AN: Cycleward is still all yours, Erron! Lets watch him take a workout.
Thanks to jcat5507 and Eternally Edward's Girl for their beta'ing and prereading. Lots of kisses to all of you for reading and reviewing.
~~ SHIFTING GEARS ~~
Chapter 2
Vaison La Romaine – Gap
EPOV
Intense focus. Adrenaline coursing through my veins. Every part of my body was concentrated on the road ahead, and I steadied my breathing to regulate my heart beat. Too fast, and I'd use too much energy. Too slow, and my body would be oxygen starved. We'd practiced this start over and over again, and I sensed the welcome sheen of confidence wash over my body. My mind was clear of everything apart from the course in front of me. I mentally rode my way through it, along the gentle inclines, through the fast flats, then up the approach to the Alps where my quads and hamstrings will ache like hell. Nothing else mattered.
Until that little shit Jacob Black went and opened his goddamned mouth.
"Hey, Cullen, I hear that Riley's sister's been touching you up."
I ignored him, trying to tune out his high-pitched timbre. Nothing irked me more than Black and his constant digs.
"Did you hear me, Cullen? I hear she's been running her hands all over your body."
"Fuck off, Black," I muttered, trying to pull my focus back to the race. I shook my head a little and tried to tune him out.
"She's cute, too. I tried to bag some of that shit myself, but apparently she's too good for the likes of me."
Okay, he'd gotten my attention now, and I turned to him, a pissed expression on my face. He may have been on my team, and maybe he was a demon on the mountains, but it didn't stop me from wanting to punch the smile right off his face.
"What the fuck?" I could feel my hands start to sweat, and they slipped on the tape, losing their grip on the handlebars. Wiping them on my shorts, I took my position again, glancing at the clock and noting there was a minute until the race began.
"Bella, your new physio. As in Bella Swan, sister of Riley."
And now a punch in the face was too good for Black, because what I really wanted to do was throw him on the ground and ride over his smug face repeatedly. He'd look good with a few tire marks criss-crossing his cheeks, and the thought almost pulled me back from the edge. I felt the perspiration that was already covering my body start to turn cold, despite the warmth of the June air. Why the hell didn't Alice tell me that Bella was Riley's sister? The clock was ticking down the seconds, and I parked this thought in the depths of my mind, deciding to come back to it later.
Rolling my shoulders, and relaxing the muscles, I moved back into my racing position. The riders ahead of me started to pull off, and I followed behind, pressing my cleats down into the pedals, making large circling motions with my legs as I began to accelerate, checking in my peripheral vision to make sure that the rest of Team Eclipse was alongside me. Leaning forward at a sixty-degree angle, I dipped my head and felt the pull in my quads and calves as I began to pick up speed.
Riding easy was the perfect way to start a race. All of the front group stayed together, a rainbow of team colors all moving as one, toward the mountains that loomed in the distance. The rest of the team was in front of me, trying to safely shepherd me toward the end of the stage. Moving into their slipstream, I hit my rhythm, and the way my heart beated, and my legs moved in time to a silent symphony, was like music to my ears.
Just to the left, I could see the familiar red and black of Team Volturi, with Riley Swan toward the rear of the group. He inclined his head, and I realized that they were trying to make an early break, and a brief gesture of my own alerted the rest of my team to Volturi's tactics. Miguel Ciudad swerved expertly in front of me to lead our team out, mirroring Volturi's pace.
The race continued in a similar vein. One rider made a break, and then the peloton caught up. Another tried to move in front, but we kept chasing them down until we all hit the mountain together, the gentle incline suddenly becoming steep, our movements turning slow as our muscles adjusted to the new cadence. I took a huge gulp of air to try and counteract the cramp that was starting to push down on my quads. They were screaming in pain, and I refocused my brain on the road ahead, ignoring the sharp shots of agony as the fibers contracted.
When we reached the top, the race really began. The team had placed me in the optimal position, just ahead of the peloton, and Miguel lead me out into the sprint before elegantly sliding behind and letting me take the front. I adjusted my body again, this time sliding forward on the saddle, moving my hands onto the bars in front, flattening my back until it was almost horizontal. My head dipped and my eyes could only just see the road in front of me, although I'd already memorized every twist and turn, knowing that keeping my aerodynamic position could be key to the win.
A flash of black and red, and Riley Swan drew alongside me. A small smile crept across my face, despite the agony that I started to feel in my groin muscle as my toes dipped and my legs moved in small fast circles. I cycled through the pain, letting it pull me into a speedy rhythm, edging just in front of Swan, as he moved so close I swear I could hear him breathe.
Spotting the finish line ahead, I dipped lower still and threw every last piece of reserve energy into the sprint finish. I didn't check to see if Riley was next to me, I didn't want to expend the effort it would take to move the muscles in my neck. I didn't even listen to the roar of the crowd as I barrelled toward them, my heart clattering and the air escaping my lungs in short, harsh bursts. The noise crescendoed as I passed the finish line, allowing my arms to rise up in the air, tensing my muscles to keep the bike vertical as I slowed to a stop.
Riley Swan pulled up beside me, and I realized that I'd beaten him for the first time since the Olympics last year. I really wanted to savor this moment.
"Hey, Swan. It was a real pleasure riding with you today." I knew I was goading him, but after the things he said about me in London, the bastard deserved it.
"Enjoy it while it lasts, Cullen," he replied through gritted teeth.
"I have to say, I think I might have strained my groin again. My physio is going to have to work extra hard at relieving the pressure tonight." And though the expression on Swan's face was making me laugh, I wasn't even kidding about the groin strain. That last sprint definitely pulled something. It wasn't pretty.
"Fuck you. Keep your hands off my sister, or I'll…" Swan suddenly realized that a microphone was being put in his face, as he was meant to be answering a question for ITV. I winked at him, enjoying the angry red flush that was flooding his cheeks.
"Maybe you should be telling your sister to keep her hands off me. I just lie back and think of the grand ole US of A." With that, I stepped down from my bike and headed over to the press corps, a smile still plastered across my face. And I enjoyed the feeling, because after the Olympics, it had been a long time coming.
On the bus back home, I gave our trainer an earful for not telling me that Bella was Riley Swan's sister. I wasn't sure that I trusted her, and the only reason I'd let her anywhere near me was that my whole body was wracked with pain and tension. When we reached the hotel in Gap, I walked straight to the room that had been set up for my physio and grabbed a towel, barely even caring that I was stripping in front of my enemy's sister.
"I hear you won." Her voice was quiet as she turned her back on me, and I watched as she started to sort out the oils.
"Yep."
"How do you feel?" She turned back as I wrapped the white towel around my hips, and I caught her glancing down at my abdomen, her eyes following the line of hair as it dipped beneath the white cotton.
"My calves are shot to shit, and my groin muscle hurts like hell. But apart from that I feel great."
Because I whipped your brother's ass, I added silently.
"Well, hop up then. Let's get this over with."
I tried not to look offended at her words as I climbed onto the leather table, lying face down as she rubbed oil on her hands and began working on my calves. I winced as her thumbs pressed down on the muscle fibres, the pain from her circling movement shooting straight up my leg. I knew she could feel my response, but she carried on. It would be worth it in the morning when my calves were loose and I was still able to cycle.
Hating the sound of silence that blanketed the room, I decided to make conversation with her. "Aren't you going to ask how your brother did?"
"I know how Riley did." Bella didn't sound surprised that I knew he was her brother. I could hear her soft breaths as she leaned over me, her hands slowly moving up my legs until she reached my hamstrings.
That's when it started to turn weird.
The touch of her hands on my thigh made me shiver. The way she massaged me felt different to Alice-softer, more feminine-despite the pressure that she was putting on my legs. I closed my eyes and bit my lip, willing my body to ignore its natural response to her touch, because getting a hard-on while lying on the physio table was amateur and embarrassing.
"Is this okay?" She moved higher now, her fingers finding the strained muscle just below my groin, and the pain that I felt as she pushed down was welcome-anything to take my mind off the pleasure of her touch. But I still responded, and I was dreading the moment she asked me to turn over and notice that my dick was sticking straight up to the sky.
Like a teenaged boy with an inappropriate erection, I started to go through all the things that disgusted me. I recalled my grandmother and the way she used to put her teeth in a glass by the side of her bed. I thought of Jasper and how he always used to fart when we shared bedrooms as junior cyclists. I remembered the nausea I felt last summer when I saw the Olympic Gold Medal hanging around Riley Swan's neck.
I could feel myself soften as I lay on my front. Moving my head to the side, I caught Bella's eye and saw her staring straight at me, the deep hazel darkened by her widening pupils. As much as I wanted to move my head and look away, I found myself captured by her gaze. Suddenly, my heart was pounding faster than when I was sprinting down the final fifty yards, and I could feel the rapid drum beat it made against my ribcage.
"You can turn over now." She broke the moment with a breathy voice, and I had to restrain myself from reaching out to touch her. Every nerve ending in my body was screaming at me to pull her onto the table and kiss the holy fuck out of her. In spite of her relationship to Riley Swan—or perhaps because of it—I couldn't help but want to run my hands all over her body. To push them up her legs the way she did to mine, to rub the pad of my finger along the soft fleshy skin of her inner thigh until I heard her breathing hitch and felt her muscles tense in anticipation of my next move.
"I'm going to start on your quads. They feel pretty tight," she almost muttered to herself, and her cheeks flushed brightly. My fingers itched with the need to touch them, to see just how hot her skin was.
"They took a hammering on the mountain."
"I can see that. I'll do what I can to loosen them, but I think you could probably do with an ice bath."
I fucking hated those things. Sitting in a tub with freezing-cold water washing around my balls was not my idea of a good time.
"At least tomorrow's a rest day."
"I'll be here first thing in the morning. A couple of sessions tomorrow and you'll be good to go. How's the groin feeling?"
I resisted my natural urge to respond lewdly and muttered that it was okay, even though it still hurt like fuck. I was nervous that it was going to worsen overnight, because I'd had groin strain before and it wasn't a walk in the park. Bella finished up the massage and moved away, walking over to the hand basin and washing her hands before she handed me a white terry robe. I sat up and pulled it on, the white fluffy towel pooling around my feet as I rose.
"Thanks." As I stopped in front of her, I realized just how tiny she was. She had to be at least a foot smaller than me, and the thought of this small woman being able to manipulate my muscles until they surrendered, made something move inside of me.
"You're welcome." As if she, too, could feel the tension between us growing, she blushed again, before turning on her heel and almost running out of the room. Herr tight ass moved beneath her skinny jeans, and my eyes widened at the sight. Once this tour was over, I was determined that I was going to find out exactly what she had going on beneath those clothes.
Despite the stage win, we didn't celebrate at dinner; our nutritionist was too careful, making sure that we had the correct ratio of carbs-to-protein to even let us think about wanting a beer. Bella didn't join us, and I couldn't resist a glance over at Team Volturi's table to see if she was consorting with the enemy.
She wasn't there either.
It was a shame she wasn't, because it would give me an excuse to get rid of her as my physio and smack Riley Swan in the face at the same time. As the pundits say, "that kind of result would have been a win-win". I didn't even try to analyze what it was about her that riled me up, although I was aware of my visceral response to the way she touched me. I just knew that I wanted her to stay away from me for the rest of the race. Almost impossible since she was the one charged with keeping me in peak physical condition.
The girl shot my concentration to shit, and I didn't like it one little bit.
After dinner, the doc told us all to get an early night. I followed his instructions like a robot, knowing that my body craved the rest and peace my bed could give me. Just as I reached the elevator, I spotted a familiar body sidling up to me.
"Edward, I've been wondering where you've been hiding." Carmen Volturi looked at me through her thick, dark lashes and reached out to run a finger down my bicep. I flexed it slightly, more as an automatic response than any peacock-like tail showing.
"Carmen." I decided to keep it brief, because after the last time we hooked up, she was like a limpet. It took three dates to peel her off me.
"You look tense. I can help with that."
I laughed. "I bet you can, but I'm in the middle of a race." No sex during a competition; a hard-learned lesson, but one worth keeping to.
Carmen leant forward, and I caught a scent of flowers and jasmine, my eyes automatically moving down to her chest as she practically pushed her cleavage in my face.
"It doesn't have to be sex. I can see that you need to relax, baby, and you know exactly what I can do with my mouth."
A sudden memory of our post-Giro romp flashed through my brain, and I recalled the way we spent three days holed up in an Italian hotel room. Though Carmen was the daughter of Marco Volturi, I can't say that I wasn't tempted to take her up on her offer. My body was still raw from the touch of Bella Swan, and I wanted to fuck that feeling right out of me.
The elevator arrived, and as the doors opened, Carmen pulled me closer, her lips touching my ear as she whispered dirty things. Feeling a smile pulling up at the corners of my lips, I stared straight ahead, and noticed that the car wasn't empty. Looking straight back at me with the strangest expression twisting her delicate face, was Bella Swan. Pulling away from Carmen's grasp, embarrassment flooded my body as I realized exactly what this must have looked like. I opened my mouth, feeling an inexplicable urge to explain that it wasn't what it seemed, before I shook my head at myself in disgust.
I owed Bella Swan nothing. Nothing at all.
It didn't stop me from watching, as her eyes narrowed and she pushed past us, muttering something under her breath as she strode away. Shaking off Carmen, I stepped wordlessly into the elevator, and in the moment before the doors closed, the last thing I saw was Bella Swan walking up to Marco Volturi, a look of determination crossing her face