Chapter 21 Jade #2
Before she can continue, Billie interrupts.
“Stasia, stop. Don’t you know who that is?
” They nod in my direction, and my face flames.
“That’s Jade McKallen,” they whisper. “She has millions of followers.” My stomach sinks.
Yet again, I’ve been relegated again to a statistic.
I am a number of followers, not a person, and they only see me as a tool to make or break their business.
And Dad wonders why I don’t get out.
“Oh, I’m—”
Tieran interrupts me before I can apologize, charm oozing from every pore. “I’m so sorry. I was having issues with my dog this morning, and it took me longer to get out of the house than usual.
Billie interjects this time, fearing Stasia will put her foot in her mouth again. “It’s not a problem. Just go ahead and get into position.” At that moment, one of the other students in the class calls out for assistance, and they let us know they’ll be back to help us after getting them sorted.
Facing Tieran, I raise my brow. “Does your charm usually get you out of things?”
“So you admit I’m charming?” He grabs the silks dangling next to us, forearms flexing as he uses it as an anchor to lean forward into my personal space.
Meeting his challenge, I take a step forward, getting even closer, hovering my mouth an inch away from his. His smirk remains, but his breathing stops, his eyes flitting back and forth between mine. He’s waiting on bated breath as his hold on the fabric becomes shaky.
What did he say to me that first night?
I like your brand of bold.
I don’t stop. Instead, I bring my finger to the chain dangling off his neck, playing with the metal before I place the tip of my finger to his chest and trail it down his body, over the ridged muscle of his abdomen.
A low groan exits his mouth, and he squeezes his eyes shut, but doesn’t pull away, doesn’t ask me to stop.
The burning path of my finger halts just before the waistband of his athletic shorts, shorts that show off all his tattoos—tattoos I find far too sexy and can’t stop staring at during matches, inked onto thighs I imagine fucking into me with powerful force as I come undone, finally getting what I’ve been aching for since that first night we met.
Focus. My thoughts always become jumbled around him, even when I have the upper hand. I want nothing more than to make him feel as off kilter as he’s made me feel every day for months.
Leaning in, I whisper in his ear, “Like a snake charmer.”
That snaps him out of the moment, and he rears back slightly as something that looks an awful lot like hurt flashes in his eyes.
I instantly regret my words, even though I don’t know exactly what I said that was wrong. Still, I see the effect they had written across his face, and I want to slap myself for ruining what was supposed to be fun.
Before I can apologize, an easy grin settles on his face. A fake smile.
My insides squeeze and cramp to be on the receiving end of the expression he shows the world when he’s not being authentic. I wither inside.
“Tieran—”
“Will you show me how to climb them?” He nods to the silks dangling from the ceiling. “Stasia was right, you’re a natural.”
It’s obvious he wants to change the subject, and after what I did, I do too, even if it makes me a coward. Anxiety worms its way through my body, and all I can think about is the light dimming from his eyes because of my careless words.
“Sure,” I say, voice a little wobbly.
I give him the basic rundown of how to lift himself, how to grasp the material between his thighs and loop his foot around to give the best purchase, even going as far as to show him visually by doing it myself.
After several failed attempts and a sheen of perspiration along his brow, he looks visibly annoyed.
“How are you so good at this?” He takes a sip of the water he brought with him, and I watch a trickle of sweat glide down his neck and over the tattoo just below his ear.
I want to li—
He breaks my line of thought by reaching out and grasping my chin, wrenching my gaze away. “Eyes up here, Hellfire.”
Humor shines in his eyes, and I internally breathe a sigh of relief to see it again.
“I do Pilates five times a week. You’d be surprised how strong you get from it.”
“Are you insinuating I’m weak? I’m a rugby player, for fuck’s sake.”
“A rugby player who could benefit from Pilates, it would seem, if you can’t pull yourself up a shiny rope.” I pick invisible lint off his t-shirt before patting at his chest. “But that’s okay, big guy. We all have our challenges.”
The anxiety starts to ebb as we settle back into our easy banter.
Tieran levels me with a glare that promises retribution. “Right, well, that won’t do.”
Before I can stop him, he grabs hold of the silk and wraps it around his wrist. Soon enough, his arms start to shake from the exertion of lifting his massive body in the air, but he keeps going, pushing with his thighs and pulling with his arms. He’s halfway in the air when the velocity from his speed, mixed with the jerky motions of his climb, start to make the silks twist around his body, cocooning him inside their warm embrace.
“Uh…Tieran?”
“Give me a minute.” He starts to thrash around, but it only exacerbates the issue.
“I think you need he—”
“Don’t say it.”
“Big, strong rugby player, strung up in ropes.”
“Jade,” he warns.
“It’s like a fantasy come to life,” I tease.
“Yeah? You want to see me tied up?”
“Mmmm.” I leave him in suspense for a minute. “Yeah, I think I do.”
His eyes spear me from twenty feet in the air. “It’s not very nice of you to say things like that when I’m not in a position to do anything about it.”
“Thank goodness I’m not a very nice person then.” I tug on the silks to emphasize my point, jostling him a bit.
“Stop doing that.” His voice is stern. It’s what I imagine he sounds like when he’s leading the team. It’s kind of hot, so I do it again. “Jade, if you don’t stop, when I get down, there will be hell to pay.”
“Sounds fun. Are you going to punish me, Captain?”
“Fuck, stop. You’re making me hard when I’m hovering above a group of people. They’ll think I’m a pervert.” He makes a concerted effort to untangle himself, kicking his feet until he’s able to get one free and use it as leverage to start untwisting himself.
Once released from the bonds of luxury, Tieran scales down the silk and drops heavily onto the mat next to me. When he rises to his full height, effectively towering over me, he subtly adjusts the slight bulge in his pants.
Unable to help myself, I snort a laugh.
“Do you think this is funny?” He arches a brow.
“Unfortunately for you, yes. It’s hilarious.”
“Wicked woman.” The words have no bite to them, but he prowls closer to me, a wolf on the hunt, me it’s willing prey. My blood hums through my body, waiting to see what punishment he might dole out.
I back up a step, ducking behind the fabric cascading from the ceiling.
Tieran goes to grab the material to pull it out of his way and get to me, but I stop him.
“Careful; I’d hate for you to get tangled again.
Metamorphosis might set in this time, and you might transform into a big, masculine, rugby-playing butterfly. ”
He barks out a laugh so loud, it shocks the whole room into silence.
“Would you two please pay attention so we can demonstrate the new skill for everyone?” Stasia, who clearly doesn’t care who I am and I love her for it, chides us.
“Sorry!” Tieran and I both say before we turn, smiling at one another.
The next hour passes in a flash of satin and laughter as Billie and Stasia take us through several introductory moves. It’s easy to admit I had fun, but from the look in Stasia’s eyes as we walk out the door, I don’t think we’re welcome back anytime soon.
We’re standing on the street, watching a car pass by, neither of us saying anything. Where do we go from here? I don’t really want this day to end, if I’m being honest with myself. If I was being really honest with myself, I’d admit I never want time spent with Tieran to end.
I built an empire by being smart—making logical choices, safe choices. But lately, I’ve been very, very stupid.
Fuck. I’m tired of playing it safe. Isn’t that why I moved to London and bought the team in the first place?
To do the bold thing—the risky thing. Am I really going to risk that on a man who makes my heart freefall in my chest every time he looks at me with those sapphire eyes?
With every smile, text, random not-date, and cheeky remark, my good sense drifts away on the wind, leaving behind a sense of frenetic energy—a need my body recognizes but my head has yet to allow.
The Legends are a challenge my head wants, but Tieran is a challenge my heart needs.
And I’ve never backed down from a challenge.
“Do you want to get lunch?” The words are out of my mouth before I realize I’ve said them.
The smile Tieran throws me is soft, almost shy. “I thought you’d never ask.”