Page 78 of The Season
Lily jolts in surprise at my leg against hers, at the feel of my ankle hooking around her own, and she turns to give me a wide-eyed look over her shoulder, her hips and ass rubbing against my thigh as she moves toward me. Emboldened, I let my hand drift to her hip, my thumb dragging along the soft flesh just below her swimsuit on her outer thigh.
Another leg rubs against my own, this one decidedly masculine, rough with hair and hard with defined muscle. At the same time, strong fingertips nudge my own where my hand is settled on her thigh, the thick fingertips and blunt nails bumping against my own.
My whole body goes hot and cold at once as everything in me stills. Lily gives a little gasp, her hand coming back to settle on my thigh, as if she’s seeking to anchor herself, and Antoine’s eyes meet mine with a frenzied panic that echoes my own.
For a long moment, we’re frozen like this, three sets of limbs unintentionally intertwined, Antoine and I with our hands on Lily’s body as she’s pressed between us. We’re closer together than I realized—close enough that I could press a kiss to the back of Lily’s neck, suck her earlobe into my mouth. Close enough that I could reach one hand between her thighs, and another between his.
My nostrils flare, my fingertips digging possessively into Lily’s thigh, my thumb breaching the fabric of her swimsuit, sliding under the teasing tie on her outer hip. I keep my eyes on Antoine’s, staring at him with challenge and hunger, my cock growing impossibly hard despite the insanity of this situation.
Any moment now, he’ll move his hand, his leg. She’ll pull away and give us an irritated look…
Antoine’s ankle locks with my own, an almost violent claim, his eyes never leaving mine as he reaches up, gripping Lily’s chin in deft fingers, and pulling her lips to meet his own.
Chapter25
Lily
Holy shit.
The moment Antoine crashes his lips to mine, the world goes momentarily blank, a whiteout to rival the blizzard screaming outside this windowless haven. It’s a hungry, possessive, almost violent kiss that steals my breath, that has my vision dancing with stars as fire rushes through my already overheated body.
Legs tangle with my own beneath the water, fingertips press against my thigh, dip under the string of my bikini, trail up my hip. I’m not sure whose legs are whose, whose hands are whose, and right now, I’m not sure I care.
I melt against Antoine, my hands coming up to splay on his chest and I swear I can feel his heart thundering beneath my palm.
Antoine pulls back, leaving me panting, his eyes meeting mine with a searing intensity, and no small amount of uncertainty. “Is this okay,mon chou?” he asks.
My heart clenches at the sincerity in his tone. I nod, lips parted and kiss-swollen as I stare at him, my vision hazy with heat and hunger.
Behind me, Liam’s strong hands grip my hips, pulling me against him between his spread thighs, one knee bent beneath him on the bench, his other leg tangling with mine and Antoine’s. He dips forward, pressing a biting kiss to the side of my neck as he closes the gap between our bodies, angling himself so that his front is pressed against my back.
Antoine’s eyes drop to my neck, pupils dilating and nostrils flaring at the sight of Liam’s mouth on me. For a brief moment, I think he’s going to try to pull me away from Liam, or maybe say something. Instead, he shifts forward, his knees coming between my own on the bench, causing my thighs to widen to accommodate him. One wet hand comes up to palm my cheek, and Antoine’s eyes dart from me to Liam, blazing green and full of a silent question that isn’t meant for me.
Behind me, Liam stills, his mouth releasing the skin of my neck with apopas he turns to rest his chin on my shoulder, the faintest scruff of his cheek rough against my own.
A long, tense silence stretches between him and Antoine, between all of us. For a brief moment, I’m reminded of the time a hurricane swept past our island last year, of the deceptive stillness, full of hot humidity, that had even the palm trees trembling in anticipation before the storm hit.
“Go on.” Liam’s voice is a low rumble that I can feel in my bones. “Tell her.”
Antoine lifts his chin, defiance mixing with uncertainty.
“I… I kissed Liam.” Antoine’s words come out in a panting huff, and he’s close enough that I can feel them on my skin, cool against the heat of the pool.
Antoine’s throat bobs, but his gaze doesn’t falter. “Years ago,” he continues, his thumb tracing the shape of my cheekbone. “When I was sixteen, back in France.” He bites his lower lip, his cheeks darkening as he gives a brittle smile. “It was my first kiss.”
Oh.Oh…
Liam lets out a choked sound, his body tensing against my own. “Your first kiss? You never said…”
Antoine doesn’t reply, just levels Liam with a look full of wordless challenge.
Suddenly, everything between Antoine and Liam makes so much more sense. The silent tension. The apparent dislike. The little things they said. The way they avoid each other as much as possible or—if forced to be in the same room—pretend the other doesn’t exist.
My heart aches at the thought of them silently suffering, silently hurting each other, all these weeks we’ve lived together.
I drop my hands from Antoine’s chest, grasping his forearm where it floats between us in the water, then reaching down to cover Liam’s hand where it’s splayed across my hip.
“I...” My voice is small, almost a whisper, like I’m afraid even the walls will hear this secret that isn’t mine to tell. “I didn’t know.”
