Page 27

“How was the party?” Armond whispered from the sofa. Dove slept with her head on his thigh.The Wizard of Ozplayed on the flat-screen television over the mantle.

Vivian marched past them, heels stabbing the floor. In a voice Liam had never heard her use with her loved ones, she snapped, “We’ll discuss it tomorrow. Right now, I need some time alone with Liam.”

Armond quirked a brow, and Liam hitched a shoulder in answer to his silent question.

In the sedan, Vivian had been scary quiet, her anger so tightly contained that he was on edge, waiting for it to explode. Any other female would have railed at him for the duration of the car ride. Not Vivian. Vivian’s fury was like a hurricane, gathering force the longer it circled turbulent waters. While he didn’t want her unleashing it in his direction, bottling that shit up wasn’t good.

“Come with me, Liam,” she said on her way up the stairs, not bothering to see if he’d follow. The angry twitch of her hips meant bad things for him. She’d warned there were consequences to breaking her rules. Guess he was about to discover exactly what that entailed.

After leading him into her lavish master bathroom, she commanded, “Draw me a bath.” He stalked to the claw-foot tub and twisted the taps, then turned to find her toeing off her heels.

When she gave him her back and pointed to her zipper, he swallowed a groan. “Not sure I’m up for this tonight, Viv.”

“Then you should have thought of that before you embarrassed me. You made this mess.” She extended her leg, gesturing to a smudge of food on her shapely calf. “You’ll be the one to clean it up.”

Unlike the slow striptease she’d performed last night, she was quick to shimmy out of her dress. Tonight, she’d forgone her fancy lingerie, the effect just as devastating. Dressed in only a thong, she bent over the tub, pouring some kind of purple liquid into the water. His gut tightened at the sight. Now that was just beyond cruel.

When she took a pair of painted chopsticks from the tray on the bathroom counter, he tensed, bracing for her attack. Instead of stabbing them into his thick hide, she twisted her hair into a knot and shoved them through the center. With the tub full, she eased the thong down her curvy hips and sank into the water. The bubbles she’d poured did little to conceal her plump breasts. They floated on the surface, two bobbing apples urging him to come take a bite.

“Strip,” she commanded, her tone hard.

It took him a moment to force his eyes from her breasts. “You want me to take my clothes off?” Last night she all but snapped his head off when he’d tried to undress.

“Down to your briefs. We’ll need to have your suit cleaned before it’s ruined. Though I suspect it’s stained beyond repair at this point.”

“Yeah, that would be a real shame.” Maybe he should grind the stains in a little more, just to be safe.

When he heaved a breath, hesitating, she snapped, “That wasn’t a request.”

He made quick work of his shoes, socks, and suit jacket, then reached for the button on his shirt.

“Slower,” she added curtly.

He bit back a comment, taking his time with the buttons, easing the fabric from his shoulders. Heat crept over his ears. It was one thing to strut around in the buff when it was his idea, another to do it while Vivian treated him like a piece of prime rib. Why any woman would want to do this for a living escaped him. Discomforted, he made faster work of his pants.

Once he was finished, he folded his arms over his chest, standing before her, daring her to comment on the raging hard-on tenting his black boxer briefs.

When he met her gaze again, humiliation nipped at his ego. By now, he’d expected her to be frothing at the mouth, eyeing his manly physique. What he found in her expression was far from lust. While her eyes were leveled on his chest, it seemed she stared right through him.

After a long second, she extended her leg, propped her foot on the tub rim, and held out a scrunchy pink ball. “Bathe me.”

She wanted him to touch her while she soaked in that tub? Her pale cheeks flushed, stray tendrils dipping into the water? Naked limbs all slicked up, bare breasts tormenting him, looking like some kind of siren? What seven circles of hell was this?

He tipped his face to the ceiling and closed his eyes.

“Answer me, Liam,” she snapped in a tone that had his cock twitching. “Yes…”

“Yesmisrus,” he grumbled, then took a knee on the mat next to the tub, awaiting her next command.

Viv retrieved a crystal vial from a nearby table and poured some pale pink concoction onto the ball. When he reached for it, she jerked it back. “Sorry, I couldn’t hear you. What was that?”

Unable to read her dark mood, he decided to bide his time, grating, “Yes, Mistress.”

“Proceed.” She placed the girly-ass poof into his hand as though bestowing him with the holiest of treasures.

Not meeting her eyes, he slapped the pink ball onto her calf and scrubbed. He’d wash her from bumper to grill if that’s what she wanted. What he wouldn’t do was apologize for roughing up the fucknut who’d attempted to have her raped and murdered.

She hissed, grabbing his wrist. “Gentle, you oaf.”