Betting on Love

by Alexis Abbott

  My hips pound into her so long that she almost collapses on the bedsheets. She scrambles to grab a pillow and hug it as she lets her face get planted into the sheets while I pull her back, holding her tight against me as I abuse her tight pussy. It fills her so completely that I can feel everything, every little twinge and change in her, each one giving both of us unending pleasure.

  She bites down on the pillow moments before she lets out what would have been a loud, desperate moan as she comes again, and I hold her hips tightly, possessively, greedily hoarding her for myself as pleasure washes over her entire form.

  But this time, she seems genuinely worn out, so I slow down, taking it just a little easier on her as I guide her through the orgasm. I massage her insides with my cock until it’s over, and after that, I slide out of her carefully and turn her around, laying her down on her back.

  She looks up at me absolutely dizzy, panting for breath as I slide my cock back into her from the top. She closes her eyes and shudders in delight as I enter her, but this time, I bend down and kiss her.

  For a few moments, I go gently with her, assuming she’s worn out. I move my cock back and forth, glancing down and seeing its thick girth appear and vanish through those wet lips over and over again. But as I’m doing that, I notice her start to push her hips up, and she pulls her legs back to drape over my thick shoulders.

  “Come in me,” she dares me through gritted teeth. I look at her blushing face, so full of determination and desire. “Don’t hold anything back.”

  I can sense the unspoken words just behind her lips.

  This could be our last time together.

  I lift her hips up to angle her up, and from there onward, I give her what she wants. I start thrusting into her from this new angle, feeling new sensations ripple up my body and make my balls tighten and beg me for release with each thrust. I hold out so, so long, pounding into her and hearing our wet slapping fill the room that belongs to some other rich fuck who’s going to feel our lovemaking in the air.

  I watch her whole body get thrusted back each time I push into her, and even so worn out and vanquished as she is, she pushes up and works with me. She starts clenching her pussy, urging me to release, and finally, I start to let myself go.

  I feel a spurt of precum escape me as the tightness in my shaft starts to unwind bit by bit, and in the next thrust, I feel myself jolt over the point of no return. I completely lose the practiced rhythm and descend into wild, primal rutting that makes her gasp and pant as I bring my mouth to her neck and ravish her. I pin her arms to the bed at the wrists, and I feel my hot, white seed burst into her.

  I let out a long groan as shot after shot releases into her. At the same time, I feel her honey flooding my shaft as she comes, and we buck into each other with untamed ferocity until we’re completely, utterly spent.

  Finally, it’s just the two of us and the sounds of our panting filling the large room as we stare into each other’s eyes.

  I slowly slide out of Hadley, feeling the last few pulses of unbridled pleasure ripple from my shaft up through the rest of my body, and I watch the thin trail of white run from her nether lips once I’m out of her. I lie down next to her and let out a deep, ragged breath, staring at those beautiful eyes, that glowing, satisfied face on the silk sheets as she watches me.

  “That right there,” I say, nodding to her, “that’s why we deserve better than this.”

  “Because we fuck so good?” she teases me, propping herself up on an elbow and batting her long eyelashes at me temptingly. I chuckle and lean forward to kiss her.

  “Yes,” I say, “but I mean, what we have. You’re in a whole higher league than the likes of Carl, just like I’m a cut above Jerry. We don’t need either of them. We’re making something... so fucking beautiful together,” I say, looking up and down her body. “We could run this city, if it were up to us. We just need to figure out how to get up there, and slipping around their backs forever isn’t going to cut it.”

  “My plan might be able to... take care of that.”

  “Why don’t we discuss it over a shower?” I suggest, nodding back to the large bathroom.

  “Is this even a room you have checked out?” she asks, laughing as I reach down and take her hands to pull her out of bed and up to her feet.

  “No,” I admit, “so someone could walk in on us at basically any time, but they can fuck off. What we’re doing right now is more important.”

  “I like the way you think,” she says with a smile.

  Moments later, we’re in a bathroom that’s quickly filling up with hot steam and stepping into the shower, letting hot water soak and cleanse our naked bodies. I feel the water run through my short hair, and the moment drops of water start to patter on her immaculate face, I want to push her up against the cool glass and fuck her all over again.

  Instead, I content myself to turn her around and hug her from behind, resting my cock against her ass and feeling it pulse softly while we rock back and forth together.

  “So, what’s this plan of yours?” I ask.

  “Well, if we want to run things the way we want to,” she says, “it won’t do to just deal with Carl and Jerry. We need something bigger than that.”

  “You’re right,” I say. “There are too many people still loyal to him. He holds a lot of sway with... well, the entire casino. These are mafia politics we’re talking about. We can’t just go in all guns blazing.”

  “No guns blazing, in fact,” she says, surprising me. But the look on her face shows just how pleased she is with the idea, and she goes on smoothly. “We’ve got the easiest way to make Jerry Laskin look bad sitting right in front of us: catch him cheating.”

  “At what?”

  “At one big game between him and Carl, winner takes all,” she says smugly. “I convince Carl that I’ll go peacefully and hand over Vanessa to Jerry as the cherry on top. But I want him to put us up as part of the pot. Winner takes all, and Jerry has to win us, fair and square. At a public game.”

  “So, if Carl wins, he keeps you and Vanessa and doesn’t have to pay his debt back, and if Jerry wins, he gets you both and every penny Carl’s got.”

  “Exactly,” Hadley says, turning to look up at me.

  “You know Jerry would just kill Carl if he lost, right?”

  “Yes, and that doesn’t matter one bit,” she says. “Because security is going to catch Jerry cheating at his own rigged game.”

  “And what idiot in his right mind would dare call out Jerry Laskin for cheating in his own casino?” I ask. I know I sound like an asshole, but I’ve got to make sure her plan is completely airtight in every possible way. But as always, Hadley impresses, and she looks good while doing so.

  “Easy,” she says as if waiting for that question. “I know a security guard who Vanessa has wrapped around her finger. He’d do anything to make sure she’s safe, but Jerry doesn’t know that.”

  “Impressive,” I say, stroking her sides and massaging her hips. “Last but not least, what makes you think Jerry will cheat in the first place? What if he plays straight and takes Carl to the cleaners?”

  “That is a risk,” she admits, “but Jerry wants me. You probably saw how he was looking at me from up above. My guess is they’ll both be cheating, but Carl cut his teeth counting cards when he was in his twenties. He’s a good cheater, and less likely to get caught at it if we have our man watching Jerry instead. And if a mobster wants something bad enough, he’ll do anything for it.”

  “You learn that from watching me?” I tease, slipping my finger between her legs and rubbing it over her clit. She gasps, but she lets out a soft laugh as she leans back against me.

  “Maybe,” she says. “This is the only way I can think of getting out of this without bloodshed. Without me having to run from the mafia for the rest of my life. Without having to run from you. From this.”

  “I like it,” I admit, smiling down at her. “Just one problem—get the two bosses on board for it.”
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br />   She turns around and looks at me with those eyes that show me every ounce of cunning she has, and a smile that tells me just how willing she is to use it.

  “Leave that to me.”

  Hadley

  It is so silent in this basement room of the casino building that you could hear a pin drop. I’m pretty certain everyone can hear the irritating thump-thump of my heart as I stand stock-still and frozen, watching the game being set up in front of me.

  There are not a lot of people here. Only a small audience of those who are intrinsically involved. Those of us who are tied to the match. Still, it should be enough.

  A couple of the attendees are playing security, meant to be referees and guides, to keep the ball in center court rather than letting the high-strung, high-stakes boundaries crumble and fall. Some of them are here to watch the head of the casino bet big. And still others of us, the less fortunate few, are here because we’re the prize. We’re the trophy. We’re the collective stack of plastic chips meant to be traded for wealth and success and ego.

  Once again, I find myself playing the role of some powerful man’s toy. Both of them want me, for similar selfish reasons. At one end of the table sits my current boss, the man who has controlled me like a puppet for years now: Carl. He’s leaned back in his fancy, expensive chair, wearing his fancy, expensive clothes and cologne so thick it burns my nostrils from way over here. There is a smug but rather pinched smile on his broad face, his eyes lidded as though he’s just the calmest, coolest cucumber in the crisper.

  But that’s all for show. It’s all part of his ruse. I have been at this industry far long enough to recognize a play when I see one. And this is all on purpose. The way he sits jaunty in his chair. The way he clicks two plastic chips against each other to make an annoying noise that grates on everyone’s nerves, including his opponent.

  Speaking of whom, his opponent is no novice to this world, either.

  Because Carl is playing against the one man who could possibly threaten his livelihood to such a screaming-high level: Jerry Laskin.

  At one end of the table is my boss, and at the other end is Dominick’s boss. The two of them have wildly different approaches to this match. While Carl is trying to play it cool, wearing that smug smirk on his stupid face, Jerry is going for intimidation. And with his heavy jowls, the purplish-gray bags under his drooping black eyes, the perpetual frown lines carved into his rough-looking face, and his overall aura of beastlike predation, he’s pulling it off pretty damn well.

  He looks rather like some grizzled old bloodhound, and there’s a haunted look to his features that make everyone uneasy, instantly.

  They’re both gambling tonight to win me, as if I were a prize, and not a flesh and blood woman with wants and needs and desires of my own. As if I were simply a stack of chips, meant to be passed around and turned in for cash.

  The room we’re all in is impressive, not the grimy, glum, dusty basement one might imagine would exist underneath a casino. It’s fully-finished with glitzy mid-century-modern fixtures and furniture. There’s a chandelier of sparkling Tiffany glass dangling over the center of the card table, serving as the sole source of light for the entire great room. It illuminates the glossy, unscratched mahogany table beneath it, with its elegantly carved table legs and side beveling. On the walls of the room are several evenly-spaced triangular sconces, but they’re unlit. At least I can say one thing positive about our respective bosses: they sure can appreciate what it takes to create a moody ambiance.

  And it wasn’t easy to get them here, either. I have always been a very persuasive woman. Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been teaching myself and finding new ways to convince people to do what I want. It’s a skill I’ve worked hard to hone and perfect over the years, and it’s saved my ass on multiple occasions. Of course, being an attractive woman certainly helps in that arena. All I have to do is bat my lashes, giggle, twirl my hair, bite my lip, lean in close, whisper, walk with undulating purpose—it’s all part of the same winning package.

  Even Carl, who has known me for years, who helped build me into the treacherous competitor I am today, is not immune to my forces. Dominick, too, is very convincing, but not in the same way. I use my wiles, and he uses his strength. I can con, but he can control. Together, we admittedly make one hell of a dynamic and dangerous couple.

  And so it was with his assistance that we managed to convince our respective bosses to sit down for a glamorous, winner takes all card game. As it turns out, it’s less difficult to coerce a couple of lifelong thrill-seekers and gamblers to take on a match like this. We knew they would each underestimate their opponent’s skill and desire. Their egos will be their downfalls.

  It’s a wild bet, but they agreed to it as a means of resolving their longtime stand-off. As long as they stayed at odds, neither of them could move forward. This card game is designed to break the stalemate. On top of that, it’s Jerry’s best chance of getting the girls—Vanessa and me—and Carl’s only shot at surviving past this debt to the mafia he’s incurred.

  Dominick urged Jerry to play under the conditions that if he wins, all of Carl’s girls will gladly and peacefully go to work for him instead. Carl will still have his debts to pay. And if that is the case, then I know Carl will die. The mafia won’t let him live in the red forever. If they can’t exorcise the money out of him, they will make him pay with blood. Perhaps there is a part of me somewhere deep down that might be capable of feeling sorry for him. After all, Carl has been a part of my life for a long, long time now. But when I think of all the terrible things he has done, not only to me, but to others… well, it’s hard to feel anything for him but hatred.

  I convinced Carl to play with the promise that if he wins, his debts to the mafia, to Jerry himself, will be cleared.

  Dominick and I put my plan into motion, and it’s nearly flawless. Except for something that Carl requested on top of having his debts cleared.

  He asked for security footage to be destroyed. He wouldn’t tell me what was on it, but Dominick was able to fill in the blanks. He tracked down the tape. At first, he didn’t even want to tell me what was on it, but that was not an option.

  Seeing it for myself was something I wish I could take back, though.

  Carl, grabbing Vanessa’s wrist. Pushing her against the wall. Hurting her.

  Evidence that he was the one who assaulted Vanessa the night she called me.

  She never told me who it was, and now I know why. She was terrified, not because it was some random casino creep, but because it was the man who held her life in his hands. It’s no wonder she went missing right after that. He must have been worried that she was going to tell someone about what he did and had her kidnapped. But if he could do something like that, knowing his rival would have it on tape, then I’m terrified to think of what he’s capable of in private.

  There’s no way he’s going to win tonight. Neither of them will.

  They just don’t know it yet.

  “Where’s the other girl?” Jerry asks, looking at me, and then scanning the crowd for Vanessa. The other woman he’s betting for.

  “Don’t worry,” Carl says with a smooth, practiced grin. “Once you win, Hadley and her will be yours. Hadley will see to that,” he promises and hatred fills my veins. But things have to go as planned, so I nod at Jerry.

  “She’s laying low, but I know where to find her.”

  Jerry scowls a bit at that answer, looking at Carl angrily.

  “This is bad business, Carl. I thought we were past that.”

  “Well she got spooked after your boys roughed her up.”

  “Is that what happened?” Jerry asked, raising a brow, and Carl stares at him, stony as ever. The game hasn’t even started, but they’re both bluffing each other.

  All around the room, pacing and stalking like some sharp-eyed jungle predator, is Dominick. He’s keeping watch, playing security to this high-stakes, illegal game. His eyes see everything. His training is absolute, hi
s control over the situation so measured. Nothing will slip past him, and I know it. In fact, I can almost convince myself I’m safe here, having Dom only a few feet away. He’s like a guardian angel for me. Whenever he’s close, I’m damn near invincible. I glance across the room at him and we lock eyes for a moment. There’s not a flicker of a changed expression between us, but I can see in his eyes an agreement. An understanding. Our plan is set in motion, and now all we have to do is watch the game.

  A stoic, quiet older man I recognize as one of the dealers from upstairs deals their cards out and steps back. There is utter silence in the room as the game begins. We all watch with rapt attention, learning Carl and Jerry’s respective maneuvers and tactics. Carl continues to smile and play it casual. Jerry remains stone-cold and brooding. With every card laid down, with every reveal, every bluff, a titter of awe and wonder passes through the small crowd watching. I do my best to follow the numbers, counting in my head frantically. It doesn’t matter much who wins, but I need to stay on top of things either way.

  The game tilts in the favor of Jerry Laskin.

  He’s winning, and that stony look on his face starts to crack, letting a smile sneak through. I stare at him with suspicion, and he catches my eye, a smug look of satisfaction and lust crossing his features. Something is off.

  Carl knows it, too. He looks nervous now, for once.

  But then, the young security guard comes over and murmurs in the dealer’s ear. The dealer raises a brow, terror seeming to drain all color from his face. The security guard—the enforcer who is sweet on Vanessa—remains stoic. He nods at the dealer, urging him on.

  The dealer swallows, and I can see the gears turning in his head, wondering at the consequences of revealing what was just told to him.