Love and Other Games (7 page)

“Oh, hell. I don’t like the sound of that.” He rolled his eyes and regarded her quizzically.

She threw back her head and placed her hands on her hips. “I have to get this promotion. My dad expects it.”

He frowned, tracing his fingers up her back to rub her shoulders. “What do you mean? The recommendation?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Yes. Working in the Committee Headquarters has been his dream since I was in high school.”

“And what about your dream? Is it what
you
want?” His finger traced her bottom full lip, pink as a rosebud, and it called to him. If he didn’t kiss her soon, he’d combust right there in the middle of her boss’s office.

The heavy lashes that shadowed her cheeks flew up. “Of course it is. I’ve worked hard to get to this point, too.”

“What does this have to do about us … and celebrating?” He pulled her scarf off her neck and threw it behind him; it fell on the corner of her boss’s desk, on top of some bobble head doll, bouncing back and forth.

“Just that … I don’t know. It’s hard to concentrate on what’s important when you’re around. It’s only been a handful of days and I’m feeling … ” She leaned into him. Her words said one thing, but her body said another.

“I feel it, too, Nadia. You’re special.” His arms wrapped around her body and he nudged a thigh between hers, gliding along her inner thighs. Her breath caught audibly.

She closed her eyes and set her cheek to his chest. “We need to celebrate.”

He bent a little, seeking her mouth with his, giving her a gentle kiss, and then took it to another level as he turned their bodies and pushed her against the door. His hand came up to her head, his other stroking down her back, gripping her butt. “Can you believe I’m in the finals? The freakin’ finals, Nadia.”

His heart pounded an erratic rhythm. He still almost couldn’t believe it. And instead of heading out with the guys to celebrate, he rushed to find Nadia. He wanted to be with her, to smell her, to taste her – and she wanted the exact same thing, too, no doubt about it.

She wound her arms inside his jacket and around his back. “Let the festivities begin.” Her hands rushed to pull out his shirt from his pants.

“Slow down, babe.” He raised her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm, then he leaned down and whispered in her ear, “I want to enjoy every second.”

A low moan exited her lips and he took them with his own. A slow perusal of her full and sensual mouth. Her whole body screamed out to touch her—but he did want to take it slow. He wanted—needed —to feel every inch of her, every part of her had to become a part of him.

For an instant, his thoughts scared him. He actually was falling for this Swiss Lucky Lady. Holy mother of—. He stopped kissing her and stared at her face. Her questioning eyes were wide and magnetic. When she lowered her thick, black lashes, he couldn’t hold himself off any longer. He walked her backward toward the brown leather sofa that sat at the side of the room, next to the desk. “Your boss won’t be back anytime soon?”

“Not tonight.” She sank into the cushions, reaching her hand out for him to follow.

Grabbing her hand, he knelt next to the sofa, kissing her fingertips, then scooted lower to take off her boots. Without any words, only eye contact, he soon had her boots, socks and jeans off. His hands actually shook as he caressed her calves and moved upward toward her knees. He looked at her cotton underwear and a raw groan formed in his throat. “You know what I was thinking about when I set off on my second run?”

She shook her head, her eyes widening with innocence.

His finger trailed up her thigh and to the words on the front of her bright yellow panties. “These goddamn day of the week panties. I knew you’d be wearing them.” He rested his chin on her knee, letting his cheek stroke her inner thigh. “Hello, Saturday.”

One corner of her mouth pulled up into a sexy smile.

His fingers inched up to stroke the
Saturday
with pink hearts around it. “I always did enjoy the weekends more than any other day.” He pulled the panties down her thighs, over her ankles and widened her legs, her soft flesh intoxicating him.

When he looked up at her, spread out on the couch, her hair in an angelic halo around her head, that soft warmth in his heart grew again. Damn it, no more mister nice guy. He jerked forward, his blood pulsing through his body, and explored the swell of her with his tongue. His hands scooted up her thighs and moved to her taut stomach, all while tasting the saltiness of Nadia, his Lucky Lady, and loving every minute of it. By the sound of it, she did too.

“Oh, Ty.” She moaned and ran her hands through his hair, pushing his mouth closer to her. He slid one finger into her as he flicked his tongue over the current center of her universe. Her back arched with her hips pushed into him in rocking circles. With one final lick, she cried out in release. “Yes!”

Ty inched up her body, allowing her time to recover. Her face transformed from sated to desire again. He couldn’t hold it off much longer. He lifted his hand to feel under her shirt, but had to stop short. “Again with the damn vest?” He kneeled above her, pulled her up on the couch to lie directly underneath him, and undid her vest buttons. “They really need to find a new volunteer uniform.”

Nadia’s guttural laugh formed goose bumps on his arms. Undoing the buttons seemed next to impossible. “To hell with this.” He jerked the vest open, spraying the buttons across the room, causing him to laugh along with her. With a cock of his head, he murmured, “I’ll buy you a new one.”

He tugged her turtleneck higher and displayed her lacy bra. Her breasts jutted out over the top and he smiled to himself. “Beautiful.” He kissed the fabric and then moved it to the side so he could take her hard nipple into his mouth, all while she squirmed and moaned his name over and over.

“Ty, now.” She groped and grabbed at his zipper, undoing it, but tangled the pant legs into his boots. With more laughter and a couple of tugs, they both finally had his shoes, jeans and boxers off.

When Nadia licked her lips and reached down to grab him, he couldn’t keep himself together anymore. He found the red and blue packet in his jacket pocket and wrapped the condom over himself. Nadia helped guide him inside her, the waves of ecstasy throbbing through him. With each push and pull, in and out, over and over, he realized he was a shitload of unlucky. He’d freakin’ fallen for this Lucky Lady. Actually fallen for her.

Reality would sink in later that this fling could only last during the games, since they both lived in separate countries. But, the lust he felt in that moment empowered him and he growled as he let one last push take him over the edge.

Nadia’s fingers trailed up and down his lower back as they both caught their breath. He rubbed the bare skin of her waist and whispered, “You do crazy shit to me, you know that?”

Her uneven breathing sent shivers through his tired body. “Whenever I’m around you, I can’t think straight.”

Ty sat up laughing, pulling her turtleneck down and sitting her up next to him.

“Why do you laugh?” She pulled her long blond locks from around her neck and straightened them with her palms.

He gestured between them. “I think we’re starting something amazing here.”

She bent down and grabbed her sexy, cotton
Saturdays
, rolling them on quickly, avoiding eye contact.

He grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. “This thing between us is a damn good thing.”

She bit her lip. “I don’t know.”

He yanked her body to face him. “I’m serious, Nadia. I feel like the luckiest man alive right now.”

“That’s because you made it to the finals.” She straightened out her shirt and found her pants and pulled them on.

He drew in a breath and released it before speaking. She was fully dressed now. “Yes, the finals are pretty freakin’ nice, but I’m falling for you Nadia.”

She sucked in a breath and shook her head. “You can’t.”

He nodded and fingered her cheek. “Yes I can and I did.” He leaned in and nipped her lip with his teeth.

She scooted backward to the corner of the sofa. “Oh no you don’t.” Then her body stiffened and she winced, “Ow.”

“What happened?” Ty leaned over her looking around.

“Something pinched me in the butt.” She scooted over and a cushion sat out of place.

“Probably a spring or something. Here.” Ty reached under the cushion and felt a metal object. “Wait.” He jerked under the bigger pillow and pulled out a – holy shit – what was it? “What the hell?”

Nadia’s hand rose to her mouth and gave him a sidelong glance of disbelief. “That’s … a torch.”

“What’s a torch doing under the sofa? Are you sure?” He inspected it closer. The silver torch was an odd shape, smaller than the torches they carried at the Opening Ceremony and it almost looked like a cup on a saucer with a big stick underneath. “It’s pretty old, if it is.”

Nadia’s nose got closer and she pointed. “See that inside, that’s where the fire burns.” She turned the torch in his hand, studying every crevice. “And look at this, it’s the Olympics symbol on the side with the year … oh my God … 1938.” Her eyes widened. “Ty, you know what that is?”

He vigorously shook his head and his mouth went dry. “No way.”

Nadia sat up straighter, touching the torch as if it were a China doll. “It’s the Legendary Torch, Ty. You know the legend, don’t you?”

He placed the object of discussion in her lap and rubbed his hands together to clean them off. “I’ve heard little pieces here and there.” He looked around for his clothes, found them and scooped them up.

Nadia gingerly picked up the torch, stood and paced in front of him. “If you have the torch in your possession during your game, you’ll have good luck, hopefully a Gold medal – and your game’s tomorrow, Ty! This is unbelievable.”

“Yeah, unbelievable.” He rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know.”

Nadia held her pointer finger up. “But, if you keep it in your possession more than 24 hours, bad luck will come. So, you keep it until after your game and then we put it back afterwards.”

“Do you really believe in this crap?”

“You found it. You can’t ignore it – truth or not.”

He scratched his neck and stood beside her. “Alright then, let’s see if I get Gold tomorrow.”

Nadia eyed his legs and bit her lip. “You probably should get dressed, then we’ll find a safe place to put this lucky charm.”

Ty shrugged on his pants, all while staring at Nadia’s astonished face. “I already have my Lucky Lady.”

“But the Legendary Torch is something you can’t ignore.” Her rosy face with sparkling eyes smiled up at him – her palm holding the torch out to him.

He shrugged taking the torch and studied it. “I got my Lady … ” He leaned in to kiss her. “And my Lucky Torch. What else could a guy ask for?”

Nadia cocked her head and smirked. “A new vest?”

Ty tightened his grip on Nadia’s hand and held his board with his other. He walked her to the stands and helped her find her seat in front, by Chris’s wife and kids. He wanted her to cheer him on in the Finals, since his family had to stay back to watch the business, and when he asked her, she hesitated, but agreed.

It scared the shit out of him. The feelings that grew for this woman in so few days. Sure, he had his share of women, but with Nadia it was different, and he couldn’t deny it. She would never agree to anything more than the fling they shared, he knew that, but he had to try to get as much out of the relationship as possible. He had some ideas up his sleeve, but first he had to win his medal.

And finding the freakin’ torch – could it really be from the legend? There was one way to find out, and he intended to win – he’d worked hard to get to this place and if the torch helped along the way, then why not?

He leaned down, kissed Nadia and whispered in her ear. “I’m going to win a medal. You’re my lucky charm.”

“And what about the torch?” She opened her jacket and closed it quickly shifting her eyes around to make sure no one looked.

He shrugged and pulled on his gloves. “There’s that, too. Luck all around. That’s why my Lucky Lady is holding it for me.”

Chris jerked Ty’s shoulder back. “Come on, dude. You ready to bust it Angelo-style?”

“Coming.” He leaned down and touched her cheek. “Don’t run off again.”

“I won’t. Now get going or you’ll be late.”

He laughed, placing his forehead to hers. “You don’t like to be late do you?”

“Never.” She kissed his chin and waved him off.

“Let’s get cracking, Trouble.” Chris pulled him back. “Later, baby,” he called after his wife who stood next to Nadia with their two young boys.

***

The petite brunette studied Nadia. “Your Trouble’s girl, then? I’m Kristen.”

“Ty asked me to cheer him on.” Nadia tightened her jacket, locating the torch with her right hand and patting it in place.

“I’ve known him for a few years now. Chris and he are always at the same competitions. You should’ve seen them in Aspen during the X-games in January. They’re nuts.”

Nadia laughed with the woman. She could only imagine. “You should see what I’ve caught them doing here in the Village.”

The women chattered for half an hour while the stands filled up, all while Nadia eyed the beginning of the half-pipe, trying to get a glimpse of her superhero. She never caught sight of him, but did see a flurry of white uniforms, the US logos winding together. When the lights blazed around the half-pipe, and the announcers declared it five-minutes until show time, a few other US snowboarders who didn’t make it to the finals joined them, including Ty’s friend, Adam.

Adam held a US flag around his shoulders and gave Nadia a once over. “You abandoned your country, huh? All for Trouble?” He shook his head.

“Leave her alone.” Kristen scolded him. “It’s nice to finally meet a girlfriend of Ty’s.”

Nadia couldn’t help but bask in the title – girlfriend. Is that what she was? Or was it really a frivolous love affair, as it began. Her heart beat faster and her palms got sweaty. She wanted it to be more, but how, when they were worlds apart?

Ty’s face displayed across the video screen at the top of the half-pipe. Her heart picked up its pace, her nervousness for the man she had so quickly become attached to – never imagining the Olympics would lead her there. An eeriness surrounded her. The half-pipe stood empty, with fifteen or twenty heavy lights beaming onto the slick tube where Ty would slide down in any moment. The voices around her quieted – an expectation of greatness from the crowd.