by Brynley Bush
“This is great,” I say, turning to Tessa. “How did you—”
“Shhh,” she interrupts me. “There’s more.”
“Ava is as feisty as they come, and Roman is a true Dom who’s not used to having his authority challenged, and America has loved watching the sparks fly when these two butt heads, not to mention the heat that usually follows. But while we all love Roman and Ava, Emmett, the tattoo artist Dom whom Ava arrived with, has charmed America with his easy smile and heart of gold.” She fans herself. “Not to mention those washboard abs.”
There are clips of me and Emmett now, but taken out of context, they hint at a relationship between Emmett and me—him trying to bid for me at the auction, our stolen meetings in the gym, moments I wasn’t even aware of when the camera has caught him watching me, and the night at the Helix Club where he had taken up guard next to Roman, protecting me. I can feel tears threatening to spill at Emmett’s sweet gesture. Then they show the clip of the one-on-one challenge between Roman and Emmett at Lake Mead, where both men obviously had the opportunity to eliminate each other from the games and neither took it.
“Although they’re possibly competing for the same woman, it almost looks like the two Doms have formed an alliance. But they can’t both win, and the nation is drawing lines—those who are Team Roman and those who are Team Emmett.”
“Oh, my God,” I breathe. “You were right. The audience thinks there’s a thing between me and Emmett?”
“They have a point, Ava,” she says gently. “I’ve said all along there’s more there than friendship.”
“No,” I protest. “He’s just been through a lot with me.”
I’m sidetracked by an image from the photo shoot of me bound and blindfolded that looks larger than life, even on the small TV screen.
“With less than a week left before the season finale, the audience has more questions than answers. Who will win the Power Games? Who will win Ava’s heart? And who exactly is the girl behind the blindfold? There are rumors that the new face of the Helix is the stepdaughter of presidential hopeful Anthony Sanderson the Third, although these rumors haven’t been substantiated. Sanderson has refused to comment on whether or not he is related to Ava Summers, instead vehemently maintaining his stance that pornography dehumanizes women and that he is categorically opposed to a show like The Power Games that glorifies violence against women.”
“That would be quite a blow to his campaign if that were the case, wouldn’t it, Ashley?” the male coanchor chimes in.
“Indeed it would, Ryan,” she says. “But since no one on the show is allowed to talk to the press until the winner is announced, we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Tessa switches off the TV, and I sit there in stunned silence. My plan has worked, although it’s going to take winning to truly ruin my stepfather.
“How did you find this?” I ask. “And how did you get in here?”
“It’s a long story,” she says with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I accidentally walked in on one of the maids crying, and I stopped to ask her what was wrong. It turns out her husband had been wrongly deported, leaving her alone here with their four children.” She shrugs. “I gave her the number of one of the partners at my firm, who’s offered to give her some pro bono help, and she brought me down here this morning where there were no cameras to thank me and give me this.” She pulls out a beautiful pair of handcrafted turquoise earrings. “This was playing, and I knew you had to see it.”
She looks at me curiously. “Is it true about you being the stepdaughter of Anthony Sanderson?”
I can feel that familiar shield of emotionless composure coming down, and I’m opening my mouth to politely deflect her question when I stop myself. This is Tessa, whose readily given friendship and loyalty have humbled me from the beginning. She deserves more. She deserves my trust.
“Yes,” I say. “He did something terrible two years ago, something that had an overwhelming impact on me, and I decided I’m not going to let him get away with it anymore. This is my revenge.”
She grins at me. “I knew you were a girl after my own heart, Ava. Give him hell.”
* * * *
Roman
At dinner, Logan announces that Luke and Tessa will be leaving, and Ava is devastated. Then Logan outlines the details of the last official round of the games before the finals, and I’m devastated. I don’t know which one of us the next game is going to be hardest for, me or Ava. After dinner, Ava goes to say good-bye to Tessa, and I hunt down Logan.
Rachel opens the door to their suite, takes one look at my face, and says quickly, “I was just leaving. Take your time.”
“What the hell were you thinking?” I thunder as I walk in on Logan pouring himself a drink at the minibar. He wordlessly grabs a second glass tumbler, pours two fingers of whiskey in it, and hands it to me.
“I was thinking this was a reality TV show, and that this round would drive the ratings up and gain publicity for the hotel,” he says mildly.
“And this is what you came up with?” I ask belligerently. “Seeing if a man who’s not her own Dom can make a submissive come? Seeing if someone else can make Ava come? Motherfucker!” I slam my fist down on the desk. “How am I supposed to stand by and watch another man touch what’s mine? Especially one of the other contestants. Michael is so fucking cruel he makes me look like a pussycat; I don’t want him anywhere near Ava. And Emmett…” I sigh, shaking my head. “Well, he’s Emmett. There’s been tension between us from day one. We don’t exactly have good blood between us.”
“I actually didn’t come up with it,” Logan says, taking a sip of whiskey. “I’ve left the challenges more or less up to the team of writers unless I have a specific idea to make it better. It was my idea to let the audience vote on who gets paired, though. I thought that was pretty brilliant.”
I scowl at him.
“This challenge is the perfect test of a Dom’s control over his submissive, as well as the perfect way to showcase how well trained she is. You know as well as I do that it’s relatively common for Doms to let other Doms play with their submissives. Hell, I’ve seen you give your submissives to other Doms to fuck when they were into that. I don’t know why you’re so upset about this. You can’t be jealous. You said yourself there’s nothing more between you and Ava than a functioning D/s relationship. It’s not like you’re in love with her, right?” There’s a challenge in both his tone and his eyes.
“Fuck you!” I say, sinking down into the chair in defeat. “I can’t fall in love with her. You know that.”
“I think you already have,” Logan says quietly.
* * * *
Ava’s already in our suite when I get back. I walk over to her and wordlessly take her in my arms, inhaling the sweet scent of her as I hold her close in a crushing hug. Her arms wind around my waist as she hugs me back, her body molding to mine.
“Are you okay?” she asks quietly.
With my cheek pressed against her hair, I say grimly, “I don’t want you to do the next challenge.”
She pulls back a little, studying my face. She traces her finger lightly over my lips.
“It’ll be okay,” she reassures me. “You’ve never treated me like I’m fragile. Don’t start now. I can handle it.”
“I don’t know if I can,” I say heavily, sitting down in the leather armchair and pulling her into my lap. “I can’t stand the thought of Michael or Emmett touching you and bringing you pleasure.”
“They won’t,” she assures me. “Remember Western Night?” She smiles wryly. “You’re the cartographer who discovered me. Only you know the hidden roads that lead to my pleasure. It’ll be an easy win for us.” She stops and frowns. “But I don’t like the idea of you making Carly or Rebecca come either.”
“We could quit now and start a life together off the show,” I say, putting into words the plan that has been forming in my mind since I left Logan’s suite. “We wouldn’t win any money, but as it turns out, I have plenty of tha
t.” I add the last part with a smile, but I’m not joking.
The look in her eyes is so tender and full of joy I’m certain she’s going to say yes.
“These games are about more than just the money to me,” she says softly. “Two years ago, someone stole something from me, and winning these games is the only way to get it back. I made his name my safe word so I’d remember exactly what I was giving up if I ever decided to use it. I’m sorry, but I can’t quit now.”
I want to know more, to demand she tell me what has happened to her, but I know Ava’s secrets will only unfold when she’s ready to share them with me. And when I’ve earned her heart. Until then, I can only give her what’s mine to give. I inhale deeply and take her hand in mine. “Then we’ll win.”
* * * *
Ava
As I stand naked on the stage of the Helix Room with Rebecca and Carly, my heart hammering, I’m kicking myself for not taking the opportunity to quit when Roman had suggested it last night. I still haven’t come down from cloud nine over his admission that he wants to be with me—not just for the show but for real. But, I remind myself, our future can wait one more week so I can finish what I started and expose Anthony for exactly who he is—a liar, a hypocrite, and a murderer. I want my future with Roman to be a clean start, and to do that I have to exorcise Anthony and his hold over me once and for all.
I take a deep, steadying breath as Logan joins us on the stage. “The audience has voted,” he says solemnly. “For tonight’s challenge, Carly will be paired with Roman, Rebecca will be paired with Michael, and Ava will be paired with Emmett.”
Time seems to stop as Emmett’s eyes meet mine. I almost wish I’d been paired with Michael even though he creeps me out, or maybe because he does. I shake my head slightly. This is the best possible scenario. Emmett is my best friend. We’re a team. I know I can trust him. I give him a tentative smile, and he grins back at me, giving me that “him and me against the world” look of assurance I’ve come to count on for the past two years. I look over at Roman. He’s watching me, his eyes unreadable. “Let’s go over the rules,” Logan continues. “Each Dom will have fifteen minutes to try to bring the submissive to orgasm. If he succeeds and she orgasms, he will be awarded one hundred points for his team. If she doesn’t orgasm, her team gets one hundred points. Guys stay clothed and can only use their hands and mouths. We’ll begin with Ava and Emmett.”
Oh, no. This isn’t happening. With grim resolve, Roman guides me to the black padded leather bondage table that has been set up on the stage. I lie down on it with growing unease, and he buckles my ankles into the attached restraints with my legs spread open. He grasps my wrists and pulls them over my head, fastening the cuffs onto them so I can’t move my arms. He then places a thick black strap over my torso just above my navel, tightening it so I’m completely restrained. He gazes down at me, his expression unreadable.
“No blindfold,” he dictates harshly. “There will be no pretending this time.”
I nod wordlessly, my heart racing.
He inclines his head curtly in Logan’s direction and then takes a seat as Emmett approaches. I’m strung as tightly as a guitar string, my body quivering with nerves. Emmett crouches down next to me, his lips so close to my ear that no one can hear him but me.
“Relax, Ava,” he says soothingly in his voice that’s so dear to me. “We’ve been through much worse than this together, right?”
I nod, relaxing a little.
“You’re more than a game to me. I’m not going to try to make you come. It’s not worth the hundred points to make you miserable. But if I refuse to touch you at all, we might both be disqualified, or worse, Michael might step up to take my place.”
“You’ll never make a girl come just by talking to her,” Michael jeers.
“Maybe you just don’t know how to talk to a girl,” Emmett shoots back with a mischievous grin. He turns back to me. “If you want me to stop, all you have to do is say my name, okay?”
I nod again, letting out the breath I’ve been holding. This is Emmett. I have nothing to worry about.
“But I won’t lie; I’ve dreamed of touching you like this.”
He traces my lips gently with his fingertip. What? I’m still trying to process what he just said; surely he didn’t mean that the way it came out. But I’m distracted by his fingertips, rougher and more calloused than Roman’s, slowly trailing over my cheekbone. He brushes my hair back tenderly and then leans over to press his lips to the pulse points in my wrists. He places soft kisses down the sensitive skin of my inner arm and then he kisses my neck, and I can feel the rapid flutter of my pulse beneath his lips.
“C’mon, man. Get on with it.” Michael’s voice seems to come from far away as Emmett’s strong hands stroke my calves up to my inner thighs and then down again. He does that several times unhurriedly, as if he has all the time in the world to simply stroke my skin. I feel his lips on my stomach, his tongue circling my navel languidly, and my stomach clenches involuntarily. His strong hands curve over my rib cage, so large they could almost span my entire torso, but I’m not afraid. This is Emmett. He firmly strokes from my rib cage down to my abdomen, his thumbs pressing deliciously into my flesh like the perfect massage.
I’m so focused on how wonderful his hands feel that I don’t notice the slight shift in his weight until his mouth closes over my nipple. I gasp as I arch into his mouth. Oh, God. I’m not supposed to respond to this. How can I possibly be responding?
He sucks on my nipple, his tongue pressing it against the roof of his mouth, and I can feel the trickle of desire between my legs where everyone can see. Where Roman can see. I want to close them, to hide, but there’s no modesty or mystery allowed here, no secrets I can keep.
I open my eyes, searching for Roman, but Emmett’s head on my breast blocks my vision, and I can’t see him. Emmett moves to my other breast as his fingers pick up where his mouth left off, rolling the hardened peak. He tweaks it gently at first and then slowly increases the pressure. He adds a little twist as his teeth clamp down on the other nipple. I whimper softly, feeling another surge of wetness.
I try to conjure Roman’s face in my mind, but instead all I can see is Emmett, the warmth of his brown eyes, his ready smile, the chiseled plane of his stomach, his comforting arms. His tongue, teeth, lips, and fingers tease and torment—sucking, licking, nibbling, twisting, biting, and squeezing until Logan calls time.
Before Emmett steps away, he presses a soft kiss to my lips and whispers, “Thank you.”
Logan announces that I’ve won the hundred points, and I lie there, still dazed as Roman unbuckles the ankle and wrist restraints and the belt across my middle. What the hell just happened?
* * * *
Roman and I don’t talk afterward. His face is as hard and impassive as stone as we walk silently back to our suite, and I don’t have the emotional strength to deal with the elephant in the room tonight. He still pulls me to his chest when we climb into bed, but things are different between us.
We find each other in the middle of the night, our bodies saying what we can’t. Our coupling is intense and wild and almost sacred, as if we can eradicate the lingering presence of Emmett by the sheer force of our lovemaking.
Roman’s cordially cool demeanor in the morning destroys me. I’d rather endure a beating from him than this distant silence. Finally, I’ve had enough.
“Why are you being like this? I didn’t come!”
He looks me in the eyes, his own gray ones shuttered. “But you responded to him. I know your body, Avalon. It has no secrets from me.”
“So? It didn’t mean anything. It was just a physical response. Besides, you made Carly come,” I add bitterly.
His lips curl up in a sneer. “Are you jealous, Ava?”
“Yes! I am, dammit. I didn’t like you touching someone else.” To my horror, tears well up in my eyes. I turn away from him, not wanting him to see me cry. What the hell is wrong with me? I never cry. His h
and on my shoulder is gentle but firm, turning me back to face him.
“Me neither, Ava,” he says heavily. “I wanted to rip Emmett apart for touching you, and I wanted to hurt you, to punish you for responding to him. I hate myself for it, but it’s true. It was a bitch of an event, and watching that was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I’m sorry, baby.” He opens his arms, and I walk into them with a sigh of relief. He hugs me tightly, his cheek resting against my hair. “Let’s forget about it and put it behind us.”
At dinner, Logan announces that Michael and Carly have been voted off the show, leaving me and Roman and Emmett and Rebecca as the finalists. I should be thrilled. I’m going to be walking away with at least half a million dollars, and my stepfather is finally going to pay for what he did two years ago. Regardless of what happens now, I’ll be on the final show and will have the platform to tell the world just who he is and what he’s done. But somehow, I don’t feel as excited about it as I should. Because in less than a week, my time with Roman will be over if we don’t win. I’d come here to ruin Anthony’s life like he’d ruined mine, but now that I’ve accomplished that, I don’t want to leave. Suddenly, I want more than ever to win it all—the games, the job at the Helix, and most of all, Roman.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ava
Early Sunday morning, Roman, Emmett, Rebecca, and I are called downstairs, and over coffee Logan tells us about the final challenge. I stick close to Roman, studiously avoiding Emmett.
“Pack your bags, because tomorrow morning we leave for Costa Rica.”
I try unsuccessfully to tamp down the little thrill of excitement at his announcement, but it doesn’t work, and I shoot Roman an ecstatic smile. Although staying at the Helix has been incredible and it has every comfort of the most luxurious home and then some, I’m eager for a change of scenery, and a beach vacation sounds sublime. Especially since I will be there with Roman.
“You’ll be staying at a private resort for four days and three nights, returning to the Helix on Thursday. The following evening, the winning couple will be announced.” Logan smiles at us. “You four have stayed at the top for most of the competition, but now we’ll see which of you is cut out to be the Helix Dom and sub. The final challenge will be the ultimate test of Domination and submission. For the duration of your entire stay at the resort, you will enter into a Total Power Exchange with your partner.”
