Kaine stood still, letting me set the pace as he leaned forward, wrapped his arms around my thighs, and buried his face in my pussy. Coins dug into my back, creating a cool shuffle against my hot skin. I think the bastard’s tongue was magic; it created a heat that consumed me and I stroked him with the opposite motions. I used slow strokes to his fast tongue flick.
My first orgasm caught me by surprise and I moaned around his thick girth. He inched farther into my mouth. His hips formed small circles as his breath panted with each lap of my pussy.
I lost track of time and of the number of times he brought me to the brink. I dripped in waves and he still had yet to come once, but every vein on his cock stood out and my lips carried that pleasant stretch of a good workout.
“Suck faster.” His hot breath tingled over my sensitive clit.
I kept doing a slow stroke and ignored his request.
“Dammit, Layla, go faster,” he growled, but his hips didn’t force it like I thought he would at this stage and his tongue resumed.
I pulled away. “Fuck you.”
He lifted far enough off my body to meet my gaze before I did another slow stroke and let out a little laugh as a bubble of pre-cum surfaced.
“Please,” he whispered and his body trembled with need.
I shook my head, doing the same coy, slow stroke. He stayed elevated over me and went back to flicking me at that insane pace. I wanted him to fuck my mouth right now, but I couldn’t voice that. I couldn’t give in to the need drilling my core and I arched, screaming into this orgasm and squirting my come all over the poker table.
I panted between the slow strokes and he mumbled curses at me.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” He stood and grasped my head, forcing the fast stroke on me with only the length that fit comfortably in my mouth. When he came, it ricocheted off my throat and pooled on the roof of my mouth. I sucked and sucked through each aftershock until he finally pulled away and collapsed in his chair.
“Take the deal, Layla,” he said, with such defeat that I found the energy to lift my head and look at him.
“It’s not enough.”
“It’s twelve years.” He gained some of his energy back and he zipped up his pants.
“I want more.” I rolled off the table.
Exasperation etched into his features. “That’s precisely what got you into trouble in the first place,” he snapped.
I shifted the shirt, getting comfortable again even as the itch of drying cum tickled my thighs. “You know nothing about me.” I pulled the chair back in place before my gaze landed on the shimmering coins. I picked up one and put it back down as if it transmitted leprosy. The shimmer on the top layer was my come and I glanced at Kaine, waving toward the table.
“Get over it.” He didn’t seem to have any of the warmth he had a few minutes ago.
“Deal,” I said.
“Ante up.” He nodded toward my slick pile and I tossed one in.
“What did you mean that’s what got me into trouble in the first place?”
The muscles in his face twitched and he closed his eyes, hanging his head before he tilted a glance in my direction. “You really don’t remember?”
“Remember what?”
And for the briefest of instances, his eyes flashed with unfathomable pain, but the slow close of his lids shut it off and he just shook his head.
“It doesn’t matter,” he whispered. The cards sailed across the space.
I didn’t lift mine up; instead, I stared at him and waited for some sort of explanation. “I remember the casino,” I finally said. He let out a soft laugh.
“That’s not what I was referring to,” he muttered. “Are you in or are you forfeiting?” His icy stare penetrated me as hard as anything he’d dished out to that point.
I picked up my cards, well aware of the gamble I was making. Losing right now wasn’t an option. If what he said held true, any loss would be more painful than the agony I already experienced.
I had a pair of kings and a ten and two other crap cards. Even a one-day loss wasn’t okay and I tossed the second day in, swallowing hard. His face didn’t give me anything as he matched coins. I dropped two cards and he dropped four. That was the most he had ever dropped and as I picked up the new cards dealt to me, I felt a little better about my hand. Two pair was still at the low end of the pole, but I needed to stay in, even if it was a bluff.
I had a two-day deficit but he wasn’t acting all cocky anymore. I counted ten coins and tossed them in the pot. He looked at the pot and then at me, biting his lower lip.
He counted out ten and tossed them in, and then tossed another ten in as a raise. He called my bluff and I made the decision to pursue it further.
“I’ll see your raise.” I matched his bet and then I glanced at my pile. I chopped my hand down the middle of my pile and pushed half in the center, looking back up at him.
“How much is that?” He pointed at the pot.
“Six years,” I said and he met my gaze. He threw his hand down with a growl.
“You’re folding?”
He crossed his arms and nodded; the muscles in his jaw jumped every second or two as if he ground his teeth between his tightly clamped lips.
I moved the pile back to my side, gaining a month and a half.
“Are you through?”
“Not even close.” I tossed the coin in the middle, felt that rush of invincibility now that I was on a roll.
He matched the ante and shuffled. His gaze kept traveling to my growing pile and then he’d sigh and focus on the cards in his hands.
The next hand was worse than the last and after the flip, I bit my lips and did another repeat, but with only five chips instead of ten. This time, he didn’t raise; he matched and called. My meager pair of jacks spread on the table and his eyes closed.
He slowly spread his cards out and my heart plummeted. I lost twelve days; my heart jumped in my chest and all the saliva dried in my mouth. Kaine looked truly defeated when his eyes opened.
“You should have taken the twelve years,” he whispered as the air shifted.
He went to stand and a massive hand pushed him back into the chair.
“You forfeited the game. You get to watch,” the voice thundered. What appeared out of the dark made me scramble backwards and my chair toppled over at the man-beast that stood next to Kaine.
A collar wrapped around Kaine’s neck, yanked his head back against the chair, and his hands slammed down on the armrests, locking in place so he couldn’t move. The fear and horror in his expression equaled what ran amuck in my blood.
“Please,” he whispered, raising his gaze to the thing.
“You folded,” it hissed. “We had her for six years and you folded.”
I stepped backwards into a solid wall of groping hands. And when Kaine’s gaze jumped to mine, a hand flew over my mouth. Fabric tore and I struggled against the insistent hands.
“Why?” I managed to ask and successfully squirmed out of the invisible grip that accosted me. My only option was to step closer to Kaine and the beast. My options were limited, but right at the moment, my focus wasn’t on what was coming; it was locked on the devil’s statement.
My meek question caused the beast to laugh and he turned his red eyes in my direction. I blinked at the rush of fear and familiarity that swept over me.
Without a word, he waved a clawed hand and it was as if I stepped into a multiplex with multiple movies playing. Visions of Kaine filled the space. I scanned the multiple screens, showing multiple card games. It took me a few moments to see the pattern, to see where his games with me diverted from his normal modus operandi. I dropped my gaze, utterly confused.
Kaine played poker, and collected hard time from the players when they lost, but not once did he exchange sexual favors when the players won. The screens multiplied until they were nothing more than half-inch frames, all showing the same brutal beast, and then the walls went black.
The next view provi
ded made my knees buckle. Kaine’s face as he brutalized me earlier was not the smug smile I imagined, but tear-stained and horrified as I lay unconscious and bleeding, tied to the table. There was no joy in his eyes, just the raw pain of the horror he was visiting on me.
“I can’t do this.” He pulled out of me, leaned over, and placed a kiss on my back. The constant flow of thick blood trickled to nothing; then he waved his hand over me and the binds holding me in place released. He scooped me up into his arms and gently kissed my lips.
“I’m sorry, baby,” he whispered before he laid me on the soft bedding that appeared.
I dropped my gaze to his, trying to fathom what the hell was going on, but he stared at a point on the floor between his feet.
The next glimpse I was provided showed his hand as I moved six years into the pot. I stared at the straight flush just before he threw his hand down. Folding. He knew his odds of winning were high, yet, he folded.
“Why?” I asked again, and his gaze rose to mine.
The beast stepped into my line of sight. “The game is over,” he growled. “Kaine lost his bet. Now you’re mine.” He grinned and his sharp teeth gleamed in the darkness. The cloth covering me shredded and the next thing I knew, I hung upside down with both my wrists and ankles bound to a pole, leaving me completely exposed.
“Kaine!”
“You took the gamble,” his voice answered, but it carried the complete defeat I felt. I dropped my head back to see what was coming. The beast stood next to Kaine and when his pants dropped, I struggled against the bonds.
My shakes rattled the chains that held me and he circled around, stopping between my legs, letting me have a full view of Kaine.
Kaine closed his eyes and turned his head, unwilling to watch.
“You will watch until I tire of her,” the beast growled. Kaine’s head snapped upright and his eyes went wide as though someone tapped them open. “Then you can have what’s left.” The words flowed over me, creating the surreal panic that I couldn’t wrap my arms around.
“Please, don’t,” Kaine said and his chin trembled.
I didn’t have to ask “don’t what,” and the scream of agony ripped through me as efficiently as the devil’s double wide. He didn’t just have one double wide, either, and the plunge nearly split me in two.
“No!” Kaine struggled but his screams of protest were drowned by mine until a strip of duct tape clamped down on his cries.
I should have listened. I should have heeded his warning and as I watched the tears paint his face, a memory materialized.
The wail that escaped from my lips was his name, and as our gazes locked, I understood the tender moments, the way he took me when I won the bets. It was a lover’s touch and now I understood his anger at my not remembering him. The pain that fractured my soul had nothing to do with the devil’s wrath.
It had everything to do with Kaine.
A lifetime ago, when I was on one of my earlier gambling binges, I had run into a downward spiral and Kaine slid into the seat next to me. The sparkle in his eyes, along with his close proximity, had the same effect on me as it did two weeks ago. I was completely smitten.
But instead of my losing every cent I owned, my luck turned hot and I ended up with him in the penthouse for the weekend. Kaine was my one and only affair with something other than cards while I was still married.
Stolen nights at the casino became weeks on end. Kaine knew how to make me laugh and he was the best fuck on earth. Sobs ripped through me now that I understood his comment about wanting to give me a fuck I would never forget.
How in the hell could I have ever forgotten him?
Shame bit me harder than the beast and I screamed Kaine’s name. The pain in his eyes shredded my soul. The devil spilled more than just my blood as he drove through me, hell-bent on destruction.
I derailed Kaine’s mission. I took hell’s main soul collector and turned him against his master. I turned him into a loving man. My mind filled with every tender moment, every smile, every kiss, and I screamed again.
Piece by piece, memories of our history unfolded until we stood in this very room, in the same situation. My greed and his inability to make me see reason, to make me take what I had and run like hell, pounded me harder than the beast slowly tearing me in two.
That time, when the devil came for me, Kaine traded his soul for mine.
He took my place in the chains and the last dark shadow of memory was the beast stepping in front of him and yanking his head back just before the devil whispered, “Open wide.”
The End
ABOUT J.E. TAYLOR
J.E. Taylor is a writer, a publisher, an editor, a manuscript formatter, a mother, a wife and a business analyst, not necessarily in that order. She first sat down to seriously write in February of 2007 after her daughter asked:
“Mom, if you could do anything, what would you do?”
From that moment on, she hasn’t looked back and now her writing résumé includes more than a dozen published novels along with several short stories on the virtual shelves including a few within eXcessica anthologies.
In addition to being co-owner of Novel Concept Publishing (www.novelconceptpublishing.com), Ms. Taylor also moonlights as a Senior Editor of Allegory (www.allegoryezine.com), an online venue for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror. She has been known to edit a book or two and also offers her services judging writing contests for various Romance Writers Association chapters.
She lives in Connecticut with her husband and two children and during the summer months enjoys her weekends on the shore in southern Maine.
Visit her at www.jetaylor75.com and sign up for her newsletter for early previews of her upcoming books, release announcements, and special opportunities for free swag!
Sign up for Ms. Taylor’s newsletter at:
http://eepurl.com/P6UPX
And as always, please consider leaving an honest review!
If you liked HOUSE RULES, you might like J.E. Taylor’s full length novels, including the Steve Williams Series (available in a full boxed set as well as individual titles):
DARK RECKONING (Book 1):
A sadistic killer stalks the secluded college town of Brooksfield, New Hampshire. With bodies piling up and rumors of the murders being part of sacrificial hazing rituals, the FBI plants Special Agent Steve Williams in a fraternity at Brooksfield University. His investigation takes a ninety degree turn into the bizarre when he’s introduced to Jennifer, a clairvoyant co-ed who swears the killer isn’t human.
Steve considers the plausibility of the extraordinary, the unspeakable, even the inconceivable, when his notebook starts bleeding cryptic messages. Messages that indicate Jennifer is at the heart of the darkness in Brooksfield.
When she describes her latest vision, a trail of violent deaths, including his, Steve asks the million-dollar question:
Is Jennifer trying to help... or is she actually the one responsible?
"J.E. Taylor has penned a tale of terror worthy of Lovecraft. The strong characters, edgy atmosphere, and unflinching narrative hooked me from the first and kept me riveted all the way through to its horrifying conclusion - a solid piece of storytelling!" Ty Drago, Editor of Allegory and author of PHOBOS
“I loved DARK RECKONING - always had a soft spot for demon type horror/thrillers and this is fabulous. Just the right mix of terror and calm so I didn't have a heart attack while reading but came close! Excellent read for anyone who loves horror and a good love story.” Cat Connor author of killerbyte and terrorbyte
VENGEANCE (Book 2):
Living large in New York City as a corporate lawyer for the most savvy drug lord on the East Coast, Special Agent Steve Williams carefully plots Charlie Wisnowski's downfall. His plans go to hell when his wife Jennifer survives an attack by a serial killer. With her life in jeopardy and his undercover guise threatening to unravel, he orders Charlie’s arrest. But the sting goes woefully wrong and Steve becomes the target of a mafia assassin
hired by the biggest crime boss in America.
Escaping from the city, Steve and Jennifer settle back into their quiet life on the banks of Mirror Lake. Their peaceful existence shatters with a crippling loss and Jennifer’s visions escalate, forecasting a brutal assault on their family.
Armed with scant details from her dreams, Steve trudges through a litany of past connections, searching for the key to stop the course of fate.
What he uncovers chills him to the core - a brother with a grudge, a serial killer and a mafia assassin are all on his trail. The hunt begins...
“VENGEANCE follows FBI agent Steve Williams deep undercover inside a cocaine ring. With each chapter the tension mounts as Taylor turns the screws using multiple and excellent techniques to grip the reader. It’s a great crime thriller – an excellent read, it moves at a frenetic pace with multiple character threads woven through it to culminate in an explosive ending. I recommend it as a gripping read you won’t be able to put down.” Poppet – author of Darkroom and Seithe
HUNTING SEASON (Book 3):
When Kyle Winslow escapes from custody and targets everyone Special Agent Steve Williams cares about, a turn of fate brings Steve face to face with Ty Aris – a criminal mastermind topping the FBI’s most wanted list.
Torn between justice and vengeance, Steve must make a decision.
Join alliances with Ty, or arrest him and lose his best chance to catch the bastard who destroyed his family.
"Unstoppable, breath stealing, and terrifying all at once." - Cat Connor, author of killerbyte, terrorbyte, and exacerbyte.
House Rules Page 4
