AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Shock pierced me. I hadn’t expected her to tease about that. Then respect grew in me. Sitting back in my chair, I watched her with a new admiration as I nodded. “I’ve heard that very thing myself.”
“Yes, well… It makes me wonder if you’d loosen your competitive spirit if you saw just how desperately I wanted to win this game.” When I said nothing, she lifted her eyebrows expectantly. “So, would you? Let me win if I really wanted to?”
>
“In a heartbeat,” I admitted.
She sucked in a small but visible breath before saying, “Well, don’t. If I win, I want to do it honestly. And if I lose, I want to learn just how clever you are.”
I watched her a moment before catching on to what she actually wanted. “You’re still curious,” I surmised. She didn’t care about winning or losing. She just wanted to measure my talent and learn more about me, to see if I was worthy of being her one true love. When she nodded, I did too. “Then, yes, my lady. I will play you to the best of my ability.”
“Thank you,” she murmured, meaning it.
And so I played my heart out, intending to win as I’d never won before. The others crowded around to watch, no one offering pointers, but all of them curious to see which move each of us would make next.
Our mental strategies were intense, and I felt more alive playing this game than any game I could remember playing before. Time passed, Anniston fell asleep in Vienne’s arms, Yasmin became disinterested and drifted away, then Brentley and Allera took their leave, but Vienne and I grew more absorbed with each play.
She was good. Kept me on my toes, but in the end, I won.
Barely.
I was about to think this might last all night when she finally made a move that landed me my victory. Grinning, I shifted my queen into position and announced, “Checkmate.”
Vienne blurted a surprised, “Oh!” and sat forward fast enough she woke the baby as she scanned the board before looking up at me, her eyes wide with shock, making me wonder if this was the first time she’d ever lost before. “Goodness, you really did win.”
Caulder chuckled and patted my shoulder as he complimented, “Good game, you two,” before he turned away to leave
Soren scowled moodily, rubbing his chin between his fingers as if he could find a way for Vienne to beat me after all.
“You beat her,” he finally surmised. “You really beat her.”
“I did,” I said before sending her a teasingly suspicious glance. “You didn’t let me win, did you, my lady?”
Vienne laughed at my question. “Why would I do that?”
I shrugged, my eyes growing stormy and serious as I sent her husband a quick glance. “As a consolation prize, maybe?”
As Soren sent me a smug snicker, Vienne shook her head, her eyes soft with…what was that emotion? Sympathy, perhaps? “No, sorry,” she said, letting me know it was definitely sympathy. “That wasn’t a pity loss. I actually did want to beat you. Quite desperately.”
I nodded gravely and stood. “Then I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Oh, on the contrary,” she countered happily, sighing contentedly as she stood and readjusted Anniston in her arms. “It was one of the most exceptional defeats I’ve ever experienced. You made the game entertaining. Thank you for the competition, Prince Urban.”
The words were formal and distant, even the hand she stretched my way was ceremoniously polite. But the emotions it stirred in me were anything but proper.
I looked at her hand and knew I couldn’t touch her in this moment. With a glance toward her husband, who glared at me as if he knew exactly what I really wanted to do with his wife and her hand, I turned back to Vienne and quickly took her fingers.
The moment immediately cemented itself into my head with a permanence I knew I’d never forget. The first time we voluntarily touched each other, aside from that moment I’d saved her life with a kiss. This time, it was instigated by her and she was awake and alive and cognizant of every moment of it…just as I was.
Her fingers were cool but soft, the pressure in her shake formal but friendly. It was in no way meant to be passionate, and yet my world shifted on its axis. I would’ve burned kingdoms to the ground, laid waste to her entire family, fought wars just to shake her hand again.
But she let go within moments, and I was compelled to follow suit, releasing my grip as soon as she did, to make her happy.
“Thank you,” I murmured, meaning it from the bottom of my heart. “I look forward to our next round.”
She opened her mouth to answer. The smile in her eyes told me she was about to agree to more games in the future, but Soren bit out, “Don’t count on it, Prince.”
I glared at him for interrupting, for being a dick, for simply being the obstacle in the way of my happily ever after.
