Poker Night Read online

She sat across from him. Her feet were bare and he’d managed to win her slender gold wristwatch. Oh, how she enjoyed watching him crow over his little moments of triumph. If only he knew. He seemed fascinated by her thin gold ankle bracelet.

  With unconscious grace, she removed the band from her hair, shaking out the long, coppery tresses. She gave him an appraising look, with her clear, intelligent, grey-blue eyes.

  “So that’s a freebie, then?”

  She smiled her Mona Lisa smile.

  “Why sure, baby.”

  “Thank you for your kindness to a stranger.”

  She just smiled.

  Austin was a goner.

  “Well, stranger. You don’t seem to have too much more to lose.”

  Austin looked down at his underwear and then at Bethany sitting there cool and calm as an iceberg, her high breasts poking at the cloth of her blouse. She didn’t much look like a librarian.

  Not anymore.

  It was better to say nothing, not a thing. He chewed his lip.

  She showed no discomfort at sitting in a room alone with a man who was virtually naked. He was the one that was scared. He was afraid to ruin it. She stubbed out the smoke and lit another.

  She had a sip of wine. They sat examining each other.

  She had dealt the cards and he discarded when necessary. She apparently did the same. But she was really good. She was cheating on Austin somehow. That was all right with him. Poker wasn’t so hard when you didn’t have to ante up cold hard cash and if you weren’t too interested in winning. In this game there was no way to lose. It took him a few hands, but he’d figured it out. He started discarding high cards, anything he had a pair of…he reversed the usual system.

  He had her right where he wanted her. The thought brought a sudden grin.

  “What?”

  He shook his head.

  “It’s nothing…really.”

  “You bastard.” Her jaw dropped open and she stared in astonishment, but there was something a little too theatrical about it…

  He sat there in his underwear and smiled at the girl across the blanket, straightening up his posture a bit, flexing his hips and buttocks, and getting comfortable.

  She gave a sharp nod.

  “Right!”

  He grinned.

  “Go, on, silly. It’s your bet.” Come on, Austin.

  Austin nodded.

  “I don’t have much to bet with. How about a kiss for a kiss?”

  “No fair! That way you can’t lose.”

  He appeared to think, stalling a bit now, but he had an idea.

  “One of my kisses for an ear nibble. Or your panties. What’s it going to be?”

  She nodded and spread her cards as his heart pounded.

  They hadn’t exactly clarified that…

  Sure enough, she’d won again. Austin showed his cards, a handful of the dregs. Playing it cautiously, he crawled over on his hands and knees to give the lady an ear nibble, which involved licking and tonguing it as well. She clawed his ass through the underwear and then up higher on his back and shoulders. She pulled him close and kissed him thoroughly, whispering his name and gazing deep into his dark eyes, her breath hot in his face. Then she pushed him off. She lay gazing up at him.

  “What about the panties?”

  “Hah!”

  He cocked his head sideways and she gave a gentle snort.

  “Aw, what the hell.”

  She laid back and raised her bum. She watched Austin as he lifted the skirt and carefully peeled them down.

  The aroma coming from down there was total revelation and the reality of what was happening really began to sink in…he’d never even seen one, not up close before. Not for real.

  It wasn’t the proper time to say it. But he really was kind of in love with Bethany. They’d only met three weeks ago. He took the panties, flinging them aside without a glance. He picked up the cards, staring as she took up a comfortable pose, brushed her skirt down and waited for him to deal.

  “You men think you’re so smart.” She watched his hands as he shuffled and dealt, much more professionally now.

  Interesting. He seemed so clumsy at first.

  “Now I know better, Bethany. By the way, I think I might be falling in love with you.”

  He meant it. He wasn’t lying. She knew it instantly.

  He nodded, uttered a deep sigh and shrugged philosophically. He seemed sort of vulnerable at that moment.

  They both knew what the stakes were.

  Their eyes were riveted on one another as Austin dealt out the cards swiftly and surely, never taking his eyes from her face.

  She found herself blushing, needing air all of a sudden. Her heart thudded. This was good. Really good. It almost scared her. This was perfect.

  He put the deck in the middle and glanced at her glass.

  “More wine, old girl? Heh-heh-heh.”

  “That sounded very much like an evil chuckle.” With a curl of her lip, she blew a stray wisp of hair out her eyes.

  Giving Austin a long look, Bethany picked up her cards and prepared to lose a few hands.

  Cigarette smoke curled up unheeded until Austin reached over. He took a puff and then decisively crushed it out. He raised a glass in toast. She reached for her own glass.

  She was right about Austin.

  This was going to be an interesting night.

  End

  About the Author

  Constance ‘Dusty’ Miller has written fiction, non-fiction and worked for newspapers and magazines, even working for a brief stint as sports editor of a small-town weekly. She likes to make people laugh as well as think. Her erotica has strong qualities of literary romance. Out of work and recovering from a life-threatening illness, someone suggested writing erotica which she initially rejected for lack of confidence. But love makes the world go around, and Dusty can no longer deny its pull. Dusty squeezes a little writing in between raising a daughter and building up her business.

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