A Game of Chess, Ch. 10 (PG-13)

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A Game of Chess, Ch. 10 (PG-13)

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Disclaimer: Come with me now to June, 1863, where the only thing in this story I don't own, is Josef...

A Game of Chess

Chapter 10

Somehow, the way his evening was shaping up, it shouldn’t have surprised Josef when a human in a flashy suit jostled him on the steps of Rose Thorne’s birdcage. The man was about 30, slender, and red-headed under the curly-brimmed bowler hat he was wearing, and he shot Josef a decidedly hostile glare from his bright blue eyes as they both recoiled from the inadvertent contact.

“I beg your pardon,” Josef said, in tones that made it clear he did not consider himself to be at fault.

The man raised a narrow hand to his pale, thin face, nudging the brim of his hat in response, but made no other acknowledgement before rushing away into the gloom.

Josef was still wondering what the man’s business had been at Rose Thorne’s establishment as he himself was admitted. Perhaps he’d had bad information about the nature of the place, Josef mused, and Quince had turned him away for being unable to show the required sign. No, he’d definitely heard the door open and close, and the man had not turned to come down the steps. He’d exited the house. Whoever he was. Josef wondered if he should’ve taken a closer scent of the human. Too late now.

“Mr. Fitz,” Quince smiled at him, a terrifying enough sight in its own right. “Madame Rose wishes you to attend her, if you would.”

“Interesting, considering this is a spur-of-the-moment visit.”

Quince’s teeth flashed very white in the dark skin of his face. “Standing order, Mr. Fitz. Madame Rose said, very particularly.”

“Well, then, I suppose you should take me to her.”

“Yes, sir. This way.” Quince led him not upstairs to Rose’s office, as he’d expected, but down a narrow hallway to the back of the ground floor. He gave a sharp rap on a closed door. “Ma’am? Mr. Fitzgerald is here.”

“Well, send him in, Quince,” came the muffled reply.

Quince took his hat and gloves, leaving Josef to turn the knob and walk in. He was not terribly surprised to find himself confronted with a large bathtub, filled with hot water, jasmine-scented bubbles, and a naked Rose Thorne. Her blonde hair was tied up carelessly with a black velvet ribbon, damp tendrils curling in the wet heat of the atmosphere. The creamy soapsuds covered her breasts more-or-less discreetly, and obscured the rest of her. The gold and white picture was very fetching, Josef had to admit.

“Fitz, I was beginning to think you had forsaken me,” Rose said, running a large bath sponge up the length of one slender arm.

“Never, Rose. And if I’d known the greeting I’d get, I’d have been here sooner.”

Rose stuck one leg up through the suds, and examined it critically before dropping it back into the water. “So, how are my little nestlings doing for you?”

“Oh, fine.” Josef found a spindly vanity chair to seat himself on, and took advantage of it. The view wasn’t quite as good, but he’d be damned if he was going to stand there like a schoolboy called on the carpet. “Ned’s a very engaging lad. Good flavor.”

“I thought he’d suit. And Tessa?”

“More of a challenge. I didn’t want to overtax them, so…here I am. But I find myself waylaid.”

“Yes, well. Can you hand me a towel, dear?” She indicated a folded length of cotton on a nearby table. “That one will do.”

Josef complied, watching with interest as she flipped the towel open and stood, wrapping it around herself dexterously and tucking the corner in over one breast. She held out a hand in a silent request for assistance in stepping from the tub.

He put his hand out for hers, and she gripped it, her flesh falsely warm from the heated water. Stepping carefully to the floor, she moved fluidly closer, smiling up at him and curling the fingers of one hand under the lapel of his black jacket.

“Thank you.”

Josef couldn’t help but be affected by her nearness, so much more natural than Coraline’s practiced dishabille. He smirked at Rose. “Are you trying to seduce me?”

She tilted her head to one side, eyes roguish. “I don’t know, Fitz. Do you need to be seduced?”

“It’s always flattering. And not out of the question. But I did stop in for a bite. And I’m assuming when you gave Quince standing orders about me, you weren’t anticipating receiving me in such an attractively—receptive—mode.”

Her fetching pout covered, almost, the shrewd expression in her eyes. “Well, it’s true we do need to exchange some information. But not so urgently we don’t have time for a little relaxation.”

“Is that what you call it?”

“Fitz, honey, you know after I got through with you, you’d definitely be relaxed.”

Josef didn’t even try to hide his amusement. “I have no doubt.”

“And if you like, I can have one of my girls come in—we could both have a bite. Or more. Together.”

“Tempting.” Or not. Josef remembered too well the first time he’d gone that route. His friend, Dmitri Vasilievich had spoken so highly of the double pleasure, he’d agreed, although he had misgivings. And he’d been right. The girl had ended up dead. He could still see Dmitri stroking the hair back from the corpse’s forehead, his touch oddly gentle, before looking up at his friend with a shrug and a careless smile. “They’re so fragile,” was Dmitri’s only comment.

Rose wet the tip of her forefinger in her mouth, and ran it lightly over her lower lip. “What do you say, Fitz? Feeling adventurous?”

Josef forced a laugh.”Sweetheart, that stopped being adventurous for me sometime before 1700.”

Her eyes round, Rose sucked in a breath. “Are you that old, Fitz?”

He caught his lower lip between his teeth and regarded her thoughtfully. “I don’t like to deal in specifics where age is concerned.

She nodded. “Knowledge is power.”

“Power is power.”

Rose turned and walked a few steps away, her hips swaying with open invitation. The look she sent back over her shoulder was frankly hungry. “You’re a very attractive man, Fitz.”

Josef felt no need to make modest demurrals. And he was beginning to feel that slight ache in his jaw that signaled arousal. Still, there was a nagging thought in the back of his mind that he was somehow or other being played for a fool, and he hated that on multiple levels. He was the player, not the game, and if anyone was going to be manipulated, it was this pretty blonde at whose entirely delectable backside he was currently staring.

“So, Fitz,” Rose asked, her hand reaching for the heavy silk cord of a bell pull, “shall I ring for drinks?”

“Best call for two. I’d as soon not have any human ears on hand when we exchange… information.”

“How very circumspect of you.” She paused, chewing on a corner of her mouth, the provocative tip of a dainty white fang showing. “Perhaps we should move to my office.”

“It would be more comfortable.”

Rose shook her head, and stepped behind a screen, tossing her towel over the top of it while she donned a robe. The brilliant blue silk with its vivid, extravagant floral embroidery seemed cheerfully at odds with the whole idea of her life as a vampire. Josef thought he liked her for that, for the trace of artlessness and humanity she had retained.

Although the way she prowled the corridor ahead of him was entirely the gait of a predator. She stopped at the door of the main parlor, listened for a second, then opened the door.

Six faces turned toward her, six pairs of eyes looked up with anticipation. Rose seemed to be taking inventory. Then she snapped her fingers. “Flora, Peggy, upstairs in my office. Now, girls.”

The chosen two, both pretty, rounded young women whose variance in coloring did not mask the identical looks of eagerness on their faces, rose with a flutter of skirts. Josef could hear their heartbeats tripping faster, could smell the changes in their bodies. Neither the one with olive skin and curly, mahogany hair, or the pale one with hair the color of warm caramel could disguise their pleasure at being picked to serve.

Josef sent Rose an amused glance. “You certainly don’t have any timid swallows here, do you?”

She smiled back at him. “I thought you might trust the selection to me, this evening.”

He looked at the two fresh, pretty faces crowding into the parlor doorway, and inclined his head slightly. “I’m sure you are the best judge of your stock.” He paused. “Perhaps I should let you take first choice?”

“But you are my guest, Fitz. The choice is yours, by right.” Rose gave each of the girls a brief caress, and Josef noted that the dark one, Peggy, particularly seemed to shudder with erotic delight at her mistress’ touch.

He slipped an arm around Flora’s waist. “I think I’ll have this one,” he said.

Rose smiled. “I expect you’ll find her satisfactory.”

Josef looked down at the girl beside him, the heavy coils of her light brown hair setting off a slender throat. “Is that what you are, sweetheart?” he asked. “Satisfactory?”

She blushed, looking away. “The other vampires say I’m delicious.”

“Well, we’ll see about that. I have a very discriminating palate, you know.”

Her laugh as the party mounted the stairs was a little breathless.

Josef had to admit, Rose had chosen well. Flora perched herself on his knee without a trace of hesitation or awkwardness, and took his wordless cue to stretch her neck gracefully. Her soft moan when his fangs penetrated her skin was sweetly done, as well, a moment of intimacy in the transaction. She might be acting, or not, he didn’t really care. But her blood was dark and fine in his mouth, and after all, that was what he wanted.

As he finished, he looked up to see Rose and Peggy, standing, bodies molded tightly in embrace. Rose’s kimono had fallen open, and the blue silk surrounded the vampire and her swallow like celestial, protective wings. With Flora nestled warmly against his chest, his arm holding her steady, he watched as Rose fed. Peggy’s fingers twined through Rose’s bright hair. Trying to disguise the avidity in his own eyes, Josef fought with the notion that every drop of the blood he’d just taken from the drowsy woman on his lap was rushing to his loins. He shifted Flora’s hips closer to his body, letting her thigh provide the sweet pressure that served as a poor substitute for the friction he craved. Peggy moaned and rolled her hips against Rose, the heavy scent of her desire perfuming the close, warm air of the room, the slight flicker of the dimmed gaslight giving the scene a texture of unreality.

Dropping his head again to Flora’s neck, he dragged his tongue once more over the small wounds he had left, seeking any lingering trace of her silken blood. At the contact, she stirred slightly in her stupor, arching against him almost unconsciously.

In front of him, Rose was controlling Peggy as she drank, moving the girl with skilled caresses. Josef tightened his grip on Flora yet again, rubbing the human against him. He kept enough control not to drink more from her, although his fangs were throbbing with need. But it was getting to be a near thing. The risen thirst twisted through him, combining with other hungers, a sweetly sensual torment.

Rose broke off her movements, her mouth leaving Peggy’s throat. She caught the girl’s chin in one hand and pulled her face around for a deep, lingering kiss, their mouths working together. When Rose turned a mischievous glance toward Josef, though, the spell shattered.

“Peggy, sweetheart,” Rose said, not looking at the swallow as she pulled the edges of her robe back together, “do help dear Flora back to her room.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Peggy replied, and Josef wondered that she had blood left to flush.

He kept his face still and calm as Peggy pulled Flora to her feet and the two swallows wove out of the room, arms around each other for support. “Should I applaud your performance, Rose?”

“Only if you found it worthy of your admiration,” she replied, matching his tone.

“I’ve rarely seen it done better,” Josef said. “So, brava, my dear.”

“Oh, Fitz, now you’re just being sarcastic.” Rose made a moue of false dismay. “And the girls try so hard to please you.”

“Who says I’m not pleased?”

Rose laughed, the sound forced and brittle. “If you were really pleased, we’d be continuing this conversation in my bed.”

“I’m certainly not denying that isn’t an enticing possibility.”

Sitting down beside him, she put a small white hand on his knee. “That’s very sweet of you to say, but if you had intentions, you’d have acted by now.”

He covered her cool hand with his own. “I’m not rebuffing you, Rose. I am wondering, however, if you have information you want to give me, why all the stage managing?”

She shrugged, face unreadable in the dim light. “I like you, Fitz. Always have. Maybe I just wanted to—take you for a spin around the park. No harm in that. No dreadful motives at work.”

Josef decided to take her words at face value. Or at least to give that impression. “You always were a sweet little swallow, Rose. I used to think of you from time to time.”

“Never thought you’d come back and find me so unchanged, did you?”

“I’ll admit, it was a surprise.”

Rose rearranged the folds of her blue kimono over her knees. “I tried to break away from the vamps, once, you know,” she said conversationally. “Even found myself a human man. Didn’t last, of course. Six months, and I was waiting until he drank himself insensible, and sneaking out to find a vampire. I told myself, it was because we needed the money, but truth be told, I just couldn’t get used to humans. Of course, they serve a different purpose for me, now, but then….well. I’m sure you can understand.”

“It’s…a little outside my experience.”

She let a smile light her features, and moved closer, laying a hand on his chest. He could feel the faint slide and rustle of her silk sleeve over the light wool of his suit. He relaxed, enjoying the sensations his body was sending. The repletion of feeding, the anticipation of entering a willing woman. He wasn’t going to do it, he knew, wasn’t going to give her the quid for her pro quo. That wouldn’t be wise. But indulging the thought that he could, that was pleasing in itself. The coiling tension was its own pleasure. He’d learned that over a century ago.

When Rose started to slip her hand inside his jacket, he stopped her with a quelling grip on her wrist. “Not tonight, Rose,” he said. “But let’s talk.”

She sighed. “If we must.”

“No more games. What’s going on?”

“I suppose I should appreciate the fact that you take me seriously.”

“It’s part of my charm, isn’t it?” Josef gave her a smirk without much mirth behind it. “Now, do go on.”

Rose took a deep breath. “You’re Night Wind Trading, right?”

“Interesting way of putting it, but yes, I am.”

“Word is, your man Madigan has picked up some allies. That the Eagle Boys are supplying eyes and muscle for you.”

“So far, your information is not news to me.”

“You trust this Madigan?”

“His loyalty to my interests is…absolute.”

Rose shook her head. “Fitz, I don’t believe you.”

“Suit yourself.”

“And he’s picked you a treacherous ally. Sullivan—”

“Sullivan will stay faithful to whoever pays him the most. Which will be Night Wind.” Josef rolled his head as if easing his neck. “Besides, I’m paying him to take on the Blood Hand. He’d probably give me a bargain for it. Enemy of my enemy and all that.”

“Why not just pay off the Blood Hand? Avoid the violence?” Rose settled back, all business now.

“You think I didn’t try? That son of a bitch gang leader…”

“Fitz. Maybe you just didn’t have the right go-between.”

Josef narrowed his eyes at her. “Why are you so interested in this, Rose?”

Her smile would have done credit to the Mona Lisa, Josef thought. “Maybe I have a personal stake,” she murmured.

Josef was suddenly struck with an image of the man who’d bumped into him, coming out of Madame Thorne’s house. As he looked into Rose’s bright blue eyes, he thought he knew now what business a human had at the birdcage.

“I like to think,” Rose continued, “that whatever else he may be, Patrick Thornton is not a son of a bitch.”
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Re: A Game of Chess, Ch. 10 (PG-13)

Post by eris »

Okay. I love the last line. I admit it.
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Re: A Game of Chess, Ch. 10 (PG-13)

Post by darkstarrising »

Ah, the plot thickens. Rose has an agenda, as Josef can sense, but he doesn't quite understand it all....yet. But Rose gives him the final clue as she refutes his description of the Blood Hand gang leader and now he understands her personal stake in avoiding violence.

Josef may think he has all the bases covered and is in control of the situation, but Rose has just given him something to think about, something that may complicate his plans.

Love the multi-layers of this tale, Lucky. The way you're setting up the sub-plots makes me anxious to see how you weave them all together in the end. :rose:
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Re: A Game of Chess, Ch. 10 (PG-13)

Post by one.zebra »

Yes, the plot thickens beautifully....

I envy intrigue.....I am too straightforward a person to pull it off though...

Thank you for another delicious update..

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Re: A Game of Chess, Ch. 10 (PG-13)

Post by francis »

This is such an intriguing tale. Josef is staying in control all the time, while Rose tries to play her tricks.
She nodded. “Knowledge is power.”

“Power is power.”
I adore that line.
The repletion of feeding, the anticipation of entering a willing woman. He wasn’t going to do it, he knew, wasn’t going to give her the quid for her pro quo. That wouldn’t be wise. But indulging the thought that he could, that was pleasing in itself. The coiling tension was its own pleasure. He’d learned that over a century ago.
This will come in handy when he meets Lucky some century later.
I love how the tension is getting stronger and still Josef is getting clearer and clearer about what he wants.
“I like to think,” Rose continued, “that whatever else he may be, Patrick Thornton is not a son of a bitch.”
:bulb:
Oh, I love how you don't give it away and yet the reader will get it with a little bit of thinking. I love that you don't underestimate your readers. Can't wait to read more. :reading:
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Re: A Game of Chess, Ch. 10 (PG-13)

Post by mitzie »

I am really loving this story!! Your writing always mesmerizes me. I love the description of Josef's feelings in this chapter. The hunger and lust that he is so careful to control. His instincts are always his best guide. You always write Josef so well!!! :notworthy: I love this story and look forward to the next chapter... :yahoo: :yahoo: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :hyper2: :woohoo: :gasp: :devil: :jester: :stir: :juggle: :yahoo: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :thud: :thud: :thud: :thud: :notworthy: :hearts: :flowers:


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Re: A Game of Chess, Ch. 10 (PG-13)

Post by tucutecats »

`Oh how exciting a new chapter . :cheer: it's sp fun peeking into his background. as always thank you thank you
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Re: A Game of Chess, Ch. 10 (PG-13)

Post by librarian_7 »

Thanks, all, for the lovely comments. I know this is a really complex story, and it's really a challenge trying to weave the various subplots and so on together.

Yes, DSR, I'm sort of wondering myself how some of this is going to work out. Not to say that I don't have a plan, but you know how it is, writing multi-chapters!

francis, thank you so much...I actually did debate a bit about that, and decided, no, my readers are pretty astute...they'll figure it out! There's always a fine line to walk between being clear enough, and being too obvious. So it's good to hear I'm falling on the right side of the line!

The good news is, the next chapter will be appearing fairly soon.

Lucky
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Re: A Game of Chess, Ch. 10 (PG-13)

Post by cassysj »

Wonderful! Power is power is my favorite line. There are so many layers to this story I always look forward to a new chapter and am never quite sure who will turn up.

I'm really enjoying this story.
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Re: A Game of Chess, Ch. 10 (PG-13)

Post by librarian_7 »

Thanks, cassy! :snicker: With this many characters, I have to stop myself sometimes, and say, "now...who do we need to catch up with next?"

Lucky
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Re: A Game of Chess, Ch. 10 (PG-13)

Post by moonlight_vixen »

What an amazing chapter!!!!! This is probably my favorite one so far. The building intrigue is completely addictive :thumbs:
“Power is power.”
“I like to think,” Rose continued, “that whatever else he may be, Patrick Thornton is not a son of a bitch.”
I love these lines!
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Re: A Game of Chess, Ch. 10 (PG-13)

Post by RangerCM »

Very, very nice. I just love they way I'm so easily able to slip right into the story even when it's been some time since the last chapter. Just a couple of sentences, and I'm "There" and totally wrapped up into your world. :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:
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Re: A Game of Chess, Ch. 10 (PG-13)

Post by librarian_7 »

Thanks, Ranger! And I know it's been awhile, but there should be a new chapter, soon.

Promise.

Lucky
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Re: A Game of Chess, Ch. 10 (PG-13)

Post by allegrita »

Lucky, I somehow let this one fall between the cracks! But what a great treat for me, to be able to read a new chapter from you... at least new to me.

Josef's control in this chapter is a pleasure to behold. My favorite phrase in this whole chapter is this:
He was the player, not the game
...because that's exactly how I see Josef. He is not a man who enjoys letting someone else take the reins. That's why he was so annoyed in B.C., when Lola stole the money from him. He was mad about the money, but he was furious that he'd been played.

In this story, he's got so many balls in the air, he knows he can't let himself relax for even a moment. There's too much at stake, on so many levels. And by the end of the chapter, he's acquired a new and very important piece of data... and it's going to change the scope of the game considerably.

Beautifully done, my friend. I love this story more and more...
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Re: A Game of Chess, Ch. 10 (PG-13)

Post by Penina Spinka »

It has taken me too long to get to this. A very involving chapter on many levels. You do Josef so well. I wonder what you have cooked up to serve to us next.
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