This is War (Checkmate Duet 1)

My breath hitches as my eyes watch her chest rise and fall. She’s just as worked up as I am.

I study her carefully, trying to read her body since I know she’ll never say the words she really wants to say.

“You broke your own house rule,” I inform her, needing to break the tension.

“Well…” She shrugs. “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

I furrow my brows. “So you only brought him back here to piss me off, is that it?” I cross my arms over my chest, feeling my face heat as my body burning with rage. “You wanted a reaction?”

“I wanted to give you a taste of your own medicine,” she replies, chewing on her lower lip. “Doesn’t feel so great, does it?”

I swallow, stepping back. “I don’t know. You tell me. You’re the one with the wounded shoulder blade, princess.”

She rolls her eyes. “It’s not a wound, although it did hurt like hell at first. But it’ll heal. Plus, you’re the one who broke his nose.”

I scoff. “It’s not broken,” I assure her. “But he’ll be hurting in the morning.”

“So your plan is to just beat up every guy I want to have sex with?”

“I didn’t beat Jason. Although, I could’ve.” I shrug.

She snorts. “Whatever, Travis. You’re such a hypocrite.”

Just as she takes a step around me, I grab her arm and pull her to my chest. “How so?”

I watch her throat move as she swallows. Her body is flesh against mine, her breathing labored.

“You sleep with every other girl on the planet, but the second I bring a guy home for a good time, you want to beat the shit out of him. You’re the one who gets high-fived for your one-night stands, but God-forbid I want someone to fuck my brains out; you go all Mike Tyson on the guy.”

My cock twitches at her words, and I can feel it harden under my sweats. The way she talks is so unlike her, and it takes all the willpower in me to say what’s really on my mind.

“You aren’t that girl,” I whisper.

“Maybe I want to be,” she whispers back. “Even if just for a night.” Her body is begging for it, and I can see the lust in her eyes.

I bow my head, lowering my eyes to hers, our lips almost touching. “Sorry, princess. I don’t fuck virgins, remember?” I know it’s a dick move, but I can’t have my best friend’s little sister underneath me, as much as I want her to be.

“Good thing I’m not a virgin.” Her tone is brave, and I wonder where it’s coming from. “But if the real reason is because you’re afraid you won’t live up to the Travis King name, then—”

Annoyance piles up inside me and before I can stop myself, I grab her hips and pull them the rest of the way into me, capturing her words with my mouth. She opens for me, needy and desperate. I press my hips into her, hard and greedy.

“You want someone to fuck your brains out, princess?” I ask against her lips, pushing our bodies against the kitchen wall. “Is that what you need to stop being a smartass little know-it-all?”

“Make me come and see for yourself, asshole.”

I groan against her lips. “Goddammit, Viola.” I know I should stop. She’s been drinking, and I’m clearly not in the right frame of mind to make smart decisions right now.

She presses her mouth to mine and wraps a palm around my cock through my sweats. I wrap a hand around her neck, moaning in her mouth as she begins stroking me.

“Viola…” I say, almost pleading. “Fuck, that feels good.”

“Mm hmm…” she hums against my lips.

“Princess, we can’t…” I hate myself the moment the words come out.

Her hand stalls and she jerks her head back. “You’ll fuck anything with a vagina except me? Is that it?”

“No,” I growl. “You’re my best friend’s little sister.”

“So if I was just some bimbo at a bar, you’d have fucked me six ways to Sunday already? Is that how it goes?” She doesn’t sound hurt, she’s pissed. “You’re a fucking asshole.”

I grab her before she can storm off again. “And you’re a goody two-shoes who uses every opportunity to remind me of that.”

“Well, if the shoe fits…” she barks right back, her eyes narrowing in at me.

“Fine, you want to be treated like one of my girls? Fucked to oblivion and then tossed out like yesterday’s trash? Because I guarantee it’s not going to be anything like you read in your romance books.”

She stares at me, mouth agape, her breasts pushing up with every deep breath.

“That’s what I thought.”

Before I can back away, she lunges at me. Her lips press against mine, opening my mouth with her tongue as her hands grab my drawstrings and palms my cock bare.