“I might take you up on that. He’s been slacking in a few areas today.”
That earns me a pinch on my inner thigh, and I suck in a breath to help ease the pain, but it does nothing to stop it from traveling up to the apex of my thighs. Okay, so Connor won’t be able to help with my current needs, but I need tending to. Soon.
Our lunch arrives then, saving me from having to further embarrass myself and I don’t even bother waiting for everyone to be served as I dip my spoon into the vanilla ice cream and bring it to my lips. I don’t mean to moan out loud, but I seem to have because Liam is staring at me while I still have the spoon between my lips like he wants to strip me down and then attack me.
Game on, sucker.
“How is it?” Liam asks me, his voice coming out more hoarse than I’m sure he means for it to.
I pull the spoon from my mouth and lick the remainder of the white cream off of it while watching him. “So good.”
“Yeah?”
Connor’s booming laugh almost makes me lose my self-control, but I hold onto it a moment longer as I scoop up another bite of my dessert and lift it up to my lips. Slowly, I move my mouth around the spoon and flutter my eyes closed.
“So, so good.”
“Fucking tease,” he says for everyone to hear before I’m able to open my eyes and stare at him while he adjusts himself.
“You deserve it for holding out on me.”
Everyone is watching us now, and I know I should feel self-conscious about what I’m doing in front of them, but I don’t. I know what I can do to Liam, and I’m enjoying toying with him right now. Serves him right, the lousy bastard.
He doesn’t say anything back as his mother’s eyes bore into him, and I know that he’s got a firm grip on his tongue right now because I can almost taste the lecherous energy rolling off of his sturdy build.
“I don’t mean to intrude, but how is everything this afternoon?” the waitress comes from nowhere to ask.
“It’s great, thank you,” Liam says dismissively as he picks up his burger and takes a bite from it.
Lunch passes while Liam teases me with slight touches the entire time. Once we’ve said our goodbyes to his family, he grabs hold of my hand with more force than I’m used to and pulls me through the lobby, past Grady, and into a closing elevator. The doors jerk open as he nestles us into one of the corners, surrounding me in his scent.
I stare up at him from the position he has me locked into at his side. A slow, menacing smile spreads across his face.
Oh shit.
The intense anticipation that whips itself through my body is almost too overwhelming.
“Can you physically feel what I’m thinking about doing to you?”
Before I can respond, he grabs my hair with confidence as we ascend and kisses me like the world might lose its gravitational pull if he stops. His tongue runs along the length of mine before he tilts his head in the other direction to get a better claim on my mouth.
“You were never supposed to mean this much to me.”
I pull away from him just enough to look up into his almost-black eyes. “You know that I didn’t expect it. I just wanted you to fuck me, but I got greedy when it came to you. I wanted to love you.”
“Show me,” he demands.
Fuck the butterflies—I can’t feel my entire body.
“Show you that I fancy you?”
“Show me what you want from me.”
I bow my head and bite down on his arm, leaving my bite marks on him like a love note on his skin. “I want you to chase me. I want you to fuck me passionately and love me deeply.”
“Hell, a little naughty never killed anybody.”
“Not anyone that I’ve known.”
When we come to a stop, he actually runs out of the elevator and down the long hallway while holding onto my hand, rushing to our suite where I know he plans on keeping me occupied this time.
We collided in a haste of need and want when we got back to the hotel suite, and he satisfied every single ounce of sexual frustration in me. I’m now lying out on the beach on one of the hotel’s loungers as my skin drinks in some much-needed vitamin D.
I can still smell him on my skin, and it makes me shift on the cushions.
Liam is dozing on his stomach beside me, and I’m able to feel Grady’s intense stare every once in a while, but I try to look past it. He’s here for a reason, and I know that now.
One of the outdoor bartenders who have been walking up and down the beach all afternoon comes up to me and asks if I’d like anything.
“A large glass of ice water, please. Oh, and what are your premium whiskeys?”
He lists off a couple of them, eyeing me speculatively. I glance over at Liam before turning back to him. “He’ll have the Glenfiddich Janet Sheed Roberts Reserve. It should be the 1955 bottle.”
“I’m unsure if we have that. I’ll go check for you.”
“Great. If you don’t have it, then bring him the oldest Macallan that you have in house. Straight, please.”
He nods and walks off before I turn back to Liam and run my hand through his slightly damp and salty hair. It causes him to stir and open his eyes. He blinks away the sleep before he pushes himself up and moves his top half over mine to stroke his lips along mine.
“I didn’t mean to pass out on you.”
“I don’t mind. You were rather active earlier.”
“You deserved every second of it.”
“Maybe . . .”
His easy laugh makes me giggle as he kisses me greedily again. You can’t fake the chemistry that crackles between the two of us. It just seems to be overwhelming at times, but I wouldn’t want it to end in the foreseeable future.
The waiter comes back with a tray and two glasses. He leans down as Liam moves off of me and offers me my water before handing Liam the Glenfiddich. I know that he’ll enjoy the floral, fruity, and sweet taste of his pale whiskey, and it’s sixty-something years in the making.
“They had the Glenfiddich, Mrs . . . ?”
“Jensen,” Liam says before I can correct him.
Ass.
The waiter nods and moves on to the next couple seated in the loungers to the left of us.
“You’re an envious bastard.”
“It’s a two-way street, doll.”
“Shut up and drink your whiskey.”
“You’re all too feisty after what I did to you upstairs.”
“Spare me.”
“Never.”
I roll onto my side to face him as his eyes roam up my body, pausing where the sweetheart neckline of my white bikini top dips well past my cleavage.
He takes a long drink from his tumbler before he leans in and runs his tongue along the seam of my lips. “Do you want to taste it?”
“I can’t, Liam.”
“I know that, but you’re allowed to kiss me.”
I start to giggle, but am quickly halted by his mouth. He starts exploring me, venturing inside of my body as I hold him captive. I’m able to taste the whiskey on his lips, and I groan in delight.
“It’s a great year.”
Instead of replying I move over him and straddle his lap as I start to kiss him again; tasting the liquor on his tongue is enticing. The creamy vanilla and smoke flavor balance each other out beautifully. The orange blossoms and violets join with toasted almonds the more I kiss him.
As much as I’m enjoying the taste, it’s far from the best. Liam Jensen is my poison, and I’ll never stop wanting for his flavor.
His hands slide underneath the still-damp material of my bikini bottoms to cup my bare ass in each palm.
“You better not get us kicked out of this resort. I like it too much.”
“Who gives a fuck when I have you on top of me like this?”
“But I’m rather enjoying the ocean air and salty hair.”
“I can give that to you at any beach, doll.”
I shake my head and bite down on his lip. “I love this
one. Plus, the sun seems to have kissed your nose, and since I’m half-naked, I’m going to need you to put some more lotion on my back.”
“Sit up and turn around,” he commands as he reaches for the lotion on the little table beside him. I do as I’m told and move to sit between his legs while facing the ocean. His hands start to move all over my back, pinching and nipping on my skin whenever he wants, and I love every semi-private moment of it.
We spend the remainder of the daylight on the beach, and by the time we make it through dinner, he’s well past tipsy on the whiskey that I insisted he swallow without me. All right, so he’s fucking hammered, but instead of the arrogant jerk that he turns into after one too many, he’s been overly caring of me.
Grady walks up to us as we wait in the elevator bank after dinner. “Do you need any help with him?” he asks as he watches Liam lean his full body weight against my own. I push back against him to hold him up as much as I can, but it’s no use.
“I wouldn’t mind the help, actually. Thank you.”
He chuckles and pulls my rather drunk fiancé off of me before helping me maneuver him into the elevator and up into our suite.
He hovers over me while I pull Liam’s shirt, shoes, and shorts off. He’s completely passed out now, and for some reason, I find him so goddamn sexy that I’m having to squeeze my thighs together to stop myself from getting on top of him and riding him while he’s in his whiskey stupor.
“Can I get you anything else, Isla?”
I turn and smile at Grady. “No, not really. He should be good now. Thank you for all of your help.”
“It’s no problem. I’m going to head down to the bar and grab dinner if you’d like to join me for dessert. Liam informed me of your little situation.”
“Sure. I’m always willing to have something sweet these days. Do you think that they’ll have ice cream available to order at this hour? I know that it’s late.”
“I don’t see why they wouldn’t.”
“Let me just get changed into something with more breathing room than this dress. I’ll be out in two minutes.”
“Of course,” he says and turns his back on me before walking out of the suite to wait in the hallway.
I take my time getting changed into a pair of leggings, a tank top, and one of Liam’s sweaters that I know he brought along just for me before I write a note to him and place it in the palm of his hand while he sleeps.
“I love you,” I say as I lean in and kiss his whiskey-numbed lips. I walk out of the suite and close the door silently before turning and facing Grady who is leaning back against the opposite wall.
“That took a bit longer than I said, but I’m ready.”
“Great, because I’m fucking starving, mate.”
I can see why he and Liam get along so well. They almost remind me of each other, with the exception of Grady’s Australian accent.
“How long have you known Jensen?” he asks as we get down to the lobby, and he leads the way to one of the hotel bars.
“I’ve known him since college actually. I guess it’s coming up on ten years now.”
He pulls out a barstool for me and offers me his hand while I get up on it. He doesn’t let go immediately afterward and a little twinge of something pinches in my lower belly.
He lets go when he moves to take his seat beside me and orders himself a draught beer as I look over the menu for anything that will curb this sugary craving.
“Find anything good worth eating in there?”
“Uhm, just the ice cream really, but I think bacon and ice cream would be an incredible combination.”
“Bacon ice cream? I believe that you’ve officially lost the plot, little girl.”
I wince at his comment but push it aside as the bartender asks if he can get me anything. I decide to forgo my ice cream as Grady places an order for a rare steak.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have left Liam alone in the state that he’s in.”
“He’s a big boy. I’m sure that he’s able to handle himself.”
I chew on the corner of my lip and pull out my phone to check and see if he’s woken up, but the only notification is from an Instagram picture I posted of the two of us and my engagement ring on my finger earlier today at the beach.
“So are you ready for all of the bullshit that comes along with marriage and a kid?”
This man obviously doesn’t care about the emotional damage that he’s doing when he says things like this, but I try to let the comment slide as best as I am able to.
“It will be a change of pace, that’s for sure.”
His steak arrives a couple of minutes later, and he takes the last swig of his beer. “And do you think that Liam plans on sticking around?”
I glance at my ring and then up at him, confusion settling over my soul. “I would assume so.”
“Interesting,” he says as he starts to eat.
“I, uhm, I think that I’m actually going to retire for the night. Thank you for your company, Grady.”
“Be my guest. He won’t be able to pleasure you in the way that you need him to, though. I can change that shit for you if you’d like.”
I spin around to face him head-on with such force that I almost fall out of the seat. “Excuse me?”
“What does he call you? Doll, right?” he asks as he holds up his steak knife, inspecting it as if it can be used as a weapon. “Like a fucking porcelain doll who’ll fracture into hundreds of pieces if she’s dropped?”
I stand and start to walk away from him, but he reaches over just in time to wrap his thick, strong fingers around my upper arm. “Uh-uh-uh. Not so fast, doll. You wouldn’t want me to break you, would you? It might be fun.”
“Let go of me,” I hiss out and try to pull my arm out of his sinister grip, but it’s no use against his strength, and there’s no one around us in the bar area anymore.
He pulls me back to him as if I really am a doll made from plastic and not porcelain as he squeezes my arm. Holy shit.
“What do you say we take a little moonlight stroll? It’ll be like having a date with Satan himself. Only this time he won’t be disguising the evil as good.”
“N-no.”
“It doesn’t look like you have much of a choice, Barbie. I’ll play Ken for the time being, and we’ll go shack up somewhere pink and pretty.”
Fuck him.
“You’re no Raggedy Ann, are you? Shall we play house, Chatty Cathy? Are you intrigued?”
Who in God’s name does he think he is? I believed that he was supposed to be protecting me from jackasses like himself. How the fuck did he land in my lap, and why is Liam so trusting of him?
He stands and pulls me closer to his side as I watch a group of men dressed in all black enter into the bar area. Together they start to clear the space around us, and I swear that I can hear my heart make its last beat. “I would have preferred to finish my steak first, but since you’re being a fucking petulant little bitch, we can leave now.”
“Lea-ve?” I stutter as he walks me toward the bar’s exit, forcing me to take step after step. I leverage my weight and shove him, trying to knock him off balance enough to let go of me, but it’s no use. He simply continues as if I hadn’t tried to escape his grip.
“Yeah, doll. I couldn’t let Jensen take all of my girls without my taking one of his in return,” he says against the back of my head as I feel the cold and sharp blade run down an inch of my spine.
“The plus side to this being a knife is that it won’t make the noise that a gun would, and I’ll be able to use it multiple times until I get you to behave. I heard that you weren’t opposed to a little blood play. Am I right? Or do you need to be taught?”
“Why are you doing this?”
His chuckle is low and menacing as he steers me down into a vacant and dimly lit stairwell and out of the public eye as I push against his body and try to grip onto the doorframe. He manages to free my grip, pulling me further into the darkness.
“I’ve
just told you, or are you more imperceptive than how you come across? An eye for an eye or in this case, a doll for a doll.”
I do not know why it’s taken me this long to figure it out, but it finally clicks.
This man.
The very one who has been specifically hired to protect me is the one that I should have been running from—the one that Liam warned me about.
The sudden realization of it makes my knees buckle, and as I’m about to hit the floor, his hand catches my head, and he chuckles. “I’m going to have fun breaking you in like the pathetic rag doll that you are. Maybe my clients will approve of the dark hair, but I think we’ll bleach it, so you look more like the doll they are all after. I’ll let them play house with you for a while before I do too much damage.”
“Hel—” I start to scream but it’s interrupted by a sharp pinch that pierces my skin, and I start to see large, unwelcome black spots as scorching fear pushes its way through my bones. I try to scream out again, but my body refuses to cooperate as he slides the stainless-steel needle beneath my skin and deeper until I cannot stand any longer and I’m separated from the world of the living and taken to an unconscious reality.
I groan against the memory foam pillow that my face is pressed against as a door opens too noisily for my liking. I can feel the bed pitch and sway beneath my body, and if it continues, I don’t think that I’ll be able to hold in the whiskey for much longer.
My brain is no longer charged with primitive endorphins. I’m fucking swimming in a sea of liquor and a suffocating atmosphere of existence.
I bring my hand up to my face to wipe the sleep away, but I’m met with the smooth surface of a folded piece of paper instead.
I manage to gather my wits about me and quickly realize that Isla isn’t in bed alongside me when I reach over to bring her petite body up against mine. Fuck, I miss the cool of her skin.
“Doll?” I slur and reach over to turn the nightstand light on, but instead of successfully accomplishing my goal, I’m met with an awakening and brutal fist to the jugular. Every ounce of alcohol leaves my body the moment someone’s skin makes contact with my own in the utmost vicious way.
Intertwined: A Redemption Novel Page 21