Flirting with Danger by Bev Hardy (best free ebook reader for android txt) 📕

His next move puzzled her yet again. Damn Americans! She had to admit that she was nervous of him playing by different rules that she wasn't aware of. No, but she knew her game. She spent the next few minutes scrutinizing his move, going through every possible reason for it, but still not coming up with a motive. Well, it can't prove any great threat to her, not yet. She focused on her game plan. She would now move her second knight into the middle of the board; that would trouble him as he valued knights, but best of all, there was another motive behind her move.

Then something occurred to her. Would he sacrifice pieces? If he knew that he could take her knight, would he sacrifice his bishop? In a way, she hoped so; she didn't like his bishop where it was. She could stand to lose a knight that hadn't gone anywhere far yet. Now, if it was her, she'd never sacrifice a piece if she could help it, but this was Luke we were talking about. She was quite happy to keep her knight too though, and carry on attacking. But this wasn't the average game that she had played.

He stared long and hard at the board after her move. Then his eyes were on her again, wondering, searching, smiling knowingly…at what, she wasn't sure. Hell, she actually didn't care if he took her or not at that point. If he did, she would use that advantage, if he didn't , she would have moved a piece further into the board.

Then he seemed to mirror her earlier action, taking hold of his bishop but not letting it go. He hadn't even moved it out of its square though. Would he take her knight with it or not? It hovered ominously there. She began to feel her heart rate accelerating. Why, she didn't know. It made no difference to her, but she'd just like him to make a decision. He'd always moved his pieces quickly before.

At last the piece moved past its square, in the direction of her knight, but to her annoyance, it stopped again, half way between her knight and its original square. She glanced up at him. He was watching her, smiling, obviously playing games with her. Okay, but he couldn't do this forever; he'd have to move eventually. Then, to her consternation, he moved the piece back to its original square and let it go! What on earth was he doing? She sighed and looked up at him. He was still staring at the board, however, she was sure that he knew she was watching him. Again he reached out and took hold of the bishop, but this time he lifted it completely off the board and held it on the table in front of him. She'd lost her patience.

"Oh, for goodness sake Luke, just take me if you want to!"

His eyes widened; an amused smile quickly developed. "Oooh, an interesting proposition. Can we wait till after the game though? 'Cause I'm winning at the moment," he replied.

She gave a small laugh. The cheek of him! "Really? I don't think so, but nobody is going to win if you don't move one piece or another soon," she pointed out, exasperated.

He smiled, apparently pleased with himself about something, and picked up his bishop again, finally making his move.

Once again, she'd predicted him right: he took her knight with his bishop.

She wasted no time, taking his bishop in return.

There followed a frenzy of taking pieces. She tried to slow it down, alarmed at how quickly the board was clearing and aware that, although she was keeping up with him, she was also getting carried away at a pace he was more at home with.

Now they were both at the stage when they were each desperate to claim an advantage by taking a piece of the other's that wasn't involved in a trade. Only that would determine who was going to dominate the board.

Luke was considering a complicated plan, but it meant that in five moves ahead, he could get her into checkmate. He became excited at the prospect. But the way she was playing, she would probably predict his moves. He had to resort to more unconventional means. He grasped his Queen, the piece that he knew she valued to the hilt, and moved it into harms way. He watched the slight widening of her eyes as she looked down at the board. Placing it onto the square that would result in its demise, he lifted his fingers slightly, seeming to release the Queen.

Her eyes flicked to his. "You seem to have let go of that piece," she observed.

"No," he challenged, lifting his hand enough for her to see his little finger still touching it. "I never stop touching until I'm through," he said mischievously.

She sighed. "Do you really feel the need to resort to all these childish games?" she asked him.

He returned his Queen then and moved his knight, putting his plan into action.

"Games?" he responded innocently.

She frowned though after assessing his move. How could she have missed that? He was playing with her, trying his hardest to put her off. Well, two could play that game; if he could distract her like that, then she could do the same, threefold.

She took her time over her next move, making him wait as only the beginning of her counter strategy. Firstly, she toyed with her wine glass, running her fingers slowly up the stem. She drew his attention to it by moving hers away from the board. She sighed, seeming to be contemplating her next move, whilst her fingers slid up and down the stem of that glass, teasing it, teasing him. Then, when she had his full attention, she lifted it, excruciatingly slowly to her lips. She held it there before she took a sip, so that her lips were clinging to the edge of the glass, her eyes apparently contemplating the board.

He was losing control again; those lips of hers were driving him to distraction! They touched the glass softly, while the red liquid seeped past them and disappeared. She swallowed and lowered the glass, her eyes closing slightly, seeming to enjoy the warming taste. The fingertips of her other hand, however, toyed with her mouth, one finger slipping in, her teeth biting down indecisively as she scanned the board with suspicion. Luke had problems moving his eyes off those glossy lips of hers. He was throbbing again… badly…in a daze of her fingers and lips, shiny and wet. God he could plunder those lips right now!

As his eyes lingered on her mouth, he was vaguely aware of her moving a piece.

It seemed irrelevant though. Suddenly disbelief hit him, seeing her like that. Disbelief that he was sitting there in front of Charlie after all those years and there was something...something between them, something really damn hot! Things had happened so fast that day; he could hardly get it through his head. And now, damn it, he was at her mercy yet again because his libido was most definitely taking over rapidly. He was aware that it was jeopardising his game, but part of him was starting to not care. She was playing with him, he knew it, but what the hell, let her keep on playing!

She sighed as if too hot. His attention flicked from the board to her once again. She ran the fingers of one hand down the folds at the front of her dress, grasping them and wafting them lightly as if to generate some air. The board was calling him but there was no way he was missing a moment of that wafting! She leant forward slightly, resting her chin on one hand. His gaze avoided her face and snuck a look down the front of her dress. Her fingers were still there, edging into the place that his burned to be. He shifted uncomfortably on his chair and lowered his eyes to the board. He was going to move his bishop…no, knight, then his bishop…or was it the other way round?

He tried to fix his eyes on the board; he willed them to stay there, but then she was moving again, ducking down for some reason. Curiosity tore his attention away.

She had swivelled to one side of her seat and bent, leaning forward over one knee to loosen the strap on her shoe. Appreciating her ankles and calves was one thing, but the view of her dress, or lack of it, down her back was something else at that angle. He could barely see the edge of the back of her dress, and if he focused just on that area, he could almost imagine her not wearing that dress at all! His mouth was suddenly dry. He licked his lips. Then she was taking her shoe off. His mind began wandering. After she had taken both shoes off, she would be naked… apart from that dress. Well, she definitely had no bra on anyway, he could tell. Okay, so she probably had panties on… grrr, he had to stop thinking of her panties!

Right, that was it, he had to move now. If he remembered the plan correctly, he needed to move his knight…yes, then on the next move, she would be in check. And after that it was just a matter of bringing his remaining bishop into play.

He made his move.

Having dispensed of her shoes, she rose again to glance at the board. She assessed the effect that his knight would have on her game, noting that she would be in check on the following move. But then something odd happened. She suspected what he'd inadvertently done, but had to check and recheck to see if she was in fact right. A smile grew the more she checked their pieces, until she broke out into laughter.

"What?" he frowned.

She glanced up at him, but burst out laughing again.

"C'mon Charlie, what's up?" he said impatiently.

She took in a deep breath to calm herself in order to answer. "Take a look at the board Luke."

His eyes shot down to it, but he saw nothing unusual; he wasn't in check, but in one more move, she would be. He was winning, so why was she so amused about that?

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"No," she insisted, "really take a look at it."

He had really taken a look at it!

"Are you gonna tell me what's wrong or not?"

She leant back in her chair, as if she had finished, draping her arm casually over the back.

"Stalemate," she said slowly but clearly, her eyes glittering with amusement. The word echoed around the room.

"What?" he asked, searching the board for answers.

"It's stalemate. Nobody wins; it's a draw," she emphasised.

"Ahh no, no, no, no, no," he responded, shaking his head, "I don't play stalemate; someone's gotta win, and one more move, and you're in check…soon to be checkmate," he informed her.

She chuckled. "You have no choice but to accept stalemate Adams; look, I can't move any of my pieces at all. And if I can't move any of my pieces, then you won't get your turn, hence, stalemate."

He stared at the board in dismay, as what she had said sunk in.

"That aint how we play it in the States!" he finally responded dismissively. "Stalemate, that just aint right!"

She smiled, rose off her chair and moved to the half bottle of wine that had been left on the desk, refilling her glass.

"Face it Luke, you can't beat me because I am your equal. I'm equal to you, and you're equal to me. And don't think for one minute that I didn't see your five move plan," she laughed. "That attempt to put me off with the Queen," she shook her head, "pitiful!"

"What about you?" he pointed to her accusingly. "What was all that sighing and touching? And that thing with the lips, eh? What was all that about? And the shoes," he added.

"Shoes?" she laughed, "I