Page 13

Swing and a Miss

C

omplaining about Tess’s cruelty for a little longer, Liam spotted Victoria and Avril heading in their direction. Three soon became five, as it mainly had been throughout the day. There was some slight benefit to that. Before long, they held another round of democratic voting about which kind of pictures they should take at this particular spot.

Midway into the afternoon, they hit the final group of islands—all right beside one another—that were part of their day’s activities. More trails, more beautiful sights, more pictures. More of Liam marveling at how wonderful an experience this trip had been so far.

They ended things on Tokoriki Island, where they could catch a late-afternoon flight back to their home resort. Relaxing at the resort’s adult-only pool, they discussed favorite trails, sights, and pictures. Given the events that had unfolded at the Yoga Deck, Liam admitted, at Avril’s pressing, that it had been his favorite. In response, the four women all shared looks.

He saw a few more worthy sights before they boarded the seaplane that would bring them back to the Yasawas. First, Tess proposed visiting a quiet area for some alone time. Things didn’t escalate all that far, but they were gone long enough for the others to take notice of their absence. Anna also found an excuse to take a walk with him, during which she practically dragged his hands onto her voluptuous body once they were in a secluded place.

That, of course, forced Avril into action. She was contractually obligated to make her move, then. She simply couldn’t be the last woman in the group to have him feel her up. Since it was Avril, Liam half-expected her to plop herself down on her lap and guide his hands to her breasts while sitting with the others. If there hadn’t been a handful of other guests at the pool at the time, he imagined she would have done so.

Instead, she thrust herself up from the pool lounge she’d been relaxing on when he and Anna returned, noticing the slight dishevelment in the former’s outfit, and moved quickly. Gripping him by the wrist before Victoria could beat her to the punch, he found himself led away from the pool. Compared to the others, he really wasn’t getting to spend much time relaxing there.

Not that he minded one bit.

In fact, this was perfect; Liam recognized that while tailing behind Avril, who was on the hunt for a secluded area on the resort grounds. Now that Tess and Anna had helped him, Avril was the final piece of the puzzle . The day after tomorrow, or the final day of the trip, Victoria’s birthday was on one of those days. By telling him when it wasn’t, Avril would tell him when it was.

“This place looks right for some fun,” Avril noted, gesturing toward a curiously diminutive building near the edge of the resort. Isolated from the others, sitting right up on the sand, it was nothing more than just a single room with some massage tables set up in it. Interestingly, it had sliding doors on all four sides, replacing any walls, two of which—the one facing them and the one facing the beach—were currently drawn open.

Because of that, they could both see that it wasn’t currently in use. Liam glanced at Avril, who met his gaze with a playful smile.

“Don’t I get a massage? You promised them to everyone, passed them out like free candy.”

“Sure, I did, but I don’t think the staff would appreciate us taking over their workspace.”

“So, they get a little mad? What’s the worst they can do to us, ban us from the resort?” Avril looked amused as she stepped under the diminutive building’s thatch roof, waving for him to follow.

Only slightly reluctantly, mostly because he wanted to make Avril think he might not dance to her tune, Liam followed. Of course, he followed. How could he not? Every opportunity to put his hands on Avril Knight was one he gladly snatched. With his additional reason for wanting to put her in a good mood backing him up, he had no choice but to play along.

“I don’t need anything spectacular,” Avril said, pulling off her shirt and tossing it onto a massage table—the one she didn’t plan to use. “But we’ve got a good hour until our plane arrives, so let’s pass that time with something we’ll both enjoy.”

“Will we enjoy it equally?” Liam asked, glancing over his shoulder. He saw nothing but empty pathways, buildings, and palm trees. Still, he quickly closed their side’s sliding doors once he entered the tiny room. If he could have, he’d even have shut the ones facing the ocean, though he could imagine how swelteringly hot the room would get if he did so. So, it stayed open.

“Are you asking if I’ll suck you off afterward?” Avril asked, removing her bra next. It landed on top of her shirt, discarded without a moment’s hesitation about someone passing by on the beach and spotting her. “Or during it?”

Both those options sounded delicious to him, but Liam concealed his desires behind a shrug. Besides, there was another reward he was hunting for.

“I’m not going to steal their massage oil,” Liam said, glancing at the array of bottles on a nearby rack. “So, you’ll have to suffer for a dry massage.”

Avril clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “I’ll leave them more than enough cash to replace what we’ve used. I don’t want dry; I want a good fucking massage.”

“Fine,” Liam said, pretending it hadn’t been his plan to capitulate all along. He smiled inwardly as he approached the rack of oils and selected a lavender-scented oil. So far, so good.

Avril set several towels down on the leftmost table as he did so. He moved over to her, popping the bottle’s lid open. Lying down on her stomach, Avril folded her arms underneath her cheek and smiled at him.

“You’re making me into the worst kind of tourist,” he said.

“Oh, please,” the redhead snorted. “This is so mild, it’s barely worth discussing. It’s not like we’re trashing the room; we’re using a few towels and a few ounces of massage oil. So, yeah, straight to prison we go.”

Liam chuckled and leaned down to kiss Avril on the cheek. “Anna would be appalled.”

“Anna wishes she’d thought of this,” Avril retorted. “What were you two doing when she dragged you away? You were fondling her tits, and don’t even lie about it. If she’d realized she could get a nice massage alongside it, she’d have brought you here too.”

“I can’t see it,” Liam said lightly, pouring some lavender oil onto his right palm, setting down the bottle, and warming the oil up with both hands.

“Yes, you can. You’ve been corrupting her the whole trip. She’d absolutely be topless on this table right now if she were here in my stead.”

“ I’ve been corrupting her?” Liam asked, a single eyebrow arched.

“We’ve been corrupting her,” Avril corrected, sounding amused. “Happy?”

“More and more with each new day.”

Avril snorted but smiled.

After warming up the oil in his hands, he delivered both to the back of Avril’s neck, beginning his work. While he was certain he wouldn’t have measured up to the practiced efforts of the resort’s masseuses, he had a decent amount of confidence in his skills. They’d grown after the massage he’d given Victoria. And so, it wasn’t long before Avril hummed a lilting note of relaxed pleasure.

As she’d only removed the upper half of her clothes, Liam focused his efforts on the same half of her. Working through his routine across her neck, shoulders, arms, and back, he put Avril into a more and more relaxed state.

“Am I doing all right?” he asked, brushing his lips against Avril’s auburn hair.

The gorgeous woman had long since shut her eyes, and a contented smile framed her lips. “Decent enough. I won’t fire you, at the very least.”

“Am I on the payroll, Miss Knight?”

“Yes,” she whispered throatily, drawing in a sharp inhale as he worked his thumbs down the exterior of her spine. “I thought you knew.”

“What’s my title?” Liam asked, sending his thumbs back up Avril’s smooth back. “Is it official sounding?”

“Very official.” Avril breathed out slowly, practically purring as he kept working on her back. “‘Anna’s Boyfriend.’” Avril opened her eyes, smirking. “Do you like it?”

“I do, but I’ve heard it said so many times. I think you could change it up every now and then. Not a big change either. You can even leave the first letter the same.”

“Could I? I don’t think that would go over well back home. Not with you being persona non grata with a certain pairing of pompous assholes.”

“We’re not back home now, though. Those… annoyances are far, far away from here, and we don’t need to think of them at all right now.”

“I suppose,” Avril said.

“So, if I want, I could say it,” Liam said. “Right?”

“I suppose.”

So, he did.

He laid Anna’s name aside and spoke another name. Avril’s eyes shimmered like emeralds as he did so, his mouth right by her right ear, and she grabbed the front of his shirt and drew him in for a lengthy kiss. At the same time, she rotated onto her back.

“This side needs some attention too, Liam,” she whispered, smiling softly.

“It’ll get it,” he promised, finding as much to like about Avril’s front—more, given his personal preferences—as he had her back.

Avril wore a contented expression as he got to all of it. Hands working diligently, she received a slightly truncated version of the massage he’d given Victoria the other day. Like then, he ended up a little more mesmerized by an amazing pair of breasts than was professional. Avril didn’t seem to mind.

“You’ve come a long way,” she remarked, eyes shut. “Since that time on my couch.”

Liam grinned. “Which time are you referring to? That couch has gotten a lot of action in the past few months.”

Avril smiled in contentment as he massaged her breasts. “The one where I started taking you seriously. Remember it?”

Liam didn’t answer, though he knew it. She’d been impressed by his skill with his hands then, and now, thanks to quite a bit of practice, he was even better. Good. Great, even. That was why Anna, usually so composed and aware of decorum, had pulled him away a little bit ago. That was why Avril had done the same thing. And it was why Victoria kept enjoying their mornings and evenings.

“So, how about now?” he asked, leaning down to kiss Avril’s neck, which he hadn’t yet covered in lavender scents. “Is your masseuse going to earn a nice tip?”

“A big one,” Avril promised, moving her hand until it found the bulge under his shorts. “So, so big.”

“There’s something else I also want,” Liam said, figuring that the time was ripe for him to finally learn which day Victoria’s birthday wasn’t—and was. “Would you help me out with that, too?”

“Depends,” Avril said, sounding intrigued. “What else could your second girlfriend help with?”

“As you know,” he said, speaking slowly, warming her skin with his hands and words, “I’m trying to figure something out. There’s a bit of time pressure on it too.”

Eyes remaining closed, Avril nodded. “Victoria’s birthday.”

“The one and only. I’m still the only one in the dark about it.”

“And you want me to give up the date?”

“Not even that much.” Liam swept his hands in toward Avril’s areola, working his thumbs around her stiff nipples. “I’ve got it narrowed down to either the day after tomorrow or our final day here. If you want to tell me which day it isn’t, that’s all I’d need.”

Avril finally opened her eyes. She looked directly up at him. “Did you get that info from Victoria?”

“No, she’s staying tight-lipped about it. But the others…”

Avril grinned approvingly. “Sly boy. You’ve been working us all over, haven’t you?”

“I’ve been working very hard,” Liam said, returning her grin. He also pinched Avril’s nipples, resulting in the redhead inhaling gleefully.

“Consider me impressed. Who’d you go after first?”

“Tess. She let me know that today wasn’t it.”

“Last night, was it? When you two were getting all romantically entangled?”

Liam nodded and maneuvered around to put himself above Avril’s head. He bent at the waist and enjoyed an upside-down kiss with the sensual woman. It went on and on, neither of them rushing things, though they couldn’t have too much more time left before they should rejoin the others.

When Liam withdrew his lips, he did so by only a centimeter. He stayed close to Avril, awaiting a breathy reply. Unfortunately, it was the opposite of what he’d been hoping for.

“I’m afraid I can’t be the final piece to the puzzle,” Avril said, breath warm against his lips. “Sorry. Really, I am.”

Liam drew back, eyeing her with a tinge of confusion and annoyance. “Why not?”

“If I do, all dramatic tension ebbs away. That’d be poor form on my part. At the very least, I can’t tell you today. Maybe tomorrow.” A scheme alighted within her eyes. “Maybe if Tess and I win our tennis match. I’m thinking we’ll finally have it tomorrow.”

“You’re bribing the referee?”

“I’m not above it. Are you?”

“I sleep next to one of your competitors. In case you’ve forgotten, she’s a pretty severe and intimidating woman. If I cheated and helped you and Tess win, I might suffer for it.”

“Doubtful. She’s been making eyes at you for the past two days. Whatever you’ve been doing to her when you two are alone, she clearly doesn’t want it to stop.”

“That could change, though. All of you, maybe sans Anna, are really competitive. And if I’m clearly helping you and Tess out, she might go cold on me again. Tess and Anna might, too. I doubt your partner would want to win undeservingly.”

“Then be subtle about it.”

“Then tell me what I want to know,” Liam retorted.

“Nope.”

“Then win on your own.”

“Then find out when Victoria’s birthday is on your own.”

He scowled at Avril, who appeared more amused than annoyed about her failure to cut a deal with him. She knew he wanted that date badly; he should have been more subtle. Clicking his teeth together in annoyance, he dropped the conversation and focused on the massage. A few minutes of silence went by, eventually broken by a smiling redhead.

“Still want me to suck your cock.”

“Obviously,” he grunted.

Grinning, Avril worked his cock out and, staying on her back, let him experience the tightness of her throat and the skill of her lips and tongue.

But she still didn’t budge about giving him the info he wanted afterward.