Bedroom Games

  Brodie still said nothing, though he raked a hand through his dark blonde hair, the ends of his mohawk sticking up.

  His pacing was driving me crazy. I got up from the edge of the bed and approached him, placing my hands on his biceps and halting him. “Are you going to talk to me?”

  Brodie stopped, but the line of his mouth was flat. Mulish.

  I was honestly a bit surprised at this reaction. “Are you really that mad at me over this? That I made some good game moves?”

  “You want me to be honest with you, Kandis?”

  “Well, yeah, that would be nice.”

  “Fine.” He ground his jaw, frowned at me for a moment, and then began to speak. “I think if I was being rational about this, I wouldn’t care that you set yourself up to win. If I was being rational, I’d think it was really damn fucking clever and you’re a brilliant girl for playing all of us. If I was being rational, I’d be proud of you. But I’m not being rational about this. I’m fucking pissed, because…” He paused and raked a hand through his hair again. “Because I see how you are with Jendan. How intimate the two of you are. And I keep wondering if you’re kissing him, too. If you’re fucking him, too.”

  I recoiled, stunned. “Did you just call me a whore?”

  “No, I—”

  But now I was furious. “You think I’d fuck someone just to ally with them? Do you really think that?”

  He exhaled slowly and had the decency to look ashamed. “No, I don’t. This game’s messing with my head.”

  “Then don’t accuse me of doing exactly that!”

  “I’m jealous, all right?” Brodie exploded. “I’m fucking crazy about you, and I can never tell how you’re feeling. I’m jealous of him, okay? Is that what you wanted to hear?”

  His words startled me. Of all the things I’d expected Brodie to be upset about, jealousy wasn’t one of them. Hearing that he was, though? I couldn’t help but be pleased—and, okay, a bit aroused—by the thought of him being all beat-my-chest caveman over me.

  I moved closer to him, sliding a gentle hand over his shoulders and then down his chest. “Brodie,” I murmured. “It’s okay.”

  His nostrils flared, the only sign that he was paying attention to me.

  “I may have an agreement with Jendan,” I told him, moving my hands over his pectorals in a soothing, stroking motion. “But if I win this next challenge, I don’t care how bad it looks to everyone, but I’m picking you. Because Jendan and I may be friends, but you and I are way more than just that. Understand me?”

  “Are we?” His gaze was intense. “I feel like you’re sending me mixed signals.”

  “Do I need to be straightforward?” I slid a bit closer and put my hand on his groin and rubbed. “Allow me to be blatant, then. In or out of this house, you’re the only man I’m interested in. Satisfied?”

  He groaned, his arms sliding around my waist. “After that quick stroke? God no. That wasn’t satisfying at all.”

  I laughed despite the tension between us. That sounded more like the Brodie I knew and loved.

  And then I sobered. Loved?

  Was I crazy?

  I couldn’t be in love with Brodie the betrayer.

  Before I could ponder this, Brodie’s mouth slanted over mine in a hard, fast kiss that stole my breath. It was a kiss full of need and affirmation, and I melted into it. He seemed to need me, and I needed him just as badly.

  So I twined my arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.

  Brodie groaned and his hands tightened around my waist. “Wanna go hide in the bathroom?”

  My pulse fluttered. Did I ever. I lifted one leg and locked it around his thigh. “Just try and get away from me.”

  “That’s the last thing I want to do,” he said, and he punctuated his words with a kiss instead of the smile I was expecting.

  I admit, the tender gesture took me by surprise. It melted me, just a little, and I clung to him as he walked our twined bodies a few feet to the bathroom.

  Once inside, he pressed me up against the door again, and his mouth brushed over mine once more. “Sweet Kandis. I think I’ve fallen hard for you.”

  I sighed against him, my nipples brushing against his chest. I felt the same way. I’d thought about what I’d do once I left the house and all thoughts of a Brodie-less life seemed impossibly dull at this point. I didn’t want to think about that, though. Not while I was in his arms and he was kissing me as though the world didn’t exist outside the touch of our bodies.

  His hands fumbled with the clasp of my jeans, and I helped him drag them down my hips, the fabric bunching at the top of my thighs. His hand slid into my panties, cupping my pussy, and his finger stroked through my wet folds, seeking my clit. Such a bold, direct touch—there was no fooling around, not right now. Not when we needed each other so much. I cried out when his touch hit me in just the right spot, and waves of pleasure washed through me.

  “You’re already wet,” he breathed against my mouth, his fingers circling my clit. “Is it my kiss that makes you so slippery, baby?”

  I nodded, breathless with need. Just the thought of him touching me and I was so slick I could hardly stand it.

  His lips played over mine, his tongue dancing along my bottom lip. “You’re so beautiful. Like you were made perfectly for me.” Two fingers slid lower and sank into my core, rocking deep.

  I whimpered, clinging to him. “Brodie, I want you in me now.”

  But his hand only rocked, sinking his fingers deeper inside me, pressing his palm to my aching clit. “Patience, baby. I want to see your face when you come for me, just like this.”

  I moaned, digging my fingers into the fabric of his shirt as he continued to work my pussy. My leg hiked around his thigh left me wide open for his teasing—not that I’d dream of pushing his hand away—and I wanted to wrap my other leg around him, to leave myself completely at his mercy. “Brodie,” I panted. “Want you so bad. Put your mouth on me.”

  “Anywhere in particular?”

  “Everywhere.”

  His mouth swooped lower, heading to my neck, and he nibbled on my skin there even as his hand continued to work over my pussy. My gasp of pleasure echoed in the bathroom, and my body jolted against the bathroom door as he continued to work his fingers in and out of my sex, sliding deep, fast and hard. Each pump of his fingers into me made the heel of his palm grind against my clit, the motion exquisite but teasing. He never left it there long enough for me to get off, and the result was an intense, erotic tease. But his mouth on my neck licked and sucked at my sensitive skin, and that, combined with his hand, was driving me closer and closer to the edge. I tightened my muscles around his fingers as he drove into me, increasing the friction, and my hips worked with his hand, my body frantic for release.

  It came a moment later, in an intense, shuddering flash, and I cried out, clinging to Brodie as he worked me higher and higher into my orgasm, his fingers slamming into my flesh to drag out the pleasure.

  “Just like that,” he breathed, watching me. “Just like that, Kandis.”

  Bliss cascaded through me. I let the ripples move through my body, and then I slowly came back down from the orgasmic high. I still held on to him, and when he lifted his head to meet my gaze, I leaned in and brushed my lips against his. “Condom?”

  He kissed me back fiercely and detangled his limbs from mine momentarily to get the condom. I made a sound of protest, but he returned a moment later, and his hands were all over me once more. “Drop your pants,” he told me.

  I laughed. “Where’s my poetic Brodie?”

  “He needs to be in you as of yesterday.” He tore open the condom and smoothed the latex over his length.

  I shimmied out of my clothing and then wrapped my arms around his neck again, pulling him close as if we were dancing together. His hands smoothed over my bare hips and I gave a happy sigh.

  “Ready for me?” Brodie leaned in to kiss me, his tongue slicking against my own. When I lifted my leg in resp
onse, his hand hooked behind my knee and his weight pressed me back against the bathroom door once more.

  “Mmm, always,” I told him, my hands sliding to his nipples and brushing over them through the fabric of his t-shirt. Neither one of us had our tops off; I didn’t much care. The sex with Brodie was consistently amazing, and if we were in too much of a rush to fully undress, so be it.

  He pushed into me with a hard thrust, and all thoughts of teasing him to his own orgasm quickly went out the window. The feel of him seated deep inside me made my own pleasure change from a sated hum back to a full blown roar once more, and I felt my pussy clench around him in response. The angle had him tilted perfectly, and his cock seemed to be rubbing me just right.

  “Feel good?” he asked, panting.

  I nodded, another whimper escaping me when he thrust again. Oh God, that was so perfect. “I…think I might come again. Keep doing that.”

  “Right there?” He adjusted his hips and thrust again, hard.

  “Oooh.” A shiver rippled through me. “God, yes.”

  His hand moved up the door and tangled into my hair, tugging on it even as he thrust again. His mouth descended to my throat, and I cried out when he licked the hollow of my collarbone. “You’re mine, aren’t you Kandis?”

  “Yes!”

  “Good.” He groaned and began to thrust harder, his free hand hiking my leg up higher. His weight pressed me harder against the door, and his shallow thrusts began to speed up until I was crying out inarticulately with every motion of his cock inside me. “Because you’re mine, and I’m not letting you go.”

  I shook my head and moaned when he thrust even harder. The building orgasm began to quake through me again, and I felt my entire body clench in response.

  Brodie sucked in a breath and then he slammed into me, movements getting harder and jerkier as I tightened around him. “God, I fucking love you, Kandis,” he gritted out as he came.

  I smoothed a hand down his back as he shuddered out his release, my thoughts whirling.

  He’d just declared love for me.

  Was it because he’d had a heated orgasm? Or was this more cement in our alliance glue to ensure that I’d take him to the end?

  Or…did he really love me?

  For a moment, I hated the game. I hated that I didn’t know what anyone was truly thinking and that no one would tell the truth. I hated that I had to second-guess every word, every move, every thought. I couldn’t trust anyone while I was here, and I wanted to know the truth from Brodie. I wanted to know if he’d still say the same thing once we were outside of the house and there was no prize money to be had.

  But I kept my thoughts to myself and hugged my lover close.

  Two days left to go.

  ~~ * ~~

  “Kandis, can you tell us a little about the state of things in the house?”

  I laughed at the interview question, but there was no humor in my tone. It was just a reaction since they expected one. I curled up in the interview booth chair, shifting my weight, and stared at the screen. “The state of things in the house depends entirely on who is interacting with who. Me and Jendan? It’s all strategy talk. Me and Brodie? It’s all sexual tension and chemistry. Brodie and Jendan? They are circling each other like two dogs fighting over a bone.”

  I frowned at my own analogy. I was the bone. Lovely.

  “If you win the final Power Play, have you decided what you’ll do?”

  I hugged my legs tighter against my body, bothered by the question. “Have I decided what I’ll do? Yes and no. Either way I decide, I have to betray someone. If I go with Brodie, I’ll upset Jendan, and he’s had my back since day one. But…I can’t go against Brodie. Not with things the way they are right now.”

  God, I fucking love you, Kandis.

  I shivered to myself. His confession had completely caught me off guard. I didn’t know if it was the truth, but I wanted desperately to believe it. I needed to believe that he really did love me, and that it wasn’t all just one big epic game-move to him.

  “So, yeah,” I concluded lamely. “If I go with Jendan and honor my word, I destroy Brodie’s chances of winning. Which I don’t think I can do. Not now. I feel awful about it either way—just a few days ago I was thrilled that the house was going to come down to this, and either way, I’d have a seat in the final two. But now that it’s here, I just feel sick about it. I keep playing everything through my mind. If I take Jendan with me to the final two, I can probably beat him because I played harder. I’m just a girl, and they’re two big strong guys, so for me to win the final two Power Plays would make me look like I fought hard. But Brodie? All the girls love Brodie, so if I go to the end with him, I don’t know that I can beat him. So I’m screwed if I do, and screwed if I don’t. If I play this careful and go for strategy, I fuck over what could potentially be a real relationship.”

  If Brodie wasn’t lying to me.

  And I didn’t know if he was or not. Which meant that if I chose Brodie and he was playing me and he won the money? I’d have nothing.

  “So you’re going to give it your all in the challenge?” the interview voice asked.

  My mouth pulled into a wry, bitter smile. “That would make things easier, wouldn’t it? I considered it. If I don’t win, there’s no way I can choose, right? The decision will be made for me. But…I can’t do it. There’s part of me that needs to compete no matter what, so I can make sure that I have control of the situation. Even if I don’t win it, I want to go in knowing I tried my hardest. So, yeah, even though it would make my life easier, I can’t just go out there and blow the final challenge. What if Jendan won the challenge and it pissed him off that I gave up? I wouldn’t blame him—as many times as he’s saved my ass and then I just belly-up on the final Power Play? If that was me, I’d be angry.”

  I shrugged. “So I’m going to go out there, I’m going to fight my hardest to win the final round, and then I’m going to take Brodie with me because I’m a sucker and I believe in happily ever after.”

  And because I was pretty sure I’d fallen in love with the guy.

  The confessional interviewer asked me a few more questions, and then I was free to go. I unfolded my legs and climbed out of the chair, yawning as I padded out of the room. It was early still, and when I’d come downstairs for breakfast, Brodie was still asleep. I wondered if he was awake yet. It was weird that I missed him when he wasn’t by my side, but I’d take advantage of it while we were together. I exited the confessional and headed to the living room.

  It was like the man could read my mind. Sure enough, Brodie was lounging on one of the old-fashioned couches in the living room. He frowned at something off in the distance and then his smile returned at the sight of me. He sat up and patted the couch, indicating that I should join him.

  I looked around. No Jendan. That made me feel a little easier about being openly affectionate with Brodie. Instead of sitting on the couch, I crawled into Brodie’s lap and greeted him with a kiss.

  He hugged me close, his arms wrapping around me and cradling me against him. “Well hello, gorgeous.”

  I laughed and ran a hand through my messy mohawk. It had been sticking up at all angles this morning so I’d simply wet it down and gone on my way. Gorgeous, I was not. But Brodie was always sweet like that to me, and the way he watched me with such appreciative eyes made me think that he thought I was beautiful.

  Either that, or I was a total sucker after all.

  He glanced over my shoulder again.

  “What?” I asked.

  Brodie shook his head, frowning. “I just…thought I saw something. A shadow.”

  I snorted. “I told you I’ve been seeing those for weeks now, and you kept saying I was crazy.”

  “You think this place is haunted?”

  I wrapped my arms around his neck, glancing around at the shadowy room. I’d been so wrapped up in the game itself that I’d forgotten all about the fact that the house was supposed to be haunted. “You mean
to tell me you’re going to finally going to worry about ghosts two days before we leave?”

  He shrugged. “I’ll just cuddle under the blankets with you if I get scared.”

  Now that had potential. I grinned. “If you must.”

  “Morning confessional?” he asked, leaning in to nibble on my ear.

  “Mmm, something like that,” I told him. “All kinds of questions about the final challenge. I thought it might be the case, but it was still weird to hear.”

  Brodie’s expression grew serious, and he regarded me for a long moment. “Can I ask you something?”

  His blond hair was flopping adorably on one side of his forehead, and I smoothed it back with my fingers. “Of course.”

  “What’s it mean to you to win?”

  That…wasn’t what I expected him to ask. I frowned a little. “You know what it means to me. It’s a chance to save my mom—”

  “No, that’s what it means for her. I want to know what it means for you.” His blue eyes were serious, arguably the most serious I’d seen since I’d met him.

  I thought for a moment, wanting to give this question the consideration it deserved since it apparently bothered him so much. After a pause, I answered. “Relief. It means that I won’t have to spend my days worrying if I should do more for my mother. If I should get a second job, or a third one, to help her out when I know she won’t appreciate it or do anything to help herself. It’ll let me relax and just, I don’t know, be me. It’ll be an end to stress.”

  He leaned in and nuzzled my neck. “It worries you to have to look after her, doesn’t it?”

  “It does,” I agreed, and I felt that familiar, sick clench in my stomach. “There are days that I can’t sleep because I don’t know what she’s going to do or how I’m going to save her. She doesn’t have anyone but me.” My eyes pricked with tears. “And if I can’t save her, what kind of daughter am I?”

  “One that tries really, really hard,” he said softly. “No matter what happens, she should be proud of you.”

  I nodded, though it was hard to think about not winning and what that would mean. I pushed the thought out of my mind a moment later. I refused to think about it. Instead, I ran a finger along Brodie’s jaw-line, feeling the overnight growth of blond beard stubble. “What about you? What does winning mean to you?”