Wilde Heart (Wilde Women Book 2) (24 page)

Problem was, after speaking with Roman, he had a whole new set of problems to figure out that might involve Rhiann more than he was comfortable admitting. So, from that standpoint, he also had to be damn careful with how they proceeded.

A shudder of unfamiliar emotion tore him apart when a fierce desire to protect her grabbed hold. Though he knew she was far from fragile, it felt like she was his to take care of. To keep safe. To defend. This was new—this feeling.

And he absolutely must protect her now that he was certain Kim was wandering off the reservation. Hearing from his security chief that the woman was acting strangely had set the alarm bells ringing in his head for real. Liam was sure she had sent the martini to him at the hotel, and if he was right, it left little doubt that the person who knew where a few of BPG’s skeletons were buried was intentionally stalking him. Never had allowing his dick to ram the older woman’s ass seemed like less of a good idea than it did right now. He’d been a fool and now everything he hoped to create with Rhiann was in jeopardy because apparently his finance guru was losing her shit.
Over him.
Just fucking great.

Liam reached for her hand and brought it to his lips for a soft kiss, then rested their entwined fingers on the console between them. Such a simple action. She was the only person besides his mom who he’d ever been tactile with. PDA was not part of who he was but with Rhiann? He wanted it all. The handholding, the kissing, the arm around the shoulder. Holding her chair out, buckling her seat belt. All of it. But he couldn’t have any of that until he had some sort of handle on what Kim was up to.

She wanted to know where this was going? Well, so did he.

“Will you be my girlfriend,
milaya?
” he asked gently.

“What?” she barked. “Your
what?
”

Hehehe.
Yeah. He was just as surprised as she was that those words came out of his mouth, but he might as well go with it because he meant every word.

“Now see,” he teased. “Knowing your love of words, I tried to find one that rolled off my tongue just right. That’s what you said, isn’t it? That the right word should roll?”

He heard her giggle and smiled.

“And
girlfriend
rolled nicely, did it?”

“Actually, there weren’t a lot of options. Lover tried to cut in line and go first but . . . despite what happened earlier, as I’ve said—we aren’t there yet.”

“I just may have to plot a way to get you back for that,” she murmured. “Was a little too one-sided for my liking.”

A deep laugh burst from his chest. She was priceless when she pouted.

“I’m thinking about having a t-shirt printed that says H—I—P Master.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah! Whatever,” she hooted. “Just let me in on the joke. What does H-I-P stand for?”

“Why, hand in panties, of course!” he grinned.

Letting go of her hand, he reached for the hem of her dress and started pulling it back until she laughed and slapped him away.

“What?” He laughed. “No good?” He shook his head and shot her an innocent look. “Damn! I’m a great multitasker, y’know. Could totally drive through the tunnel with a little H-I-P action at the same time.”

“Once was enough,” she giggled “and as I said, was a bit one-sided.”

“
Oh, baby, baby,
” he growled suggestively. “We’ll get matching t-shirts and yours can say M-O-D slave.”

She was really laughing now.

“Oh no, you didn’t!” she shrieked. “Did you just suggest a Master and slave scenario with these t-shirts?”

Fuck. He had! Well, at least she was laughing and hadn’t whacked him upside the head.

“Okay,” she teased. “I give up.
M-O-D?
”

“Mouth on dick, of course!” he thundered.

She reached out and punched him in the arm while laughing merrily.

“Fuck you!” she jeered.

“Baby, you most certainly will,” he taunted with a suggestive leer. “When the time is right.”

“And let me guess,” Rhiann scolded with a barely disguised smile. “You, as the Master, of course, get to decide when that time will be. Am I right?”

Liam shrugged. “Making decisions is number one in my job description. It’s what I do best, so
yeah.
I’m the decider!”

“And I get no say in this?”

“Nope.”

“But I can look forward to some occasional H-I-P action while you’re uh . . .
deciding?
”

“Are you fucking kidding?” he drawled. “Anytime. Anyplace,
milaya.
I’m yours to command.”

“Ah, I see. So what you’re saying is that Master and slave thing is fluid.”

Jesus. She really was something else.

“Baby, for you—I’d happily master being your slave.” Liam was pretty happy with his clever play on words.

But this was a Wilde woman he was talking to and sure as shit, the lady turned on a dime and caught him off guard with the next words out of her mouth.

“I don’t want anyone at work to know. Considering who you are and all—” Her voice drifted off.

With that one statement, she’d relieved him of a heaviness that he was struggling to get around without hurting her feelings. They needed to keep their emerging relationship under wraps. Off the radar—to give Roman time to check some shit out. But suggesting they keep things a secret seemed too much like what had gone down with them in the past.

He didn’t want to deny Rhiann her place by his side, but he could hear the turmoil approaching. The gods weren’t going to let him off that easy. Swooping in and catching the love of his life by surprise then whisking her off to a perfectly perfect future just wasn’t in the cards. Not for him anyway.

No. Liam was pretty fucking sure that there was some epic shit storm heading his way that he’d have to deal with before he and Rhiann could suppose a future. It was probably a karmic inevitability. After all, he’d stepped on and over countless people on his rise to the top. And if he were right about Kim and whatever the hell she was up to, it would be the ultimate
fuck you
if he had to contend with a betrayal from inside his ivory tower. Talk about karmic retribution.

Hearing Rhiann insist no one know . . . well, it pissed him off on the one hand but made things a whole lot easier on the other.

Liam opened his mouth with a response at the ready, but she got there first.

“It would be unprofessional. You are technically the boss, after all, and besides that . . .”

She paused, and he waited for her to finish the thought. Somehow, he knew whatever came after the hesitation would be important. A glimpse inside her true feelings.

“Well . . .” She fidgeted with her hem, the seatbelt, a wisp of hair. “Um, I don’t like people talking. About me. Or my business.” She shrugged a shoulder and twirled the ends of the long velvet bow hanging from her collar. “Negativity has energy and you know when the gossip starts, it’s never kind or favorable.”

He wasn’t surprised to hear any of what she said. She operated from a place of innocent belief that good led to more good. Rhiann had a gentle heart. A little wild, yes. But gentle and loving at the core. Liam smiled. She was his very own Wilde heart. How fucking apropos was that?

“I understand your concern and agree we would only help ourselves by keeping our lives private. For now, anyway. But where does that leave us? I want to see you, Rhiann. And not just by accident.”

They were almost in her neighborhood, but he wasn’t ready for their time together to end.

She was silent, but he could sense the unrest in her thoughts. How much would she allow going forward? Waiting for her answer was hell.

With parking non-existent near her building, he pulled over, maneuvered the car half onto the sidewalk, and turned the blinkers on. There. Plenty of room for other vehicles to get around them. No need to rush the end of their conversation.

Tension crept into his neck and shoulders the longer she said nothing. Fuck. What was she thinking? If seeing each other at her work was off the agenda, what other options would she go for?

It was like the floodgates of a mighty dam had been released when she rolled her head back on the rest and turned her amazing eyes on his face. What he saw reflected in her face gave him a burst of heart-centered energy that was enough to light up half the country.

“I want to see you, too, Liam so I was thinking that maybe we could start simple. Really get to know each other again. Like you said.”

His life was fucking made with those wonderful words. She wanted to see him.
Holy fucking shit.

He reached out and ran a finger down the center of her lovely face starting at her forehead to the tip of her nose then down across her lips before stopping to sweep back and forth on her chin. The whole time he touched her, Rhiann’s eyes never left his.

“You mean like dates? We could have dates?” He realized he sounded like an overeager boy practically salivating at the idea that he had the attention of the pretty girl—but he didn’t care. Fuck. It was the truth in some weird way.

She smiled so sweetly that seeing her deliciously pouty lips soften and turn up stole his breath.

“Yes, we could have dates. Where you play the gentleman and tell me how pretty my dress is when you come to pick me up.”

A smile spread across his face as he listened to her light teasing. The tightness in his neck eased and he relaxed. She was good for him. He hoped the feeling was mutual.

“See?” He chuckled. “All of that screams boyfriend-girlfriend. Your description, sweetness. Not mine.”

She smirked at him and shook her head.

“Okay, okay. I get the message. You want to be my boyfriend.”

Liam had to laugh.
Witch.
She was playing him. After all, hadn’t he already asked her to be his girlfriend?

He wrapped a hand around the nape of her neck and pinned her to the spot with a look.

“Boyfriend. Boss. Lover. Master. Slave. All of the above,” he ground out as he pulled her lips to his and took control of her mouth in the most carnal of ways.

She whimpered softly, a sound he tasted with his tongue as he slid it along hers. Cursing the impediment of the padded console separating them in the confines of the darkened car, Liam reached for her, latching on in any way he could. Keeping one hand in command of her head, he swept the other over her hip as she angled toward him just as eager as he was for contact.

They kissed like fucking maniacs for long endless minutes, behaving like two randy teenagers making out in a parked car.

Right around the time his dick felt like it might explode from the unleashed desire their kiss created, she let out a frustrated groan and shoved him away.

“You owe me a pair of pink satin panties.”

She barely choked the words out between the harsh gasps that let him know how aroused she was.

Huh? “Pink panties?” His own voice sounded more than a little turned on.

“Yeah. These are ruined,” she pointed out.

The thought of letting Rhiann get out of this car, all hot and bothered and dripping wet, was supremely intriguing and satisfying. Anticipation was its own clever master.

“In that case,” he husked, “can I have them? The panties. If I promise to get you a new pair, can I have them?”

He was fucking with her in that way they had and the slight glint he caught in her eyes let him know she was aware that he was messing with her for the fun of it.

Throwing him a sexy side eye, she smirked and did this outrageous shimmy as she pulled her dress back to reveal her incredibly sexy stockings. Next thing he knew, she was reaching beneath the dress and wiggling like crazy until a swath of pale pink appeared before his eyes.

She was un-fucking-believable! Having actually removed the panties under discussion, she waved them in front of his eyes for good measure. When he went to snatch them from her grasp, she swatted his hand away and leaned closer.

What is she up to?
he wondered.

His jacket was already unbuttoned so she grabbed the side closest to her and pulled it open to reveal the lining. Locating the inside pocket she wadded up the scrap of satin and stuffed it inside.

He was grinning ear to ear when she pithily told him, “Those are not a souvenir. They’re an example. The size is on the tag. Remember,” she pointed out as she hauled her sexy ass out of the car, “Pink. Satin would be nice but feel free to improvise.”

Moving at the speed of light, Liam leaped from the driver’s seat and sprinted around the car to her side as she stood up and smoothed her clothing. His brain was literally melting down at the thought of her with no panties on under the demure dress, made all the hotter by having seen the lace top stockings she wore and knowing she waxed herself bare.

Grabbing her by the waist, he leaned his hips against the car and pulled her into contact with his body. There was no mistaking the unyielding bulge evident in his trousers or the way she settled on him with a naughty roll of her hips that felt like she was taking stock of his obvious desire for her.

“Thank you for today,” she murmured as she placed her arms around his neck. Feeling her fingers snake through the hair on the back of his head made Liam shudder.

“Can I see you tomorrow?” he asked hopefully.

“Sorry,” she winced. “All booked. These long weekends don’t come around often, and I’ve tons of things that need taking care of.”

“Some fucking girlfriend you are,” he muttered.

“Don’t be a grouch,” she chided. “Us normal people have laundry to do and kitty litter to scoop.”

“You have a cat? Somehow I didn’t picture you as a cat lady although I will admit that helping you out with your, uh . . .
pussy
sounds like a winning proposition.”

Rhiann laughed at his jest and wound her arms just that much tighter. “I was kidding about the cat. Feel better, do you, now that the word
pussy
found a place in our good-bye?”

Liam couldn’t help the scowling grin on his face. She had such a mouth on her.

“Tell you what, oh Lord and Master. Text me tomorrow night around dinnertime, and if you’re good, I’ll let you come by with a pizza. One hour. Two, tops. Deal?”