Page 11 of Holiday Home 2

“You have to follow the rules,” she’d whispered seconds ago, after which she’d resumed kissing his jawline.

“I’m trying my hardest to,” he promised, struggling not to grimace because of how poorly his luck had so far gone.

“I can tell,” Tess whispered teasingly, wiggling her butt—that heavenly, painfully perfect butt—over one of the hardersources of his body.

“You’re so cruel,” he complained, swallowing dryly.

“You should blame your bad luck, not me,” she said, brushing her lips over his. About fifteen seconds remained for this particular reward. “Though, can what’s happening right now really be considered ‘bad’ luck?”

“I still want to win atsomepoint. If you make it to six in a row, I’m going to start thinking you’re cheating, somehow.”

“At War?” Tess pulled her lips away as her phone signaled their minute was up. However, she didn’t climb off his lap just yet, instead keeping herself close so she could shower a dubious look upon him. “And how, pray tell, does one cheat at such a game?”

“I have no idea, but I’m going to start thinking you’ve found out how to if I don’t start winning some of these wars.”

Tess smiled, and it was a treasured thing. Even with his string of frustrating defeats jabbing him in the side, he still smiled right back. Here, right now, nothing could be as perfect as this—no matter how many wars he lost in a row. Time spent with Tess like this was a treasure he’d never believed he might hold in his hands—or have sit in his lap. Today, no matter how many defeats he suffered, was already one of the most incredible days he’d ever lived.

And, as she kept on saying, they had all day to spend together. Many hours, many opportunities, and many more memories to make.

So, he could handle one or two more losses. But maybe not three.

Tess’s laughter spilled through her house like sonorous music when he said as much as she started to pick herself up off his lap. It kept her there, beaming at him, for a little while longer.

Chapter Six

Real War

Liam realized something dastardly. Whether it was an intentional design flaw in the rules or an unintended one, he didn’t know. He knew he wasn’t to ask Tess about it, however. Not untilafterhe took advantage of it, anyway.

He did finally win a war—the seventh of their game. It wasn’t this one where his devilish idea sprouted, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have plenty of other ideas in mind. Stopping his losing streak at six straight losses, he almost pumped his fist through the air afterfinallytasting victory’s sweet nectar. Tess teased him with a toothless smile and directed him with a nod toward her phone after he stood up.

“Don’t forget to start the timer.”

With the tables turned, he considered his vector of attack. He didn’t just want to imitate her deliberately leisurely pace, if that would even work on her as effectively as it had him. His body, blood boiling in his veins due to the teasing he’d undergone, wouldn’t be able to bear it if he wasted the first four or five opportunities to put his hands on her with just a few kisses here, a few touches there.

Liam moved over to Tess’s side. Batting her eyelashes at him while he mulled his options, he eventually decided his course. Diverting his gaze away from the painfully beautiful woman in his reach for just a second, he began the countdown.

Similarly, as she’d done to him a couple of wins ago, he placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back. Reclining her against the pillows sitting against the couch’s arm, she stared unblinkingly up at him through her marvelously blue eyes. Her lips enticingly parted as he climbed on top of her.

Dropping one knee on the cushion between her thighs, he hovered above the recently divorced professor, finally capable of releasing some of his pent-up lust upon her voluptuous body. While he wouldn’t in future rounds, for this one, he did end up wasting a few seconds just looking at her. Marveling. At her, at this situation, at all that had led him to this wonderful moment in his life.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, laying his heart bare for her.

Tess breathed in deep, eyes shimmering affectionately. Smiling radiantly, she threw her arms above her head, which dragged the hem of her loose-fitting shirt up enough to expose her navel. It was as clear of a request as she could make. Well, minus the stiff points jutting up under the fabric of her shirt.

Liam kissed her once, just so he could rememorize the taste and softness of her lips—and the coffee she’d imbibed. Afterward, knowing he didn’t have as much time as he’d have liked, he hurried his mouth down to her shirt’s fabric. Nipping it between his teeth, he dragged it up another handful of inches.

He let his hands do the rest, and it was only a few seconds later that he bared her delectable breasts for his judgment.

“Damn, they’re perfect,” he whispered, eyes as large as saucers as he took the sight of them in. He’d already seen them like this once before, but that didn’t cool the sordid lust scalding his body by even a single degree. With her beneath him, gravity slightly compressed her heavy, smooth breasts. It made them even more enticing a sight to behold.

And Tess had to go and say something so sexy that he heard it whispered again in his dreams that night.

“And they’re all yours,” she purred huskily, eyes glittering with hopefulness for his impending touch.

Far more merciful to her than she’d been to him, he didn’t make her wait until later rounds. His hands swept up her sides, tracing her curvaceous figure until he drew them in, turned his palms upward, and “caught” her breasts in either hand. As he skimmed his fingers like a scalp massager around the sides of her breasts, he allowed himself a single glance toward her phone.

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