Dark Duke(14)
He smiled at her as he moved his queen. “So, you were reading this afternoon.”
She started. Her gaze flicked warily to his face. “Yes.”
“Anything…interesting?”
She tried to hide her smile with a pucker. It didn’t work. “Perhaps.” She moved her king out of danger.
“Did it involve a harem girl, by chance?”
She tipped her head to the side. “Do you intend to win the game by distracting me, Your Grace?”
“I think you should call me Edward now, don’t you? After…this morning.”
She colored, a lovely rose. “So you do intend to distract me.”
He moved his lone pawn.”Does it?” He glanced at her, investing heat and promise in the look. “Distract you?”
“Perhaps. A little.” She took his knight. “Quite sad, though, that you feel you have to cheat to beat me.”
“Cheat?”
“Hmm.” She studied the board as he took her bishop. “One would hope you could play without resorting to such base tactics.”
“Oh, I will win.”
“Will you?” He loved the way her lips curled. They were perfect lips, ripe for suckling. He’d love to have her suckling on him. His ardor stirred.
“Do you fancy a wager?”
At her words, her tone, her look, his cock shot straight up. “Most definitely. What shall we play for?”
At the same time he said “A kiss,” she suggested, “Money.”
He steeped his fingers and studied her. “What do you need money for?” Good God, whatever it was, he’d be delighted to provide it for her. A new dress? Ribbons? Furbelows? Done.
But she didn’t answer him. She sat back and folded her hands in her lap. “Do you want to wager or not?”
He did. “All right. A kiss if I win. Ten guineas if you win.” He was definitely winning.
“Twenty.”
He winced, but only in play. Twenty guineas was a fortune to a girl like her. To a duke, it was a fart. But it would be worth it. Because he was going to win. He could see it on the board. “Fine. Twenty guineas wagered against a kiss. Play on, Macduff.”
She snorted a laugh and hunkered over the board, determination written on her face. It was adorable. She was rather fun to watch.
He should have paid more attention to the game.
Five minutes later, she had his king in check. Six minutes later, in mate.
Hell. She’d won. He stared at the board. How had that happened?
“I will accept a bank note,” she murmured, arranging the pieces in their velvet nest.
He stayed her hand. “One more game. Double or nothing.”
She smiled at him and shook her head. “I will have the twenty guineas, thank you.”
“Fine. They are yours. But I would like another game.”
“Would you?” She glanced about. With the exception of Malcolm, sitting across the room in the wingchair and staring into the fire, they were alone. “It’s getting late.”
“One more game. Thirty guineas against a kiss.”
She gasped.
“No.” For that much, he should get more. “Thirty guineas against thirty kisses.”
“Thirty kisses?” Her brow quirked. “Your Grace, your lips would be sore.”
He leaned in and lowered his voice. “Who said anything about lips? That’s the part of the wager I forgot to mention. I get to choose where those thirty kisses fall.”
She stared at him. Her lips worked. Ah, that they were working on him. “Your Grace, I cannot help making the connection to selling one’s soul for thirty pieces of silver.”
He grinned. “Nonsense.” He began setting the pieces on the board. “Guineas aren’t silver.”
Kaitlin stared at the board as Edward arranged the men. Fifty guineas. In one night. Lord. That was an opportunity she couldn’t dare to miss. It wasn’t by far enough to wipe out the debt weighing on her soul, but she would be fifty guineas closer to freedom. And if she lost—
She shuddered at the thought of thirty kisses…then thrust the inconvenient lust aside. She wouldn’t lose. She wouldn’t. She’d played Edward. She knew his tactics. She could counter them at every turn.
She would win.
“Well?” The pieces were all in place. The board waited. As did her opponent. A confident look limned his handsome face. “What do you say, Kaitlin?” He said her name in a raspy whisper.
“Yes.”
His nostrils flared. “Yes?”
“Yes.”
“Wonderful.” He made his first move. “I shall enjoy my kisses.”
She snorted and countered. “You will enjoy dreaming about them tonight in your cold bed.”