Checkmate

He was too full of shameful fantasies. Old ones — Mercy pushing him down on the couch mid-game, easily silencing his teacher's protests, eagerly getting his way.

The flutter of some hope in Mercy's eyes suddenly turned to a new flavor of desperation.

"I don't want their respect," he said. "I only care what you think."

Rowan didn't say anything.

He couldn't. Honesty was dangerous.

"What do you think of me?" Mercy demanded. "What do you really think of me?"

* * *

Six years after his best student stormed out of his house, chess grandmaster Rowan Avery has been living with regret, and a secret.

When he encounters his old student, Mercy Collins, unexpectedly at a local tournament, Rowan is torn between the desire to make things right… and a fear of revealing the truth.

Checkmate is a contemporary MM short with a teacher-student relationship, age gap, and dubious consent (brief somno, alcohol).

All characters involved are 18+ years old.