“Yeah,” I said. “That’s a sad story, Cal.”
“It certainly is,” he replied. “And now you’ll be gone tomorrow, just like her.”
“And you said you didn’t love her.”
“I didn’t. I told you neither of us ever said those words. I don’t think I’ll ever say them to anyone.”
“That feels like the worst part of the whole story. But I still believe you can and you will find love. I guess just not with me.”
I snuggled up against his chest. Cal rested his hand on my breast. “I hope you don’t mind if I leave this here,” he said.
“Not at all. I know how much you like them!”
He squeezed my breast and we both erupted into a fit of laughter.
*
At dinner that night, Cal cut up my fish and wouldn’t let me touch my fork. He lifted a bite to my mouth. I opened my mouth and he sailed it right in. I reached for my wine glass. Cal placed his hand over mine as I gripped the stem. He lifted it to my lips. I took a small sip and started laughing.
“What?” He asked.
“I can eat on my own,” I said. “But it’s sweet.”
“Look, about earlier — I do have feelings for you. You should know that.”
“I do. But I’m glad you’re at least admitting them now. You could describe the nature of those feelings in more detail for me. That would be nice.”
“Don’t push it!” He said as he set my glass down and went back to work cutting my fish.
When dessert arrived we were treated to a spread that included chocolate lava cake, chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate covered bananas, and an array of other things with chocolate. Cal lifted a strawberry to my mouth. I took a small bite and smiled as I chewed.
“This is our last dinner together,” he said. The reminder filled my stomach with a stinging feeling. Nevertheless, I didn’t want to let it get to me too much. I picked up a chocolate covered banana and rubbed it over Cal’s lips. He looked funny with his chocolate lipstick, so I kissed it off of him and fed him the banana.
“Ok. Now it’s your turn,” he said. “Tell me your plan to escape from Richard. You do have one, right?”
“No plan here, Mr. Wyatt. Do you have any ideas?”
“Well, there is something. The Golden Table game is tomorrow night. I saw the list of players. He’s already bought in. I have enough pull that I can convince the other players to drop out for the night. It could be a friendly contest between Richard and me. Of course, I’ll tell him the cost of the game went up to ten million just to make things more intriguing. We’ll play for you. If I win, you go free and your father’s debts are forgiven. If he wins — you go back to him and we have to think of something else. He also gets a stake in my casinos. I have no choice. I need to offer him something that will make him want to play.”
“Do you think he’ll agree to the buy in price?”
“Ten million dollars is a lot of money, but it’s not much to men like us. He’ll agree to it out of curiosity. It will keep life interesting for him.”
“I can’t believe you’d do this for me…”
“You can do anything with your life, Fantasy. I want you to get out of Vegas and become something. What would you do if you weren’t here?”
“I’d probably go to College. I only intended to take one year before going to school, but somehow that turned into two. I wanted to be a teacher.”
“Then that’s what you should do. This city is too sad for someone like you. There’s plenty of sunshine and bright lights, but it’s balanced out by an awful lot of sad people looking for a dream they’re never going to find here.”
Cal broke off a piece of lava cake with his fingers. The chocolate oozed out and got all over his fingers, but he didn’t mind. He brought it to my lips. I opened my mouth and took it in. His finger brushed my tongue. As he pulled out the cake melted in my mouth. I let out a satisfied sigh. It was like heaven sitting there with him — just talking out in the open like this. I felt as if I was finally getting to know the real Cal Wyatt.
“You found the dream here,” I said.
“No. I found money here. Lots of money.” He laughed. “But I wasn’t really looking for that. I was seeking stability mostly.”
“And you came to Las Vegas to look for it. Now I know you’re crazy.”
“I’m falling in love with you,” he said.
It felt like my heart stopped. When it restarted it was working much harder. Heat filled my cheeks and worked its way down my body. My tongue dried up. I took a sip of wine. It seemed sweeter than a Merlot should be.
“I know it’s fast. But I wanted you from the second I saw you.”
“It took me until day two, but by that point I found Cal Wyatt impossible to resist.”
Cal laughed. “Ok, not love at first sight for you then. I’ll take love at day two. That seems rarer in its own way.”
“It’s much more special, I assure you,” I replied.
Chapter 9 (Cal)
The Invitation
*
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I kissed Fantasy and got up. “I’ll be right back. I have to take a phone call,” I said. I went off into a corner and sat down at an empty table. I looked down at the caller ID. Lucky for me it was The Crocodile. He was apparently ready to slink in and ruin my last night with Fantasy. But I was ready to challenge him to a poker duel.
“Richard, nice to hear from you.”
“Cal, you better hold that girl close tonight. She’ll be back with daddy soon enough.”
“Why did you call me?”
“I wanted to see if she was all packed up and ask if you enjoyed your time with her. That’s all. Just practicing my customer service skills,” he replied.
“You haven’t got any customer service skills, Richard. We both know that.”
He laughed and my skin crawled. I felt dirty just hearing his voice. “You give any further consideration to my offer?”
“Yes. Tomorrow night at the Golden Table we’re going to play a special game just between the two of us. As a symbol of just how special it is the buy in will be ten million dollars. Are you in?”
“You have my attention,” he said.
“Good. If you win you get Fantasy back and I make you a partner at The Peacock and give you a percentage of my other casinos. If I win then you give me the girl and forgive her father every last cent he owes you.”
“He owes me quite a bit in money and favors.”
“If I win you forgive him for every cent,” I said again.
“Alright, we have a deal. I’ll see you tomorrow night. Make sure to have Fantasy looking pretty for me.”
“I’ll see you at the table, Richard.” I hung up and shoved my phone in my pocket. For the first time in my life I was not confident about the game. But I knew that I would fight as hard as I could to keep Fantasy with me. I couldn’t lose her — losing Fantasy would be worse than losing everything I own. Yeah, I had fallen completely in love with her. I was sure of that now. I took my phone back out and began to call all of the other players and ask them to drop out. They all promised me they’d come to watch The Crocodile take a fall.
Chapter Ten (Fantasy)
The Fantasy is Real
*
Once upstairs the clothes came off fast. Cal lifted me onto his dining room table and nibbled on my neck. He tugged at my skin with his teeth. His gentle bites sent tingles through me. I still had the bite marks from before, so I hoped he wasn’t planning to make a repeat out of that. But at the same time I was at the point where Cal could do just about anything to me and I’d think it was just perfect.
This week had brought life back to me. I thought my life was over until I met Cal. I was certain I was changing his views on life and love.
Cal pushed me down on the table and teased me by gliding his tongue along the curves of my inner thighs. His nails dug into my legs and I exhaled sharply as he pulled me closer to the edge of the table.
Hi
s tongue swirled over my sex. He sipped me like the finest wine. A week ago I had no real experience with men. Now I was in love with someone and he was in love with me — or at least the fantasy of me. Time would show me how deep Cal and I could go.
Cal’s tongue pushed my lips apart and dove into my tunnel. I began to clearly envision my future with Cal. We’d stand side by side and support each other in everything. I’d have as many babies as he wanted. I’d pull him away from work to travel the world with our family. Maybe I’d convince him to hire someone to look over his casinos while we spent at least part of the year living in California. It would do him good to get away from this place. Las Vegas was not the oasis it seemed to be.
Cal sucked my clit while I filled my head with visions of our life together. I moaned as his tongue glided back and forth. Soon I was shaking and the table rattled. I let myself go and my juices flooded into Cal’s mouth.
He pulled me up into a sitting position and gave me the lightest kiss — just enough so I could taste myself on him. He picked me up and carried me into the bedroom. He laid me down and climbed on top of me.
“I’m not falling in love with you,” he said.
My heart sunk. What did he mean by that?
“I’m in love with you.”
“I love you too, but that was cheesy,” I teased him. “It was also pretty mean.”
He pulled me in for a deeper kiss. He lingered on my bottom lip. We had spent all week having more sex than I could have imagined having with anyone. But here we were now — making love for the first time.
Cal guided his cock inside of me and I opened up for him with ease. He clenched his eyes shut and groaned as I contracted my pussy muscles. “Don’t do that,” he said. “You’re already way too tight!”
He kissed my breasts as he took slow and shallow thrusts. This went on for a long time until I couldn’t take it anymore. Cal felt so good inside of me and my orgasm had been slowly building. I was sure I was turning red. The scent of sex flooded my nose and sent me over the edge. I trembled in his arms as he filled me with his seed.
He kissed my forehead. “I held that in for as long as I could. You’re too good,” he said.
Chapter 11 (Cal)
The Golden Table
*
The game went on for hours. Richard and I still had very large piles of poker chips, as the clock turned to 3 am. He looked down at his hand and smiled. He was never good at bluffing.
“Come on, Richard. I need to get to bed.”
Fantasy clung to my arm. She was shaking. She was once again wearing the red dress I had met her in. I had my private hair stylist in earlier that day to take care of her. She looked just the same as last Saturday, but I knew she had changed. I had too.
“I look forward to moving into my new office on Monday, Cal. Maybe I’ll make Fantasy my secretary. Just so you can see her everyday. But you won’t be allowed to touch anymore. That’s going to be torture for you isn’t it?” He asked. He blew a kiss at Fantasy. I shot him a death stare and he went back to shuffling the cards in his hand around.
“What’s it gonna be, Richard?”
“Well, I’m thinking we’ll put my name above yours on the entrance.”
“Just play the damn game,” I snarled.
“Well, I’m going all in.” He pushed all of his chips to the center of the table. Shit. My heart raced. This was going to be it. What could he possibly have? I looked down at my cards. I had a full house, but still, the possibility that I could lose Fantasy was becoming very real. Was he just trying to bait me? Pain shot through me as if out of nowhere. I clenched my teeth and growled.
“Are you okay?” Fantasy whispered in my ear.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I replied. “I just need this over with. Ok, Richard. I’m going all in. Let’s see what you have.” I pushed my chips to join his in the center.
He laid his cards out. I didn’t want to look at them, so I stared back down at my own. I couldn’t lose her. It would be too much for me.
“Alright, Cal, it’s your turn. Beat my flush. You’ve always had a lot of luck at this table. Some of us are convinced you’re cheating.”
I grinned when I looked at his cards. My nerves steadied and I felt a rush of adrenaline as I laid out my Royal Flush.
Everyone at the table gasped as I brought all the chips over to my side. Richard slammed his hand down on the table. He got up and yanked Fantasy up by the arm.
“Royal Flush two weeks in a row? You cheated, Cal! I know it!”
I stood up and pried his hand off Fantasy’s arm. She hid behind me. “You’re in my casino, Richard. Get the fuck out of here before I call security.”
“Give me my girl!”
“She’s not your girl, Richard. Get out now.”
“You think you’re something, don’t you Cal? What you are is a goddamn cheater! He’s a cheater!”
I grabbed Richard by the collar and shook him. “Leave.”
I let go and Richard slinked out of the room like the lizard he was.
“My attorney will be in contact with you next week!” He shouted before his face disappeared behind the door for one last time.
Everyone in the room laughed. I turned to Fantasy, lifted her up, and she wrapped her legs around my waist. I gave her a passionate kiss as the remaining spectators clapped.
“Can you please tell me your real name now?” I asked her.
“It’s—“ She started to say before stopping herself. She broke into laughter and kissed me again. “I think I’m gonna make you wait as long as possible for that. Ya know, just for fun.”
Epilogue 1 (Cal)
*
How was it possible that I didn’t know my wife’s real name? Richard had her legally change it to Fantasy and she had never changed it back. Even now — five years later and she clung to the name Fantasy for some odd reason. I often pushed her to tell me, but she just turned it into the longest running joke of our marriage. That girl was something. She even got her father to agree not to tell me. I never met any of her friends from her past, so I couldn’t ask them. It was like she wanted to forget everything that happened before me.
We had been married for five years, and I have to confess that I also didn’t want to remember the years before her. They had been lonely and pointless as far as I could tell. I had been waiting for her.
We stood on the roof of The Sparrow on the morning of our wedding anniversary. She held our four year-old Claire as we looked out over the city.
“It’s so pretty, daddy!” Said Claire.
I kissed her cheek. “Yeah, sweetie. Not as pretty as you or mommy though.” Claire giggled.
“Do you ever wonder what happened to The Crocodile? Is he still in business?” Fantasy asked.
“He left town that night and never came back. My guys tell me he’s in Reno now though. I only have them watch him to make sure he doesn’t come back here,” I said.
“Good,” she said. “I don’t think about him too much anymore, except when I wake up from a nightmare he shows up in. Thankfully those are few and far between. But I can sometimes hear that southern drawl in my head. I can’t seem to make it go away forever.”
I leaned in and kissed her on the lips. Claire made a face. “You and mommy are gross,” she said.
“We are definitely not!” I replied. “But there’s one thing that bothers me about your mommy.”
“What’s that, daddy?”
“She won’t tell me her real name.”
Claire let out an “ohhhhhh”. Fantasy and I laughed.
“You’re still not getting it,” she said.
“But I love you!”
“I love you too, but you’re still not getting it,” she insisted.
“You’re stubborn.” I patted her pregnant belly.
“Maybe you’ll tell our son someday.”
“Why would I tell him?”
“Because I’ll pay him to ask you till you give in,” I said.
“Why
don’t you ask Claire?”
“She’s too loyal to you.”
“Yep, too loyal,” said Claire.
Epilogue 2 (Fantasy)
*
How did I get here? It’s been ten years since I met Cal Wyatt. Our family stands in front of the Hollywood sign and looks up in awe. I’ve had three kids with the man beside me. His hair is turning gray now and I tease him about it often, but he is the most handsome man I’ve ever met. I’ve never loved anyone like Cal and I never will.
Our son Rodney was the only one of our four children who has not inherited my ginger hair. Why had I let my husband name our only son after a World Series of Poker Champion? I’m not sure. But that’s okay, because I’m often not sure how I got here. How did I get this lucky?
I broke away from our little family for a moment — just to take a few steps behind them and catch my breath. Sometimes it still doesn’t feel real to me. Our two youngest daughters — Jenna and Paige — clung to Cal’s legs. Claire and Rodney were fighting over a stuffed alligator.
“Cal,” I said.
He looked over at me and smiled. That smile convinced me every single time that he loved me.
“I have to tell you something.”
“What is it?”
“Well, I’m not sure where to begin.” I took a deep breath and patted my stomach. “Ok, first thing first. I love you so much. You and our family are absolutely everything to me. Got it? Ok. Now that’s out of the way, ummmm…”
“Fantasy, are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Ok, back to number two. I’m six weeks pregnant.”
Cal let out a shriek of joy. The kids joined him. That went well.
Triple Pass: An MFMM Reverse Harem Romance Page 16
