Free The Mad British by Hera Leick

the front of it, and clears her throat. "And just so you know," she murmurs, chewing her lip nervously, "I uh, I've never had sex in a coat closet."
    "I've never had a quickie in a bathroom—" I pause. "At least not with a stranger."
    Her half smile doesn’t last long. "I need to know how much."
    "Does any amount make it okay?"
    She twists her head slightly away and looks down. "No," she replies, shrugging. "But making the wager isn't any better either."
    I nod. "Fair enough." Moving to my feet I offer a hand and I’m relieved when she takes it, helping her to her feet. "But if you give me a chance, maybe I can explain why I did."
    "You mean it wasn't for sex?"
    A heat radiates through my chest when her smile reaches her eyes, and I’m thankful she no longer appears to hold my part in the wager against me.
    "I really just wanted that drink." I smoothe my thumb over the back of her hand. “And maybe to spend a little more time with you." Her skin is supe r soft against my calloused hand. I’d bet a year’s earnings that the rest of her crackin’ body is probably just as smooth.
    "Why?"
    "Why not?"
    She looks chuffed with my response, but a moment later, she asks, "Then why me?" She places a hand on the base of her neck. "When there's a room full of beautiful women out there, why me?"
    "They’re not beautiful.” I lean in and smell something new on her, other than the aroma of chocolate and vanilla. I have to find the source. Hopefully, she’ll want to see me again after tonight. A second chance to hunt for it.
    With my tongue, preferably.
    "Perhaps I'll tell you,” I continue. “Should you choose to stick around for that drink and maybe another game of some kind."
    Licking her lower lip, she bites into it, and I can see her response before she answers. "You want to play—"
    "I’d love to play with you, Adelaide.”
    “James. . .” Her high cheekbones pink up a bit.
    “Something you can't cheat at."
    She laughs softly. "Then it's only fair that you can't cheat either."
    "Does that mean you'll stay?"
    She pulls her hand out of mine, and I’m tempted to not let her go. "Depends," she says, skirting round me and crosses the room.
    "On?"
    "Whether or not I get to pick the game."
    I turn to follow her, finding it impossible to not look her over when she’s standing there all legs in front of me.
    I want to feel those pins wrap round my middle as I pump hard inside her. Over and over. Harder and harder.
    I shoot a quick glance to the bulge swelling below.
    Calm. The fuck. Down.
    Adelaide picks up a game piece from the hotel room’s chessboard, set on the desk by the floor-to-ceiling window that looks out on the River Thames. My breath hitches, but not at the spectacular view of London at night from such a great height. A kaleidoscope of shimmering lights reflects off her from outside, bathing her in a luminous glow. She looks like an angel.
    She runs her thumb over a pawn, brushing it almost absentmindedly across her lips.
    "You know after that whole thing before. . .” I say, lifting my head toward the bed, and notice how her cheeks turn a bright pink. "I'm just relieved to find out you aren't one of those odd fetish types."

7
Queen
    “SO NOW YOU’RE trying to get me drunk?"
    I’m standing under the doorway of the bathroom where I'd just spent ten minutes getting dressed and telling myself it’s okay that I had stripped down and offered to sleep with a stranger.
    It isn’t the stripping that curls my insides. I mean, how can it be with my past? No, it’s throwing myself at a one-night stand that makes me cringe. But the real kicker? I have no idea what I would have done had James been willing to get into bed with me. Then again, I’m not quite sure how to take it that he rejected the offer. I would eat my left foot if it turns out he bats for the other team. And he’s hardly acting like he is a man of the Church.
    A smile tugs at the corners of his mouth as he pours our drinks. "Rumour has it that