Page 13 of Holiday Home 5

“Come on,” Tess said, smiling gently. “Let’s get to the mud pool, then start slathering on this mud.”

You’ll help with that, right?her eyes seemed to say as they passed over him. And he enthusiastically nodded and picked up the bucket.

The mud pool would be more than enough for the five of them. After reaching it, they found the circular pool awaiting its first guests of the day.

Not too far off, they could see the hot spring they’d soak in after washing themselves off. Nearby, there was also an outdoor shower with a detachable head for those hard-to-clean areas.But both those things were for later. Liam chose to live in the present.

“Gather round, ye peasants,” Avril said, standing by the bucket he’d just set down. “Come and get your body slop.”

“Please don’t call it ‘body slop,’” Anna said, though she and the rest gathered around.

It might have been too much for Liam to volunteer to coateverypart ofeveryonewith the wet, slightly warm mud. However, if he finished first, an opportunity to help at least one or two of the women cover their backs might arise. So, he was among the first to stick their hand into the mud, thick and viscous, and begin hiding skin from sunlight.

He was quick about covering his torso and upper arms, spending more time watching the women do the same thing, especially when it came time for them to cover their breasts, than was ordinarily acceptable. Yet, a couple of them—Avril and Tess, namely—went out of their way to make sure he was watching before they started covering specific areas. His erection did not find a reason to depart.

“Will you get my back, Liam?” Tess asked, first to finish covering everywhere but her back and face.

He nodded, trying to act nonchalant as he scooped out more mud. Turning her back to him while he was still bending over, Liam’s breath caught as he glanced over and saw the sexiest ass on this island, the neighboring islands, any island. And if you looked at a map with just enough squinting, everywhere wastechnicallyan island, right?

Tess had always been incredibly attractive. His adolescence had been dominated by thoughts of her curvaceous figure, especially of the few times he’d seen her up at the pool. But ever since she and Victoria had become workout partners, she’d added just a little extra oomph to her shapely butt, a bit more tone to her long legs.

Liam felt a knee nudge him. Starting, he looked over, finding Avril rolling her eyes at him. He’d reached down to grab the mud for Tess’s back, then forgotten to stand back up.

Face heating only slightly, Liam pulled himself up, mixed the mud in his hands, and then began to apply it across Tess’s smooth back. Warm mud slid across warm skin, covering her skin from the base of her neck to right above her butt. He wanted to go lower, but the crime was already all over his hands. It’d be hard to miss the muddy shape of his hand on Tess’s ass. And yet it was still almost worth the risk.

“Finished?” Tess asked knowingly, glancing over her shoulder. Her smile was far too flirtatious for her own good.

“Just about,” Liam said, now compelled to lower his hand the last bit. If anyone else saw what he did, no one commented. But he made sure to flex his fingers wide, then take the shape of Tess’s phenomenal ass in his grasp. Digging in, feeling how supple it was, adoring the idea of pressing in even farther, even if he ultimately held back. For one second, two, almost three—and then he let go, aware that someone had toeventuallynotice.

Tess kept smiling, and she made sure to keep her back away from the group, at least until she’d used her own muddy hands to “fiddle” with her bottoms, spreading out the evidence of his latest crime.

He got to help Anna too, though he stayed a little tamer with her than he’d been with Tess. Still, while Avril was busy getting Victoria’s back, shortly after she’d seized the initiative and muddied his back, he slid his hands up Anna’s sides, fingertips brushing dangerously close to her breasts a few times. He was sure more would have come of it if it’d just been the two of them.

After about five or six minutes, they all looked appropriately distasteful for just about any event other than this exact one. After a bit of a wait, filled with wishful stares toward the mud pool, the mud on their skin finally dried and hardened. Andafter a few seconds more, they were all sliding into a warm pool of muddy water, where they’d begin pretty quickly undoing the very work they’d just completed a few minutes ago.

Options. So many options. All four women shut their eyes, relaxing in the warm water for the first few moments. On the other hand, he was far from relaxed. Tess and Anna, he’d helped already. That left…

He glided through the water toward Avril, “bumping” his shoulder into hers. When she opened her eyes, emerald eyes already glinting with awareness of who had just interrupted her tranquility, he moved slightly past her.

Beneath the water, his hands skimmed over her hips, feigning a desire to grab hold and pull Avril’s ass into him. Her eyes stayed on him until he was past her peripherals. Making a half-circle around her, he transitioned from her left to her right. When he reentered her field of view, she didn’t play around.

Her hand went straight for his erection, pressing her palm against its girth over his swim trunks. His response was immediate—a rapid inhale, then a glare, then setting his hand on her ass and giving it an appropriately forceful squeeze.

Their eyes were locked for a moment, each with one hand on the other. A stalemate and a decision. Which one of them would get to claim control over their brief dance?

Lowering herself to her neck in the water, Avril turned. Moments later, he felt her grab his wrist with her free hand, then pull it over to fondle her breast. To keep his hand on her butt, he needed to keep her practically pinned to his chest. Her eyes, stark and brilliant amid the mud surrounding them, stared up at him.

“Do me,” she whispered huskily, setting Liam’s heart ablaze.

He wanted to. Maybe there’d be a chance in a little bit. Perhaps once they kicked back to the showers after the hot spring. He could slip in, find her, and—

“April Fools,” Avril whispered, escaping his grasp before he could react.

It was so sudden that he didn’t have complete control of his response. His mouth skewed to one side, as did his head. Only then did he realize that today, as it had been the entire time, was the 1stof April. A day that was surely legendary in Avril Knight’s eyes.

He glowered at her. She beamed at him.

“Avril fools, you mean,” he growled.

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