Page 124 of Let the Game Begin

“What do you have there?” I asked, sitting down on the edge of the sofa.

Neil crooked one corner of his mouth and moved toward me slowly, holding himself in that decisive way that always sapped me of any strength. He sat down beside me and opened his hand, revealing two…

“Dice?” I said as I looked at them. “What are you going to do with two dice?” I turned my gaze to him and saw that he had taken on a cheerful expression. Was he screwing with me or something?

“Details, Selene. Go on, take a closer look at them.” I liked it when he said my name; it generated a painful but gratifying tension within me.

I leaned over to get a better look at the dice: they were blue with black writing carved into each side.

“These dice are for real romantics, like me,” he said, under his breath. Itwas then that I looked more closely at the writing:breast,penis,butt. On the other one:suck,kiss,lick, and other words that I stopped reading because I was too scandalized. How had I ever believed that Mr. Disaster would ask me to play a normal game?

“Ar-are you insane?” I stammered.

I tried to stand up, but before I could, Neil grabbed my wrist to stop me.

“It’s just a game; don’t be a baby,” he smiled. “You’re lucky I didn’t ask you to share me with another girl at the same time, in the same bed,” he whispered, echoing a phrase I had heard from him on another occasion. I swallowed hard and forced myself to get a handle on my impulses and not simply run away.

“I never would have agreed to that,” I said firmly, and a quiet, guttural laugh—deeply masculine—escaped him. I found it fascinating, despite everything. It suddenly occurred to me how completely crazy I was. I was a total idiot, humoring him like this.

“Choose a die without looking,” he instructed, holding his open hand out to me. I kept my eyes locked on his, those irises so unique that I couldn’t stop admiring them, and he stared back at me in return.

I grabbed a die and only then did I lower my eyes, breaking our connection.

“You chose the body parts,” he pointed out, glancing at the die still in his hand. “And left me with the actions,” he added with a triumphant smile, pleased that luck was on his side.

“And which…” I cleared my throat. “Which actions would those be, exactly?” I was having trouble even formulating a question, because I was so nervous that I couldn’t process anything anymore. I glanced at the front door, and for a moment, I thought about hurling that damned die into the air and running away. Another part of me, however, was dying to know what he was thinking.

“Kissing, biting, touching, sucking, licking, and stroking,” he explained. “Nothing painful; nothing sadistic. Bondage and all that other shit isn’t what turns me on. You know that. My vices are something else,” he murmured and settled himself more fully on the large sectional sofa, lit up by the glow of the fireplace.

“What does that mean?” I asked, hoping I wouldn’t regret the question. Neil grinned like the worst kind of sinner and leaned into my ear again.

“I like to play games with bodies. Ever since I was a kid.”

For a moment, I just stared at a point on his right shoulder. I wasn’t sure how to understand that confession. There were a thousand theories and assumptions in my head, but I didn’t want to think through any of them right at that moment.

“I’ll play games with you, if you can just answer my questions. If we can just talk.” I offered my condition again, and he stared into my eyes. He sighed before reluctantly nodding, giving me just a hint of a defeated smile.

“Okay. Roll your die, then I’ll roll mine,” he instructed. I closed my hand over the die and shook it before throwing it down again on the low table in front of us. He did the same.

“Area: neck, action: suck.” He read the first combination, and I breathed a sigh of relief. That wasn’t too bad for a first turn.

“You got lucky, baby.” He moved closer and brushed my hair behind my shoulders to expose the curve of my neck. He blew on it, giving me goosebumps. Yet I remained seated with my knees locked together and my hands dug into the material of my jeans.

“Relax,” he said, putting his lips on my skin. I smiled at the friction of his stubble, which tickled me. He lingered over one spot for a few moments before suddenly beginning to suck, which made me exhale in surprise. I could feel it all: his soft, inviting mouth exerting an unmistakable pressure on me, the heat of his breath, the capillaries in my neck fracturing, though not painfully.

“Let’s go again.” He pulled back way too soon and reached for his die again. I followed his lead; together, we rattled them in our hands before tossing them both down on the table. We leaned forward to read the next combination.

“Area: breast; action: suck.”Sucking again, dammit.He looked at me like he’d just read the recipe for a sweet treat rather than some obscene writing on erotic dice. I stiffened. Why had I agreed to stay here?

I pushed my palms down on the giving surface of the sofa and looked expectantly at him. I wasn’t even capable of undressing; I was so worked up.

“It’s nothing we haven’t done before,” he reassured me, and he was right. He’d already seen me naked on multiple other occasions. He had undressed me and touched me, but things were different somehow that evening. He felt so far away, emotionally speaking. We hadn’t even kissed.

In a flash, he fixed his eyes on me and grabbed the hem of my sweater, slowly raising it up. I lifted my arms to assist him, and he threw the sweater to a far corner of the sofa before fixing his ravenous stare on my bra. He traced the edges of it with just his fingertips until he reached the hooks to open it. I was terribly embarrassed, but Neil didn’t notice as he peeled yet another article of clothing off me, leaving me naked from the waist up.

I instinctively tried to shield myself with my right forearm and turned red. It was not the action of a bold, self-confident woman.

Neil gave me a solemn look. I couldn’t tell if he was irritated or moved to pity by my gesture, but I didn’t have too much time to think about it because he grabbed my wrists and pulled them away from me so he could look at my now-exposed breasts. They were small, but high and firm, and my nipples were stiff, pointed right at him as though waiting for him to lavish attention upon them.