by Zara Chase
If they hadn’t had an audience, Ward would have shaken her. “It’s not your fault,” he said sternly. “Melanie’s not a child. She can make her own choices.”
“Yes, but she doesn’t always make the right ones.” She flashed an apologetic smile and skied off toward the first-aid station.
Ward watched her go, seeing his plans for the evening disappear right along with her. Perhaps he just had a suspicious mind, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that Melanie’s accident had been no accident. She’d deliberately fallen because she felt she was losing Tanya’s attention. Worse, from Melanie’s narcissistic point of view, Ward had chosen Tanya over Melanie. But was she really whacky enough to risk life and limb just to take up a position center stage? He didn’t know Melanie well enough to be sure, but he wouldn’t put anything past her.
He gave the rest of the class some exercises to do on the slalom course but could tell no one’s heart was in it. After an agonizing wait, Tanya reappeared and everyone stopped to find out how Melanie was doing.
“It’s nothing serious,” Tanya said, smiling. “She was basically just winded. There’s nothing broken and she isn’t concussed.”
There’s a surprise. “That’s good.” Ward struggled to keep a lid on his annoyance.
“Is she rejoining the class?” one of the guys asked.
“No, I’m going to take her back to the hotel. She’s been told to get some rest.”
Ward took Tanya aside. “Still on for tonight?”
“Well, I…” She glanced toward the first-aid post. “I ought to make sure that Melanie’s okay. Can I call you later?”
“Melanie’s fine. You just said so yourself. Besides, Carl will look after her.”
“I know, but I feel kinda responsible for her. We did come here together, and—”
“She’s playing you, darlin’.” Ward flexed his rigid jaw. “She doesn’t like to see the two of us having fun.” He lowered his voice and sent her a seductive smile. “I have plans for us which will, of course, include a severe punishment for even thinking about cancelling.”
Tanya hesitated, moistening her lips as her eyes swam with passion. “I’ll be there,” she said decisively.
* * * *
“Your friend’s in the nurse’s station through there,” Tanya was told. “She just has to sign a few papers. She tells us you have insurance cover, is that right?” Tanya nodded, glad she’d thought to take it out for them both. “Okay, it’ll just be a minute. Go on through if you like.”
“Thanks.”
Tanya was about to do just that when she heard voices coming from the room. Not wishing to intrude, she paused. It took her a moment to realize that Melanie wasn’t talking to a person—she was talking on her cell phone. That was odd. Using her cell phone to call England would cost a small fortune that Melanie—always short of money—didn’t have. Perhaps she was just reassuring people that she wasn’t badly hurt, but who did she have to reassure? No one back home would know she’d taken a tumble.
As Tanya waited for her call to end she couldn’t help overhearing Melanie’s end of it.
“I’m telling you she is.” There was a long pause, presumably while the person on the other end of the phone said something. “No, I wouldn’t recommend waiting.” A shorter pause. “That depends upon how desperate you are, doesn’t it.”
“Go right on in,” a nurse said to Tanya. “She’s ready for you.”
Melanie obviously heard because the phone conversation abruptly stopped, and when Tanya entered the small room, Melanie was stretched out on the exam couch, looking wan and vulnerable. Tanya felt bad for having left her on her own during lunch. Despite what Ward had said, Melanie’s accident was her fault. Melanie was delicate and found it hard to look after herself. Some adults were just like that.
She rushed up to her friend’s side and took her hand. Up close she could see that her face was now unnaturally bright and she could smell brandy on her breath.
“You ready to go?” Tanya asked.
“Yes, if you could just help me up.”
“Who were you talking to on the phone just now?”
“Oh, that was the salon.”
Tanya frowned. “Why would they call you when you’re on holiday?”
“There’s a crisis.” Melanie rolled her eyes. “When isn’t there? Sally’s gone sick and they need someone to cover for her. They asked me if I thought Becky would be willing to step in and did I have her number? I gave it to them but said it depended on how desperate they were. Becky’s not especially good at what she does.”
“Oh, I see.” Melanie worked in a beauty salon. “Right, come along then, let’s get you back to the hotel.”
Carl was waiting outside, looking genuinely concerned.
“Hey, you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine. Shouldn’t you be in class?”
“Not a chance. I’ll come back with you.”
“It’s okay, I have Tanya.”
“You have me, too.”
“Well, if you’re sure you don’t mind.”
Tanya was encouraged when Melanie batted her lashes at him. If she could flirt then there wasn’t too much wrong with her. She could see that her friend was enjoying the attention but figured she was entitled to be fussed over. She’d taken a crashing fall and would have the bruises to prove it tomorrow.
The three of them moved off together. Naturally Carl carried Melanie’s skis as well as his own, leaving Tanya to shoulder her own and keep up with them as best she could. All the way down in the cable car, Carl fussed over Melanie and the two of them spoke quietly to one another, obviously forgetting she was there. Tanya was used to being excluded from Melanie’s relationships but did wonder why she’d bothered to skip out of class when she clearly wasn’t needed.
Melanie shooed Carl away when they reached their room. He went with patent reluctance, promising to check in on her later.
“He’s cute,” Tanya said as she helped Melanie out of her ski gear.
Melanie shrugged. “He’s okay.”
“Do you want to soak in the bath or just get some sleep?”
“I guess I’ll sleep. I should feel okay after that, and we can have a nice meal tonight here in the hotel instead of going to Hadleigh’s.”
Shit! “I’ll have to take a rain check, hon. Er, Ward’s taking me out to dinner.”
“Well, thank you very much.” Melanie’s lower lip wobbled. “Good job I didn’t break my leg. That really would have interrupted your little love fest.”
“Melanie, if you’d really hurt yourself then I’d cancel, but you haven’t.”
Melanie’s eyes widened, presumably because Tanya didn’t usually stand up to her this way. “If I’d known we were going to spend the entire week not seeing each other, I wouldn’t have bothered coming. I’m clearly cramping your style.”
“Sarcasm doesn’t suit you.” Tanya turned away, a sour taste in her mouth. “Carl will take you to dinner, or if you don’t want to do that, you can have something sent up.”
Melanie turned her back on Tanya and pulled the covers up to her ears. “Get ready for your date,” she said, sniffing. “Don’t let me stop you.”
“Thank you, you won’t.”
But all the fun had gone out of it. Melanie fell into a booze-induced slumber, and Tanya filled the time catching up with work on her iPad. Well, that was what she ought to have done. Instead she Googled Ward’s name. She was curious to see what he’d gotten up to in his journalistic career, wondering why he changed the subject every time she asked him about it. She found several in-depth human interest stories with his byline.
One of them, about a family’s ten-year search for a missing child, brought tears to her eyes. It was written with compassion, without being saccharine sweet, telling it like it probably was. The family had left the child alone while they visited their baby son in the hospital. The babysitter was delayed but got there just ten minutes after the parents left. They’d thought their sleepi
ng daughter would be safe because they lived in a virtually crime-free area. When the sitter arrived, no child was there and she thought the parents had taken her with them. Those parents had been vilified by some people for what they’d done, but would have to live with their mistake for the rest of their lives.
“What are you hiding from me, Mr. Shannon?” she whispered softly when she finished reading the piece. “Why have you walked away from a career that you excelled at and hidden yourself away here?”
When Melanie woke an hour or so later she apologized for her fit of pique.
“I don’t know what got into me,” she said, tears in her eyes. “Do you forgive me?”
“Of course I do. How do you feel?”
“A bit sore. My shoulder hurts where I fell on it.”
“Well, it could have been a lot worse.”
“I could use that bath now, if you don’t mind running it for me.”
It would make Tanya late for her date, but she could hardly refuse.
“Stay with me,” Melanie said, once Tanya had helped her into the steaming, fragrant water. “I’m still a bit wobbly and might need help getting out again.”
Melanie wanted to talk, but wisely didn’t mention Brad or Tanya’s relationship with Ward. Tanya was glad they were friends again but kept glancing at her watch. She was going to be late and she hadn’t even started to get ready yet.
She arrived at Ward’s room, hot in spite of the fact that it was snowing, frazzled and feeling guilty as hell for leaving Melanie. She was almost an hour late.
“Sorry,” she said breathlessly. “It was hard to get away.”
* * * *
Ward was on the point of going in search of Tanya, prepared to forcibly drag her away from Melanie if necessary, when the door burst open and she dashed breathlessly through it, a light coating of fresh snow decorating her hair.
“Sorry,” she said. “Melanie needed my help.”
I’ll just bet she did. “No problem.” Ward reminded himself that it wasn’t her fault, which helped to quell his anger at the way she was being manipulated. “You’re here now, which is all that counts.”
He pulled her into his arms, drew on her lower lip for a glorious second or two, and then indulged in an unashamedly carnal kiss that left them both breathing heavily when he finally broke it.
“How’s the invalid?” he asked in a chilling tone.
“Mad at me for running out on her.” She spread her hands. “And now you’re going to give me a hard time for being late. I can’t seem to please either of you.”
Fuck it, I’ve upset her. “Darlin’, if she was really hurt then I’d be the first one to say you should stay with her, but she’s not.”
“Not physically, perhaps, but she’s had a scare and she’s not good with her own company.”
He released his hold on her waist and turned away from her. “I spoke to the guys in the class after you left. Seems they had a couple of Lumumbas each with lunch, but in Melanie’s case they were her lunch.”
“Yes, I suspected as much. She’s got a weird relationship with food.”
But not with the booze. “Then the guys decided to ignore my advice and ski back on the mogul route. Now, it just so happens that the ski patrol keep a close watch on that stretch because it’s north-facing, is almost always icy, and there are so many accidents on it that their services are in constant demand. Melanie would have seen them keeping watch over it when she went up in the chair.”
Tanya gaped at him. “Are you saying she staged her fall just to get my attention? Come on, she wouldn’t do that.”
“Wouldn’t she?”
Ward wondered why he was wasting precious time getting into all this when they could be putting it to much better use. Fuck it, Melanie was coming between them. She was winning. Knowing it was one thing, but switching off was entirely another. All that work he’d done on anger management. He’d had it under control for two whole years, but now Tanya was messing with his mind as well as his heart. He took a deep breath and endeavored to speak in a more measured tone. She needed to know what he’d discovered and then they’d get on with their date.
“Melanie was at the back when they started down the mogul run. None of them realized she’d fallen until they stopped to wait for her and she didn’t appear. Carl took his skis off and sidestepped up to look for her. By the time he got to her the ski patrol had found her and were loading her onto the meat wagon.” He let out a hollow laugh. “Convenient that, don’t you think? She fell when no one was watching her, just before the ski patrol came down, and yet didn’t injure herself. First time I’ve known anyone fall on that stretch and walk away unscathed.”
“I still think it was a coincidence,” Tanya said with a little less conviction.
“She’s jealous of you, sweet thing.” Ward grabbed her shoulders and pushed his face close to hers. “She wanted me, you said so yourself, but you were my choice. Then she wanted Leo but again, no dice.”
“Only because Leo got called into the kitchen.”
Ward’s hollow laugh bounced off the walls. “I asked Leo to distract her last night so you and I could be together without her tagging along.”
“Oh. Are you saying Leo isn’t interested in her either?” She shook her head. “No wonder she’s feeling so grumpy.”
“What do you mean?”
Tanya shook her head. “It’s nothing.”
But there was something. Ward was sure of it. “She’s just been spoiled and indulged and is used to having her way. She can’t stand it that you’re having fun and she isn’t.”
“Right now I’m not having any fun at all. I wouldn’t be much of a mate if I enjoyed hearing you tearing into my best friend. I know she has issues, but if you knew what her dad did to her and her sister…well, let’s just say if anyone has a right to be fragile, it’s her.”
“I hear you.” He pulled her back into his arms. “I’m sorry I got mad. Now, let’s forget all about Melanie and start over.”
She smiled at up him, her eyes glowing with anticipation. “Sounds good to me.”
“Take all your clothes off and get on your hands and knees on the bed. I have something for you.”
She did as he asked, with speed and enthusiasm. She even wiggled her ass at him when she was in position, the provocative little spitfire! Presumably she expected to be chastised, but Ward disliked being predictable. Besides, he had a much better plan. He kneeled up behind her, a tube of lube in his hand, and squirted a little on her backside.
“Aw, that’s cold.”
“Be quiet!”
“Sorry, Master.”
Ward worked the lube into the crack between her cheeks and rimmed her anus with a slick finger. She tensed up, but he persevered, crooning to her, encouraging her to relax. As soon as he figured she was ready, he slid his finger into her and she cried out.
“Am I hurting you?”
“It burns a little.”
“Stay with it, sugar. It’ll get better.”
He lowered his head to suck and bite at her backside, occasionally letting his fingers drift lower to torment her clit. It had the desired effect and he felt the tension leave her body. Removing his finger, he grabbed the butt plug he had ready, lubed it up, and slid just a little bit of it into her ass. Once again she tensed, but Ward had her measure by now. He fingered her swollen clit as he slowly worked the plug into her, eliciting a small sigh from his willing little sub for his efforts.
“How does that feel?” he asked.
“What is it, Master?”
“A plug to distend you. That’s gonna stay right where it is while we have dinner, then—”
“I have to go out with this thing inside me?”
“Darlin’, it’ll blow your mind. I guarantee it. When the oils inside it warm up, they’ll send pleasurable vibes through you all the time you’re eating. And for me, knowing you’re sitting there with your ass full will be a real turn-on.”
“As you wish, Master.”<
br />
“Damned straight.”
“Okay, that’s it,” he said, sliding it all the way into place. “Comfortable.”
“No, I’m on fire.”
Ward chuckled. “That’s kinda the point.”
He stood up, offered her his hand, and pulled her to her feet. He could see from the expression in her eyes that she was disappointed. She’d obviously expected him to fuck her straightaway, and Ward had found it tough to resist. Tormenting her meant tormenting himself. Still, he figured the anticipation would only make things even better once they’d had dinner and finally got down to satisfying their other appetites.
“I have stuff for you to wear.”
She looked dumfounded when he held up the PVC corset he’d chosen for her. “I can’t wear that thing,” she said, giggling. “I need support for my tits.”
“Hey, who’s in charge here?” He rapped her ass and grinned. “Just trust me.”
He helped her into the corset. It had old-fashioned lace strings at the front which he tightened once she had the thing on. It made her small waist even smaller and pushed her full breasts almost out of the tops of the bra cups. The edge of her pebbled, raspberry-pink areolas were visible, just as he’d hoped they would be. The legs were cut high, almost up to her waist at the sides, and a thin strip joined the front and back together, passing between her legs and holding the butt plug in place.
“Look in the mirror.”
He stood behind her as she did so and watched her reaction. She gasped, like she couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing.
“You like?”
“If it pleases you, Master.”
“You please me, darlin’. Shit, I can’t think about anything except you, day and fucking night. You have a lot to answer for, Ms. Novac.” He kissed the top of her head. “How does it make you feel?”
“Incredibly sexy. I’m afraid to walk with that plug inside me, though.”
“You’ll get used to it and will soon forget it’s there.”
“That’s not likely.”
“Come on, let’s get the rest of your clothes on.”
She reached for the ones she’d just taken off, but stopped when Ward shook his head. He handed her the black camisole he’d picked out for her, along with tight black jeans and a checked shirt.
