean at night. Out in this direction, you couldn’t see any city smog. The water reflected the moonlight, with the moon itself and the stars shining brightly up above.

  I found that I was holding my breath a little as I looked out at the water. I let it out slowly, then turned to find Liam smiling at me. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” he said.

  “It really is,” I replied, my voice low. “How long have you lived here?”

  “Three years now,” he said. “Since I took over the company.”

  We walked up to the front door and he unlocked it, leading me inside with a hand at the small of my back.

  “I knew I’d be super busy and so I wanted to live somewhere that would take the edge off. I grew up on the water, surfing, all of that. My parents lived a little more inland, but I’d be out on the water every morning that I could. This place was a bit of a splurge, but I also knew if I had to live in an apartment or something away from the ocean, I’d go nuts.”

  He flicked the lights on, revealing an open-plan interior with plenty of room for guests to sit and mingle, a gorgeous kitchen, and a fireplace. It wasn’t too large of a place, but I liked it. Everything was clearly top of the line and it was done in a classy, almost vintage design—my favorite.

  “White or red?” Liam asked. He pulled away, and I immediately missed the warmth and weight of his hand at my back.

  “Red’s fine,” I said. I didn’t care all that much about the wine, to be honest.

  As Liam poured, I realized that I was no longer thinking about the article. I had barely been thinking about it all night, and when I had, it had been with a sense of guilt and shame.

  I shoved that thought out of my mind. I wasn’t going to focus on that right now. Not when I had a gorgeous billionaire pouring wine for me in his classy beachfront house.

  Liam handed me a glass and we sat down on one of the couches, looking out over the water. “It can get pretty cold here in the winter,” he explained, draping an arm around my shoulders. “So I added the fireplace.”

  “It’s classy,” I said. I let myself lean into him, my head on his shoulder and my body tucked in against his side. It was cozy. Romantic. Not at all what I had expected when I’d first had sex with him, or even when he had come to ask me to dinner. But I liked it. I liked Liam—I felt comfortable around him.

  Not to mention turned on as hell.

  Pressed up against him, I could feel all of the muscles that I so vividly remembered running my hands over the other night. Had it only been three days ago?

  “I like to just look out here when I’m trying to think,” Liam admitted. “When I need to get my thoughts organized.”

  “I can see why,” I admitted.

  There was a pause, and then he spoke again, his voice lower and rougher. “I have to admit, right now all I’m thinking about is having you again.”

  His arm tightened around me and he pressed a kiss to my hair. I let out a little sigh and leaned further into him, tilting my head so that he could kiss down my neck.

  “I’ve thought about this,” he whispered, lips brushing against my skin and making me shiver. “I hated that you left so early.”

  “I wanted to stay,” I admitted.

  I shifted so that I was fully in his lap, my back to his chest. I wrapped an arm around the back of his neck, winding my fingers through the blond hair and tugging slightly, grinding my ass back against him. Liam growled and slid a hand down my body, pushing the skirt of the dress up out of the way so that he could rub against the wet heat between my legs.

  “God, you’re beautiful,” Liam whispered. “Spread your legs for me, okay?”

  I did as he asked, grinding back more purposefully against him and feeling him get hard against me. Liam slid his hand underneath my underwear and started to lightly trail a finger through my folds, teasing me. I bit my lip hard, trying not to twist around too much as he started to rub at my clit.

  “None of that,” Liam chastised. “I want to hear you. Let it out for me.”

  I let a tiny moan slip out as Liam slowly slid a finger inside of me. The pace was almost painfully slow, so much slower than I wanted. I gripped his arms, feeling the corded muscle, loving and hating how I was trapped against his body. I loved the dominance of it, but hated that it meant I couldn’t touch him everywhere I wanted to.

  He was hard against my ass and I kept grinding back, wanting to drive him as crazy as he was driving me. He bit my shoulder lightly and added another finger inside of me, twisting them gently back and forth. I moaned again and he groaned in response.

  Part of me wanted to stay just like this—especially when Liam started to rub his thumb over my clit. I could feel sparks behind my eyes, heat shooting up and down my spine. But I wanted more.

  Liam didn’t seem to be on quite the same page. I tried to stand up, to take this further, but Liam only sped up his thumb, making my hips thrust wildly.

  “You… You have to…” Liam licked my neck and I moaned. “Liam, the bed—the—oh God—”

  “I love hearing you fall apart,” Liam whispered. He pressed a quick, hot kiss just behind my ear. He was grinding hard against my ass and his voice sounded wrecked. “Talk to me, Gabi.”

  “I’m gonna…” Liam added a third finger and sped up, thrusting in and out of me harder and faster. My hips almost lifted off the couch entirely. “Liam, Liam, I’m going to come, please, I’m going—”

  “Do it,” Liam ordered, that commanding note sliding into his voice again. The hand that had been pinning me against him slid back up my body, pinching my nipple through the fabric of the dress. I writhed under the touch. It felt like I was going to shatter, like glass. “I want to see you.”

  He pinched my nipple again and sealed his mouth over mine, dragging his tongue across the roof of my mouth as he sped up just a bit more, pressing down hard on my clit.

  I screamed into his mouth, my whole body seizing up as I came. It felt everything in me freezing as pleasure assaulted me, stars dancing in the corners of my eyes.

 
Slowly, I came down from my high, sagging back against him. Liam peppered kisses up and down my neck and face. I could feel that he was still hard against me and I wanted him inside of me, badly, but my limbs were so heavy.

  “This dress,” he said, nipping a little. “The moment I saw you in it I had to stop myself from ripping it off of you.”

  “I’m not sure Kelsie would appreciate that,” I admitted.

  “I’ll be careful with it,” Liam amended. “I’d hate to get on her bad side.”

  “How about I get out of it then?” I suggested. “After you show me the bedroom.”

  Liam gave me a quick kiss on the lips and then gently pushed me off of him. “I like that idea.”

  I stood up and turned to face him, taking his hand as he offered it to me—already reaching out for it. Already expecting it.

  The bedroom was just down the hall and I gasped as I stepped inside. There was a massive bed with white sheets and thin white curtains on the massive all-glass wall looking out onto the ocean, but neither of those things were what caught my attention.

  It was the skylight in the ceiling.

  The skylight was huge, almost as big as the entire bed, and it showed the stars twinkling over us.

  “It’s like we’re outside!” I gasped, hurrying over to flop onto the bed and gaze up at it.

  “You like it?” Liam grinned. It was a little predatory, but soft around the edges.

  I smiled up at the stars and then back down at him. “I love it,” I said.

  Liam crawled onto the bed, settling between my legs. “This way, I can feel like I’m in nature while still being as comfortable as I need.”

  “It’s very romantic,” I admitted. “I bet you take all the girls here.”

  Liam laughed. “It is. And… No, actually. I haven’t brought anyone here. I usually go to their places or take them to my yacht or something.”

  Before I could think too much about that, Liam leaned in and kissed me slowly, moving his lips against mine over and over again.