“I’m thinking…” I started, then paused. Took a breath. “I’m thinking that I’ve never felt like this before. This kind of…anticipation. Like my whole body is waiting for something. I’m thinking about the fact that I’m not wearing underwear and you know it, and instead of feeling embarrassed, I feel powerful. Sexy.” I glanced at him. “I’m thinking that my ex was wrong about me. That maybe I’m not boring at all.”
Liam stopped walking, and the expression on his face made my stomach clench. Had I been too honest?
“Ava.” His voice was rough. “You were never boring. Not for one fucking second. The fact that he made youbelieve that—” He cut himself off, jaw clenching. “He didn’t deserve you. He didn’t evenseeyou.”
The intensity in his gaze made it hard to breathe. This didn’t feel like part of the game anymore. This felt real.
But I was also terrified maybe I was just seeing what I wanted to see.
“Liam—”
“Come on.” He started walking again, his hand finding my lower back. “I know where we’re going next.”
The river was a summer staple for locals, but Liam had driven us out past the main swimming holes to a small beach most people didn’t know about. Liam, Drew, and I had found it when we were in high school and had never once seen anyone else here. The water was slower here, shaded by trees, and accessible only by foot down a dirt path that was easy to miss if you weren’t looking for it.
We spread the blanket on a flat stretch of sand about a dozen feet from the river’s edge. I could see upstream for a good distance—far enough that we’d spot any floaters coming long before they reached us.
“Request number four,” Liam said, sitting down and pulling me with him. “Come here.”
I settled between his legs, my back against his chest. His arms wrapped around me, and for a moment we just sat there, watching the water flow past.
“This is your request?” I asked. “Cuddling?”
“This is the setup.” His lips brushed my ear, and I shivered. “The request is that you stay very, very still while I touch you. And if you see anyone coming down the river,you tell me. But you don’t move. You don’t make a sound.” His hand slid up my thigh, pushing my sundress higher. “What do you say, Sunshine?”
“Yes,” I breathed. “Yes.”
His fingers slid higher until he traced over my clit, his touch light and teasing, and I had to bite my lip to keep from gasping. He stroked me slowly, maddeningly, his other arm holding me firmly against his chest.
“Eyes on the river,” he murmured. “Be a good girl and keep watch.”
I tried.
God, I tried.
But it was nearly impossible to focus on anything except the feel of his fingers—circling, teasing, dipping inside me just enough to make me desperate for more.
“Liam, please?—”
“Please what?” His thumb pressed against my clit, and I whimpered.
“Please make me come.”
“Not yet.” He eased off, and I nearly sobbed. “Tell me something first. Tell me what you want me to do to you later. Before our yes day is over.”
“I want you to kiss my neck.”
He dropped a kiss to my neck, right on that spot he’d found that always made goose bumps shiver across my arms. As he kissed my neck, his fingers slid back through my wetness, rewarding me with a slow stroke that made my thighs tremble and words dry up. “Keep going, Sunshine. That’s the deal. You talk, I keep touching. You stop, I stop.”
I swallowed hard, trying to gather my scattered thoughts. “I want…I want you to go down on me. For a long time. Until I can’t think straight.”
“Mmm.” His fingers pushed deeper, curling against aspot that made stars burst behind my eyes. “That’s a good start. What else?”
“I want to ride you.” The words came easier now, loosened by the pleasure building in my core. “I want to be on top so I can control how deep you go. So I can watch your face while I move on your cock.”
“Fuck.” His breath was hot against my ear, his cock hard against my lower back. “Keep going. You’re doing so good, Sunshine.”
“I want to be on my hands and knees while you to take me from behind.” I was panting now, my hips grinding shamelessly against his hand. “I want you to pull my hair and tell me I’m yours. I want—oh God—I want you to come inside me while you’re saying my name.”
