God of Ruin (Legacy of Gods #4) by Rina Kent

That would be no different than lying around waiting for the predator to pounce and devour me.

“The game you wanted to play is chess?” I sign.

He doesn’t even look at the chessboard as he moves his rook into an extremely vulnerable position.

“What else did you have in mind?” he asks with a strange gleam in his empty eyes. “Perhaps something kinky?”

“As if.”

Though I can’t deny that those thoughts actually passed through my head after he ambushed me in front of the Heathens’ mansion and brought me here. He definitely made it sound like there’d be something more to this game of his.

Or maybe that’s another method to mess with my head and I need to stop being on edge.

“Here’s a piece of advice for you.” He strokes the knight that he killed off a few minutes ago between his fingers. “It’s not mandatory to fight me about everything. While it’s a turn-on during sex, I don’t care for it the rest of the time.”

“Here’s a news flash for you. I don’t care for your preferences.”

“You should. Considering they’ll be front and center in your life going forward.”

“Arrogant much?”

“Just the right amount, in my opinion.”

“Your opinion, just like your whole personality and existence, is awfully flawed and in need of a desperate revamp.”

“Oh?” He strangles the knight between his index and middle fingers. “I thought I’d survived just fine until now.”

I knock down his rook with an innocent grin. “You thought wrong. But hey, it’s never too late to start being a decent human being.”

“The thought of decency bores me to tears, so I’m inclined to disregard the suggestion.”

“Why?”

“I don’t subscribe to the righteous notion most people strive for.”

“Don’t I know it. You’re more interested in chaos and mayhem.”

A smile stretches his lips and I’m momentarily distracted from the board. All I can do is stare as light twinkles in his normally dead eyes, sending streaks of brightness within. It’s not his usual taunting smirk with a dash of sardonic irony. This is possibly the closest thing I’ve seen to a smile on his sculpture-like face.

And I don’t mean he has a sharp jaw but that he’s really as frigid and emotionless as his statues.

“Touché.”

I clear my throat and then sign, “How about you do something different for a change? You can start with small steps.”

“Such as?”

“Stop kidnapping people and taking them to places against their will, maybe?”

“But how else will I have your full attention that’s not muddied with either babysitting Maya or following the Heathens like a lost puppy?” He pushes his second rook, again putting it in an obviously volatile position. “Not to mention the unnecessary time you’ve spent with my brother. Spoiler alert, the girls prefer me over him.”

“Well, they’ve made the mistake of their lives. Bran is much more likable than you. In fact, you’re on different planets and don’t even compare.” I narrow my eyes on the rook.

What’s he playing at? There must be a secret move that he’s trying to pull, but what is it? He already lost his other rook, and it’s downright reckless to sacrifice the second one just after.

“And yet it’s my fingers you came all over and it’s my cum that decorated your pretty little face.”

I jerk up, my attention flying to him. His features are overshadowed by the candles’ dim light and pure sadism. The cocky smirk slips back onto his face with a vengeance. All of a sudden, he seems bigger and darker than I recall, as if he gained a few inches of height in the span of seconds.

“Stop talking to me like that,” I sign.

“Like what?”

“Like I’m your toy.”

“I prefer my future fuck doll.”

“More like your Grim Reaper, because I’ll slice your throat while you sleep.”

He laughs. “You’re such a menace, I want to gobble you up.”

“I’ll give you indigestion, asshole.”

“Worth it, muse.”

“Not sure you’ll think the same when you’re drowning in a pool of blood.”

“Blood. Yum. You just keep ticking all the kink boxes today.” He pretends to be shocked. “Did you do your research on me, after all?”

“Not even if you were the last man available.”

“Last man available to everyone? No. To you? Highly likely.”

I shake my head even as I make my move, choosing not to knock off the rook so that I won’t fall for his possible trap.

My body hums with inexplicable energy, a type I’ve never had while playing chess, even with the most skilled players I’ve had the honor to face.

The strong emotions nearly burst at the seams with every passing second, and it terrifies the shit out of me.

I haven’t had such a visceral reaction since that doomed day. Only, now, it’s fundamentally different and confusingly exciting. In fact, this feeling is similar to when I gasped, recoiled, and rode his fingers to orgasm.

Or when he thrust in and out of my mouth and used me to reach his peak.

It’s an addicting frenzy that I want more of, but I’m also judging myself too hard for wanting this from psycho Landon.