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“Why do ye remember it fondly? Wasn’t it harsh for ye?”
“It was harsh, but it made me who I am, Keira. It turned me into the man I am today and I love this version of myself. I am a better man today than I would have been if I had grown up in this castle beside my faither, and that is something that makes that life fond for me. It taught me things nothing and nay one else could ever have,” he replied, his eyes swimming with faraway memories, but he immediately shook his head and returned to the present. “I let ye slip in two questions with one pawn.”
“What can I say? I am clever,” Keira laughed, and they began the game again.
The two of them continued to make measured, calculated moves for a while, each of them fighting hard to protect their own, but as Keira made her move, she knew her pawn was about to fall. She saw the victory emerging in Christian’s gaze as he noticed it as well, but Keira had no choice left. She rolled her eyes as Christian, just like her, made a show of killing her pawn and then sat back leisurely.
“Let’s have it,” he said with a smirk, and Keira rolled her eyes at him again.
Without standing up from her chair, she only took off her shoes as Christian stared at her with a betrayed expression. She knew he had expected her to take off something else, but she was not going to do that so soon.
“Are ye kiddin’ me right now?” he asked, staring at her and the shoes.
“More pawns, more clothes,” she shrugged, settling back into her position and making her move before motioning towards Christian to make his.
Christian nodded with a certain sort of determination, and Keira looked at him admirably as, within the next few moves, he once again trapped her in a similar situation where she knew she had no choice but to once again take the fall. She regretfully made her move and waited patiently till Christian took her pawn with a huge smile on his face.
“More pawns, more clothes,” he repeated what she had said earlier and sat down comfortably, clearly waiting for her to give him a show.
Keira decided to do just that as she stood up from her chair, running her hands through her blonde hair and drawing away the clip she had been using to secure them over her head. In one swift motion, she removed the clip, making sure her hair was falling behind her luxuriously. She continued to stare at Christian as she did so, feeling powerful as he could not take his eyes away from her.
“I will nae count that as clothes,” he said, sounding deeper than usual as he motioned towards her open hair.
“Do nae worry, me laird,” Keira said softly, leaning in closer to him, “I will take off my clothes too. Just as ye asked.”
Christian stayed quiet as Keira moved back, turning around so her back faced Christian. She put all of her hair at the front from one side, turning around to look at the handsome man in front of her as she bent down seductively, her hands reaching for the end of her pastel blue gown. She slowly lifted it above her head and took it off at once, revealing the silk camisole she was wearing inside. The camisole only reached her thighs, leaving her legs bare and hardly covering her breasts.
Keira turned around, making sure Christian saw her before bringing her hair to the front to hide her exposed neck and chest as she was sitting down at the table again. She knew the table would hide her thighs, and she would not feel as self-conscious. As soon as she sat down, she was met with Christian’s glazed expression, but he swallowed quickly and straightened himself.
“That was some show,” he commented with a grin.
“I am glad ye enjoyed it,” Keira said confidently, although she had turned crimson, sensing Christian’s unconcealed passion through his gaze. It was clear that he wanted her, and as Keira sat down in front of him, almost naked, she knew she wanted him too.
“Let’s play,” he said, and Keira made her move, determined to bring Christian to his defeat.
She played even more determinedly and, soon enough, took another one of his pawns as he shook his head. She knew he certainly must have been hoping to take her pawn, but she outsmarted him yet again.
“What else would you like to ken?” he asked, leaning in as he listened attentively.
“Have ye ever been in love? I mean, a man like you…Surely women must have been in love with you, right? But whom did you fall for?”
“Those are three questions, clever thing,” he smirked and Keira nodded.
“But I asked them all in one flow, so ye must answer them all,” she replied with a shrug as if this nonsensical rule made complete sense.
“I will answer them all,” Christian agreed, “Nay, I have never been in love. And yes, some people have been in love with me over the years, but since I never reciprocated those feelings, it never led to anything. Hence, I have never felt that emotion for a woman before, even though I have felt lust for women and have even acted upon it. But love, never. Yet.”
He said the last word almost stressfully as if trying to tell Keira something, but she did not know what. She had almost expected this answer from him but had never expected him to be brutally honest. Christian truly was playing the game seriously, and Keira was quite happy about it.
“Truly? Never?”
“Nay,” he shook his head. “Have ye?”
“Nae yet,” Keira replied honestly. She, too, had never experienced the pure and carnal feeling one could translate into being in love. She knew she wished to feel it, to know what it was and how it felt, but it had simply not happened to her as yet.
“Let’s play,” he said after nodding.
Within minutes, Keira had once again brought Christian to his death just by her skills and took away his pawn as he looked at her confusedly. She knew he had underestimated her, and now that he had found out that she truly was talented at the game, he was surprised. She laughed at his expression, thinking of the next question.
