Chess

by Sean Michael

  “We all are.” Bishop grinned. “I’ll get the bubbly. We’ve got Luke coming this evening—you should get something to mark it.”

  “Luke?” He asked the question a breath before Knight kissed him, congratulating him.

  “You remember our piercing party?” Bishop asked.

  “Knight’s getting his piercings back!” Rook wrapped his arms around both him and Knight, kissed both their cheeks.

  “Oh, congratulations!” He kissed Knight’s cheek. “Are you excited?”

  Bishop slid his arm around Knight. “Are you excited, baby?”

  “I’m never excited.” Knight’s eyes were laughing, though.

  Snorting, Bishop gave Knight’s ass a swat.

  “Hey! Aren’t you getting champagne?” demanded Knight.

  “I’m going, I’m going. You need to come carry the glasses for me.”

  Knight rolled his eyes. “Uh-huh. I’m coming. You turd.”

  Jason chuckled, reading his letter again.

  Rook curled up against his side, fingers wrapping around his hip. “I knew you could do it, honey.”

  “You did. You had my back.” He leaned in. “It’s going to be hard.”

  “You’re going to do great.” Rook had total faith in him.

  “Are you going to help me study?”

  “I am! And you can practice on me and Knight and Bishop anytime you want.”

  “What are you volunteering us for, Rookie?” Bishop and Knight came back with bottle and glasses in hand.

  “Jason’s physio training.”

  Knight snorted. “Shit, hasn’t he been practicing on me for months?”

  “You’re the reason I decided to go to school, Knight.” He’d wanted to help, so badly. More than he could.

  Knight gave him a surprised look and while the man didn’t say anything, Jason had learned to read him well enough, that he knew Knight was pleased. Touched.

  “And you’ve been helping me with my work-outs since you got here. You’re going to ace your classes.” There wasn’t a hint of doubt in Bishop’s voice.

  “I’m ready. I want to contribute. Help people.”

  “You know you contribute just by being yourself, right?” Bishop looked right in his eyes as he said it.

  “I know. I know, but I need to work. I love training, working my body.” And he needed a career, needed something that was his.

  “I’m so proud of you, honey.” Rook squeezed his waist and beamed at him. “Give me the letter, I’m going to get it framed.”

  “What?” Oh. Oh, wow. “Really?”

  “You heard me.” Rook held out his hand for the letter.

  “Okay. Okay, sure.” He handed it over, feeling like he was ten feet tall.

  Rook took the letter, kissed him and disappeared down the hall. “Save the champagne for when I get back!”

  He sat there, staring at his hand, unable to stop smiling.

  Knight settled next to him. “When do you start?”

  “September. I have all summer.”

  “Good, then you and Rook can come look at the beach house.”

  “The one you guys stayed at?”

  Knight nodded. “I bought it.”

  Bishop coughed and shot Knight a look. “You what?”

  Jason looked up, blinked. “Looks like we’ll need that champagne for sure.”

  Epilogue

  Bishop needed to add in a little cardio for heart health, but that was the only big change in his workout. Rook, now Rook was harder. Jason had decided on body-weight workouts for him, something that could be done anywhere, anytime, even at the store. Knight was a runner and was possibly the most tense person he’d ever seen, so Jason was suggesting yoga—classes, if possible, a video if not. It wasn’t like Knight couldn’t afford it, more like Knight rarely went outside these days.

  He printed off the routines and headed out to share them. He found all three guys at the not often used dining room table, pouring over a catalog Rook had brought home. Apparently Bishop and Knight were ‘helping’ Rook decide what to buy for the store.

  Rook looked up as he came in, face lighting up at the sight of him. “Jase! Come and look at all the neat things this new supplier has available.”

  “Neat as in for the store or neat as in I’m going to regret this magazine ever came?” he asked.

  God, Rook looked so young when he laughed, his head thrown back, his whole body into being mirthful.

  It was Bishop who answered, a knowing grin on his lips. “I’m betting a bit of both. You know he doesn’t sell anything he hasn’t at least taken out of the box and examined.”

  “Felt up, you mean,” suggested Knight, sending Rook back into peals of laughter.

  “If it wasn’t true, it wouldn’t be funny.” Rook held out a hand to him, always more than happy to include him. “Besides it’s an important part of being an informed business owner.”

  “Uh-huh.” He took Rook’s hand, squeezed it. He tugged a chair to the end of the table and settled with them. “When you’re done, the individualized work out routines are done.”

  “Perfect timing, Jase. We’d just descended into sheer hilarity and weren’t actually getting anything accomplished. Besides, I’ve been looking forward to this.” Bishop rubbed his hands together. “I hope you’ve set up something challenging for me.”

  Rook and Knight looked less enthused, but Rook gave him a warm smile anyway. “As long as I don’t have to keep up with Bish…” Rook liked to pretend he was a weakling, but they all knew better. Rook had more stamina than any of them, though it was probably from all the lovemaking he indulged in than any actual working out.

  “These are totally individualized. Completely.” Jason handed the sheets out and reminded himself not to hold his breath. It wasn’t like the guys were clients. Hell, it felt like a lifetime ago since he’d been a personal trainer.

  “Is this like daily?” Rook asked, eyes going wide. “I’m not fat, right? I mean I eat what I want and I’m doing fine.” Rook sucked his belly in, abductor muscles flexing prettily. “Besides, I like to get my exercise in horizontally, have you taken that into account?”

  The question was so close to his earlier thoughts that Jason had to smile and he met Rook’s eyes, body warming at the look waiting there for him. God, he was so in love. Rook’s fingers slid over his knee and began creeping up the inside of his thigh. It made him wish he wasn’t wearing jeans, and tight ones at that. Of course, if he wanted skin on skin he’d had to have been naked, and really that was more Rook’s style than his. Much more.

  “Fucking doesn’t count, Rookie.” Bishop sounded very sure. “And this is great, thank you, Jase. I’m going to hold you to pushing me when I want to be lazy.” Like that ever happened. Bishop was totally dedicated to working out. In fact Bishop pushed him as much as the other way around.

  “I’m not saying anyone’s in bad shape. It’s for school.” God knew he didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but only Bishop had asked him specifically for a good, solid workout routine that he could build on and adapt easily. It had just made sense to do everyone else at the same time. So to speak. He’d been hanging out with Rook too much and now everything sounded dirty. Not that he believed there was any such thing as hanging out with Rook too much.

  “And I asked him for tips on how to improve my workouts. I’ve been at a plateau whose ass I’d like to kick.” Bishop gave him a warm grin. “This is perfect. Seriously. If Rook and Knight don’t want to give your plans a try, it’s their loss.”

  “You know I’ll try it.” Rookie got up and scooted over to sit on his lap. “You’re a genius, honey, and if I don’t do it all the time, that’s totally my bad, okay?”

  Jase knew there was nothing he wouldn’t forgive when Rook looked up at him with those big blue eyes. Not that there was anything to forgive at this juncture.

  “What do you think, Knight?” Bishop asked, looking over at Knight’s sheet.

  Knight shot Bish a look that s
aid ‘there is no way’, but to his credit, just said, “Never tried yoga before.”

  “I’d try it with you, K,” Rook announced. When everyone looked at him, he shrugged. “I’m a big fan of being bendy.”

  Knight grinned at Rook, the look gentle, warm. “You are.”

  Rook wriggled, getting that ‘I’m horny now’ look. And sure enough, he shot off Jason’s legs and pounced Knight, landing on Knight’s skinny lap. “We could demonstrate!”

  “Horndog.” Knight wrapped his hands around Rook’s waist and tugged him in close.

  “Uh-huh.” Rook wound his arms around Knight’s neck and kissed him, ass wiggling enticingly.

  When the kiss was over, Rook bent back, trusting Knight not to drop him and grinned upside down at Jason and Bishop.

  “See how bendy I am? Come get kisses for an up close demonstration.”

  How could he resist that? How could anyone? Jason beat Bishop to Rook’s mouth by about a half a second, but that got him a nice, long kiss, Rook’s tongue even bendier than the rest of him. He would have kept kissing, too, exploring the new sensations in this upside down kiss, but Bishop pushed in, taking Rook’s kiss, too.

  Then Bish backed off, letting him have at Rook’s mouth again. Which he did, his body warming as it always did whenever Rook was involved. He touched the tip of his tongue to Rook’s, then they sort of dueled with them, playing with each other. God, it was fun.

  “Before anyone gets too into this, are you going to be upset if we do it right here on the dining-room table?” Bishop asked, clearly directing the question at Jase.

  Just because a guy had complained once about naked butts and cum on the kitchen table where they ate…

  They all looked at him, wide-eyed, like the fate of the world rested on his answer. Well, he supposed the fate of their fucking did.

  Jason rolled his eyes. “I have bleach cloths.”

  Rook began to giggle, and Knight, with Bishop’s help, lifted Rook up and put him on the table. He wasn’t naked yet, but Jason had no doubt he would be soon enough. Crooking his finger at Jason, Rook made a come-here motion.

  “I’m saving you for last, honey, but you can kiss me while Knight and Bishop do me.”

  Like Bishop wouldn’t be balls deep in Knight’s ass before Knight was done.

  Bishop gave him a grin like he knew exactly what Jason was thinking. “Why don’t you have his mouth, Jase? It needs to be kept busy.”

  “Sounds amazing. Rook?” He wouldn’t just do it—only if Rook wanted that too.

  Rookie opened his mouth like a baby-bird’s, just like that, eyes shining with love.

  Then Rook nodded, mouth closing as he answered with words. “Please. It’s been too long since I tasted you.”

  It had been this morning, but he wasn’t going to argue with Rook when Jase was about to get a blow job. Besides, he knew in Rook’s mind that was long enough ago.

  “This is a fine way to do yoga,” Knight said.

  Rook giggled again, and nodded. “It sure is.” Then he made grabby hands. “Bring yourself over here, honey”

  Jason picked up the papers that showed their workouts and put them aside. They’d look them over properly after they explored sexual yoga and all its positions.

  END GAME

  Book five in the Chess series

  Things are changing again for the foursome. Can they weather these changes as they do everything else—together?

  Things are changing again for Bishop, Knight, Rook and Jason. Not only is Jason going back to school, but Knight has bought a cottage on a lake several hours away, and none of them are quite sure what it all means for their family of four.

  As Knight loses himself in his art at the cottage and Jason begins the hard work needed to keep up with school, Rook and Bishop call each other often to stay in touch, but it isn’t the same thing as all four of them being together.

  Could this be the beginning of two couples and the end of their foursome just when Jason was settling into being a part of this weird but wonderful family? Or will they find a way to make it work just like they have everything else?

  Trademark Acknowledgements

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  Halo: Microsoft Studios

  Hoover: The Hoover Company

  Chapter One

  Knight had bought a lake house.

  Knight had bought a lake house.

  Knight had bought a lake house.

  Jason looked into his glass of bubbly, trying to process things. How big was the lake house? Who was going to live there? What did this mean for their family? What was the lake house for? Why hadn’t Knight said anything? Jase knew that Knight was impetuous and a little nuts and Jase knew that the accident had been brutal, the recovery harder, but… Knight had bought a lake house.

  This on top of finding out, like ten minutes ago, that he’d been accepted to the physiotherapy program at the university. Knight had bought a lake house and Jason was going to be a student. Neither one seemed quite real, actually. Like someone was playing a big joke on them all, randomly throwing these new things at them to see how they coped. Except, unlike Knight’s accident, these were both good things, right? Well, his getting into the program definitely was. He’d just have to hope the other one was, too.

  Rook was babbling away, but it didn’t quite sound natural and Jase wanted to give him a big hug and tell him everything was going to be okay. Luke, the piercer, was going to be ringing on the doorbell any second, too. They were going to give Knight his rings back. That’s what this evening was supposed to be about—a celebration of Knight’s recovery. And then his letter of acceptance had come. And Knight had bought a lake house. Just like that. Jase honestly didn’t quite know what to think.

  “Okay, everyone. One glass of champagne and that’s it. Luke won’t do the piercings if he thinks we’re all drunk.” Bishop got them moving into the living room with its low lighting and the big, comfy couch that could—and often had—hold all four of them comfortably.

  “Aren’t we just doing Knight?” Jase asked as he followed along, mind whirling about his acceptance letter, school, the lake house. It was like they were on one of those wheels you spun to see where it would stop, only they were just all going around and around and around in his head.

  Knight shrugged. “I suppose it’s up to Rook, huh?”

  That made Jason blink and focus on the task at hand—if Rook wanted more rings, they could discuss it.

  “I don’t know. Tonight’s for Knight, right?” Rook’s hand slipped into his and it might have been Jason’s imagination, but it felt like Rook was holding on just a little bit tighter than usual.

  “Right.” He leaned in, speaking just to Rook. “Knight bought a lake house?”

  Rook shrugged. “I guess?” Then his lover gave him that smile he loved so much. “And you got into your program.”

  “I did. Scary, huh? Me, going back to university. It’s the right decision, though.” He hoped.

  “I’m so proud of you, honey. Like really.”

  “Thank you.” He was a little proud of himself, to be honest.

  Rook tugged his head down, giving him a good, hard kiss. The caress was delicious, sweet from the champagne, tickly almost.

  The doorbell rang and Bishop chuckled. “I’ll get it.”

  “Just ignore it.” Knight was laughing though, the man looking almost whole again. Almost.

  “You’re getting my jewelry back, baby.” Bishop could growl when he wanted to.

  “Maybe. If I feel like it.” It was clear Knight needed this, was relishing getting his rings back, despite any protests he might make.

  “No maybes. No discussions.” Bishop shot the words back over his shoulder as he went to the door. “Luke! It’s so nice to see you.”

  “Bish! Man! It’s been forever!” The big voice boomed in.

  “Oh man, he makes my nipples ti
ngle.” Rook pressed close to him.

  Knowing Rook didn’t mean that Luke himself did it for him, Jase chuckled, pinched one nipple hard, then tugged on the ring there. Gasping, eyes going wide, Rook rubbed against him.

  “Is that okay? Too hard?” Jason wasn’t into causing pain, but he knew Rook liked a firm touch sometimes. Okay, a lot of the time.

  “No, honey, it was wonderful.” Rook’s grin was contagious. “Surprising but so good.”

  “You two are gooey. Awful.” Knight was lounging on the sofa, watching them.

  “Are you jealous?” Rook dragged Jason over to where Knight lounged on the couch and they sat on either side of him. “We can be gooey with you too.”

  “Ew. No. Shoo.” There wasn’t any heat at all behind Knight’s words.

  Rook leaned in and laid a sloppy kiss on Knight’s lips. Knight gagged and struggled, but he was laughing hard. He liked to pretend to be all hard and cold, but they all knew better. Especially when it came to Rook.

  Bishop escorted Luke in. “Behave, you guys, we have company.”

  “Bullshit. Luke’s not company. He’s a sadist.” Knight winked and tossed a throw pillow at Luke.

  The piercer caught it, rolling his eyes. Luke was handsome, tall, though not as tall as Bish and more like their Rook in shape—what Jason called gentle muscles.

  “You still have a safeword, man?” Luke directed his question at Knight.

  Shrugging, Knight glanced at Bishop. “Probably.”

  Jason leaned back and tugged Rook next to him so he could cradle Rook in his arms. This whole thing—the pressure, the tension, the pushing—still made him nervous, though he understood more how it was necessary for Knight. Rook rubbed against him like a cat, leaned up to kiss his jaw.

  Bishop rolled his eyes. “It’s nice to see everything’s back to normal.”

  Jason chuckled, shook his head. He wasn’t sure what normal was anymore.

  “And yes,” continued Bishop. “Knight still has a safeword and it’s still ‘wonderland’. Right, K?”