Page 6 of Liars and Liaisons

If he was going to hide out, I’m positive it would be in there.

I cross over to the door in a few short strides, slipping in before anyone can spot me. In the center of the room, a solid oak coffee table pulls the focus toward it with each piece of furniture angled in its direction. Bookcases line an interior wall—the only one not made of windows—and I take a deep breath as I turn, admiring the simplistic serenity of the room.

It takes me far too long to realize there are other people here.

Even longer to realize what they’re doing.

On the burnt-orange sofa, a man in a blue mask lies flat on his back while a woman with waist-length dark hair straddles his waist. She’s bent over him, their mouths fused together, chests brushing as they kiss, and completely naked.

There are other people strewn about the room, tangled in heaps of flesh on armchairs or pressed against windows, but it’s the two on the sofa I find myself unable to look away from.

Her form comes alive as his hands find her hips, pale against the darker bronze of her bare skin. Slowly, he lifts her up, then reaches between their bodies, drawing a low, almost-pained moan from deep within her.

I can’t see what he’s doing, exactly, because of the lake of shadows they’re cast in, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out when she begins moving on top of him seconds later. Gruff, passionate grunts echo off the exposed rafters, seeming to catch in the high boxed ceiling before raining back down over me.

My throat tightens, and my stomach churns.

A door in the corner opens a fraction, and then another man steps inside, immediately walking over to the couple.

“You started without me,” he rasps as he steps out of his clothing. He runs a hand down the woman’s spine as she rides the other, not stopping even when he bends to capture her lips.

Hot, liquid hunger pulses between my thighs. My limbs feel heavy, my bones dense, and an ache throbs within me, cascading out in numbing waves.

I watch, enraptured even though I know I shouldn’t be. The new man withdraws from her, then rounds and throws his knee onto the couch, positioning himself behind her writhing form. His hand wraps around her hair, pushing it over her shoulder, and then he’s moving, grappling for something on the coffee table before joining the entanglement completely.

As the three of them share a collective gasp, an inhalation of euphoria, a small one escapes me too. It sticks in my throat, caught in a web of shock and desire I’ve never really experienced before.

I’ve watched porn, and I’ve even gotten myself off to it, but seeing the act in person… it’s different.

One of my feet inches forward, as if I’m tempted—by what, I’m not sure.

A closer look?

Tojoin?

“You shouldn’t be here.”

On a reflex, my head shifts, twisting to look up at the whisper’s owner. If my stomach wasn’t already falling out of my ass, I think it would drop to the floor as I take in the sharp, devastating profile of Nate James.

Even with that horrible goat mask hiding most of his face, I can see the defined ridges of his jaw. The rage lining the edges of his too-handsome face.

I hadn’t realized until now how jarring his presence is.

“Oh God,yes,” the woman on the couch mewls, a high-pitched sound tearing its way from her chest as the men begin fucking her in earnest.

My stomach plummets, and warmth spreads fast through my veins. Before I have a chance to really think about what I’m doing, I push up onto my toes and shove my face into his.

If nothing else, maybe a kiss will draw him back in. Remind him that we were good together and my brother isn’t important—since that’s what scared him off in the first place.

I don’t have a better plan either way. Wasn’t sure I’d get this far.

I’m just desperate for the sense of normalcy he provides. The rightness of being with him.

The kiss is stiff for a moment, and panic seizes my muscles. His mask scrapes the corner of my mouth as my lips move against his, as if trying to kindle a fire.

I worry that I’ve ruined everything by not thinking this night through, but then he shifts. His large hands come up, bracketing my bare shoulders, and he slants his head. Granting me access, his mouth parts, and his tongue tentatively seeks mine.

Effervescent golden light seems to stretch between our two bodies, and I step into it, craving it. My fingers tremble as they come to his chest, sweeping lightly, searching for something to keep me grounded while my body feels like soaring.

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