by Jill Myles
And I found I couldn't be all that concerned about last place, either.
Still, it was weird to get to the car lot and realize we were the first ones there. Had everyone else gotten lost? We paid our taxi and picked out our car, settling in even as the cameraman sat in the passenger seat to film us. Liam sat in the front seat and I slid into the back, picking up the packet of paperwork back there.
It was the next clue. I tore open the paper seal attached to the map and began to read. "Make your way to the village of Hisarlik, just outside of Tevfikiye. This is the site of the ruins of the ancient Homeric city of Troy. There, you will meet a Greek soldier at The World Races flag who will give you your next clue."
"Off we go, then," Liam said, and our little car sped out of the parking lot.
~~ * * * ~~
The ruins were not all that difficult to find, or that impressive. I guess I'd been expecting some sort of massive city, but it was really just a bunch of half dug-out hills, tumbled stones, and areas that had been roped off that we weren't allowed to see. Nothing at all like Pompeii, and since we’d just come from there, they paled in comparison.
There was an enormous fake Trojan horse at the entrance of the ruins, though, and sure enough, the flag and The World Races station was there. Liam parked the car and we bounded out, racing for the flag.
Our next disk was handed to us. A team task, and one that didn't surprise me, given the five stations and blocks of colored wood set aside. Our team task was to build a duplicate of the Trojan Horse. Once we had our wheeled contraption built to the specifications of the Greek soldier supervising the task, we had to push it across the ruins on the marked path. Once we'd arrived at the end of the path, we'd receive our next disk and clue.
We set to work, heading for the pile of wood that had been colored black to match our team shade. As we did, I glanced around at the four other piles that still had no one working on them. "Liam," I said quietly. "While we're the only ones here, should we talk about the Ace?"
He picked up one of the four wheels on our mat of pieces and examined it, glancing over at me. "What about the Ace?"
"There are only three more eliminations," I told him. "Should we make a team decision on who we want to use it on?"
He gave me a serious look. "Katy," he murmured, moving closer so no one could overhear us. Not that it mattered. We were wired and mic'd for sound. Had been the entire trip. "The only team I think worth saving that would help us out is Abby and Dean. But…"
"But," I agreed. There was that whole 'Tesla and Brodie' thing. "So basically we can either play the Ace to be nice and save Brodie and Tesla if we need to, save Abby and Dean to try and propel ourselves ahead, or be dicks to everyone and not use it at all."
"Heh. That about sums it up."
I considered, then sighed. "Abby promised me that if she got an Ace, she'd use it to save us."
"Did you promise the same thing back?"
"No. It didn't come up in conversation. But I'd feel bad if we had an opportunity to save them and we didn't."
"Well," Liam told me, handing me the wheel and then picking up another, considering it. "The way I look at it, someone's feelings are going to get hurt. We can use it to push ourselves ahead in the game, or we can use it to salvage relationships outside of the game."
"And what if the Ace means another split?" I hated the thought of it.
"It won't."
I shielded my eyes from the sun and squinted up at my partner. "How do you know that?"
"Because splitting us up made good TV." He leaned in and gave me a firm kiss on the mouth, ignoring the fact that the cameraman hovered merely feet away. "Splitting us up again robs them of a lot of romantic scenes. Tesla and Brodie, too. They won't part us."
I blushed and handed him the wheel back. "So what do we do?"
"Whatever you want to do," Liam told me, his expression serious. "I'm leaving it up to you."
"Up to me?" I hated the squeaky note in my voice. "Why me?"
He squatted by the pieces, sorting through the jumble, the wheel still in his hand. I knew we should have been working on the task, but I wanted to get this squared away.
"It's up to you," Liam told me, picking up a painted dowel rod and comparing it to the hole in the center of the wheel he was holding, then discarding it. "Because it won't bother me either way. Dean's a good friend, but he won't hold a grudge if we don't save them. But I know you and Abby are close. As for Tesla?" He glanced up at me and grinned. "I don't care if she's mad at me after the race, but Brodie's your brother. You gotta do whatever you gotta do. The Ace is your choice."
"Well, you're definitely a different partner than Brodie," I grumped, squatting next to the pieces with him. "He wouldn't have asked for my opinion."
"I should hope I'm a very different partner than Brodie," Liam said, and wiggled his eyebrows at me.
I blushed beet red. I was pretty sure the camera caught it, too. "I think I’m going to save Abby and Dean. They’ve worked with us. It’d be unfair for us to leave them out to dry.”
Liam nodded. “Sounds good to me.”
~~ * * * ~~
We had the bottom half of our wooden-horse-on-wheels constructed when a flood of cars suddenly showed up in the parking lot. I snapped a board into place, then grimaced as I watched the other four teams charge forward. "Looks like everyone caught up," I told Liam.
He grunted, continuing to work on our horse.
Abby and Dean trotted up to the challenge mat next to ours and began to work on their horse. I glanced over at her. "What happened?"
"Our cab driver was an idiot," she told me. "He took us over an hour in the wrong direction and then tried to charge us for it." She made a disgusted face and pushed her sweaty curls off of her forehead. "Luckily, I pitched a fit and got us out of it."
"The good news," Dean leaned in to tell me with a grin, "was that apparently everyone else was following our cab. Which is why we're all late except you two."
I glanced at the other teams. They all looked pretty annoyed. Brodie's forehead was set in frustrated lines, and I felt a twinge of pity for my brother. He wanted to win this race so badly and they were not doing well at all. I squashed the pity, though. Brodie wouldn't help me if the tables were turned.
"Hand me that piece?" Liam told me, interrupting my guilty thoughts. I automatically handed it over to him and began to work on our horse once more.
The arrival of the other teams spurred us on, and a few short minutes later, we had used all of our wood and had a rather rickety-looking horse completed. There was a handlebar on each side for us to push on, and Liam and I pushed ours forward, heading for the marked path.
It was like pushing a shopping cart that was full of sand and held together by string. The thing creaked and groaned as if it were dying with every bump, and the tail wobbled like it was going to fall off. We pushed through the maze of walls and ruins, grimly determined. To my relief, our Trojan Horse held together and we crossed the finish line of the marked path.
The Greek soldier was there in his corny costume, and gave us our disk with a flourish. We took it from him with a nod, and quickly read the back. Take a train to Nevsehir. From there, take a bus or taxi to Cappadocia, Turkey. Make your way to the Goreme Open Air Museum to receive your next challenge.
"A train?" I asked, surprised. This was the first train we’d been instructed to take.
"Maybe they want us all to bunch up together again," Liam guessed. "Come on. Maybe if we hurry, we can catch an earlier departure."
He put his hand out for me to take and I clasped it, racing alongside him as we ran through the ruins and back toward the parking lot, heading for the car. As we did, we passed the others, still working on their horses. No one looked close to done, though everyone stopped and looked at us as we ran past, cameraman racing next to us.
"Hey, Katy!"
I turned, dropping Liam's hand at the sound of my brother's voice.
Brodie was on the far side of
the horse, and he was frowning. He waved me over as if he wanted to talk to me. I hesitated, looking back at Liam.
He'd stopped too, and was watching me.
"Brodie wants to say something to me," I told my partner in a low voice.
Liam glanced at the cars, then back at me, clearly impatient but trying to hide it. "He might be trying to slow you down, or get information from you about the horse so he can get ahead of the others."
That did sound like my brother. I looked over at him again. "What is it?" I called back.
Brodie gave me an exasperated look and waved me over again, not wanting to say whatever it was aloud. He was definitely up to something.
I shook my head and gave him an apologetic look, then grabbed Liam's hand again. We raced back toward the cars and jumped back into ours. I pulled out the maps, studying for the nearest train station. "We should probably head back into Canakkale. The city's big enough that any train station would be there."
"Gotcha," Liam said, easing the car back onto the highway.
I glanced back out the rearview window. Brodie was watching us leave, even as Tesla knelt on the ground, piecing together the horse. My brother didn't look upset, just thoughtful.
And I wondered what it was he'd been trying to tell me.
~~ * * * ~~
The train to Nevsehir was a sleeper. I eyed it skeptically, considering that we were the only ones in our small compartment. Either we'd had some serious luck, or this was another 'tweak' by the race runners to give the couples on the race some more alone time.
"Don't you find it suspicious that we keep getting stuck alone together?" I asked him as we set our backpacks down.
"Suspicious, yes. Unpleasant? Not in the slightest." He leaned in and pressed a kiss to my mouth. "Besides, you heard the lady at the train station. We could have taken a fourteen hour bus ride. Let's just count our blessings."
He had a point. The lady at the train station had tried to convince us (repeatedly) that we should have gone by bus. It would be much faster, she told us. It would leave much earlier than the train, which left at the end of the evening. But the race had said train, so we took the train.
I eyed the tiny bunk beds in the sleeper car. Perhaps I was too suspicious after all. Those didn't look exactly big enough to get frisky on. "I suppose." I glanced down the hallway of the train car as other passengers moved past. It was late at night and I didn't see too many people around. If there was anyone else on the race in this car, they weren't out and about. "Do you think the others got on this same train?"
"Without a doubt," he told me. "I can't imagine anyone spent hours building that horse."
I nodded. He had a point.
"Come on," Liam told me, shutting the door and hanging a 'do not disturb' placard outside. He wiggled his eyebrows at me suggestively. "You have to be tired."
"Are you tired?" I asked in a light voice.
"Exhausted," he told me, his voice husky as he sat down on the lower bunk and tugged me between his legs. "I was just thinking we should lie down and relax."
I arched an eyebrow at him. "So I guess this means I get the top bunk?"
"Bottom."
"And where are you sleeping?"
"Oh, were we talking about sleeping?" His hand slid down to cup my ass. "I think, perhaps, we're talking about two different things, my lovely pig-tailed Katy."
"Mmm." I ran my thumb along his lower lip, then grazed it over his piercings. "Maybe you should be more specific as to what you were thinking of."
"I was thinking," he said, flexing those delicious fingers over my buttocks. "That maybe I'd climb into this bed and you'd squeeze in next to me and we'd see what color condoms we had in store for today."
I laughed softly at that, my fingers moving to brush his shaggy hair out of his eyes. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea to me."
"I think it's a fucking awesome idea, personally," he said, and leaned in, pressing his face between the valley of my breasts. "Because I haven't been able to get you out of my mind all day."
Just like that, all the teasing in me vanished, and every nerve ending flared to life. I sucked on a breath, my fingers tightening on his scalp as he nuzzled between my breasts, then kissed the curve of one through the fabric.
"Want to take this off?" Liam asked me, tugging at the hem of my shirt.
Did I ever. I ripped it over my head, exposing my belly and the ugly sports bra they'd given all the contestants. I quickly dragged the bra over my head as well, my torso bare.
Liam leaned in again, brushing his lips over my breastbone and then kissing the now-naked curve of my breast. I shivered, leaning against him, my eyes closed as I enjoyed the sensations. His mouth nipped at my skin, a languid trail to the tip of my breast.
I sucked in a breath when his mouth latched on to my nipple and he rolled it against the piercing on his tongue. A little moan escaped me as his hand slid to my other breast, his fingers plucking and playing with my nipple as his mouth worked the other in tandem. He felt so good against me, and I could feel my pulse racing at his touch, desire centering between my legs in response to his touch. "God, Liam, your mouth."
"And here I've always thought my fingers were the talented ones," he murmured against my breast, then bit lightly at one nipple even as he tweaked the other.
I whimpered, my knees going weak, and I sagged against him, clinging to his broad shoulders.
"Such pretty breasts, Katy," he murmured. "So small and perky, just like you."
"I don't know if you should be telling a girl that her breasts are tiny," I told him, then sucked in another breath when he nipped at the underside of my breast with his teeth.
"I like their size," he told me. "A perfect mouthful." And he slowly licked my breast, that piercing flashing against my skin.
I moaned, pressing up against him. "I want to lick you, too."
"But I'm enjoying licking you so much," he protested, flicking his tongue over my aching, hard nipple. "You wouldn't want to take that away from me, would you?"
"Never," I breathed, and my hand slid between his legs, stroking his cock through his clothing. He was already rock hard against my hand. "But I never got my turn to lick this."
He groaned then, and his hand left my breast, both of them moving to the waistband of my pants and tugging them down my legs. "Want you naked, Katy. Naked and sprawled under me right now."
Just the mental image of that drove me wild. I shoved at my clothing too, pushing them to my ankles and kicking them aside. I was naked then, and my hands tugged at his black race t-shirt, wanting to feel his naked flesh against mine.
"Help me get changed." He jerked at his shirt even as my hands went to the studded belt he wore.
I slid to my knees and tugged the buckle apart, then undid his fly. His cock pushed out against my hands, straining through his boxers, and I couldn't resist. I leaned down and rubbed my mouth against him through the thin cotton fabric of his underwear.
He jerked to a stop, groaning. "Ah, fuck, Katy. You're distracting the hell out of me."
"Am I? Gosh, that's a shame." I leaned in and grasped the waistband of both his jeans and his underwear, dragging them down until his cock was freed. "You're really going to hate it when I do this, then."
And I put my mouth on the head of his cock.
Liam groaned like a man in pain, so loud that it made me giggle, and I shushed him, wrapping my hands around his thick, hot length. "If you don't keep quiet, I'm going to stop."
He bit his lip, eyes closing, and leaned back against the tiny bunk. His hand moved to my hair, but didn't push me forward. Didn't do anything, just rested there.
But I was feeling heady with power and arousal. I was making Liam lose control, and eating it up. I moved in a little closer, until my bare breasts were pressing against his thighs, my nipples scraping against his legs. This was a major turn-on for me. I wrapped my fingers around his cock and ran my mouth over the thick head of him, exploring him with my tongue. Beads of pre-cu
m formed, and I licked them away as they appeared, then took the head into my mouth and lightly sucked, feeling those piercings with my tongue.
The breath hissed out of his throat, and his hand clenched in my hair.
"Sensitive?" I asked in a sultry voice.
"You could say that." He sounded like he was gritting his teeth.
I rolled my tongue over one of the piercings, then the other, and then took him into my mouth again. I didn't take him deep into my throat - I didn't know enough about how that would work with his piercings - so I just licked him like a lollipop, over and over again, with my clenched fist stroking his hard length occasionally.
He groaned again, and he tugged at my hair, trying to drag me away from his cock. "Katy," he panted, "You have three seconds to get on that bed."
"Or what?" I purred, but I was so slick with need that my flesh was rubbing back and forth when I pressed my legs together, and I wanted him deep inside me. So I crawled onto the bed and flipped over to my back, watching him.
He got up and opened his bag, and I watched in fascination as he pulled out a condom - blue this time - and rolled it carefully over his cock, adjusting it around his piercing. And then he glanced over at me and gave me a wicked, wicked look that made my entire body shiver with anticipation.
Liam pounced on me in the next second, sliding between my thighs. I flexed them against him in encouragement, but instead of sliding inside me, he got to his knees and grasped one of my thighs, pushing it back until my foot was in the air. Then, he pressed a kiss to the side of my foot and placed it on his shoulder. The movement stretched me wide, and I moaned with arousal, anticipation getting the better of me.
He ignored my needy sounds, placing his cock at my entrance with slow, deliberate care. I tensed, waiting for that delicious slide home, but it didn't come quite yet. Instead, he held there. His hand moved to my sex and his thumb grazed against my clitoris.
My choked gasp of pleasure echoed in the small room. My entire body tensed, ready to slide right into orgasm. This would take no time at all - I was already so turned on I was practically writhing against his hand.