Page 97 of Crazy In Love
“Eh.” She trails her fingertips over my stomach, tracing the lines of my abs and licking her lips. Because fuck it, she’s hurting for me, too. “I’m not nearly as patient as you are. I don’t even pretend to be. I’m just playing, because your brain turns me on as much as your body does. Strip chess means I get both.” She tilts her head toward the board. “Your turn.”
Do I even have a brain to use right now? Am I capable of making sensible choices?
Evidently not, because I pick up my queen and sling her forward to capture a pawn.
Hardly an equitable trade.
“Your dress, please.”
She laughs, dropping her head back and treating me with a view of her delicate throat and the pounding pulse knocking at her flesh. “Sheesh. Cutting straight to the point, Watkins. You could have asked for a shoe.”
“I have no intention of allowing you to stay in that dress a single second longer than necessary.” And because I’m a gentleman and all that, I tug the fabric down, lowering to my knees until the bishop in my waistband stabs my stomach and the scent of her arousal hits me in my fucking soul.
I help her step out of her dress, stroking the back of her thigh, and when my nose and her pussy are on the same level, I dive in and bury it between her legs.
I just want to smell.
I just want to feel her warmth.
She cries out, fisting my hair and dropping an inch when her knees fail. But I keep her on her feet. On her heels, which is a million times better. Holding her up, I run the tip of my nose over her clit, purely to make her jump.
“Chris—”
“I’m taking my winnings soon.” I don’t taste. I don’t cheat. Instead, I straighten out and set my hands on her hips, dipping the tips of my fingers in the waistband of her panties. “Fuck, babe. Are you for sale?”
Her eyes narrow to slits.
“I’d pay you to walk around my home like this. Lace underwear. Sexy heels. All mine, where no one on the outside even knows you’re here.”
“I won’t exchange money for pleasure.” She pushes onto her toes and nibbles on my lips. “But I’ll accept your soul. I don’t think it’s too much to ask.”
“You already have it.” I slide my tongue against hers. Suckling. Tasting.And losing my battle against casual, I pull her impossibly close. “If my soul was the price, then the deal has already been made. You belong to me. I belong to you.” I press my forehead against hers, staring down at her slender body and the way her chest lifts and falls. Fast and heavy. Warm and reddening.
I sure as fuck can’t look into her eyes.
“It’s your turn.” I clear my throat and turn to the board. Anything to avoid confronting whatever expression she wears. Mocking? Disgust? Gentle taunting, or worse, a reminder she won’t be mine,can’tbe mine, because she’s happiest in New York. And I… I can’t exist anywhere but here in Plainview.
She releases a shuddering breath, and without much thought, she moves her castle into an empty square.
I could take her pawn. I could take her castle. But then again, she could have taken mine, too.
So I select my knight and move it into an empty square.
Are we afraid to push on while my ridiculous declaration hangs heavy in the air? Did I ruin the mood?
Probably. I’m pretty fucking good with that shit.
Quick as a flash, she sends her castle across and captures my pawn, and before she can ask for my shorts, I counter by taking her castle.
It’s a fast one-two, over quicker than either of us can blink. But she smiles, at least. I see her in my peripherals, farewelling her castle.
“That was smooth.” She grabs her rook and sets it beside mine, so I take my knight and place it on her side of the board, joining the ranks of two of her pawns. “Do you plan your moves while I’m still thinking about mine? Because you’re pretty fast at this.”
“I’ve had a lot of practice.”
“Which is surprising, considering I took the first two casualties.”
“War isn’t about those who fall first.” I wait for her to move a pawn, and then I take her knight. “It’s about who’s standing at the end. You’re all about flash, Fox. You want to be fancy and loud. I’m more subtle in my approach, so when I slice your king’s throat, you won’t even know I was holding my knife.”
