Chapter 4
four
. . .
Things are heating up in Caroline, Alberta.
Reports have stated that the young protege, Ellory Campbell, has been spotted spending private time with her ex-girlfriend, Margot Lawrence, at their training residence.
Could this be a spark rekindled? Or are we witnessing the beginning of another iconic eruption?
Signing off, I am Richard Locus, and this is Endernet, coming to you from Lethbridge, where community grows. Back to you, Han.
“Can you help me with this?” Margot gestures to the tie around her neck. It’s tight, and it looks like one of the clasps underneath the fake knot is stuck.
“Sure,” I say, my voice coming out with an unintended rasp.
Within minutes, Margot and I have gone from black-tie banquet attire to lingerie, and I can’t tell if the flutters in my stomach are from apprehension or attraction to the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes—and hands—on.
I reach up to her neck to find that some rogue threads have found their way around the metal clip.
Leaning in close, I realize there’s only the thin fabric of my silk chemise and the lace of her bralette separating our hearts from beating together.
I want to give in so badly. I want to taste the light sheen of sweat accumulating at her collarbone.
I want to feel the bitter sting of the bathroom counter against my ass as she pushes me into it and claims my mouth.
Thank goodness this is a woman-only shower. I don’t need anyone walking in on us in this state.
“D4,” she says, pulling me out of my trance.
“What?”
“D4,” she repeats and gives me a knowing smirk. “You look like you need a distraction from your mind, so … let’s play a game, shall we?”
The near promise of danger in her words sends a thrill up my spine. I can’t help but accept her gauntlet.
“D5,” I reply, continuing to unravel the loose threads stuck in her tie. I’d love to say that I’m doing a good job of not thinking about where this went last time we were in the shower together, but I’m pretty sure Pinocchio's nose would be less obvious with that lie.
“C4.”
“D takes C4.”
I feel a light chuckle work its way through Margot’s chest, and fuck if it’s not one of the most satisfying sensations I’ve felt in months.
“Knight F3,” she says.
I hesitate. Margot has never played the main line Queen’s Gambit with me before. Is she fucking with me?
“Knight F6.”
“E3,” she replies instantly and gives me another silent laugh.
“E6,” I say, still skeptical.
“Bishop takes C4.”
Okay, now I know she’s messing with me.
The fabric comes free, and my fingers linger around the tie for a second too long. Margot must realize, because when I look up at her, her lips twitch in amusement.
I grip it tighter and pull it taut, fed up with her antics.
“What do you want, Margot?” I finally ask.
Steam from the showers envelops us, making my underdress cling to my body. It’s uncomfortable, but I don’t dare take it off. The damp chemise is the only armor I have left.
There’s no hint of deception behind her eyes as she whispers, “You.”
I release her and take a step back. My heart hammers in my throat as I process what she’s just said. She left me, not the other way around. And now here she is, blatantly flirting with me, twisting my mind, distracting me.
Distraction.
She said I needed a distraction.
She’s the one person who knows just how good I am at reading people behind the board.
Of course she’s trying to distract me. She’s trying to win before the main event has even started.
I point a finger at her. “You’re just trying to get in my head before the tournament. Well, guess what, Margot. It’s not going to work. I’m not your plaything, and I’m not playing this sick and twisted game you’ve—”
Margot takes my outstretched hand and places a gentle kiss on my knuckles.
“It’s not a game, Lore,” she says. And I want to believe her. I so desperately want to drink the lies from her silver tongue as if it’s ambrosia.
I pull my hand back and scoff. “It’s always been a game. I mean, look at us. We’re the only two women in the Candidates.”
“What can I say to get you to trust me again, Ellory? Please. Please don’t push me away. I—” She slams her mouth shut and sucks on her teeth. “I’ll do whatever you ask.”
Whatever you ask.
I squeeze my eyes shut. Now is as good a time as ever to ask, even if I’m terrified of the answer.
“Did you lose on purpose?”
A fine line appears between her brows. “What?”
“In Toronto. At the final Candidates qualification tournament. Did you lose on purpose? Your Elo is higher than mine, so you could have anticipated that you would be the wildcard entry.”
Margot relaxes and takes a step toward me. “You need to believe in yourself, Ellory,” she says.
I step back with each of her forward movements, maintaining the distance between us. “That’s not an answer,” I tell her.
I gasp when my back hits the cold tiled wall.
Margot doesn’t stop her approach until there’s only a hand-width separating us.
She leans her arm against the wall and looks down at me, tilting my chin up with her other hand.
“I swear to you, Ellory Campbell, I have never and will never let you lose against me. To do so would be the greatest disrespect. And rest assured, I have no intentions of dishonoring you ever again.”
Steam wraps us in a timeless bubble, freezing and burning everything in its path until it’s only the two of us left in the universe. Margot traces the line of my bottom lip, and I can’t help but tremble at her touch.
“You mean it, don’t you?”
“With everything in my heart, Ellory. With everything in my heart.”
I can’t fight the sparks igniting in my chest anymore, so instead I lean into her embrace.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
In response, one corner of her mouth turns up, and she pushes away from me. “I think I’m finished with my shower now. What about you?” She holds out a hand to me, and I take it without a second thought.
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
The tiles of the floor blur together as we make our way through the shower room. Before I know it, the door to our suite has slammed closed, and Margot is behind me, her hands tracing the curve of my hips and stomach.
“You need to relax,” she moans against my temple, sending a sharp spike of goosebumps over my skin.
I feel her smile before she places a teasing kiss just behind my ear.
She nips my lobe as she pulls away, pulling a desperate gasp from my chest. I haven’t felt like this in ages.
Haven’t touched or been touched like this since …
her. Since our last time in France nearly a year ago.
My mouth waters as my mind wanders back to the taste of her, to the sounds she made when I pressed my tongue into her.
No, my inner voice prods at my consciousness. Distraction. Study, not sex. Chess. We’re here for training. We’re here—
“Where did you go, Ellory?” Margot whispers as she lays a trail of feather-light kisses down my neck.
“W-we shouldn’t,” I say through gasps, not brave enough to push her away. I don’t trust my fingers not to undo the clasps of her bra instead.
“Why?”
The one word sends me spiraling. Why? Because it’s . . . wrong. It’s a distraction. It’s—
She gently licks my ear.
It’s … good. My eyes roll back in my head as I picture her, a perfect seductress, a vampire, luring me to her lair, to my promised death, to the oaths of pleasure she is surely carving into my skin with her magic.
“Relax, Lore. It’s just us.”
“But—”
Margot silences me with a bruising kiss, claiming my mouth with a feral intensity that I can’t help but mirror.
I’m breathless, but I don’t dare pull away. I’d rather suffocate than leave this small piece of heaven that we’ve painted. My lungs burn hot, heart pounding in rhythm with the cadence of our kisses. Then, too soon, Margot distances us, stealing my breath for what I hope isn’t the last time.
“You were saying?” she asks, a hint of amusement in her voice. She tugs at my chemise before lifting it slightly, as if daring me to stop her.
My resolve snaps, striking the flint in my core that ignites into an inferno.
“Shut up, Margot.”
I pull her back into me. Our bodies crash together and we fall to the bed in a flurry of limbs and tangled hair.
Margot straddles my hips, and I press the tips of my fingers into the familiar flesh of her ass cheeks, claiming it as my own as I did all those years ago.
She moans with pleasure, parting my lips with her tongue.
I let her in slowly, relishing in everything from the mint of her toothpaste to the soft pebbling of her skin beneath my touch.
She bows into me as I trace the line of her spine.
We pull what remains of our clothes off in a rush, tossing them randomly to the floor until we are bared to each other, legs coiled together as if trying to merge our bodies with sheer force.
“Fuck,” she groans between kisses, stealing a breath before connecting us again.
If I could only hear one more word for the rest of my life, that would be it.
From her mouth, the curse, more of a prayer, ignites a fire low in my belly that erupts through my limbs.
I trail my fingers lower, lower, and lower still until I can feel the warmth between her legs.
Even though I’m not yet touching her, I feel the waves of pleasure cascading between us, the tip of the tide just beginning to surge.
I run my fingers along the outside of her swollen lips, taking care not to pull at any of her soft curls.
She tenses before relaxing deeper into me, and I take the opportunity to maneuver her to her side so I can get a better reach.
Margot wastes no time in casting a spell down my throat with her teeth and tongue, laying gentle nips and kisses along my sensitive skin while I explore her.
I part her core with two fingers and barely suppress my own moan as I finally feel how wet she is already.
“See what you do to me, Ellory?”