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

by Layla Valentine

  I sank into it, letting myself fall back completely onto the bed. I wrapped my arms around his neck and slid my hands down his back, reveling in the tight muscles. I remembered some articles I’d read about him being an avid surfer. That was where he got the insane amount of muscle from, I thought, arching up into his touch as he pulled me up against him.

  I could have kept kissing him for hours if he’d let me. His body felt so good, the weight holding me down, the feeling of him between my legs with his hands slowly running over my body. It felt like he was trying to map out the different parts of me, memorize them by touch. I dug my nails in a little and arched up, moving my hips in a slow, rolling grind.

  Liam made a choking noise and pulled back. His eyes were dark and glittering in the half light from the moon and stars. “You might want to get that dress off right now.”

  I laughed, playfully shoving him away from me so I could get the dress off, along with my bra and underwear. I heard the sound of a belt and then clothes dropping to the floor, and when I’d finished and looked up, I saw that Liam had gotten completely undressed too.

  His cock was standing flushed and erect against his stomach and I licked my lips, remembering what it felt like to have that in my mouth.

  “Come here,” I said, tossing my clothes aside and scooting to the end of the bed, spreading my legs.

  Liam clearly knew what I was after, if the sharp intake of his breath was any indication. He came forward to stand between my legs, one of his hands coming up to tangle in my hair. I started pressing kisses up his thighs, and then licked at the head of his cock. Liam gave a little groan, his hips canting forward slightly.

  I ran my lips up the shaft and then took the head into my mouth, sucking gently. Liam cursed and his hand tightened in my hair. I bobbed my head up and down, not quite taking him in as deeply as I could—which I knew must be driving him crazy. He knew how deep I could go thanks to our night on the yacht. He knew I was teasing him.

  Liam’s hand tightened even more in my hair and he tugged my hair back, pulling me away from him. “If you keep that up, you’ll have to wait for me to recover before I fuck you.”

  Well, who was I to argue with that?

  I let him pull me up and wrap his arms around me, kissing me again. His mouth was soft, coaxing, but his arms were like iron around me, keeping me pinned to him—that strange mixture of dominance and sweetness.

  He guided me backwards until I was kneeling on the bed. He crawled around me, sitting back against the headboard, his legs a little splayed. He stroked himself slowly with one hand, his gaze raking over my body as he reached into a bedside table for supplies.

  “Come here,” he murmured, and I couldn’t help but obey. Not when he was looking at me like that. I wasn’t entirely sure what was in his tone of voice or in his eyes. I only knew that I had never had anyone look at me that way, and I never wanted him to stop.

  I settled on his lap, my legs splayed on either side, and kissed him again. It was like a drug; I just couldn’t stop kissing every part of him that I could reach. There was the rip of the condom packet and then I felt him nudging at my entrance. I raised myself up and grinned at him, then sank down, slowly, clenching a little.

  Liam swore softly, his fingers digging into my hips as he helped to guide me down.

  “You like that?” I asked sweetly, swiveling my hips.

  “I can’t believe I ever thought you were shy,” he growled, leaning in to suck at my collarbone, knowing it would earn him a full-body shiver from me.

  “I’m just full of surprises,” I replied, my voice shaky.

  I could feel him all over, deep inside of me, but also wrapped around me. It felt wonderfully intimate, held in his arms, but also sinking down over him completely, until I felt him bottom out and we were flush together and I was shivering, shivering with the hot-cold feeling of almost too much.

  Liam started rocking up into me, his eyes searching my face for any trace of discomfort. It was definitely deep and intense, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I started to raise myself up and down a little to let him know that I was good, that I liked this. I could handle it.

  He got my message and started thrusting harder. I began to do the same, doing my best to match his rhythm. This angle meant that my breasts were right at Liam’s eye level and he let out an appreciative groan, nuzzling into them. I braced myself with my hands at his shoulders as I started to move harder and faster, meeting him thrust for thrust. It felt like moans were being shoved up and out of my throat with each movement of his hips.

  I tilted my head back, giving him better access to suck and lick at my breasts and neck. My eyes were closed at first, but then he scraped his teeth around my nipple and my eyes flew open—and I saw stars. I almost started laughing with giddy delight. I was having sex in a gorgeous billowing white bed under the stars. It was a little silly, utterly romantic, and beautiful.

  We kept moving like that, in tandem, the heat inside of me building until I thought that I was going to fall apart. It was intense but slow, and Liam wouldn’t let me move as fast as I wanted to. He kept it slower, driving me insane, until I was begging him to just let go and fuck me as hard and fast as he could.

  Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore.

  “Fuck me,” I demanded, looking him right in the eye. “Right fucking now.”

  Liam gave me this devilish grin and I knew that this was what he’d been planning the whole time—getting me to this point of utter desperation.

  “Whatever you say,” he promised, and then he made good on it.

  I moaned helplessly, unable to even rock back down properly with how hard and fast he’d started to rut up into me. I could feel my spine tingling, until it was too much, and I felt myself melting against him as I came again, pleasure coursing through me. Liam made a choked-off noise, his eyes wide and dark as they stared at me, and then I could feel him coming as well, his breathing harsh and hot in my ear.

  We stayed like that for a while, Liam holding me in his arms, my face tucked into the side of his neck. It made me feel safe.

  That was something I felt with Liam that I didn’t necessarily feel with the others, I realized. With Jason and the twins, I’d felt like they wanted something from me. From Jason, it was to see me at his mercy and begging. Cody and Cameron wanted to wring as many orgasms from me as they could, almost like a competition. But Liam was genuine. He held me in his arms, both on the couch and in his bed. He made sure I came so I was relaxed and sated before he entered me.

  And honestly, I got on with Liam the best. Jason gave me that dangerous thrill, but I had a feeling I’d want to slap him if I spent too much time with him. Cody and Cameron carried that air of smug satisfaction that I knew I couldn’t handle for very long. But Liam was sweet and hardworking and humble. He had that hint of dominance that sent a thrill through me, but it wasn’t as all-consuming as it was with the others.

  I appreciated it.

  “Would you like to shower?” he asked, after I’d pulled away. The “with me” seemed implied in the tone of voice, the hopeful look on his face.

  And he’d said he thought I was shy?

  “Sure,” I replied, smiling for emphasis.

  It had been a long few days. The yacht, then research, then Jason, then more research, then the twins, and then more research, and now Liam. Liam must have sensed my exhaustion because he didn’t do anything in the shower other than help wash my back, which turned into a kind of pseudo-massage. He kept kissing me as well, deeper ones, but also light presses to my cheek, the back of my neck, the corner of my mouth, the slope of my shoulder.

  I returned in kind, washing his hair for him and laughing when water got in his mouth and he spluttered. When we’d finished, we tumbled back into bed together.

  “Stay the night this time?” Liam asked.

  I smiled at him. I still felt bad about lying to him, but unlike at the yacht, there was no way he’d find out who I was just by going to sleep for the next
eight hours.

  “Okay.”

  It was only as I was starting to drift off to sleep, stars above my head and Liam’s arm a reassuring weight over my waist, that I realized—I was screwed.

  Could I be developing deeper feelings for him? Could I be…? Was I…? But if I was…

  I was in so much trouble.

  Chapter 17

  Gabrielle

  A week had gone by since my night with Liam. The morning after had been great. We’d made breakfast and he’d asked what my upcoming plans were, then he’d called me a taxi to take me home while he went in to work.

  I hadn’t heard from him since.

  I knew I was being stupid. I knew it was wrong of me to hope like this. But we’d exchanged phone numbers, and I’d told him what today was, and, well…

  It was my birthday, all right? Forgive a girl for expecting a text or something.

  I’d known, even lying in bed with his arm around me, that it would be stupid to develop feelings for him. None of my research had brought up any serious girlfriends. He hosted sex parties. Long-term romance was obviously not in the cards for him. I was the stupid one for falling for him, for thinking there could be something more.

  The way that he had held me, that sweetness about him, though—I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I’m sure that was how all the girls felt. It must have been how he made them feel special.

  No, this stupid heartbreak was all my own fault.

  How could it even be called heartbreak, anyway? I’d only spent time with him twice and half of that had been sex. I suppose I’d thought there was the potential for something more. He’d been the first guy in a long time that I had contemplated having that with. It sucked to be wrong.

  I supposed that this melancholy was partially due to my birthday. I was another year older and no farther along in my career. In fact, I was starting to wonder if I was on the right path at all.

  Kelsie cooked for me and we had friends over, and then we all went down to a local bar for some drinks.

  “Seriously, though,” I asked. “Am I in the right career?”

  “You’re the best writer I’ve ever met,” Sara said. “Nonfiction, I mean.”

  “Thanks for the clarification,” I teased.

  “What’s putting you off journalism all of a sudden?” Josh asked. He and Sara had finally gotten engaged a few months ago, but were being typically lax about planning their wedding. “You used to be so passionate about it.”

  I sighed. “All I’m doing in this job is chasing scandals. At best, I’m writing fluff pieces and at worst, I’m potentially destroying people’s lives. Now I’m worried that reporting on the stories that I do care about will be the same. It’ll be about the sensationalism rather than the people at the heart of it.”

  “Sounds like you should be finding a way to write about people, then,” Sara said.

  “Like that one guy who interviews random people he meets on the street in his city?” Ariadne suggested.

  “That doesn’t necessarily make money,” I pointed out. “But I can’t be in this dead-end job anymore, I just can’t.”

  As I said it, I knew it was true. The story about Liam and the others had finally tipped the scales. While Jason and the twins weren’t men I’d want to date, exactly, they were still good people. And Liam I genuinely wanted to spend more time with.

  I couldn’t do this to them, and I couldn’t do it to anyone else. I had to get out.

  That would mean I’d need a new income to replace this one. But what?

  “It’s hard to make money writing stuff that you actually care about,” I pointed out. “I’ll probably spend six months failing to get anywhere and then have to go back to Paul on my knees, begging for my old job back.”

  “Well, you don’t know until you try,” Sara replied.

  She had a point. Maybe I’d been playing it too safe, more content with my rut then I’d realized. Maybe I needed to take a risk and shake things up.

  It was all weighing heavily on my mind, so when everyone else wanted to go out to a club or two and continue the party, I begged off. “It’s my birthday,” I told them when they protested. “I get to do what I want, and what I want right now is to go home and have a quiet night in.”

  “I’ll make sure Kelsie gets home,” Ariadne told me.

  Kelsie hugged me. “Are you sure this doesn’t have anything to do with the story?” she asked me quietly. “Mr. Myer and his friends?”

  I shook my head. “No. I mean, yes, but only in that it showed me that I need a change in my life.”

  Kelsie didn’t seem convinced, but then, she’d always known when I was lying. And I was kind of lying right then.

  I gave them all hugs, thanked them for the lovely evening, and then drove on back to the apartment.

  The drive back was contemplative. Was part of this about Liam? Sure, the need to change my life hadn’t come out of nowhere. But this oddly sad, discontented feeling, perhaps that had more to do with him than I had expected.

  I hadn’t thought that Jason would contact me again, except maybe to try and find out my real identity. Cody and Cameron had probably already moved on to another girl. But Liam? I’d hoped to hear from him, at least. I’d thought that we’d had something, or the beginning of something.

  I guess I’d been wrong.

  Going home to an empty apartment on my birthday felt a little pathetic, but I preferred it over going to a club or more bars. I’d had enough partying to last me a lifetime. I needed to get my head on straight after the last week.

  Luckily, we’d all pitched in and cleaned up from the dinner so I didn’t have to worry about coming home to a mess. I dumped my purse by the door and kicked off my shoes. Maybe I’d watch a movie or something, one of my old favorites that would make me smile.

  But first…

  I went back into my bedroom. My “clue wall” of sorts was still there, with its Post-it notes and strings and photos and all the rest.

  I wasn’t even sure why I had kept it up. I’d known for the past few days that I wasn’t going to go ahead with writing the article. Something had compelled me to keep it up—habit, I supposed. The feeling that I shouldn’t take it down just yet, just in case.

  But Kelsie had been right. There was no point in publishing this story, not really. Publishing it would do far more to hurt the men and women involved than it would to help my career. And if the men involved did decide to seek retribution, both Kelsie’s and my careers could very well be over. It just wasn’t worth it. I didn’t want to be the kind of person that threw other people under the bus, even people she didn’t know all that well, in order to get ahead.

  I took one last look at the wall, feeling proud for a moment because hey, I had done a ton of research on this, and it was good research, and then I started to take it down.

  Whatever this had started out as, and whatever disappointment I was feeling about Liam, this entire story had helped show me where I was unhappy in my life and that it was time to move on. I wasn’t going to print the story.

  It took a short while to get everything off the wall and then piled into the trash. I put a good few things through the shredder as well, just to be on the safe side. I highly doubted that anybody was going to be going through my trash, but hey, I was a little paranoid.

  With the cleanup finished, I headed back into the bedroom to get changed into pajamas when there was a knock at the door.

  I froze, my heart leaping as I remembered the last time someone had shown up unexpectedly at my apartment.

  When I opened the door, sure enough, the person standing there was Liam.

  We stared at each other for a moment. Liam looked like he was just taking me in, a small smile on his face that I couldn’t decipher. My heart was throwing itself against my ribcage. What was he doing here? I was excited and nervous in equal measure.

  “Hey,” I said, and then inwardly slapped myself for the lame phrasing. I smiled, trying to hide my inner jitters. “This is
…” A surprise? Weird? Making me want to kiss you and panic at the same time? “…unexpected. What are you doing here?”

  Liam’s smile grew a little. I realized that he was more dressed up than I’d seen him before, wearing an all-black suit with a black tie and a black undershirt. It was sleek and sexy as hell. “I believe you told me it was your birthday today? I had a little surprise planned for you to celebrate.”

  My breath caught in my throat. He’d actually remembered?

  “Okay,” I said. “Do I need to change or anything?” I’d just worn a pair of ass-hugging jeans and a black tank top for going out, something that looked nice, but was still casual.

  Liam let his gaze linger over my body, and I found myself blushing. “You look great,” he said. “You don’t need to change. All you need to do is wear this.”

  He held up a long piece of what looked like black silk, and for a moment I wasn’t sure what it was. A tie? A scarf? Then he picked up the other end in his free hand and held it up, and I realized what it was: a blindfold.

  My thighs clenched and I felt my skin start to heat up. I swallowed. “Okay.”

  “What can I say, I have a feeling you’re good at figuring out secrets.” Liam winked at me, and I felt a bit of nervousness cut through my arousal. “I don’t want you figuring out the surprise ahead of time.”

  “Consider my curiosity piqued,” I said. “Lead on, Macduff.”

  I grabbed my purse and jacket and locked the front door, leaving Kelsie a note saying that something had come up and I’d be back late. We walked down to Liam’s car, where he carefully slid the blindfold over my eyes and then tied it tightly so it wouldn’t fall down.

  “Good?” he asked. “Not too tight?”

  “Nope, all good,” I said.

  Liam pressed a kiss to the soft skin just under my ear. “Good,” he murmured, making me shiver with anticipation.

  We drove for a while, and I quickly gave up trying to figure out where we were headed. Liam was silent the entire time, and I had no idea what to think. I couldn’t help but worry a little; given Liam’s parties, his skylight, and all the rest, he obviously had a flair for the dramatic. What could he possibly have planned?