X Marks the Spot Read online

  “My God. What are you doing here?”

  “Isn’t it me who should be asking that? You are in my bed.”

  Her eyes widened more. “What?” She shook her head. “No, this is…” Then she bit her lip.

  But she didn’t have to finish the sentence. He knew what she was going to say.

  This is Del’s room.

  Fuck, she was here to be with Del.

  But now that he’d tasted her lips again … felt her soft body against his … he couldn’t give up. He loved her, and the way she’d responded to him …

  In his heart, he believed she still loved him.

  Even if he was wrong and it was just lust, that was enough for now. Given a chance, surely he could convince her to love him again.

  He had to try.

  “I have to go,” she said, trying to wriggle away, but he wouldn’t release her.

  “I don’t want you to go.”

  “Well, that’s too bad,” she huffed.

  He smiled. “On the contrary. So far it’s been very good.” He curled his fingers around her head and drew her close, then captured her lips. Before she could protest, he plunged his tongue deep and swirled inside. His other hand stroked down her back to just above the curve of her luscious ass, and pulled her tighter to his body. His cock, rock hard and aching, pressed against her.

  As he kissed her with fiery passion, the stiffness in her body ebbed and soon her soft curves were undulating against him as her mouth moved with his. As her sweet tongue slid inside his mouth, he moaned in delight.

  “God, Abi, you can’t imagine how much I’ve missed this.”

  * * *

  Abi knew she shouldn’t be doing this. That allowing herself to fall prey to their seething sexual attraction wouldn’t do either of them any good.

  Because having sex with him wouldn’t magically solve the problems between them.

  But as much as she knew this wasn’t a good idea, she couldn’t help herself. Their sexual chemistry was potent. And mind-numbing. When she was in his arms, she couldn’t think straight.

  Weakness drained her resolve and she arched against him, her arms gliding around his neck. He smiled, then found her lips again. Her pulse raced as his mouth moved on hers, blanking out rational thought.

  His hands glided down her shoulders, then around her back and he pulled her closer. Her breasts crushed against him, her tight nipples practically drilling holes through his broad chest.

  “Tell me you want me, kitten. I want to hear you say it.”

  “I do, Liam. I want you so badly.”

  It was no lie. She’d dreamed of being with him. When she lay in her bed in the darkness and couldn’t fall asleep, which was more often than she liked, her thoughts turned to him and what it had been like to share a bed with him. To feel his comforting arms around her every night.

  She found his mouth again. Pressing her tongue between his lips. Tasting fresh spearmint.

  This was so familiar. So comforting. So intoxicatingly invigorating.

  She slid her hand down his chest. His muscles rippled under her fingertips as he slid his arms around her back. She glided over his tight abs and found his cock again.

  His long, hard, familiar cock.

  As she stroked its length, he groaned. “Oh, baby, I could die and go to heaven right now.”

  He brushed her hair back from her face and their gazes caught.

  Shock surged through her at the look of complete and utter love in his eyes. He smiled, his eyes glowing, and he kissed her again.

  But this time she couldn’t breathe. Panic washed through her as she realized that’s what she wanted. For him to look at her like that. Love glowing in his eyes. Ready to admit his undying love for her.

  But she was only seeing what she wanted to see.

  His mouth consumed hers again. Sparks flashed around her nerve endings and she felt herself falling under his spell. Her heart aching with the need to be with him.

  God, help her, she wanted this. She was too weak to pull away. To tell him they couldn’t do this. It would wreck her in too many ways. Leave her a quivering mass of blistering emotions. How could she cope with that kind of pain again?

  She felt her defenses fading fast. Her resolve seeping away as his heart beat against hers, his lips playing on hers with a mastery she knew all too well. And succumbed to every time.

  She had only one chance. She drew her lips away, long enough to breathe the word, “Sunflower.”

  His lips stopped moving on hers instantly. Then he slowly drew away.

  That had been their safe word when they’d done role playing. Liam had often become her Master in the bedroom and she loved submitting to him. Their agreement was that when she said that word, he would stop whatever he was doing.

  He drew back and stared down at her. “Abi…”

  “No.” She surged back, slipping from his hold, and slid out of the bed, heedless of her nudity. She didn’t want him to see her naked and would love to pull the covers around herself, but more, she needed to get away from him before he used his persuasive charisma and the fiery attraction between them to seduce her back into bed again.

  When she was two steps from the bed, she heard his simple words.

  “Abi. Please don’t leave.”

  She could hear the pain in his voice. The haunting sadness.

  She froze and, her pulse roaring in her ears, she turned around.

  He sat on the bed, the duvet draped loosely around his waist, every bit of his chiseled body portraying a strong, dominant man.

  But the vulnerability she saw in his eyes tore at her heart.

  Without conscious thought, she turned and stepped back to the bed. She sat on the edge beside him and stroked his cheek. The roughness of his raspy whiskers made her feel femininely soft in contrast. And it brought out her nurturing instincts.

  “Liam, I don’t think we should—”

  “That’s right. Don’t think.” He took her hand and brought it to his lips, then nuzzled them against her palm. “Right now, I want you. And you want me. That’s enough for now.”

  He squeezed her hand and she stared into his chocolate-brown eyes. The depth of feeling there took her breath away.

  She’d lost the ability to believe he loved her, but they’d shared so much together. Lost so much together. The depth of their connection couldn’t be denied.

  He glided his arms around her and held her close to him, her ear tight to his chest. Hearing the thumping of his heartbeat.

  “Give us this one night, my love. Will you do that?”

  * * *

  Before she could answer, Liam tipped up her chin and kissed her.

  When she melted against him, he knew he’d won. He eased back and their gazes locked.

  She nodded and his heart leapt in joy. He laughed and dragged her into another kiss, then drew her into bed with him, his lips never leaving hers. Her body, so warm and soft against him, sent heat flooding through his veins.

  He wanted her physically, there was no doubt about that. But more, he wanted her heart. He wanted her to love him as much as he loved her.

  Somehow he had to find a way.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Abi woke up to darkness. She immediately knew she was in Liam’s arms. Tight against his body. It was warm and comforting, and she wanted to snuggle against him.

  But she was confused.

  She’d been in his arms, ready and willing to make love. But he’d held her close to him, stroking her hair, his other hand gliding over her back in comforting strokes.

  And she’d fallen asleep.

  Oh, God, how had she wound up in this position?

  If she was going to slip away from him, now was the time. But as soon as she made a move, his arms tightened around her.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” his deep masculine voice rumbled.

  “I was … uh … just going to—”

  “Slip away in the middle of the night? Is that any way to treat
your husband?”

  The smile on his lips and the delighted gleam in his eyes took her breath away. It was moments like this when she could believe that she was the only woman in the world for him.

  He rolled her back and prowled over her body. His lips covered hers and his mouth moved on hers with a tenderness that melted her heart. At the same time, he slid her hands over her head and held them tight to the bed as if he owned her.

  And right this instant, he did.

  “You promised to stay the night,” he murmured against her ear.

  “I did?”

  He chuckled, a deep rumble in his chest. “Yes, you most certainly did.”

  “I’m sorry, I—”

  “That’s good that you’re sorry. But that doesn’t mean you’ll get out of your punishment.”

  Heat washed through her at the word.

  When they’d first been together, they’d tried many things in the bedroom, including occasional role-playing where he’d taught her the pleasures of submitting to him without question. It had a potent effect on her, satisfying a pulsing need deep inside.

  And it often involved being punished if she didn’t follow his instructions to the letter. Sometimes she would defy him in small ways to earn herself a punishment.

  It was something she’d never thought she’d be into. But that was before she’d met Liam and understood what it was like to be mastered by a man who could understand exactly what she wanted, when she wanted, even better than she did.

  He was a Master in every sense of the word.

  He rolled off her.

  “Go and get my hairbrush from my suitcase. It’s in the other room.”

  His authoritative tone triggered a powerful response. Her insides quivered with the desire to please him. To obey him. Anything he commanded her to do right now, she would do without question. “Yes, Master.”

  His eyes glittered and she knew she had pleased him.

  She walked out the bedroom door to the large black suitcase sitting against the wall. She tipped it flat and unzipped it, then found his accessory bag. Inside, she found a rectangular wooden brush and she carried it back to him. He was sitting on the side of the bed.

  “Very good, kitten. Now bend over my knee.”

  Obediently, she lay across his lap, presenting her naked ass to him.

  “Are you ready for your punishment?”

  “Yes, Master.”

  He stroked her ass with his fingers and goose bumps danced across her skin. Then the flat of the brush whacked against her. She whimpered at the burn.

  “Thank you, Master.”

  He smacked again and her fingers tightened around the fabric of the duvet at the smarting sting.

  “Thank you, Master.”

  “You can thank me at the end, kitten.”

  “Yes, Master.”

  This time, he dragged the wooden surface over her burning skin in light strokes. Back and forth across her cheeks. Then he bounced it up and down in light taps. Connecting again and again with her skin. Slowly, the strokes became harder. Her skin tingled with heat. Soon he was paddling her ass over and over. Her breathing was hard and euphoria filled her.

  He smacked her ass a couple more times, then tossed the brush aside and gave her one loud smack with the flat of his hand. Then he stroked over her hot flesh, soothing it. She arched against his palm and he laughed.

  “Do you want more punishment, my love?”

  “Yes, Master, please.”

  He laughed.

  “Since you want it so badly, my punishment will be to deny you more spanking.”

  She groaned, wanting to feel his hand crack against her reddened ass.

  Instead, he rested his hand on her round buttocks and stroked. Around and around. Gliding over her. His hand strayed down toward her thighs, and he caressed lightly. When she felt his fingertips grazing her inner thighs, a mere inch from her pussy, she arched again.

  She wanted to feel him touch her there.

  She widened her legs and used her knees to push herself up higher toward him, inviting. “Please, Master. Stroke me there.”

  But she knew he wouldn’t let her get away with that. Damn, she was out of practice. “Please, stroke my pussy, Master.”

  “I’d like to, kitten, but I think it’s too soon for you to be making demands. Now kneel down on the floor.”

  She bit her lip, stopping herself from begging. It wouldn’t work anyway.

  She slipped from his lap and knelt on the carpet beside the bed. He lay back on the bed and tucked his hands behind his head. His cock stood straight up, like a rocket about to launch.

  “Do you know what I’d like you to do now?” he asked, one eyebrow quirking up.

  “I think so, Master. Would you like me to suck your cock?”

  “Very good.”

  She reached out and wrapped her hand around his thick shaft. Oh, God, she’d missed this. Stroking the soft kid-leather skin, wrapped tight over solid steel. She glided up and down, watching the purple veins pulsing along the sides.

  “May I join you on the bed, Sir?”

  “Yes,” he said simply.

  She stood up and climbed onto the bed, then straddled his legs and leaned forward. At the first brush of her lips on his cockhead, he sucked in a breath.

  She subdued a grin. He was out of practice, too. In the old days, he could hold his reactions to her under strict control, maintaining the semblance of being oblivious to her touch.

  Until he burst in her mouth in a spectacular orgasm, of course.

  The games they’d played had been absolutely delicious, catapulting them to exhilarating heights and leaving them so intensely sated, she thought their wicked lust had been satisfied for good. But then it boiled back up again the next time they were together.

  She wrapped her lips around him and swallowed the mushroom-shaped head. She swirled her tongue over his tip again and again. Spiraling down the sides, licking under the rim, then swirling to the tip again.

  She glanced at his face, seeing the barely contained delight blazing in his eyes. She squeezed her hand snugly around his base and stroked while she suckled on his cockhead. He grunted in approval. Then she surged deep on him, taking him down her throat. She’d learned how to take him deep inside. How to squeeze him with her lips, and the rhythm that brought him so close to the edge he could barely hold back, even given his herculean restraint. He was an excellent Dom because he did maintain such excellent control.

  But he was rusty and she pushed her edge. It was fun being a little more in control than usual, at least in drawing out his pleasure.

  As she glided up and down, he rested his hand on her head. He coiled it around her hair and guided her faster, which surprised her. Usually, he insisted on slow. Prolonging the pleasure as long as he could.

  She sensed he was getting close. She cupped his balls and stroked lightly, making him groan.

  “Make me come, baby. Right now.”

  She squeezed around his hot, hard cock as it moved between her lips. He guided her in short, fast strokes. The sound of his rapid breathing resonated through the room. Then he stiffened and a fountain of heat filled her mouth. She kept moving as he continued spewing.

  Finally, he grunted and fell back on the bed. She drew her lips from him, swallowing the salty semen, then she licked his shaft from top to bottom, ensuring every bit of it was shiny clean.

  She climbed off him and knelt on the floor again. “Is there something else you’d like, Master?”

  “Yes, I want to taste you. But I need a minute to rest.”

  She smiled. “Would you like some champagne to revive you?”

  He smiled. “That’s a great idea.”

  She started to stand.

  “No, stay there.” He got up and walked to the dresser, then pulled the bottle from the ice bucket. The bottle dripped from the melting ice and he wiped it with a cloth napkin by the glasses, then popped the cork. He carried the bottle and the two empty glasses with him as h
e walked to one of the big armchairs by the fire. He set the glasses on the side table and filled them, then set the bottle down.

  “Come here,” he said.

  She walked to him and he handed her a glass.

  “Sit on my lap.”

  She sat down, facing him, her naked thighs straddling his. She sipped the bubbly liquid, loving the feel of it gliding down her throat.

  He took a deep drink of his own, finishing half the glass, then set it on the table again. He smiled, his focus on her naked breasts. Her nipples blossomed under his scrutiny.

  When he cupped the bottom of her breast, then lightly dragged his thumb over the hard bud, she moaned softly. He leaned forward and took it into his mouth. The feel of his warmth around her sent her senses reeling. She hadn’t been with a man since Liam and that was why this was affecting her so dramatically.

  But she knew that wasn’t true. Even if she had been fucked five times yesterday by the most passionate lover she could imagine, she would still feel this way when Liam touched her.

  He lapped at her nipple with his tongue, then suckled again.

  “Oh, that feels so good,” she moaned.

  He stroked her other breast then suckled that one. She glided forward, her wet folds rubbing against his semi-erect cock.

  God, she wanted it hard again so it could thrust inside her. She desperately wanted him to fill her up right now.

  But she knew he had something else in mind first. When he’d said he wanted to taste her, he hadn’t meant her nipples.

  She downed her champagne and filled her glass, then topped his up, too. Holding the bottle in her hand, she smiled at him. “You said you wanted to taste me.”

  “Yes, but I’m enjoying sitting here with you on my lap right now.”

  He would make her wait, knowing she wanted him to dive into her wet pussy right now. But she decided she would torture him a bit. “No problem, Master.”

  She pushed herself up, still kneeling over his lap and watched him as she lowered the green bottle and pressed the neck against her stomach. Then she glided it downward. His eyes widened as he watched its descent.

  She glided it between their legs. His thighs widened at the feel of the cold glass. She rested the base of the bottle on the chair, then pressed the top against her folds. His breaths were slow and deep as he watched her lower herself onto the bottle.