Free The Unicorn's Tail (The Artifact Hunters) by A W. Exley

pick."
    She tapped one large hand, keeping down the blush as she remembered the warmth of his embrace. Everything had changed on Thursday; the world tilted on its axis and now she viewed things from a different angle. His broad and brawny became as appealing as Lachlan's lean and lithe.
    He turned his palm over to reveal a white pawn. "You start."
    She took the carved ivory and placed it on the empty square. She advanced her man two squares and waited, telling herself to go easy and let him take several pieces. Perhaps she should let him win to make up for her blunder?
    She needn't have worried, and all thoughts of throwing the game were quickly forgotten. She was in deep trouble by the third move. He played a quick and decisive game. His gaze swept the board and calculated options far quicker than her. After half an hour she was standing, hands flat on the table either side of the board. Her mind worked overtime and a trickle of sweat ran down the back of her dress.
    She picked up her rook and moved it along three spaces.
    He gave a short laugh, pounced on his knight and made a fast move. "Check…mate."
    "No!" She re-ran the options, wanting to shove her piece back a couple of paces and have a do over. How did she miss the horse waiting to gallop down her king?
    "You sound surprised."
    "I just—" Her gaze roamed the board then flicked up to his grinning face and back to the slaughter on the two-tone field.
    "Didn't think I could play, did ya?" Deep creases surrounded his eyes as he held back his laughter.
    She screwed up her lips, trying to keep the words inside.
    "You can say it. Ask the question burning through that sharp mind of yours."
    She shook her head. "To do so would be impolite."
    He crooked a finger and drew her closer. He looked over his shoulder, around the room, then met her gaze again. "Just you and me here. And I promise you can't offend me."
    The question bounced around her head so hard she either had to let it out or she would explode. "Who in the blazes taught you to play like that?"
    That throaty laugh washed over her again. "Lyons. Lot of time on airships with little to do. That and one of us was often laid up with a hole in 'im. Chess keeps the mind occupied." He tapped the side of his head.
    *
    The wee bird was in a complete flap, trying to reconcile the ex-boxer with the person who just wiped the chess board with her. He rather enjoyed seeing her flummoxed and trying to reconcile what society told her to expect from people of his station. He might have escaped the Rookeries because of his size and reach, but he could use more than just his hands.
    "I can read and write too, before you ask."
    Those full pink lips snapped closed and her chocolate gaze glinted at him with just the beginnings of a temper. "Really, after yesterday do you still assume I think so little of you?"
    She rearranged the pieces on her side, slamming them down on their spaces. Oh she was in a right snit over losing and it did all sorts of things to his insides to watch.
    "Not sure what you think." What did go on in that little head? She played a mean game, and only his long use of strategic thinking got him out of a couple of close calls. "Maybe we both need to re-think how we see each other."
    Every now and then she dropped her guard, and he found himself fascinated by the glimpses he saw beneath. The kitten had claws, she just didn't know how to use them.
    "To be honest, Mr Jackson, at first you did scare me just a little," she said in the smallest voice.
    He looked up. The anger vanished from her eyes and she looked adrift in an unknown ocean. He pushed her yesterday to put a crack in that exterior. Like a baby bird, she was breaking out of her shell. He wanted to pull away the pieces to free her. He picked up her hand and held it in his, marvelling at the size difference.
    "Thought we resolved that?" He stroked a thumb over the back of her hand.
    "Yes, in part. But you're just so—" she waved her other hand, struggling for