The Prize

by Vanessa Fewings

  “Do they hurt?” I pointed to them.

  He ran his palm along them and broke my gaze.

  Trying to keep my eyes on his and not sweep over his body, I began, “It’s risk-verses-reward ratio. If you get caught forging a painting the rest of the plan falls apart.”

  “I won’t get caught.” He rested his hands on his hips and seemed to mull over it with his six-pack flexing, and his firm chest rising and falling—a living, breathing sculpture. The circles of his inked left shoulder swirled like an unspoken poem drawing me into its mystery. The Latin words on his groin a reminder he liked to win.

  He caught me staring at him and arched a brow.

  “At least give it some thought.” What the hell happened to my resolve?

  “I will.”

  He was trying to disarm me, that’s what was happening here. He was purposefully entrancing me by rubbing his fingers over his mouth as though pretending to mull this over.

  “Shower on, Jade.” He strolled under the enormous faucet and water burst in streams and cascaded over him.

  Stepping back I tried to avoid the spray. “You know you can’t control everything the way you like to control your gadgets.”

  “I know.” His neck craned as he looked up and drenched his face, seemingly unaware of the dreamy show he was putting on of an Olympian wallowing beneath the downpour. He turned away from me and provided a stunning view of his sculptured back with his refined spine curving into a pert bum. He rubbed shampoo into a lather through his dark golden hair, and his biceps bulged as his fingers massaged his scalp. Rising from this dreamy haze I came to find my right palm resting on the curvature of his upper back feeling rippling muscles beneath.

  He turned his head slightly. “I’m thinking.”

  My hand slipped from him. “Oh?”

  “The shower helps me to think.”

  “Oh, right, of course.” I stepped back. “I appreciate that.”

  “We’ll find a way.”

  Wanting to believe that, I drew on his strength and felt my loneliness lifting. There seemed no solution to this bewitchment and I didn’t want to walk away because it felt like it may be the last time I’d ever be this close and the agony of this realization was unbearable. “You understand my concerns?”

  He kept his back to me. “You made some valid points.”

  “Good.”

  “However, I choose to continue with the plan.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Leighton, you’re a distraction.”

  “You’re impossible.”

  Tobias turned and wrapped his fingers around my wrist and pulled me beneath the shower and said with a smile, “Sorry, Zara? What was that? Couldn’t hear you over the water.”

  Beneath the downpour he nudged me against the tile and his hand rested on the right side of the wall near my head. “Do you want the truth?” He held me captive with those green irises sparkling with gold flecks. His eyes brimmed with passion.

  I gave a wary nod peering up at him from behind soaked eyelashes.

  “I seduced you. I brought you into my world. That day when you turned up at The Wilder Museum I tried to send you back to London. What did you do?”

  “Refused to leave LA.”

  “Exactly. You refused to stop hunting me. You followed me all the way into the flame. Which means I’m responsible for your life now. Your future.”

  My hair and clothes were soaked and I squirmed against him. “We were having a nice conversation.”

  “We still are.”

  “No, this is what you do. You take charge and don’t let me have a say.”

  “Have your say.”

  “I’ve led them to you.”

  He brushed water out of his eyes. “Do you forgive me for being Icon?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “That’s your answer?”

  “Yes.”

  “Maybe you should go use your own shower.”

  “Why?”

  “If you stay in here one more second I’ll kiss you hard on the mouth—” His gaze snapped to my lips.

  “And then?” My hands reached out to grab his shoulders and I dug my fingernails into toned muscle.

  “If you don’t leave right now...”

  Fighting this need for him, I turned my face away, refusing to show I was falling...

  And falling...

  I shoved at his chest because that was the problem—I cared too much and yielding was so, so easy. My eyelids squeezed shut as my entire being yearned for his touch.

  “You’re going to have to help me out here.” He stepped aside. “Is that Zara for ‘fuck me hard, please’ or for ‘get out of my way’?”

  “I told you,” I snapped. “You don’t get to kiss me.”

  He drew near me, reading the truth. “Show me what I cannot do. So we’re clear.”

  “You obviously need reminding.” I crushed my mouth to his and I reached up to scrunch a fistful of his soaking wet hair to hold him to me. Daring to force his lips wider, I plunged my tongue against his, sweeping fiercely to make my point, our faces splashed with water.

  I had to get him to see sense.

  I pulled away, raising my chin proudly, having delivered my answer.

  “Okay, so none of that.” He grazed his lips along my neck, planting pecks all the way to the edge of my mouth.

  I gave a nod to confirm I was standing strong on this issue. “We must remain focused.”

  “Laser focused,” he agreed. “No distractions.”

  “Exactly.”

  “What about this?” His kisses trailed down my throat and glided along my shoulder, tenderly setting my skin alight with the slightest touch of his mouth, moving down along my chest, and then he suckled my right nipple through my soaked blouse.

  “I’m not sure,” I managed. “I have to think about that one.”

  Impatiently, he ripped open my blouse, popping buttons as he tugged and then eased the cups of my bra up, hitching it above my breasts, then leaning in to run the tip of his tongue around my areola.

  “Oh, God,” I moaned.

  “And this?” He owned my other nipple with his nimble fingers, tugging and then sucking, sending shivers of pleasure between my thighs.

  “We should remain platonic,” I burst out.

  “Quite agree. Makes perfect sense. Perhaps if you were to show me exactly what you’ve forbidden yourself from doing to me.”

  “I won’t do this.” I reached down and gripped his cock and it felt like steel wrapped in silk and my jaw slackened in wonder at its hugeness and the pleasure it would bring.

  He gave a nod. “Makes perfect sense.”

  “You understand why?” My whisper fell close to his ear as I continued to work my hand up and down his shaft, refusing to let go.

  “Completely. The science behind your reasoning is flawless.” His voice was husky. “Breaking your rule is reckless.”

  “I mean, if I were to take you in my mouth...” I blinked droplets of water off my eyelids. “You would come and everything would change between us.”

  “That would be—”

  “Bad.” I nipped his lower lip and sighed into his mouth, my sex wet and clenching, demanding this to happen, desperate to be filled entirely.

  Under no circumstances is this happening, I reassured myself. All I had to do was walk the few steps to the door and this moment would be lost to history.

  “We are quite capable of restraint.” His mouth hesitated close to mine.

  “I agree.”

  Water showered over us as we froze in this pose with both of us at a standoff, suspended in this sensual trance, our breaths panting against each other’s, my clit throbbing, my sex aching for oneness.

  “Touch me.” My words were spoken so softly I was sure he would
n’t hear.

  His hand resting on the tile curled into a fist and my gaze lowered to those lips I deserved. This endless teasing of denial was cruel as the seconds passed like an eternity.

  Tobias stepped back and stared off as though needing a moment to gather his thoughts. “I have the willpower of a God, apparently.”

  Yet mine was lost to me and I slumped to my knees and peered up at him.

  “Well, I did.” He looked down at me and his eyes were filled with kindness.

  Dragging my teeth over my bottom lip to help endure this torment, slipping into the forbidden, unable to resist, my mouth captured his erection as I drifted further into the heady intoxication of this man, lavishing devotion over the erotic vision before me, lapping along the girth and shifting position to worship his balls with my mouth, bathed in falling water.

  Tobias wiped droplets out of his eyes. “What would happen if I showed you how we shouldn’t fuck?”

  I continued sucking him longingly, squeezing him tight and tracing my tongue around the head, circling, flicking, and reminded again of its power, his easy seduction.

  He drew in a sharp breath. “Because clarity is important.”

  “I would remember every moment of it,” I whispered.

  It was too late. We needed this closeness and I tried to find him amid the confusion, searching out the real Tobias as I worked him with my hand in unison with my sucking, my sighs echoing.

  He reached down and cupped his palm to my cheek and his eyes were filled with affection. I fell into his gaze, tasting that bead at the tip and swooning that we’d found our way back to such intimacy. His head lolled when I drew him as far as possible, his cock edging my throat and my moans vibrating around his length.

  His hands reached beneath my arms and he pulled me up and tore at my clothes, all fury and unbridled passion, removing all that was between us before hoisting me up against the wall. Naked, I flung my arms around his neck and wrapped my thighs around his waist demanding it, needing him inside me. He answered my silent cry by slamming into me with a desperate fury, sending spasms of pleasure, soaring me into nothingness as he pummeled me against the tile. The downpour bathing us both.

  He slowed his rhythm, peering down at his deliberate tempo, watching himself slide in and out of me with a controlled discipline, his cock struck deeper and I trembled against him, needing to come but refusing for this to be over, dreading our inevitable separation and returning to the formality that forged itself at the other end of this.

  When he pulled out of me I groaned my panic.

  “I’ve got you.” He eased me to the floor.

  I lay with my arms stretched out in front of me and my bum raised, moaning my relief when I felt his hands clasp my hips and drag me backward in his direction, and him thrust into me from behind, with me in a position of surrender, my hair tumbling out before me. He reached around to strum my clit and I knew in this moment I was his. Rocking back on him, we became one as we gave in to each other’s demands.

  Weak in his arms, I felt like a rag doll as he rolled me over to lie on my back. He raised himself over me, entering with one long thrust, locking us together again, and I flung my legs around his waist and matched his pounding, lifting my pelvis to meet each strike, begging with this movement to have him drive in farther, his arms holding him off my chest and his steely gaze fixed on mine.

  “Kiss me,” I pleaded.

  “One condition.” He leaned in and nipped my earlobe.

  “What?”

  “Don’t tell me you regret this happened.”

  “Why would I?”

  His frown deepened as he seemed to mull over his answer.

  I rested my fingertips on his lips. “Everything is okay. We’re going to be okay.”

  “I know. I’m just glad you’re looking at me how you once did.”

  “How did I look at you?”

  He brought his mouth down on mine and I opened my lips to let him in, his tongue sweeping across mine with devotion. This was the kind of kiss I’d craved, infused with adoration. It went on and on, carrying us higher until we came together; his heat shot into me and my sex claimed him as the center of my universe.

  Eventually, we broke apart and lay side by side on our backs, panting and staring up at the ceiling, and it felt good to have his hand holding mine still. The only sound was of our breathing and the water striking the tile.

  “Shower off, Jade,” he said. “Raise the temperature—73 degrees should be good.”

  “And bring coffee.” I grinned at my cheekiness.

  “Careful, we’ll have your favorite drone in here. Anyway, I fancy something stronger and no one makes a Bombay martini quite like me. Stirred, not shaken. Though with what I’ve got planned for you we should probably reserve that for later.”

  “What have you got planned?”

  “All sorts of fun.”

  I looked over at him. “This was a good decision, wasn’t it? After everything.”

  He pushed himself up and offered me his hand to help me to my feet. “I’m glad we’re still talking.”

  “That was more than talking.” I smirked.

  “We can reset if you like.”

  “To friends?”

  He bowed his head and walked over to a corner closet where fresh folded towels were stacked neatly. He pulled out two of them.

  Friends. Did I really want to downgrade us after that mind-blowing sex? No, but it was probably for the best and I did feel more relaxed around him, and that counted for something, didn’t it? It would make finding our way back to our lives more comfortable.

  I stood there soaked and with my sex still thrumming with a lingering ache of pleasure, hugging my arms to my chest, and grateful when he wrapped a white plush towel around me and he kissed my head with affection. He wrapped a towel around his waist and tucked it in.

  “What happens now?” I wanted more than anything to rest my cheek against his chest as I breathed in the heady scent of expensive body wash that wafted my way.

  “We find dry clothes.” He smiled sweetly and it made him look so cute. “I’m glad you’re feeling better.” He raised his chin to indicate something was behind me.

  “What is it?” Turning, I jumped when I saw Jade hovering a few feet away.

  “She too can refuse you nothing. She’s here to ask if you want sugar with your coffee.”

  “She heard me from in here?”

  “Yes. When she oscillates like that she’s asking for clarification.” He looked over my shoulder. “I’m handling the drinks, Jade. Give us a minute, okay.”

  I spun to face Tobias again and stared up at his beautiful face, his dreamy smile, that gentleness replacing his steely demeanor, and I wanted to fall into his arms again.

  He stepped back and I felt like I’d lost him all over again.

  Our clothes were scattered here and there, drenched and discarded, a reminder of the wayward passion that had shaken us off course. I turned and looked at the open door and something compelled me to head for it.

  Barefoot and alone, padding out into the hallway, I reassured myself resetting was easy... That’s it, good, keep walking until you’re out of range because you just barely escaped being absorbed into the supernova that is Tobias William Wilder.

  CHAPTER SIX

  I WAS GOING to fall.

  Gravity pulled and my gloved hands trembled as I gripped the climbing rope, stealing a quick glance at the drop below. It was still dark out here in the garden and I was halfway down the side of this Manhattan mansion wall, feeling dazed from the unearthly hour in the morning. I wanted to be back inside tucked in bed and not dangling midair with this East Coast chill whipping around me.

  Maybe Tobias had chosen this time because I’d be too sleepy to protest. Abseiling was somehow meant to prepare me for when we retrieved my paintings
. Or even if a greater threat surfaced.

  Stupid, stupid idea.

  Tobias peered down at me from over the top of the roof where he was kneeling on the edge. “When you’re ready, kick off from the wall and loosen your carabiner so you only descend a few feet. When you raise the rope again it will tighten the carabiner and you’ll hold your position. Go ahead and repeat what you’re doing now, resting your feet back on the wall. You’ve watched me do it. This is easy.”

  “Easy for you,” I snapped. “How is this meant to help me?”

  “If we get separated you must be able to take care of yourself.” He pointed to his waist. “I have you on the safety harness.”

  “Pull me up.”

  “I’ll come down.” He swung round and landed right behind me with his feet either side of mine and his chest pressed to my back.

  Something bulged against my lower spine. “That better be your flashlight.”

  “Concentrate, please. We’re going to move together—” He wrapped his arm around my waist and I breathed out a long sigh of relief. “I’m right here with you,” he said.

  “I’m not sure I’ll ever need this.”

  “Let’s hope so.” He swung to my left.

  With a nod to show I was ready, we swung out together taking a leap back and gliding downward in unison, both of us landing on the wall having lowered a few feet. Daring to go a little farther than before I continued to swing out, mirroring him and relieved he was with me. We found our rhythm.

  When my feet finally made it to the ground I peered up at how far I’d come, amazed.

  “Well?” He waited for my reaction.

  “That’s very high.”

  He followed my gaze. “It’s not a bad start.”

  “I never imagined I’d ever do something like this.”

  He rubbed my back with affection. “I had a feeling you might like it.”

  This was so far out of my realm of experience I couldn’t quite grasp I’d even agreed to expose myself to this danger, and yet as I stood here catching my breath and staring up at the dizzying height of how far I’d come, something shifted deep inside and there came a sense that this was a defining moment for me. My courage was awakening and it sparked a sense of independence.