Checkmate: A Bishop's Pawn Novella Read online

  Roman took a deep breath and let it out. “It’s a very private, very exclusive club for carefully screened and vetted members with more than a passing interest or involvement in the lifestyle.”

  Kelly raised her brows and cocked her head as if asking for clarification.

  “BDSM as a lifestyle. Heavy on the bondage, domination and submission, with some light sado-masochism on the side.”

  “What makes it private and exclusive?”

  “Practitioners in the BDSM arts from around the globe perform for members in a highly secure environment. Member dress code is formal. Nobody is strolling around with his dick hanging out. We specialize in events, not tacky bullshit. Yes, there are private rooms available for members to explore and experiment, but never public.”

  “Wow.”

  “Shocked?”

  “Intrigued,” she answered. “Do you have a favorite?”

  “That’s a trick question,” he said with a laugh. “Watching? It’s all a favorite. But if you’re asking if I am pulled to anything in particular as a participant, then the answer is yes.”

  “Do I want to know?”

  He grinned and winked. “Not yet. But we’re getting there.”

  She bit her lip and looked everywhere but at him. He gave her the time she needed. He couldn’t change who or what he was. He just hoped she didn’t fear him now that she knew.

  “I have a question.”

  He didn’t say anything—he simply nodded.

  “Don’t make fun of me, okay?”

  “Hon, if you didn’t have questions I’d be worried.”

  “Is all that submissive crap and contracts for real?”

  “For some people, I suppose.”

  She seemed genuinely conflicted. “Am I…”

  “A submissive? Ha,” he sneered. “No.” He feathered a lock of hair behind her ear and ran a fingertip around the edge of her lips.

  “You’re a fierce little Alpha all by your badass self.”

  “And you like that?”

  “This is a first for me.”

  She grinned big.

  “You’re taking me to this club, Roman. Don’t even try to deny me.”

  He let out a hearty chuckle.

  “Yes, Ma’am. But we do it on my time frame. When I think you’re ready, we’ll talk.”

  “Oh, right,” she snickered. “You the man!”

  “Damn straight,” he barked. “When’s the boy due home?”

  “Dinnertime,” she answered.

  “Good.” He casually but with some degree of force shoved her off the bed. “Go get my bath ready, woman.”

  “Your what?” She was balls out laughing at him. The fact that she was delightfully nude and quivering with outraged delight made the visual quite enticing.

  “My bath. If I remember correctly, you jumped me when I got home and demanded to be fucked. Mission accomplished, yes?”

  She slapped her hands to her waist and glared.

  “So get your ass in gear and draw my bath. Also, word to the wise—don’t be surprised if I’d prefer my cock cleaned with your tongue.”

  Watching her comical storm off made him laugh. She muttered under her breath about men and made sure to shoot off several mocking glances before disappearing into the en suite. He heard the water running and slapped a hand on his stomach.

  “It’s good to be me,” he announced to the empty room.

  “So little dude, I want to ask you a question.”

  Liam gave a quick glance to the picture example of the Batman Lego he was putting together. This shit was harder than it looked and never again would he sneer at the grown-up Lego addicts who seemed to him like a bunch of nerds. His brother, however, was having no problem making all sorts of crazy stuff.

  “You know that Rhiann and I are getting married soon. As my only brother, you should be a groomsman. Is that something you want to do?”

  “Sure,” Matty said.

  He was ottoman bouncing on his belly and occasionally kicking his legs up behind him. Liam loved his energy and his curiosity. Shit, the truth was he just liked hanging out with him.

  All of a sudden the kid looked at him and said, “Liam? I don’t know what that means. What was that word?”

  Liam chuckled. “Groomsman. I’m the groom, and Rhiann is the bride. We each have special people by our side during the ceremony. Roman will be the best man, but I still need a groomsman. Think you’re up for the job?”

  Matty came and stood next to him, and leaned against his thigh. “Kiki doesn’t want to be in the wedding.”

  The fail jingle from The Price is Right rang out in his mind. Kelly had been on board with being a bridesmaid for all of about twenty-four hours. Then, she turned on a dime and pulled the plug. Rhiann’s disappointment was genuine but so was her complete support and understanding. Kelly wasn’t having an easy time adjusting to her new life. Everyone expected too much, too fast. When the novelty wore off, and reality intervened, his sister put both feet down and screeched to a halt.

  He sighed and put Batman aside for now. Rubbing Matty’s back between his shoulder blades, Liam tried to find the easiest way to explain things to a kid who sometimes seemed wiser and way more clever than all of the adults in his life put together. Simplistic, childlike platitudes wouldn’t cut it.

  “Kelly needs more time.”

  “I don’t like it when she’s sad.”

  Liam cocked his head and looked at his brother. “She’s not sad, okay? I think it’s more that she doesn’t know what to do with herself.”

  “Why? Because there aren’t goats and chickens to look after?”

  He chuckled and ruffled the boy’s hair. “Yes, Matthew. You’re on the right track. City life is different, but she’s finding her way. We just have to give her more time.”

  “Is Roman my dad now, Liam?”

  Blinking in super-slow-motion, he gawked at the astute kid while his brain emptied. What was the right thing to say? Most of Matty’s familial lines were messy and blurred—the only thing definite was that Liam was his older brother.

  But from a child’s standpoint, lines on a family tree didn’t mean a thing. Relationships and connections were what mattered.

  Kelly had raised her little brother since the time of his birth. She was his de facto mother. So did that make Roman the lad’s father of record?

  Once he and Roman had all the facts, it was relatively easy to clean up their identification shit-storm. Kelly Anne James was now his sister’s legal name with the issues around her aliases and birth name resolved.

  Same for Matty. Undocumented rural births weren’t exactly rare, and Deb had left a convenient paper trail. At the moment he was officially Matthew Liam James, and Kelly was his sole guardian.

  Liam didn’t know how long it’d take, but Kelly and Roman were headed to the altar once he and Rhiann were married. After that, there’d need to be some discussion about things like legal names and adoptions.

  But that wasn’t what Matty was asking about. A four-year-old didn’t care about legalities.

  He turned Matty to look at him. The relationship they were forging was important to Liam. It was as though the universe was giving him a way to heal his emotional wounds and put down the last of his demons by bringing this extraordinary little boy into his life. He was sure a therapist would have a fucking field day with him living his childhood over through vicarious involvement in Matty’s young life—but they could certify him for all he cared. It wasn’t every day a tailor-made opportunity to release the past gets dropped into your lap.

  “I think he is, Matthew. I think he is. And that’s what Kelly wants, right? She’s going to marry Roman, sure. But it’s more than that. Roman will take care of you and Kelly. He loves you, little dude. And so do I.”

  He wasn’t ready for the bear hug or the way Matty clung when he returned the gesture. “Love you too, Liam.”

  A thick wedge of emotion clogged his throat.

  “You should ask Ki
ki though, okay? She’s the decider.”

  The touching moment passed quickly when Matty changed gears and went off on a tear in a different direction.

  “Got a secret. Wanna hear?”

  Hmm. Secrets were serious business and secrets shared between brothers belonged in an entirely separate category. There was a lot more to this brothering business than he realized.

  “Well, let’s think about it for a minute, okay?”

  Matty looked at him like he had a screw loose. “Sure,” the four-year-old said with enough surprising snark that Liam had to clear his throat to avoid laughing.

  “Is this a serious secret—like maybe someone’s going to get in trouble?”

  Was he intrigued when Matty hesitated? Uh, duh.

  “Um,” the boy muttered. “Well, I don’t know. Do you get mad at Rhiann?”

  Liam nearly swallowed his tongue. What the fuck did Rhiann have to do with a Matty secret?

  “Yeah, that’s kind of hard. Being mad at her just isn’t going to happen.”

  Matty’s eyes twinkled, and Liam wondered what he was thinking.

  “Now that doesn’t mean she never gets in trouble,” he added with droll amusement lacing his voice. “What did she do, bro? Out with it,” he joked with a tummy tickle that made Matty giggle.

  The boy squeezed between his legs and wrapped an arm around Liam’s neck. “She sneaks me candy when no one’s looking,” he said with adorable childlike slyness.

  He forced a somber expression on his face. “Kiki wouldn’t like that, huh?”

  Matty shook his head. “It’s just little candy, Liam. She calls them juniors. And she made me promise if Kiki found out I was to say it was all her fault.”

  There was something epic about his little brother calling Rhiann out and defending her at the same time.

  The words slipped out before he could censor his language. “She’s fucking awesome, dude.”

  “Penny Jar,” Matty snickered.

  They fist bumped, and Liam put his arm around Matty’s waist—their heads tilted and touched.

  His brother’s voice was full of happiness. “I like Rhiann. She’s funny.”

  Liam’s heart did a little rhumba in his chest. Last year he was a miserable fuck, strangled by the past and about as friendly as a starving pit bull. Then Rhiann happened, and everything changed.

  Actually, she didn’t just happen. He had to manipulate the holy fuck out of the situation to force the issue and as a result, she’d very nearly been killed. A scowl formed in his thoughts remembering that bitch Kim, his right hand and close business associate going off the deep end and targeting Rhiann, for her lunacy had almost been the end of everything.

  Thanks to Roman and his badass contacts, the situation resolved but not before a SWAT team and every law enforcement agency between here and North Carolina got in on the drama.

  That certainly seemed like enough fuckery to last them quite some time, only man had he been wrong about that too. The dust was barely settled after Rhiann’s harrowing kidnap and rescue before life dropped another shoe—only this one was a ten-ton boot.

  Liam had a sister. A half-sister. At the time, learning his father’s life was even more unsavory had hit him like a load of bricks. Once again, it was Roman who stepped in and what started as a surveillance operation to ascertain what, if anything, was up with this surprise sibling ended as a life-changing event for his friend.

  The whipped cream and cherry on the top of this pile was the boy he held. Liam saw himself in Matty. Saw the young boy he’d been, full of wonder and love, before the shit storm began.

  For reasons he didn’t want to pick apart, it was important to him that he and his brother had a genuine sibling bond. He worried that his relationship with Kelly would always be strained and he fretted over that sliver of darkness separating them courtesy of the piece–of-shit who fathered them. It wasn’t fair for either of them, but there were glimmers of silver linings. And it was early days still. Maybe with enough time and opportunity he and his sister would find common ground.

  “Know what?” Matty murmured.

  The kid’s mind was always working, he thought with a smile.

  “No, what?”

  Matty turned and put both hands on Liam’s shoulders as if he was about to impart the wisdom of the ages. “I think you should sneak licorice to Kiki.”

  Yeah, he was lost, so Liam let Matty see by his expression that he was clueless. “Say what?”

  “She likes black licorice. It makes her tongue black,” the boy chuckled. “She bought a handful from the farmer’s market wrapped in paper and tied with string. Says it’s a guilty pleasure. What’s that mean?”

  “A guilty pleasure is something that you like which isn’t necessarily good for you.”

  “Oh. Well, I don’t know what’s bad about licorice. Do you?”

  “Nothing I can think of,” he assured the kid.

  Matty smiled. “Then that’s good, right? You can sneak her some licorice and then we’ll be even.”

  Liam sniggered. If his naughty wench of a fiancée was breaking Kelly’s rules where Matty was concerned, well… come on. He’d be an idiot not to use the situation to his advantage. He was thinking a ceremonial spanking of the ass—discipline style, and perhaps a bit of please-forgive-me-cock-gagging.

  Matty’s scenario also had merit. Especially if Liam played his hand first. She’d be appropriately defiant and apologetic at the same time. The discipline he’d plan out in advance so it’d be memorable and dirty as fuck. After that? Sure. Stirring the pot had promise. Maybe Rhiann could find out and try her hand at playing the demanding mistress.

  “Liam? That’s a good plan, right?’

  Oh, shit, he thought. What the hell was the matter with him for drifting off in a sexual fantasy while Matty was right in front of him?

  “It’s a fantastic plan buddy. You leave it to me, okay?”

  “How’d it go?”

  Rhiann dropped her bag on a table and kicked off her shoes. Her head was thumping, and a bad case of frustration nipped at her ankles. This wedding stuff wasn’t the walk in the park she’d imagined.

  She didn’t hesitate and went straight into Liam’s arms.

  “That bad?”

  Rubbing her nose on his collar, she inhaled deeply and let his scent fill her senses.

  “Hon?”

  Shit. He wanted an answer to a simple question, but admitting what was occupying her thoughts wouldn’t be helpful. They were just two months out from their wedding, and she was ready to throw in the towel and beg for a quickie elopement. The only thing that mattered to Rhiann was marrying her slightly starchy but oh-so-sexy man. The details and all that was necessary for the public celebration, however, left her cold.

  Remembering what Marjorie Gardner shared during their lunch stopped Rhi from riding roughshod over Liam’s feelings. While she’d be perfectly fine with a trip to the courthouse, he had something much more theatrical in mind. And not because he was a publicity hound. Far from it in fact. No—in this instance what drove her fiancé’s wedding wishes had everything to do with his mom.

  Marjorie’s reminder that Liam taking a wife was a life-moment Carolyn Ashforth would never see had shaken her up. The painful reality that he had no family and would have no supporters to crowd the groom’s side of the church ate away at her.

  She held onto him tighter. There was nothing that mattered except this. It was still a miracle that they even got a second chance, and she’d be damned if she was going to let anything mar his happiness.

  “No worries, baby. Marjorie was a big help. I’ve just got a lot in my head.”

  He rocked them oh so slightly back-and-forth and kissed her forehead. “I asked Matthew to be a groomsman.”

  Her head shot up from his shoulder and a smile spread across her face. The thumping eased off. “Did he say yes?”

  Liam chuckled, took her face in both hands and dropped a sweet, gentle kiss on her lips.

 
; “He’s four, Rhiann. Of course he said yes.”

  He kissed her nose and smirked. “And then after the yes came a question.”

  “A question?”

  “Yeah,” he chuckled. “He asked what a groomsman was.”

  “God, I love that kid,” she giggled.

  “Right?”

  Liam put her arm through his and pulled her into the living room. “So tell me everything Gardner said,” he grumbled. “You do know it’s all kinds of uncool that my executive assistant is one of your chick squad?”

  “Oh, poor you,” she sniggered.

  “What good is it to have a skeleton-burier on the payroll if she’s going to spill secrets to my wife? You see how unfair that is I hope.”

  Her amused laughter filled the room. “Not your wife yet, Mr. Ashforth, so best remember that! And she tattles on you because you’re an arrogant asshat who needs the occasional reminder to come down from the mountain and join the rest of us mere mortals.”

  He sneered. “Chick speak.”

  She found it curious when he paused and looked around like seeing the room for the first time.

  “This should do,” he murmured under his breath. He led her to the love seat, sat down in the center and then pulled Rhiann onto his lap.

  What the hell was he up to?

  “We need to talk,” he gravely announced.

  At no point did she fret or worry that something was wrong. It wasn’t her style to automatically default to a sky-is-falling setting. She knew him better sometimes than he knew himself, so it was a struggle to keep her laughter in check when she spied the lusty glint in his eyes.

  Of course! We need to talk was a standard stratagem in their dirty fuckery manuscript. Tingles of excitement broke out along her nerve endings.

  Dropping her hands to her lap, she crossed her ankles and adopted a placid, demure manner. She also pouted the way he liked to get the ball rolling.

  “Uh oh.” She added a whisper of faux-concern to her voice. “Am I in trouble?”

  “Indeed you are, Ms. Wilde. Indeed you are.”

  The growly smirk guaranteed a gooey mess in her panties. She had a thing for Liam the badass.

  With a sigh that meant she owned her shit stirring status, Rhiann lowered her eyes and bit her lip.