CHAPTER TWELVE
Ava
Kind of freaked out was probably too mild a term for what I was feeling. Talking with Lucas on the balcony, an uneasy anxiety overtook all of my senses. I couldn’t think of anything other than being flogged and berated. I held myself together, but barely.
It was hard to get in the mood to seduce him when my mind ran wild with thoughts of beatings, hot wax, whips, and chains. Since I knew nothing of the lifestyle other than reading the first Fifty Shades book, I was getting way overworked about this. Although he’d promised to be kind, my trust issues were not to be subdued.
Sitting outside together was getting too intense, so I suggested we take a walk around the grounds. I’d seen a nice lake when the limo brought me in and thought a change of scenery would be really good for us.
He agreed, although I could tell that he’d gotten excited as we discussed the kinds of things that might happen this evening. I hoped walking would restore the equilibrium we’d enjoyed thus far.
On our walk, we spotted a deer with a fawn. It was just nature doing its thing, but I felt like I’d won the lottery seeing the deer in their natural habitat. I soon was so lost in nature, I’d nearly forgotten about the night ahead.
“Wow, this is so cool. I never see deer in New York City. I’ve heard of them in the parks, but it’s not like this.” I was so excited, I wanted to stay out in the cold, crisp air all day and watch them, but the mom and baby deer wandered off after a few minutes.
When we both got too cold to continue, we went to the main kitchen to see what we had to do to get ready for this evening. We were greeted by the head chef, who asked us to submit a grocery list for this evening’s meal.
One or preferably both of us were meant to cook. After seeing Lucas’s panicked face at the chef’s question about our cooking skills, I volunteered, “I’m not the greatest cook, but I can make a few dishes outside of pasta, toast, and oatmeal.”
I did have some more complicated dishes in my arsenal of culinary delights. “I spent a lot of time as a child at my grandmother’s house. My sister and I spent our summers with my grandparents in northern Arkansas. They lived in a tiny home in a beautiful rural area surrounded by mountains. My sister and I were always happy there.” Our family was so crazy and tumultuous at times, and the getaways were some of my fondest memories of childhood. “Grandmother Amelia was my mother’s mother, and she could be a firecracker, especially in the kitchen.”
“You have a secret family recipe, then?” the chef asked with a twinkle in his eye.
“Well, Mom usually only made dishes Dad wanted to eat, so dinner was often some kind of meat and potatoes.” I smiled at the chef’s upturned lip. “As I grew older, I stayed away from the heavy meaty foods and opted to make things I remembered my grandmother making.”
My grandmother had been portly and robust, but a little gun shy when it came to standing up for her daughter who was being abused by her dashing husband. She’d done everything she could for us girls. My grandmother was a delightful person, and I truly enjoyed being with her.
“Can I order anything? Even ethnic stuff?” I hoped he’d say yes. I really wanted to make Shahi Paneer, my grandma’s specialty. It was a warm, spicy, comforting dish that had a dash of the exotic — perfect for the chilly landscape. And which hopefully would arouse Lucas in a sensual way, so our sexual play might be fewer whips and chains and more love and laughter.
“That’s an Indian dish. Was your grandmother from India?” Lucas looked like he was sincerely interested in finding out more about my background.
“No, but Grandma was raised in Northern India. Her parents were English language teachers, and she adopted a lot of the culture. When she returned home to marry and have children of her own, she continued some of the traditions, especially making foods she loved as a child.”
Lucas smiled. It felt good to share what made me me with him.
“Yes, we can get anything you need as long as it isn’t too exotic. Anything we can find in Vail, so nothing that has to be ordered online.”
“If there’s an Indian food grocery nearby, it’ll have everything I need.” I quickly wrote out a list of things.
I watched Lucas as his eyes widened. Surely, with all of this money and lavish lifestyle, he’d had Northern Indian food before.
“We’ll have your items to your penthouse at six o’clock,” the chef said with staunch professionalism.
Back in our penthouse, with two hours to kill until our Wine and Dine task began, I wasn’t sure what we’d do.
I immediately thought of the rack of clothes I hadn’t had time to properly pilfer.
“A fashion show!” If Lucas thought he could just tie me up with some straps and have his way, he had another think coming. There was more than one way to tie a lover up. “You stay here.”
I left him on the living room couch and went to the closet, where I squealed at the sight of my very own designs come to life.
There was a handwritten note I hadn’t seen before pinned on one of the bags. It was from Mr. Huffman. The note read:
Ava, I have to say, I was very impressed with your designs. I hope you don’t mind that I copied a few of the prototypes. I have plans for them, but I’ll get your permission before moving forward.
Barely able to contain myself, I dressed in a slinky number I’d whipped up just last night. It was hard to believe that it was possible to have custom-made garments this fast, even with all the money in the world to work with.
“This is so exciting.” I twirled for Lucas, my smile feeling like it was going to crack my face.
“Very.” He made himself more comfortable on the couch. “Shall I play some music?” He seemed almost as excited as I was.
“Yes, let’s do this right. You find the music while I change.”
I loved everything. It had all turned out so beautifully. It was the first time my designs had been assembled by someone other than myself. I was moving up in the world.
As I paraded around in my outfits, Lucas was growing more and more interested. I made sure I’d created things that loved my body, and as he reacted to the clothes, I could tell he loved my body as well. I’d never felt particularly desired by a man before. It was uplifting. I felt sexy.
Without intentionally planning it, I’d already started to seduce him. I decided that if he was planning on torturing me tonight, I was totally justified in doing a bit of torturing of my own. His interest spurred me to sway my hips, and at one point I even ran my finger down the side of my breast. I worked my makeshift runway, which was the length of the picture window that showed the incredible landscape in the background.
“I’m so impressed, Ava. You’re really talented. Why aren’t you showing at fashion week? Why aren’t your designs someplace?” He was so naive about this business, I had to laugh.
“The design business is as hard as this competition. No offense to your uncle, but it’s pretty brutal.”
“Well, your designs are magnificent. I’m sure you’ll be able to tackle the business and my uncle successfully.”
I hoped, from the way he’d alternately melted into the couch and sat on the edge of his seat, that maybe he wasn’t going to be hard to tame.
By the time there was a knock at the door, I was ready for the touching rule to be lifted.
“Is everything to your satisfaction?” Our guide from the night before inquired, taking in the outfit I’d just slinked past Lucas in.
“Yes. I love it, everything is perfect.” I blushed with pride.
Lucas chimed in from the couch. “You’ve made it really hard for me to stay away from her. Bravo.”
“I’ll leave you two to do your thing, just remember no touching until the timer goes off. And you can start making dinner now.” She nodded and backed out the door, leaving us alone.
When I turned back to Lucas, my fingers tingled with the desire to touch him. They itched to rake through his hair, feel the texture, the softness. Oh my god, was I sweating? I’d never felt this way about a man before. I’d been mildly attracted to other men, in an “if I pretend I really like him maybe I’ll really like him” kind of way. But what I was feeling for Lucas bordered on liking him enough to have thoughts of dating after the contest.
He got up and approached me, looking as if he was about to pounce. I suddenly wanted to prolong the anticipation, maybe even make him suffer a little.
“Not till the buzzer, remember?” I shot him a coy smile but held my ground, picking up the red and white box and shaking the timer inside as a reminder.
“Oh, I know.” His response was all growly, making goosebumps skitter across my skin. “It’s emblazoned on my brain.” He came so close, I could smell the minty freshness of his breath.
He grabbed the box out of my hands, removing the timer from it.
“She just gave us permission to start this.” He took the timer and dialed it to the two-hour setting. “Don’t you think?” He angled so close, his lips hovered almost over mine.
Wetness bloomed between my legs, and my knees developed a buckling sensation I’d heard about but never experienced. I felt myself flush and wondered how he’d turned the tables so neatly.
Luckily, there was another knock at the door, this time the chef with two bags of groceries.
“Hi, Ava and Lucas. I have your groceries, and I’m happy to report, we were able to find everything you needed.”
“Wonderful! Let’s get started.” With a cheery smile, I grabbed the bags and ducked under Lucas, effectively putting the space between us I needed to avoid the intense feelings welling inside of me and concentrate on this challenge.
I’d decided to face this with as much openness and zeal as I could muster. Refused to worry about tonight, until tonight. I pulled out everything I needed, lining the ingredients up on the counter.
Lucas came in, hands in his pockets, and silently watched me.
“Do you cook?” I asked Lucas as I found the drawer that held the measuring spoons and cups.
His lips curved upward and he shrugged. “I can cook a few things if need be. Mostly on the grill. But it’s been a while.” He sat on a barstool at the counter and popped a piece of paneer cheese into his mouth.
I cocked my head, one hand propped on my hip. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Watching my sexy chef do her thing.” He leered at me as he said it, and even though I didn’t know him well, I knew that he was half messing with me, half seeing how far he could go with that.
“Can you slice things?”
“Yes, of course I can slice things.”
“Then you can come here and cut tomatoes. After that, you can soak the cashews.” I let my older sister bossiness enter my voice as I pointed at the ingredients.
“Oh, can I now?” As he walked to the sink to wash his hands, he cut it close and “accidentally” brushed his hip against mine. We’d built up such an erotic mood that the tiny touch had my heart pounding, the blood rushing to my head. “What are we making again?”
While he was cutting and soaking, I had an idea. “Shahi Paneer. You’ll love it. I forgot something. Be right back.”
Walking swiftly to my closet, I quickly shuffled through my choices. The sexiest outfit I’d designed was a black cocktail dress cut low in the front. It was tight at my ass and tailored to fit my body like a glove that was in love with me.
When I reentered the kitchen wearing the dress and a pair of fuck-me-now heels, he dropped the knife, and it clattered into the sink. His head shook as his interested, cool eyes scanned me head to heels, so intensely that I could practically feel my pores open up and whimper, wanting to be touched.
“You’re not going to play fair, are you?” He shoved away from the counter and approached me the way a tiger would when stalking his prey.
“You can’t abandon your post.”
He didn’t listen, and my heart did a lurching thing in my chest. What the fuck was he doing to me?
“I’m not,” he rasped as he continued his slow migration toward me.
“You haven’t been exactly playing fair either, so I’m armed for battle.” I straightened my spine as I said it, which inadvertently jutted my breasts out farther. This brought the laughter from him I was hoping for, but now his eyes were on my breasts, and I could feel my nipples beginning to tighten under his gaze. “Now, get back to work.”
“Just wait…” It was said in a low rumble, and it was definitely a veiled threat, but he returned to his cutting and soaking duties.
I snatched an apron I’d seen in the cupboard off its hook, putting it on before rummaging for the perfect pan. I’d done all this without so much as glancing at Lucas, but now I needed spices, which were located in the cabinet just in front of him. Playing with fire, I leaned across his body, letting my breasts brush over his elbow, surreptitiously reaching for what I needed.
He hissed in a breath through clenched teeth, then caught my arm and held me there for a second before directing my attention toward the timer. An hour and thirty minutes left. “Tick, tock.”
I thought at first he was just talking about the time we had to cook dinner, then I realized as I stared at his amazing, blazing gray-blue eyes that he was counting down to the moment we would be allowed to touch. I swallowed hard and forced myself to hold his gaze, upped his game by sweeping my tongue slowly across my lips. Then I looked at him innocently, as if he hadn’t affected me at all. “Could you please pass me the coriander?”
I’d forgotten I’d put it out on the counter behind me, so he had to reach around me to grab it. When he did, his steely erection pressed into my thigh. My lips parted, and I barely held back a gasp. Then he moved away, sliced into an onion.
God, he felt enormous.
I hoped I possessed cook-a-recipe-autopilot, because now all I could think about was finding out just exactly what he was sporting.