Love in the Cards (Whole Lotta Love #1)

by Sahara Kelly

  “Excuse me?” She looked at the cheap glasses Deuce was holding, and then chuckled. “No problem. I have the same trouble myself. All hotel rooms are the same.” She sipped. “Mmm. Nice.”

  Deuce glanced at the cards spread neatly over the table. “So you like cards.”

  “Duh. This is a gambling casino, you know. I wouldn’t be here if I had a thing for petunias, now, would I?” Maggie rolled her eyes.

  Deuce raised an eyebrow. “Well, you could be a slot machine fan, I guess. How are you at poker?”

  She blinked. “I’ve played some now and again.”

  “Any good?”

  A wicked grin crossed her face. “Haven’t had any complaints.”

  “Hmm. Wanna try a couple of hands? I’ve played a bit too.” And wasn’t that the truth.

  Maggie hesitated, just a second too long for Deuce’s comfort. “Well, I don’t know. You’re probably much better than me.”

  He looked at her. Goddamn, she was playing him. He smiled. She was in for one helluva surprise. “Just for fun…no money involved.” He reached for the cards and clumsily gathered them into a pile. No point in giving the game away just yet.

  “But…we’re supposed to bet something, aren’t we?” Her innocent expression could have sold crushed ice to Eskimos.

  “Well, usually, yeah. Lemme think here…” Deuce managed a thoughtful frown of his own while stroking his chin. Shit, he was really laying it on thick. And it looked like she was buying it too.

  “Oh, wait—I have an idea.” She reached up for her small earrings. “There.” She laid them on the table. “Will that do for an ante?”

  Deuce found himself repeating his earlier thoughts. Hell yeah.

  ~~~~~

  “Five card stud?”

  Stud? Oh yeah, you sure are. Maggie wrenched her mind out of his crotch and nodded at Deuce who dealt the cards with surprising ease. “That sounds fine. You’ll have to help me out though. I’m not sure I remember the rules.” He’d certainly played more than “a bit”.

  She reached out tentatively and picked up the hand, sorting it like a bridge player, gnawing on her lip as she concentrated. Something she’d never do in a real game.

  He tossed in his watch. “I’m in.”

  She glanced up at him. “Okay. I’d like two cards, please.” She politely discarded two inoffensive clubs face down. Deuce reached for the deck. “And I’ll raise…um…” She thought for a moment, letting the silence play out between them. Damn. This was fun. She’d never, in all her life, played strip poker before.

  A shoe appeared on the table. “I raise you one shoe.”

  Deuce frowned at his cards. “You do, huh? I don’t have stilettos so I guess—” He looked down at his own feet and tugged off one sock. “There’s your shoe.” He dealt her the two replacement cards. “And the dealer takes three.”

  There was quiet for a moment as both players looked at their hands.

  Maggie was content. She had a good hand, with two pairs—nines and sevens. But she continued to look worried. “Oooh. I’m not sure…” A little giggle bubbled in her throat and she coughed to cover it. “Oh all right. I’m good for the other shoe and…er… my socks too.”

  “Confident, are we?” Deuce grinned. “I’ll call.”

  He stripped off his shirt and treated Maggie to a glimpse of a very nice chest. A very nice chest indeed. Not too muscled or too flat, it curved in all the right places. For once, she was seriously distracted from the poker game, admiring the soft whorls of dark hair dappling his pecs and narrowing to a happy trail plunging south of the border. She’d very much like a trip to Tijuana shortly and hoped it was on the agenda.

  “You show me yours now.” His voice diverted her errant thoughts.

  “Huh?”

  “Your cards,” said Deuce. “This is where I get to see your cards—you get to see mine and we figure out who won.”

  “Oh. Yes. Sorry.” She dragged her gaze away from his body and spread out her cards. Two sevens and two nines. “Is this any good?” Eat my dust, cute chest.

  “Ooooh. Nice. A matching pair.” Deuce’s eyes weren’t on her cards, but her shirt. “And a nice hand of cards as well.”

  She ignored him. Well, almost ignored him. Pretty much as well as she ignored the tingle of excitement that was jolting her pussy as strongly as an intimate encounter with an electric eel.

  He fanned his own cards out in front of her. “Three ladies. Three queens beat two pair. No matter how lovely the pair is.” Deuce swallowed, looking up from her chest and obviously struggling for composure.

  Maggie hid her shock. Goddamn it. He’d won. He was putting his shirt back on and leaving her barefoot, tossing her shoes and socks away under the table someplace. She gritted her teeth, forced a smile and smacked herself mentally upside the ear. “Well, goodness. Somebody’s lucky.”

  “Another hand? Perhaps it’ll be your turn this time.”

  Patronizing bastard. No more lascivious thoughts about his chest and what lay south of his borders. No more distracting urges. She’d show him.

  By the end of the third hand, she was more than a little afraid she would. Show him, that is. Just about everything.

  She was down to her bra and panties and Deuce was lounging across from her wearing a smile and his jeans. And whatever he had under them. She’d managed to win his shirt off him, but lost her own in the process and to add insult to injury had been forced to return his shirt on the very next hand.

  “You know something, Maggie?” His eyes were hot as they traveled the length of her body.

  “What?”

  “Let’s up the ante.”

  “Oh?” Christ, this was it.

  “Yeah. A kiss. Loser of the next hand gives the winner a kiss. And doesn’t stop until he says so.”

  “He says so? Maybe she says so.” Maggie snorted. Arrogant asshole. Like he was gonna win.

  “Whatever.” Deuce grinned.

  “You’re on. Deal.” How could she lose?

  And as the cards flew toward her, Maggie realized it didn’t matter what the fuck they were. She wanted that kiss. Real bad

  Chapter Four

  He folded holding three jacks and didn’t care. Their lips lingered and feasted on the sweetness of each other. He had won the prize he really wanted.

  The wine from his glass had barely touched his thirst, he realized, as her lips opened the top of a deeper need. An instinctive groan echoed within his throat while he teased her mouth with the tip of his tongue. What a tempting game she played.

  For the first time in his life, he couldn’t lose a game of cards. She’d uncorked his passion and he was going to overflow within her body.

  Maggie pulled back, swallowing a moan, and Deuce damn near came in his pants from the mere sound of it. His mind spun out of control. Calm, relax, cock, wet, sex, what the fuck am I doing talking to myself now?

  “You want to draw for high card to see who’s on top?” Maggie croaked out the words as he struggled to remember what the hell a high card was.

  “Fuck the stupid card game.” Deuce gently licked the soft skin where her shoulder merged with her neck.

  Maggie closed her eyes and gasped. “No, don’t fuck the game…fuck me instead!”

  For a split second, Deuce had to think.

  In fact it was less than a split second, it was more of a millisecond. Actually he didn’t have to think at all. Jackpot! Bells rang in his brain and his balls rattled around, clanging up cherries all over the place.

  The lovers tangled together, falling onto the large bed. One of the neon casino signs illuminated the room with flashes of red light as Deuce fumbled with the clasp on her bra to free her breasts.

  “It’s on the front,” Maggie whispered helpfully into his ear before she nibbled on the lobe.

  Her breasts sprang free of their bondage and Deuce buried his face between them. With a growl, he began to lick and suck them enthusiastically.

  Maggie’s hand ventured downw
ard, searching for the lever to his slot machine. Finding it beneath his fly, she slid the zipper down and rubbed the hard shaft through the fabric of his boxers. “Mmm, you have a very…er…large prize there for me.”

  He could hear the excitement in her voice. “I’m a sucker for a good bet. What’s the wager?” Deuce could tell this gambling talk had quite an effect on her from the hardening of her nipples. At his words, they budded even more against his lips.

  “Loser pays the winner’s hotel bill.” Maggie was breathless as she stripped his jeans away from his legs.

  “Whoever comes first loses.” Deuce smiled. “I promise I won’t fake my orgasm either.”

  Maggie shook her head at him. “You’re crazy. And I like it. You’re on.”

  She pushed him down on his back. Straddling his tight abdomen she moved down his stomach leaving a trail of her own juices glistening in the dim red light.

  God, she was wet. Maggie was on fire and she wanted to fuck. The hell with winning the bet, this was about having this man as a toy for the night. A stranger to play with. And she wanted to play. It was a fantasy, a dream come true. Something almost every woman had wondered about at some point in her life. Of course, there were practicalities—most of which didn’t make it into the nicely lit, delicately wonderful private imagery. For example, the underwear had to go.

  He raised his hips so she could remove the tighty-whities. She dumped the pair and matched it with a pair of her own. They were soaked anyway, so who cared? Naked was sooo much better.

  His hard cock lay between his body and the wet lips of her pussy. She rolled her hips back and forth, letting her soft folds caress along his shaft.

  “Damn, that’s good.” She licked her lips, breathing deeply.

  There was something about Deuce, she realized as she played with his body. Something apart from the fact he was an attractive man with a clear case of the hots for her. This whole scene wasn’t really in character—she wasn’t one to jump into bed ten minutes after meeting a guy. Nobody had every really had her at hello. Until tonight. Until he’d danced with her and made her laugh. She’d tumbled headlong into a severe case of need for someone she barely knew. And she was responding with no holds barred.

  Her breasts were swollen and her nipples taut and sensitive. She raised her body, reaching between her legs to find Deuce’s cock. Her hands were cool and he jumped a little from the shock of her touch.

  Angling it straight up, Maggie rubbed the swollen head along her opening. She was teasing him as well as arousing her own desires. She moaned with delight as she lowered herself onto his thick hot flesh.

  “Oh fuuuuck, I’m a goner. You are so damn tight.” Deuce put his hands to his face and stifled a groan.

  Her pussy stretched with each inch of her descent. It had been a while since she’d enjoyed sex with anyone, and she intended to enjoy the shit out of this bet. Her inner places were full—her slippery juices making her ride smooth and slick. Each stroke grew easier and more pleasurable. She rocked back and forth along the length of his cock like a prize-winning mechanical bull rider. All that was missing was the yee haw.

  For a moment she forgot about the stupid bet, the poker game, the gambling and pretty much everything else. She simply let it all go and lost herself in the pleasure of this man, enjoying the sensation of letting all her womanly parts out to play. The joy of feeling wanted and being able to fuck the shit out of a good-looking guy with his full cooperation. Slow contractions of excitement rolled through her.

  ~~~~~

  Deuce moaned in desperate ecstasy. Needing to feel her, he grabbed her breasts in his large hands. The nipples budded between his fingers and as he squeezed them, Maggie moaned too. Her pussy tightened around him and knew he was almost ready to explode. He believed himself to be a man with pretty good control of his emotions and his body, but having a woman take over and fuck him like this was too much. Even for him.

  “Let me be on top. I want to fuck you so hard you’ll see stars.”

  “Devil.” Maggie let him pop free and slithered down his legs. “Talking like that gets me hotter.” She paused, staring at his cock shining with her juices. She lifted a finger and ran it up the hard ridge of vein then circled the purple tip, letting her nail tease the extra sensitive spot right beneath the head.

  How the hell did she know her touch just there would drive him damn near insane? What was it about her that had stirred him up into a frenzy so fast?

  “That’s not… faaaiiiir…” He stuttered the words out as his eyeballs crossed.

  Maggie let him go then climbed back up his body. He could feel her nipples brush over every indention of his muscles as she licked her way up his breastbone. Finally she reached his face and devoured his mouth with hers.

  Deuce rolled over on top of her.

  Maggie gasped for air as he let her take his weight.

  He swayed his hips into the space between her legs as she spread her thighs wide and wrapped her ankles around him.

  With a hard thrust, Deuce plunged his cock back into its home. In tandem, they both breathed out a satisfied moan.

  There was almost a fury to this sex and Deuce knew that Maggie’s body was amazingly aroused by this uninhibited physical act. Her muscles were trembling beneath him, her lungs heaving as she fought for breath. He let his mind go—his body took over, feeling the ripples around his cock that signaled she was climbing to her orgasm.

  “Ohhhh shit, oh yes, oh God…don’t stop…”

  He could feel it happening. The hot crushing flashes of passion strangling his cock. Her breathless cries of delight. She was almost there. Deuce figured she just needed one last thing to take her over.

  And he knew what it was even though he was practically beside himself. He was so excited he wouldn’t be surprised if he blew the end off his cock.

  Deuce was holding back so much it began to hurt. He didn’t want it to end and he didn’t want to lose the stupid fucking bet. Just hearing her say it would take him over too.

  Maggie dug her nails in his back, tightening every muscle.

  Deuce couldn’t hold it anymore. He turned to her ear and began to whisper at the same time Maggie turned to say something to him.

  Like a carefully rehearsed Greek chorus they spoke the same words.

  “You win.”

  They clung to each other as their orgasms hit. The hot spurts of his seed coating her sex to overflowing, the convulsions of her pussy milking his cock as her spasms began to subside. It was an incredible ride, a high that far surpassed any Deuce could remember in a while.

  Collapsing in a pile of sweaty flesh they both started to laugh.

  Deuce rolled off Maggie, flopping on his back beside her.

  She caught her breath and lay still, letting her breathing return to normal. He could hear the loud pounding of his heart, a thundering that took more than a few minutes to ease. Thank God he was in good shape, because she might well have killed a lesser man.

  Finally he broke the silence. “Wow.” He couldn’t think of much else to say and didn’t have the strength to talk in full sentences yet.

  “Yeah. Wow.” With a wicked smile she stroked her hand over his chest. “Two out of three?”

  Chapter Five

  Maggie awoke slowly, snuggled into a snoring, grunting body that radiated warmth all down her side. Too much warmth, as a matter of fact. She was sweaty, sticky and smothered in the covers Deuce had kicked off after they’d fallen asleep.

  And that had been after a marathon sex session the likes of which she hadn’t experienced in…in…well, okay, never. He was something else.

  She smiled and stretched. And then realized something—she stunk. He didn’t exactly smell like roses either. He didn’t smell bad. Nothing a good brushing of his teeth, a shower and some manly deodorant wouldn’t fix.

  Taking stock, she realized she felt rested, relaxed and in definite need of a shower herself. She eased up on one elbow and peeked over at Deuce. He was sprawle
d on his stomach, one arm thrust under his pillow, with his face smooshed into a grimace.

  Yep. He was out for the count.

  Quietly she slid from the tumbled mess of sheets that they’d destroyed earlier and tiptoed into the bathroom. There’d be hotel shampoo and soap. She doubted he’d mind if she borrowed a towel.

  And dear God, she needed to pee so bad her back teeth were floating.

  The water seemed to make more noise than Niagara, but she was determined to clean up, stepping into the warm shower with a sigh of pleasure. Her muscles ached a little in odd places, but overall? Damn, she felt good.

  Her mood got even better as she soaped away the stickiness their loving had left between her thighs. The same thighs that had been spread apart most of the night. The ones that led to the aching muscles of her pussy, which had been pounded and caressed so many times by the… She found herself getting aroused all over again. Her hand slid between her wet thighs.

  The soap cleansed the dirt away but her thoughts brought on a different wetness. One of heat—one of desire. Deuce had opened the door to her sexuality and pretty much knocked it off its hinges. Marveling at her thoughts, she pondered again what on earth had driven her into his arms and his bed. Sure, they both seemed to share a passion for cards, but they were in a casino. As she’d pointed out earlier, if they’d been gardeners they wouldn’t be here.

  Nope, it was more than that. It went deeper. She couldn’t help grinning at the natural conclusion to that idea—so had Deuce. Waaaay deep inside her. And she’d taken all of him with a great deal of pleasure. Just went to show what a healthy dose of attraction and some great foreplay could accomplish.

  Tingles crept up her spine at the memories and absently her hand began to massage the places he’d discovered during the night. Especially the places between her legs.

  Her fingers found the right spot, just waiting for a little attention. With gentle deliberation, she began to stroke her clit while the water washed over her flesh. The cleansing stream trickled between her fingers as they massaged the tender folds of her pussy. What minor soreness there was eased very quickly with her flowing juices.