Page 8
Total Permission
W ith Liam finally understanding how to proceed, he updated his strategy to include bolder moves. So did Tess. Naturally, this led to more turns where pieces got knocked out of contention. Trades that he’d feared now became attractive options, though he still worried that he might lose all his pieces before he could take a swing at her king, queen, and rooks. He was already a fair bit behind when he altered his strategy, and becoming more aggressive didn’t suddenly make him a match for a clearly talented player.
Nevertheless, when the moment arrived where he could doom his final bishop for one of her rooks, he took it. While he wasn’t sure, he thought Tess had made a bad move or two just to set this situation up. Well, if she wanted to give him a crack at finding out what he could obtain if he managed to take out both her rooks, removing the top half of his outfit was a price worth the payment.
“You recall what this means?” Tess asked, wagging his second bishop between her fingers as she plucked it off the board.
“I do,” Liam said. Part of him was thrilled to finally get out of his jacket, which he should have done long ago. He’d been actively hot for most of the game, and it wasn’t like there’d been a reason to keep the jacket on. The loss of his bishops caused him to take off everything on his upper half, so why keep on the jacket?
Dumbness, of course. The strip poker-esque rules had somehow gotten his brain to want to avoid taking anything already on him off. At least he hadn’t come over in a stuffy coat. He’d have suffered heatstroke from that.
As he removed his jacket, he briefly lost sight of Tess. However, even as the thin fabric he pulled up over his head shrouded him in darkness, he could feel her eyes boring holes into him. Her desire thrilled him, physically and mentally. Just knowing that she was anticipating the moment he took his clothes off left him feeling woozy. But it was more than just anticipation. She’d outright designed a game where it was all but guaranteed to happen.
She wanted his clothing off, perhaps as badly as he wanted hers off.
Wow.
After his jacket came off, Tess’s eyes locked onto the shirt he’d been wearing beneath it. Wearing a smile, two of her fingers gestured in an upward fashion.
So she commanded, so he obeyed. Leaving his jacket on his lap for the time being, he next gripped his shirt. A moment of indecision stalled him, primarily out of a silly worry that she wouldn’t be nearly as impressed when his shirt came off as he would be when hers did—if he could even manage to take her final bishop—but he kicked it from his thoughts. How many times had she seen him naked since winter break? A lot. And she didn’t seem tired of the sight just yet.
His shirt came off, climbing past his head. He shrugged his shoulders, dropped it onto his lap, and met Tess’s eyes. With relief and glee, he watched the older woman’s attention trail approvingly across his body.
While forty-five days might not be enough to create more than some initial changes in his musculature, he had about as many more before spring break. So, at the halfway mark as he was, and knowing the results he’d been making since he started working out more seriously, he didn’t let himself complain that he wasn’t rippling with lean muscles just yet. He hadn’t been in bad shape when he’d started. Just… not where he wanted to be.
Partly because he’d promised himself he’d manage to fuck Tess entirely in the air at some point. He wondered how close he was to that goal.
That thought flew the coop before he could do more than glance at it. Warm, soft lips marked his shoulder, which snapped him back to reality. Eyes gleaming, Tess had decided it was time for yet another pause from their game. With his torso bared, her lips worked across his body. Letting her have her fill, Liam breathed in deeply, then ran his hands up her sides.
“You’re looking more handsome by the day,” Tess whispered, lips buzzing over his chest on its way to his nipple, which she playfully sucked on for a few moments.
“I can’t be the odd one out when we’re on the beach,” he said, leaning back, which proved the right thing to do. As he settled back on her couch, Tess climbed on top of him. Not just a pause then, but a full-blown intermission.
“Are you planning to turn us all on when we see you take off your shirt?” Tess asked, moving her mouth down to his ribs.
He blushed slightly but didn’t deny it. “Knowing who I’ll be vacationing with, it’s hard not to want that.”
Tess chuckled, further dislodging any worry that she might be jealous or disapproving of his relationships with Avril and Anna. No, he should have never worried about that to begin with. She wasn’t the type of woman to hold a grudge or issue. Their conversations about the importance of communication were more than enough proof of that.
Because we’re in a relationship, Liam thought blissfully. Me and Tess.
“Of the places Avril has selected, all are very romantic,” Tess pointed out. Her hands finally came into the mix, nails lightly skimming over his waist. If he’d lost his other knight at this point, would they have gone a little lower? A certain throbbing pillar in that area believed so.
“Is there one in particular you would like to go to?”
Keeping her mouth against his body, Tess shook her head, which caused strands of her hair to tickle his skin. “I’m fine with wherever. I know Victoria very much wishes to visit Fiji, as it’s the only place she hasn’t been to before. Excluding the Bahamas, all the places would be new for me.”
“You and Anna have both given me the same answers, you know.”
“Is that a problem? Where do you want to go?”
Liam stayed silent for a moment, and Tess surely knew why. Because his answer was the same as theirs.
“I’m probably going to bet my points toward Fiji, then,” he eventually said. “That okay with you?”
“They’re your points.”
“Yeah, but—” Shrugging, Liam cut himself off.
An eyebrow raised as two glimmeringly pure blue eyes looked up from their work. “But?”
“Well, I wouldn’t want you to end up disappointed with where we go?”
Grinning beatifically, Tess laughed. “I couldn’t be disappointed, no matter where we go. As I already said, all the places in the running are very romantic.”
Liam shivered delightedly as Tess lowered her hand. It didn’t infiltrate his pants as he might have liked, but it did ruminate around the sturdy object wishing for a chance to show itself off. Soon. Probably very soon. So long as this intermission didn’t persist too much longer.
“Then Fiji it will be,” Liam said a few minutes later, sitting up. His chest was riddled with kiss marks, wet and warm all over. Just before removing herself from above him, Tess laid her ear on his heart. Silently, she’d listened to its turmoil, which she was responsible for, for a good thirty seconds.
“I’m sure Victoria will be overjoyed to hear it,” Tess said with a smile.
“Actually,” he said, waffling for a moment. Was it wise to share the deal he’d made with Victoria? Even ignoring if it might upset her, it could potentially lead to a line of questioning that shone a light on the one secret he truly wanted to keep from her.
Yeah, you need to share it, his conscience ultimately stated. The situation with Victoria, while nowhere near as intimate as things were with Anna and Avril, had surprised him. He’d gotten swept up in a tide of desire for an incredibly attractive woman, and even now, he was probably more shocked at how things had gone than elated—though he very much was elated. Nevertheless, she and Tess were more than just colleagues. So, if Tess disapproved of his actions, he’d cancel the deal with Victoria and still put his points toward Fiji.
After seizing a deep breath, uncertain if he was about to ruin any chances of their game continuing, he explained the deal he and Victoria had made.
Tess was… surprised, not incensed, not frustrated, not disappointed. At least, that was how it looked from where Liam was sitting. At first, she’d listened solemnly as he’d mentioned getting a bit in over his head with the suggestion of how Victoria could convince him to vote for Fiji. And then, with her wearing a hint of an expectant smile, he’d explained that she’d agreed to it, not shut him down.
And then her jaw had slightly dropped.
“Hold on, she… said yes? ” Tess asked, blinking as if a squirrel had walked up to her and started explaining its political leanings.
Slowly, Liam nodded.
“My goodness,” Tess said, totally flummoxed.
So, they sat in silence for several seconds. Liam’s heart had a new reason to race. An unpleasant one.
“I can’t believe she agreed,” Tess said, massaging her chin. Her gaze seemed distant, staring off toward the place over his shoulder. “Wow. There’s my surprise of the new year.”
“I didn’t think things would work out, either,” he admitted, which redrew her focus to him. Tess narrowed her eyes at him, but not unkindly. The sliver of a smile tugging up one corner of her mouth provided additional evidence that she wasn’t livid with him.
“I’m starting to suspect that Avril and I have spoiled you too much. You’ve gotten far too comfortable getting everything you could ever want from the women in our circle.”
Liam blushed appropriately, understanding that it was a very light admonishment. “The wine got to me, I guess.”
“The non- alcoholic wine?” Tess snorted, folding her arms beneath her breasts. Still, her smile grew. “I think we both know the wine had very little to do with it. How a woman can exude such ludicrous degrees of severity and standoffishness yet make any man around her drool like a waterfall is beyond me. Even if she is unquestionably attractive, still! Don’t you men have any sense of self-preservation?”
“I do,” he said in his defense. “But, non-alcoholic or not, she did offer me some wine. She wasn’t really acting all that severely and standoffish at the time. That was also pretty shocking. Compared to how things started”—he nodded toward the very space in Tess’s living room where he’d been first introduced to Victoria Moreno a couple of months ago—“it’s definitely made my head spin.”
“It’s an infectious feeling, I assure you,” Tess said, again growing thoughtful. Not angry. Still not angry. It was such a relief.
“I’ll cancel our deal if you want me to,” Liam said. A part of him had expected Victoria to be the one to do that after she’d returned to her senses. He’d been anticipating a text or call almost every hour since they’d set it up.
“Would you?” Tess asked, examining him.
“Of course,” he said immediately. “You’re the most important person in my life.”
Oh. That just got said out loud.
It was one of many prisoners within Liam’s heart, most of which pertained to just how strongly his feelings for Tess were. His feelings went far, far beyond just standard affection or lust. Love. He loved her. He’d been afraid to announce it openly for a while now, even if he’d, as she’d stated, started getting too comfortable having his way.
This was probably proof that her assessment was right on the money.
Somehow, that specific configuration of words escaped his mouth; they just wandered on out. He couldn’t rein them back in. They were now a memory in Tess’s mind.
Once more, rather than any number of negative or even neutral responses, Tess set his heart at ease. She beamed at him, then seized him by the wrist and pulled him into another deep, passionate kiss. From sheer relief, he nearly melted into her because of it.
“I think I can say the same thing about you,” she whispered, and his heart nearly somersaulted over the moon. “And flabbergasted as I might be about you and Victoria’s deal, I’m glad you were willing to confide in me. I’m glad I can be in your confidence this time.”
Liam resisted an urge to abashedly scratch at the back of his head and smile toothlessly. He knew she was referring to the last secret he’d kept from her, the one involving him and Anna only pretending to be a couple. She hadn’t been upset when he and Anna, following a confrontation with Trent Alden had pushed them into a corner, had finally spilled the beans, either. So far, telling the truth had yet to put him in the doghouse.
Of course, she had gotten a little upset when Avril had kissed him, then declared her interest in him. So, not every surprising reveal ended up going this route. Just most of them.
“You’re the only one I’ve shared it with,” he admitted. “Probably the only one I will. I can’t see Avril using this info for good.”
“I think that’s for the best because of what you’ve said—which is absolutely true—and so you can stay in Victoria’s good graces. We should also keep your sharing of this with me quiet.”
Liam nodded. That had been the very next item on his agenda, and for precisely the reason Tess had just brought up. He didn’t want to fall out of Victoria’s confidence, and spreading news around the group that he’d somehow convinced her to show him a few pictures of her in bikinis seemed the quickest way to collapse their budding relationship. Especially if Avril found out.
“So,” Tess said, smiling evenly, “so long as you show me the pictures you’ve been sent, I won’t tell anyone.”
Liam blinked. Tess kept smiling. Eventually, the ball of fuzz between his ears managed to remember that it was a brain and that brains could comprehend even statements as unexpected as the one he’d just heard.
“Huh?!”
“Give me,” Tess said, beckoning toward him with her hand. “I want to see what Victoria has sent you. I feel that’s a fair payment for my silence and forgiveness in this matter.”
“I’m in need of forgiveness?”
“Aren’t you?” Tess asked, still holding her hand out.
Flushing crimson, Liam slowly began maneuvering to pull his phone from his pocket. At the same time, citing that “he wouldn’t need these for a while,” Tess removed his jacket and shirt from his lap and placed them over her side’s couch arm. Immediately after, her hand returned to its position, fingers wiggling as she awaited the feeling of his phone in her palm.
After bringing up his messages with Victoria, he hesitantly handed it over. They hadn’t talked about that other thing since she’d sent him the first picture of her. So long as Tess didn’t start scrolling past the photos, he ought to be safe from her finding out about it.
Intentionally—he was confident of it—Tess leaned away from him after obtaining his phone. Holding it up, she prevented him from seeing what she saw. He frowned, but she either didn’t notice or didn’t react. Instead, she spent well over a minute examining the three pictures Victoria had sent him.
“You even got one on Valentine’s Day, I see,” Tess noted, eyes glued to his screen. “We really are spoiling you.”
Liam elected to stay quiet, knowing he could really only agree with her. Tess, Anna, and Avril had already formed the greatest triumvirate since the Roman era. With Victoria somewhat added in, even if it was just a few pictures from her past, he knew how good he had things.
“What about this first picture?” Tess eventually asked, finally raising her gaze from his phone. “You didn’t give it a rating.”
“Oh, that one got a three. I, uh, gave her that rating when I was still at her house.”
“Yes, that reminds me: what exactly were you doing at her house in the first place? I don’t think I should keep letting that fact be glossed over.”
Even though his heart launched into his throat, Liam kept his gaze steady. “I wanted to get some advice from her.”
He could tell it wasn’t enough to soothe Tess’s curiosity, but nothing like suspicion appeared in the look she leveled at him. After a moment, realizing he didn’t plan to elaborate, Tess finally handed back his phone.
“I have to say, if those pictures can only earn up to a three out of five, you’ve set some unattainable goals when it comes to a woman’s beauty,” Tess teased. “I don’t know if any woman could be good enough for you.”
“It’s not that,” he said, slipping his phone back into its vault. “In any normal situation, every picture would be a five out of five. If that were the case, I’d be out of points in no time.”
“Don’t you have more than a hundred points to spend?” Tess asked. “Even if she wanted to wrap up all those points, you’d still be guaranteed over twenty pictures of my colleague.”
Liam merely shrugged. Although he hadn’t done any math when setting things up with Victoria afterward, he had done it later. He was sure Victoria was just as aware of how many pictures of her he might have at the end of the month, assuming she did want to guarantee they went to Fiji. However, she’d only sent three pictures so far, and there were only two weeks left until Avril closed the voting. As things currently were, it was possible he wouldn’t get anywhere close to twenty photos.
However, he still had one more reveal up his sleeve. His plan for tomorrow would lower his potential ceiling, yet he hoped it would raise the floor. If things worked out, he’d at least hit double digits before Avril closed the voting.
“I guess it just felt like it’d be kind of dumb if I gave every picture a five,” he said, hoping Tess would agree. “They obviously are, but still.”
“I suppose,” Tess said. “Still, don’t be the kind of man who never gives out his highest marks. Men who always couch a critique into a compliment, worry about giving too many compliments, or are worried about ‘spoiling’ their partner are no good. Don’t ever forget that.”
Liam nodded but still asked, “Does that sound like me?”
“No, it doesn’t.” Tess smiled, then leaned over and gently kissed his shoulder. “But then, you’re sort of going through a lot of development very quickly. I just don’t want you to build up any bad habits.”
“I’ll try not to,” he promised, shivering as Tess’s mouth moved to the side of his neck, where it began to suck. “You’ll give me a few tips on chess one of these days too, right?”
“Sure,” Tess promised, eyes alight with mirth as she pulled away. Her gaze shifted back to the board. “We still need to finish this game, though. You have more clothes on than I like.”
“The feeling’s mutual.”
Tess grinned, then moved a hand toward one of her pieces. Only, it stalled midway along its journey.
“Actually, why don’t we break for lunch? We got a little sidetracked, so I’m starting to get hungry. We can resume things once we’ve finished.”
So was he, but he was far, far hungrier for a chance to see her remove her shirt. He just needed to get one more bishop off the board. Yet, he could tell her question wasn’t really a question. Rather than argue over it, he assented with a nod. Moments later, they’d gotten up—but he still wasn’t allowed to put his shirt back on—and began heading for her kitchen. A light lunch would follow.
The chessboard and its surviving pieces would have to wait a little longer for the culmination of their game. His ultimate defeat was all but a certainty, but he still hoped to intersperse a few triumphs of his own before it arrived.