My hand finds his chest. "Because I'm done being angry about one day at the bookshop. Anger doesn't move the king. Strategy does."
His breath catches. "What are you doing?"
"Using what I have." I look up at him. "You want this marriage to work. You want me compliant. You want our son to grow up in a stable home with parents who at least pretend to care about each other. That gives me leverage."
"Seraphina—"
"I'm not Gemma. I'm not going to sit at dinner tables and take whatever you give me and be grateful for scraps. I'm going to use every tool I have to get what I want." I press closer, and Adrian hisses slightly. "Your desire. Your guilt. Your need for me to play this role. One day at the bookshop becomes two. Two becomes three. Little by little, I'll move across the board."
"I think you are overestimating yourself."
His fingers slip inside of my underwear, and I close my eyes as I feel him press against my clit. My nipples strain against my bra, and I want his mouth on them.
"Not really." I kiss him. Deliberate. Strategic. In control. "So here's what's going to happen. I'm going to take what you're offering tonight. I'm going to remind you why giving me things makes your life easier. And tomorrow, I'm going to start negotiating for more."
He pulls me closer and places his nose against the pulse point in my throat. He bites the skin slightly, and I cry out as I clench. "You think you can manipulate me?"
"I think you want me to." I bite his lower lip gently. "Because it means I'm accepting this life. Learning to thrive in it. Becoming the partner you actually need instead of the captive you took."
He kisses me hard and presses me into the bed. I wrap my legs around him and lift my ass as he pulls down my underwear.
"You're playing a dangerous game," he warns against my mouth.
"So are you." I pull back enough to meet his eyes. "I guess we will see who wins."
He lays me back against the mattress, covering my body with his. "And what does the queen want?"
"Tonight?" I pull him down for another kiss. "She wants to remind the king why it's in his best interest to give her what she asks for."
His laugh is dark. Impressed. He doesn't warn me as he presses his cock into me, and I open my mouth in a silent scream. I'm wet, ready, and on edge.
It doesn't take much to come.
The sex is deliberate. Strategic. I initiate. I control the pace. I make sure he knows this is a transaction, but one I'm choosing.
Because I'm not powerless.
I'm a pawn learning to move across the board.
And when I reach the other side, I'll become a queen.
Later, when Adrian is asleep beside me, I stare at the ceiling and think about chess.
About Gemma, who doesn't understand the game yet.Who's fighting against the board instead of learning to move across it.
About Bianca, who started as a pawn and became the most powerful piece in the family.
About me, positioned next to the king, learning which squares to move to, which battles to fight, which compromises to accept.
One day at the bookshop isn't enough.
But it's a square forward.
And in chess, a pawn that reaches the other side of the board becomes a queen.
I'm playing the long game.
And Adrian doesn't even realize I've started.
