"You know, when the label made me come on this race, I didn't think beyond the fact that I was going to have to cater to Tesla for the next few weeks. I didn't expect to get partners flipped, and I didn't expect to meet anyone like Katy. She's, well, she's pretty incredible. I'm fascinated by her and I find myself wanting to spend every waking moment just watching her. How she moves, how she thinks. I've got it bad, don't I? I'm going on like a freaking sap." — Liam Brogan, Egypt Leg of The World Races
Somewhere around three in the morning, Italy time, we woke up and headed back out to the flag site in front of Pompeii. A man in a white toga waited for us, and when we arrived at the starting line, he promptly handed us our next disk.
I took it, flipped it over, and began to read. "Make your way to the Pyramids at Giza in Egypt and look for the next flag station. You have one hundred dollars for this leg of the race." I looked at Liam. "We're rich."
He laughed, rubbing his eyes. We were both still worn out from our interrupted sleep, but trying desperately to wake up. "We are. A hundred dollars might buy us another hotel room for the next stop."
"Nice," I said, tucking the disk under my arm and trying not to blush too much. "It'll be good to get a real night's sleep."
Yeah, because I was totally not thinking about sleep at the moment. I was thinking about how it'd felt to wake up that morning with Liam curled around me again, both of us under the covers and fully dressed. His arm had been around me again, and my legs had been tangled with his. Instead of facing away from him, though, I'd woken up and found my head was on his chest as if he were my pillow.
And it had been awesome.
There hadn't been time to kiss or make out this morning, though. It had been all race, all the time. A little disappointing, but we needed to keep our heads in the game if we wanted to beat Brodie and Tesla.
We headed away from the starting line, and as we did, Liam spoke. "We can head straight to the airport, or we can see if there's a nearby travel agency and book tickets ahead of time. Grab some breakfast, too."
"That sounds good," I said with a yawn. "I could use some coffee."
The race had called taxis for us, and we instructed ours to head to the nearest travel agency. We found an all-night one and headed in. At the sight of a computer in the main area, Liam glanced over at me. "Why don't I order tickets and you look up information online? See what we can find out about the pyramids. Visiting hours and stuff like that."
"Sure." I headed over to the computer. There was a placard in front of it that said "Uso Gratuito" and "Free Use" underneath in English, and a smaller sentence underneath in Italian that I couldn't make out, but was probably "No porn" or something. I sat down and began to web search for the Great Pyramids and travel. There were a million links, of course, so I clicked on the first one and began to read.
As I did, I peeked over the computer monitor and looked at Liam. His back was facing me, his shaggy black hair messier than usual, given that we'd just woken up. I felt warm just watching him, and knew I was harboring a serious crush at the moment. We were just making good TV, after all, so there was no need for me to get all crazy obsessed over him, but I was heading in that direction.
He was just so freaking cute. Cute with a hint of dangerous. I was an idiot to get all goofy over a rock boy, but I couldn't help myself.
I had an idea and opened another web browser, and did a search for Finding Threnody. A jillion web hits came up, and I pulled up their Wikipedia page. Tesla's picture was splashed everywhere, and she stood in the forefront of every photo while the three dark-haired guys stood in the background. Liam was there, but it wasn't a good picture. I frowned and scanned the text instead. There was a list of hits, and three platinum albums mentioned. They had sold six point five million albums to date, which was really impressive in the digital age, and over nine million downloads of their biggest hit, Worm in the Apple.
I headed to their webpage next, and sure enough, Tesla's picture was sprawled all over the page with Liam and two other guys standing in the background. Jeez. Camera hog much? For some reason, I was irritated on his behalf. Didn't he deserve the limelight just as much as Tesla did? I clicked on 'bios' next. Tesla's was half a page long. Under 'Liam Brogan' there was only a small paragraph.
Liam Brogan started to play guitar at the age of seven. He joined his first metal band at the advanced age of twelve. When he was seventeen, he dropped out of high school to focus on music full time and lied about his age to audition for lead guitar for Finding Threnody. His dedication impressed the band, especially Tesla Spooner, and he was invited to join. He and Tesla dated for a short time, but broke up when they realized it was going to come between them and the ability to make great music. They remain friends and their breakup inspired the song Dark Stars.
I stared at that small paragraph in horror. Liam had dated Tesla. Shit. Why had I ever thought he'd be interested in me? Silly little Katy Short, with her cutesy blonde pigtails and dorky cupcake business. I was nothing compared to the kinds of girls he was interested in, if he'd dated wild, exotic Tesla with her tattoos and stripey-colored hair. Feeling sick to my stomach, I clicked over to 'videos' and began to play the first one, turning the speakers down so no one could hear but me.
The entire thing was ridiculously dramatic, done in black and white. The only thing in color, of course, was Tesla, with her vivid hair and bright red lips. She clutched the microphone as if she was dying and sang soulfully, her eyelashes fluttering with each word. Every so often, it would cut back to the band, and then just as quickly flash away again, which drove me absolutely nuts. It was like they didn't even count, and Tesla was the only one they were interested in.
At least, until the guitar solo. Suddenly, Liam was front and center in the video, blasting into color. He held the guitar low against his hips, braced there, and his fingers danced along the strings in a familiar movement that I recognized - when his hands were moving along the backpack, he wasn't drumming. He was strumming a song. I watched in fascination as the video Liam closed his eyes as if in ecstasy, fingers moving along the neck of the guitar at a rapid pace I couldn't even fathom, as the wild notes of the song climbed higher and higher. He looked so incredibly in to the music that it felt intimate just to be watching him—
"That doesn't look like the Great Pyramid." Liam's amused voice interrupted my train of thought.
Horrified at being caught, I quickly clicked off of the webpage, only to expose the web browser search I'd done for Finding Threnody. I clicked off of that too, face burning, and returned to the Pyramids of Giza page. "I, uh, was just looking at…stuff."
"Uh huh," he said, but he sounded amused.
I was going to die of embarrassment right about now. I stared at the computer screen, unable to look my partner in the face.
Liam pushed a piece of paper in front of my nose. "Travel itinerary. We have a flight in about two and a half hours, which leaves us just enough time to get to the airport. And we should get there tonight."
"Tonight?" I took the itinerary from him and studied it, glad that it gave me the chance to avoid eye contact. "Wow, long flight."
"Yeah. Plenty of time to catch up on sleep." He paused for a moment, then added, "Or watch more Finding Threnody videos."
My face burned. "You suck."
"Apparently you don't think so." There was affection in his voice, and it made my stomach feel all quivery all over again.
As we got back into the taxi, I wondered what Liam thought of me. Had I gone from partner to fangirl in the blink of an eye? That was distressing to think about, but I couldn't take it back. The only thing I could do was continue on and act like nothing was wrong.
Meanwhile, it was starting to feel like everything was out of control.
~~ * * * ~~
Egypt
"I want to quit," I proclaimed loudly into the darkness. "I'm serious. I can't do this."
"Looks like we finally found something that Katy can't do," Liam murmured into my ear, but his hand squeezed mine. "You'll be okay."
"I'm not so sure about that," I said, dropping to a low crouch and trying not to hyperventilate.
When we'd first heard that we were heading to the Pyramids at Giza, I was excited. Really excited. If I could think of places in the world that would be exciting to visit? The pyramids were high on the list. It'd be such a fun experience to go inside and see what it was like. When we'd seen the outside of the pyramids, I'd been ridiculously stoked, practically dancing up to The World Races flag where a man gave us our next clue.
Visit each of the burial chambers in the three pyramids and find a clue. String all the clues together to determine your next task.
Simple enough. And not only were we going to visit the interior of one pyramid, we were going to visit all three. Fun!
Or so I'd thought.
We'd lucked into first place somehow - our stop at the travel agency had put us on a flight ahead of the others. We'd somehow managed to score the last seats on the plane. We'd arrived in Cairo late at night and even though the cab driver had insisted that the pyramids would be closed for tourists for the evening, we headed out anyhow.
Sure enough, the flag had been there, and the task. The World Races had made special arrangements with the tourism board and the pyramids were open just for us. Which meant we could go ahead and start the next task.
Except it was really, really dark. And I hadn't counted on claustrophobia. Nor had I counted on the fact that when we entered the Great Pyramid, the first passageway was narrow and steep. We'd had to bend over - even at my short height - to go up the steep steps. All around us were tons and tons of rock, and the inside of the pyramid was oppressively hot, and dark despite the anchor lights along the halls.
Then it hit me. I was fine for the first few steps, following behind Liam. But when I looked up into the darkness and saw nothing but the continually rising, narrow shaft? My breathing became shallow and I began to sweat, hard.
Just when I couldn't stand it any longer, the interior passage opened up, and I breathed a sigh of relief. We continued on into the King's Chamber, and studied the walls. We found a small group of tiny figurines in the center of the sarcophagus with a word marked on them – 'the.'
"This must be the clue," I told Liam, and counted the figurines. "There's five others left, which means someone got eliminated last round."
"Great. We can head back out and go to the next chamber." Liam didn't look bothered at all. Meanwhile, I was all sweaty and flustered and breathing hard as if I'd ran miles instead of simply walked up a passageway.
Heading back down the passageway was hard, but not as hard when I knew we were almost out. The queen's chamber wasn't as bad, but I was still grateful when we found the next clue. Another figurine, this one labeled with the word "Take."
"At least we're done here," I panted. "I hate this pyramid."
"Just one more chamber, actually," Liam corrected. He looked at a brochure he'd gotten in the city. "There's a third chamber heading down. The subterranean chamber. We should probably check it just to be sure."
"It said burial chambers," I protested. "Not all chambers."
"Yeah, but if we miss a clue, we'll have to come back, and we're already here. Come on."
We'd arrived at the subterranean chamber stairway, and that was when I had my meltdown. It descended into the darkness at a steep angle, and as I watched Liam fold himself in half to try and get his tall body down there, I took a few steps into the shaft, and then began to tremble. The walls felt like they were closing in on me. It was hot, and dark, and cramped, and…I freaked out. I sat down in the tunnel, unable to go further. Panic was hammering through me, making my pulse pound and my heart race. I couldn't breathe.
"I can't do this," I told him, and to my horror, I felt tears prick behind my eyes. Oh jeez, I was going to start crying like a baby.
"Yes, you can, Katy. It's not so bad. I'll go in front of you, see?"
I shook my head. "I want to quit. I'm serious. I can't do this."
He grasped my hand in his. "Looks like we finally found something Katy can't do. You'll be okay."
I took huge gulps of too-warm air, my eyes squeezed shut as I tried to calm myself. I clung to his hand and we sat there in the middle of that cramped passage as I had my freak-out.
Liam didn't push me, though. He just sat and held my hand, waiting for me to get better.
"I'm sorry," I said, and hated when that it came out so incredibly wimpy.
"Hey, it's okay," Liam told me in a soft voice. "I couldn't do the mukluk. You can't do this. I totally get that. Unfortunately, though, we both have to go down to each chamber."
I sucked in a deep breath, nodding. "I'm sorry. I'll try."
His hand slid along my leg, rubbing it to comfort me. We were wearing shorts for this leg of the race, and his hand felt comforting despite the oppressive heat of the tunnels. It was night - they should have been cooler, but it was disgusting inside, and that wasn't helping my panic. "I'm here with you, Katy. You'll be all right."
"I bet Tesla wouldn't be scared of this," I said in a miserable voice. "You got stuck with the wrong partner."
"Nah, Tesla wouldn't be scared of this," he agreed. "But she's scared of animals."
"Animals?"
His hand continued to rub my leg soothingly. "Yeah. She freaked out with the dog sled. Big time. She thinks animals are full of diseases."
I gave a mildly hysterical little giggle at that, trying to picture sexy, sultry Tesla flipping out over a few huskies. "I hope there's a freaking camel race for this leg, then."
He laughed at that. "You know what? Me too."
We sat there for a moment longer, and then Liam's fingers stroked my hand comfortingly. "You know, we have plenty of time before the next team arrives. Do you want to try and scoot down the tunnel on your backside? That might make you feel better."
I squeezed my eyes shut, picturing that horrible stifling blackness and having to descend into it. "I…I don't know."
"How about I hold your hand, and you keep your eyes closed. You can keep one hand on me, one on the railing, and just kind of scoot down at your own pace." His voice was a low, soothing hum. "We'll take all the time you need."
I sucked in a deep breath, trying not to imagine the walls pressing in around me. If I kept my eyes closed, it was better, but only a little. Panic still threatened to overwhelm me.
"Come on," Liam coaxed in that soft voice. "I moved down a step. Can you move down a step toward me?"
My eyes tightly shut, I reached out and found the railing again, and slid down a bit, toward his voice.
"That's it," Liam told me, encouraging me onward. "Take your time. We can do this."
And a few seconds later, I gave another half-assed shuffle downward.
"Good job, Katy." His voice was warm and full of pleasure that I was trying.
"You probably think I'm the world's biggest idiot," I told him, doing another blind little slide down to the next step.
"Actually, no. I find you pretty damn sexy."
My eyes flew open at that, but then I saw the yawning black behind him and gave a frightened meep, squeezing them shut tight again. "You're distracting me!"
"Is it working?" He chuckled, the sound low and delicious, and gave my hand another encouraging tug. I followed him down another shuffled step.
"Maybe a little."
"You're doing great. Just hold on to me."
"This…this isn't freaking you out?"
"Me? Nah. A bowl of mukluk freaks me out. Going on stage freaks me out. Holding the hand of a pretty girl that I like kissing? That's not freaky at all."
"There you go, trying to distract me again," I said breathlessly, even as I slid down another step or two. "You don't like going on stage?"
"Hate it," he said in an easy voice, and tugged my hand to encourage me along. "Some people love performing. That's their favorite part of the gig. I hate it. I'd much rather sit in a studio and write songs all day long, but the rest of the band likes to tour." He gave a soft chuckle. "The label likes that, too. Imagine that."
"You should tell them you don't like touring," I said, sliding down another step. "It doesn't seem right that you have to tour if you hate it."
"I do. I have the worst kind of stage fright. That's why I'm perfectly happy to let Tesla get in front of everyone and make a spectacle of herself. It means all I have to do is sit in the back and play guitar. Another step. Come on."
I slid down a bit more. "You looked like you were having fun in your video."
"Of course. And another step. There you go. Videos are shot in a studio. And they're shot over and over again until they get just the right look for what they want. No one's going to be excited if they see the guitarist looking like a deer caught in headlights at the sight of a crowd."
I slid down again, and stifled another giggle. "I can't picture that."
"It's not pretty," he said, and his voice was wry. "So I noticed you're avoiding the subject."
"Subject?"
"I called you pretty and sexy and told you I like to kiss you, and all you want to ask about is how scared being on stage makes me. Come on, another step. There you go. I kind of think you're avoiding the subject, Katy."
"Nah," I said nervously. "I…kind of thought you liked kissing me because it made good TV."
"You were the one that said you wanted to make good TV. I was just going along with it because it got me some alone time with you."
I felt that prickle of awareness on my body, of his hand holding mine, even as I slid a bit further down the stairs. "Oh."
He chuckled. "That's all you have to say?" I heard his feet hit something and then he gave my hand a small shake. "You can open your eyes now. We made it to the chamber."
I slid down just a bit more, and then squeezed one eye open. Sure enough, the narrow passageway had opened up to a much larger stone chamber that was lit with electric lights strung up along the walls. The room wasn't all that interesting, except for another narrow crawl-hole in the far end of the room and a railing around the center of the chamber that protected a deeper hole.
I breathed a sigh of relief. This room was not all that scary, and I found my anxiety slipping away again. "I guess we should search for the next clue, huh?"
"In a minute," Liam said, and tugged on my hands, helping me to my feet. When I was standing, though, he didn't let go of my hands. He continued to hold them and stared down at me. "You're still avoiding the question."
"The question?" I asked, a little flustered at his intense gaze.
His hand released mine, and he reached up to tug on one of my pigtails. "I want to know if all of this chemistry between us is just for TV."
Just like that, the breath escaped my lungs again. I gazed up at him. "Not on my side," I admitted.
"Good. Mine neither." His hand cupped the back of my head and he bent down to press a light, grazing kiss on my mouth. "You want to know what's keeping me going right now?"
His lips remained so close to mine that it was making desire surge through my body, blocking out any thoughts of fear or the race. "What?"
"The thought that at the end of this leg?" His mouth slicked over mine again, his tongue flicking against the parted seam of my mouth. "That we have enough money for another hotel room." Again, that stealthy, sweet kiss that was more of a tease than anything. "And that maybe we don't have to go anywhere or do anything for a nice, long twelve hours." Again, that flick of tongue. "And we get to spend that twelve hours in bed. Together."
Each stroke of his tongue felt like it was moving directly to my clit. I gave a small moan of response, my hands releasing his to cling to the front of his shirt.
"But maybe I'm the only one that wants that?" he asked in a low, sultry whisper. "Because you're not saying anything."
I shuddered, barely suppressing the moan rising in my throat. "No, I want that too." The thought of sliding into bed with this gorgeous man and exploring each other for twelve glorious hours? It sounded like heaven. I thought of his body curled around mine in our chaste bed in Italy. It had been delicious…and it had been torture. Torture because I wanted the real thing. Liam naked, in bed with me, his skin sliding over mine, his tongue doing that erotic dance along my mouth like it was right now.
And so I decided to show him just how much I wanted it. I dragged his mouth to mine in a hard kiss, my tongue sweeping into his mouth. My leg rose and curled around his, dragging our hips together.
He groaned and his hands planted on my ass, curving my body against his larger one until I was pressed against him, and our mouths met and meshed over and over again. It didn't matter that we were at the bottom of a pyramid, or that it was hot and muggy inside, or we were in the middle of a race. All I knew at this moment was that this delicious man wanted to sleep with me.
And I wanted him, too. I couldn't wait for tonight.
The kiss broke off after a moment, leaving us both gasping. I could feel Liam growing hard against my thigh, and my nipples felt like they were about to come through my shirt, they were so tight.
"Well," he said raggedly, and then slicked another kiss over my mouth, as if he couldn't leave me alone. "I guess we should look for that clue."
"I guess so," I said, and nipped at his jaw again, not moving from his arms.
He chuckled and gave my ass a firm squeeze with his hands - such strong hands - and slid me back down to the ground. "Come on."
"Gotcha," I said breathlessly. We gave the room a cursory look, though there wasn't all that much to see.
There was, however, a black hole carved into the shadowy wall. Another tunnel, small and cramped and barely wide enough to crawl into.
Liam glanced over at me. "I don't suppose you want to go in there and check?"
"How about no?"
He grinned and dropped to his knees in front of it. "Somehow, I thought you'd say that."
"I'll make it worth your while," I said in a flirty voice. "Later tonight."
He looked back at me and grinned. "Now you're talking." Then he dropped to his elbows, and began to shimmy into the hole.
I shuddered and looked away, unable to watch him climbing even deeper into this hellhole pyramid. Rubbing my arms, I glanced around the chamber…
And just barely caught a green light flashing. Frowning, I headed over to that light, and noticed that there was a small camera mounted in the wall next to one of the lights.
Well, damn. So much for not caring about making good TV. We'd just made some pretty awesome TV with our impromptu make out session.
And somehow, I couldn't find it in me to be upset. I was looking forward to more kisses far too much.
~~ * * * ~~
By the time we'd visited all three pyramids, the sun was coming up and we had eight different figurines. Liam had done all the hard work. I'd mostly clung to him and suffered my way through the series of small tunnels. The Great Pyramid had been the worst; the others were just mildly unpleasant.
When we were finished with the last, we laid the figures out on the ground outside and studied them, moving words around. When we figured it out, it read: Head to the Sphinx Temple for your clue.
We were like a well-oiled machine at this point. Liam and I looked at each other. Wordlessly, he grabbed my backpack and we sprinted back towards the Sphinx. It was a bit of a trot and by the time we arrived, we were both winded.
There was a flag at the entrance, and a man in a white cotton robe and turban waiting for us. The sun had come up and it was getting warmer, and I envied him his cool-seeming clothing. I took the disk with a thank you, and then retreated to read it.
"Individual Task," I read aloud as Liam dropped our packs. "One of you will go step by step and reproduce a traditional Egyptian mummy, complete with linens, scarabs, and mummification rituals. A judge will be waiting nearby to give you your next clue once you have completed the task to his satisfaction." I looked up at Liam in horror. "Please tell me we're not going to have to mummify a real body."
"This is TV, Katy. I doubt they found someone willing to volunteer for that."
Good point. I considered things, then shrugged. If it was nasty, well, I had the stronger stomach. "I'll do it."
Liam grinned. "I was hoping you'd say that."
I gave him a quick kiss and dashed into the designated area. And stopped being amused. There were six tables laid out, each one with a 'body.' A cameraman dashed forward, recording my flinch of reaction. I moved closer to the nearest table and heaved a sigh of relief when I realized that the 'person' on the table was plastic. Thank god for that. Next to the table was a scroll, and next to that was a series of tools and jars.
I considered the implements laid out before me, and picked up a small hook, then shuddered. I did not want to know what that was for.
After examining the items, I unrolled the scroll. It was done in a cheesy sort of hieroglyphic, complete with pictures detailing each step of mummification. Here was where you washed the body. Here was where you removed the internal organs and put them in jars. Here was where you shoved the hook up the nose and scooped the brains out.
I brushed my fingers over the dummy's skin…and it felt almost like real skin. It was even warm.
Ew.
I swallowed hard and looked down at my dummy. "You're lucky it's me and not Liam, mister."
~~ * * * ~~
A short time later, I wiped my hands clean and took the disk that the judge held out for me, feeling vaguely queasy. That had been a little more realistic - dummy and all - than I had preferred.
No sooner had I received my disk and went out to greet my partner than another team showed up - Summer and Polly. Damn. How did they constantly get to the head of the pack? It was crazy. Hot on their heels were Abby and Dean and Tesla and Brodie. Almost everyone had caught up. I didn't see the other two teams, but I was pretty sure they weren't far behind.
Off to the side, Liam waved me down and I raced over to him with the disk. We hunched over it, reading the clue quietly. "Head to the harbor of Alexandria and look for the Pharos Lighthouse," I read aloud.
"One of the seven wonders of the ancient world," Liam murmured. "Interesting. I thought it was destroyed."
I'd never heard of the darn thing. "So how do we find something that's destroyed?"
"It says to head to Alexandria," he pointed out. "Maybe someone there will know more."
We gathered up our things and returned to our waiting taxi.
~~ * * * ~~
Several hours later, we departed the train that had taken us to Alexandria and hailed another cab. While riding on the train, we'd borrowed someone's smartphone and had a chance to do some research on the Pharos Lighthouse - it had apparently been found under the sea and there were diving tours that could get us to where we needed to go. I suspected that we'd find a flag at one of the diving stations.
With our cab driver, we searched the bay section. I spotted the cameras before I spotted the flag, and nudged Liam. "Over there."
He nodded, and we bounded out of the cab after paying the driver. Off atop a nearby hill, I could see Chip Brubaker waiting at the finish line. This had to be the right place. I took Liam's pack as he headed to the scuba diving shop, meeting the judge with the flag.
The man handed him his task and Liam read it aloud. "Dive in the waters of Alexandria's Eastern Harbor. Search the treasure chests along the bottom of the ocean for ten coins that depict the Lighthouse of Alexandria. Once you have all ten coins, proceed to the finish line." Liam glanced back at me and grinned. "Wish me luck."
"How about a good luck kiss?"
"Even better," he said, moving toward me. Before I could take the initiative, his hand went to the back of my neck and he dragged me toward him in a quick, fierce kiss that left my knees weak.
"Good luck," I said, hugging his oversized backpack to my front, wobbly. "I'll, um, be here."
He disappeared off with the production crew, and I sat down on a chair at the dock, waiting. I could at least watch and see who else showed up and make note of the order they arrived in. Unless Joel/Derron and Hal/Stefan showed up ahead of the others, they had to be in last place. A bad flight, maybe. It didn't matter. We seemed to be safe for now.
Of course, as soon as that thought crossed my mind, I knocked on wood.
The diving shop sold snacks and cold bottles of water, and I made myself comfortable, waiting in a shady spot and eying the flag stop.
At least an hour crawled by. No Liam. No other contestants. I spun my water bottle and then purchased another and more snacks for Liam, because I knew he'd be hungry. We'd been going all morning long, and if his dive was taking this long, he was bound to be exhausted when he returned. I peered at the waters of the harbor, but didn't see anything. I'd just wait here for him to return, since Chip was so close by.
A taxi pulled up a few minutes later. To my dismay, Brodie and Tesla jumped out of the cab. They'd gotten ahead of the rest of the group. Damn it. And now I was going to have to sit with one of them. Double damn.
I nearly groaned aloud when Tesla disappeared into the dive shop, leaving me with Brodie. Figured.
My brother sprawled onto the deck next to me and rested his head on his pack. "Hey, sis." He gestured at my water bottle. "I don't suppose you'd give that to me? I'm wiped."
"They sell them in the shop, Brodie."
"Yeah, but Tesla and I are pretty low on funds at the moment." He grimaced. "She likes to spend money and we keep running out."
I eyed my brother's sweaty hair and cracked lips, and sighed, handing the water bottle to him. "You hungry, too?"
"God yes, I'm starving."
I wordlessly handed him the bag of trail mix I'd been saving for Liam. "I'd give you some money but it's not just mine."
"That's okay," Brodie said, stuffing food into his mouth and taking a huge swig of water. "You are awesome, Katy, you know that?"
I just shook my head at Brodie. "I'm your sister. I'm not going to let you die on a dumb race."
He grinned and flopped back down on his bag. "This race is pretty awesome, actually."
It was, I had to admit. I was having a lot more fun than I'd anticipated…but most of that was due to Liam. "I'm still a bit mad at you for the partner swap," I told him. "You should have talked to me first."
"I just didn't want Tesla to go, you know? I didn't realize they were going to flip us." He shielded his eyes from the sun and squinted up at me. "I am sorry. You're my sister. I didn't want to screw you over."
I sighed. "I know." Brodie was just Brodie. Kind of thoughtless, really impulsive, but didn't mean any harm. "So how's Tesla in the partner department?"
"She's pretty good," he said and gave me a wicked grin. "And she's pretty good at the race."
"Gross, Brodie. Just gross."
He laughed, finished his water, and then gave the empty bottle a mournful look. Jeez, how long had they been without water or anything to eat? I returned to the shop, bought two more bottles and two more bags of trail mix, then sat next to Brodie again and wordlessly handed him one of each.
My brother enveloped me in a bear hug. "I love you, Katy."
"Yeah, yeah," I said, but I was feeling a little better about me and Brodie. I gave my brother a hug back and then nudged his shoulder. "You tell Tesla to watch it on the money, all right? We don't get that much for each leg, and it's probably stupid of me to be buying you stuff since we're competing."
"Is Liam a good diver?" Brodie asked, looking a bit too interested. "Tesla says she is. If we can pass you guys, we get first place."
I had no idea if Liam was a good diver, but I wanted first place. "Don't know. How were the others doing at the mummy challenge?"
He made a face. "Dean's a machine. He was ripping through it. Polly was kind of grossed out. The other two didn't show up while we were there."
"Wow, their flights must have really been backed up. Poor guys." Two all-male teams, both delayed. They'd be neck and neck until the end - I didn't want to be in that race to the finish line.
He nodded. "It's gonna be one of them eliminated. I just know it."
It sure seemed that way.
A cameraman zoomed past, filming something. Both Brodie and I leapt to our feet to see who was coming.
Liam's tall body trotted down the dock, still in the wetsuit, dripping water. I gave a happy little jump and grabbed our bags, heading toward him.
"Congrats, Katy," my brother called out to me. "We'll get you next time."
"In your dreams," I called back, grinning. I gave Liam a quick one-armed hug as I met him and then pointed at Chip. "Finish line's right up there."
Liam looked exhausted, his wet hair pushed off his brow in a messy tangle. "That challenge," he breathed, "was awful. Do you know how many chests there are at the bottom of the harbor? My god. I thought I'd never find ten with coins. And then not all of the coins are lighthouse coins. You have to dig through them looking for the right ones."
My eyes widened. "Glad you did it and not me."
We raced up to top of the hill and met Chip. The finish line tape was intact, and I had to admit that it felt amazing to bust through it, hand in hand, and bound onto the mat in front of the host.
"Liam and Katy! You're the first team to arrive!"
I gave a happy squeal - even though we'd known it - and flung myself into Liam's arms. He kissed me full on the mouth in response.
Chip laughed. "Seems like your partnership is working out all right."
"Seems to be," I said, pulling my now-wet t-shirt away from my chest and wiping at Liam's dripping wet-suit.
"Well, as the winners of this leg of the race, I have an additional prize for you two." Chip gave us both a teasing look, and then produced an envelope from behind his back. "The second Ace of the game."
I stared at it, then groaned.
Damn it. Another Ace? That was the last thing I wanted. "Can't we, like, trade that in for a trip to Fiji or something?"
Chip frowned and held the Ace out. "You don't want it?"
I looked over at Liam, who took it in hand. "No, we'll take it. Better us than another team."
Chip nodded. "It's all yours, then. Congratulations!"
I tried to look thrilled, and failed.
The host glanced down at his watch. "You have twelve hours until the next leg of the race. Enjoy your stay."
~~ * * * ~~
We headed into Alexandria for the day. Both Liam and I were too tired to argue with the cab driver when he suggested a particular hotel that was very nice and tourist friendly. Usually that meant 'expensive,' especially if the cab driver was suggesting it. Still, the hotel he dropped us off at was decent looking on the outside, and the rooms reasonable.
As we headed up the stairs to our room, my mind focused on the conversation we'd had at the bottom of the Great Pyramid. Of Liam's sultry promise to me. Of spending the day in bed and kissing for hours. Of making love.
Of course, all of that came to a crashing halt as soon as we opened the door to the hotel room.
It was a small room, which wasn't a problem. It was also clean, and neat, and had an old TV perched atop a dresser. It also had twin beds. Two rather tiny twin beds.
I giggled. I couldn't help myself. I looked at the sight of those two small beds, and it just bubbled up inside of me. Romantic evening cuddling together? Not in those bunks.
Liam chuckled, too, and dropped his bags on the threshold. "I…guess we could ask for a different room? I didn't think to ask about the beds."
I shook my head. "It's okay. Maybe things just weren't meant to be." I grinned over at him. "You're probably pretty tired after that last leg of the race."
"Not that tired," he said in a disgusted voice, and I broke out into giggles again.
He shut the door to the bedroom behind us, and then he moved to my side. His hand stroked my cheek and then he leaned in and kissed me, his mouth moving over mine in a tender, gentle kiss. When it broke, he looked down at me. "I still want you, Katy. You still want me?"
I nodded up at him. "More than anything."
"Then I think we should push these beds together," he told me, his voice husky. "And enjoy our downtime."
I kissed him again, my hand sliding along his shirt. He'd given back the wetsuit after we'd checked in for the race, and changed back into his own clothing. I brushed my fingers under his shirt to feel his warm chest underneath. "Do you have condoms?"
He stiffened, and then gave a small curse. "No. I don't. But there's a gift shop downstairs."
"I'll wait up here, then."
He pressed another kiss to my mouth. "Be right back." He grabbed his wallet and headed out the door, leaving me alone in the room.
I studied the bed situation. They were separated by a small nightstand which boasted of an alarm clock and a lamp. I headed to it and unplugged both, then dragged the nightstand off to the opposite end of the room. Once that was done, I shoved the two beds together and considered them. Not nearly as bad, though still probably a smaller bed than would be comfortable. I didn't suppose it mattered, I thought with a smile. It wasn't like we were planning on doing a ton of sleeping today.
And just that thought made my face grow hot. I ran a hand along my pigtails, wondering if I should take them down. I decided against it, since Liam seemed to enjoy them. I slid my shoes off and opened my bag, considering my clothing. I didn't have anything sexy or fun to wear. It was all race gear. Every few days, someone in production would meet us at the beginning of the race and swap out our clothing for new, fresh ones so we never had to look wrinkled or smelly on TV. Naturally, no lingerie was included. I thought about stripping out of my shorts and just remaining in my race shirt. Or a bra and panties, but the bra I had was a sports bra and looked like something designed more for a vigorous hike than making love.
After a moment more of indecision, I stripped out of everything and slid under the covers of the now-doubled bed.
Just as I did, I heard Liam return to the door. He was talking to someone, and I ducked under the covers, terrified. Oh lord, what if one of the other racers was out there and wanted to hang out? I'd die of mortification, considering Liam was likely standing out there with a box of condoms and I was in here, waiting in bed and naked. I strained my ears, trying to hear the conversation.
"Not right now," Liam said. Then, "No. I can do an interview later. I promise. Right now I'm just really tired." Another pause. "No. No, you can't see what's in the bag."
A moment later, the door shut and Liam came into view, an exasperated look on his face. "Those cameramen are really determined. I—" His voice stopped as his gaze moved to the sight of me, waiting in the bed. A smile curved his face. "Guess you didn't change your mind."
I trailed a finger on the blanket. "Guess not. You disappointed?"
"Hell, no." Liam set the small bag down on the dresser. "But our cameraman out there thinks something's up."
I didn't know what to do about that. "Should we order a pizza or something? Maybe he'll go away if we do?"
He shrugged, then pulled off his shirt. "We can order a pizza later, if you like."
The breath caught in my throat at the sight of Liam undressing. I'd seen him in his boxers before. I'd definitely seen him without a shirt. But somehow, seeing him strip down in front of the bed while I waited in it, naked? Really brought things home.
He pulled off his pants, and looked over at me. And paused. "You look…uncomfortable."
"This is just…" I gestured at the beds, pushed together. "Faster than I normally move."
Liam stripped down to his boxers. "If you want to take it slow, I'm fine with that." He moved away from the dresser and sat on the edge of the bed, still in his boxers. "Okay if I get under the covers with you?"
I shook my head. I didn't mind. "You must think I'm being silly. You probably have girls throwing themselves at you all the time."
"I don't think you're being silly," he said, pulling back one side of the blankets and sliding under them. He slid a bit closer, but there was still a foot of space between us. "And most of those girls just want to nail anyone in the band because they're in a band. Has nothing to do with me or what I'm like."
"And what are you really like?" I asked in a quiet voice.
He thought about this for a moment, then shrugged. "Kind of like I am on this race. I like to compete. I don't like the limelight. I have an appreciation for smart, brave girls." He reached out and tweaked one of my pigtails. "And blonde pigtails."
"Brave girls?" I gave him a look of disbelief, clutching the blanket to my breasts. "You're kidding, right? Which one of us was wailing like a ninny inside of the pyramids earlier?"
"You were claustrophobic," he said easily. "Everyone has fears. You got past yours, though. Normally you're fearless, and I like that about you. I'm willing to overlook a moment of weakness in the scheme of things." He gave me a crooked smile. "As long as we never mention that mukluk incident ever again."
I laughed, unable to help myself. "You're the one that keeps bringing it up, not me."
"That's because it makes you smile," he said, and his hand left my hair to brush his the backs of his fingers along my bare shoulder. "And I like seeing you smile."
Goosebumps danced along my skin and I shivered at that small touch. I moved a little closer to him in the bed, until we were facing each other, each of us propped up on an elbow. Inches separated us, but the blankets still lay between us, a barrier.
And I reached out and hesitantly brushed my hand over his pectoral, tracing the lines of the spider-web tattoo. "Can I ask you about these?"
"You can ask me about anything," he said in a low, husky voice. His eyes remained on me, as if fascinated by my touch.
"What's the spider-web for?" My fingers moved over the lines.
He shrugged, his shaggy hair brushing against my fingers. "Was an idea I had. Kind of symbolized being caught in a web at the label and all that. When I got too frustrated with how things were going, I'd go out and get another tattoo."
And he had sleeves of them and others on his body. "You must be frustrated a lot."
Liam grinned. "Sometimes I just like the art. But sometimes, yeah. It's the best career in the world, and the most frustrating at times."
"I think every career is like that," I told him, tracing the lines of a star on his shoulder.
"Even baking cupcakes?"
I gave him a wry look. "It sounds corny, but you haven't made six dozen cupcakes for a client who then insists that they didn't want them in that shade of yellow and can you have new ones ready in an hour?"
"No, I guess I haven't experienced that," he said, and ran his fingers along my bare shoulder again.
I shivered, my nipples hardening under the blankets.
My fingers moved to the bottom of the star and noticed there was a broken heart mixed into the lines covering his arm. "What's this for?"
He glanced down at his arm and sighed. "No one important."
"Tesla?" I guessed.
He raised an eyebrow at me, the piercing glinting. "You know about that?"
"Saw it on your website." Got a little hurt by it, if I was being honest with myself. Of course, I couldn't hope to compete with her. She had history with Liam, and a connection through the band that I could never duplicate. I was a small time baker. She was Tesla Spooner, hot rock chick and star of Finding Threnody.
He grunted, considering. "It was a long time ago, you know. I don't want you to feel weird about it."
I had to laugh at that. "You don't think this whole thing is a little weird?"
"Well, yeah." His mouth quirked. "But I don't want you to feel weird about her and me. Ancient history. I swear."
I nodded, and decided to touch one of his piercings, instead, brushing my thumb over the ring in his lower lip. "What made you get this?"
He shrugged. "I liked it. I like piercings."
I touched the stud on his eyebrow, and then the bar across the bridge of his nose. "Did this hurt?"
"Nope."
"Which one hurt the most?"
He brushed his shaggy hair back and showed me his ear. There was a bar in the cartilage of his ear, pierced from the top to a hole in the side. Instead, he pointed to the tiny hoop at the front of his ear.
"This tiny one?" I brushed my fingers along it, smiling. "It doesn't look like it would."
"This is called a tragus. Hurt like the fucking dickens. Even my dick piercing didn't hurt that much."
I stilled. "You have a…um, piercing?"
He grinned again. "Told you I like piercings."
I could feel my face getting hot again. "I don't have any."
"That's all right," he told me, and his hand slid to my waist, resting over the blankets. "I kind of like you just how you are."
"Boring?"
"Never boring," he told me. His thumb brushed over my hip, that small movement noticeable even through the thin blankets. "Different from the usual kind of girl I run into. That's all."
That was sweet of him to say. I didn't know if it was true - if the tables were turned, I'd probably think I was pretty boring. But maybe Liam liked me because I was different than Tesla. Way different. My fingers brushed along his jaw, and I tilted his face toward mine.
His lips parted as I kissed him, and I felt his tongue stroke against my lower lip, felt the piercing flick against my flesh. The man did love his piercings. I kissed him back, my tongue brushing against his as we began to kiss in earnest. My fingers twined in his hair and I held him against me, kissing in a dance of tongues. Over and over, they slicked together, forming a suggestive rhythm that made the blood pound in my veins and made my hips start to rock with the suggestion of it.
Liam didn't move, just let me kiss him. His hand remained anchored at my waist.
The more I kissed him, though, the more I wanted. His mouth brushed against mine, and his lips felt like that delicious, curious mixture of metal and flesh, and every time a piercing rubbed against my skin, it made a little flash of excitement roll through me. Kissing Liam wasn't like kissing anyone else. He was considerate, and thorough, and his tongue felt amazing against my own.
And still I wanted more than kisses.
My hand slid below the blankets, to his chest, and I brushed my fingertips over his lower belly, exploring him. The blankets were starting to slide down off of my body, and I hesitated, wondering if I should pull them back up. But Liam's gaze was locked on my face, as if suggesting that he'd move as slow as I wanted to move. He wouldn't look if I didn't want him to.
And I knew that even though I was in bed with a sexy, edgy rock star? I was still in control. He'd let me call the shots. If I wanted to stop, all I had to do was ask.
Of course, I didn't want to stop.
I kissed him again, soft and sweet, no tongue. Just a coaxing of lips. By that point, I'd shifted toward him so much that I was practically hovering over his face, my hand cupped on his stomach while the other tangled in his hair. The blankets fell down to the small of my back, and I was exposed to him.
And he still wasn't looking. I hadn't given the signal that it was okay. So I took his hand, and pulled it onto my breast.
His gaze slid down, then, to my naked breasts and exposed belly. "You're beautiful, Katy. So beautiful." Reverently, he cupped my breast, staring at it, at the small pink peak that hardened when he brushed his thumb over it. My breasts weren't large - nothing about me was large, sadly - but in his hand, my breast looked like it was just the perfect size. Small, perky, uptilted.
Liam's hand slid to my back and he pulled me against him, then rolled us over in the bed until I bounced onto my back. "I want to get a good look at you," he told me, and simply gazed down at my naked body sprawled on the bed under him as he hovered over me, propped up on an elbow. His fingers brushed over my breast, then the other.
I sucked in a breath, watching the reverent look in his eyes.
His gaze went to my stomach as if fascinated, and brushed his hand over the plane of it. "Not a tattoo on this skin anywhere. You're like a blank canvas."
I gave an awkward laugh at that. "Is that a good thing?"
"It's kinda beautiful on you," he told me, and I felt warm with the glow of his approval.
He shifted against me, and then Liam's fingers moved back to my breast, cupping it and flicking at the peak to make it harden. I whimpered at his touch, jolts of intense feeling sparking through my body. He leaned over and brushed his lips over the tip, caressing it.
I moaned, my back arching. His hard, hot form was pressing down over me, and that felt almost as delicious as the touches he bestowed on my skin.
Liam's tongue brushed over my nipple, swirling, and then I felt the flick of metal against it. I gasped as he rolled my nipple against the piercing.
He looked up at my response, looking pleased with myself. "Do you like that?"
I blinked rapidly, dazed. "How can I not?"
He shrugged, then pressed kisses over my chest, moving over to my other breast. "You'd have to tell me if you didn't like it."
I gave a low moan as his mouth captured my other nipple. "And what would you do if I asked you to stop?"
He bit my nipple lightly, which made a jolt shudder through my body all over again. "I'd be very, very disappointed."
"Oh?" My voice sounded wavery.
"Yeah," he said softly. "And then I'd just go south." And he began to kiss lower.
My stomach quivered as his mouth moved over it. He slid to my belly button, and his tongue - and piercing - dipped there. I moaned again, wriggling a little against him. My hands moved over his shoulders, touching and kneading those tattooed muscles as if unable to stop touching him, exploring him even as he explored me.
"I'd continue south," he told me in that soft voice, "until you told me to stop, of course."
And his mouth rested just above my sex.
A shiver of anticipation racked through me, and my hips flexed, as if begging for him to go lower. But he didn't, and I whimpered, not wanting to shove his head down to the vee of my sex…but not wanting him to abandon that area, either.
"What do you want, Katy?" He concentrated on my flat lower stomach, and kissed the soft skin there.
"I want you, Liam," I breathed.
"Do you want my mouth on you?"
The words left my throat, and I nodded, unable to speak.
That seemed to be fine with him, because his hand stroked along the inside of my thigh, coaxing it open. My knees fell apart, and he shifted a bit lower, his shoulders settling in between my legs. He appeared to be concentrating very intently on his exploration of me.
One finger brushed down the seam of my sex, and I let out a shuddering gasp at the simple touch, shocked at the bluntness of it - and how very wet I was.
Liam seemed surprised by it too, and raised the finger to his mouth, then sucked the moisture off of it. He seemed pleased by the taste of me, and leaned in for another taste.
I moaned again at the feel of his fingers parting my flesh, and then the first lick of his tongue against my heat. He started out small; light, inquisitive flicks of the tip of his tongue against my flesh, exploring me and tasting me. My fingers clutched at his shoulders, squeezing repeatedly, unable to do more than just that as he leisurely explored my sex with his tongue. When he hit upon my clit with his tongue, I sucked in a harsh breath, my body tensing.
He paused at that, as if considering, and then stroked his tongue over me again. This time, I felt the ball of his tongue piercing against it. A low sob of delight escaped my throat, and my hips jerked in response.
I heard his low chuckle, and then he wrapped an arm around my thigh, pinning me, and began to lick me in earnest.
I thought I'd had oral sex before? I hadn't seen anything yet. Over and over, Liam licked the hell out of me, working that piercing against my clit, stroking with his tongue and then rolling that metal ball against it in a motion that I came to crave even as it drove me wild. After a few minutes of this, he began to speed up, and my hips began to move with his mouth, slow, sensual flicks of my body that followed his tongue, increasing my pleasure.
And the moans coming from my throat? Were unearthly. I wasn't able to keep quiet; I didn't care who heard me. Liam's mouth felt too good, and I was too lost in the pleasure of it.
He sucked, then, hard; my clit pressed up against that metal ball of his tongue stud, and the twin reactions made me shatter into a million pieces. A small scream erupted from my throat, and I quivered all over, shuddering with my release. He continued to suck and press his tongue against my clit, milking every moment of my orgasm, and I writhed against him, clawing at his shoulders. "Liam," I panted. "Oh god, oh god. You can move your mouth now. I…oh god." My words trailed off into a low moan as the orgasm continued to ripple through me for long moments. I was lost in the wash of it.
His mouth lifted, and he gave a low laugh. "Katy, shhh."
I moaned, shaking my head. "Liam—"
He slid up the bed and began to kiss me again, chuckling once more. "You're loud enough that everyone's going to hear you yelling my name."
I began to kiss him back fiercely, tasting my own release on his mouth. I didn't care. I felt way too good - and way too aroused - to care. I slid my tongue against his, flicking it, even as I reached between us and grasped his cock through the thin material of his boxers.
This time, the low groan that split the air was his.
"Liam," I breathed against his mouth. My hand gave his cock a stroke through the fabric. "Do I get to explore you, now?"
"I didn't get to finish you," he told me with a groan, and then his lips were desperately kissing mine. Between kisses, he added, "Never even touched your legs."
"They're short," I told him, and stroked his cock again, my grip resting at the thick root of him. "You're not missing much."
"I don't know," he groaned against my ear, eyes closed tight as I stroked him again. "They'll probably look pretty good on my shoulders."
Just that mental image made me wet all over again, and I moaned, kissing him again. My mouth slid to his neck, and I spotted one of his tattoos and began to lick the flesh there, fascinated by it.
He groaned, his arm looping around my back and holding me to him. "God, you're good at that."
I gave his cock another stroke with my hand, pleased at his words. My tongue danced along that tattoo, and then I licked and sucked at the skin there, liking the mark I left on his skin. It wouldn't be apparent because of the tattoo, but if you looked closely enough, you'd see it. And that made me hot all over again. I left him another, just because I liked the look of it.
He moved back over me, hips sliding between mine, and we began to kiss again. His mouth pressed against mine, hot, hard and desperate with need. My hand on his cock was trapped between us, and it rubbed against my flesh as he ground his hips against me.
"Why don't you remove my boxers?" He told me, licking against my lips.
I did, but not before tracing the head with my fingers…and stopped.
He was pierced there, too. Two balls, one atop the head, and one underneath.
I gasped at the sight. He'd told me about it, but I'd been unable to picture it. Seeing it, I gave the head of his cock another rub, checking things out. I traced him with my fingers, marveling at the stud there. "You really do like piercings."
"I really do," he said, and sucked on my lower lip. "I bet you'll like it, too."
Mmm, I just bet I would. When his hips rolled against mine again, I slid my hand away, moving to his backside. I cupped his tight ass through his boxers and ground my hips against his cock, loving the friction of his flesh against mine, separated only by a thin layer of cotton.
He pumped against me again, the hard bar of his cock sliding along the vee of my sex. I wrapped my legs around his hips and pushed against him, need still boiling through me, wanting more.
"Lose these," I told him, tugging at the waist of the boxers. "Want to feel you against me."
"I can do that," he murmured against my mouth before kissing me again. The angle of his body shifted, and then The boxers slid to the floor. I linked my legs behind his back again, and this time, when he slid along the hot vee of my sex, I was able to feel every inch of him.
It was heaven. I dug my fingers into his shoulders, clinging to his body. "Oh god, you feel really good."
"Katy," he breathed, and pushed a little deeper, until his cock was separating the lips of my sex and sliding between them. The head butted against my clit, and I felt the rub of that piercing.
A shuddering gasp escaped my throat.
"Need to get the condoms," Liam told me, his voice tight.
I slicked my tongue over his mouth, pumping my hips against his. "Then get them."
He chuckled. "You've got to let me go, first." And his hand slid along one of my legs that were locked at his waist.
I gave a mock pout and released him. "Hurry back."
"Oh, I plan on it." He bounded off the bed and moved to the small bag, tearing open the box he'd bought. I watched him from the bed, all hot and bothered, admiring his naked ass (no tattoos there) and the small dual dimples at his lower back, his lanky shoulders that seemed to form a large triangle. He turned back to me a moment later, condom rolled on, his cock jutting…and bright purple.
I giggled. I couldn't help it. "Nice…color?"
"Yeah, yeah." He climbed back into bed and on top of me. "They only had colored condoms in the gift shop. I'm saving pink for a reward for later."
I threw back my head and laughed, picturing that.
Immediately, Liam began to kiss my exposed neck. "You shouldn't laugh at a man's cock. It doesn't do wonders for his ego."
"Your cock is just fine," I told him, dragging my fingers through his silky black hair as he pressed hot kisses on my neck. "And it feels great so far."
"Flatterer," he murmured against my collarbone, then slid his cock along my sex once more, lubricating it with my wet flesh.
I moaned at the feel of him sliding against me. "Whatever it takes to get you inside."
In response to that, he poised his cock at my entrance, and then pushed deep. And then held there.
I sucked in a breath, my eyes going wide as I tried to process the sensation. Liam felt large inside me, thick and delicious, but the thing that had made me breathless? The rub of that piercing, even through the condom. That odd, strange stud that had rubbed along my walls as he pushed his way in….and had nearly driven me out of my mind.
"You okay?"
I nodded, clinging to his shoulders. "Do it again?"
He pulled back, and then thrust slowly, watching my face. Then, his hips began to make small rocking motions, back and forth, inside me. Short, fluid little thrusts designed to rub that piercing.
I moaned and wrapped my legs around him, raising my hips with his movements. "Oh god, that's good. Oh, god."
He chuckled at my reaction and leaned in to kiss me again, hips continuing to rock against my own short, jerky movements. "It's called an apadravya."
I bit my lip to bite back the rather animalistic groan rising in my throat Was apadravya a foreign word for drive you fucking mad with pleasure? Because it was. Every stroke of his cock inside me was just a little bit wilder than I was used to, and that strange little piercing rubbing against me was driving me wild. I dug my fingers into his back and began to raise my hips harder, encouraging his strokes to become rougher. "More."
Liam pulled back and thrust into me so hard that the entire bed bounced.
I screamed. Oh damn, yes. I threw my head back and gave myself over to the sensation, eyes closing. There was nothing but Liam's body rocking over mine, his cock thrusting deep inside me in rough, hard motions that I loved, and that infernal piercing that I wanted to claw out of his body and rub up against at exactly the same time.
"No," he said softly, and grabbed my hand. "Look at me, Katy. I like it when you look at me." He pressed my hand back over my head, pinning me to the bed and pinning me against him.
Like I was going anywhere? Not when this felt so incredible. I opened my eyes and watched him as he thrust into me again, concentration and intensity in his dark eyes. It felt incredibly intimate, feeling him thrust into me while I stared up at him, his mouth hovering inches from my own.
And as he pressed my hand to the bed, his fingers jerked in a strange motion, and I realized he was trying to tap out a frantic beat on my hand. Our rhythm in the bed had inspired him, maybe. Or maybe he could never get away from the music, but the intensity in his eyes was making me lose what little control I had.
I felt the tension rising in my calves, and gave a loud whimper as I felt my body start to lock up with pleasure. The next orgasm was cresting fast, and I didn't want this to be over. I clenched my internal muscles around him, trying to fight the sensation, to extend this crazy pleasure just a bit longer.
He bit out a curse and slammed into me, harder, as if surprised by my response.
And then I lost any hope of control. I cried his name out again, and my release flooded through me like a tidal wave.
Liam thrust into me again, hard, and those fingers pressed down as if in an intense cord, his face tightening, eyes closing, and I realized he was coming, too. I watched him as he did, awed by the expression on his face. For a moment there, it almost looked like it had when he'd been doing the guitar solo in the video.
And I couldn't help it - I giggled at that thought.
His eyes flew open, and a sated half-grin curved his mouth. "What?" he panted.
I ran my hand down his sweaty chest, still feeling the aftershocks of our lovemaking even as he relaxed against me. "I was just thinking that your o-face looks the same as your guitar solo face."
Liam snorted and rolled to the side of me, pulling off the condom. He tossed it into the nearby garbage and then cleaned off with a towel he'd brought, then dragged me against him. "Anyone ever tell you that you need to quit laughing at a guy when he's coming inside you?"
"Nope," I said smugly, and then teased him. "Usually they're thinking, 'holy shit, Katy, that was amazing.'"
"It was," he said, and kissed my shoulder.
And really, how could I refute such a sweet thing? I curled up against him, enjoying the feel of his naked flesh against mine. God, he felt good against me.
He pressed another kiss to my neck. "You got quiet. Thinking about the race?"
"I haven't thought about the race in at least a half an hour," I told him lazily. "Though I guess we should be spending this time planning."
"I've got a plan," Liam said, pressing his mouth to the soft skin on my arm. "I figure we have at least one more round we can squeeze in, as long as you let me get my stamina back. Then, we shower. Then, we sleep for a few hours before returning to the starting line. And that's about as far as my plan goes."
As plans went, it was an excellent one. "I like the way you think." I ran my hand along his arm. "Plus, this gives me the chance to see how you look in pink."
"I aim to please."