The Gamble: A Novel

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The Gamble: A Novel Page 16

by Xavier Neal


  “Yeah, but that's like a Warren style sport.”

  “You mean a dork sport?”

  “I meant a brain sport.”

  “Same shit.”

  With a roll of the eyes, I say, “Fine. Let's say it is. That still makes it a sport not for you.”

  Luca shrugs. “Just because I don't like a sport doesn't mean I'm fucking bad at it.”

  “Why else wouldn't you like it?”

  “Because I prefer team sports. Not single man.”

  “Why? Isn't a sport a sport?”

  “That's like saying isn't a book just a book.”

  Hold on now...

  Luca hesitates before he continues, “Being on a team is like being a part of a huge family. Your teammates are your brothers, the coach like your father or your mother, and all the hot slutty cheerleaders the daughters of your father's best friend who you can bone guilt free.”

  His last line causes me to shake my head.

  “I was raised an only child. Getting to be a part of a unit, a part of something that requires more than one asshole to function, is something I've always enjoyed. Without siblings, sometimes shit would get lonely, but as long as I had a team, I had a family. I had somewhere I belonged. I had somewhere that wanted me. And the better player I became…”

  “The more you felt wanted.”

  “Exactly.” He clears his throat clearly uncomfortable by the subject we rarely discuss. “And when you have a father who can't stop working long enough to see your first t-ball game or see you enter the state champion hall of fame as a Freshman, the word want and need become interchangeable.”

  The unexpected openness about his past, something he's always kept guarded under pads and helmet, persuades me to push him a little more. “When you got injured...was he there then?”

  “Nope. When I tore my ACL he was in Vegas with a client celebrating his divorce settlement. When I fractured my tibia, he was on a cruise ship half way around the world wooing some old woman who was about to go through her fifth divorce.”

  “Okay Elizabeth Taylor.”

  Luca smirks.

  Softly I question, “But you weren't even out of high school when all that happened...he didn't think maybe...I don't know, maybe you might need his help to get through all that?”

  His face hardens. “I didn't.”

  How long until I strike out and he shuts back down? Two? Three minutes?

  “Ma' was there. My ma's always been there. She's always done the best she could.”

  Someday I hope he lets me actually meet her.

  “Anyway, it was after I realized my chance at the pros was ruined and I learned just how quickly a team can turn on you when they don't need you anymore that I found another sport I could excel at.”

  On a heavy sigh, I shake my head. “Fucking is not a sport, Luca.”

  He cocks a wide grin. “It is the way I do it.”

  Not as flattering as he thinks.

  “So you weren't a man whore before your injury?”

  Luca shakes his head profusely. “Nope. I mean, I liked getting my dick touched as much as the next guy, but my focus was always on the game. Whatever sport. Whatever season. Everything else....came second. Sex became like rehab at first. Helped me forget the future I lost. Helped me forget about the so called teammates who left me out to fucking dry.” Suddenly there's a flash in his eyes as if it's just registering how deep into his head he's let me in. Without warning, he locks himself back up, and says, “And just for the record, I've beat Warren at chess. Three times.”

  It was good to see behind the face mask while it lasted...

  “Doesn't surprise me.” I shut my lap top. “His brother's like a regional champ or some shit.”

  “Really?” Luca looks surprised. “Even his brother is a better competitor than he is?”

  “Warren's just not that kind of guy. He's not good at competing.”

  He mumbles something I don't catch under his breath.

  Did you?

  “Anyway.” My head nods the direction of his computer screen. “What's got you so pissy?”

  “Trying to present the numbers in a favorable manner,” he replies and closes his laptop. “Child care and child sports, both have high profit margins, but high risk factors. If I simply put them in columns side by side, the eyes naturally draw themselves to the larger numbers despite what the information is actually saying. I need to figure out a better way to manipulate the mind into seeing what it is I'm actually trying to present.”

  “Basically, you have to seduce them into believing what you want?”

  “Pretty much.”

  I replace the computer in his lap with my body. “Last time I checked you were really fucking good at seducing people, so I think you'll get it figured out.”

  Luca wets his lips as his hands snake around to grip my ass. “Bout to seduce you right out of those panties...”

  Leaning my face down to his I whisper, “Not wearing any.”

  A hungry groan grumbles in his throat. “Fuck work. I've got something else that needs my fingers.”

  With just a breath between us I add, “Or maybe your tongue...we haven't tried that yet.”

  Heat soars through his expression and he yanks our mouths together by a tug of my shirt. As soon as our tongues touch, his dominates mine, capturing it before it can escape again, and punishing it for ever leaving in the first place. My hands tangle in the back of his thick hair. Luca's grip on my ass tightens. The moment his hands slips under my yoga shorts, it elicits a whimper from me.

  His mouth drops to growl, “What did I tell you about making that sound, baby?”

  Grinding against him, I lazily drag the tip of my tongue up the side of his neck, every tremor being absorbed by my anxious and willing pussy. “Do it more?”

  Luca's finger starts to glide it's way home when the door flies open. “Alexxa do you wanna-” She huffs. “Oh. He's still here.”

  Did I mention it's one thing when your best friends don't get along, but an entire other when your best friend hates your boyfriend. Wow. Still feels weird to say that word.

  His hands slide out of my shorts to rest on my hips. He leans around me to say, “Hey to you too, Marie.”

  She folds her arms firmly across her chest. “Surprised you've made it this long. Figured you would've cheated on her by now.”

  Don't agree with her because I clearly can't agree with her. But come on now. Pretty sure the only other two things he's ever been this faithful to are sports and his commitment to working with kids. Not exactly a huge selling point, I know. I know. But you've seen his cock. That is.

  Climbing out of his lap, I hide my snicker at the same time he says, “Glad to have your vote of support.”

  “I wouldn't support you if you had the goddamn cure for cancer.”

  “What's up, Marie?” I interrupt the building feud. “What'd you need?”

  She glares at him and then moves her attention to me. “Grant and I were just about to go looking at furniture. Figured you might wanna join us and grab some new stuff for your condo.”

  “It comes fully furnished.”

  “Damn. That's right,” she sighs.

  “Wait, your condo?” Luca questions. “What condo? When'd you get a condo?”

  “Oh, she kept something from you? Guess you're not as close as you think you are.”

  He flashes her his middle finger.

  She returns the gesture.

  “No thank you,” I speak loudly over the two of them. “But I appreciate you asking.”

  “Enjoy bullying your boyfriend into domestication,” Luca says in a fake cheerful tone.

  “Enjoy corrupting the woman you don't deserve,” she snaps before shutting the door behind her.

  His eyes move back to mine. “She's always going to hate me, isn't she?”

  “It doesn't help that when you first met, you slept with and never called the woman who became her boss two weeks later.”

  Luca and I ha
dn't been friends for very long at that point. I was still learning he would screw anything with a good pair of legs. I invited him along to have someone to talk to since I knew Marie would be busy trying to make a good impression. Kinda backfired.

  Luca grunts, “How was I supposed to know who she was?”

  With a sarcastic head tilt, I question, “Did you ask?”

  “I asked how hard she wanted it. You know, the important questions,” he rambles off. I roll my eyes at the same time he rolls his body over to cover mine. “Questions I'll ask you eventually. In the meantime...” Luca lowers his mouth to my ear, the heat reigniting the temperature Marie had managed to lower to a simmer. “You're gonna practice saying the only answer that matters.”

  My breath hitches.

  “And I want it in Spanish,” he purrs seconds before the tip of his tongue teases my lobe.

  He rocks his hips and latches his teeth onto my neck. With a heavy moan, I curve into the action, eyes shutting while his tongue whirls around against the sensitive spot. Luca begins a languorous path of licks and sucks, removing my shirt and bra in the process. The moment my nipples are presented for tasting, he swiftly captures one between his teeth.

  He tugs and I mewl, “Luca...”

  With a crooked smile, he repeats the action on the other.

  My hands run through his hair returning the gesture until the two of us are in a pleasure pendulum. He breaks first and moves his efforts further south, taking my shorts with him.

  Now completely exposed as I'm learning he likes me, he takes a moment to examine my tensing body. The hunger in his eyes briefly subsides. “You're nervous.”

  Wouldn't you be if it was your first time and your boyfriend’s millionth. Oh. No. Wait. It's Luca, so probably billionth. Forgive me for miscounting.

  I try to play it off. “No...”

  He cocks his head with a crooked smile. “You're not very good at lying to be an agent's future assistant.”

  “I don't like lying to people I actually care about.”

  “Yet here you are doing it.”

  Growling, I grump, “Fine. I'm a little nervous because....well because....”

  “Because you've never had anyone taste that pussy before. I know.”

  Quickly I snip, “And how do you know?”

  You didn't fucking tell him, did you?

  “Because if you had we would've been tongue fucking the first night.”

  Poetic.

  He gently runs his hands down my inner thighs, his thumbs grazing the wetness that's leaked from my pussy already. “Trust me, baby. I promise to take good care of you.”

  The softness in his tone lets my shoulders relax.

  “Keep your eyes on me. Understood?”

  I give him a small nod.

  Carefully, he sinks his body between my trembling thighs. My eyes attempt to shut and he demands, “Watch.”

  After I nod again his tongue snakes out of his mouth. Luca licks lightly. The sensation instantly surges through me, but before I have time to relish it, he repeats the action, this time slightly harder.

  Breathless, I beg, “More...”

  “Patience,” he commands and starts teasing again.

  Luca doesn't intend for this to become an argument by the way he rolls his tongue around my clit. Unexpectedly, the kid gloves are dropped and his mouth begins an erotic expedition. He delivers sucks and spins so strident it's as if he's stumbled upon an abandoned feast of the Gods and is trying to steal every single morsel he can before they return.

  Shit...Why have I waited so long for this?!

  I clutch the sheets desperate to shut my eyes and surrender to the satisfaction yet continue to watch the sexiest sight I've ever been a part of. Selfishly, he continues to indulge in my pussy, almost unaware of the moans reverberating off the bedroom walls. “Luca...”

  He hums his approval, the vibration having me attempt to clutch my thighs together. With the new information he redirects more of his attention to my clit, hums again, and sucks softly. With celerity, he dedicates all of his efforts to creating a combination of tongue lashing to compliment the change of tempo he's chosen.

  My moans slide into pleading pants, “L...L...”

  Luca changes the pressure, alternating between hard and soft. My hips rock eagerly to meet each action, each time unsure of the delight that's going to be delivered, but certain my pussy will love it. After what feels like eons of his salacious torture, all the muscles in my body begin to strain, preparing for the inevitable blinding bliss, which is only breaths away.

  Aware of the change as if he has studied a manual of my body, Luca removes his mouth but keeps the heat of his voice on top of my pussy. “You're about to come...”

  Annoyed and frustrated by the abrupt stopping, I grouse, “I was...”

  He toys with my clit momentarily to remind me he's still in control. “I can leave you like this...”

  Instantly I pout, “No thank you.”

  Luca's tongue lightly licks me again. “You want me to make this pretty pussy come?”

  That's the point of oral sex, right? Is he looking for a trick answer?

  “Yes.”

  “In Spanish.”

  “Si.”

  He gives me another stroke with his tongue. “Again...”

  Now caught on to giving him what he expects in return to giving me what I want, I playfully repeat, “Si.”

  In one slick motion, his mouth resumes it's task and he's completely engulfed me once more. To my surprise it doesn't take long before I'm back to the withering, whining heap of whimpers I was.

  “Si,” I whisper in another plea.

  A growl trundles through him and accompanies his tenacious tongue.

  My eyes fall shut as I fall over the orgasm brink. With my hands death gripping my sheets and my thighs clamped around his head, a fervid scream shakes the room. “Luca!” Shameless in my determination to seize every unbelievable thrum roaring through my system, I arch into his still engaged tongue, and allow for the rapture to rip me into a million pieces.

  Finally finished, he releases me and I flop completely backwards against my pillows.

  Am I...alive?

  I struggle to refill my lungs and open my eyes. When I've managed to at least remember how breathing works, I lift my lids to see him leaned back and beaming.

  Smug bastard.

  With an annoyed expression, I sigh, “Seriously? Are you just sitting there, staring at my pussy?”

  Luca lightly laughs. “I happen to be admiring my handiwork.”

  “Ugh,” I gag.

  Why doesn't this surprise me?

  “We'll do this again in about...what? Five or six minutes?”

  Bewildered, I shoot up onto my elbows. “What?”

  “That's enough time for me to rehydrate.”

  I move my mouth unsure of what to say.

  What can I say? No thank you? One round of mouth hugs was plenty?

  “You didn't really think this was a lick it and bounce did you?”

  A little...

  He expands his grin and slowly straddles me. “That was like a pre-work out snack. Just enough to start the day, baby.”

  “St-st-start?”

  “My mistake was saying yes to meeting the guys for a volleyball game later at the lake,” he starts, his forehead now against mine. “Yours was assuming one taste would be enough for me.”

  My bad?

  Luca sucks my bottom lip between his teeth. A sexual whine escape at the same time my pussy clenches ready for another round.

  It would be rude to turn down such a wonderful service.

  His hand slips two fingers inside the tense area. “Time for another Spanish lesson...”

  I softly moan an objection. “What happened to five or six minutes?”

  “Can't wait that long,” he whispers as he fuses our lips again.

  Lord help me, I can't either. Every time we're not twisted in a fit of anxious touches and hungry mouths, I
find myself desperate to be back in that state. We haven't even been doing this shit long! If I'm this greedy now, I'm a bit terrified what I'll be like once we start sleeping together. Well, if we start sleeping together. I really do know Luca as well as he knows himself and chances of him not growing bored with this change of life style before I feel like I'm ready are thinner than the underwear I wasn't wearing. It's bound to happen. The only thing I can do is enjoy the ride and hope there's a tiny possibility I'm wrong.

 

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