“God, no.” She laughed. The addictive sound filled the room. There were no windows for that laugh to escape through. And I knew that sound would haunt me every time I stepped into this fucking study from now on. “I wouldn’t even know where to start.” She leaned forward, and the neck of her top showed me her braless tits underneath. The tits that I’d had in my mouth hundreds of times. The nipples that I’d rolled on my tongue and bitten down on to make her scream.
She glanced up at me through her long lashes. She fucking knew what she was doing. But I showed fuck-all reaction. Let her try to pull me in like a bloody siren. I wanted to see how far the posh little princess was willing to go to try and bring me to heel.
She pointed at one of the pieces. “What is this one?”
“A pawn.”
Cheska nodded, taking it in. “A lower-valued piece?”
“A soldier,” I said. “Not as much power as the others, but it’s needed nonetheless.”
“Like your soldiers?” she asked. “For your firm?” Clearly Chelsea Girl had been doing her research. No doubt the information came from Betsy. I knew my cousin had taken a shine to Cheska. And I saw the planning and cunning in Betsy’s eyes whenever she mentioned Cheska to me. I didn’t know what my cousin was up to. But whatever it was wouldn’t fucking work.
“Like my soldiers,” I confirmed.
Cheska nodded, then moved to the rook. She pointed at the castle piece. “Can only move laterally or forwards and backwards,” I explained. She pointed to the horse. I talked her through the pieces until two remained.
“So,” she said, “these must be the king and queen. I don’t know a lot about chess, but I know that much.”
“They’re the king and queen.”
Cheska sat back in her chair and studied the board. “So all of these …” She motioned to the pieces. “The entire point of the game is to protect the king?” I nodded my head. “If the king falls, it’s checkmate?” I nodded again.
“And let me guess,” she said, with a good amount of bite in her voice. “The king has the most power?”
“On the contrary,” I said and finished off my gin. I placed down my glass. “That honour belongs to the queen.”
Cheska’s mouth opened, but no words came out. I picked up the king and studied the ornate ebony piece. The crowned top wearing the cross. “The king is one of the weakest pieces. Needs all the others to protect him, as his skills are limited.” I fixed my gaze on Cheska. “He especially needs the queen.” I gritted my teeth but let myself say, “She’s his most important piece. His protector. His strength.”
“She is?” Cheska said, her voice dropping. A blush coated her cheeks and she licked her lips. “And without her?”
“The king is easily captured. Checkmate. Game over.”
Cheska nodded. She glanced at the books surrounding us, but I knew she wasn’t looking at their titles or covers. She turned back to the chessboard, then picked up her queen. It was ivory, proudly wearing the crown.
Cheska finished off her gin, lowered her glass to the table, then boldly met my eyes. “Then I would say it’s in the king’s best interests to stop pushing her away.”
I let her words sink in. Then I let the torch she’d just brought to my flint ignite. Cheska never broke her gaze from me. She was pushing me. Challenging me. Trying to fuck with me.
This was new.
I smiled. Wide. Her eyes grew round. I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my legs. “The king doesn’t take well to mind games,” I said and watched Cheska’s chest rise and fall harder. “He doesn’t waste his time on queens who have fuck-all place in his world.” I dropped my ebony king right beside her ivory queen. One light. One dark. Opposing sides. “Queens who pretend they crave the darkness, but in truth want a noble knight on a white horse that will whisk her away to a castle like some fucking fairy tale.”
I leaned further over the board. Cheska stayed where she was, her lack of submission making my dick twitch in my trousers. I could smell the shower gel she’d been using—almond or some shit. Something sweet. Something that made me want to lick every inch of her skin.
“The king that the queen is intent on provoking is that darkness.” Cheska’s cheeks burned red, her olive complexion unable to disguise her fucking raw need. “He doesn’t live in an ivory castle. He lives amongst the monsters in the haunted forest. There’s no daylight in his world, only night. Perpetual fucking night. No moon and no stars in the sky, the landscape nothing but lifeless trees with broken branches and dead rose bushes laced with dagger-like thorns.”