“Would you rather I start eating you instead?” To drive home the threat, he blows on my pussy, making me whimper.
My nipples become tight and achy.
Intense heat spreads over my skin.
The pulse at my core is unbearable.
Strength flees my upper body, and I fall back on the rock. I can’t fight this. I’m not sure I know how.
As his hands keep me spread wide, I begin an exploratory mission down the flesh of my body, fingers tentatively grazing my nipples. A moan tumbles from my lips, and I trail a hand over the quivering desire in my belly.
His grip on me tightens, owns, demands. I’ve never been so turned on by someone’s hands on my legs. But God, his thumbs are so close to where I’m aching to be stroked.
The instant I dip my fingers into my slit, rubbing a steady and firm circle on my clit, I know I’m not coming back from this. There’s no stopping the plummet now. It’s an inevitable conclusion, ground into stone as soon as my legs opened for him.
It takes but seconds for the pressure to build, the heat to flare, the arousal to flood. I’m tired of giving and giving and giving…
My head screams at me to take.
To be the weak one for once. To stop obsessing over how my actions will impact my future and the lives of the two men that have me torn down the middle.
This orgasm is mine.
I increase the pace, catapulting higher and straining toward my hand. “I need to come.”
He groans. “You’re incredible. Keep going.”
My whimpers and soft moans echo in the cavernous space. I’m about to take the plunge, my thighs quaking in his strong hands, but he won’t let me move the way I need to.
I try to buck, try to widen my thighs, and finally resort to begging.
Just like he said I would.
“Please,” I gasp.
“Wait for my permission.”
“Please…I need…” Through my delirium, I spot his sly grin.
“You can wait. Slow it down. I want you to take yourself to that place again and again.”
“Don’t torture me.”
“This isn’t torture. The longer you hold it back, the more explosive the pleasure will be.”
With a long groan, I halt my rapid pace, stalling in wet heat.
“Don’t stop,” he says, the command thick in his throat. He squeezes my thighs again, making my pussy throb with increased blood flow.
My heart pumps overtime, pulsing in my ears, pounding so hard and fast it feels like it might break out of my chest. Our private slice of paradise whirls around me as my hand takes on a frantic, unsanctioned pace.
“Slow down, my sweet girl.”
“Please…oh my God…I don’t think I can hold off.”
“Not yet.” Leaning over me, he commands my eyes. “Tease yourself. Let the pressure build.”
The pressure is already at an all-time high, and I can’t imagine it increasing. But Liam locks me in his sights in a way only he can—with persistence and absolute authority. I fall under his spell, listening to the timeless crash of the waterfall as I close my eyes and concentrate on restraint. A whimpering plea sounds in the back of my throat, and it takes a massive amount of willpower to hold myself on the ledge.
Willpower I don’t have.
“I can’t stop it.” Even as the warning slips past my lips, I’m tipping over the edge, the rush of blood releasing and sending warm tingles from my buttocks to the back of my knees. Toes curling, I cry out and grab onto his shoulder. The orgasm tears through me, violent and ferocious and more forceful than the sea during a storm.
Liam’s presence unleashes a hurricane in my blood, a sizzling wire at the center of my sex even as his powerful hands ground me. Despite the rush of endorphins overloading my system, coming down from such a high leaves me wonderfully spent. My body is like deadweight against the rock’s smooth surface. After the last spasm ebbs, we stare at each other, our rapid breaths meeting in tandem.
“You came without permission.”
“You seduced me without permission.”
Amusement pulls at the corners of his mouth. “Fair enough.” Letting go of my thighs, he rests on his elbows to keep from crushing me. “I could punish you for it, but I’m incapable of doing so after watching you lose yourself like that.” His voice turns seductive. “It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
Emotion gathers in my throat, rendering my voice useless. I raise my palm to his cheek, trying to convey everything I’m feeling.
Confusion.
Intimate connection.
Something close to awe.
Maybe I was wrong. Maybe the heart is more than the sum of two halves. Maybe it’s built like a diamond, every facet capable of loving in its own unique capacity.
He leans into my touch, those soulful eyes threatening to drown me. “This could be our life.”
Just him and me…forever.
That’s when reality pummels me, the incisors of my betrayal ripping me to shreds. I push him away. “You said the choice was mine, remember?”
Liam opens his mouth to respond, but before he gets out a syllable, I fling myself head-first into the lagoon to search for my bikini bottoms.
6
I never did find the bottom half of my swimsuit. The white fabric must have sunk to the depths of the lagoon, same as my will to resist Liam Castle.
As we trek back to the house in silence, my anger over his underhanded seduction tactics intensifies. I allowed myself to get caught up in the moment, allowed my body to think for me when keeping my head on straight is paramount for survival. We’re no longer stuck in a small room on a ship, but the same tension spirals between us, stronger than ever. It’s only a matter of time before we cross a line.
A dangerous line—one armed with barbed wire and inevitable, messy heartbreak. Because eventually, we have to go back to Zodiac Island, and once we do, Liam will be thrown out of the auction.
Unless he breaks his word and holds me here indefinitely. He’s determined enough to do it.
The threat hangs over my head every day that I spend in his secret, imprisoned paradise. Since the incident in the lagoon, he’s given me space, his exercise in patience admirable. But I don’t need an interpreter to understand the intense longing in his expression every time he looks at me.
Like the way he’s looking at me now.
A light breeze rustles his coppery locks—on the longer side now that he’s gone without a trim since he kidnapped me over three weeks ago. Liam holds my gaze, his lips parting the slightest bit as he moves his queen three spaces to the left.
“I don’t know why I keep playing this stupid game with you,” I say. “You’re impossible to beat.”
He shoots me a tilted grin. “It’s not impossible.”
“I’m finding that hard to believe.”
“To be fair, I’ve only known one other person capable of beating me.”
As I move my last pawn, I lean forward, shifting my ass on the blanket. We decided to play today’s game outside, staying cool under the shade of a palm tree. Rhythmic waves crash onto the shore a hundred yards away. “Who had the pleasure of besting the unbeatable Liam Castle?”
“Oddly enough, your brother.”