Club Helix: The Power Games (42 page)

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 hand 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.”

He explains for the audience. “That means that the Dominant partner has total power over the submissive in everything, not just sexually but in all elements of the submissive’s life. There is an incredible level of trust involved on the part of the submissive and a huge responsibility for the Dom.”

He flashes his megawatt smile at all of us, and I can see why Rachel fell for him. “Which is why it makes for the perfect final challenge. Both Roman and Emmett will be given a list of things—kinky and nonkinky—that they must complete with their submissive to earn points. These things might include recreational outings, role-play scenarios, punishments, challenges, the use of toys, and other things that have been hand chosen for each couple based on their personal strengths and weaknesses to make things more interesting and to test the true extent of your D/s relationship and the trust you’ve developed between you. So if you hate nipple clamps, you can be pretty sure you’ll be wearing them at some point over the weekend, or if you’re afraid of heights, you may find yourself bungee jumping or zip-lining over the tree canopy.”

I feel my stomach sink. If I’d known this, I would’ve played the games a whole lot differently.

“In addition to the challenges chosen by the Power Games team, the Doms have come up with a few challenges and scenarios of their own that they’d like to explore with their submissive.”

Roman catches my eye and winks at me deliberately, and I have a sneaking suspicion he’s going to thoroughly enjoy pushing through the last of my limits.

We spend the rest of the day packing, and the next morning we’re on a plane headed for Costa Rica. The show has chartered a private jet for us and the crew that will be staying at the private resort with us. Halfway through the flight, both Roman and Rebecca have dozed off, and the camera and production crew are either asleep, watching the movie playing on the overhead screen, or absorbed in their tablets, laptops, or phones, making me desperately wish I had my own device so I could listen to music.

Emmett catches my eye, nodding toward the restroom. I casually get up and make my way to the back of the plane. No one looks up when Emmett follows a few minutes later, and he pulls me into the restroom with him, locking the door.

He grabs my chin in his hand and turns my gaze to his. “Are we okay, Ava?” he asks, his eyes worried. “Nothing is worth losing what we have, and definitely not these games. You know I would walk through fire before I would do anything that would hurt you.”

I sigh, leaning my forehead against his chest as he encompasses me in a reassuring hug that only Emmett can give.

How have I let the games get to me like this, making me doubt everything I know about Emmett? I’ve been removed from real life so long I’ve gotten wrapped up in this alternate reality and lost all sense of perspective. Emmett is still Emmett, my best friend and my protector. Of course there’s nothing more between us. My reaction to his touch was purely physical. I probably would have reacted the same way if I had been partnered with Michael. As always, Emmett had only done what was in my best interest, and I love him for it. I refuse to let anything come between us.

“Of course we’re okay. We’ll always be okay. But things are going to change,” I say wistfully. “One of us is going to win and work for the Helix, and one of us will be going back home to New York. Things aren’t ever going to be the same again.”

Suddenly, I want to cry. Although I’m so much stronger than I was when I arrived at the Helix five weeks ago, I don’t feel ready to face the world without Emmett.

He rubs one roughened thumb over my cheek. “We’ll figure it out. We always do.”

* * * *

Roman

We arrive in Costa Rica midafternoon and are taken to a small, remote resort along Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula. I have to admit Logan’s outdone himself. I’ve traveled around the world extensively, but this is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen, with a pristine white-sand beach that bumps up to a tropical jungle that stretches as far as the eye can see. The five-star resort tucked among the trees is equally beautiful, with a laid-back tropical vibe with an Asian flair. There are fewer than half a dozen private villas, and between Ava and me, Emmett and Rebecca, Logan and Rachel, and the small production crew, we have the place to ourselves. There’s a small hotel staff to cater to our needs and an indoor/outdoor restaurant that will provide all our meals. There’s nothing else around for miles, so unless we run into one another, we’re more or less alone in our little paradise.