Page 9

Basic Necessities

F ive minutes after coming to the kitchen, Liam could no longer resist. Honestly, he’d held out longer than he would have expected. The provocative shape of Tess’s body just proved too overwhelming. She knew that as well as he did. So, when he ended up behind her, pressing into her alluring body, she didn’t do more than sigh—and she only did it once.

“I’m making us something to eat,” she reminded him, even as she pressed her butt slightly back. The additional pressure caused his cock to throb happily. When she wiggled her hips a few seconds later, Liam inhaled deeply.

He set her hands on her thighs, then slowly drew them up toward the fantastic shape and softness of her butt. His fingertips buzzed with anticipation as they climbed the fabric of her leggings, then found their favorite paradise. As she hadn’t flexed any, his fingers sank deep into her provocative butt. How had he gone so long in life without experiencing something like this? The addictiveness of it left him woozy.

“I’m not stopping you,” he pointed out. “But I haven’t gotten to do this since I got here. Because of your cruel chess game.”

Tess chuckled, gripping her counter as he felt her up. Technically, he had stopped her from preparing their lunch, as she’d stopped plucking grapes off the vine and piling them into a single large bowl. Chocolate and grapes. A good combo, even though they’d left the box containing the former in her living room.

“You’re not having fun with it?” Tess asked, batting her eyelashes as she glanced over her shoulder.

“I’m having a little more of it here and now.”

Shrugging, Tess wiggled her hips again. Liam’s cock felt like it was made of stone, but he knew she wouldn’t let him pull it out just yet. Not until their game prompted him to. Which meant he was also delaying his much-needed salvation.

His hands won out, but his cock suffered for the delay.

Eventually, even with him still pressed against her, Tess resumed filling up the bowl. Not satisfied with just feeling up her phenomenal ass, Liam’s hands sought higher ground. Sending them beneath her shirt’s loose hem, his fingertips glided over the high waist of her leggings. The fabric clung tightly to her curvaceous waist, but he still got a few fingers in between. Tess glanced at him, and he knew she’d stop him if he tried pulling her leggings down, but that wasn’t his goal.

He stopped at just skimming the backs of his fingers against her smooth, soft skin. And a few tugs at the waistband, acting as though he might be thinking about trying to remove them. Oh, and he did send about half of his right hand into her leggings, resting it on her hip. That last one obtained a warning look.

So, he again sent his hands higher. Still under her shirt, his fingers slowly but excitedly climbed her stomach and sides, feeling the curving hourglass of her gorgeous body. The goal was obvious, so when Tess didn’t stop him, instead placing the bowl filled with grapes under her sink faucet, he knew he had permission. It might not last forever, so he didn’t delay.

Victoria’s might be larger, but they were only a fantasy within his mind. Their shape, softness, and heft were unknown to him. Tess’s, however, had come to be anything but that.

She breathed in as his hands, warm from all the time they’d spent on her body, reached the underside of her magnificent breasts. Cupping his hands as if he intended to scoop something up, which he very much did, he slightly lifted her breasts. He admired their weight and softness, then spread his fingers out. He couldn’t fully cover her breasts, but he could still give it his all.

His all happened to be everything he did want to give Tess, so it worked out. Her breasts absorbed the soft imprints of his fingers, giving wherever he applied gentle pressure, and his palms brushed against hardened nipples.

“Your shoulders are a little tense,” he whispered against the shell of Tess’s left ear.

“I wonder why,” the gorgeous woman retorted, though she forced herself to return to a relaxed state. She finished washing off the grapes, then placed the bowl on the counter. “If I’m going to make us those wraps, I need to slide over a bit.”

Liam nodded, though he didn’t remove his hands from her breasts. When she realized his intention to stay with her, Tess shook her head but didn’t complain. Linked together, they sidled toward a litany of ingredients farther down her counter. Those that had needed earlier prep had already gotten it, including the sauce. Opening the bag with enormous circular tortillas inside, she glanced at him.

“I like mine heated. You?”

“Sure.”

So, with them bending as one, Tess obtained the appropriately shaped pan for the task, set it on her stove, then set it to the lowest possible temperature. After lathering a sauce mixed from salsa, sour cream, and taco seasoning on its surface, she fit it in place on the pan, then began piling on the ingredients—cooked chicken, sliced tomatoes, sliced avocados, cheddar cheese, and iceberg lettuce.

Throughout that time, being no help at all to the actual meal she was preparing, Liam continued kneading her breasts. While they weren’t anywhere as sensitive as Anna’s were, Tess still sighed pleasantly at his touch. He’d gotten good at this. He allowed himself to wear that medal with pride.

“Okay, okay, I think you’ve had enough. For now.” Tess added that last part before he could, sensing that he’d do so if she didn’t. With some reluctance, Liam removed himself from Tess’s glorious body. He didn’t move very far away, though.

Tess didn’t seem to mind.

They ate standing up, using her counter as their table. Bodies barely a foot apart, they stared at one another in silence. Liam felt somewhere between drunk and delirious while staring into those deep blue eyes. Their sparkle, the affection pouring out of them, the quiet promises shifting behind them like smaller waves in the shadow of a larger one; it was almost too much for his racing heart. Eventually, Tess smiled, probably aware of how strongly she affected him just by looking into his eyes. Next, she started up a new conversation. Rather, an old one.

“So, we’re going to be going to Fiji.” It was an observation, not a question, but Liam nodded in confirmation all the same. “Phone, please.”

It was a request, yet Tess’s free hand was already reaching for his thigh, which instinctively caused him to tense. Tess renewed her smile, even more knowing than the last, as she moved her hand around to his pocket rather than the location they both knew he’d rather it have gone.

Once she had his phone in hand, she typed in the password he gave her, then began searching for something. Try as he might to peek over the top of his phone and get a good look at what she was up to this time, he couldn’t see much. It looked like she’d opened his search engine.

“Hmm. It seems we’ll be visiting when Fiji is transitioning out of its wet season. The temperatures rise—70s and 80s—and the skies get clearer.” Tess lifted her gaze, reconnecting with him. “We’ll have plenty of time to lounge on the beach. Lucky you.”

“I feel the same way,” he replied, accepting his phone as Tess handed it back. “It’s been too long since I saw you in a bikini.”

“Unless you’ve somehow convinced one of the others to wear one for you, in the flesh, I’m the only one you’ve seen in swimwear, no?”

Liam nodded. “Just you. You were still married the last time I saw you in a bikini. Up at the pool.”

“I won’t be this time.”

His blood simmered excitedly, thoughts of Tess’s phenomenal figure in a barely concealed state flooding him with dopamine. Too long. The wait until spring break was simply too long. Even if he could visit her every weekend, even if he slept in the same bed as her when he was around, it was too piecemeal for his liking. He wanted more. Needed it. Needed it like he needed food, water, and oxygen.

Tess had become one more necessity for his continued good health. Without her, he’d wither. So, during the week he’d be with her on an exotic set of islands, he planned to get enough of her for him to survive until summer break. When he’d be home for months. More, assuming everything worked out as he hoped it would.

The giddiness of that thought nearly overwhelmed him. Wanting another taste of the gorgeous woman, Liam set down his half-eaten wrap and leaned his mouth toward the only set of luscious lips that could satiate his needs. However, a fingertip on his lips hampered the effort.

“Finish up,” Tess said, eyes glinting knowingly—and agreeably, Liam thought. Nevertheless, she held him at bay, finger resting on his lips, soft as satin. “We still have a game to finish. The real prizes are still up for grabs.”