All in the Game

by Barbara Boswell

  “All of that was about the other Howes. You didn’t do anything wrong. At least do me the favor of being honest with me, Tynan. Admit that you never once considered coming back to West Falls to see me.”

  “I did, Shannen.”

  “Of course you’d say that now! You’re wearing a condom—and…and keeping it on while I’m yelling at you!”

  His lips quirked. “Not as difficult as it seems since you’re naked in bed and I want you more than I’ve ever wanted a woman in my life, Shannen.”

  “Which proves my point. You’d say anything to—”

  “I want to make love with you, Shannen. I’ve been honest about it, I haven’t tried to trick you into anything.” He sat down on the bed and carefully lifted the quilt from her. “You want me, too. We aren’t playing a game of easy or hard to get. And thanks to tonight’s vote, we’re free from the Victorious game, too.”

  He leaned over her, and as his head descended, Shannen was fully aware of what was coming next. And welcomed it, she allowed herself to admit. She was weary of putting up roadblocks between them. This wasn’t a game. This was Tynan, whom she’d longed for since she was seventeen.

  Never mind that in her girlish daydreams they had been in love when they made love. She was all grown up now; she knew lovemaking didn’t have to include true love.

  A small wistful sigh escaped from her throat as his mouth touched hers. Being with Ty tonight would be enough. It would have to be enough.

  She held him tight as he gently yet inexorably pressed into her.

  “Sweetheart,” he whispered hoarsely, dropping his head to her breast. He had stopped moving, allowing her body time to adjust before fully sheathing himself in her liquid heat.

  Shannen caressed him, her hands gliding over the full length of his back from his shoulders to his hips, savoring the feel of him in her arms, in her body. Her fingers tightened around him, pressing him down as she arched her hips upward, inching him even deeper inside her.

  “More, Ty.” She pressed again.

  He resisted. “Shannen, you’re so small, so tight. Let’s take it slowly. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  She shook her head. “You won’t, you can’t. I want all of you inside me now, Ty. I’m tired of waiting. We’ve already waited too long.”

  “Way too long,” he agreed fervently. He filled her with one long thrust, then began to move, teasing her by withdrawing almost completely, waiting for her to moan his name before moving forward again.

  He kept up the slow steady rhythm until she squirmed beneath him, locking her limbs around him in a silent plea. Ty wasn’t one to settle for silence.

  “Tell me what you want.” He chuckled softly. “Faster, like this?” He moved faster, just as she wanted him to and then stopped, as if awaiting further instructions.

  “Deeper?” he suggested, proceeding while she gasped with pleasure. He stopped to propose, “Harder?” and to demonstrate exactly how that felt, too.

  Shannen’s breath caught. His teasing was sexy and arousing and maddening, all at the same time. “Yes,” she panted. “Faster, deeper, harder. Please, oh, please!”

  Every sensual nerve ending had caught fire and burned as their movements created a blaze that threatened to consume her. No, not threaten, she dizzily corrected. There was nothing threatening about this union with Ty.

  Promise was the correct description. Their sexual conflagration promised to consume her and she wanted that—she wanted all barriers between them melted away forever.

  And they were. The wild, intense pleasure finally overwhelmed them at the same moment. Shannen cried his name as she shattered into a thousand pieces. Through the firestorm she heard Ty call out for her as he pulsed inside her, their essences joined as they became truly one.

  She was only vaguely aware of his weight collapsing upon her. It was the heat of his body covering her that penetrated her sensuous daze. It complemented the inner warmth that filled her with a sense of utter completeness.

  Slowly she resurfaced, opening her eyes to find him smiling down at her. Their bodies were still joined, and she had no intention of moving. He stirred above her, but she tightened her legs and arms around him.

  “Don’t move.” She purred the command into his ear.

  “I’m too heavy for you,” he protested, but he didn’t move away from her. He trailed a string of gossamer-light kisses along her neck, licking and nipping her skin. “I can’t get enough of you, Shannen.”

  His hands found hers, his fingers intertwining with hers. He felt satiated; he felt a kind of peace he’d never known. This sweet, languid time—with Shannen in his arms, defenseless and utterly trusting, no walls or barriers between them—was like nothing he’d ever known.

  He raised his head and smiled into her eyes. “I’m trying to come up with something profound to say that doesn’t sound like a cheesy line,” he admitted quietly. “Because being with you…”

  His voice trailed off. There really were no words to describe how he was feeling right now.

  I love you sprang to mind, and he dismissed it just as quickly. No, that was beyond cheesy, it was more like fraud. According to the Book of Howe, love had nothing to do with what he felt for Shannen right now. It was the pleasurable afterglow of sex.

  But to say that would be tactless—and then some.

  “I’d love to know what you’re really thinking.” Shannen was staring deeply into his eyes. “Your expression keeps changing, like there’s a civil war going on in your head.”

  “An astute observation.” Ty slowly disengaged his body from hers and sat up. She was scarily close to the mark. He drew her into the circle of his arms and leaned back against the pillows.

  “I’d like to know what you’re really thinking, Shannen.” He brushed his lips lightly over her hair, the clean, fresh scent of coconut shampoo filling his nostrils.

  He wasn’t simply trying to divert her from gaining access to his own conflicted thoughts, he assured himself; he was genuinely interested in her take on this development in their ever-evolving relationship.

  “I already told you.” She cast him a glance beneath her lashes. “That I’d love to know what you’re really thinking.”

  “A winning combination of flirtatious and evasive.” He was glad she was playing it this way, Ty decided. Keeping it light instead of getting all carried away with deep talk of love and promises.

  Shannen studied him and had no trouble reading the relief that crossed his face. It was fortunate that she’d snuffed her afterglow impulse to rhapsodize about their lovemaking.

  She wanted to tell him that being with him not only lived up to her long-held fantasies but exceeded them, that she not only loved having sex with him, she loved him, Ty Hale, the ex-Howe who worked for a living.

  She supposed she could’ve at least told him that she’d never known making love could be this way, that with him she’d had her very first climax, but then he might feel encouraged to share his sexual history with her. Which she didn’t want to hear.

  Nor did she care to go into detail about her own lack of experience, which consisted only of Ben Salton, her college boyfriend and first lover. She’d been Ben’s first lover, too, and their fumbling clumsy sex had been so awkward and miserable for them both that a year after they’d broken up and Ben had found someone new, he’d actually called Shannen to tell her that sex could be good, not awful, and she shouldn’t let their unskilled forays keep her from trying it again—with someone else, of course.

  Shannen had thanked good old Ben and wished him luck with his new love but declined to venture back into the sexual arena. From what she could tell, there were too many negatives and not a single positive, especially since she’d firmly suppressed any hopes of ever being with Tynan Howe. He was a closed chapter in her life.

  Which had been now reopened.

  Or had it?

  That she had satisfied him, Shannen had no doubt, but he’d made a point of holding back the words that would eleva
te tonight from hot one-night stand to something more.

  Something involving love and trust and commitment.

  So she would follow his lead. No opening her heart to him, the way she had as a naive schoolgirl in love. He’d crushed her back then, and it wasn’t going to happen again. She was a gameworthy opponent now.

  A loud and unexpected knock sounded at the door, jolting them both from the thoughtful silence enshrouding them.

  “Probably a maid,” said Ty. “Tell her to—”

  “Lauren, baby, are you still awake?” an urgent male voice called from the hall. “Lauren, open up. It’s Jed.”

  Shannen sprang from the bed, her actions sheer reflex. Jed? she mouthed to Ty, who looked as startled as she did.

  “He thinks I’m Lauren,” she said in a whisper. “He called her ‘baby’!”

  “Lauren, come on! Let me in!” Jed’s voice rose, the words slurring.

  “Do you think he’s been drinking?” whispered Shannen, still trying to process Jed’s appearance at what he thought was Lauren’s hotel room door—and demanding to be let in!

  “I’d count on it,” Ty muttered back. “Tell him to get lost, Shannen.”

  “Why would he think I’m Lauren?” She still looked confused.

  “I’m going to hazard a guess. The resort has no TV access, and even if it did, nobody would know you’d been voted off the island yet. Someone would’ve had to tell the Victorious jury pool down in the Parrot Room which contestant arrived at the hotel tonight.”

  “And somebody said it was a twin and Jed assumed it was Lauren?” Shannen surmised with a scowl. “Why would he assume that my sister would get voted off before me?”

  “Just making a guess here.” Ty made a sound halfway between a groan and a chuckle. “But I think Kevin and Adam, the PAs who came to the hotel with me tonight, told Jed that Lauren was here.”

  “Lauren!” Jed was pounding on the door now. “Baby!”

  “Kevin and Adam know that Cortnee told Lauren—and everybody else on the island the other day—that Jed had slept with Keri and Lucy,” Ty continued. “And since the crew thinks Lauren has a, um, thing for Jed—”

  “She does not!” protested Shannen.

  “Whether she does or doesn’t, I’m betting those merry pranksters decided to see what would happen when they sent Mr. Adventure Guide to your door.”

  “Jed couldn’t have used my sister. I’d have known somehow, I know I would. But that ‘baby’ garbage of his is making me sick.” Shannen was seething. “He has the unmitigated gall to think that Lauren would let him into her room and—”

  “He seems convinced Lauren would let him in,” Ty amended. “Otherwise, he wouldn’t have come up here in the first place, would he?”

  “I’m going to find out right now. Jed!” Her voice went velvety smooth, the anger magically disappearing from her tone but not from her glittering blue eyes. “Give me a minute. I have to get dressed.”

  “No need for that, babe,” Jed called back.

  A murderous expression crossed her face. Shannen whipped on her dress.

  “Shannen, no! Whatever you’re thinking of doing, don’t do it.” Ty pulled on his khaki shorts and T-shirt, dressing as swiftly as Shannen.

  “Hide,” Shannen ordered. “In the closet or the shower. Or out on the balcony. I’ll close the curtains so he can’t see you out there.”

  “Hide?” Ty was appalled. “You’re joking, right?”

  “No. I’m going to have a little talk with Jed and—”

  “You don’t want any witnesses?” Ty grimaced. “As for me hiding, forget it. I am not going to hide anywhere. People only do that in soap operas or wacky sitcoms. We’re doing a reality show here.”

  “This is not any show at all, it’s our life,” Shannen said darkly. “And if Jed, that lawsuit-happy creep, sees you here, you could very well find yourself getting sued by him. Or even fired by Clark Garrett for getting sued. You can’t lose your job, Ty. You’re no longer rich, remember? You work for a living, and take it from someone who always has, that means staying employed. Now, hide!”

  She gave him a push toward the balcony and stalked to the door to the hall, flinging it open.

  “Hello, Jed.”

  “Hi, baby.” A tousled, wrinkled Jed leaned against the doorjamb. “Surprised to see me?”

  “More than you’ll ever know.” Shannen extended her arm. “Come in.”

  “Oh, yeah, babe.” Jed ambled into the room. “Let’s just—”

  There was a loud rattle, and the door to the balcony was opened and shut with a bang. Shannen and Jed simultaneously turned to see Ty rushing toward them.

  “Thank God I made it in time.” Ty pretended to pant, as if he were out of breath from running and catapulting onto the balcony and bursting into the room. “The guys told me what they’d done. Jed, this isn’t Lauren, it’s Shannen, and she isn’t very pleased with what’s been going on.”

  Jed’s jaw dropped. His eyes flew to Shannen’s face, which was a mask of sheer rage. “Ah, man!” he gasped, and headed for the door.

  “You’re not going anywhere until you tell me why you came skulking up here looking for my sister!” Shannen caught a handful of Jed’s shirt.

  He was drunk and off guard and she was pumped with rage, which rendered her surprisingly strong. She gave his shirt a forceful pull, and he stumbled and hit his head on the door frame.

  “Ow! You hit me! I didn’t do anything wrong!” Jed wailed. “Your sister said she—”

  “I didn’t hit you, you tripped, you clod! And don’t you dare say my sister’s name!” Shannen grabbed the knob and swung it back, almost clipping him with it.

  “He didn’t say it, Shannen,” Ty pointed out calmly. Swiftly, he caught her around the waist with one arm and pried her hand from the knob.

  “You’d better get out of here now,” he warned Jed. “Can’t you tell just by looking at her that she has homicide in her heart?”

  “I-I’m going. I’m gone!” Jed ran down the hall, disappearing from sight as he turned a corner.

  Shannen was so furious, she kicked the door shut. “That jerk, that creep, that—”

  “Calm down,” ordered Ty, “or else I’ll put you in the shower and turn on the cold water. That’ll cool you off.”

  “Oh, just try it!” cried Shannen. “I dare you to try it.”

  Her eyes were flashing, her face flushed with fury. Ty started to laugh; he couldn’t help himself. “You’re a fierce one, Shannen. No wonder Jed ran out of here like a spooked horse. You scared him silly.”

  “You did your part, pretending to crash onto the balcony like…like Zorro. And telling him I had ‘homicide in my heart’? Where did that come from?” Shannen gulped back a giggle. Her anger was fast morphing into pure giddiness.

  “It was a line from one of the soaps I worked on. I stored it away for future use, but this was the first time I ever thought it might apply.” A slow grin crossed Ty’s face. “It’s a line that requires a certain kind of overblown situation like, uh, this one.”

  “It’s true, scenes like this don’t come along every day,” agreed Shannen.

  “For that, we can only be thankful,” Ty said dryly.

  Shannen smiled with satisfaction. “I really did scare the rat, didn’t I?”

  “You scared him.” There was a teasing glint in Ty’s dark eyes. “I’m curious as to what you planned to do with him, though.”

  She shrugged. “I didn’t have any real plan—I thought I’d improvise as I went along. I just wanted him to know he’d made a major mistake trying to…to seduce my sister, and to make sure he wouldn’t try it again.”

  “Shannen, what if Jed had every reason to believe that Lauren would welcome him?”

  “I just don’t believe that, Tynan. Obviously, Jed thinks he’s irresistible, and after a few drinks he decided to try his charm on my sister, the newcomer to the hotel. Except he had the bad luck of finding me here instead.”

  “He
’d probably agree with you on the bad luck part, Shannen. But keep in mind, you had the element of surprise going for you at first. It wouldn’t have been long before he recovered himself, and even with him drunk, you would’ve been in big trouble.”

  “I guess so. I know how strong he is from all those stupid contests.”

  “I’d like to hear you admit that my appearance was most timely, Shannen. Even if my entrance was…shall we say Zorroesque?” Ty wrapped her in his arms.

  “I admit it. Your appearance was most timely, Tynan.” She put her arms around him and leaned into him. “And if you’d rather, I could liken it to Batman instead of Zorro.”

  “You’re still not taking the risk seriously, and I can’t stand the thought of you getting hurt. If Jed had tried, I would’ve—” Ty paused, considering.

  “Beaten him up?” Shannen suggested, cuddling closer. “You’re so strong, you could take him easily.”

  “Appealing to my inner Neanderthal?” He kissed the top of her head. “I didn’t know I had one until tonight.”

  They stood together for a few quiet moments, holding each other as the tension from the encounter with Jed drained away. And then, a distinct rumble came from the vicinity of her abdomen.

  Her stomach was growling! “Ohhhh!” Embarrassed, Shannen tried to draw back. “Sorry.”

  Ty held her firm. “Nothing to be sorry about. When was the last time you had a decent meal, anyway? Call room service right now and order something.”

  “On the network’s tab,” they chorused together, laughing.

  “I know exactly what I want.” She headed for the phone beside the bed. “A turkey sandwich with cheese, lettuce and tomato with honey mustard. I’ve been dying for one of those.”

  The food arrived shortly after she called, and Shannen carried it to the table on the balcony. Ty joined her out there while she ate.

  “Did I tell you how much I admire your ethics in turning down the food that night on the beach?” he asked, watching her enjoy every bite of the sandwich.