Neighbors (Twin Estates #1) (3 page)

“Maybe you should look for yourself.”

While Katya was having a lot of inner turmoil about her choices and actions, her mouth was having no such issues – she was shocked at the dare she'd just issued. Liam stepped forward and while his eyes never left hers, he reached out very slowly and tapped his finger on her top button. He waited half a beat, and when she didn't move away or stop him, he pushed the button out of its hole. He continued down the line and she drew in a shaky breath when she felt the floppy bow come to rest in her cleavage.

I'm about to be topless in a night club. Who is this person, and what has she done with Katya Tocci?

“Still racier than I expected,” he said in a soft voice, and she felt his finger trace along the lacy edge of her lilac bra. “But definitely not leather.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Katya whispered.

Maybe it was the tequila. Maybe her sign was in retrograde, or maybe it was all the stuff Tori had been saying to her. All Katya knew was it felt like her blood was on fire and she never wanted him to stop touching her.

So when he hooked a finger around her belt, she let him. Stepped forward when he pulled her near. Didn't stop him when he leaned down so close, she could feel his hot breath against her lips.

“Katya, there is literally nothing about you that could possibly disappoint,” his voice was gentle.

“Don't say that – you haven't checked for the crotchless panties yet.”

He gave one last laugh, causing her heart to do a little somersault, and then his mouth was on hers. She was almost ashamed at how good it made her feel. She hadn't been kissed in a long time and she abandoned herself to the sensation. Sighed against his lips, then gasped when his tongue filled her mouth.

She returned the favor, her tongue tentatively skimming along the edges of his teeth, then when she realized he was undoing her belt, she became more aggressive. Wrapped an arm around his shoulders while she actively pressed back against his tongue with her own, waging war for space in their mouths.

“C'mon,” he panted when he pulled away, and she realized he was forcing her to move backwards by shoving on her hips. “Let's go to my office. I can have some drinks brought in and we can -”

“
No.
”

Katya was just as surprised as him at the tone of her voice.

“No?” he asked.

“No. I … I want to stay out here,” she told him. Since new-Katya apparently didn't care about anything of a proprietary nature, she figured being honest wouldn't be weird.

“Ah, I see. Angel cake wants to watch,” he teased her, and she could feel his fingertips rubbing against the bare skin just above her belt.

“I'm curious,” she corrected him.

“Then by all means, let's see if we can scratch your itch.”

She had to concentrate on her feet as he moved her into the empty booth next to them. The alcohol was settling around her brain and making her body feel relaxed.

But not her mind. That felt sharper than ever. She knew
exactly
what she was doing, and was suddenly very aware of
exactly
what she wanted. It had all been a dare, to see how far she could push herself, but now, she wasn't even thinking about any of that – she was only thinking about how good looking the man next to her was, and how amazing it had been to kiss him.

They sat down side by side. Katya noticed how wide and deep the bench seats were – if she pressed herself to the back of it, she couldn't put her feet on the floor. Her knees didn't even reach the edge, though Liam's did; he was pretty tall, easily six-foot-two or so. There was no proper table, but rather a low glass coffee table with what looked like movable ottomans underneath it. Several bottles of water were gathered at one end, unopened and inviting looking.

“What made you want to do this?” Katya breathed, letting her eyes wander over the room.

“Bring you here?” he asked.

“No. Run your own sex club.”

The place wasn't exactly a raging orgy, no one was having out-and-out sex in the middle of the open floor. But most of the booths held occupants, and only a handful of them were just chatting. The rest were engaging in all sorts of naughty activities, some on full display for the room, their moans and sighs audible to everyone, while others chose to be more discreet behind the sheer curtains.

“I had a background in night club management, they hired me on. I liked the place, but they were doing a shitty job. It never would've lasted without me. Then I came into an inheritance, met some … investors, kinda, and came up with the plan to buy this place,” he explained.

“So it wasn't your life's ambition to run a sex club?” Katya asked. He laughed.

“No. I mean, I guess I've always been a sexual person. You know, like overtly so. I'd been to sex clubs, some swingers parties, but never thought about it as a job.”

“Do you like it?”

“Yes, very much.”

“So people just come here and mingle and then get it on in these booths?”

“Yeah, but not just that,” he said. “See those double doors over there? They'll open up after ten o'clock. There's private rooms along the hallway – some, people pay by the hour. Some, they rent by the month. Then at the very end are two conference rooms with a removable wall between them, so they can become one huge room. Those usually get booked out for conventions, birthday parties, whatever.”

Katya couldn't imagine what kind of birthday party would rent out a ballroom at a sex club. Yet for all that, the place was really … chill.

“It's different than I expected,” she said, and he seemed to understand what she meant because he laughed.

“It's a Tuesday and it's kinda early. It'll pick up later,” he assured her.

She turned to face him again and when his eyes dropped to her chest, she had to work hard not to blush – she'd actually forgotten that her top wasn't buttoned up.

“I've never done anything like this before,” she said in a soft voice.

“I'd already guessed that.”

“And not just the sex club,” she continued. “Going out with a man I don't know. Kissing a man I don't know.
All
of this.”

“Still not surprised.”

“Can anyone come down here?”

“No. Members only, and we're
very
strict.”

“How does one become a member?”

“You asking for yourself?”

She'd been looking over the room again, but cut her eyes back to him. He had a rich voice and usually sounded like he had a laugh hiding just beneath the surface of his words. But now he sounded serious. Sexy. Their kiss ran through her mind and she felt a little dizzy.

“I don't think I'd meet your qualifications,” she whispered.

“We have got to cure this nasty self-deprecation habit you've developed.”

“It's the truth.”

Liam moved into her personal space and gently grabbed the bow on the front of her shirt. She leaned into him as he pulled her closer.

“I think you need to stop caring so much about everything, and maybe just let go for a little while.”

This time when he kissed her, there was no hesitation on her part. She didn't even flinch when he untied the bow and slid the shirt away from her shoulders. She shook free of it, sat there clad in only her bra, but she didn't even think about it. Her brain was spinning from the alcohol and his words and his nearness.

“I don't think I've ever let go,” she panted against his mouth.

“I'm good at it, I'll show you the ropes,” he assured her, one of his hands spearing into the hair at the back of her head as he kissed along her jawline.

She felt like a teenager, making out in some dark corner. Not that she'd ever done that as one, but it was naughty. Thrilling. She tried to get closer, curling one of her legs under herself and stretching the other across his lap. His free hand immediately went to her hip, smoothed a path down to her knee, then worked its way to the inside of her thigh, his fingers digging in as they slowly traveled the length of her leg.

Katya had slept with two men in her entire life, and been “intimate” with four. Intimate meaning she gave Joey Simms a really bad blow job during her freshman year of college, and the following year, Mark Demello had received several decent hand jobs from her. All four men had also gotten their hands into her panties, but only after many, many dates, and even then – only two had been around long enough to actually see her fully naked.

She'd known Liam for all of four hours, and she was ready to strip down and sit spread eagle for him. Do anything he wanted. It was insanity. She'd been raised better than that, she'd been taught to respect herself. Been told that men only wanted one thing, and she had to protect herself from their wanton ways.

But right then, as her new found confidence washed away her inhibitions and Liam's hands burned away any concerns, she had one thought screaming through her head like a freight train.

What if
I
want that “one thing”? What if
I
have “wanton ways”?

There was the briefest hesitation when his fingers smoothed over the skin on her stomach, and she held her breath, praying she wouldn't have to beg him. She wasn't sure her tongue would be able to cooperate. But then he surged back into the kiss, his tongue dominating her mouth, almost distracting her from the fact that his hand was now sliding its way inside her satin underwear.

“How did I know you'd feel so perfect,” he sighed, rubbing his nose along the side of her neck while his middle finger worked its way inside her body, reminding her that it had been a very long time since anyone else's fingers had been there.

“I'm not perfect,” she gasped for air and clung to his neck, her fingernails biting into his skin.

“Angel cake, you are
perfection
– you just need someone to show you,” he whispered, pressing the heel of his hand down against her, causing her eyes to cross a little.

“Please,
please,
show me.”

“Maybe we should move this to my office.”

Katya pulled back at that comment. Of course, he was probably right. She knew sex was imminent, and so did he – maybe not the classiest thing, screwing a guy only hours after meeting him, but at least in his office, they'd have some privacy. It was a sex club, maybe he had a bed in there. A nice, normal bed, where they could have nice, normal sex, because she was such a nice, normal girl.

“I don't want to move,” she said, leaning in again and licking the edge of his ear. She smiled when a shiver ripped across his shoulders.

“C'mon, I told you, this isn't a competition, and if it was, you won. You are officially the coolest. Do you know how long it's been since anyone's gotten me to do stuff on the floor out here? But I don't think you're ready to have sex in the middle of a bar,” he said.

He was right. Considering she'd never had sex outside of a bedroom, she probably wasn't ready for something that drastic. But she also knew she wasn't ready to stop what they were doing. She wasn't ready to go back to being the old-Katya. She'd come back soon enough, new-Katya wanted to revel in her new found freedom. Wanted to roll around in all the feelings racing across her nerve endings.

I want to be in this moment.

Katya pushed at him, forcing him to remove his hand from her pants. He sighed as she climbed to her feet. She was a little wobbly on her heels at first, then caught her balance. Liam sat upright and rubbed a hand over his face.

“Want me to call you a cab?” he asked, finally glancing up at her.

He was very good looking. She couldn't quite place his age. Twenty-seven? Eight? He looked like he spent time outdoors, his bushy brown hair had a couple natural blonde highlights running through it. His eyes were a dark brown, like chocolate, warm and sensual while they moved over her face. His skin was a deep toasty tan, more proof of his time in the sun, and she was suddenly desperate to see if he was tan
everywhere
.

She stared back at him while she kicked off her shoes. Then his eyebrows went up as she fumbled with her belt, struggled to pull it loose. Once it was free, she dropped it next to her shoes. By that point, she was breathing fast, and Liam didn't say anything, just leaned to the side and pulled a chord. The sheer curtains dropped into place, offering them a little privacy, and Katya was thankful for his intuition. Then he leaned back in his seat, and his eyes went straight to her pants.

She knew if she hesitated, old-Katya would catch up with her. The bitch had been chasing her all night, so she needed to move fast. She undid the clasp at the top of her slacks, then slowly peeled down the zipper. The loose material clung to her hips for a second, then gravity worked its magic, pulling the soft fabric to the ground, leaving her in nothing but her matching lilac underwear set.

“See,” he said, sitting forward so he was eye to eye with the bow at the top of her panties. “
Perfection.
”

Katya stepped forward then, straddling his lap. He accommodated her, grabbing her hips and holding on while he scooted back in the seat. He helped her settle in right over the bulge in his pants, and she felt breathless as she realized she had caused that reaction in him. This man, who engaged in swingers conventions and ran a sex club.
She
had turned him on,
she
had gotten him hard.