Black Knight, White Queen by Jackie Ashenden Read Free Book Online

the most pleasure. Concentrating on her so he didn’t have to concentrate on the memories lurking just beneath the surface of his skin.
    He paused at the head of the bed. “No. Never.” Of course by speaking he’d given away his position.
    Her head turned toward him. “So why now? Why me?”
    “Why do you want to know?” He moved noiselessly around the bed, studying her.
    She’d turned over on her side, still facing where he’d been, though now he was on the other side of the bed and she faced away from him. He reached for her, tracing the long curve of her back with his fingers. Her skin felt smooth, like satin. And her body shook when he touched her, her breath escaping in a hiss.
    “Oh no reason,” she said, panting. “Just in case I’ve got ‘tie me up, I’m gagging for it’ tattooed on my forehead.”
    Aleks put a knee on the edge of the bed, trailed his fingers back up her spine. “You talk too much.”
    “Hey, asking questions isn’t a crime, is it? Besides, every girl likes to think she’s a little bit special.”
    He placed a hand on her hip, pressing lightly, holding her in place. “You are…different.” The word special had other connotations. Connotations he didn’t want to admit to. But he could admit to different.  
    She didn’t say anything, trying to roll onto her back. He pressed harder, preventing her.
    “I’ll take different.” Her breathing became faster. “So what’s with all the control stuff?”
    “You have to control the game in order to win it.”
    “Does winning matter so much?”
    Aleks let his hand slide down over her stomach. “Winning always matters.” He spread his fingers over her abdomen, feeling the rise and fall of her breathing.
    Izzy shifted her body, clearly trying to move his hand lower. “But if you never lose, you never learn.”
    He moved his hand a little lower, letting her think he was giving her what she wanted, tantalising her by grazing just the top of the curls between her thighs. “You’re assuming I’ve never lost.” He’d lost many times. Enough to know that he never, ever wanted to lose again.
    She made a soft noise as his fingers brushed her skin, her hips lifting, urging him farther down. But he wouldn’t let her have what she wanted. Not yet anyway.
    He let his hand fall away and got off the bed again.
    “Fuck,” Izzy panted, falling over onto her back. She’d gone even pinker beneath her blindfold, her jaw tight with what was probably frustration. “You’re a sadist. I’ve decided I don’t like this punishment.”
    “You can go any time you like.” He’d moved to the opposite side of the bed again, watching her. Figuring out his next move. With a strange lurch, he realized he didn’t want her to go.
    If she wanted to, would you stop her?
    Would he? Perhaps he would.
    She said nothing for a long moment. Her breasts rose and fell in time with her breathing, her little nipples hard with arousal. Then she flexed her arms against the brightly coloured scarves and gave a slow undulation of her hips, a sensual cat-stretch.
    No. She wasn’t leaving. Need coiled low and deep inside him, making him even harder.
    “I would leave,” she said huskily. “But it looks like some sadistic bastard has tied me up.” Her head turned on the pillow as if trying to gauge his position, one corner of her mouth turning up. “I don’t suppose you want to help me out, would you?”
    Aleks stared at her, at the curve of her lower lip. Wanting to trace the shape of it with his finger. Her smile fascinated him. How was it possible that just a smile could make him harder than he was already? Flirtation, teasing had never done anything for him. Sex wasn’t about fun. It was a bodily function that one satisfied when appropriate and ignored when it wasn’t.
    And yet some part of him wanted to respond to her. Tease her. Make her smile more.
    “No.” He came silently around the bed to the other side again. “Why would I want to help