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fought the reaction hammering through him,
to center right at his loins. He narrowed his eyes.
    “You ever hear of mates?” His voice was
choked. Rough.
    “Check…mates?”
    “No. Real mates.”
    “Of course. Socks…have mates. Left.
Right.”
    “Not socks. People. Male to female. Female to
male. Or sometimes male to male. Female to female. Whatever. Those
kinds of mates.”
    “I’ve heard of it.”
    “You don’t believe in it, either?”
    “Maybe. Here. This was my move.” She lifted
the pawn she’d placed on 6c, blocking his bishop.
    “How about soul mates?” he asked.
    She blew a heavy breath that lifted stray
hairs on her forehead. Or his eyes and ears were deceiving him. Her
heart rate sped up another notch. Her voice warbled for the
slightest moment when she answered, too.
    “If…you’re playing the lead in a romance
play, I’ll believe it. Otherwise. No.”
    “You don’t believe there’s one being on this
planet fated to be with you, mated with you, melding with you? And
only you. Forever?”
    She gulped. He heard it. His entire body
reacted with a lurch toward her. He squelched it. And then she
answered with a nonchalance that triggered more reaction.
    “Nope. It’s illogical. And wasteful. Think
about it. If you have a right sock and a left goes missing in the
wash, then all you have to do is stick another left sock with it.
Simple solution. Right?”
    Dane growled. She jumped slightly and lifted
wide eyes to his. This wasn’t working. He needed to woo her, not
scare her. The table edge piece broke into his palm, but a knock on
one side of his double door covered it.
    “Yes?” He turned his head toward the portal.
It was Sven.
    “Beg pardon, Dane. You’re wanted.”
    “Handle it.”
    “Can’t. It’s Akron. Specifically for you.
Only you.”
    Dane pushed back from the table, taking the
piece of wood with him. Her question stopped him.
    “You’ll be back?”
    “Hell couldn’t prevent it,
Frja.
”
    “You want to make another move first? Or
leave me in suspense?”
    He leaned over, picked up a pawn, and moved
it forward one space. He didn’t care which one. It wasn’t
important.
    “That’s not a good move. I’m going to take
your bishop.”
    “Take it.”
    “With a pawn?”
    “What does it matter?”
    He met her eyes, trying to project everything
he felt with the one look. Her heartbeat got faster and louder, her
eyes larger and deeper, and then Sven cleared his throat. Dane was
at the door in two steps, and hoped she hadn’t watched.
    Akron had better have something important to
say. Damned important. More important than important. Dane shoved
the handle on the communication room down with such force the
chrome warped.
    “Ah. Dane. There you are. Finally.”
    The huge television in his cabin was
projecting a view of desk and the back of a laptop monitor. And a
lot of shadow. As usual. A chair was positioned before it. He
ignored it and glared at the screen.
    “What do you want?”
    “Interrupting something?”
    “Yeah. Chess.”
    “In that case, it’s obviously a rescue. I
have an assignment for you. Hand-picked.”
    “Just tell me the name’s Harper. That’s all I
need. Harper.”
    “Now…that’s. Just. Odd.” Every word was
broken into its own sentence, distinct and separate.
    “What?”
    “I’m surprised. I’m never surprised,
Dane…what is your last name this time? Monroe?”
    “Morgan.”
    “Ah yes. The Captain Morgan rum guy. It was
Monroe last time, wasn’t it? Hard to keep them straight.”
    “I change my name every fifty years so I can
reacquire all my properties. And get new IDs that pass inspection.
You know this. The firm handles all the transactions. Can you just
give me the guy’s name?”
    “You already called it. Harper.”
    Sweet!
    A feeling resembling adrenaline filled him.
Dane hadn’t felt this sort of elation since his very first battle.
It electrified and stunned, and lifted him two inches from the
floor before he conquered