Loving Liv

by Stacey Kennedy

  She nodded. “We can go into Orlando, if you’d like.”

  “Excellent.” He grinned. Then he addressed her friends. “You all don’t mind if I steal Liv away for the day?”

  Benjamin gave a sly grin. “Bring her back as glowing as she was this morning, then we’ll be just fine.”

  Miles glanced sideways at Liv. “Now that I can do.”

  Liv’s nipples puckered at the promise, making her not regret her decision to enjoy these days with him. He offered his hand and she twined her fingers with his as she asked, “Are you going to tell me what we’re doing today?”

  He grinned devilishly. “Nope.”

  “A secret, huh?” She smiled in return.

  “One I bet you’ll never figure out.”

  She tried. Hard. The whole drive in the Uber from the dock to downtown Orlando in the Central Business District, and every answer she guessed was wrong. She gave up asking when they reached Orlando’s Financial District, which held all the major banks, night clubs, restaurants, and modern commercial towers. But the charm of this city was the mix of the new and old, with historical buildings set next to modern skyscrapers.

  Just as she exited the car, her cell phone rang. A quick look at the screen revealed it was Allie. “Do you mind if I take this?” she asked Miles.

  “Of course not.” He left her near the street while he approached the door of an old, Queen Anne-style building.

  Liv turned away and answered the Facetime call. “Oh my God, I’ve been dying to talk to you.”

  Allie sat at her desk at work, a wall of windows behind her. Her long brown hair pulled up into a messy top bun, and the unruly strands spoke of a long day. Considering it was early into the afternoon, that wasn’t a good sign.

  “I’m sorry,” Allie said. “I meant to call earlier. It’s been a day. Lots of meetings.”

  Liv knew that tone. The tightness around Allie’s sharp blue eyes. “What happened?”

  “The Roy deal went south.” The deal had been for a multi-million dollar home.

  “Shit, really? Dammit. I should be there to help you,” Liv said. The dark circles under Allie’s eyes said she needed her.

  “Oh, please, stop it. You deserve a vacation. This was an unexpected hiccup that you don’t need to worry about. But how about you tell me why you called me this morning on your vacation?”

  “Miles is here.”

  Allie blinked. Twice. “Miles is where?”

  “Here. On the cruise ship.” She quickly caught Allie up, finishing up with, “And now we’re in Orlando about to go on a day date. So, tell me, and please be honest, I won’t be mad, was it you who sent the email inviting him?”

  Allie’s eyes were huge. “Of course not, I’d never do that to you. Everything you told me about him is locked up tight. I’d never break that trust, you know that. I never even told Micah.”

  Liv didn’t push. She never thought it’d be Allie anyway. That simply wasn’t her best friend’s way. Their friendship was a vault that came with an unbreakable lock. “All right then, if it’s not you, who in the hell is behind this?”

  Allie shrugged, but then her expression shifted, a knowing look crossing her face.

  “What do you know?” Liv pressed.

  Allie nibbled her lip. “I might be pulling this out of nowhere, but I know that Miles’s friend, Porter, owns a private investigation firm. Maybe he did some digging and found out you were going on this cruise and they arranged all this.”

  Liv considered that. “A possibility for sure, but that theory would only work if they had known I couldn’t stop thinking about him. And I don’t know any of them.”

  “True,” Allie agreed, nibbling her lip again. “Sorry, babe, I’ve got nothing for you. What a weird situation.”

  “Tell me about it.” Liv glanced over her shoulder, finding Miles leaning against the railing, scrolling through his cell phone. “Okay, the short story, I’ve agreed to spend these six days with him. Please tell me if I’m making a huge mistake? Is this going to end in my heart breaking into a million pieces?”

  Allie shook her head, softly. “You’ve got to let those fears go. Not everything is going to end in disaster.”

  But it did.

  Allie added, “In fact, I’d say this is maybe the smartest thing you’ve ever done for yourself. Six hot days and nights with the most incredible sex of your life sounds pretty damn good. And you can finally see if there is really something going on between you two, or you walk away and forget him for good.” She hesitated, cocking her head. “Maybe this is exactly what you need. Three months is a long time to think about someone who you were only with once. Fate’s at work here, babe. Follow it.”

  The tension sitting on Liv’s chest instantly lifted. That’s what talking to Allie did. “Okay, yes, you’re right. This is good. Fun. I deserve this.”

  “Atta girl.” Allie smiled. “Have way too much naughty fun.”

  “You know it.” Liv laughed softly. “Bye.”

  “Bye.” Allie ended the call.

  Warmth and comfort touched Liv’s chest. Allie just got her, and always made Liv so much more at ease. The truth was, Liv knew she was often led by fear, as sad as that was. She couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if she let go and just…lived. A long sigh spilled from her mouth as she turned around to Miles, finding his attention still on his phone. “It wasn’t Allie who sent you the email,” she called as she approached.

  Miles lifted his head, perplexed. “The mystery remains unsolved then.” He slid his cell back into his pocket.

  Liv nodded, and sidled up next to him on the steps of the historic building. “Could it be one of your friends? Allie said you know a private investigator.”

  Miles didn’t even hesitate, his mouth twitching. “Not a chance in hell.”

  “You’re that sure?”

  “Yes, I’m that sure. My close friends are Dominants. We are ruled by a code of honor. They would never cross that line and interfere with my life.”

  “Never?”

  “Never.”

  “Okay,” she said, beginning to wonder if it even mattered anymore why Miles ended up on the cruise. She studied the building behind her. From the outside, it looked like a nightclub, maybe. The windows were dark, blinds covering them. “So, is now the time you tell me where you’ve brought me?”

  “Sure,” he said, gesturing at the building. “We’re at Orlando’s elite sex club.”

  “You’re kidding?” she asked with a nervous laughter.

  “Not kidding,” he said, calmly. “Would you like to go inside and explore?”

  She studied the building, reassessing, feeling her heartrate spike and her skin flush at the idea of the eroticism that was waiting for her on the other side of that doorway. And yet, she felt frozen at the idea of doing anything so daring. Scared that if she walked through that door, Miles would see how boring she truly was compared to the women in the club. “What if we don’t go in?” she asked, turning back to Miles.

  “Then we skip the club and I take you out for a romantic lunch date I’ve got planned too,” he said. “That’s what these six days are all about, figuring out if this thing between us extends past this amazing connection we’ve got going on.” He stuck a thumb under her chin, locking her into his potent stare. “If you don’t want to go in, then we don’t. If we go in and you hate what you see, we leave. No questions asked. But I think you’ll enjoy watching others. You certainly enjoyed being watched.”

  She did like it. Far more than she would have ever believed. There was something about being put on display, knowing others got off because they thought she was beautiful and sexy. That excited her. “Is that what you want to happen, us to have sex in front of others?” Dear God, she had to force those words out.

  He shook his head. “You make the rules here, Liv, not me.”

  She glanced at the building’s wooden door again, feeling like if she walked through, she’d leave the old her behind and find someone
new. Oddly enough, she realized she wasn’t afraid. She wanted to know.

  At whatever crossed her expression, Miles cocked his head, brushing his thumb across her lips. “I need the words, Liv. Tell me what you want.”

  This time, she didn’t hesitate. “I want to go inside.”

  CHAPTER 6

  Miles entered the classy sex club, The Lounge, and lust was practically vibrating in the large, open space. Sex and freedom and powerful connections brushed across his senses, kicking up his heartrate. The owner, Phillip Boucher, had lived in Las Vegas for many years and had been a member of Club Sin. When Phillip moved out to Orlando and opened his own club, Miles had visited. He enjoyed his visit immensely, but nothing could touch the emotions building in him when he walked through the doors holding Liv’s hand and seeing the innocence all but bursting out of her when she took in the sexually-charged room.

  The lounge itself was well put together. The exposed stone walls and open space gave a full view of the sexual exchanges going on in the room. There were three shows happening. On the one large, round bed, an orgy of ten people were indulging in sensual playtime. Across from them, a man was bound to a chair with rope and was currently experiencing a blowjob from two lingerie clad curvy women. And in the far corner, a woman was bound to a saint Andrew’s cross. Miles watched that scene with interest, not approving of the way the submissive flinched against the flicks of the flogger the Dominant sent her way. By the quickness of her breathing, the redness of her skin, she’d been there for some time. It looked to him that she was not enjoying herself, nor was she accepting the pleasure being offered to her. He frowned and then looked at Liv, finding her eye was caught by something else. She stared toward the bar off to the right, where leather wingback chairs rested. In one of them was a man who always stood out in a crowd.

  Phillip Boucher. His styled blond hair, playful blue-eyes, and lean muscular body caught the eyes of many ladies, but it was the French accent that worked better than an aphrodisiac.

  Phillip’s attention was glued to the scene that caught Miles’s attention too. His eyes narrowed on the woman’s reaction. At their approach, Phillip looked over.

  “Miles, you’ve finally arrived. Please come,” said Phillip in his thick accent, calling Miles forward with a wave of his hand.

  Miles kept Liv’s sweaty palm in his and led her toward Phillip, who sat between two beautiful blondes, with a brunette kneeling at his feet.

  Liv’s gaze went to the woman kneeling, and Miles saw her face go blank. He assumed she felt rude, so she shut down.

  Miles turned back to Phillip as he asked, “Qui est ce plaisir?” Who is this treat?

  “Un ami,” Miles replied. A friend.

  Phillip’s heady gaze raked over Liv, while his hand stroked the woman on his left thigh. “Innocent?”

  “Assez.” Quite.

  Liv moved a little closer to Miles, and Phillip’s mouth twitched. “Peut-être pas seulement un ami.” Perhaps not just a friend.

  Miles returned the grin. “Peut-être.” Perhaps.

  Phillip’s voice softened when he spoke in English again. He smiled gently at Liv. “Please enjoy yourself in my club, sweet one. Your fantasies await you here.”

  “Thank you,” she said after a deep swallow.

  Miles held back his smile. She was sweet. That was true. He squeezed her hand, proud of her for not shrinking in an awkward moment. The first time in a sex club was rattling even for the most adventurous. “Thanks for the invite, Phillip. Always good to see you.”

  Phillip flashed his charming grin. “You’re always welcome, Miles.”

  Before Miles headed off, he took another look at that woman on the Saint Andrew’s Cross, saw another flinch, then addressed Phillip. “My apologies for taking your attention away from your club.”

  “Yes, I must go deal with that.” Phillip was on his feet a second later and let out a string of French curse words before heading off to the security guard who was chatting to a gorgeous redhead instead of keeping an eye on the scene. Phillip was there in a second, stopped the scene, and ripped the security guard a new one before he snapped his fingers, another Dominant there, taking the other’s place. The new Dominant strode up, stroked the woman’s stomach, softly, and Miles saw her long, slow breath.

  “What was that all about?” Liv asked, obviously confused by the exchange.

  Miles glanced her way, stroking his thumb over her hand. “That woman wasn’t enjoying herself. She’s either too strong to say her safe word, which would have ended the scene, or she doesn’t truly know what she wants and needs. You see that security guard Phillip is currently tearing into?”

  Liv’s gaze followed his. “Yeah.”

  “He should have seen what was happening there and stopped the scene.”

  Liv’s head cocked. Her inquisitive eyes came to him. “How did you know something was wrong?”

  “I pay attention.” He enjoyed how she leaned into him a little, showing a bit of trust when he led her away in the opposite direction. “You must have more questions.”

  She didn’t even hesitate. “Yeah, I do. You speak French?”

  Of all the questions to ask first, he liked that she wanted to know more about him. He stopped before they moved into the crowd. “My mother was born in France. She lived there until she was twenty before moving to the United States. She was vigilant I learn French growing up.”

  “It’s a beautiful language,” Liv said, and then leveled him with a gorgeous smile. “Does your French mother know you come to places like this?”

  He laughed. “That’s very unlikely. Besides, I don’t see my parents very often. They have dual citizenship and moved back to France after I left the house.”

  At that, her eyes turned sad. “You’ve got no other family in Vegas then?”

  “I’ve got found family,” he replied. “My friends are closer to me than brothers.” Knowing part of her conversation was deflection, he turned them back onto the club again. “What are your first thoughts about this place? Is it what you expected it to be?”

  She glanced out and gave a rough laugh. “It’s a lot to take in.”

  “It is,” he agreed with a nod.

  “I mean, some of this, I’m just like…whoa, that’s really hot,” she admitted, glancing at the man bound to the chair. “But some of it, I can never see myself doing.”

  “Like what?”

  She glanced back at the woman kneeling on the floor, silent, waiting for Phillip to return. “I couldn’t do that. Be subordinate like that. It’s just…” Her worried eyes came to him. “I don’t have that me.”

  “And you don’t have to have that in you,” he reassured her. “Erotic play is about limits, trust, and most importantly, it should be fun and enjoyable. You’ve got to like what you’re doing or what is the point of doing it?” He gestured to the kneeling woman again. “I suspect she feels peace there. Maybe being quiet is very hard for her. Maybe she needs to be on the move all the time. And Phillip, as her Dominant, is giving her what she needs.”

  Liv studied the woman, curiosity brimming in her eyes. “Okay, I guess that makes sense.” She threw him another firm look. “Still not in me, though.”

  He chuckled. “Let’s see what is then, shall we?” He nudged her forward into the crowd, and the second Miles caught sight of the blonde coming out on stage, he knew he had to thank Phillip later. His friend was more than generous. The innocence in the blonde’s wide eyes, the quick breaths she took, her bright red cheeks, told Miles this was her first time in the club.

  “Come with me,” Miles said, taking Liv’s hand. “Let’s watch this one.”

  She squeezed his hand tight and followed behind.

  When they reached the edge of the crowd, he moved in behind her, sliding an arm around her middle, keeping her close, as a dark-haired man joined the woman on stage. This Dominant wasn’t unskilled like the other. He had this woman all but begging for his touch, and he’d barely even gotten started. “Thi
s is the connection between a Dominant and a woman sexually submitting to him,” Miles told Liv in her ear. “Do you see it? How she’s moving? How she’s breathing? Can you see how she’s begging for more with her body, without saying a single word?”

  “Yes, I see that,” Liv said softly, amazement in her voice.

  “People always think kink is rough and, and of course, for some, it is that.”

  “But not for you?”

  “No, Liv, not me.” He slid his hand across her belly overtop of her dress. “For me, it’s about this.” She shivered, and he smiled, brushing his mouth across her ear. “The connection. The exploration of two souls meeting and sharing something only they can experience together.” He kissed her neck and chuckled as she wiggled her ass into him, her body ripening, readying for him. “It’s about tearing the fabric of each other’s fucking worlds apart and reforming it into something new. Something stronger.”

  The dance between the Dominant and submissive on stage continued with hot touches until the flogger came out. This woman wasn’t flinching, she was moving toward the leather tails, accepting, being brought higher. Until even Miles saw her hard trembles. Then the Dominant opened his pants, sheathed himself in a condom and bent the woman over a spanking bench, taking her roughly.

  Miles felt Liv’s body tighten with anticipation. “What does seeing this do to you?” he asked in her ear.

  “Turns me on,” she breathed, leaning her head back against him, softening, welcoming…“Makes me want you.”

  He grasped her hip with one hand, then trailed his fingers along her thigh, slowly dragging her dress up as he went. Her breathing grew ragged as that touch worked its way across her sex. He tickled there, played, teasing her, and she began trembling. Only when she moaned his name did he draw her dress up and slip his fingers inside her panties.

  She slid her hand up to cup his neck as he stroked gently over her clit.

  “Widen your legs for me,” he murmured.

  She obeyed and he slid lower, meeting the warm silky wetness. “I want to have you, Liv,” he murmured in her ear. “Right here, in front of all these people, show them how goddamn lucky I am that I get to touch you. Show them how beautiful you are when you fall apart in my arms.”