Holiday Home (A Harem Fantasy #5)

Chapter One #2

“Which I’m not?”

Aware that he was fishing for a compliment, Avril surprised him by granting him one. “You’re in the thousand to two thousand Scoville rating range. Now, focus on the movie.”

He did… and he didn’t. He gave it an honest watch and found it enjoyable enough to see why it was so highly regarded. Had he watched it on his own, with no nostalgia attaching his childhood to it, he would have liked it—and been ready to trade quotes with Avril the next time the opportunity arose. It was worth the time spent watching.

However, he had to fight against his wandering attention, which so often wanted to move in any of three beneficial directions. Back to Avril, to his other side, toward the corner of the cabin.

While crazier and crazier attempts were made to reclaim the autographed baseball from the Beast, Liam found himself admiring a woman he’d first started admiring years before he’d met anyone else on the plane. Back then, imagining the events transpiring now, even just the ones that had begun during winter break, would have seemed downright ludicrous.

Instead, as he gazed at a woman who made him practically overflow with giddiness with just a glance, Liam knew within the deepest part of his soul that Fiji would end up being unforgettable. Because he’d be there with Tess, drinking from the deep pools of her eyes, heart skipping a beat when she moved in to kiss him with her luscious mouth, then outright sprinting when she guided his hands down her curvaceous body, all the way to a shapely butt that not even Avril’s could compete against.

In a room consisting of a vivacious firestorm and an eternal tundra, Tess was a balmy spring rain. Warm and endearing, inviting and silvery, and just pleasant to linger in. If Avril yanked gazes to her, then chained them there, Tess collected them more smoothly and ensured they never wanted to leave. She was constantly aglow, constantly alluring, her skin so soft and smooth. He wondered how well she’d tan over the following week, assuming there was plenty of sun. He knew from those aforementioned summers that she looked amazing when it happened.

That was what they were all hoping for—the sunny days, not Tess getting a tan. With its tropical climate, it didn’t have much of a winter, but it did have a rainy season, usually lasting from November to the beginning of April. With them arriving right as it ended, the hope was that the weather gods would smile on their heads and allow the sun to shine through. Maybe a day or two of rain in there would be nice, even. They could find something more fitting to do on those days. He knew the island was overflowing with worthy destinations and activities. The snorkeling gear in his baggage proved he’d done some research.

The movie progressed. After all their complex plans failed, with one involving more home appliances than one would find in a Home Depot, all hope seemed lost. When not even “science” could defeat the Beast, what else could be done? It’d already been established that Mr. Mertle, the Beast’s owner, was the kind of heartless man who didn’t care that his monstrous hound had once killed a man.

When Benny ended up dreaming about Babe Ruth, in which baseball’s greatest icon galvanized him into action, he felt Avril’s gaze return. He ignored it, staying focused on the movie. Naturally, dream or not, what baseball-obsessed kid wouldn’t want to live up to his hero’s words? Thus, outfitted with a new pair of shoes, Benny made his dash, nabbed the ball, and got back over the fence. Only for the Beast to come bounding after him.

While Benny fled for his life, Liam considered his. Avril was right to glance at him; he fully understood the gesture. But she was underestimating him. He didn’t need a 90’s baseball movie to motivate him to be bolder. He was already playing for his version of a grand slam.

He had a relationship with Tess. He had a relationship with Avril. He had a relationship with Anna. Intimate, romantic ones. He wasn’t nearly as far along with Anna as with Tess and Avril, at least in terms of the physical side of things, but it was progressing at a pace they were both comfortable with.

That left only one woman he wasn’t romantically entangled with on this plane. A woman whose innate stoicism no longer kept him at arm’s length. A woman of dark, lustrous hair, alluring olive skin, stern expressions, unquestionable knowledge of fashion, and the most voluptuous body he’d ever laid eyes on. And thanks to some fruitful plans of his own, the kind that he couldn’t share with Avril but certainly would have made her proud, he had laid eyes on it.

Victoria Moreno was so fine, so captivating, so worth the risk. The poise she carried about herself, even when relaxing. The sheer sexiness of her figure when she wasn’t doing anything at all. Even the sharp edge of her eyes when she noticed him staring—something that had become increasingly frequent over the past few weeks. The more time he spent around her, the more urgently he desired her. The more he wanted to leap ahead, even though he knew she preferred a steadier pace when it came to romance.

All these desires churned within him, knowing where they’d begun and where they were now. It edged on unbelievable, the relationship they now had. Things had started so poorly, with him assuming she despised him on the night they’d met.

Liam had every intention of trying to change his relationship status with Victoria before the trip to Fiji was complete. He’d spent the last couple of months working at thawing the stoic professor. For some of that, he hadn’t been pursuing anything romantic, just trying to develop a bit of rapport with the voluptuous professor.

Fortunately, though it had appeared that way, she’d never hated his guts; she’d never hated him at all. She’d just opposed what Avril and Tess were trying to do when they got him involved with Anna and her dating troubles. Once Victoria had learned about his and Anna’s lie, how they’d pretended they were dating to relax the exterior pressures on Anna, he’d immediately earned her respect.

He'd used that to springboard himself into getting her help for his secret desire—a little less secret now, as Anna had recently found out about it—to transfer to Bellmore. And in a rare moment of sheer, unexplainable brazenness, rather than taking the safe, conservative route, he’d anted up. He offered her a deal, this woman whose icy gaze seemed like it could slice a man to pieces: a pretty straightforward one, all things considered.

They’d voted to see where they went for spring break. Another of Avril’s ploys, of course. As the person who’d collected the most “points” during several poker games on New Year’s Eve, he had the most influence to spend. Enough to pretty much seal things.

So, he’d use that influence to point their destination toward Fiji, the only place on the list that Victoria hadn’t been to before. In return, she could “earn” those points by showing him pictures of her past vacations, which he knew were mostly dated from when she was dating or engaged to Avril’s older brother, Casey. Before she’d “wised up” and realized what a mistake it would be to marry a man who was as immature now, in his mid-thirties, as he’d been when he was Liam’s age. Before last week, Liam had only heard about this supposed problem child of the Knights. After a brief and pretty unpleasant first encounter on the day Avril had spilled the beans about who she was, Laim could tell that there wasn’t much hyperbole involved in the descriptions that his sister and former fiancée used for him.

After Victoria had agreed to his deal, Liam hadn’t been sure if he was more shocked, excited, or relieved. Regardless, the deal was in place, and if there had ever been a time when Liam had felt like he could hold the whole world in his hands, it’d been then.

Ever since then, their relationship had escalated in mostly minor steps. It was a lot like his relationship with Anna. Things progressed at a normal pace, more linear than exponential. Meanwhile, Avril had decided to start their relationship near the top of the graph, then grab another sheet of paper so they could continue plotting its skyrocketing growth.

He’d made another gambit before long, involving him putting some of his points into the other destinations. It’d been a calculated risk, but it had paid off! He’d hoped it would motivate Victoria to either send more pictures or find more enticing ones to trickle his way. Both. It led to both.

Eventually, it’d led him to a picture of her, which he still suspected didn’t actually come from her past. A picture that was only the removal of the slender arm away from fully showing off the most magnificent set of breasts on the planet. It should have been the final piece of the puzzle, and Liam should have solidified his confidence right then and there.

Of course, he just couldn’t let things be that easy for himself. He had to worry; he had to fret. With their deal officially wrapped up and her desired destination locked in, there was no longer any reason for her to keep sending him pictures of herself. Any “appropriate” reason, anyway, not that they hadn’t sliced through that facade even before her topless photo.

So, for a young man desperate to keep the stove at or hotter than the temperature they’d set, he’d made his gambit. Given that they were playing chess together at the time, it seemed fitting.

If he beat her at chess, she’d reward him with another picture of herself—but of the same “quality” as the one that had stunned him like a flashbang. Once more, she’d accepted. If he could beat her just once during the Saturdays they spent playing chess together in person, he’d get another picture— each time he won, he’d get another picture. If he struck out for the entire day, she claimed one of his free days for her own, in which he’d be called over to be her assistant garden gopher.

So far, she’d collected a few of those vouchers. So far, obtained a weekend ago, he had one more amazing picture of her—a requested repeat, with a slight alteration, to the previous nearly nude picture. Thirsting for more, he’d asked for more.

And once more, going against type, Victoria Moreno had let him get away with it. She even went further than he’d expected, in a way. In this first picture of her that he’d won , she’d allowed him a heart-racing glimpse at a part of her breast that he very badly wanted to roll beneath his tongue.

Even though they were on their way, Fiji somehow still felt an eternity away.

He could hardly suppress how excited he was. His body tensed each time he opened or closed his hands. He felt the jitters each time the jet experienced even the most minute tremor as it raced across the Pacific. He breathed it in, held it in his lungs. It was the sustenance he survived off.

Tess’s first real vacation since her divorce, since they’d become a couple. Anna’s first vacation with a boyfriend, as she’d never had one before him. His first experience vacationing with Avril, who he was certain would bring her A-game. And a chance to compare the past and the present. He had a whole album of how Victoria had looked on beaches and in bikinis a decade ago. He was potentially hours away from seeing her wearing one in the flesh.

But first, The Sandlot. Then sleep. Then, at long last, the beaches and bikinis and unforgettable experiences.

Things went a little differently for Benny and the boys than they’d probably expected. After the Beast got out, Benny ran for his life—and the Beast pursued. If the big dog had one thing behind him, it was tenacity. He just wouldn’t let up, pursuing Benny throughout the entire town, wreaking havoc in his wake. When all was said and done, they’d circled back to the sandlot, where circumstances caused the “murderous” beast to end up pinned underneath his own fence after busting a hole straight through it.

With the horrifying creature pacified, understanding slowly dawned upon the kids. It wasn’t a horrific monster; it was just an animal. A currently hurting animal. After Smalls and Benny came to its rescue, that became all the more apparent as the Beast slathered Smalls’ face in saliva. Soon enough, all their apprehensions flew out the window, especially once Mr. Mertle was revealed to be blind, peaceful, a friend of Babe Ruth himself, and more than willing to help Smalls out of the biggest pickle of his life.

By the time the penultimate scene revealed what ultimately happened to each kid, followed by one final scene in the present day, in which Smalls, an announcer for the Dodgers, watched Benny steal home and seal the Dodger’s victory, Liam half-expected Avril to start quizzing him about all the pop-culture references he should now know. Instead, she stretched, arching her back forward, and hopped to her feet.

“Now, you’re a little more cultured,” she said. “You’re welcome.”

He met her playful response with an appropriate amount of drollness. “Thank you, Avril, for filling this gaping hole that existed within me. Without seeing this movie, I know I couldn’t have managed to live a fulfilling life.”

“Damn right, smart ass,” Avril said. “It’s the only reason I brought you on my plane. You’re good to go now. The parachute is waiting for you near the cockpit. Adios.”

“Right now?” he asked. “While we’re over the Pacific?”

“Obviously.”

“I’ll have to open the door if I’m going to eject into the ocean.”

“Yes, and?”

“Assuming I can even do it, it’ll be really loud. Assuming she’s managed to fall asleep, that’ll undoubtedly wake Anna up. Which will make you a bad best friend.”

“This line of reasoning won’t get you anywhere, Liam,” Victoria said. “As she is already a bad best friend, there isn’t much harm that this stunt, just one more piece of hay in a hillside-sized stack, can do.”

“You would have made such a bad aunt,” Avril said, attention snapping to the buxom woman on his right.

Victoria’s expression didn’t change at all. “I was never going to be your aunt, Avril. I was going to be your sister-in-law.”

“You’re not very sisterly,” Avril said, hands up as she shrugged. “That must be why I’m always mixing the two up.”

“It must be,” Victoria replied, doing what he never could when dealing with Avril: refusing to engage. “So, shall we get ready for bed? Who will be using the couch? Do you want it?”

“I can fall asleep anywhere,” Avril proclaimed, shaking her head. “Any of you that wants it can have it.”

In unison, Victoria and Tess, ever the responsible adults, turned toward him.

“I’m okay taking a chair, too,” he quickly said. “I’ve slept on planes before. My brother lives in Seoul, which is a thirteen- or fourteen-hour flight.”

With the younger passengers out of the way, Victoria and Tess connected their gazes. The streak of giving away the only other functional bed-like object on the bed snapped at two.

“We could play a match for it,” Tess said, smiling in an unusually carnivorous fashion. “I know you brought your board.”

“We could play a card game for it,” Victoria retaliated. “I’m sure there are numerous decks on board right now.”

“I’ll let you play white,” Tess said.

“No, thank you,” Victoria said, refusing to be lured in.

“Don’t let them start clawing at one another, Liam,” Avril said, waving flippantly as she headed to the suite’s rear door. Opening it up, she headed into the jet’s lavatory. After shutting the door behind her, the muffled sound of a motorized toothbrush running soon snuck through the cracks.

Tess kept trying to find a way to get Victoria to accept a chess match, knowing she had a considerable advantage if they played. Victoria staunchly rebuffed every offer, including one where Tess offered to have Liam—somehow, he’d ended up involved—play out her first six moves.

“Well, if not that, then how? A two-player card game doesn’t sound fun—or quick.”

Again, Liam found himself drawn back into the mix. Victoria leveled her attention upon him, wordlessly asking for a suggestion.

“Uh, Gin Rummy is a good choice, maybe? It’s pretty quick. Do you both know it?”

“Yes,” Victoria said.

“Yes,” Tess sighed, clearly still wishing to have drawn her colleague into a chess match.

As soon as one of the numerous decks of cards aboard were in front of them, Liam left them to it. Sitting on either side of the couch, cards in the middle, the two beautiful, busty professors began their battle for couch-sleeping rights.

Knowing they wouldn’t be done before he finished cleaning up for bed, Liam checked if he could join Avril in the lavatory, got the okay, then… held himself back from entering. It’d be entirely like Avril to give him the innocent go-ahead, only for him to open the door and find her topless. Not an unpleasant thing, normally, but Victoria would see the same thing he did when he opened the door.

She wouldn’t do it with Victoria around, he told himself. Even Avril has limits.

She didn’t yet know about his interest in Victoria—well, beyond the obvious interest that all men must experience around the buxom professor, which she teased him about regularly. Regarding Victoria, Tess was his only proper confidant. It was probably about time he keyed Anna in, if only to ensure she was alright with it.

After walking himself through his thoughts, he opened the door. Thankfully, Avril had decided to keep all her clothes on. She was just finishing up her brushing. He received a welcoming peace sign moments before she bent over the sink, brushing aside errant lengths of red hair with her other hand, and spat into the sink.

“Did our two responsible professors work things out?” Avril asked, speaking loudly enough for said individuals to overhear.

“Yeah, they did,” Liam said, squeezing into the lavatory.

Unsurprisingly, the fifty-million-dollar jet came with a luxuriant, modern restroom. While it was a little wanting for space, it had everything one might want, even a standing shower. It could have pretty reasonably fit two, even three.

Not the thing to start thinking about before bed, Liam told himself.

After gargling some water and cleansing her palette, Avril grinned. She watched and waited as he moved up to the sink, making some space for him. A motley crew of toothbrushes sat on the counter, all placed by their respective owner before takeoff. As he picked his up, Liam spotted Avril doing something behind him via the mirror.

She shut the door. Correction. She shut the door most of the way. A ten-inch gap remained, enough for someone to see inside. But only if that someone moved to the corner Tess had occupied during the movie. At their current positions on the couch, neither Victoria nor Tess could see into the lavatory.

Liam turned around; Avril stepped up to him. He opened his mouth; she placed a finger on his lips. After moving in even closer, she slid her finger to the side, which paved the way for her to press her lips against his.

Apparently, Avril didn’t need to wait until they reached the islands to begin exciting him with her plans.

She set a fire within him, amplified by the sound of Victoria and Tess conversing on the other side of the door. Just a few feet away. A step or two, and either of them could push the door open and find him and Avril with lips intertwined.

Smaller and smaller, the part of him that would have gotten nervous about that fact had become over these past few months. Instead of chafing, retreating, cowering, Liam gladly met Avril’s vigor with his own. Pressing into her, hands moving around to her lower back, he kissed her passionately.

She challenged him, and he rose to the occasion. And because of that, her eyes glowed like ember flames just before she closed them. Her luscious mouth was as soft as honey, with a minty taste left behind by her toothpaste, as it worked in tandem with his. They weren’t in any rush to end the kiss, but they knew they’d be going too far if they escalated too much more. Nevertheless, Liam could take things a little farther.

Dropping his hands to Avril’s shapely butt, held tightly by the comfortable leggings that she planned to sleep in, he lifted her to her toes, then pushed his tongue into her mouth. Humming quietly against him, Avril accepted the control he seized, even welcomed it. Supple in his hands, pliable to his wishes, she let him maneuver her shape.

How would it have felt to maneuver more than that? To turn her toward the wall, press her against it, lift her off her feet—

“Keep cool,” Avril whispered, slowing down the rhythm of their kiss to allow herself to speak. “Those hands of yours are getting a little tense. Seems like they’re thinking about what my ass would look like sitting on the sink counter. But then I’ll have to make you suck on my throat, and then you’ll need to pull out your big cock and ask me to play with it with my hands.”

She was devilishly cruel. Maybe he had been unconsciously chaining those actions and consequences together, but did she have to summon them to the forefront of his thoughts? She could have just said those first two words. The rest hadn’t been necessary. All it did was make him fantasize about everything she’d just said, which caused him to do anything but cool down.

“Those things will happen in Fiji,” Liam growled.

“Of course,” Avril promised, batting her eyelashes coquettishly. “I love your big cock, and you love sucking on my neck. But for now, you’ll just have to accept your current prize. It might not put you in that mile-high club, but making out with a gorgeous girl on a private jet—that’s got to be a pretty exclusive club, no?”

“I’ll take your word on it,” Liam said, speaking slowly and softly, all to bring down his ramped-up heartrate. “You’re the one who knows all about exclusive clubs.”

Grinning, Avril leaned in to kiss him. Planting it for just a second, she withdrew from his arms.

“Give those teeth a good brushing, babe. That’ll calm you down.”

She nodded toward his groin, and he didn’t need to look to confirm the grown protrusion showing itself there. Grunting, he returned to the task that had originally brought him into the lavatory.