One-Click Buy: September Harlequin Blaze

by Jo Leigh

  Legs braced wide, penis sliding in and out of her, Liam anchored her to the mattress, his strong arms holding her in place. Like a dedicated explorer, he took his time, gradually getting to know the feel of her.

  She slid the fingers of one hand down his back, feeling the bumps in his spine, grateful for him, for this moment, for this delicious pleasure.

  They kissed repeatedly, their mouths coming together for a quick taste of heaven, and then pulling apart on a sigh as activities demanded.

  They glided together under the covers, writhing, mating, swept up in the heat, the intensity, the slick seduction.

  His thrusts quickened. She egged him on with hot little gasps and soft, hungry moans. Her contractions gripped him tight, pulling him deep within her. Holding on for dear life, she whispered his name over and over again.

  Tension mounted.

  Liam drove into her. Forceful now, demanding. His early gentleness evaporating in the face of urgent need.

  She tightened her legs around his waist. He fondled her buttocks in his hand, spearing her hard, banging into her.

  The inside of her thighs rode his hips. Relentlessly.

  She could feel his legs quivering, knew he was on the verge of climax. It was gonna be big.

  They exploded, shattering into pieces, the orgasm tearing through them simultaneously. She felt it ripple from her womb. Felt the shot of his heat flood through her.

  At that very moment, Katie fell deeply in love.

  LIAM HAD NEVER FELT happier in his life. He propped himself up on one elbow and lay watching her sleep, his eyes tracing the outlines of her dear face.

  She’d spoiled him for good. After her, no other woman could ever compare.

  And he was deliriously happy about his ruination.

  To his mind, Katie was the sexiest woman in the world and he wanted her all the time. They had such fun together. Both in bed and out of it. He admired the way life delighted her. And her unfettered heart unfettered him.

  Her impulses were elegant, lovely things, and it was troublesome, but astonishing, to appreciate the way she managed him. It wasn’t deviousness on her part. It was just the way she was and she had him twisted around her little finger.

  Because of his past and his issues with Finn Delancy, Liam feared he might never be able to able to have an open and honest relationship with a woman. But his growing feelings for Katie overrode his trepidation. His need for connection was stronger than his fears that he didn’t measure up.

  Liam acknowledged that she needed more time, that her own fear of commitment wouldn’t disappear over night. That was fine. He had all the patience in the world. In the meantime, he was determined to show her exactly how much she meant to him.

  And that she could depend on him to be there for her, no matter what.

  LATER, Katie woke to find Liam’s leg thrown over her waist, his hair sexily ruffled, his gaze fixed upon her face. She closed her eyes and smiled when he leaned over to kiss her.

  She had to admit it. They were glorious together. Sex with Liam was the best she’d ever had.

  He nuzzled her cheek lightly. She lifted her lashes partway, still smiling, and slanted him a flirtatious glance.

  The way he looked at her made her feel as if she were the sexiest woman who’d ever lived. She thought she knew her body well, but through the lens of his eyes, she was different. Unknown to herself. And he was adventurously charting her unexplored territories.

  Liam pulled her close. She rested her nose against his collarbone, smelling his essence, resting her chin against his curly black chest hairs. They lay unmoving, enrapt by the sounds of their own heartbeats.

  Slowly, she became fully aware of the weight of their touching bodies. She eased from the circle of his arms, kissing his skin as she went.

  Eyes flashing, he edged his fingertips up the slope of her inner thigh, tickling her.

  Katie’s laugh, thick and erotic, oozed out into the room. She sounded husky and languid, as if she were changing, becoming someone new.

  And Liam was the channel, guiding her into being more than she’d ever thought she could be.

  In the process, she was learning to let go of her need for constant excitement, adventure and stimulation. Learning she could, indeed, trust these tender feelings swelling inside her. Liam had brought her to his bed, brought her into the daylight. He’d taken away her deepest fear-that she had no staying power for the long haul.

  She grasped his shoulders to steady the fluttering of her pulse against the tingling of his gentle strokes. He rested his head against her belly. Her breath came quicker, deeper. A thrust of understanding expanded her heart.

  He raised his head to look at her. They gazed deeply into each other’s eyes. Not saying a word, just taking each other in. Katie spied something that she’d never seen in a man’s eyes after lovemaking. It was a certainty. A knowing that only true and honest loyalty could bring.

  What did her eyes say to him? Could he tell that he’d changed her? Could he see that she was letting down her guard, letting him in, going where she’d never gone with any man before?

  Respect passed between them. A promise yet unspoken, but solidly real.

  His erection stirred against her thigh, growing hard and hot all over again. She reached down to caress him, admiring his size and texture.

  Anticipation sparked in his eyes as she increased the measured stroking, cupping his balls in her other hand. She delighted at the way they drew up against his crotch. Instantly, she felt a corresponding pressure, a tightening of her own nerve endings.

  She bent her head. Kissed his satiny tip, tasted his pungent tang. She slid her tongue down one side of him, tracing his pattern.

  He groaned.

  Her tongue traveled, roaming over the brilliant territory. As her excitement grew, her control slipped. Her mouth closed delicately over the head of him.

  Liam lay motionless, straining against his impulses. She clutched his hips with both hands, sucked him first slowly all the way to his tip, turning her head so she could feel every part of him, then slipping down to the base of his shaft.

  Katie dove, her tongue swirling, in one fluid movement.

  Sitting up, she moved her hands around his buttocks to the inside of his firm, muscular thighs. Gently, she stroked, moving over him with a shivering lightness. She glided with him.

  Yet the whole time she was holding back, holding something in reserve. Their pace quickened and they never lost contact. They swayed in unison.

  “Katie, Katie, Katie,” he groaned, his head thrown back, his eyes tightly closed.

  His body went rigid. The signal she was looking for. The signal to wait.

  Katie did not move, her mouth resting on the base of his shaft, the head of him throbbing inside her.

  He shuddered in premonition.

  She wrapped her legs around his thighs so he could feel her warm wetness, dripping with excitement. She undulated her hips in rhythm with her mouth, moving up and down him once more.

  His hands reached for her. He touched her hair. His fingers moved blindly over her shoulders, trying to find a place to hold on to as he arched his back.

  She wriggled away from his hands, determined to focus all her attention on his pleasure, knowing he would return it tenfold. She closed her eyes, calmed her pulsating heart. All her consciousness pooled in her fingers and her tongue.

  He was close. So very close.

  His breath came in rough gasps. Her body simmered in sweet sweat as they rocked together. She moved her mouth and her fingers took over. With a burst and shudder, he came, his juices leaking over her hand onto his belly.

  He cried her name.

  And she collapsed against him. Together, they lay breathing heavily, absorbed by ecstasy, until slowly they slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep.

  WHEN KATIE WOKE again, dawn was rising on the skylight beyond the
lanai. The morning breeze was slight. Birds chirped happily in the palm trees, greeting the new day.

  Beside her, Liam slept like a sexually satisfied male-lying on his stomach, arm slung over a pillow, his gorgeously naked butt on delicious display. Grinning, she slipped out of bed, careful not to awaken him and padded naked into the kitchen to put on the coffee.

  After a night of rigorous sex, Katie was feeling a tad achy. She pulled a bottle of water from the fridge and twisted off the top. She found her purse-after stepping over the pile of clothes they’d left scattered at the front door-and dug for a travel bottle of ibuprofen.

  As she did, her fingers brushed the corners of the pink envelope from Lindsay Beckham.

  Her third Martini dare.

  The first two had turned out so splendidly, she was intrigued to discover what the third dare entailed. She swallowed two of the pills and put on Liam’s discarded white shirt. The hem of it hit at the middle of her thigh, and it smelled of him. She pressed the collar to her nose and inhaled the scent of him as she sat down on the sofa. She propped her bare feet on the coffee table and slid her fingernail under the flap of the envelope.

  Out fell the parchment scroll wrapped with the familiar red velvet ribbon.

  She untied the ribbon and unrolled the scroll to read one single word.

  Confess.

  Confess? Confess what? To whom?

  Puzzled, Katie peered into the envelope in hopes there was something else inside, but it was empty.

  “Morning, early bird, I smell coffee brewing.”

  She looked up to see Liam standing in the entry way, his hair disheveled, sheet creases on his cheek, looking totally adorable. Her heart melted all over again.

  “Hey.” He grinned. “You look much better in my shirt than I ever did.”

  She smiled at his compliment.

  He yawned and scratched his chest. A total guy. “Watcha got there?”

  All at once it was perfectly clear what she was supposed to confess and to whom. “It’s a Martini dare.”

  “What’s a Martini dare?” he asked, picking his underwear and pants up off the floor and sliding into them.

  “It’s something I have to do for this women’s club I joined. They dare you to do something outside your comfort zone.” She went on to explain the tenets of Martinis and Bikinis.

  He sat down beside her on the couch and reached for his shoes. “Sounds interesting.”

  “It is.”

  He leaned over her shoulder, peered at the scroll. “Confess? What does that mean?”

  Katie swallowed. She had a sudden fear Liam wasn’t going to take this dare in the spirit she’d agreed to do it. “I think I’m supposed to confess to you.”

  He went suddenly still, one shoe off and one shoe on. “Confess what?”

  “That you’re my Martini dare.”

  He drilled a hole through her with his eyes. “What do you mean?”

  “Remember that afternoon in the theatre?”

  “How could I possibly forget?”

  “It was a Martini dare.”

  “They dared you to have sex with me?”

  “In a forbidden place.”

  He looked as if someone had just kicked him in the gut. “And this trip to Fiji?”

  Feeling miserable, she nodded. “Have sex in an exotic place.”

  He clamped his lips together and said not another word. He got up off the couch and went to the bedroom. Katie jumped up to follow him. “It was stupid, I know.”

  He didn’t even look at her, just stalked to bathroom, and scooped his toothbrush and razor off the counter.

  “What…what are you doing?”

  “What does it look like?” he snapped, picking his suitcase up off the floor and stuffing his toiletries inside.

  “You’re leaving?”

  “Yes.” His jaw tightened as he bent over to zip up his suitcase.

  She stared at him. “But why?”

  “You lured me here on false pretenses.”

  “Oh, come on, you didn’t come here just to assess the value of my family’s real estate.”

  He straightened up to glare at her. “No, I came here because you and my best friend convinced me I needed to learn how to relax. That I needed to take a vacation. I came here because…” He shook his head. “Forget it.”

  This wasn’t making sense. She couldn’t understand why he was so furious with her. Okay, so her dares were a little underhanded, but they weren’t malicious. They’d both had a good time. Why weren’t they laughing about this over the breakfast buffet?

  She touched his forearm, but he shook her off. “What is it?”

  His glower cut her like a knife. “I came here because I thought you and I might have a future together. I knew it was going to be tough. I knew you were commitment-phobic, I knew I was taking a chance by laying my heart on the line, but I had no idea you were toying with me. That I was nothing more to you than some stupid dare.”

  “You are more to me than a stupid dare.”

  “Then why didn’t you just tell me about it?”

  “We’re supposed to keep the dares a secret,” she said. “Club rules.”

  “And you put your oath to your Martini club above my feelings?”

  “I admit it. You’re right. I should have told you about the dare before I invited you out here. I made mistake.”

  “Damn right you did.”

  Stupefied, Katie couldn’t speak. She stared at him, openmouthed.

  His eyes flared with anger. “You don’t get it, do you?”

  “No, I don’t.”

  He pressed his lips together in a hard line. “And that’s the problem. You don’t get me. I can’t believe that I ever thought you did.”

  “Liam, I never meant to hurt you. You’ve got to believe that.”

  “I won’t be played for a fool, Katie, and I won’t tolerate deception in any form. Especially, not from the woman I’m dating.” He snatched his suitcase off the bed and carried it out the door.

  She stood there dumbfounded, hands on her hips, watching him stride away. She could understand that he didn’t think the dare was funny. She could understand why he might be put out, but this angry reaction was over the top.

  See, see, this is why you should avoid commitment, shouted the voice that had always kept her from investing in a long-term relationship.

  But then another part of her, a wiser part of her she’d never heard before whispered, This isn’t about you. He’s got an old wound and you just knocked off the scab.

  When she returned to the living room, she found him on the phone, calling for a taxi to the airport. “You’re really doing this. You’re really going?”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t leave you stranded,” he said as he hung up, forever a man of honor. “I’ll take the next commercial flight off the island. I’ll leave my jet for you.”

  “Liam, you’re blowing this all out of proportion. You’re a rational man, I don’t get why you’re acting so betrayed.” She reached out to grab his wrist and pushed up the wristband of his watch in the process, revealing the tattoo that marked him.

  All at once the anger rolled out of him. She could see it in the sag of his shoulders, the tired shake of his head. “I’m sorry, Katie, I thought we had something, but now I see we don’t. You’re a blue-blooded Brahmin from Beacon Hill and no matter how much money I make I’ll always be the gangster kid from the South Boston projects.”

  “Where you come from doesn’t mean a damn thing to me,” she cried.

  “Maybe not,” he said. “But it matters to me.”

  “Are you breaking up with me?”

  He snorted. “How can I be? We were never together. I was only your dare, remember?”

  The taxi horn honked outside. He picked up his suitcase, lumbered out of the bungalow.

  “Liam, don’t leave. We can
talk this out. Work it out. Liam, please!”

  But he didn’t hear her. He was already climbing into the taxi, the sound of the ocean wind blowing her voice back into her face with the cold, hard slap of reality.

  The man had just broken her heart.

  14

  ABOUT HALFWAY over the Pacific, Liam’s anger evaporated. He thought of Katie and how forlorn she’d looked standing in the doorway of the bungalow, barefooted and wearing nothing but his white dress shirt.

  You did the right thing, he tried to convince himself. How could they have a relationship if she was going to keep secrets from him?

  Dude, he could almost hear Tony’s voice in his head, it was just a silly dare. Get over it.

  Liam shook his head. It wasn’t the dare that bothered him. It was the level of deception she’d gone to in order to lure him to Fiji. It was the fact that she’d used him for her own gratification while he’d been falling in love with her. He thought of how Arianna had humiliated him back in college. Katie was exactly like her, another privileged female toying with the heart of the boy from the wrong side of the tracks for her own amusement.

  That’s where you’re dead wrong. Katie is nothing like Arianna and you know it.

  In fact, Katie was unlike any woman he’d ever met.

  She was sweet and lively, imaginative and generous. She threw herself headlong into everything she attempted. She was unusual, intense, complex and gorgeous as all get out. There were so many things he liked about Katie. Her upbeat attitude and how he instantly felt better whenever he was near her. He loved how she surprised and delighted him with her sense of wonder and adventure. He admired her fearlessness in going after what she wanted.

  After he’d met her, he’d put his issues with Finn Delancy on hold. For the first time since he’d found out Delancy was his father, his grudge had taken a backseat to something else. Being with Katie had him letting go of his secret shame and embracing life. And for these past few weeks, he’d felt free.

  And he’d walked out on her. All because of an idiotic dare.

  What in the hell was the matter with him?

  “Would you care for something to drink, sir?” asked the flight attendant as she came around the first-class cabin.