Taming My Sugar Mommy
Chapter 34: The Game Begins

Chapter 34: The Game Begins

The first hints of moonlight crept through Isabella’s penthouse windows, casting long shadows across the luxurious bedroom. Liam lay awake, his body still tangled in Egyptian cotton sheets, smooth and pristine against his skin. Next to him, Isabella slept peacefully, her usual sharp features softened by sleep.

He watched the rise and fall of her chest, remembering how she’d commanded the room even in the throes of passion. Everything about Isabella Ashworth spoke of power – from the precise way she’d undressed him to how she’d tried to dominate their encounter. But he’d matched her at every turn, proved he was her equal, made her lose that infamous composure she wore like armor. That moment when she’d finally surrendered to their mutual desire, when her carefully maintained control had shattered – it had awakened something in him he hadn’t expected.

The kidnapper’s words echoed in his mind: "Rich women like her, they use pretty boys like you for fun. Then they throw them away."

’They don’t understand what’s between us,’ Liam thought, his jaw clenching. He might have started as her debtor, forced into this arrangement by his wife’s theft, but he’d become something else entirely. The streets had taught him how to survive, how to never let anyone have power over him. This gilded cage of hers wouldn’t be any different.

Rolling onto his side, he studied Isabella’s sleeping form. In sleep, she looked almost vulnerable – a word he’d never associate with her while conscious. The mighty Lady Ashworth, stripped of her armor. No designer clothes, no corporate swagger, no calculating gaze. Just a woman who’d shown him glimpses of something real beneath all that power. He’d seen her tension during their high-stakes game at the casino, caught that flash of genuine concern when he’d fought off the attackers. Small cracks in her perfect facade that made his heart race for reasons beyond their power play.

’Every time she lets her guard down, I see the real woman beneath the power,’ he mused, watching the shadows play across her face. ’And damn if I’m not falling for her.’

The memory of last night played through his mind. She’d tried to maintain control, tried to treat him like every other man she’d probably brought to her bed. But he’d seen through it, matched her passion with his own until they were equals in this dance of desire. Until they’d both surrendered to something deeper than their battle for dominance.

Rising carefully to avoid waking her, Liam walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows. London sprawled before him, a maze of lights and shadows. Somewhere in that urban jungle, his kidnappers were plotting their next move. The thought should have terrified him, but instead, it filled him with determination. No one would threaten what he’d found here.

’They think they know what I am,’ he thought, pressing his forehead against the cool glass. ’Just like everyone else who’s underestimated me.’ The kidnapping had shown him just how precarious his position was. One wrong move and he could lose everything – including her.

Every person who’d tried to break him had failed. His father with his fists and fury, his wife with her betrayal, the merciless streets that had tried to crush his spirit – they’d all underestimated him. But with Isabella, the game had changed. She matched him move for move, strength for strength. And somewhere along the way, their battle for control had become something else entirely.

Behind him, Isabella stirred in her sleep, murmuring something inaudible. Liam turned to watch her, his expression a mix of desire and something deeper. She was used to being the puppet master, pulling strings from her tower of power. But she’d met her match in him – someone who could match her strength while seeing the woman beneath the power.

He remembered their dance earlier that night, before everything had escalated. The way they’d moved together, neither truly leading, neither truly following. ’Just like everything else between us,’ he thought. ’Two equals, even if she doesn’t know it yet.’

Walking back to the bed, Liam carefully sat on the edge. Isabella’s dark hair spilled across the pillow, a stark contrast against the white silk. He gave in to the urge to touch it, to feel its softness between his fingers. Last night had changed things between them. She might think she’d claimed him, marked him as her territory. But he’d claimed her too, matched her passion with his own until they were both lost in something that went beyond their power games.

The moonlight shifted, casting new shadows across the room. In the distance, a siren wailed – a reminder of the dangerous city beyond these luxury walls. Liam had survived those streets, learned their harsh lessons well. Now he’d use those lessons to protect what they were building here.

’No more games,’ he thought, watching her sleep. ’No more pretending this is just about power.’

Isabella shifted again, showing signs of waking. Liam lay back down, letting his arm curl around her waist. Let her think she had him under her control. Let her believe she’d won some victory last night. The truth was, they’d both won something far more valuable than dominance – they’d found an equal who could match them step for step, passion for passion.

In the quiet of the night, as London’s heartbeat pulsed beyond the windows, Liam Campbell prepared for the next round of their dangerous dance. But this time, his goal wasn’t to win – it was to prove they could both surrender without losing themselves. To show her that true power lay in what they could build together, not in who could dominate whom.

His fingers traced patterns on her skin, and in her sleep, she moved closer, fitting perfectly against him. The woman who’d thought to make him her possession had instead become something far more dangerous – she’d become the first person he’d ever trusted with his heart.

The game is just beginning,’ he thought as he closed his eyes, a slight smile playing at his lips. ’And I’m playing to win her for life.’