The Navy SEAL’s Holiday Fling: Ballybeg Bad Boys, Book 3 (3 page)

Jill winced. “Ouch.”

“It was for the best. By the end, we were going through the motions for Meggie’s sake. That’s no way to live.”

“Were you not rich enough for her?”

“SEALs earn decent money but nowhere in the same league as her new husband.” He shook his head with regret. “No, the military lifestyle was the problem. Karen struggled with postpartum depression after Meggie was born, and I was no help. Two weeks after the birth, I was deployed for six months overseas. By the time I came back, Karen had found another shoulder to lean on. I don’t blame her…” He paused and gave a rueful laugh. “Okay, the infidelity part stung. But I let her down when she needed me the most, and there was no coming back from that.”

“You were doing your job,” Jill said softly. “She knew you were in the military when she married you.”

“Right, but I don’t think she realized how hard the separations would be.”

“What’s the custody situation? Do you get to see Meggie?”

“Not as often as I’d like. That’s why I left the Navy a few months ago and started working in the private security sector.” He scrunched up his nose. “I thought I’d have more control over my assignments and get to see Meggie more often. I didn’t reckon on my first job taking seven months to wrap up.”

“Will you see her over the holidays?”

“That’s the plan. When my boss called, I was on my way to Shannon Airport. I’m due to spend the holidays with my mom and then have a five-day vacation with Meggie in Florida.”

Jill whistled. “I guess that’s on hold now.”

“Not if I can help it,” Liam said grimly. “I might have to bail on Mom, but I’ve told Cash I need to be home by the twenty-fifth. Meggie is expecting me, and I won’t let her down.”

“Then you’d better hope you track down whoever is responsible for the bombs before then.” They fell silent for a moment, each lost in contemplation. Finally, she asked, “Why do the police think the bomber is in Ireland? The news report indicated that Cork is the main focus of the manhunt.”

Liam’s steady gaze met hers. “Because I saw him.”

J
ill’s hand
flew to her mouth. “You
saw
the bomber?” she gasped. “How did you know it was him?”

“I encountered The Ghost on one of my missions as a SEAL. I’m supposedly the only person who has ever eyeballed him.” He gave a rueful smile. “Unfortunately, he also eyeballed me.”

“Are you in danger?” she demanded, searching his face for clues. “The truth, now.”

“I don’t know. The media have been told not to mention my name.”

“The tabloids won’t care. If they can sell an extra paper, they’ll print whatever garbage comes their way.”

He grimaced. “Why do you think I was pissed at that photographer?”

“I know the guy. His name is Dermot Dean. He works for a rag of a tabloid called
The
Daily Echo
. They’ll print anything if they think it will sell copies, and a photo of the man who saved the day definitely fits the bill.”

“We’ve got to hope the injunction I’ve applied for comes through in time. The last thing this investigation needs is my face splashed across the media.”

“Do you really believe this Ghost person would recognize you?”

“I don’t know, but it’s not a risk I want to take. He’s not dealing with a full deck, and I don’t want him looking up my family.”

The hair on the nape of her neck stood on end. Jill wrapped her arms around herself and shivered.

“Do you have someone to stay with you tonight?” Liam asked gently. “Or somewhere to go?”

Jill shook her head, unable to stop the trembling. “I’ll be fine.”

He put down his glass and slipped an arm around her shoulders. “Do you want me to call someone? Olivia, maybe? Or your mom?”

Yes
, a voice in her head shouted. “Olivia’s stepson has the ’flu. I can’t risk getting sick when we’re so busy at work.”

“What about your parents? Could you stay with them?”

She shook her head. “My dad is dead. It was just me, Mum, and my little sister when I was growing up.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize. What happened to your him?”

“He died in a car crash when I was ten.”

“That sucks.”

She shrugged. “It was a long time ago. Shit happens, we deal with it and get on with our lives.”

“That’s all any of us can do.” Liam leaned in and kissed her forehead. “You’re beautiful, Jill, both inside and out.”

The sensation of his lips on her skin sent a frisson of awareness from her head to her toes. God, this man had the power to turn her on with one word, one touch. “You’re trying to flatter me,” she said with a nervous laugh.

“No flattery required,” Liam said, staring into her eyes and turning her into a quivering mass of sexual tension.

“As for Mum,” she blurted, desperate to distract herself from dirty thoughts about the last man on Earth she should get dirty with, “she’s spending Christmas with my sister in Spain. They asked me to join them, but I couldn’t get away.”

His forehead rumpled. “Are you sure you’ll be okay on your own?”

“Of course.” Jill swallowed past the lump in her throat.

Liam removed his arm from her shoulders and stood. She felt oddly bereft without his warm touch on her skin. He pulled a car key from the pocket of his jeans. “I guess I’d better make tracks.”

“Where are you staying?”

He shrugged. “I’ll find a room in the city. If I can’t, there’s a camp bed at the Emergency Response Unit’s HQ.”

Jill took a deep breath and stood to join him. She was a liar, a fraud, a coward. Who was she trying to kid? She didn’t want him to leave. The idea of being alone after what had happened sent a shiver down her spine.

As if in a trance, she ran a finger across his strong jawline, pausing on the cleft in his chin. “Stay with me, Liam. I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

L
iam released
the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He hadn’t wanted to leave Jill alone. Not with a maniac on the loose. He’d asked if she could have police protection, but Inspector Tobin and his team had dismissed Liam’s concerns. They seemed convinced that The Ghost was targeting Blush Shoppe in general, rather than specific employees. With finite resources and a ticking clock, they preferred to concentrate their efforts on the manhunt, in addition to placing a guard in front of the Blush Shoppe store.

Liam pulled Jill close and inhaled the scent of her freshly washed hair. What was her shampoo? Vanilla? “I can sleep on the couch.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. If you’re staying, you can share my bed.” She drew a finger down the back of his neck, sending a shot of lust coursing through his body.

“I don’t want to take advantage of the situation,” he said through gritted teeth, desperately trying to conjure up unerotic images but failing to see anything in his mind’s eye but the memory of her naked body.

She drew back and raised her huge dark eyes. “I might be frightened, but I know exactly what I want. You used me before. I intend to use you tonight.”

“Jill, I—”

She placed a finger on his lips to silence him. “Are you going to refuse?” Her finger meandered from his lips down his neck and paused at the pulse at the base of his throat.

“No,” he said hoarsely.

Her catlike smile made his heart beat faster. “Excellent. You can help me try out one of Blush Shoppe’s new products.”

Liam’s mouth went bone dry. “You want to use a sex toy?”

She threw her head back and laughed. “Why are you so shocked? I work for a company that manufactures and sells sex toys. Don’t you think I put my staff discount to good use?”

He licked his lips. “In that case, I guess we’d better see what the Blush Shoppe catalog has to offer.”

“Apart from the dildo you became intimately acquainted with earlier?” she teased and tugged him toward the wooden ladder that led up to her loft bedroom.

Liam had visited the cottage on several occasions over the summer and had fallen foul of the low ceiling more than once. Tonight was no exception. “Ouch,” he said after he whacked his head off a low beam, the sharp sting of pain making him wince.

“Still haven’t gotten the hang of my bedroom, I see.”

“No,” he mumbled, rubbing his sore head.

“Too injured to have sex?”

He caught her eye, and she grinned. “Hell, no,” he said. He placed a hand on her hip and slid it beneath her blouse. The skin beneath was soft and silky smooth. He heard her intake of breath and the small moan when he circled her navel with a fingertip. “You definitely need to lose the clothes. I prefer you naked.”

Jill slid a hand down to cup his left buttock. “I prefer you without clothes, too. Nice to know we’re on the same page.”

Liam pulled the clip from the back of her hair and let it spring free. “I love your hair.”

Red tinged her cheeks, and she patted her hair down. “I hate it. My classmates teased me for having pubic hair on my head. My sister and I were the only mixed-race kids at our school.”

“Your classmates were wrong.” He ran his fingers through her hair, marveling at its texture. “Your hair is gorgeous. Some people see ‘different’ and equate it with ‘bad.’ Those people are idiots.”

“Yes, they are.” Jill found the buttons of his shirt and began to undo them. When she’d tugged his shirt off, she gasped at his bandages. “What happened to you?”

“Injured on the job,” he said lightly.

“That looks painful.”

He shrugged. “Two busted ribs and a flesh wound. I’ll be fine.”

Uncertainty clouded her dark eyes. “Are you sure you’re up for sex? I don’t want to hurt you.”

“We might need to get creative with the position.”

“That won’t be a problem,” she said with a smile, running a fingertip over his biceps. “Your tattoos are true works of art. Do they date from your time in the Navy?”

“Yeah.” He indicated the one of Neptune and his trident. “This was the first I got done, right out of boot camp. And Ceto, Goddess of the Sea, was my reward for completing BUD/S.”

“BUD/S is the training you did to become a Navy SEAL?”

“It stands for Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL, the first stage in the training program to qualify as a Navy SEAL.”

“Is it hard?”

He gave a bark of laughter. “It’s hell. I nearly quit three times.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Pride. I told everyone I knew when I was accepted into the training program. No way was I going to admit I couldn’t hack it.”

“Crazy man.”

“Right now,” he murmured against her ear, “I’m a man who’s crazy about you.”

“Right now, you’d say just about anything to get into my pants.”

Her low laugh tickled his chest and made his heart rate quicken. “You might not know much about me, but you have me nailed. So what’s the sex toy I’m supposed to try out on you?”

“You get to choose.”

“You have so many?”

She flashed him a wicked smile. “Perk of the job.”

When Jill walked across the room, he was riveted by the gentle sway of her hips and the way it drew attention to her tight little ass. She slid a box out from underneath her bed and flipped open the lid.

“Whoa,” Liam said, eyes widening. “That’s some collection. What do they all do?”

“Most of them are a variation on a theme, clitoral stimulation being the goal.” She poked her tongue between her teeth. “I’m afraid I don’t have anything just for men.”

“No couples toys?”

Her teasing grin made him want to grab her and kiss her senseless. “I might have one or two.”

“I’m teasing. I’d like to use one that will bring you pleasure.” He chose a pink vibrator from the box and pressed a switch. “Holy fuck. This thing can move.”

“Not as fast as this one.” She selected a purple silicon bat.

“What the hell is that? A weapon of mass destruction?”

“It’s Blush Shoppe’s patented Magick Wand. The world’s most powerful cordless vibrator with eighty settings and twenty-five speeds to choose from. It also comes with a downloadable app so it can be operated from afar.”

“Why would one do that if it’s right there?”

She rolled her eyes. “Use your imagination. It’s meant for long-distance sex.”

“Uh, okay.” He was getting hard just imagining all the things he’d like to do to her, and all the things he’d like her to do to him. He picked up the wand. It was heavier than he’d expected. “Does anyone need so many settings?”

She poked her cheek out with her tongue. “Probably not, but it helps to justify the price tag.”

“How much does it cost?”

“Two hundred euros.”

He whistled. “That’s insane.”

“It also comes in a solid gold and platinum version. They cost over thirty thousand euros a pop.”

“People spend that much money on a vibrator?”

“Rich people with more money than sense do.” She took the wand from him and tossed it back in the box. “We don’t sell too many of the gold ones, but they sure look good in the catalogue.”

“In other words, they make the other products seem like a bargain.” Liam picked up a weird little O-shaped device and examined it carefully. “What does this one do?”

“Oh, that’s the Cleopatra. It simulates cunnilingus.”

He blinked. “Why would you want to fake oral sex?”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Why do you think?”

“O-kay.” Yeah. He was hard. Rock hard and horny as hell. He let the device drop back into the box. He rooted around, letting her explain what each device did and how popular it was with Blush Shoppe’s clientele. With each explanation, his sexual desire increased until he thought he was going to explode. Then he paused, gaze riveted on a rainbow-colored tail. “What the heck is this?”

“It’s a butt plug.”

He turned it over in his hand, still transfixed by the tail. “What the fuck?”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of butt plugs?”

“Sure I have, but this looks like one of my daughter’s toy ponies.”

“That’s the whole idea.”

“And I thought I’d seen it all.” Liam scratched his stubble and picked up the oral sex simulator again. An image of Jill naked and masturbating hit him in the solar plexus. Holy shit, he needed to get himself under control before he disgraced himself by coming before they’d shed their clothes. “Wanna see what my love rival can do?”

She ran her tongue over her lips and Liam’s heart pounded in his chest. “We need to get naked first,” she said in a silky voice

“I’m working on it.” He reached for the buttons of his jeans and undid them, aware of her interested gaze. Watching her watching him was making him hard. After he’d removed the rest of his clothes, he stood before her, butt naked.

Jill cocked her head to the side. “Not bad.”

“You wouldn’t kick me out of your bed on a cold winter’s night?” he teased.

“No, I think I’ll keep you around on this particular winter’s night.”

“Now it’s your turn to get naked.” He let his gaze rove over her curves. “Need help with the zipper?”

“No, but I’m guessing you’d like to undo it all the same.”

She turned her back to him, and he placed one hand on her shoulder and let the other unzip her purple dress. When the zipper was fully open, Liam eased the dress off her shoulders, down her torso, and past her hips until it pooled onto the floor.