My partner and I hadn't done much more than hold hands. I couldn't be thinking such dirty things about him.
Unfortunately, I thought them anyhow.
We snickered our way through the last house and then ran back to the judge with our answers, laughing the entire time.
Once we had the next clue, it was our turn to rest and the boys took over. Abby and I sat in the shade of a building and drank bottles of now-warm water as the boys performed a grape stomping challenge that would somehow end up as wine. By that time, Brodie and Tesla had caught back up with us, and Brodie climbed in to his grape bucket next to Liam.
I was thrilled for Abby when she and Dean finished first with the grapes and received their clue token. She gave me an excited look, then they ran off to find the pit stop. I tried not to feel impatient as Liam stomped grapes in a slow, methodical motion even as Brodie was stomping so fast and so hard that he looked like he was dancing a jig. He was determined to beat us to the next task. My brother wanted this so bad he could taste it. So bad that he was willing to fight with my partner over a guidebook that might give an advantage.
Guilt flickered through me. Was it such a terrible thing if Brodie wanted this badly enough to play dirty? Was I a bad sister for not helping him out? He'd never pretended that he didn't want anything except to be a star.
And me, I was playing at a fake relationship with my partner to get more TV time. It made me feel a little dirty just to think about. I mean, here I was fantasizing about Liam and he was just making sure we were interesting on TV. That seemed wrong.
"Done," Liam shouted, holding up his wine amphora, now full of foot-stomped grape juice. The judge nodded and handed him a disk, and I jerked to my feet. I hauled our backpacks even as Liam hopped on one foot, trying to shove a sock back onto his grape-stained foot. "Read it," he breathed to me as he worked on putting on his shoes.
I read it silently, noticing Tesla hovering a bit too close nearby.
Make your way to the finish line for this leg of the race. Chip's waiting where you met him.
I hugged the disk to my chest and grinned at Liam. Finally, a freaking break. A finish line meant a twelve hour rest period between this leg of the race and the next one, and I couldn't wait to sleep and take a hot shower. Preferably both.
Ten minutes later, we crossed the finish line, hand in hand, and stopped in front of Chip Brubaker.
He gave us a brilliant white smile, his face heavily caked with makeup that was looking streaky thanks to the sweat on his brow. "Katy and Liam, you are the second team to arrive. Congratulations!"
I gave a weak cheer and flung my arms around Liam's waist, too tired and hot to do more than that.
"You have twelve hours between now and the next task. I suggest you find a place to get some rest," Chip told us.
We nodded and walked off the mat, away from the cameras. As soon as we did, all the tension seemed to leave my body, and I felt exhausted. I wiped at my own sweaty brow, wishing that my backpack wasn't quite so heavy.
As if reading my mind, Liam tugged at my backpack and pulled it off my shoulders. "Let me get that for you."
"You don't have to," I protested. "We don't need to be anywhere fast."
"Yeah, but you're small and you look wiped."
I was small - barely five foot. But it wasn't fair to him. I protested again.
He shook his head. "You and Abby had to run all over the city for your task. Did you see how tired she was? I wouldn't be surprised if she and Dean left to find a private hotel room."
"Can we do that? Do we have the money?"
"Won't hurt to check, will it?" He slung my backpack over his shoulder. "Come on."
He took my hand and we headed into the city around the ruins.
It didn't take long to find a few hotels. The first two we tried were pricier than we wanted to spend, but the third one had a room for about the right price - eighty dollars for a night. We decided we could give up that much money, paid, and headed up the stairs to our room.
I blinked at the sight of the small, clean hotel bedroom. It was nice enough. There was a large window overlooking the city, a nightstand, a bathroom…and a single bed.
Again.
Liam didn't notice my hesitation. He set down the bags, moved over to the air conditioner, and turned it on. Then, he sat down on the edge of the bed and began to pull off his shoes, grimacing at his purple-stained feet. "Okay with you if I use the shower first?"
I nodded. He was definitely dirtier than I was.
Liam grinned and stripped off his shirt, displaying his bare chest. I tried not to look, but couldn't help myself. When it had been Abby, Dean, and both of us in the room? He'd been careful to stay fully clothed. Now that it was just me, though? All bets seemed to be off. I watched him as he undressed. His back was decorated with several random, smaller tattoos, and one pectoral seemed to be covered in a giant spider-web tattoo. After a moment, he undid the fly of his jeans and dropped them to the ground, standing in only his boxers. When he turned, I saw his back was sculpted enough that he actually had back dimples just above his rather tight ass.
Oh. Damn. I lay back on the bed and grabbed one of the pillows, closing my eyes and pretending to sleep. I didn't move a muscle until I heard the bathroom door shut and the water turn on. After that, I relaxed, flipping onto my back and staring up at the ceiling of the small hotel room.
Was Liam this casual with Tesla? Did he strip down to his boxers in front of any chick? Or was it just because of our special situation?
And why was I paying so much attention to it?
I shook my head, annoyed with myself. The guy probably had no idea I was so ultra-focused on everything he did.
An arm slid around my waist, a warm body spooning against my back. I gave a small sigh and snuggled in closer, enjoying the feel of the person wrapped around me. His body was big and long compared to mine, entangling with my limbs, and the arm around my waist felt heavenly. And as my bottom shifted, I heard a barely audible male groan.
My eyes flew open. I stared around me, disoriented. Hotel room. Okay. Unfamiliar hotel room. Through the window, I could see the skies were pink with dusk, the curtains fluttering as the air conditioner blasted. I lay on a comfortable bed, and a man had his arm around my waist. I glanced down and saw the familiar black lines of Liam's tattoos.
We were spooning in the only bed.
It was my fault, I told myself, squeezing my eyes closed. I'd sprawled on the bed and grabbed at pillows while he showered. I must have fallen asleep, and when he'd gotten out, instead of waking me up, he'd crawled into bed next to me to catch a few hours of sleep. Totally plausible. Logical. No problem.
Except for that tiny groan that had made my pulse race and my n**ples harden. They were hard even now, aching points of awareness as my backside pressed against him.
Okay, maybe he'd been asleep and hadn't realized that he'd groaned aloud. Maybe he didn't realize that my bottom was pressed up against his groin, and I could feel his c*ck growing hard. Guys got boners when they slept, right? Right. No problem. I'd just sneak away, hop into the shower, and make enough noise that would wake him up and we'd go back to our normal companionship.
After all, there were no cameras around right now. There was zero benefit to kissing me. None. Zilch.
I rolled onto my back, slowly, and opened an eye, daring a look at Liam.
He was awake. His hair was nearly dry, he'd shaved, and the look in his eyes was sleepy, but he was awake.
Heat flushed through my body all over again, and I lay there, frozen in place, my heart thumping in my chest. He was inches away from my face, his arm still around my waist.
He'd groaned while awake.
My n**ples were so incredibly hard at the realization. We were in bed together. Alone. For the first time since we'd started this crazy journey, we were alone.
And suddenly, I wanted to kiss him again. I reached out, hesitant, and brushed my fingers along the planes of his jaw. He gave another soft, low groan, but didn't move. His eyes watched me with intensity as I stroked my fingers along his skin, then brushed them against the ring on the side of his lip, the mark that Brodie's elbow had left on his mouth, and then just traced his lips because they were there.
He nipped at my fingers as I did.
I whimpered then, feeling heat pool between my legs. I leaned in closer, until my forehead pressed against his, and my gaze went to his mouth. I hesitated for a moment, then changed the angle, slanting my face so I'd meet with his mouth in a light, teasing kiss.
"Katy," he whispered, my name a mere breath on his lips. And that made me shiver all over again.
I brushed my lips against his once more, then ran my tongue along his lower lip, exploring it. His mouth parted under mine, and I sucked on his lower lip, gently, tasting him. He groaned against me, and his tongue brushed against my lips, a silent entreaty. I angled my mouth against his again, and met his tongue with mine. Suddenly, the kisses changed in intensity from a slow exploration to a wild hunger. The kiss grew deep, and I felt Liam's arm tighten around my waist, dragging me closer to him in the bed. My n**ples brushed against his chest and I gasped, even as his tongue thrust into my mouth.
And then I forgot about everything but that kiss. Because holy hell, the man could kiss. His tongue stud flicked against my mouth, at once foreign and titillating as his tongue stroked over mine. The kiss deepened again, his tongue stroking deep into my mouth, even as his thigh moved over my leg, twining my body with his. I dragged a hand to his hair, wanting to twist my fingers in those dark locks, and gasped when he used his tongue stud to flick against my tongue again. I whimpered when the kiss grew deep once more, as his h*ps rolled against mine in a suggestive manner that left nothing to the imagination, and felt my own body move in response.
He groaned and his hand slid from my side up to my breast, cupping it. I felt his thumb brush over the hard, aching peak and my cry of pleasure was swallowed into his kiss. I pushed against his hand, need ratcheting upward as our kisses grew more intense.
And then my stomach growled. Loud.
I broke the kiss in horror, my eyes flying open.
Liam chuckled. "Hungry?"
"I…I guess." But he was still giving me that sleepy, delicious look that made me want to fling my arms back around him, roll him onto his back and then straddle those h*ps that had rocked so deliciously against mine a second ago.
"Your stomach probably has more sense than us," he said in a low voice. "We should eat a big meal and sleep it off before continuing on the race."
"You're probably right," I said, my voice sounding far more normal than I felt. "How long was I asleep?"
"About two hours," he told me, and rolled away to sit on the edge of the bed. "You want to take a shower? We can head out afterward."
"Okay," I said breathlessly, but didn't move. My body was still thinking about that deep, wicked kiss, the way his mouth had moved against mine, the way his h*ps had ground against my own. That strange and wonderful tongue piercing. His big hand on my breast.
But Liam put on his earbuds and dragged his backpack over to his lap, and began to tap out a song. It was as if I wasn't there all over again. And that made me feel…weird. Like I was just a convenient stand-in for Tesla.
Frowning, I slid off the bed and grabbed my own backpack, heading to the shower.