Spin the Bottle (5 page)

Next to her, Daryl’s chair scrapped forward on the floor and he leaned sideways until his thigh brushed hers, the soft well-washed denim warm against her bare skin. Denim? Wasn’t he wearing board shorts? She glanced down quickly and noted the stone-washed fabric covering the leg next to hers before moving her gaze back to the spinning bottle. Surely Daryl hadn’t left the table mid spin? Lil was on the verge of turning her head to see who’d joined the game when an arm shot out. A big hand wrapped around the glass bottle and stopped it with the neck in the section adjacent to hers. Lillian stared at the arm. The long, lean muscles, the sprinkling of golden hair and the very expensive, very familiar gold watch spanning the wrist.

Mackenzie.

Lillian squeezed her eyes shut, opened them and blinked several times before she gave up the hope she was seeing things. She’d know that watch anywhere. She remembered the hours spent searching for the right one. It had been the one and only time she’d allowed her true feels for Mac to show in a gift. Every other present she’d given him had fallen into the friend-of-my-brother category. But that watch, with its yellow-and-white-gold band, the diamond-studded face and Swiss precision mechanics had stepped over the friend line and then some. That timepiece was something a woman bought for the man she loved.

And she had loved him—
did
love him. First with the bloom of a young girl’s crush and newly discovered hormones. And then with the deeper emotions that came with maturity and knowledge. She tried too many times to count to aim her affections at other boys, other men, but none of them affected her the way Mac did. Even when she wanted to strangle him, she wanted to kiss him while her hands tightened around his neck. Lillian swallowed over the lump in her throat and turned her head, brought her gaze up to meet his.

Eyes the colour of a clear summer sky stared back. Their shade of blue was almost too pretty for a male, but there was nothing soft about the emotions churning in their depths. Desire, need and anger all mixed together in a maelstrom of conflicted sentiment. She knew that look, had seen it numerous times in the past. He wanted her, but he didn’t want to, and that was the rub. For Lil that denial translated as a rejection of her, and she couldn’t live with the ache in her heart anymore. As much as it would hurt, she needed to cut her loses and run.

“Pass the tequila.” She curled her trembling fingers around her shot glass.

“No.” Mac grabbed her wrist and stood. “You’ll give me what I earned.”

Lillian sucked in a breath, tried to get her mind to find a plausible excuse to deny him. “You cheated.”

He pulled her to her feet and brought them eye to eye. “My house, my rules.”

“But
…
but, you can’t do that.” She stumbled in her five-inch heels as he tugged her away from the table.

“Hey, man, you can’t just barge in and steal a player,” the international cricket player sitting opposite her protested.

Mac eyed the guy across the table. “Can. Did.” He turned and towed her behind him as he stalked away from the game.

“Mac, you can’t do this.” She twisted her arm in a futile attempt to free herself, but his grip didn’t loosen. “Mac.”

“Not yet, Lilli.” The look he shot her over his shoulder had her teeth sinking into her lip.

She could only imagine the expression on his face as people moved out of his way. Like the Red Sea, they parted without a word. Some of the women gazed at her with envious eyes and Lillian almost laughed. Under normal circumstances she’s be thrilled to be with Mac, but right now wasn’t normal. He was angry. Angrier than she’d ever seen him. His muscles strained with tension and the raw vibrations came off him in waves. Any fool in Mac’s way would see them. They’d left the room and were heading for the stairs.

“At least tell me where we’re going.”

“My room.”

Uh-oh.
Lillian’s stomach dropped to her toes, her heart sped up and beat against her ribs as though it were knocking to get out. They’d almost reached the top of the stairs and Lil knew there’d be no escape if he managed to get them any closer to his room. “Mac, stop. You’re causing a scene.”

He threw his head back and laughed, the sound humourless and scornful, but his stride didn’t falter. He continued up the last few steps and pulled her behind him. When they were both on the upstairs landing, he spun her around and pinned her to the wall. “I’m making a scene? You’ve got half-naked celebrities sucking face and kissing arse and I’m the one creating a scene? I don’t think so, Lilli. You’ll have to do better than that to get away from me this time.”

Mac held his gaze steady on hers. The blue orbs were charged with electricity that arced between them and sent a shiver down her spine. His stare dared her to contradict him, but she couldn’t. He was right. No one took any notice of them, well, no more than they did the rest of the people in the house. No words came to mind, and before they could he lowered his mouth to hers.

She expected a harsh, angry kiss, but his lips were soft on hers. Their warm breath mingled as he brushed his tongue along the curve of her mouth. Mac watched her as he took the kiss deeper, his eyes taking in far more than she was ready to give. She lowered her eyelids as though they could shield her from him, but it was too late. A whimper of surrender and need slipped from her throat and he interpreted the small sound as permission to plunder. He drove his tongue between her lips, pushing past her teeth to stroke the roof of her mouth before teasing her tongue out to tangle with his. The second she gave in and did some demanding of her own, he groaned and pressed his body to hers.

The hard wall at her back and Mac’s hard muscles along her front made her blood heat and her pulse pound. Her hips bucked against him and the solid length of an impressive erection prodding her thigh drew a moan from deep in her chest. He thrust into her, ground his cock on her leg and mimicked the rhythm with his tongue in her mouth. Lil’s pussy clenched, flooded with heat and moisture as her knees shook.

“Hey, man, can I have some of that when you’re done?”

They broke apart, each of them breathing hard as they sucked in vital oxygen. Lil wanted to lean forward, press her mouth to his once more and continue their mind-numbing kiss, but Mac’s mouth turned down in a scowl and his brows dipped in the middle as his eyes narrowed. As she watched, the lust swirling in his eyes turned to anger. She sighed. There would be no more kisses.

With a growl aimed at the well-known football player standing beside them, Mac grabbed her hand and, threading his fingers through hers, started down the hall. Before she could protest or gain her senses and stop him, Lillian found herself inside his room with the door shut and locked behind them.

Mac locked the door and tugged Lillian over to the bed. Noise from the party still thumped through the walls, but at least he could hear himself think in here. He stopped at the foot of his bed and was slammed with a bolt of lust. The urge to push Lilli onto the mattress and follow her down gripped him. In seconds, they could be naked and rolling across the sheets. Bad idea. It wouldn’t solve anything if they had sex now.

He let go of her hand and stalked over to the window. The yard below was lit up like a Christmas tree. Barely clothed people swayed to the music blasting from every room of the house. His fingers curled around the window frame and his knuckles ached as he squeezed his hands tighter and tighter. Mac would love nothing more than to put a fist through the wall, but he’d never been one to give in to violence. Never really felt the need to inflict damage pump through his veins like it did this evening. Twice now Lilli had reduced him to a base animal he had no experience with.

“Mac?”

Her breath fanned the hair on his neck. She’d stepped up behind him. He breathed deep, pulled her scent through his nose and into his lungs. The delicate fragrance that haunted his dreams, invaded his blood, flooded his mind and filled his cock with need that saturated his body. A burst of laughter echoed in the hallway on the other side of the closed door and brought his anger rushing back.

“Why, Lilli?” he asked.

“Why what?”

He turned around to look at her. “Why turn the house into a three-ring circus the first time you set foot back in the country in months?”

“I resent the implication that this party is out of control, Mac.” She spun away and headed for the other side of the room.

“Isn’t it? Were you even looking at what was going on down there?” He leaned his arse on the windowsill and crossed his arms. “Or is this the type of party you usually attend?”

“There’s nothing wrong with the party. You’re just pissed off I didn’t ask your permission to hold it.”

“Why wouldn’t I be? It’s not exactly what came to mind when I got your message. And I’m not the only one pissed off either. Lachlan is ready to spit nails.”

“Lachlan should concern himself with his own life before he butts into mine, and so should you. I’m not a child, and if I want to throw a party for my friends, I will.”

“Friends? You call those people downstairs friends?” Mac couldn’t believe she thought of that shallow bunch of celebrities as friends. “I hate to break it to you, Lillian, but your group of so-called
friends
are here for one reason and one reason only.”

“Oh, and what might that be, Mackenzie?” One eyebrow arched and she crossed her arms, stretching the skin-tight dress over her breasts and sending a spike of arousal through his balls.

“What you can give them.” He pushed off the wall and walked towards her, hoping the movement would focus his brain on something other than his throbbing groin. “You don’t think they actually want to spend time with you, do you? They’re here to be seen. To hopefully get their photo in the Sunday paper, or even better, be photographed with either of the McDermott siblings.”

“That’s a very shallow view of the world I live in, Mac. But then perhaps you have intimate knowledge of the attitude.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he spoke through clenched teeth. If she was implying he was one of those vultures who preyed on others for what they could give him, he’d strangle her. Or better yet, turn her over his knee and spank her arse.

“Let’s face it, Mackenzie, you wouldn’t be where you are today without tying yourself to Lachlan like you have all these years.”

“Why you fucking little
…
” Mac moved before he thought. He had no clue of his intention when he grabbed her upper arms, but the second he touched her all thought fled except one. Tasting her.

“Mac?”

He dragged her against him and crushed her mouth beneath his, squashing any further protest. Filled with a volatile mix of frustration and arousal, the kiss was rough—hard. Lilli remained rigid in his arms, but she didn’t try to push him away. She let him take, and her lack of resistance dissolved any lingering anger he had.

Mac broke the kiss and stepped back. Lilli wobbled a little before lowering herself to the floor as he sank to the bed behind him.

“I’m sorry.” He stared at the woman before him. “I don’t
…
I didn’t mean
…
” Mac shook his head. He had no idea what he was trying to say, what he should say other than sorry.

Lilli sat in front of him. She’d bent her knees and rested her chin on top of them. Her beautiful baby blues looked at him with an understanding that obviously eluded him.

“Will it always be this way, Mac?”

Her question only added to his confusion. “What way?”

“Like a battle ground between us. It seems like we’re always at odds with each other.”

“All’s fair in love and war.” He tried to make a joke but it fell flat even to him.

Lilli laughed, the sound harsh and grating. “There’s never been any love where you’re concerned, only war.”

“Maybe that’s the problem.”

“What is?”

“We’ve been too busy concentrating on the war part.”

Lillian pushed to her feet and looked down at him with pity in her eyes. “I’ve never had that problem, Mackenzie.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She turned away and strode to the door. “You’re an intelligent man, you work it out.”

The lock slid free with a click and Lilli left him sitting on the bed trying to piece together the conversation. Hell, the whole last few minutes. He’d never forced himself on anyone. Guilt and self-loathing assaulted him. She should have slapped him. He deserved more but that wasn’t Lilli’s style. No, physical retaliation wasn’t her way. She’d use something far more devastating—more painful. Lilli would take away the one thing he couldn’t live without. Her.

Mac got up and walked over to the window. The sounds of the party raged on and the yard below seemed fuller than before. He couldn’t think straight with all this noise around him. He’d love nothing more than to jump in his car and go for a drive, but he couldn’t even do that. There were at least four cars parked in front of the garage doors. Cars that belong to God knew who. With a sigh, Mac turned away and walked to the door. No point hiding out in his room, he may as well get a beer and find someone he wanted to talk to.

Lilli would be his first choice, but she’d be back to avoiding him after what he’d done. Besides, they could both do with some distance. He needed to work out what she’d meant with her parting words. Maybe then he could figure out what the hell was going on other than a serious case of lust. Even now, he had a hard-on thinking about her. Her taste lingered on his tongue and he licked his lips in search of more. His cock throbbed and his sac constricted, pulling his balls up. Jesus. What kind of arsehole kissed a woman in anger and got off on it? Mac wouldn’t blame her if she never let him touch her again.