Page 49 of Crown of Steel

Maxime stares him down. “Too easily? I have been hanging in there for half an hour. At least! When you played against him, he had you checkmate in less than 10 moves.”

Jo lets go of Maxime’s hand and stabs his chin in the air with fake defiance. “That’s because I wanted to do him a favor.”

“Guys,” I give them a little wave. “I’m sitting right here.”

Maxime leans his elbows on the table and buries his head in his hands. Letting out a grumble, his eyes dart over the board. “If I move my knight. My bishop…no. But what about…” His hand hovers over a piece. “What about this?”

“You can’t move your pawn back, it's against the rules.” I deadpan. He looks up at me and bristles.

“Really? I mean, you still have nearly all your pieces and you won’t let me move my pawn back? It’s not like I can do much damage anyway with that thing,” he adds in a mutter, then looks at Jo for support.

“What about your rook?” Jo picks it up carefully, then mimics a few moves with it. “What if you tried…”

Voices behind us announce Dominique’s return. He brings a tray of hot drinks—hot chocolate with school-made biscuits— and someone else. Another person who has my heart thump faster in my chest on instinct. Fuck. I instantly glare back at the board, but somehow the scenario has entirely lost its earlier satisfaction. My skin starts to crawl with unease, the flesh on my back heating with every step Arthur takes forward. Around me the guys chatter away, but I’m caught in my usual lockdown. I fucking hate it.

“Ah, our favorite butler,” Maxime grins, then hurries to get up and help Dominique with the full tray.

“You’re too kind,” Dominique grins and blows him a kiss.

“That’s because I want something from you. Will you please, please,pleasestay the night? It’s Friday, and we can have another slumber party. I’m sure your hubby won’t mind. He's not here anyway, right? Come on, like the good old times. Pretty please…”

Before Dominique and Gaël got together, he shared a dorm with Maxime. From what I’ve understood, Maxime requested Saint-Laurent to keep their place in the exact same state, just for the nights Dominique and he stay together to relive their good old times.

“His parents, my uncle and aunt, have come for the weekend to see how Gaël is doing,” Arthur answers instead, his smooth timbre hot and coated with that usual raspy edge. Too close. He’s already too fucking close. I try my best to focus on theboard and block out the conversations, mentally calming myself down.

He agreed, that little voice soothes.He’d back off and leave you be.

It doesn’t stop my body from going rigid, from sweat to bead in the crevices of my forehead, of annoyance with myself to build in my stomach. He shouldn’t be here in the first place.

No. It shouldn’t fuckingmatterto begin with.

“So, the rook really is the only piece I can move?” Jo, clearly certain to take over the game, still sits across from me, his face curled in a wrinkle as he gazes at the pieces. “Or am I missing something?” A warm, firm hand lands on my shoulder.

“Hello, little stepbrother. Long time no see.” He crouches down right beside me, and the arrogance in which he so casually breaches my comfort zone, has me fuming. “Know why I’m here?”

“I don’t, and I don’t care. Now’s not the time,” I snarl, eyes still on the board.

He chuckles, the raspy sound fanning the tender skin under my ear. I shiver, dry eyes glued to the board as I force myself not to squirm in my seat.

Hooking his fingers against the edge of my nape he turns me to face him. A slow smile spreads his lips. “You really don’t know why I’m here?”

My cheeks burn from embarrassment and something else. “Other than to make my life miserable? No, I wouldn’t have a fucking clue. Now get the hell away, I’m playing chess with my—” But Jo’s not sitting across from me anymore, the king nicely put to his side.

Check mate.

“Friends?” Arthur chuckles, his typical rasp ticking my throat. “Nah, they've had enough. Look, they’ve even moved to the bar to give us some privacy.”

I glance over, stomach dropping. At least Jo has the decencyto send me an apologetic wave when I look his way. No one can beat a Deveraux, and whereas I seem to struggle with that concept, the others clearly don’t. Dominique and Maxime are still sipping their drink, and they have clearly already moved on to their slumber party mood, unaware of my predicament as they laugh and giggle like a bunch of school girls.

“Mom and Dad called and texted us a few times over the past week to let us know that they would be here tonight. If you had bothered checking your phone, you would have known. Instead, you decided to ignore them. Per usual.”

I swallow, refusing to let his words make me feel anything close to guilt. He’s right though, I have ignored their phone calls. Their messages.

“Just like you’ve been ignoring me.” His lips brush against the shell of my ear, making my breath hitch. Making my everything hitch when his true meaning hits my brains. My body feels heavier as arousal slowly rises from my toes to my thighs, then settles in my groin. My body remembers, craves Arthur’s possessive and filthy words, but my mind rebels. Of course I fucking do, he was supposed to leave me alone.

I shift my head, only to hit my nose with his. Fuck, he really is too close. I try to pull back, but his hand is faster, cupping the back of my head and pushing me forward, closing the distance.

“Please.“ I breathe, hating how small I sound. Hating how he always seems to affect me. “What do you want?”

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