Chapter Text
Prologue
“Check,” she announced, scanning her remaining pieces still standing between us. Her queen to A7 put my king sitting quietly on G1 in check. I looked over my queen and rook lined neatly in C, browsing other options to the one that I'd already planned.
“You're adorable, Rei,” I teased, my fingertips twirling my king by his crown. Let me draw out your queen next, my mind chanted. “But you won't,” I toyed, sliding him carefully to H1. I watched her dark brown eyes storm the squares, her eyebrows furrowed in focus.
Her pale fingertips hovered over her queen, threatening to move it as I stared with hope in my gaze, but her eyes were making moves elsewhere. “There’s no way,” she murmured breathily. “You're fucking with me,” she asserted, gritting her teeth as if she were planting herself firmly against my next moves. She covered her lips with her other hand, exhaling sharply through her nose.
“Not at all,” I responded innocently, my thoughts holding in a giggle. You have no idea how much I'm enjoying this. “You've got this, honestly. You just had me in ch—”
“Stop,” she interrupted, immediately sliding her rook to E8, just two squares behind her knight. “There’s literally no way out of this.”
“No, no, you've still got this,” I repeated with an eager shake of my head. Let me have my fun, I wanted to say, the words just beyond the edge of my grasp. I couldn't hide the excitement jumping through my chest, and we were so close to the end. “It's not over yet,” I lifted my bishop from A6, “you've got plenty of moves,” I placed it on B5.
She rolled her eyes so forcefully, I could swear I felt the land beneath us shake. Rook to E7, her motion short and quick. “Are we really going to do this?”
“You have no faith in yourself,” I countered, giving my head a shake, A2 to A4. My eyes absorbed the board, assorting the available moves. Queen in three? “You still have a rook and knight, you're fine,” I reassured her, blanking on the piece I was hungrily planning over.
She brushed her long, dark hair back behind her ear, taking her time to digest the remaining pieces across the board. For a moment, her right hand hovers over her knight, but she hesitates. She glanced at me, and changed her target to her rook, but still she hesitated, reading my eyes for further moves. King to H7 she selected, placing her king behind her last pawn.
Oh, hello, I thought as I lifted my rook, hovering above the board. Show me the money, I placed it on E1, in line with her knight and rook. Threaten my rook, babe, I'm here for you.
She circled the space between her eyebrows with her fingertips, her expression one of frustration. “What is this horseshit I'm looking at?” she groaned. Hyper-fixation was a gentle term to the stare my eyes bore into her slender fingers as they grabbed her queen by the crown.
I sealed my gaze, I couldn't handle watching her as my thoughts played ahead. Do it, my mind chanted, as though I could use my thoughts to will her queen into position. Queen to C7; I could see all of the next moves perfectly on the inside of my eyelids, but I could only hope she'd let them fall into place.
“What are you doing?” I opened my eyes, and hers were staring back at me, not appearing very pleased. “Are you going to tell me you can play chess with your eyes closed?” I opened my mouth to answer, but she waved me off immediately. “Don't answer, play your turn,” she chided.
“Okay! Okay,” I responded, my eyes focusing on her queen perfectly placed in the center of the C7 tile where I'd begged it to be. Sitting on her bedroom floor, barely a whole foot of space between us, my brain and body were alive and alert. Rei Yamamoto, you've delivered.
I tilted my head down, but I kept my eyes trained on her. My left hand moved slowly as I took her queen and tossed it into the pile of defeated pieces. Game on, Rei. My right hand was much quicker to place my queen in her spot.
“You filthy—!” Her nostrils flared for a moment, but she paused, using her rook to take my queen just as fast. “You're such a son of a bitch for that, Nora.”
I let out a deep laugh, enjoying myself thoroughly as our game continued to devolve. I moved my H2 pawn to H3, coordinating my next attack. Otherwise motionless, I sat as my heart raced erratically in my chest. “You got my queen, too! If anything, we're on equal fo—!”
“I’d like to resign,” she interrupted, shaking her head. My stomach seemed to vibrate as I tried to control myself, as if the feelings and the laughter were a pressure too strong to contain.
“No, no! Not yet, you're nearly there!” I insisted, letting out a cackle. It wasn't a bad idea, logistically speaking. My attacks were lining up beautifully, there were only so many actual moves left. “A few more moves and you—!”
“There is literally no way!” she argued, her face flushing red in the most adorable manner. “You're playing fourteen fucking moves ahead, don't tell me the end isn't right here!”
“I can't tell you what moves you'll make,” I danced around her statement. “You could still totally—”
She leaned forward abruptly, replacing the words in my mouth with her lips. It was quick, her lips soft and delicate as they tangled all of the wires in my brain. Her tongue felt like an intentional derailment, and it was successful in stirring my mind out of place. She pulled away just as quickly as she'd leaned in, a sensation that gave me temporary arrhythmia and left me short of breath. My brain was completely scattered and it only took a breath of her time.
She'd also completely scattered the board; the only piece left standing was my bishop. I looked over the checkered squares as I considered replacing the pieces with what I held in my thoughts.
“Don't even think about it,” she warned, knocking over the lone survivor with a loud tack! I was entranced by her movements, memorizing them as I'd memorized the board. She grabbed her phone off the bed, the screen lighting up her face with a glow that was equally enchanting on her. “It's already half past six, the hell?” She tilted the board, the pieces landing randomly in the carpet between us.
My brain was still tossing over the kiss she'd sprung on me without a word. Do I say something? Obviously not, was my first thought, the one powered by my adrenaline and my confusion. The idea lined up just behind it was to casually ignore it, which seemed far more efficient and similar to her reaction. However, I could practically feel my ears steaming where I sat; I felt sure they were as bright and colorful as my thoughts still spinning around the intentional distraction.
“Bordering the two hour mark and you're telling me it's not over, oh my god,” she murmured, standing up rather swiftly.
My eyes involuntarily traced her legs villainously, like a cartographer scaling unmarked lands to map. I could see a beautiful view in my mind of her thighs around my head, of her valleys and curves and the waterfalls I wanted to be lost in. The compass in my chest was spinning erratically, thinking vividly of her rook taking my queen and the deliciously long fingers that mercilessly evened the board. Close your eyes! Look away! Stop what you're doing, Nora! “It’s kind of late to start cooking,” she noted aloud, shaking me from my thoughts but not releasing me from their fire. As if you're not cooking me alive in your bedroom. “Should we just order takeout? What sounds good?”
“You,” I blurted, foaming at the mouth at the words that'd slipped out of me. Why? How? What? What did I say that for? Why have I stopped thinking?
Her eyes lifted from her phone and directly into my gaze below her. With the sweetest, most innocent look, she offered me in return the softest, most confusing, “I don't know what you mean by that,” that only added to the spinning confusion between us. How? You kissed me! I could feel the words screaming inside of me, but my voice was lost for a breath too long.
My brain stammered on my error, quickly rolling through a list of possible smooth replies, settling on the roughest one. “You pick, is what I meant,” I attempted to recover, clinging onto the last drops of my sanity as my thoughts struggled to pass the chessboard. “I could eat anything.” Calm down, obviously that was a joke. I could tell that the game of chess had my mind well ahead of itself and a breather was all I needed.
She sat down once more before the board, her eyes never breaking their steady contact with mine. It was like her gaze was picking me apart, deciphering each piece individually for the meaning and intention. Under her microscope, I didn't want to feel like a specimen sandwiched in glass squirming around for air, but my lungs had decided otherwise wasn't possible.
“It was far more attractive when you were expressing your feelings,” a smile formed on her lips through her words. I turned my face away from her as my air brakes hissed. If steam wasn't pouring out of my nose and ears, then it had to be lava. Why can't I breathe with her eyes all over me? My eyes slammed closed, as if that could help unscramble my brain or put oxygen in my lungs. It did no such thing. “You can say it, just use your words as you were before.”
“Say what?” I immediately dodged the question with another, still avoiding her gaze as if it might melt me the second I met it. Don't even think, Nora! I tried to repeat the words in my thoughts, trying to yell over the other channels of my mind swimming on endless, lost circles. Only about a million responses came to mind, none worthy of being uttered.
I heard her exhale sharply, but I couldn't tell if the feeling was frustration or sarcasm. “You know, I told you I resigned, Nora.” My name felt absolutely filthy on her lips, enough to draw my eyes back to her. Her arms were crossed over her chest, her head tilted slightly with a devious look in her eyes. It looks as though you are still very much playing, Rei.
Every fiber of thought in my mind was flustered. When she castled in six moves, everything changed. It was never about winning. “Just order pizza or something, Rei.” It was just a game of chess, Nora. Try breathing?
Rei leaned back, her arms still crossed as she rolled her eyes. Her expression became more complicated, as though I needed any more confusion. “For someone who just carried out an eloquently spoken two hour coordinated attack,” she stood again, turning towards her room door, “you don't seem to want to capture any pieces.”
No way? No fucking way; am I daft? Is she inviting me to make a move? My feet were in motion right behind her faster than I could even think. She was being serious? My brain was screaming in broken sentences I couldn't put together. Is she being serious now? What game? I grabbed her wrist, which stopped us both at the edge of her bedroom. “You want to run that by me again?” My voice sounded far more demanding than I'd wanted, but it only brought a wider grin to her lips.
Her eyes met mine with a wild look held in her dark irises. “Ooh, threatening,” she teased, sliding her wrist out of my grasp and replacing it with her fingers. “Adorable, Nora, but you w—”
I didn't let her finish; I felt she'd clarified thoroughly. I wasted no time, pulling her quickly against my chest and hooking an arm around her. Her scent, like a field of perfectly bright and beautiful daisies, filled my nose like a drug I wanted to be addicted to. Our faces were very close; I watched her pale cheeks flush a hot red, a new expression written over her, one that was enchanting words out of me. “I won't, Rei?” I purred, leaning into her neck and breathing in the flavors I wanted burned into me. She laced her soft fingers into mine, her thumb caressing my knuckles ever so gently, like she was holding something delicate. “I've taken your queen before,” I tightened my arm around her waist, closing the gaps between us, “what makes you think I won't do it again?”
She pushed my face away from hers, but she didn't pull away from me. Being this close to her was intoxicating. “Of course, my mistake,” she giggled, a sound contagious in how much it controlled my breaths. “You play with your eyes closed—”
“It’s your move, Rei,” I interjected, my voice low and melodic as I held her to me. My brain was circling around a vat of her chemicals; each breath she made against my chest was daring to drown me. The warm fingers she'd had tangled in mine pulled away, instead tracing the inside of my palm with barely her fingertips. “Unless you'd like to resign again,” I added, my eyes wandering back to hers.
The glance only lasted a moment before she pushed my face away again, her fingers on my jaw a touch I needed so much more of. It was long enough of a shared look for me to burn the image of her bitten lip into my memory. “God, Nora. Don't look at me,” she whined, her voice playful and enticing. A new challenger has entered the ring; I don't mind if she wants a little control when we're like this.
“Why?” I could feel the smirk coming through my words. “Is it contagious? Afraid to catch some—?”
Her movements were startlingly quick, just as before. Her small hands cupped the edge of my chin, pulling me into her storm. Her lips were quick, hungry against mine, moving with a fervor I wasn’t anticipating. My hands were quick to begin acting deviously, tracing the curve of her back through the fabric of her Nirvana t-shirt. Her right hand mimicked mine; the brush of her fingertips through my shirt was unraveling anything remaining in my ability to think.
And just as before, she quickly pulled away, pushing my face towards her closet. “I'm being serious,” she insisted, her stern tone reflecting that accurately. She gave my belt buckle a sharp tug, startling me to attention. I tried to turn to her to begin to protest her instructions, but she held my face away with ferocious strength. “Don't.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but the feeling of her undoing my belt canceled my thoughts. I grabbed her wrist, pushing it away from my waist in the same manner. “Since when do you get two turns in a row, hm?”
“I'm viewing move outcomes,” she responded, still holding my face away from hers, “analyzing the board.”
I snorted way louder than I expected to. I grabbed the wrist holding my face, adding it to my collection. I made it very clear I intended to not look as she'd asked, leaning into her collarbone and away from her delicious stare. “Oh, is that so?” Her breaths against my ear were rhythmic, hot on my skin and making my body vibrate with adrenaline. “And what do you see?”
She laughed, sliding her fingers into mine. “That's cheating, Nora,” a quick jerk of my hands followed, pulling us both against her bedroom door. All of the air in my lungs escaped indefinitely, and I didn't care for even a second. “What happened to the long game?”
The smallness of her hands was exemplified in the largeness of mine, but it didn't make her slender fingers any less enticing as they squeezed me. My heartbeat was rapid, bordering on deafening in my ears in a way that she had to feel through my shirt. I could stay here, Rei. “Sorry, my king was in check,” my voice short of breath in her ear. “It won’t happen again,” my words left hanging in a whisper. I didn't wait for her to reply; I could see her slender neck covered in my graffiti, my lips swift to be the artist to her canvas. I couldn't tear away from her once I began, my tongue and my teeth aiding in what I'd hoped would be bright trophies to mark who'd been victorious in our long, enchanting match across her bedroom floor.
“It won't?” she questioned, once again toying with one of my hands between the fingers I was fantasizing. She was tender and careful in her movements, as if I might fall apart in her grasp. “You promise?”
“Mm-hmm,” I confirmed, not straying from the task I had assigned myself. Her hand began to lead mine, and I followed obediently. She placed me on the center of her chest, allowing me to feel her heartbeat going berserk through the fabric just as mine was only a few inches away from her.
She tilted her head back against the door, offering me more room down the smooth pass of her neck. “I want to show you something,” her tone was different; more urgent and demanding than before. The hand she'd still had laced in mine left, leaving my hand cold and alone to tangle in my hair, holding me to her. Her other hand was steady, gripped to my forearm.
I pulled a mere inch away from her neck, offering her my full attention as my nose brushed her skin. “Do you want me to look?”
“No, don't,” she moved my arm, leading me down her shirt as she spoke. We moved in unison, her motions slow and agonizing as her breaths kept a steady rhythm against my hand. She was torturing me, and I was simply drunk on her efforts to entangle me. Don't look, over and over in my mind. I hated it, not being able to stare at her while she was toying with me, but for not even one second did I argue with her. “I want you to feel something.”
I didn’t hesitate or think about my words. “What do you want to show me, Rei?” A deep inhale, followed by a deep exhale echoed in my ear. She swept my hand underneath her layers of clothes with ease, leading me directly to her center of operations without a drop of hesitant shyness. Holy fuck, she's soaked; she pooled against the pads of fingers as soon as I'd arrived, my knuckles wet against her underwear and my brain aflamed by my lust. Her breath caught at my touch, despite the fact that she'd placed my hand with every mark of purpose.
We didn't need to exchange more words or requests. My fingers curved to her shape, but my thoughts were still enveloped in the game spinning between us. I barely touched her, savoring my time in her soft, wet folds and the way she held me to her. The moments between us passed in breaths that were getting deeper; her squeeze on my arm grew tighter the longer I held out at the horizon of her hunger.
She held my head firmly to her collarbone, twirling my hair mindlessly through her long, dangerous fingers. It was warm and reassuring, as if encouraging me forward without the words. It didn't help that her labored breaths were directly in my ear, speaking to me in ways that transcended any language. If I am to be unwoven like fabric, my intentions are only to reciprocate, Rei.
“Nora,” she muttered, rubbing my arm with static on her fingertips. I let go of the breath I'd been holding for longer than I should've, but it didn't cease the rush in my chest. She gradually worked her way down my arm, tying her fingers around my wrist. “Nora, please,” she snaked her leg around my hip, the fire between us surely enough to cause heat waves in her bedroom. “Take. Your. Turn.”
I sucked in a sharp inhale through my teeth, considering my options. Her wetness on my fingers wasn’t enough for me, but a part of my mind was content on drawing every drop of her out. I'm having too much fun toying with you, as much as you are with me. I held my head against hers, my lips close to her ear. “I like where the pieces are ri—”
She gave both my wrist and her hips a jolt, leading two of my fingers into her hot, wet center easily. Her grip had tightened stiffly and found a rhythm just as fast; she was no longer waiting for me. “I resign,” she whined, her back arching but her command over my arm stern and unwavering. The fingers in my hair held me tightly to her, but had slowed in her efforts. “I give, I quit, whatever,” she added, urgency in her rushed breaths, “stop this madness, Nora!”
I didn’t resist her whatsoever; being her toy was just as enthralling as toying with her, the fire growing up my legs steady proof of my desire. I was burning with a hunger I couldn't feed. I needed more than what she was giving me. “Should I resign, too?”
“Yes, please!” she answered without hesitation. This in no way stopped her or slowed her rhythm, but it encouraged me further. A third finger granted me an immediate response, her breathy moans flowing straight from my ear to my legs and the heat boiling inside of me. My eyes were closed, my face turned away, and yet, I knew her face so well I could picture it vividly; the set of her jaw so tight, the tilt of her lips as she clenched her teeth, the bend of her eyebrows as she pleaded with me for more…
I wanted to watch her, to devour her every movement and save it in the quiet corners of my mind. I could still picture the view of waterfalls and mountain ranges, I could imagine her curves against me as she held firmly against my body and fed the blazing images in my head. My free hand was roaming her tantalizing landscape, filling in for my mind what my eyes couldn't. All of my other senses were absorbing as much as possible; every detail was important in maintaining my clarity and keeping this moment a permanent fixture in my memories.
She looped her arm tightly around my sweaty head, pulling me down and putting my ear to her chest. Her heartbeat was thunderous, echoing clamorously in my eardrum. I'm not even doing anything serious, Rei. “I want to show you something, too,” I labored, my lungs working harder than I was aware of.
Her hand loosened on my wrist, returning control to me. I obediently kept to the pace she'd set as though nothing had changed. My one-track mind had an objective, a mission to complete. “Don't—”
“I won't, Rei,” I confirmed before she finished. “I resigned,” I added. That's not the objective area, I know you don't want me to look. I could hear her words repeating in my ears, taking pieces, the long game. I ought to take your queen right now. “I was thinking a little more…” I let my voice trail off as I slowed, adding my thumb to the mix of fingers to encircle the blend of nerves that controlled her mind, being sure to not touch as carefully as I could.
Her leg and arm both squeezed around me so firmly, as if she was scaling a wall she'd soon topple if she could get to the top. “These games!” she exclaimed, retaking my wrist and reclaiming her control. Just as easily as she'd let me have a little, she'd taken it back. Now, however, she was incredibly flustered; my hand was entirely covered in her slick stickiness, offering her a struggle I found adorably amusing. “Would you just—!”
I gave in immediately, her hold only controlling my tempo and not my direction. The addition of my thumb's pressure against her sensitive bud increased her tempo and decreased her self control. I could see the cliff's edge on the horizon, I could feel the seafoam on my thighs and dripping down my hand. The speed of her heart racing in my ear told me I was in the right ballpark. “Tell me you don't love it,” I purred, drunk on every sound she offered me.
Her fingers tightened in my hair, the tips of her nails surely leaving scratches on my scalp. “I do, Erin.”