Keeper Ch. 06

When he had put it on, Blue had teased him about his latent cowboy tendencies coming to the fore, and he had only nodded, touched a finger to the black brim, and drawled "Ma'am."... and that was that. Blue secretly knew she was now in for some brand new cowboy fantasies.

Her own hat was an old, fringe-edged straw thing that had seen better days. When she had sat herself down at the game table, Orley had plopped it onto her head, proclaiming gruffly that it was the one that Jean had always claimed on poker night. Then he had briefly taken off his own hat, held it to his chest, and had dedicated the night's game to Jean's memory.

The third tradition was what John had brought with him in the plastic sack. Candies. Several flavors of hard candies now sat in the pot at the center of the table, as well as in front of each of them. Instead of playing strip poker, as John had teased her about, or playing for money, the betting was done with various flavors of jewel colored hard candies.

Blue had started out slow, often having to ask the order of winning hands, or if cherry drops were worth more than root beer barrels and peppermints, but she caught on fairly quickly. Now, two hours into the game, she studied the cards in her hand, holding them possessively close. Peeking up through the straw fringe of her hat, she met John's steady gaze as he watched her from beneath the brim of his own hat.

Or rather, she almost met his gaze. His line of sight was focused a bit too low for that, zoned in on her chest as it was. Blue hid a smile, and sat up straighter, purposely moving the cards in her hand away from her body, giving him a clearer view.

When they had arrived, he was still teasing her about her lack of poker knowledge. As they started the game, he was kind enough to help her through the first few hands, until gradually she could play on her own. And then, the further they had gotten into the game, the more ruthless John had become.

It was obvious that John Keeper played to win, and was not at all ashamed to use teasingly distracting tactics on her. Whenever Blue lost a hand he would catch her eye, give her a scorchingly heated look, and silently mouth the words for whichever article of clothing she would have just had to forfeit if they were actually playing strip poker.

He was purposely driving her to distraction. And she was going to get him back.

While Orley 'harrumphed' and made his bet, Blue arranged her face into a frown and looked again at her cards as if she were unsure of her next move. In her hand was three fours. Among the cards laid on the table was the fourth. Four of a kind.

She flicked a look up at John, and yep, his attention was right where she was hoping it would still be. Blue's chest expanded as she took a deep, deep breath to let out in a sigh. Oh yes, John definitely enjoyed that. Hesitantly she pushed several hard candies into the pot.

"Um... okay..." She 'indecisively' held onto the candies, giggled a little... oops, was the giggle too much? Too obvious? Probably so, better reign back on that... then sighed again and let go of the candy to make her bet a real one. Leaning back in her chair, she looked up at John with wide eyes and shrugged her shoulders, making sure the movement helped bring his attention back to her chest. "Your turn." She smiled angelically.

John blinked. And stared. Orley had to clear his throat to get the game rolling again.

Blue won two more hands before John seemed to catch on. He didn't seem to mind, though. Especially when she mouthed "Your shirt." and "Your pants.", copying his earlier teasing. His grin absolutely sizzled. But since he had figured out what she was doing, Blue decided to up the ante.

Abe brushed against her leg as he moved from beneath his spot under the table that he had claimed for most of the game. Wandering off in search of other amusement, his tail thumped against Blue's calf, giving her an idea. Before she thought about it too much and lost her nerve, she carefully toed off her shoe.

John picked up a red colored candy from the pot that Orley had just added to and held it between finger and thumb. "Orley," he intoned warningly, narrowing his eyes. "You betting cough drops again?"

Orley pursed his thin lips, ducking his head to peer myopically at the red drop that John held. "Well, I'll be damned. How'd that 'un get in there?" he asked innocently.

John shook his head and raised a brow. This wasn't the first time, and wouldn't be the last. It had become somewhat a game within the game for Orley to try to sneak in a cough drop at least once every game. He probably would be disappointed if John didn't catch it. And John would be disappointed if the old man didn't try it.

Hiding a grin, John set the cough drop to the side and waited while Orley chose the proper candy to bet with, sliding Blue a glance to see if she was giving away whether or not she had drawn a good hand. Okay, so he was giving her chest a glance first and foremost.

John had always had a thing for breasts. He liked everything about them, and he liked doing everything to them. He liked touching them. He liked squeezing them. He liked nuzzling, stroking, tasting, pinching, soothing, licking, suckling...

"Are ya gonna bet or what? I ain't gettin' any younger, here." Orley groused.

"Hold your water, old man." John grumbled back. He tore his attention away from Blue's absolutely mouth watering assets- because he knew that she had been trying to use them to get the upper hand, and while he wasn't embarrassed to admit it had worked for a short while, he'd be a sucker to let it keep happening.

Fanning his cards in one hand, he decided he had a fair chance at winning this one, if he was careful and watchful. Stacking his bet of three butter scotches and a lemon drop, he made sure he avoided even the vicinity of Blue's chest with his eyes. He'd be alright, he was sure, if he just concentrated.

John's leg jerked, and he nearly dropped the candies when he felt something softly nudge his ankle. It couldn't be Abe, he had just seen the dog vacate his favorite under-the-table spot a few moments ago... and oh, hell, no it surely wasn't Abe, because Abe wouldn't be sliding slowly up his shin like that...

Blue was looking at her cards, innocent as can be. But she had shifted in her chair and was now turned toward him more than she had been, and oh yes... that was definitely her toes that brushed down the side of his calf from his knee, her sock making a soft rasping sound as her foot moved against the denim of his jeans. Or maybe he was imagining the sound, as quiet as it most likely was. Just as his breathing probably wasn't as suddenly loud and his heartbeat wasn't as audible to anyone else as it was to his own inner ears.

By the time the betting was done, John certainly didn't feel like a loser, even though Orley had one the hand. How could a man consider himself a loser when Blue's foot was settled between his knees, her heel resting on the edge of the chair while the ball of her foot methodically pressed and massaged the inside of his thigh?

He pulled the brim of his hat down even lower and resisted the urge to shift his hips forward in the chair. By her position, he guessed she was stretched to her limit, and could reach no further without sliding practically under the table. His cock was hard as stone now, throbbing and straining against his fly, yearning for just one little stroke and press of that little foot. How would Blue react if he did shift forward enough, cradling his erection into the curve of her arch? He nearly groaned out loud at the thought.

The next two hands were torture. Or near Heaven. Hell, just a few more inches...

Blue uttered a tiny, surprised squeak when John suddenly grabbed her foot, his long fingers wrapping firmly around and gripping tight. Her eyes widened when she read his mind, sure that he was going to yank her closer, which would pull her out of her chair. Her bottom was already scooted to the edge as far as she could safely go.

His eyes sparked with devilishness. She quickly shook her head no. He grinned and began pulling. She gripped the arms of her chair and held on.

"You're evil. Evil!" Blue hissed nearly soundlessly, glancing quickly at Orley to make sure he was focused on his cards, thankful for the moment that her friend was increasingly hard of hearing and stubbornly refused to wear his hearing aid most of the time.

"And you are bad." John returned in a whisper. Suddenly his grin turned even more devilish.

Blue covered for a full body quiver as the tip of John's finger traced a line over the bottom of her foot from heel to toe with his fingertip by reaching for the cards that Orley was in the process of dealing. When he wouldn't allow her to pull her foot off from his thigh, she shot him the best scathing look she could muster, but he only picked up his cards with his free hand, ignoring the arrows.

She needn't have worried about being tickled again though. His touch became firmer, and this thumb began a rhythmic massage that continued on through the poker hand. Blue pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, biting to hold back a moan of sheer pleasure. Who knew a thumb pressing and pushing against the sole of a foot could be such an erotic experience? Apparently John was well versed in the matter, because he seemed to know all the key pressure points for maximum results.

Blue barely remembered what cards she was betting on and why. The breadth of John's large hand covered the front of her foot, warming her skin through her sock, and that busy, talented thumb made that warmth travel up her limb to settle and heat between her thighs.

Feeling John's eyes on her, she looked up. He had pulled the brim of his had down about as far as it could go, and still she could see his eyes locked onto her mouth. She realized that at some point she had parted her lips. Her mouth suddenly feeling dry as a bone, she poked her tongue out to wet her lips, and watched as his own wide, sensuous mouth twitched in reaction. His thumb paused it's massage on the ball of her foot, then resumed to slip up and nestle against a formerly unknown ecstatically sensitive spot between her toes, which shot an electric charge up her calf, her thigh...

"HAH!"

Jumping nearly out of her skin, Blue's foot jerked reflexively off of it's perch on John's muscled thigh at Orley's triumphant shout. Her old neighbor was raking the large pile of betting candies towards him with both gnarled, liver spotted hands.

"Yer gonna have to come play with us all the time, Blue-girl." Orley cackled. "Yer the best defense against Johnny, here. I ain't won this big in a coon's age!"

Blue laughed, blushing. John tipped his hat back on his head and grinned as he tossed the last two of his candies onto Orley's winning pile.

"I'd be glad to, Orley." Blue conceded. "But just you wait. I'll brush up on my strategies and then I'll be the big winner."

"Blue-girl," Orley nodded, using the name he'd been calling her since she was a girl. "You do that. I'd rather lose to you than this ugly puss here." Orley cocked a thumb at John and cackled once more.

"I'm not a kid." John proclaimed in lofty pretense, ignoring the 'ugly' part. He stood when Orley did, pushing his chair back and leaning towards Orley when the other man wobbled slightly upon rising. "Hey, Orley, you need anything before I take off tomorrow? I'm going to be gone longer than usual this time, don't forget."

Orley waved him away and scowled, but Blue detected an underlying fondness. "Eh. Don't need nothin'. Just you behave yourself over there, you remember that. Russia. Huh." He shook his head.

The men shook hands and patted each other on the shoulder. Blue stepped away to put on her coat, letting them have a moment to talk to one another in low murmurs. She knew that John had wanted to talk to Orley about a long overdue doctor's appointment that he had convinced the recalcitrant older man to go in for, and was willing to bet that Orley was reluctant to talk about it in front of her. It was just the way he was.

"I'll walk you home, Blue." John called out to her, taking the sack of candies that Orley had divided up even after winning them all.

"Blue-girl, you have a safe trip tomorrow too." Orley admonished.

"I will, and I'll be seeing you in about a week." she reminded her neighbor.

John shrugged into his coat and motioned for Abe to join them. "I'll bring Abe by tomorrow before I head to the airport."

"Fine, fine." Orley waved his hands in a shoo-ing motion. "Now get outta here, and close the damn door, yer lettin' all the cold air in."

~~~~~

"Come in."

"You sure? Aren't you tired, baby? It's been a long day."

John meant that in the best of ways. It had been a long day spent with Blue, her company more than he could have hoped for. Blue nodded, the movement making the side of her nose brush against his. She stood on the first step of her front porch, giving her enough height so he hadn't had to lean down so far, the last few minutes filled with slow, sweet kisses as a light dusting of snow fell around them in the darkness. He smiled against the coolness of her cheek.

"Was that a yes, you're sure, yes, you're tired, or yes, it's been a long day?" A warmth spread through his chest when she tightened her arms around his neck and nuzzled near his ear, laughing lightly.

"Yes."

They didn't move, except to align their mouths for more kisses.

"I have hot chocolate." she murmured when he released her mouth enough to allow speaking.

"Temptress."

Blue tipped her head back to laugh at the night sky. He leaned in to lick at the snowflake that landed on her chin, even though it had quickly melted before his tongue reached for it.

"Come in."