Page 73 of Holiday Home 5

There was more than enough space for them to slip inside, trading wood beneath Liam’s feet for white tiles. Eyeing the specific pillow he’d been informed to check, Liam opted for his second diversion. Moving toward the bed, he angled things to deposit Avril onto her back. Pinning her under his body, he swept a hand under her shirt and moved it up, baring much of her stomach. That hand would stay there, skimming across her smooth skin.

Next, he broke off their kiss. Avril’s eyes gleamed with excitement, however, as she knew where his lips would head next. She tilted her head to the right, glancing toward the deck. Perfect! Liam hastily thrust his mouth to her neck, and inmoments, he had her arching into him, burning with desire as his lips worked upon her skin.

“Yes, there,” Avril whispered, shivering as he bit her neck and sucked. “There’s no reason to need to hide all these hickeys anymore. I just realized that. So go fucking wild.”

“Aren’t you and Evelyn trading pictures?” Liam teased. “Won’tshewonder why your neck looks so… attended to?”

“I’ll, mmm, take pictures from the right angles,” Avril said, clutching his shirt tightly as he sucked on her skin. “Trust me.”

Liam responded by sucking just a little harder. At the right intensity to force Avril to squeeze her eyes shut. Now was the time. Having properly drawn her attention toward her sensitive neck, Liam removed a hand from her body. Sliding it toward her pillow, he stealthily slipped his hand under it.

Where it met… metal?

Not just metal, he realized, fishing his hand about to get a better understanding of what Tess had hidden beneath it. There was only a little metal, in actuality. His fingertips brushed firm material, familiar but not what he’d expected to come across after touching something metal first.

So confused was he that he stopped giving Avril’s neck as much attention as he should have. She noticed. She felt his hand shifting about as he fished around beneath her pillow. Before he could pull it back, her head rotated from her right to her left.

“And what are we doing with my pillow, Liam?” she asked, eyebrow arched. “If you wanted to play with something cushiony, I’msuremy body could accommodate that desire. I know it’s a nice pillow and all, but you’re going to make me feel self-conscious.”

“I highly doubt that,” he said. “But… well.”

Knowing his act of subterfuge had failed, he decided to reveal what Tess had left for them. He’d figured out what was under the pillow, at least.

Without further ado, Liam revealed a pair of handcuffs. The kind with thick leather restraints, sturdy straps, and a brass chain linking them together.

Avril didn’t seem shocked bywhathe revealed, only that it had ended up beneath her pillow. She made a face as she huffed.

“And just how did that get there? Just wandered out of my suitcase and decided to nap under my pillow?”

“So, it’s yours?”

“Sure isn’t Anna’s,” Avril snorted. She moved her mouth from side to side, thoughtful. “Though she did know I brought a pair. So did Tess. So, which one was it?” Before he could even say something, she snorted again. “What am I even saying? It has to be Tess. Anna blushed the color of your lobster tail when she saw me packing it. No way she’d ever go digging through my suitcase, either.”

Liam merely shrugged, but then a thought dawned on him. “How’d you get these through customs?”

“They’re a sex toy, not actual handcuffs. They got barely a second glance.” Avril reached out and collected the cuffs from his hand. She stared up at him, dangling them by the chain on two of her fingers. “Now that they’re out, with Tess having meddled in my evening plans, what now? Are you going to make good use of them?”

“I’m going to try,” he said. He took them back, then let Avril push him away enough for her to reach a seated position.

“Think about it for a minute,” Avril said, grinning in her knowing way. She knew he was a bit out of his depth, and she wasn’t willing to immediately toss him a life preserver.

You could have, though, Tess,Liam thought. A little more warning about what to expect, and he might have used some of his dinner figuring out what he wanted to do with a pair of handcuffs. Obviously, they would end up around Avril’s wrists;that wasn’t in question. But he felt he should add at least one more spice to the dish.

His eyes moved around their room. He saw the same things he saw in his bure: the open doorway leading to the bathroom, the small flight of steps heading down to the dining room. Neither inspired him.

His eyes swept over the open doors leading back to the deck multiple times. Twice, they didn’t even consider what was out there. On the third roundabout, however…

“Wrist,” Liam said, nodding at Avril.

“Just one?”

“For right now,” he said.

Curiosity mingled with amusement in Avril’s verdant eyes. She lifted her right arm, putting it parallel to the ground. Liam wasted no time fitting one of the restraints around her wrist.

“This feel right?” he asked after tightening the strap enough to keep her wrist snugly squeezed by leather.

“Feels sublime,” Avril teased. “What next, sir?”

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