Club Helix: The Power Games (21 page)

Roman leans over to me and says under his breath, “I plan to play full-out, Avalon. If you don’t want to compete, then say your safe word now, and it ends. But until you do, I won’t make exceptions or go easy on you. That’s not how this works. Do you understand?”

I nod mutely. It makes me feel oddly better knowing that Roman isn’t going to treat me any differently. And after being stuck in the hotel with nothing but my own thoughts for the past few days, I’m actually looking forward to running off some pent-up energy playing paintball.

I’m also competitive, and Roman just threw down the gauntlet.

“By all means,” I agree. “A false victory isn’t nearly as sweet. And I intend to compete the next round paint-free,” I add confidently.

Roman flashes me that killer grin that makes everything in me melt, and I feel myself soften toward him a little bit more. Although he’s gorgeous as sin, it’s that grin of his and his irreverent sense of humor that make me genuinely like him, not just lust after him. And when he smiles at me like that, he almost seems human.

The air horn sounds, and I take off running with the rest of the submissives. I’ve left my shorts on the bus, and I run quickly but carefully through the wooded area so I don’t scrape myself on the low-hanging branches of the juniper trees. A bikini doesn’t provide much protection, and the thought of a paintball, even a low-pressure one, hitting my bare flesh gives me added incentive to elude Roman’s fire. I decide my best offense is a good defense, so I scramble up into a small tree and wait.

The sound of the air horn splits the air again, and a few minutes later I see Karl, Shawn, and Luke stealthily walk beneath me. After a few more minutes, Roman appears. I watch him walk right past me, and I let out the breath I was holding when he disappears back out into the meadow that’s populated with a variety of barricades and bunkers. I hear the sound of pounding feet, and Desiree darts past with Stefan hot on her heels. There’s a pop, and I can see the splat of paint on the butt of Desiree’s swimsuit. She squeals, fires a few wild shots back at him, and then takes off running again. The air is filled with the sound of paintball guns firing, along with shrieks of laughter and yelps of surprise, and the occasional swear word from a Dom who’s been hit, but I bide my time in my tree. With any luck, I can wait Roman out up here for the entire fifteen minutes.

The shot takes me completely off guard, hitting me square in the ass and almost knocking me out of the tree. I turn around in surprise and see Roman salute me from below, a diabolical grin on his face. Shit! I’ve got to get out of this tree.

Adrenaline surges through me as I swing down from the tree and hit the ground running. He fires a few more shots, but the foliage blocks his fire. I run as fast as I can, weaving in and out of the aspen trees as he runs behind me in hot pursuit. I burst into the open field and roll behind a barricade of tires before he emerges from the woods. He looks around the field, calmly hunting for me, and I feel a little thrill of arousal along with the adrenaline at the sight of him, all hard muscle and unyielding determination.

But unless I want to spend the next round running around with a plug in my ass, I can’t just sit here admiring Roman’s amazing physique. I have to take my advantage while I have it. With a grin, I take aim, fire, and hit him square in the middle of those amazing abs.

He swears and looks around in surprise, his gaze scarily intense. I wouldn’t want to be truly hunted by him. I duck out of sight, my back pressed against the tires and my breath coming hard, hoping he didn’t spot me. I hear his footsteps before I see him, and I take off running again, hoping to make it to the next barricade—an old Jeep that will provide better protection—before he can fire at me again. His shot hits me in the calf, but I keep running, diving into the back of the old car. My body encounters hard flesh, and I scream as I scramble backward. I see Megan lying prone along the seat, her gun trained on the woods, as a paintball hits me along the side of my left breast.

I fire a few shots in Roman’s direction, but it’s too late. The air horn sounds, and Roman saunters over to the Jeep, holding his hand out to help me down. I take it begrudgingly.

“You’re not a bad shot when you have time to aim,” he says. I try to pull my hand away, but he’s not having it, and he grips it firmly in his as we walk back toward the clearing. “And you’re clever.” He stops and runs a finger through the still-wet blotch of paint on my breast. With the paint on his finger, he inscribes a big red “R” across the middle of my stomach, marking me as his. “Just not clever enough,” he adds, his eyes sparkling.

Back in the clearing, the Doms are given a knapsack with the submissives’ trophies, as Logan calls them, and I take stock of the rest of the contestants. Karl must have been telling the truth, because poor Bella is marked by paint in all three places, and she trembles slightly as he pulls a plug out of his bag with a smug smile. Most of the submissives are covered in paint and have been hit in at least one or two critical spots, which makes me appreciate Roman’s aim as well as rue the fact that had I been paired with a Dom with a less accurate shot, I probably could have emerged from this heat unscathed. Rose is the only one who wasn’t hit anywhere pertinent, and the Doms rib Jake good-naturedly.

“Clothing from the waist down only for all contestants for the next round,” Logan announces. His eyes crinkle. “Our submissives might need their swimsuit bottoms to keep things in place.”

Roman’s warm fingers pull at the string at the back of my bikini top, and I feel it fall away. My nipples harden under his heated gaze, despite me firmly telling myself that I will not get turned on by Roman and those intense gray-blue eyes of his that can caress me almost as efficiently as his hands.

“What will it be, Avalon?” he asks softly, holding up a small flared plug and a pair of tweezer clamps with weights hanging from them. Crap. If only I hadn’t freaked out when I’d landed on Megan! I consider my options. Although no one would see the plug and I’d found it vaguely arousing in the comfort of the hotel room, running around with it buried in my ass seems impossible.

“The clamps,” I whisper.

Before I can second-guess my decision, his fingers are plucking and tugging erotically, causing my sex to clench and my nipples to lengthen into hardened points. He smiles with approval and attaches first one and then the other clamp. He watches my face closely as he slides the ring up each clamp, tightening them until he’s satisfied. Then he taps the weights attached to each to make them swing like pendulums, sending little frissons of awareness through me.

Once all the submissives have been suitably outfitted, Logan explains the rules of the next game to a slightly more subdued but focused audience.

“The next heat is our game changer. It’s called Shoot the Captain, and you all will be divided into two teams with Doms and subs competing together during this round. There will be two bases—one for each team. Each team will pick a captain, who will be tethered to their base. The goal is to shoot the other team’s captain. However…” He pauses dramatically. “The first captain to get shot will be automatically eliminated from the games.”

There’s a gasp among the contestants. Logan holds up his hand.

“It’s up to each team to protect their captain. If neither captain gets shot, no one will be automatically eliminated, and the two couples to leave after this round will be determined by audience vote as during the past two events. Everyone, including the captain, will be armed with a paintball gun loaded with twenty-five paintballs. If you get hit or run out of paintballs, you’re out and can’t participate for the rest of the round. If your team shoots the captain of the opposing team, each couple on the winning team will be awarded an extra one hundred points. Any questions?”

The vibe has clearly changed from jovial to serious as we’re divided into two groups and given time to plan our strategy and choose a captain. Roman and I are with Tessa and Luke, Rose and Jake, Rebecca and Emmett, and Carly and Michael.

“This sucks,” Michael grumbles. “They have Karl, who’s the best shot, while we’ve got Jake, who’s clearly the worst. Whoever is our captain is obviously leaving the show after today.”

“Not necessarily,” Roman says calmly. “Although there’s certainly a measure of skill involved, strategy can be just as effective. It makes sense for a submissive to be the captain so all the Doms can attack or defend.”

Everyone agrees with that, but for obvious reasons, no one wants to be the captain.

“It should be whoever’s lowest in the rankings,” Rebecca says. “They’re probably going home soon anyway. There’s no point in jeopardizing a couple that actually has a chance of winning.”

Tessa rolls her eyes at me, and I suppress a smile.

“You just want to decide that way because you’re in first place,” Tessa says scornfully.

“We should draw straws,” Emmett suggests. “That’s the fairest way.”

We all agree, and Luke pulls five small twigs from a nearby tree, which Roman holds flush in his hand as each of the submissives draws a straw. I don’t want to draw the short straw, but I don’t want to see anyone else get it either. Still, I breathe a sigh of relief when I pull a long stick. I’m almost as relieved when Tessa and Rose do too. Carly goes next, and hers is the short stick.

“All right,” Jake says briskly. “Looks like Carly’s the captain.”

She’s standing right next to me, and I can feel her trembling. I grab her hand and squeeze it encouragingly. “Don’t worry,” I whisper. “We’ve got you covered. You’re not going home.”

“You’d better hope you’re not hit,” Michael growls to her under his breath on her other side. “If we’re out of the games because of you, I’ll make damn sure you pay for it tonight.”

Carly pales, her fingers gripping mine like a vise. “You can’t do that,” she breathes. “I’ll use my safe word.”

“Get us eliminated and watch me,” he says with a cold glint in his eye. “Who’s going to know? I’ve invested too much in this to get voted off because some submissive bitch drew the wrong straw.”

“I’ll be captain,” I volunteer.

Roman’s gaze slowly rivets to mine. He stares at me for one long moment, and then he nods curtly. “If that’s what you want,” he says, his voice cool.

We’re taken to our base by a member of the crew, and I stand still as my ankle is tied to a thick pine tree with a fifteen-foot length of rope.

“We aren’t going to let you get hit,” Tessa assures me. “You’re not getting eliminated today.”

Rose comes to stand next to her, her hands on her hips. “No way,” she adds loyally. “We’ve got your back.” She looks pointedly at my clamped nipples. “And your front.” She giggles.

I can’t help but smile. I’m not sure I would have survived this long in the games without the two of them, and I suddenly realize how much I’ve come to appreciate their friendship. If I get hit during this round and have to leave, I’m going to miss them almost as much as I’ll miss Roman. As dominating and cocky as he is, I feel a sharp pang of regret at the thought of not seeing him again. But I couldn’t run the risk of Michael hurting Carly. I don’t know if he would do what he threatened or could get away with it, but I’m never going to stand by again and watch someone get hurt, even if it means I get voted off the games.

Our team plans their strategy, and with the exception of Michael, I probably couldn’t have chosen a better team. Not only are Roman and Emmett personally invested in keeping me safe, but they’re also the two most powerful and competent Doms in the games, and Tessa and Rose are as loyal as they come. Even Rebecca, as much as I dislike her, will be an asset. She’s got incredible determination and focus, and she wants to win more than anyone here. Although she may not care for me, she cares about the points.

The air horn sounds, signaling the start of the round, and Emmett, Jake, Luke, Carly, and Rebecca stealthily head out to look for the other team’s base. Roman, Michael, Tessa, and Rose stay behind to guard me. Although the other Doms had tried to convince Roman to take the offense, given his skill at marksmanship, he’d refused to leave me.

Rebecca’s our scout, and she returns to our base about five minutes later to fill us in on the other team.

“We found their base,” she says. “Sabrina’s their captain. They’ve only left two people guarding her—her Dom Shawn and Megan. They’re clearly taking an offensive approach.” She turns her big blue eyes to Roman. “Roman, your shot is so accurate, if you go now, you could take Sabrina out before they even know what happened.”

“I’m not leaving Ava,” Roman says resolutely. “Plus they have Karl, who’s hunting Ava as intently as we’re hunting Sabrina. Our goal is to protect Ava first and foremost.”

“Fine,” she says huffily, and disappears back into the field.

“I don’t trust her,” Tessa mutters.

“Me neither,” Rose agrees.

They both have their backs to me, wearing only their bikini bottoms and running shoes with their guns pointed straight ahead, scanning the field in front of them.

“You guys look like X-rated Charlie’s Angels,” I say, grinning.

“Hell, yeah!” Tessa agrees without turning around. “And there are three of them, so that means you’re one too. We’re the badass trio. All for one and one for all. Although dammit if this vibrator isn’t getting me so turned on that that stick is starting to look attractive.”

At that moment, Roman looks over at me and smiles, and I realize with a rush of certainty that I really
don’t
want to leave the games. I want to stay. Not just to damage Anthony’s reputation, although I’m more committed to that goal than ever, but also for me. For the first time in ages, I have friends—real friends, the kind who have your back no matter what. And then there’s Roman, whose unwavering confidence in my strength somehow makes me strong, and who’s uncovered some long-hidden passionate side of me that I never knew existed. Now that I know what all the fuss is about, I don’t want it to end. I’m not ready to go back to the shell of a life I had before, to work and numbness and merely surviving without really living. I’m not ready to say good-bye to Roman and the way he smiles at me like we’re the only two people in the world, or the way he pushes me to give him everything I have and then more. Somehow, he’s brought me back to life. He’s made me feel again, and it’s addictive.