by Kim Baldwin
“My father.”
“So you’re probably even better at this than you are at everything else, then,” Blayne observed.
Alexi shrugged noncommittally. “I know the game well.” She pulled an easy chair over to face the couch, so the board sat between them.
“Well, I never played very much, and not for many years. I’m not sure I even remember how to move, so I’m afraid I won’t be a very worthy opponent for you.”
“That is not important. And I bet a lot of it will come back to you.” Alexi hunched over the board. “You are the light stones, and you move in this direction…toward your house, here, according to the roll of the dice. Once you get all fifteen within the bar…” she gestured as she spoke. “You bear them off, or remove them. I move in the opposite direction.” She went on to explain other fundamentals of the game, along with a bit of strategy.
“I think I get it.” Blayne found herself remembering more than she thought she would about the game. And it was well that she did, for she only heard about half of what Alexi was saying. It was impossible to be completely immersed in backgammon when such a beautiful woman was sitting four feet away, lit by the warm golden light from the fireplace.
They rolled the dice and Blayne won the right to open the first game. She started her stones around the board. “So tell me, Alexi…what other games do you play? Hmm? You know, if any other pleasurable pursuits spring to mind while we are alone here together, you’ll find I am a willing and eager student.”
“Tavli is likely the only pleasurable pursuit I will engage in during my time in your company, Blayne, as I have repeatedly told you.” Alexi gripped the dice loosely in her right palm, enjoying the familiar play of the two smooth cubes against each other, before she sent them flying. “I will not allow anything to distract me from my responsibilities.”
“You know, I just bet that you are one of those people who can easily do two things at the same time,” Blayne said. “I’m not really concerned that my safety will be compromised if you come over to this side of the table and make out with me in between games.”
Alexi acted as if she hadn’t heard, but the image that sprang to mind got her heart thumping hard in her chest. “I believe it is your turn.”
“We haven’t established the stakes yet.” Blayne uncrossed her legs, leaned back and draped her arms over the back of the couch. Her inviting body language and the gleam of naughty mischief in her eyes were impossibly irresistible.
“Stakes?”
“Yes. Gotta make it interesting. Now, I know you are going to whip my ass, so your reward should be relatively minor if you win. But I’m such an underdog that I should get a pretty big payoff if I manage to beat you.”
Alexi knew the answer would be provocative, but she was unable to keep from asking the question. “What do you propose?”
“Well, let’s see. If you win, you get…hmm…I know. Perhaps a nice massage. How does that sound?”
Alexi’s whole body clenched at the thought of Blayne’s hands, everywhere, exploring and pleasuring her body. Kneading. Rubbing. Stroking. Jesus. What I would not give for a lot of that right now. But that was certainly not an option. Not with Blayne’s hands anyway. Her own hand, a little later, right where she needed it, now that was another story.
“That sounds like a not entirely appropriate reward.” Alexi got up to put another log on the fire, though her skin already felt overheated. She remained before the hearth, stirring the embers with a long metal poker, grateful for the opportunity to regain some equilibrium. “Doing the dishes or making the coffee is perhaps more reasonable. ”
“Oh, don’t you think it’s fun to be unreasonable once in blue moon?”
“Blayne. Truly, you must stop this.” Before you drive me so crazy I have to excuse myself for a few minutes.
“Well, if you win, we can go with the dishes and coffee thing if you like. But I will leave open your ability to renegotiate. Now, if I win…that would be a much bigger accomplishment, of course, so it should have a commensurate reward.” Blayne paused until Alexi turned back around and looked at her. “A kiss. One kiss.”
Alexi’s first impulse was to refuse. She didn’t want to encourage Blayne. But she knew it was a safe bet. “I will accept your condition, in the interest of getting back to the game. But I should tell you that I am confident there will be no kissing.” She took her seat. “Roll the dice.”
She would take no chances. Her plan at the outset of the evening had been to let Blayne come close the first couple of games, and then win the third or fourth to boost her confidence. But with a kiss at stake, Alexi would make sure she always had a reasonable margin of victory.
The first game took ten minutes. The second, just about as long.
Blayne’s frustration grew with each move. Though she wasn’t a bad player, it was obvious right away that Alexi was a master at the game and was allowing her an occasional opening only to keep things from ending much too quickly. She never hesitates, As soon as it’s her turn. Boom, next move, right there. She’s probably already got the whole thing played out in her mind.
She knew she was well outmatched. Alexi would never have agreed so readily if she thought there was any possibility of losing.
But she had to have that kiss. By any means necessary. Her whole body was humming for it. And she knew her only chance stood in doing all she could to distract Alexi, while she prayed for a few favorable rolls of the dice.
“That fire sure has warmed things up in here,” she said as Alexi set up the board for the third game. “I know you don’t mind if I get more comfortable.” She waited until Alexi glanced up at her. When she did, Blayne reached down and unbuttoned the third and fourth buttons of her navy blue blouse, exposing her cleavage and the lacy top of the crème-colored bra beneath.
She was gratified to notice a slight increase in the rise and fall of Alexi’s chest, and even more so, that Alexi’s attention was no longer on the game board—it was instead fixed rather soundly on her breasts.
Blayne still lost that game, but it was much closer. Encouraged, she undid the rest of her buttons. “Damn hot in here, wouldn’t ya say?” she asked, in her most seductive tone. “You know, if you want to take something off, I certainly won’t object.”
Alexi froze, hand poised in mid-air. Blayne saw the slight trembling in that hand, and watched Alexi’s gaze traverse the length of her body, and she felt somewhat more optimistic about her chances in game four.
Luck was with her. She rolled two high doubles to start off the game with a bang, and her efforts to distract Alexi seemed to be working like a charm—her moves were no longer quite so quick and automatic. And here and there, a few small errors crept into her play. It was close, very close, right up to the end. Alexi seemed to realize then that she stood a chance of losing, and began paying more attention to the board and less to Blayne’s bra.
It came down to the luck of the final throws, and fate was against Alexi. She threw ones and twos when she needed all fives and sixes, and Blayne threw three sets of doubles.
Blayne stood, a cocky grin on her face, and rubbed her hands together in eager anticipation. “I’ll collect now, if you please.”
Alexi was stunned. Bewildered. I lost. How could I have lost? Damn. Her mind and body seized upon the kiss she’d like to plant on Blayne, the kiss she could never let happen. She felt that kiss down to her toes, throughout her body, as though it really was happening.
She needed to get upstairs. And fast. Her mouth wanted Blayne’s, and the rest of her wanted to peel off that bra she’d been staring at. Her control was slipping. But first, it was payback time. Blayne had made her suffer all evening. And now it was time to return the favor. Oh, she would pay up. She was a woman of her word, after all.
Alexi stood on shaky legs, and moved slowly and deliberately around the table between them as Blayne turned to face her, shirt flying open even further, exposing the rest of those magnificent breasts, and allowing an unimpeded view of the pale smooth sk
in of her stomach. She was torn between the urge to run…. and to take, hungrily, what was being offered to her. But she knew she could do neither.
Blayne had been so intent on winning the game that she failed to see the full effect of her scheming until Alexi came around the table and paused. Their bodies were less than a foot apart and Alexi expression wiped the grin right off her face.
Alexi was looking right through her, lids half-closed with arousal, pupils dark and enormous, nearly obscuring those brilliant blue irises. She looked as though they’d already been half the night in bed together, and she was getting ready to take her again.
Blayne’s breath caught in her throat. Every nerve ending was poised, anxious, for that first touch. She watched Alexi moisten her lips provocatively with her tongue. Kiss me already, her body screamed.
Alexi brought her right hand up, slowly, between their bodies, skimming her fingers up Blayne’s stomach, over the small divide of bra between her breasts, into the crevice of her cleavage, toward her neck. Her eyes never left Blayne’s as she did; she was thoroughly enjoying the effect she was having. Not very nice, what I am doing, but she deserves it.
When her fingers reached Blayne’s face, her touch became lighter still. Her thumb traced lightly over Blayne’s lips, then away, teasing her, returning to push slightly into her mouth before retreating yet again.
She watched Blayne’s breathing become labored and her eyes begin to glaze over. Perfect. Now I think you will understand what you have been putting me through for the last couple of days.
Blayne tried through sheer force of will to move Alexi’s lips closer to hers. She didn’t say anything, lest she interrupt the deliciously torturous anticipation of the moment. The feel of Alexi’s hand on her mouth. Suggestively invasive. She thought she surely would burst if Alexi didn’t kiss her soundly, and soon.
As though she had heard, Alexi’s light touch turned suddenly solid. Both of her hands came up to cup the sides of Blayne’s face and she stepped forward until their bodies were touching, and the shock of the full-on contact set off a torrent of butterflies in the pit of Blayne’s stomach.
She closed her eyes as Alexi pulled their faces together, and wished for time to stand still.
But an instant was only an instant any way it was measured. And she might have sworn it had not happened at all, it was so brief and so light, but her body was so ready that the world slipped away except for that warm and glancing caress upon her mouth and she knew she had not imagined it.
She blinked, and it was over. Alexi had stepped away. After so much anticipation, after such arousing tactile foreplay, the absence of what she wanted, needed, expected, hit her like a sudden cold shower.
“What?” she stuttered. “You…you can’t…that’s not fair.”
“You do not seem too concerned about playing fair.” Alexi calmly closed the grill on the fireplace and blew out the candles. “I am going to turn in and I advise you to do the same. I will see you in the morning.”
“I…you…damn it!”
Alexi headed upstairs, managing to contain herself only until her bedroom door was closed and locked behind her. She came in seconds.
Chapter Fifteen
Alexi’s first thought when she spotted Blayne shortly after dawn the next morning was serves you right. Blayne had pulled one of the oversized easy chairs over to the picture window that faced the lake, and was slouched down into it, feet up on a hassock, sipping from a large red mug. It was obvious from the circles under her eyes that she hadn’t slept much. And though it was only seven, the coffee pot on the counter was already down to its final dregs.
“Rough night?” Alexi asked with exaggerated cheeriness. There was no way she would let Blayne know that she, too, had tossed and turned all night.
“Such a comedian.” Blayne did not look up at her. She was dressed in jeans and fuzzy blue slippers, and had on a thin navy sweater with a low V-neck. It exposed the pale skin of her chest and hugged her body so snugly it was clear she wore no bra. Her hair was sleep-tousled, and Alexi thought it was adorable.
She herself had not emerged from her room until she was perfectly put together. Her brown hair had been brushed until it shone, and she was nattily attired in black jeans and a tailored black blouse with wide cuffs. She made a fresh pot of coffee and waited until it had brewed to pull the other easy chair beside Blayne’s. Do not stare at her breasts. Do not stare at her breasts.
They sipped coffee for forty minutes without saying anything, watching the forest outside come to life. Birds flitted about, resting in the trees and scratching along the ground for something to eat. Two does stepped out of the woods near the lake, moving slowly, pausing here and there to seek out something to graze as they made their way to the water.
“What would you like to do today?” Alexi asked.
Blayne snorted derisively. “That’s a loaded question.”
“Not if you do not choose it to be. Would you like to go to the lodge for some breakfast?”
“Maybe later.” Blayne got to her feet. “Despite the fact that I’m exhausted and a bit pissed off at you for last night, I’m apparently still in need of a long cold shower.” She headed upstairs without a look back.
Alexi nodded in agreement after she had gone. Good thing there is no chance we will run out of cold water in this place.
Blayne reappeared an hour later, looking a lot less bleary-eyed and eminently more presentable for going out in public. Her coppery hair was styled, she had applied a touch of blush and some color to her lips, and she was dressed in new charcoal gray slacks and a burgundy sweater. The effect was most appealing, and Alexi wondered whether it was all part of Blayne’s campaign to entice her interest. If so, it was definitely working. She looked hot.
“I guess I could force down some eggs and toast now,” Blayne said by way of greeting. “Since I’m apparently not going to get my other appetites satisfied any time soon.”
Alexi ignored the pointed reference and retrieved the keys to the Prizm from the counter. “I will stop at the front desk while we are there and order groceries to be delivered, so we can eat some meals here.” She picked up a tablet and pen and handed them to Blayne as they headed for the car. “Start a list of what you would like.”
*
The Bell 206B Jet Ranger III helicopter could only fly three hours on a tank of gas and it was more than five from O’Hare airport to the lodge, so they had to stop at the Otsego County Airport in Gaylord, Michigan for refueling. While they were waiting, the pilot studied a map of Canada. He and the chopper were both on loan to WITSEC from the Chicago Police Department.
“How long before we get to the lodge, do you think?” Theo Lang unfastened his seat belt so he could look over the pilot’s shoulder at the map.
“Less than two hours, looks like,” was the reply.
Theo glanced at his watch. It was nine-thirty and they would reach their destination within two hours. Hopefully before Alexi and Blayne Keller had departed for points unknown. “Once we get to the lake, look for a clearing opposite the lodge. Up on a hill, they said. I’ll hike in from there.”
“Any idea how long you’ll be?” the C.P.D. pilot asked.
“Well I hope to wrap it up quickly, but it’s hard to say.” He wondered how he was going to convince Keller to return to the program, and how Alexi would react to the news their security had been breached.
Badly, he thought.
*
The dark sedan clipped along just over the speed limit, as it ate up the miles on the Canadian two-lane highway. Traffic was sparse and the weather was clear, and they had made excellent time from Chicago, encountering no difficulties at the border with customs.
Three of the four burly occupants were asleep, and the one in the front passenger seat was snoring so loud that the driver, Frankie Sloan, was beginning to grind his teeth in irritation. Unfortunately, Mr. Buzz-saw was the man in charge on this job, so there was not much he could do but endure the noise.
>
He glanced at the map, then at the digital clock on the dashboard. Ten a.m. They’d be getting to the lodge in an hour or so, he figured, maybe a little more, so he could get away with waking Rosco and the others pretty much any time.
*
Blayne was mostly quiet during breakfast, a departure from their last couple of meals together. Alexi chalked it up to lack of sleep and the rising sexual chemistry between them. She was grateful not to have to be fielding any of Blayne’s increasingly irresistible come-ons, especially with her looking so delicious this morning in her new clothes. Tired or not, Alexi seemed to be in an almost constant state of mild arousal around Blayne at the moment. God, do I need to get laid. Push all this out of my head and put my focus back where it belongs.
While they ate, they drew up a list of groceries they would need, enough to get them through a week or more of meals and snacks.
“I’m going to check in with Guest Services,” Blayne said as Alexi waved the waiter over to get their bill. “I want to see what all there is to do around here. Maybe inquire about some fishing gear. I’d be happy to drop off the grocery list at the front desk.”
“That is all right, I will do that while you see about the other.”
Blayne forced herself not to press the issue. Damn. I can’t get back on the computer without her seeing me if she’s standing at the front desk. Maybe I can come back this afternoon. Say I’m taking a walk because I need some alone time. It wasn’t stretching the truth too much. She’d certainly needed some alone time the night before after Alexi had retired to her room. But she’d found the orgasm she reached with her new massage wand vaguely unsatisfying, and she’d been unable to drift off to sleep afterwards as she usually did.
The almost animalistic attraction she was developing toward Alexi mystified her. Ordinarily she wasn’t comfortable getting intimate with someone right away. She liked to take her time, get to know them, see if they clicked before she went very far. Oh, she’d certainly had a one-night stand or two, who hadn’t? But not since college. In recent years, she usually had a handful of dates with someone before deciding to share her bed.
