Billionaires Dollar Series

Liam: The fuck if I know, Maddie. The fuck if I know.

My heart is pounding so hard that I fear it might break through my chest in its struggle. The sheets underneath me stick to my damp skin.

“Wow,” I breathe. “Your kitchen wasn’t the only thing that felt lonely.”

Liam chuckles at my side, tucking an arm underneath his head. “I told you, I’m committed to making this as interesting for you as I can. Consider yourself a challenge, and I’m determined to win.”

“I’m all for you winning,” I say. “It feels an awful lot like I’m winning, too.”Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

He props himself up against the headboard. Thick hair falls over his forehead. “You’d never had sex in that position before, had you?”

“Was it that obvious?”

His grin widens. “Just a tad.”

I run a hand over my thighs. “It felt like I got a really good stretch, too.”

“Well, I like to provide an array of health benefits beyond the simple orgasm,” he says. “We can do it on a treadmill the next time for even greater effect.”

I turn over on my stomach, my head in my hands. “Multitasking. I like it.”

Liam raises an eyebrow. “Think of the things you could get done and have sex at the same time.”

“Watching TV.”

“Working.”

“Doing your taxes.”

“Cooking.”

I snort. “Ouch, but… yes.”

Our eyes meet in combined amusement, and a smile spreads across my face. He echoes it.

“I never thought we’d end up here.”

“Hey, me neither,” I say. “One day, you were someone from my past I thought fondly of. The next thing I know, I’m bent over a bed in a hotel room.”

Liam’s eyes flash with satisfaction. “And what a sight you were.”

“Do you remember when your mother sat us down to discuss the birds and the bees?”

Liam groans, resting his head against the headboard. “Don’t remind me. Worst day of my life.”

“Hands-down the most elegant bohemian I’ve ever met,” I say. “Your mother, I mean.”

“I figured you weren’t referring to me.”

I reach for one of his pillows and prop it up beneath my head. “Remember when she told us that if we had an urge to explore with each other, that was okay, as long as we communicated enough?”

Liam closes his eyes. “I wanted to kill her in that moment.”

I chuckle. “My mind just went blank. My mother had beat her to it, regarding the… mechanics of it all, but she hadn’t gone into as much detail about pleasure and consent as your mom did.”

Liam cracks open one eye. “We fought about it afterwards.”

“You did?”

“Oh yes.”

“How come?”

“Because I was furious she decided to have that conversation with me when a pretty girl was over.” Liam reaches out and catches a strand of my hair, dark through his fingers. “I was sure you’d never ‘explore’ with me after she pointed it out like that.”

Pretty girl. I’d had a crush on him back then, and I’d admitted it.

Had he…?

I wet my lips. “It was pre-emptive, at least. We are exploring with each other now.”

Liam’s mouth curves into a smirk. “She’s often right in the end, I’ll give her that.”

My eyes fall to his lips, and further down still, to the expanse of his chest. “A part of me thinks it’s a shame we didn’t explore more when we were teenagers. Or… perhaps just that you moved away when you did.”

“I might agree with that.”

My smile widens. “Are you telling me that you might, occasionally, have had a crush on me too?”

“Are you going to force me to admit it?”

“I knew it!”

Liam reaches for me, flipping me over so I’m pinned beneath him, his leg between mine. “It’s rude to hit a man where it hurts.”

Laughter makes my chest ache. “How come you never told me?”

“You never told me,” he points out.

“We might not have had our crushes at the same time.”

“Mhm.” He lowers his head to my neck, pressing a kiss to the spot beneath my ear. I wrap my arms around his shoulders. “I’m pretty sure they were at the same time.”

“How would you know?” I arch my back, my nipples hardening against his hair-roughened chest.

“Because mine was pretty much constant.”

My hands tighten on his back. If Liam senses my surprise, he doesn’t show it, lips trailing down my collarbone.