She arched a brow. "You do? It's a decor item I thought would fit the theme of the room."
"It does. And now we're going to play."
"We are? How fun. I used to love to play checkers. Though I haven't played in years."
He set his wineglass down on the end table. "But this is my own special form of the game. I like to call it Naked Checkers."
She laughed. "Naked Checkers?"
"Yes. Every time one of us jumps the other's checker, the loser has to remove something they're wearing."
Her lips curved in that sexy smile that never failed to make his dick twitch.
"Oh, I see. So basically it's strip checkers."
"Sort of. But with a twist."
"A twist?"
"Yes. After the article is removed, the other player gets to kiss, lick or suck any body part of their partner's they want to."
Harmony gave him a hot smile. "Ooh. This game just got interesting, Mr. Cassidy."
"I thought you might think so, Miss Evans. Are you ready?"
"Bring it. And hold on to your boxer briefs, because I'm about to strip you down."
"You'd like to think that, but I'm very competitive, Harmony. And I want to get you naked and lick you all over."
She lowered her chin, her eyes dark with promise and desire. "I'm not sure if the object of this game is to win or to lose."
He laughed. "I guess we'll find out, won't we?"
She nodded. "Let's do this."
They started the game, each of them strategic in their movements. But he captured her checker first.
"Okay, Harmony. You're up."
"So I am." She stood, and removed her silver bracelet, laying it on the end table.
He frowned. "I call foul on that."
She shrugged. "You only indicated I had to remove something I was wearing."
He sighed. "Okay, if that's how you wanna play it."
He got up, went over to her and grasped her shoulders. He pulled her close and licked her neck.
She moaned, and he went back to his side of the sofa.
She looked at him and said, "But it gave me goose bumps."
"Sorry. Part of the game."
"I'm not sure I like this game."
He grinned and they continued the game. He jumped another of her checkers, so she took off an earring.
"You're going to make me wish I wore jewelry."
She laughed. He leaned over and kissed her, a long, lingering kiss that made him want to pull her onto his lap and explore her with his hands. But those weren't the rules, so he had to pull back.
"Dammit, Barrett," she said, licking her lips.
Their moves continued, and she jumped one of his checkers. He took off a shoe, wriggling his toes at her.
She waggled her brows at him. "Incredibly sexy, Barrett."
"Just tempting you."
"Speaking of temptation." She got up and came over, sat on his lap and whispered in his ear. "You're driving me crazy."
Then she licked the shell of his ear. Chill bumps broke out on his skin and his cock rose up hard and fast.
Before he could grasp her, she'd moved off his lap and back to her spot on the sofa.
"Who made up this stupid game?" he asked.
She smirked. "You did."
The game wore on and Harmony lost her other earring, and both shoes.
He'd kissed her feet and licked her ear as well, figuring payback was good.
She frowned when he went back to his side of the sofa. "This is the worst game ever."
But he read the desire in her eyes, and his cock was painfully hard.
"At least you didn't wear a necklace tonight," he said. "Now you're out of jewelry and shoes."
"Yes. Whatever will I do next? Providing, of course, that I actually lose any more checkers."
"Oh, you will."
Except he lost the next two, which meant his other shoe, and his shirt.
"Shame you didn't wear socks tonight," she said. "Or jewelry of any kind."
"Yeah, I'm not a jewelry kind of guy."
She reached out and raked her nails lightly down his bare chest. "I'm fine with that. And you're running out of clothes."
When he'd lost his shoe, she'd kissed him, a long, passionate kiss that made his balls ache. After his shirt, she licked and sucked his nipple, making his cock feel like it was going to explode.
He was fast running out of patience when one of his checkers made it to the opposite side of the board.
"Crown me," he said with a wide grin. "And then take something off."
She did, and then she stood, sliding her hands under her dress and pulling the sexiest underwear he'd ever seen down her legs. It was black and sheer and barely a scrap of material and oh, fuck, he was going to come just looking at her take off her panties.
She dangled them in her fingers before dropping them on the table.
"Oh, fuck this game," he said, then dropped to his knees in front of her, lifted her dress and put his mouth on her pussy. He licked and sucked and breathed in her sweet, tart honey flavor like a man starving. He couldn't get enough of her.
"Oh, God, Barrett, yes," she said, resting her hand on his head. "Make me come. Make me scream."
There was nothing that got him off more than having his face buried in Harmony's sweet pussy, feeling her writhe and listening to her moan. She tasted like salty honey and his cock was so hard he wanted to take it out of his pants and stroke it while he licked her. He ached to be inside of her, where he always wanted to be. But right now, he wanted to make her come, wanted her out of her mind with an orgasm.
He slid a finger inside of her, then two, feeling her pussy squeeze around his fingers as she bucked against him.
"Dammit, Barrett. That's going to make me come."
He lifted his gaze to hers, to see her looking down at him. She had her dress bunched in her hands to hold it up so she could watch. Damn if that wasn't the hottest thing ever.
He wrapped one hand around her ass to bring her closer to his mouth, used the other to pump into her as he sucked her clit.
"Oh yes. Suck my clit. Make me come."
With a loud cry, she burst, coming all over his face. He licked her up, giving her what she cried out for as she bucked against him. Her pussy continued to spasm against his fingers. He needed to feel that on his cock.
He sent the checkerboard and all its pieces flying onto the area rug under the coffee table. He laid her down on the coffee table and unzipped his pants, pulling out his cock.
He leaned over her.
"Suck me. I need your mouth on my cock."
She grasped his shaft and opened her mouth. He fed her his cock, nearly dying at the feel of her hot mouth surrounding him. Just watching the slide of his shaft in between her sweetly painted lips was enough to make him want to jettison come all over her tongue. But he held back, because he wanted to be between her legs, spurting come into her pussy when he came.
Reluctantly he pulled his cock from between her lips, shuddering as he watched his hot, wet dick release from her mouth. He grabbed a condom, put it on, then picked Harmony up from the table. With her in his arms, he sat on the sofa, letting her straddle him.
"Now fuck us both and make us come."
Her eyes glittering with passion, she held his gaze, grasped his shoulders, then lifted her dress off and tossed it onto the sofa.
Her barely there black bra matched those sexy panties that had set him off earlier. He could see her nipples through the sheer fabric and he reached up, teasing each bud through the material of her bra.
She gasped, then hissed. "Yes. More."
He undid the front clasp of her bra and she shrugged it off, giving him access to her nipples. He pulled her forward and sucked one into his mouth. He needed to touch her, to taste her, to feel her, and as she slid down over his cock, he sucked her nipple harder, breathing in the whimpering sound she made as she began to rock.
She held him against her breast as she moved ba
ck and forth, then lifted up and down, torturing his cock in ways that made his balls tighten.
When she finally pulled back and popped her nipple out of his mouth, he'd never seen a woman look more beautiful. The deep dark bronze of her skin glowed in the overhead light. He wanted to lick every part of her, to touch every inch of her. She never looked away, always at him, and his cock swelled at the raw, sexual honesty in her eyes.
This was his woman, from her glorious black hair to her perfectly painted pink toenails. And no one would ever threaten that.
He lifted his hips and rubbed her clit. She dug her nails into his shoulders and cried out with her climax. He felt his own tunneling through every nerve ending and he let it loose, a wild spurt that seemed never ending as he poured everything he had into her. He grasped her hips and held on, rocking into her over and over again until he was emptied.
When he caught his breath, he picked her up and carried her into the downstairs bathroom. They cleaned up and got dressed, then he went into the living room to pick up the pieces of the checkerboard he'd tossed onto the floor.
Harmony kneeled on the floor to hand him a few checkers, her shoulder brushing his.
"Fun game," she said with a wry grin.
He kissed her. "I enjoyed it. Especially since I won."
She leaned back on her heels. "In what universe did you win that game?"
"It was obvious."
"I think not. You ended the game prematurely." She righted the game, then refilled their wineglasses. "Now we start over--regular checkers this time."
He took a long swallow of wine, then leaned over the board. "Sure, if you feel like losing again."
She slanted a glare at him. "Barrett, I'm going to kick your ass."
He laughed. "Game on."
Thirty-Four
Barrett had put off that important conversation with Drake all week.
He couldn't put it off any longer.
They were at Mama Diane's house tonight for dinner. Tomorrow they'd leave for the road game against Dallas.
It was a light crowd tonight. Just Drake, him, Harmony and her friend Alyssa, and a couple of the guys from the team. Mama Diane's sisters weren't here, and neither were a few of her friends who usually showed up.
It would be a good night to talk to Drake. They'd had awesome practices all week. Drake was confident about the team and in a really great mood.
Barrett figured now was the time. He was in love with Harmony and he needed to tell Drake so his relationship with the woman he loved could be out in the open.
Hell, he needed to have that all important conversation with Harmony. He hadn't yet told her how he felt about her.
But first he had to get things straight with Drake.
He pulled Drake away from the crowd of other players. "Hey, Drake. I need to talk to you."
"Sure."
"Let's grab a couple of beers and step outside."
Barrett caught the concern on Harmony's face as he and Drake headed for the door, but he hoped Harmony didn't interfere. This was between Drake and him.
"What's up?" Drake asked, as he sat in the patio chair.
Barrett cradled his beer in his hands, trying to hide his nervousness. It was like asking permission to date a man's daughter. In a lot of ways, that was the case. Since Harmony didn't have a father, Drake was the closest thing to that, and had been since the two of them were kids.
"It's about Harmony."
"What about her?"
The words hung, and he didn't exactly know how to say them. "I've been seeing her."
Drake frowned. "What do you mean, you've been seeing her?"
"She and I . . . We've been seeing each other for a while now."
Drake laid his beer on the patio table. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"I'm in love with your sister, buddy."
"I don't understand. You're sleeping with Harmony?"
He'd blown right past the part where he'd admitted he was in love with her. And the tone of Drake's voice spelled trouble. Barrett stood. "It's not like that, man."
"Then you tell me what it is like. You tell me you've been seeing her. How long?"
"A couple of months."
He saw the anger tighten Drake's features. "A couple of months? And you didn't tell me about it? Why not?"
Drake's voice was getting louder, and Barrett knew his best friend well enough to read the escalation in it. "Because of the way you're acting pissed off about it right now."
"I'm pissed off about it because you didn't have the decency to tell me you wanted to date my sister when it first started. I thought we respected each other. What did you do? Start screwing her and decide if it didn't work out, no harm no foul? I didn't need to know?"
Shit. He reached out for his friend. "Drake. It's not like that."
Drake slapped his hand away. "Fuck you. It's exactly like that. I can't believe you. I thought we were friends."
Barrett mentally counted to ten. His friendship with Drake was important, and he didn't want to get into a fight with him, but Drake wasn't seeing things clearly.
"This is between Harmony and me. It always was. We wanted to keep it between us at the beginning. I'm sorry that hurts you. That's not what I intended."
"No, I know exactly what you intended. You intended to screw her, then screw over our friendship by not telling me you were seeing my sister. Hell, you didn't even ask me what I thought about it. What the hell, man?"
Barrett threaded his fingers through his hair. "It really was between Harmony and me. I'm telling you now."
"You're telling me too late."
Now Barrett was angry, and he knew it was the wrong thing, but goddammit, he didn't need to ask Drake's permission to date Harmony.
He stood. "Look. I know you're pissed, and you have a right to be because I should have talked to you about Harmony when things first started up between us. But I didn't need to ask your permission to see her."
He started to approach, and Drake shoved him.
And that was enough. Barrett shoved back.
He was trying so damn hard to keep his cool. "Come on, man. We don't need to get into this."
Drake had a fistful of his shirt in his hands. "Fuck you, Barrett. You know what? I trusted you, and I don't trust a lot of people. Damn you for violating that."
"You can fucking let go of me now."
The door flew open and everyone spilled out, from his teammates to Mama Diane to the last person he wanted out here--Harmony.
"Drake," Harmony said. "What the hell is wrong with you? Let him go."
Drake sent a scathing look to Harmony. "Stay out of this."
Their teammates got in the middle of them and pulled them apart.
"It's okay," Barrett said to them. "It's okay. We're okay."
"Leave me the hell alone," Drake said to the other guys.
But Harmony didn't leave him alone. She shoved at Drake's chest. "Are you out of your mind?"
"What is wrong with you, Drake?" Mama Diane asked. "Barrett is your best friend."
"Is he? Ask him what he did to Harmony."
Mama looked over at Barrett, then to Harmony. "What is he talking about?"
"Could we please not do this in front of . . . everyone?" Harmony asked.
"All of you, go inside," Mama Diane said, shooing them with her hands. "This is family business."
After she cleared the patio, she stood between Barrett and Drake. "Now, talk."
"He's screwing Harmony," Drake said.
Harmony rolled her eyes. "It's not like that, Mama."
"It's exactly like that," Drake said. "And it's been going on for months."
"I told you that's not how it is, Drake." God, this had been such a bad idea. He should have gone to Drake's house to have this discussion. They might have gotten into a brawl, but at least Harmony wouldn't be embarrassed. "What happened between Harmony and me shouldn't have been your business in the first place. I didn't need your permission to do anything w
ith her."
Drake lunged for him, but Harmony stood between them. "This is ridiculous. It's not the Dark Ages. I do not need you to come between me and any man."
"He's not the right one for you," Drake said.
"Drake," Mama Diane said, her voice low and warning. "Mind your words."
"Really," Barrett said, deciding he'd had just about enough. "And what makes you think that?"
"Because any man who would screw his best friend's little sister has no honor. And she's just as bad as you."
And just about became more than enough. He moved around Harmony and went for Drake, pushing him against the wall and pinning him with sheer force of will and strength. "Do not ever fucking talk about Harmony that way again."
Drake threw a punch, connecting with Barrett's shoulder. He felt the shock of pain, and retaliated with a punch of his own to Drake's head. Drake shoved him hard and he fell, and suddenly Drake was on top of him.
He didn't hear anyone else. It was only him and Drake rolling around on the ground together, shoving each other but not getting any more punches in, since they both had death grips on each other.
He finally heard Mama Diane yelling, and suddenly their teammates were on them, pulling them apart.
The first thing he saw when he was pulled up off the ground was Harmony, tears streaming down her face. Her friend Alyssa had her arms wrapped around her.
Barrett pulled free of his teammates, but it wasn't Drake he wanted to go to. It was Harmony.
"Harmony," he said, but she took a step back.
Drake went toward her as well. "Hey, baby sis. Don't cry. This asshole isn't worth it."
She held up both hands and shook her head.
"Stop. I'm sick to death of both of you." She looked at Drake. "If you weren't so obsessively overprotective, Barrett and I wouldn't have had to hide our relationship this entire time and none of this would be happening."
Then she turned her attention on Barrett. "And if you weren't so afraid of ending your friendship with Drake, you might have actually had the balls to face him and tell him we were seeing each other.
"I don't even want to look at either of you right now."
She turned and went inside. Barrett saw her grab her purse, then she and Alyssa left.
Mama Diane turned to Drake. "For God's sake, Drake. What is wrong with you? Your sister is a grown woman more than capable of running her own life. You need to let it go. It's time to let her go. I'm ashamed of your behavior toward your sister and your best friend."
Then she turned to Barrett. "Harmony's right, you know. This is not the way someone who claims to care about my daughter should act. I know you love my son. No one has been a better friend to him than you have. But this."