by Blue, Andie
“So you admit I have a chance?” she asked, laughing.
He shook his head and grinned at her as he took his seat. “I give you a one percent chance, and you’re happy about it? I love your optimism.”
The game started quickly with some bold moves from Nico. Unfortunately, she was so distracted by thoughts of what was to come she found it difficult to concentrate. Every time she looked up into his handsome face she found him staring at her. She wondered how much exposure she was giving him in this dress as she bent down to make her move.
“You look lovely in green. It matches your eyes,” Nico said just as Samantha was trying to choose which path to put her hunter on. All of this romantic tension was making it hard for her to focus. As soon as she made her choice, she wished she could take it back. Nico swiftly cut off her hunter, sending her back to the beginning and leaving himself in an easy position to kill the dragon.
As he made his final move, he sat back in his chair and stretched out his long legs, looking cocky and confident. He had beat her in almost half the time it had taken in the previous two games.
“One would almost think you wanted to be naked for me, Samantha,” he said chidingly as he got up and very deliberately locked the door. She watched him nervously, swallowing hard when he returned to his chair.
“Please remove your dress,” he said languidly, as though he were calm, even though she could see a challenge in his eyes.
Defiantly, she pushed to her feet and stood before him. At least the room was semi-dark, the only light coming from the fireplace and the candles he’d placed on the Chattel table. Should she really do it? What did she have to lose?
She lifted her trembling hands to the back of her neck, awkwardly undoing her dress. Thank goodness she was used to undressing without assistance, or she never would have managed it.
She let the soft green fabric pool to the floor at her feet, standing before him in only her corset, drawers, and stockings. He took a deep breath, seeming shocked that she had actually obeyed him. He had been playing a game of chicken with her, never expecting to receive his “reward”.
“Very nice,” he said softly. “You have an exquisite figure.”
Samantha was struggling to stand before him without covering herself up.
“You may leave on the stockings, but take off the rest,” Nico commanded.
Blushing furiously, she slowly began to unfasten her corset. He leaned forward, all pretenses at disinterest gone as she revealed her full round breasts and erect pink nipples. Head held high, she let the corset fall on top of her dress, and then stepped out of her drawers. She was naked but for her silk stockings, revealing long legs, shapely hips and a patch of auburn hair covering up her cleft.
She had never felt so vulnerable, but his reaction gave her a bit of strength. His black eyes were glittering with desire.
“Come here,” he told her, patting his knee.
She stared at him nervously. He remained fully dressed while she stood before him in only stockings. “Really? Isn’t this enough?”
“Stop talking, and come sit down,” he said, a note of authority in his voice.
She inched toward him. “I'm not a child, you know.”
“Any more words like that and you'll find yourself getting a spanking.” He looked as if he meant it.
She closed the remaining distance between them and awkwardly sat upon his lap. Her eyes widened as the solid heat of his erection pressed against her, and he put her hands behind her back, exposing more of her breasts to him.
“Do you think you’ve been good today?” he asked, sounding again like a grim schoolteacher.
She gave him an exasperated look and rolled her eyes. “Yes, I think I've been very good. I nearly beat you.”
“You came nowhere close to it,” he chided her. “In fact, you didn’t seem to be paying attention at all.” He gazed down at her nakedness. “Though I'm very glad you didn't.”
“Perhaps I was a bit…distracted,” she conceded, wondering where he was going with this game.
He slowly ran his fingertips across her face, as though memorizing every feature, spending extra time on her lips. She kissed his finger softly and trapped it between her lips, making him catch his breath.
His hands trailed lower, down the column of her throat, then cupping her breasts, caressing her nipples until they became tight pink buds. Bending down, he replaced his fingertips with his mouth, lightly kissing and then sucking each nipple in turn until she forgot herself and buried her hands in his hair.
“Put your hands behind your back.” His voice was hoarse.
She complied slowly, once again feeling vulnerable, like an exposition for him to explore.
“Now kiss me,” he ordered, losing all semblance of the aristocrat and falling completely into what she was quickly coming to believe was his true, passionate self.
She gave him a quick, embarrassed peck on the lips.
He gave her nipples a little pinch, sending heat throughout her body. “I really am going to spank you if that's the best you can do. Kiss me fully.”
She leaned into him and gave him a long, slow kiss, enjoying every moment. As the kiss grew more passionate, and his hands freely roamed her body, she found herself reaching for him again.
He lifted his head, giving her a chiding glance. “Hands behind your back, Mrs. Blake. Must I tie them again?”
She shook her head, chagrined. He certainly liked ordering her around while she was helplessly naked on his lap. The whole game was very erotic. She hoped he couldn’t feel the wetness between her legs through his pants. If only she could get him to take his clothes off also. She wanted to see his naked body and have him as vulnerable as she was. She wanted to touch every inch of him. She reached out for the buttons on his shirt.
Before she could unbutton anything, he grabbed her hands, holding them forcefully behind her back as he flipped her over his knee. “I warned you that I would give you a spanking if you did that again,” he growled, as she stared down at the ground in confusion, her bottom sticking up in the air in a most undignified manner.
To her utter surprise, his hand came down upon her bottom in quick succession, spanking her two times, before he ran his hand tenderly across the burning skin.
“You can’t do this to me,” she yelped. “I will yell for Joseph.”
“Go ahead. He won’t be coming. My servants are very obedient, unlike you.”
“I don’t have to be obedient. I’m not your servant.”
“Careful, Samantha. You have such a beautiful bottom. It's very pink now. It would be a shame to make it all red.” He caressed her bottom very tenderly, and it felt strangely sensual, though she was still confused and wary about the spanking he’d given her.
She hid her face against his thigh, feeling completely exposed and off balance in more ways than one. Shocking her even more, he parted her thighs, until her most secret areas were undoubtedly exposed to him. She squirmed on his lap against his erection.
“Be still,” he told her, softly caressing the wet little cleft between her legs.
She moaned against his leg, shamefully sure she should not be enjoying this so much.
“Do you think you deserve more spankings?” he asked as he continued to torture her with his strokes.
She gasped and pressed against his hand. “No, I most certainly do not, you bully,” she said breathlessly.
She could feel his hard erection throbbing and wanted him to put it inside of her. She’d never had such intense feeling of longing before. He continued to rub her until it felt like she could no longer bear it.
“Nico, please…” she sobbed, clutching his leg as he kept on stroking and teasing her. Then suddenly she cried out, convulsing around him with an earth shattering release. She had never felt anything so exquisite.
“I think you have had enough for today,” he said abruptly while releasing her hands. “You may get up and put your clothes on.”
It took a minute for
his words to sink in. He wasn’t going to be making love to her? She knew he was just as aroused as she was. Had she done something wrong? She stood up, picked up her dress and held it in front of her, glaring at him. She didn’t know whether to be angrier because he’d spanked her, or because he’d abruptly finished with her.
“I assume this unusual evening will send you packing like the scared little girl that you are. Chattel is a man's game dear and you are most definitely not a man. The carriage can take you home. You’ll find a driver out by the stables.”
Samantha stared at him, speechless and unable to comprehend why he had turned so cruel. She fought back the tears beginning to form behind her eyes and gathered up her clothes, not bothering to put them on. She didn’t want to spend another minute in this room, fumbling or even worse, crying. With as much dignity as she could muster she turned and walked out of the room.
Once Samantha was in her room she struggled to hold back the tears, focusing on her anger instead while putting on her riding pants. The task was made difficult because of her trembling body. She stopped to take a few calming breaths. She wasn’t going to think about this right now. She wasn’t going to cry. She needed to get out of the house.
Finally clothed, Samantha ran out to the stables and saddled up her stallion, not bothering to wait for John to discover her presence. Midnight could sense her energy and began to move his feet anxiously. “Come on, boy. We are going to run tonight. Don’t you want to see how fast you can go?”
She didn’t care that it was night time and that this was dangerous. She didn’t care that this was the horse that had killed her husband. She wanted to escape. With Midnight saddled, she gave him a kick and took off toward the lake at a thunderous pace, glad for the full moon. Both woman and beast delighted in the speed as they tore across the park.
Nico watched Samantha tear off from the barn, his blood pulsing with fear. She shouldn’t be riding so recklessly at night. If anything happened to her, he’d never forgive himself.
The moment he’d watched her walk away like a queen and elegantly close the door behind her, he’d been furious with himself. He was a bully. How could he have lost control like that and taken the game so far? He’d only been a few short moments away from tearing off his pants and plunging his cock deep inside of her. He wasn’t exactly sure why he hadn’t except that something told him it was utterly wrong to continue taking advantage of a woman who’d come here to seek his help. And whom he would never marry.
He knew his behavior had hurt her and made her furious, but the ramifications of what he’d been doing had suddenly become very clear to him, and the only way he’d been able to stop was to drive her away. He half-hoped that she wouldn’t come back. Ever since she’d climbed over his wall, she’d been confusing and distracting him.
With a sigh, he headed out toward the barn to make sure she came back safely.
When he entered the barn, John was waiting too, obviously as worried about Samantha as he was. “I’m sorry I did not see her until she had already saddled her horse and taken off. Shall I go after her, sir?” the lad asked.
Nico shook his head, unwilling to risk them both. “She’ll come back when she’s ready.”
John gave him a speculative glance. “She must have been upset. Beat her again, sir?”
Nico laughed at the young man’s choice of words. “Yes, I suppose I did.”
“How are the Chattel lessons coming?” John asked curiously.
“She’s not half bad,” Nico admitted. “I think she might have a shot at winning the contest, if she can pull off her disguise.” That was the problem though. He still didn’t believe she could make anyone believe she was a boy.
“That will be a trick. She’s quite lovely,” John said, obviously love struck. “I never met anyone like her.”
“Neither have I,” Nico said, realizing how true that was. Samantha was unique, to say the least. She had more fire and spirit than any woman he’d ever met. Perhaps that was why he was so drawn to her. Perhaps he wanted to capture some of her fire for himself.
“You don’t have to wait,” he told his groom, realizing he was a little jealous about the young man’s interest in Samantha. “I’ll stay here and help her unsaddle her horse when she returns.”
John nodded reluctantly and faded into the night, and Nico settled in for what could be a very long wait.
At first he kept himself busy examining the tack that John kept so clean and organized. Next, he paced the floor of the barn, using the time to figure out what the hell he’d been doing with her. Nearly two long hours later, she finally returned, looking calm and satisfied. Nico eyed her warily as she dismounted, then moved forward to help her unsaddle Midnight and rub him down. They worked together wordlessly, giving the black horse a much needed brushing on his sweat covered back. Nico no longer sensed the anger that had driven her out into the night.
“Are you hungry?” he asked. “I had Mrs. Lotte leave us a snack in the kitchen.”
“Yes,” she said woodenly. “That sounds good.”
Samantha followed him silently back to the house, wondering why he no longer seemed to want her to leave. When they reached the kitchen, Nico laid out the meat pies and lemon tarts Mrs. Lotte had left for them.
She ate a pie in silence, then sat back in her chair, giving him a piercing look. “Why didn’t you make love to me tonight? Why did you embarrass me that way?”
He looked surprised at her direct question. Probably most women that he knew would never dare ask such a question. “I’m sorry. I never expected you to take your clothes off and then once you did, I let things get carried away.”
This made Samantha feel even more embarrassed, as if she had done something wrong.
“No matter what you may think of me, I don’t want to ruin you,” he assured her, looking guilty about his behavior.
Samantha focused her attention on the delicious meat pie loaded with buttery mashed potatoes. My goodness, she loved this food. She finished the pie, slowly licked her fingers, and then looked up to find him watching her.
“Can you please not do that? It’s hard enough for me to control myself around you.”
She gave him a questioning look, but stopped. “You don’t act like it’s hard.”
“It bloody well is… which is unusual for me. I’m not the kind to chase every beautiful woman who comes before me.” He wiped his mouth and set down his glass of ale. He looked frustrated and exhausted. She longed to reach out and move the hair that fell into his eyes.
“I’m sorry I’ve taken advantage of your situation.” He brushed the black hair back. “From now on, I’ll restrain myself and devote as much time as you like to finishing up your lessons.”
“Thank you,” she murmured, not feeling as victorious as she should have at that moment.
He frowned and took his leave of her. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
***
During the next few weeks, Lord Chattel remained true to his word. He behaved like a perfect gentleman and played Chattel with Samantha every night. He made no more scandalous bets with her. In fact, he was such a gentleman; it made Samantha want to scream.
She missed the man who had gone riding with her and talked to her as though she meant something to him. Now, he acted so very pleasant she feared he’d stopped caring for her at all.
At last, three days before the contest, he deemed her ready. During dinner, they discussed the logistics of the contest and Samantha’s main competitors. “Watch out for last year’s winner, Douglas Wright,” he told her. “He’s the only one who will prove a challenge for you.”
“Why is that?” Samantha leaned forward, intrigued.
“He is a cool cucumber. Nothing puts him off of his strategy. He has ultimate control over himself and after you play with him a while you’ll feel he has control over you too.” Nico stabbed at his meat with his fork. “The best thing you can do is ask him questions – about his life, about his horse, about anything. Ju
st don’t let him ask questions of you.”
“All right, I won’t. Thank you,” she murmured, moving her food around her plate. Finally, she put forth the question that had been on her mind for days. “Will you come and watch me play?”
He shook his head, not meeting her pleading gaze. “I’m leaving for Paris in two days to visit the new Pasteur Institute in France.”
“What’s that?” she asked, trying to hide her disappointment. It would have given her so much courage to know he was there cheering her on.
“It’s a private foundation dedicated to the study of biology and diseases. It just opened two years ago and is named after Louis Pasteur. He’s an amazing scientist, who has made some of the greatest breakthroughs in modern medicine.” Nico’s eyes lit up when he spoke of Pasteur.
“I am pleased to have the opportunity to work with him and the other scientists there. I want to share my discoveries with them and see if there are ways in which we can advance each other’s work.”
The passion and determination in his voice made Samantha feel petty. Why should he stay and watch her play a silly game, when he had so much to offer the world?
“I’m sure you’ll do great things there,” she told him, trying to banish her melancholy. “How long will you be gone?”
“I’m not sure,” he said. “Probably quite some time. I regret that I won’t be at the tournament. Do you have a male relative or someone you trust who will be there if you need some protection?”
“Yes,” she lied. She had no intention of involving anyone else in her scheme. If anyone were going to be arrested, it would only be her.
Nico gave her a suspicious look but did not press her. “I’ll have John drive you home in the morning, but make sure to write me and tell me how everything goes.”
He reached into his pocket and brought out a bag of herbs. “These are for your mother. It won’t counteract the degeneration of the brain, I’m afraid, but it will make her feel calm. Start with a small dose and if the results are positive you can increase to the full dose once a day.”