Holiday Home (A Harem Fantasy #5)

Chapter Fifteen

A Clear Winner

R elative to what had just occurred between Tess and Avril, the next few rounds passed without much shock and awe. Both Tess and Anna ended up joining the other women in losing their shirts, allowing Liam to see alluring breasts and luscious figures in every direction he looked. Anna lost to Victoria, and the two shared only a hug—about what one would expect. However, Liam certainly enjoyed seeing the two most voluptuous women on the island pressed together. Tess also took another defeat, though she didn’t even bother negotiating with Avril. She simply removed her shorts and let everyone see her fine, fine figure on display. Compared to the others, she’d changed into lace lingerie after the hot springs. She was the only one without a sports bra on.

Over the next few rounds, Anna defeated him, which led to a short, chaste kiss in front of the others. Was that the first of its kind? In front of everyone? Liam wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but it was the first proper kiss of the night. It was only right that it occurred between boyfriend and girlfriend.

Victoria and Avril, trading who won and lost in back-to-back rounds, soon found themselves willing to follow Tess’s lead. When the former inevitably chose to strip down to just her underwear, Liam felt a surge of excitement. Not because it was really any different than how things had been at the mud pool, but because she didn’t bow out of the game afterward.

So far, no one seemed bored or displeased about how things were going. Anna might have separated from him a little bit in terms of how much she’d drank, but she wasn’t recklessly downing glass after glass or anything. Everyone was pacing themselves. No one seemed to want out. That unified Liam’s heart, mind, and soul in a permanent state of celebration. He was like a kid surrounded by sparklers on the 4 th of July. Enamored by every sight and sound.

Especially when he dealt the cards out, cheating in multiple ways and putting him in a position where Victoria needed to come over and negotiate with him.

“You cheated,” the buxom, olive-skinned woman said.

“When? How?”

Victoria set her jaw, yet her silence was deafening. As she couldn’t point out precisely when he’d put things into motion nor how he’d maneuvered her into the loser’s circle, she could only concede. Plausible deniability was good enough to keep him safe.

“On my lap for three rounds,” he whispered once she was beside him. Having ultimately refused Avril’s previous aims, she sat on the cusp of becoming the first person to remove three articles of clothing. He wondered which she’d pick.

“For one,” Victoria immediately countered, eyes staring intently at him.

“Two.”

“One, Liam Carr.”

The last name, he thought. When was the last time a professor used my full name like that?

“For one, and I get to kiss your shoulders and back while you’re sitting there.”

Her stare was almost sharp enough to draw blood. There was a hint of trepidation trembling deep in him, but he smothered it. He was aware that this was different than at the hot spring. A little more—not by much, apparently—public. Instead of just Tess and Anna noticing, Avril would also see what happened this time.

However, he realized something. No one expected him to be demure and mild-mannered. Not here, not now. While it might be a little uncomfortable—probably not even that, though—if Tess made him kiss her after she won a hand that he lost, who was he? The answer was self-evident.

The single college-aged guy amid a group of devastatingly beautiful women. Women who were becoming more and more scantily clad by the second. They were all still in this game, all still playing. No one would be shocked if the horny guy made sure to kiss every woman in the game. It was probably expected, in fact. Anticipated, potentially.

“Alright, deal,” Victoria whispered, then didn’t return to her spot.

Liam explained why not to the others, who watched with obvious interest as Victoria settled into place on his lap. Compared to last time, she sat in a position that put her butt into contact with his erection.

Intentionally or otherwise, perhaps because she just wanted to be a bit more comfortable in her new position, Victoria subtly shifted. Liam bit his lip and tried not to make any weird sounds.

While Tess dealt the next hand, Liam, his view taken up by a long stretch of smooth back, focused his energy on where to bring his lips first. As they weren’t betting every round, there wasn’t much issue with him seeing Victoria’s cards, though he didn’t intentionally try to peek over her shoulder. Instead, after tossing out the trash of an opening hand he’d received for one that might settle him into the middle of the pack of the current round, he waited for Tess to flip over the turn.

That was when he set his lips on Victoria’s smooth back. When he accepted the warmth flowing off her skin, kissing her near her spine. He saw Tess and Anna’s eyes widen, but their responses differed after that. Anna blushed and focused on her cards. Tess, however, kept one eye on him as she burned a card and played the river.

She got to see him kiss Victoria’s back again. When everyone revealed their hands, he did it again. As it became clear that Anna’s pair of kings put her in a position of power over Tess, who only had an ace as her high card, he snuck in another—this one on her shoulder.

“The round is over,” Victoria whispered, glancing at him over that same shoulder. A slightly wet mark remained, proof of his prize.

“Unfortunately,” he said, then kissed her perfect skin one final time.

“Be a one-upper,” Avril said as Victoria returned to her place, and Tess crossed over in front of him to get to Anna. “This once. Keep the hot tub warm—or make it warmer.”

Anna blushed fiercely and didn’t respond. She and Tess spent a good minute discussing things, during which he watched Avril and Victoria slake their thirsts with more wine. And was he seeing things, or was Victoria’s pulse moving the fastest he’d ever seen it?

He focused a little too much on them, not on the women holding a quiet conversation beside him. If he’d just glanced to the right a single time, he might have noticed one of the many glances Anna sent his way. But the minute passed, and then Annabelle Royce revealed that he wasn’t the only one ready to push the envelope. The two individuals who’d once been so reserved and hesitant about these types of things weren’t looking back any longer.

“A quick kiss on the lips,” Anna said. Usually, he would have expected to see her face resembling a Christmas ad. Skin bright red, eyes silky green, all the more contrasted by her blush. It was still a little like that, but not as strongly, not as noticeable.

Liam watched intently as Tess leaned over, took the initiative, and kissed Anna. Every part of him felt ratcheted up to eleven, his libido surging with the fervor of a hurricane. It was enthralling enough to leave him unable to breathe, and he didn’t miss one second in which their luscious mouths stayed connected.

It was quick, but it also wasn’t. In terms of passion, it was hardly anything to write home about, but it wasn’t exactly a quick, unwanted peck on the lips. In conclusion, it measured up to what Liam hoped to see on this trip. More of this. Much more of this.

As their lips parted, he saw both ends of Fiji’s oceans in their eyes. The endless depths and the turquoise shallows. He shivered in delight.

Avril looked stunned and speechless as Tess returned to her seat. But much like a parent hoping their teenager’s band was through with today’s practice in the garage, the silence wasn’t to last.

“See what we spoiled Bellmore students get?” the astonished redhead said, flowing like water back into her old, smirking self. “First me, now Anna. If only you were a freshman there instead of Perrymont, you could benefit like we do. Our professors are just so giving.”

Tess rolled her eyes, but Victoria and Anna both watched him. And while revealing his transfer intentions could have paid dividends on this trip, especially now, he still wanted to hold onto the surprise.

“Guess I’m just hoping it’ll pay off that I’ve known her longer than you two,” Liam said, shrugging. Everyone noticed as the corner of Tess’s mouth shifted upward.

Before he could get a chance to kiss her in front of everyone, when they’d been so worried about being found out only a couple of hours ago, Liam lost his shorts. Avril’s final offer, where he’d kiss his way up from her ankle to her inner thigh, was too much. He wasn’t against it, but he didn’t want it to be Avril who got the first genuinely salacious act underway. He felt like it needed to come from someone else, and that was what would allow everyone to set aside their inhibitions and take things further.

“See, boxers,” Avril said, one of four sets of eyes focused intently upon him as he stood up, stepped back slightly, and escaped his shorts.

Victoria offered no rebuttal. The pride he’d felt when he’d taken his shirt off was incomparable to right now, like a clump of sand compared to the whole beach. He reveled in seeing all four women, including Victoria, stare at the bulge underneath his boxers. Knowing he didn’t need to worry even for a second if they liked what they saw, he folded his shorts over his arm, giving them more time to see him while he remained standing, then finally sat down and set them aside.

When Tess lost to Victoria, his hopes rose drastically. Check that; his hopes launched into the stratosphere. He didn’t mind if he lost in the race to kiss Victoria. He didn’t mind it one bit. If anything, he hoped for it to be the case.

However, a touch of worry developed within him when he spotted the hesitation in Victoria’s expression. He imagined he could parse why it was there. They weren’t just close friends but colleagues. It was understandable that Victoria might wonder how this would affect their relationship. For better or worse, a change was very likely on the horizon.

And yet, after one final set of whispers against her ear, that hesitation cleared up. It simply separated and departed, like a cloud evaporating due to a sudden rise in temperature. The dark-haired professor nodded, the light-haired one announced that they’d also share a kiss, and then Tess earned the first chance to test how good a kisser Victoria was.

Through their combined efforts, they forced Liam to reach for his smoothie, needing a way to cool himself down. First Avril’s neck, then Anna’s lips, now Victoria’s lips. Tess had developed an incredibly coveted collection on only their first night in Fiji.

The voluptuous women kissed one another. Soft, sensual, and longer by a few seconds than the one between Tess and Anna had been, it was erotic enough for Liam to forget about that drink he desperately needed. Mouths moving in tandem, it was as plain as day that both women enjoyed the forbidden kiss, not just Tess.

A third woman clearly enjoyed it too. Avril ended up looking like she did when he spent a minute or two on her neck. She became so aroused that she instinctively began moving the hand on her knee up her inner thigh, only stopping herself because Tess and Victoria finally parted lips. Liam noticed, but he also understood how she felt. The sight of both professors kissing left him as parched as if he’d spent the past three days in the Mojave.

Fortunately for Avril’s mystique as an unflappable maverick, neither Tess nor Victoria looked toward her after they ended their kiss. Instead, both blue-eyed women checked out his response. Both women also looked down, but nothing had changed there. His body could only grow so aroused, and it’d already passed the danger zone several rounds ago.

Yet his body continued to grow hotter by the second, and he nearly felt like he could make steam appear if he clutched an ice cube. He yearned for another opportunity to see the two women lock lips.

Unfortunately, he’d have to wait.

Liam ended up winning against Anna again, then quietly asked if she’d be okay stripping down to the same stage as the rest of them. She was, and now all five of them returned to equal standing. Parity. The next time they played this, and Liam needed them to play this again, they ought to start at this point.

“Feels like we need to keep upping how much the winner asks for by a little bit, or else we’re never going to have any losers,” Avril noted.

No one disagreed.

Even more than that, as if someone on high had also heard Avril’s suggestion, Liam got to be involved in the next three outcomes.

First, he won against Avril. That was pretty simple.

“I don’t want you to be the first to really escalate things,” he whispered into her ear. “But I think it’s fine if you’re the first person to go topless.”

Avril hid a grin against his ear as she whispered back. “You’re becoming more and more impressive by the day.”

She escaped her sports bra not long after. They’d pretended to go back and forth a little, but it felt purposeless. Who would honestly believe he’d asked for more than Avril was willing to give?

Liam felt no shame in keeping his eyes pointed directly at her breasts as she bared them. Just as Avril clearly didn’t mind revealing herself, showing off her enticingly full breasts. Winking at him, she tossed her bra onto one of the nearby lounging chairs and settled back down.

Next, Tess also lost to him, which left him waffling far more than he’d been with Avril. He wasn’t sure what he wanted from Tess. Well, he knew what he wanted. He wanted her to kiss him, obviously. But that wasn’t really an escalation, not at this point.

“Any ideas, sir?” Tess asked huskily, scooting in close beside him. No one batted an eye as she pressed herself against him, waiting for his answer.

“I want to kiss you, but that’s not enough, right?” he whispered.

“Probably not,” Tess said. “I’m in your hands right now, unless I want to go topless myself, so why don’t you push for more? We can kiss and do something. Or maybe the kiss can be a little more than a kiss?”

“How about some touching?”

“Yes,” Tess whispered, excitement infectious in her sultry voice.

“You touching me, or me touching you?”

“You touching me,” Tess whispered. “Make what you want obvious, Liam. Let the others know what’ll happen—what you’ll want— if you win against them next. Don’t be worried.”

Just a little later, he did.

“Tess and I are going to kiss one another,” Liam announced, almost feeling dizzy as he told the others of this, “and I get to touch her anywhere I want while it’s happening.”

Showing barely a hint of regret that her much younger next-door neighbor had “convinced” her to go so far, Tess positioned herself onto her knees. Eyes glowing with an infectious thrill, she skimmed her lips across his. The arousal around them felt as warm as if the deck had caught on fire. Their kiss began, deep, passionate, and watched by three other women.

He didn’t waste any time. Leaning into the kiss, he reached around and gripped Tess’s ass, then began to knead her amazingly full proportions. It hadn’t been too long since he’d felt her shapeliest weapon, but that didn’t make him any more immune to the sensation. Electricity raced up his forearms as he worked his fingers, pressed in his palms, and shivered with delight.

On the other side of their little circle, from the corner of his eye, he saw Victoria watching. For once, her poise appeared fractured. Was she wondering how things had gone so far tonight, or was she currently grappling to control her own arousal? Was it spiraling out of control, as his was?

Her gaze dropped, and at first, Liam assumed she was focusing on how his hands were so gleefully fondling her colleague’s amazing ass. A slight head tilt brought Liam into a better sense of awareness.

As dark as it’d become, a dazzling spray of stars and the deck’s lights illuminated them all. Every part of them. Including the red handprints on Tess’s ass, which were far too vivid to have been caused by a bit of groping. Liam felt a spike of two opposing emotions: worry and excitement. Victoria continued to stare at Tess’s butt for the rest of their kiss.

By the time the kiss ended, they were both breathing heavily. For a second, he forgot about Victoria’s scrutiny. For a second, he could only stare into Tess’s eyes. The words they’d shared earlier resounded in the space between their eyes, and they almost kissed again.

“No, no, no,” Avril said, throwing a card at Tess’s back. “Play by the rules. If you want another naughty make-out session, you’ll have to earn it the right way.”

Tess blushed slightly as she climbed up from him, aware of the statement she’d just made about their relationship. Clearing her throat, she returned to her seat. Liam missed the taste of her lips already.

Finally, he lost to Victoria, who held a hand up even before he’d started heading toward her side. For a second, he feared that maybe he and Tess had pushed things too far and were both in store for chastisement.

“One of the locks on your boxers,” Victoria said. “I won’t make a deal with you this round.”

Eyes widened around the group. Liam, on the other hand, felt a bit of relief. Even though she’d seen the evidence of what had happened while he and Tess had been alone earlier, she didn’t appear upset. She was still engaging with the game.

Or maybe she is punishing you, and it’ll be by kicking you out of the game first.

“Hoping to see something soon?” Avril teased.

“Perhaps I’m doing it for all of you,” Victoria said, maintaining her usual aplomb. “It’s clear that at least a couple of the people in this group will be excited when it happens.”

All four, I hope, Liam thought.

Anna, continuing to make Liam more confident that she was ready to take their relationship a step or two further on this trip, removed her bra following a loss to Tess, even though it seemed highly unlikely that she’d been asked for anything too drastic and dizzying.

“Déjà vu,” Avril commented, which caused Anna to blush furiously. But just like then, she didn’t look like she regretted exposing her wonderful breasts.

A few more rounds of play followed, and annoyingly enough, they resulted in Victoria being the last woman standing with two pieces of clothing. However, that was only the second most shocking event to transpire. Taking his luck for herself, Victoria won two in a row. First against Anna, where the price to stay in the game involved a chaste kiss—one he suspected was more for his benefit than anyone else. But when she beat Tess, she again refused any bartering, which added one more tally to the number of topless women in Liam’s sight.

“I still intend to win,” Victoria said, noticing Avril’s pouty expression.

“If that were true, you would have gone way harder against Anna.”

“Maybe I want her to get second,” Victoria replied, then began shuffling the deck for her deal.

The following round brought Anna back under Avril’s power, and she wasn’t willing to let Anna off easily. The best friends went back and forth for a while, but ultimately, Anna chose to stay in the game. She did so by bowing her head and kissing both of Avril’s breasts. Just on the top, and they were almost quicker than lightning flashes. But she did it. And Liam loved her for it.

On Anna’s deal, Tess defeated Avril.

And then Avril chose the last route Liam would have guessed. Without looking toward Tess, she stood up. Victoria’s eyes were the first to widen with understanding. A moment later, Avril removed her final article of clothing.

“Looks like I’m out,” she said, drinking in their slack-jawed expressions with total giddiness.

“Were you starting to get bored?” Tess asked, as shocked as the rest of them.

“Not at all,” Avril assured them. “But I think the game gets a little more dramatic if I’m out. So, I’m out. And now that the group 'troublemaker' has been eliminated, let’s see if the four of you can flourish—or if you’ll wilt. I hope not. My expectations are high.”

The surviving four shared looks, none of them quite sure what to make of Avril’s spontaneity, even if she had just explained her reasoning. It was an interesting choice, no two ways about it. And for this one, Liam appreciated the shock it’d caused.

Leaving her area, Avril plopped herself down directly behind him, then pressed her breasts into his back. “Oh, and now I’m free to move around and do whatever I want.” To reiterate her point, she blew into his ear, which was less arousing than her previous gesture. “It’s your deal, Liam. Three beautiful women left to strip. Get after it, cheater.”

He frowned at her, and he wasn’t the only one to do so, aware of the double meaning within the title. He knew she was teasing him, however, so he didn’t give her more of a response than that.

With Avril literally participating as the devil on his shoulder, Liam shuffled the cards. This time, very intentionally, he left everything up to chance. Dealing them out while as blind as the other remaining players, Victoria triumphed over Tess.

That placed the buxom professor in a position to knock out her colleague. After all, she didn’t have to engage in negotiations with her. If winning really was her only focus tonight, on this first night she’d be spending with the four of them, she could have held out her hand and stopped Tess from coming over to her side.

But she didn’t, and Liam felt Avril’s heartbeat quicken. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a cunning redhead staring hungrily at both women.

“You’re going to have to get in line,” he whispered, which snapped Avril’s attention to him.

“For which one?”

“Both. I want both.” He finally let Avril in on things. “I want all of you.”

Avril’s eyes flashed with desire. She grinned boldly. “Then take us, Liam. This trip is your chance. Make it happen.”

They both turned back in time to see what Tess had agreed to do for Victoria—what Victoria had decided she wanted from her colleague. Again, Liam noticed that both women glanced in his direction. Again, Liam found himself ravenous to experience Tess’s reward for himself.

For almost an entire minute, the two women made out. That was the deal that kept Tess in the game. They were going to make out for a whole minute, then see who was the “most out of breath.”

It was erotic, yes, but also amusing how they’d turned it into a competition. Apparently, chess wasn’t their only arena of choice. Not anymore, at least.

No one got out a timer, so they could only guess when a minute had passed. Liam was certain they kissed for longer, but he didn’t mind. As the two gorgeous professors shared a prolonged, sensual experience, never once separating their lips, the rest of them could only watch. It was Tess’s turn to shuffle and deal, but with her focused on her current obligation, there was nothing for him, Anna, and Avril to do but watch. And yearn to do the same thing or have the same thing done to them.

“A couple of pretenders,” Avril whispered, nipping the shell of his ear. “I already knew Victoria was, and you helped me figure out how lustful Tess could be, but I knew it. They try and act like they’re not just as horny as we are but look at them now. Even Victoria didn’t need to be pushed that hard.”

“Yeah, just bring her to a tropical paradise she’s always wanted to visit, surround her with some of the most beautiful people on the planet, get her to drink almost two full glasses of wine, some champagne, and pull her into a slowly ramping up, sexually charged game of strip poker. That’s all.”

“That’s all,” Avril agreed, kissing his neck.

And a few other things before all that, Liam thought, though he was still in awe at how far things had gone. And aroused. He couldn’t stop being aroused. How was he going to solve that before bed?

Finally, Tess ended the kiss with her younger colleague. They both looked plenty out of breath, plenty aroused. Crackling like leaping flames around a campfire, the two women stared into one another’s eyes, blue meeting blue, for a handful of seconds more.

When Tess finally dealt the next hand, he defeated Anna. But before she came over and began discussing things with him, she shooed Avril away. Sighing audibly, the naked woman headed around to Victoria, who also kept her at arm’s length, much to her pouty displeasure.

Once Avril was no longer attached to him, Anna moved in close. Her eyes explained things even before her voice could. So did the tension around her shoulders.

“Would it be okay if I bowed out here? I think I’ve reached as far as I feel comfortable going tonight.”

“No, it wouldn’t be a problem at all,” Liam immediately said, then paused. “Overall, though, are you okay with how things have gone? You didn’t do anything you think you’ll regret? Nothing that’ll keep us from having a good trip together?”

Anna shook her head. “No, nothing I’ll regret.” She blushed. “I might be a little embarrassed tomorrow morning, but nothing I’ll regret. You enjoyed it all?”

“It was amazing. You’re amazing.”

Anna smiled, though she concealed it by turning her head away from the others. So, it was just for him. He didn’t mind that at all, either.

“Could we go for a private walk on the beach at some point tomorrow?”

He couldn’t help but grin and kiss her on the cheek. “My schedule will be open for you, always.”

Relaxing, she breathed out a sigh of relief. “Also, is it okay if I put my clothes back on? As idyllic as this island is, I don’t think I can quite treat it like the Garden of Eden that Avril seems to think it is.”

“That’d make her the devil, you know,” Liam pointed out. “For introducing so much sin to us innocent folk.”

“I don’t know if any of us can say we’re innocent, even before tonight,” Anna said.

He couldn’t disagree. “No, probably not.”

After standing, Anna, blushing but not regretting things, allowed herself to be seen naked for a handful of seconds. Afterward, now unchained from the first game of strip poker she’d ever participated in, she quickly redressed. Once she was back in her clothing, she sighed and picked up her smoothie. She drained everything that was left, fingers shaking slightly.

“That was very brave of you, Anna,” Tess said. “Thank you for playing with us.”

Anna smiled, clearly relieved to have survived another trial by fire. It got easier. At least, it had for Liam. Hopefully, it would be the same for Anna.

However, as Victoria, still technically in the lead, began shuffling the deck, Liam refocused. He was the only student remaining. He needed to represent horny young people everywhere. So began the final act of his first time playing strip poker, too.

He wanted to win. In a way, he already had. Still, he wanted to see Victoria and Tess strip down to nothing too. Yet, he also hoped it wouldn’t happen too quickly.