They scanned the exterior of the dorm building the same as all the others, except this time they did it in silence.
When they reached the end, Brandon turned to her, but didn’t speak until she met his eyes. Maybe it was the low light, but they were indecipherable. “So, now we try the obvious option?”
“Hm?” Lia was distracted and had no idea what he was talking about.
“The plaza.”
“Oh. Yes. To the plaza.”
Chapter Six
The plaza was at the center of everything. It’s where the food court was, among other things.
They reached the center of the plaza and Lia stopped. A few athletes walked about, returning to their dorms for the night. She spun in a slow circle, eyes scanning every surface.
Two American hockey players ran by them, laughing and tossing a camera back and forth between them.
Lisa sighed and turned in another circle. “It will go faster if we split up,” she said.
Brandon didn’t want to split up – for both professional reasons and very unprofessional ones. He’d have to tell her who he was eventually, of course, to get the official interview and accompanying photo shoot, if nothing else. He probably should have already told her – before he’d kissed her – but he was worried about how she’d react. Evangelia Milonas did not talk to the press more than she absolutely had to.
She explained the search route to him and they set off in opposite directions. His body threw a temper tantrum when he walked away from her. It seemed to be yelling at him to go back. Go back, wrap her in your arms, and kiss her, you idiot. For real this time. But he kept walking, following her instructions. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d kept his hands off a girl he was this attracted to for this long. How much will power had it taken to stop kissing her after the guard stopped watching him? He hadn’t thought he possessed that much. As it was, he’d continued kissing her long after the guard had turned away.
His eyes scanned the ground, but if the torch had been dancing flamenco in front of him, he probably wouldn’t have noticed. All he saw was the memory of Lia grabbing his jacket and yanking him close.
He’d spent another forty-five minutes searching for a thing he was pretty sure he didn’t believe existed when he heard Lia calling his name.
“Brandon!” she half-whispered, half-yelled. “Come here!”
He walked casually to where she was standing in a dim corner of the plaza, despite her frenzied attempts to make him walk faster. After his almost discovery by the dorms, he didn’t want to draw attention to himself.
Her face was flush with excitement and her eyes shone in the low light. When he stood next to her, placing an arm around her back, she pointed to the roof of a closed kiosk above them.
“Do you see?” She slipped her arm around his waist and squeezed. “I think that’s it.”
For a second, he didn’t see anything but her face smiling up at him. The side of her body pressed against his became an all-encompassing distraction. He tore his gaze away and looked up. The roof was about ten feet tall. Two inches of a burnished-metal cylinder extended from the edge.
“Can you lift me up?” Her voice filled with hope and excitement.
He didn’t even believe in the torch, but he hoped this was it, for her sake. Reluctantly, he pulled away from her and moved underneath the edge of the roof. “Ready?”
She bit her lip and nodded. He kneeled and looked up at her. She giggled nervously. He wrapped his arms around her thighs and stood. Of course, his face was right in front of her crotch. She didn’t seem to notice, though, her attention focused above them. He turned his head to the side as she squirmed in his arms, reaching up towards the cylinder.
“I need a couple more centimeters,” she said.
He tightened his hold on her legs and pushed up on his toes. Immediately, he started to lose his balance, feeling her weight pull him forward.
“Got it!” she yelled.
He loosened his grip and let her slide slowly to the ground. Her body rubbed deliciously against his before her feet landed and his arms closed around her waist, steadying her landing. What was he thinking? She was a world-class aerialist. She didn’t need his help with any landing. But still, he didn’t remove his arms, even several seconds later, when she brought the torch around and in between them. His entire body yearned to kiss her again – for real and without holding back.
“We did it!”
It was definitely an older style, from the fifties or sixties. He was still marveling at the thing, wondering at the legend and how true it was, when her lips crashed into his. All thoughts of the torch vanished.
After the initial beat of surprise, he pulled her tight against him and opened his lips, taking control of the kiss. She lifted the torch and placed her arms over his shoulders. Then she melted against him. He felt the moment she surrendered to him. It made his blood sing with need. Finally.
He parted her lips and darted his tongue inside, testing her boundaries. Her grip on his neck tightened, tugging him closer. She opened her mouth and fully welcomed him in.
His mouth devoured hers. Every touch of her lips and tongue was an addictive drug that only made him want more and more. It was true he’d kissed a lot of women, but no one had ever driven him this crazy with just one kiss. He’d always wanted the other women, sure. But he needed this one.
He slid one hand down to cup her ass, pulling her tight against him. A moan tumbled from her lips. At the sound, a craving ignited inside of him. He pushed her up against the front wall of the kiosk, crushing his hips against hers.
Her lips became frenzied, hungry. Brandon placed a hand on each side of her head and kissed her like he’d never kissed anyone, like his life depended on it. Her chest heaved against his. She trailed a hand across his shoulder and down his arm and his nerves blazed at her touch. If that was what she could do to him through several layers of cloth, he wanted her to touch him everywhere. She raised up to her tiptoes and hooked her arm around his waist, pulling until his erection pressed tight against her stomach. Feeling his excitement, she gasped. Her body jerked once and, suddenly, her legs wrapped around his waist. His hardness pressed against her soft warmth. Lia whimpered. It was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.
Brandon pulled away from Lia’s lips. Her short-lived wordless protest halted when he pressed his lips against her neck. He needed to taste her. His tongue caressed the hollow of her throat and she tossed her head back, granting him full access. Her breaths came fast, pushing her chest up towards his face. He cursed the track jacket that kept them hidden from him.
“Want to go to my room?” Lia whispered, her voice husky.
Brandon looked up and met her brown eyes, hoping he wasn’t misunderstanding her intention. They were clear and determined. His mind flashed to the image of two twin beds in one room. No, he wanted Lia all to himself. “I have a hotel room not too far from here.”
She smiled. “That’s a better idea.”
She squirmed against him and the delicious friction of her sex rubbing against his, even through layers of clothing, made him wish they were already in his room.
“You need to let me down.” She smirked at him.
“Do I?” He flashed her an evil grin before taking her mouth again with his. He poured everything he had into the kiss, determined to give her something to think about on the cab ride to his apartment.
When he was satisfied with the fervor with which she grasped at him and moaned at his touches, he pulled away and slid her gently to the ground.
“Tease,” she playfully scolded and set off toward the taxi circle outside of the plaza.
Brandon followed, catching up with her in seconds. He slipped his hand in hers and reveled in the way it made her smile up at him. Keeping his gaze locked on hers, he raised the hand and kissed the inside of her palm, lips lingering against the smooth skin. Lia licked her lips. It took every ounce of self-control he had not to sweep her into his arms and kiss her agai
n.
Somehow, he hailed a cab and gave the driver the name of his hotel. Lia sat against him, her thigh pressed against his. Brandon put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. She laid the torch across her lap. Something occurred to him. Lia wasn’t competing again until the day after tomorrow.
“You heard the part about the superstition where you can only have the torch for a day before its luck turns on you, right?” he said.
She frowned at the torch. “I forgot in the excitement of finding it.”
Brandon raised his hand and lightly traced her ear lobe. She shivered, but refused to be distracted from the torch. Suddenly, her eyes widened.
“I’ll leave it with you! You can give it back to me before I compete.”
He laughed. “That could work.”
With the matter settled, Lia turned her attention back to Brandon. She gazed up at him in the dark backseat of the cab. Her hand lazily grazed his pants, from his knee up to his hip bone. It was a gentle touch, but it set his nerves alight. It was all he could do not to pull her on top of him and take her in the back seat. This would be the longest ten-minute cab ride of his life.
Chapter Seven
Lia stood back as Brandon slid the key card into his hotel room door. At the soft beep of the card being accepted, whatever courage had possessed her to practically jump his bones back at the Village became eclipsed by uncertainty.
She knew it was a line people used, but Lia never did anything like this. She wondered if she should tell Brandon that. Would he believe her? Would he care?
Did she care?
Brandon’s smile as he motioned for Lia to enter ahead of him brought back the buzz she’d already gotten rid of from the wine and beer at the party. He placed a hand on her lower back as he followed behind her.
She decided she didn’t care. Since the second her eyes met those gorgeous blue ones, each look from him had made every cell of her body feel like it might explode. She’d never wanted another man as much as she wanted Brandon James in that moment. And there was no shame in that.
Unless …
Her brow creased as she frowned. Suddenly, as much as she wanted to, she couldn’t look Brandon in the eyes.
“What is it?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”
Her only response was a deepening of the flush on her cheeks. She didn’t even know how to bring up the subject, it seemed so awkward.
He touched her elbow, then withdrew it as though he thought better of it. “We don’t have to … we can go down to the lobby if you don’t want to … if you’re not comfortable.”
She loosed a nervous laugh and moved further into the room, but avoiding the bed in the center. “No, it’s not that. I still … want to.” She shot him a sidelong glance. “Very much.”
He seemed to let out a heavy breath before wrapping one arm around her waist and using the other to lift her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. She was half tempted to just let the matter drop. One kiss from him and she’d forget all about it. Until tomorrow, anyway.
“I just don’t want you to think that I’m doing this because,” she paused, licking her lips, “for any kind of, how do Americans say it? Special consideration?”
He laughed and kissed her hard on the forehead. There was something about the gesture that comforted her to her core.
“You had me worried for a minute,” he said. “I didn’t think that at all.” A strange look flashed across his face but it disappeared before she was sure it was there.
He used his free hand to tilt her chin up further.
“It’s just you and me here, tonight. That’s all this is about.”
Their eyes locked in a searching gaze, staying that way until he bent down and met her lips with his own. Her eyelids fluttered closed, like she couldn’t stand the sensation of his lips and gaze on hers at the same time. His hand tickled her neck and down her side, hooking around her waist to pull her tight against him. Every thought that didn’t have to do with his lips and his hands fled from her mind. She flung her arms around his neck and pressed her chest into his. Brandon’s barely-restrained groan vibrated against her lips, and she couldn’t help but smile against his.
Not without protest from Lia, Brandon pulled away from the kiss. He smirked dangerously, making her feel like she needed to sit down before her knees went out beneath her.
He leaned down further and kissed her neck, pressing against her skin with his hot tongue. Her pulse hammered against his tongue and she couldn’t quite catch her breath.
“So, why are you doing this?” he murmured against her skin. His voice danced with amusement.
“Hmm?” she said, the only answer her muddled brain could come up with.
One strong hand went to the zipper of her jacket, gripping it between his finger and thumb. “Is it because you’re attracted to me?”
Lia was glad he couldn’t see her face, focused as he was on her neck. “Is it that obvious?”
He tugged the zipper down and the soft “zzzz” sound filled the space between them.
His lips traveled north to her ear. “Maybe it’s because you think I’m sexy?” He punctuated his question with a tiny nip of her earlobe.
Sharp pleasure pulsed between her legs. Lia couldn’t stop the moan that escaped her lips. She didn’t have the self-control to return his banter. She barely managed the single word answer. “Yes.”
She heard his smile. He slid the jacket from her shoulders and let it fall to the floor, leaving her in a white tank top undershirt. She wore the ones with a built-in sports bra, so that’s all that stood between his hands and her flesh. His fingers played underneath the racer-back between her shoulder blades as he nuzzled her ear. “And maybe you think I’m charming?”
Words failed her. Her throat felt tight. She nodded.
“But there are hundreds of attractive, sexy, charming men in the Village. And I’m guessing you didn’t give them a second glance.” He pulled back to gaze at her, cupping her face in his hands. “Because it’s something else, too, isn’t it? Something that terrifies you because you don’t know how to define it. Something that makes every touch feel more right than you’ve ever been.”
Speechless, she stared at him. Was that a line? If it was, it was a damn good one. Of course, the other option was he was being sincere – and somehow, was feeling the exact same way she was.
He kissed her temple, her cheek, the side of her mouth. “My reasons are the same,” he whispered. His breath against her cheek sent shivers down to her toes and through her fingertips.
He kissed her then, starting slow and soft, but building slowly. She slid her hands down his back and underneath his jacket and shirt, digging her fingers into his skin. He breathed in a sharp breath, and the kiss morphed into something more. Something hungry and desperate.
Her fingers fumbled with the buttons of his jacket, barely able to concentrate on the task thanks to the fervor of his kiss, but she eventually liberated them all. She tugged the jacket over his broad shoulders and down his arms, to join hers on the floor. She frowned at his thick long-sleeve shirt, making him laugh. If she could make him laugh forever, she thought she’d never need anything else in her life.
“You’re wearing too many clothes,” she said.
He laughed again. “Look who’s talking.”
He slid his fingers under the elastic waistband of her track pants and inched it over her thighs and ass, seemingly enjoying her tormented squirming. He crouched as he pulled them down below her knees. He kissed the front of her left thigh and freed her left ankle from the pants leg. She’d heard of girls swooning before, but had never really understand what it meant – until he raised his eyes to hers as he grazed his lips down the outside of her right thigh.
Her knees went weak and she dropped to sit on the bed behind her as he slid the pants leg from her right foot and tossed it behind him.
Standing directly in front of her, he began to unbutton his shirt. Impatient, she began to work on the bottom butto
ns. Only when she untucked the bottom of his shirt from his pants did she notice the bulge straining against the zipper of his dress pants. The hot wetness between her legs throbbed in response. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips, and she caught her bottom lip between her teeth, biting down.
Something broke Brandon’s obvious carefulness. She could tell he’d been trying to take his time, but he abandoned the buttons of his shirt and yanked the thing over his head, tossing it across the room. Lia smiled, triumphant.
Brandon pushed her shoulders down until her back rested on the white comforter. He crouched over her, shifting her knees with his until she lay on the bed completely. He traced a trail of kisses from her neck down to where her breasts disappeared below the thin, white cloth. Lia crossed her arms at her waist, squirmed, and tugged the shirt over her head.
Brandon’s mouth smiled against her skin. “Much better,” he said. His lips grazed across the swell of her breast, the soft brush of his breath tightening her nipples into tiny buds. When she thought she could endure no more soft, gentle touches, he pulled one nipple between his lips and sucked.
A wordless cry escaped her lips as her chest heaved towards him.
“What was that, Evangelia?”
She hadn’t said anything the first time, not really. But now she knew what it had meant. “Please,” she begged.
Without a second’s hesitation, he pulled her panties down to her ankles and she kicked them off. He kissed her pubic bone, rubbing his hands up and down her inner thighs. Her hips bucked against his lips. With each trip, his hand approached closer and closer to where she really wanted it. Finally, his fingertips tickled the folds between her legs. He stared at the spot in wonder, seemingly oblivious to her spasms of anticipated pleasure.
“You’re so wet.”
Desire engulfed her like flames on gasoline.
“Please,” she repeated. Her grasp on English was slipping. “Now. I need you inside me.”
A grin lit up Brandon’s face. “You only needed to ask.”
Love and Other Games Page 17
