Chapter 8
They were standing on the podium so close to one another that Tora could feel the warmth coming from Alisa’s body.
Carefully, almost imperceptibly, she stretched out her pinky finger toward Alisa’s hand and touched her.
And immediately understood that Alisa had been trying to do the same for a long time. Their fingers brushed.
Out of the corner of her eye, Tora noticed Alisa’s smile become a little wider.
Then Alisa turned slightly toward her and said quietly, so quietly that only the two of them could hear:
“How does it feel to be on top again?”
“You’ll find out tonight, babe,” Tora whispered directly into her ear.
She instantly saw Alisa’s cheeks flush pink. For some reason, that touched her every single time. Alisa always blushed so beautifully.
Tora had won gold again.
It was already beginning to feel almost ordinary, almost like a habit, and she liked it, but even more than the medals she loved performing, loved hearing the crowd roar for her and Loke, loved the way the arena seemed to tremble around them beneath the noise.
Their popularity on social media had grown unbelievably fast. Everyone followed Tora’s Instagram now, where she posted photos and short videos from practice, always smiling in every picture.
“Smile for the photo!” the photographer called.
And all the skaters smiled.
Alisa and Lev had taken bronze today, and objectively it had not been a bad result at all.
The competition had been difficult. But every time Alisa looked at the podium, she thought the same thing.
What if they were not good enough for the Olympics?
What if they were never sent there? Because unlike Tora and Loke, they did not take gold every single time they stepped onto the ice.
They were always a little behind. And that hurt.
But on the other hand… There was always something waiting for her afterward in Tora’s hotel room, and somehow that always softened the bitterness of defeat.
After the group photos, flowers and plush toys that always came with the medals hanging around their necks, they took a few more pictures separately for social media. Then suddenly the reporters appeared directly on the ice.
On the ice! Who the hell had let them in here? Alisa frowned.
The moment she noticed the crowd of Russian sports journalists, she stepped down from the podium. She did not want to answer questions about why she had failed to take gold at three championships in a row.
No.
She grabbed Lev by the hand and, without even turning to look at Tora, skated away across the ice, farther from the arena and the eyes of the fans who were already beginning to leave their seats because the show was over.
Later, in the locker room, after changing into her usual clothes, Alisa was shoving things into her bag when suddenly the door opened and Tora rushed inside, slightly out of breath.
She sat down on the bench and began pulling her skates from her strong muscled legs.
“Are you in a hurry?” she asked, lifting her head toward Alisa.
Alisa stopped immediately, as though Tora’s voice had startled her.
“Already without the medal?” Tora asked, glancing toward where Alisa had stuffed the bronze into her bag. “Why do you hate bronze so much?”
She finally pulled off one skate and leaned back against the cold wall, still breathing a little too quickly.
Had she really run all the way after me just to ask that?
“Bronze isn’t gold.”
“Well, yes, I know that, I’m not stupid,” Tora answered with a grin.
At once she saw the hurt and anger flicker in Alisa’s eyes. Alisa looked furious and upset and embarrassed all at once, and somehow all of it was written openly across her face. Tora still could not get used to it.
Slavic faces always seemed so difficult for her to read, cold and almost expressionless one second, and then suddenly everything was there at once. She had never understood how someone could live without smiling all the time.
How could you not smile when the sun appeared after days of gray weather?
How could you not smile when there were so few warm days in the year?
“Listen, I have to go,” Alisa muttered.
“Where?”
Tora stood up and walked toward her in only her socks.
Alisa lowered her head.
She did not know what to answer, because she did not actually have anywhere to go.
The championship was over. She could finally rest. She was not planning to celebrate bronze, and Pike had made it painfully obvious with that disappointed look that she did not want to see either of them today. They would talk tomorrow.
“Nowhere…” Alisa said quietly. “I don’t need to go anywhere. I just want to get out of here as fast as possible.”
“Then can I invite you to my hotel room?”
Alisa looked up sharply.
“You want me to go with you straight from the arena to your hotel room? Are you insane?”
“What’s the matter?” Tora frowned as she took things out of her gym bag, she asked a simple question, noticing the way Alisa seemed to be in a daze, her cheeks flushed a pretty pink.
She watched as Alisa’s gaze followed the movement of her hands, as she shook out her hair, the long blond locks cascading over her shoulders. Tora’s lips curved into a slow, sultry smile as she caught Alisa staring.
“Can you help me, babe?” Tora asked. She had already loosened her hair completely, the silky strands spilling down her back.
With deft fingers, Alisa unbuttoned the top of Tora’s dress, the fabric parting to reveal the creamy swell of her breasts. Tora turned to face Alisa, holding the dress closed at her chest with trembling hands. Alisa swallowed hard, her heart pounding in her throat.
Tora let the dress slip from her fingers, the garment pooling at her feet. She stood before Alisa, completely bare. Tora’s breasts were full and high, the rosy peaks hardening under Alisa’s gaze.
Tora’s smile widened as she watched Alisa’s tongue dart out to wet her lips. “See something you like?” she purred, taking a step closer to Alisa, her hips swaying with a feline grace. “Because I certainly do…”
“We… we might get caught and…” Alisa became worried and began to stumble over her words, glancing around the locker room.
“It’s just us and the Japanese girl, and she’s still in the interview. Their first silver medal at the international competition, after all.”
“She won’t be here anytime soon, don’t worry.” Tora soothed her, and Alisa relaxed a little.
“But I still can’t go to the hotel with you right from here, it would be weird, and if we were spotted it would be a disaster.”
“Let’s just say we ordered a taxi together and went to our hotels?”
And suddenly it no longer seemed like such a stupid idea, Alisa was just worrying out of nowhere. And really, who would be watching them, who would need that? They could have simply been friends, right? No one would film what they were doing later in Tora’s room and…
Then Alisa’s thoughts accelerated again, from a tiny ball of thread into a huge snow globe that, with one careless shake, could bring down an avalanche of even more frightening thoughts, and Tora seemed to feel it immediately and kissed Alisa right there in the locker room.
“So let’s not worry today. You did well, we’ll calmly order a taxi, stop for something delicious on the way, I really want something local… and then we’ll go to my room, okay?”
Alisa was taken aback, as Tora gently kissed her lips.
“Damn, yes… I agree.”
“That’s nice.” Tora smiled and kissed Alisa again.
And a moment later, when they were both dressed and had packed their things, the Japanese girl entered the locker room.
With a radiant smile and a medal that gleamed against her black tracksuit, she waved goodbye to them, and they waved back, saying they would see each other at the next competition.
Everyone exchanged kind words, and the two girls headed for the hotel to continue the evening.
However, one of them was carrying victory and gold with her, and the other bronze and defeat.
They entered Tora’s room literally ten minutes after leaving the arena, the hotel was very close, just like Alisa’s, but Tora’s room was much larger and, most importantly, she was alone there.
Alisa, meanwhile, was once again sharing a room with another Russian figure skater, and there was simply no way she could bring anyone back with her.
Dropping her gym bag by the front door, Tora said:
“Well, what do you think of my place this time?”
Tora spread her arms wide, showing off a simple but cozy room with dark green walls and a map of Copenhagen hanging above the desk.
A huge rustic-red bed stood in the center of the room.
In general, if you spoke in square meters, the room was compact, but the two of them would be more than comfortable here anyway.
Alisa always felt cold in Copenhagen. The city was simply like that to her, the wind there seemed to reach straight into the bones, somewhat like St. Petersburg, but harsher somehow. Alisa shivered, and almost immediately felt Tora switch on the heating, and then the heated floor beneath her feet.
Tora stepped closer to Alisa. Her hands slid around Alisa’s waist, gripping the soft curves of her hips. Alisa’s breath hitched, a pretty blush spreading across her cheeks.
“Mmm, should we start our monthly meeting right away, or go to the shower first?” Tora murmured. “It’s become quite the tradition, hasn’t it?”
Alisa’s tongue darted out to wet her lips. She ached to close the distance, to capture Tora’s mouth with her own.
“Can we take a shower together?” Alisa suggested. She held her breath, waiting for Tora’s response, hoping her nervousness didn’t show.
“I like the way you think, babe,” she purred, her hands sliding up Alisa’s sides. “Let’s go then!”
Tora dragged Alisa into the bathroom, her hands gripping Alisa’s waist possessively.
She spun her around and lifted her effortlessly onto the vanity counter, pushing her thighs apart to stand between them.
Tora leaned in, her lips finding the soft skin of Alisa’s neck, kissing and nipping at the sensitive flesh.