The Strip Ch. 10

"I understand you need some inspiration?" she asked, swinging back to face him. With a provocative smile, she yanked the tee shirt over her head. Her pear shaped breasts danced sublimely before settling.

He licked his lips. She smiled. Sex was on his mind. Hers, too. Her hands rose to cup her breasts. "Want them?" she asked, rolling her eyes as he adjusted his position in the large chair and began to unzip his trousers.

"You have no idea," he growled, fishing his lengthening cock from his pants. "Shut that door and come here, baby."

Carly walked to the door, and then hesitated. "Let's leave the door open," she told him, turning back as she unzipped and somehow dragged off her tight jeans. Big Eddie's eyes widened when he saw she wasn't wearing underwear. "I love danger, don't you?"

If anyone came up the stairs to his office, they'd see the two of them. That made the whole experience hotter for the spiky haired seductress. She didn't give him time to object. In four short strides, she'd crossed the office and slid to her knees. Since receiving Eddie's phone call, her body had been moist. She loved that. The anticipation of sex. She adored being in control, manipulating the next sucker to her will.

It kept her almost constantly horny.

"Oh yes, like that," he groaned, burying his hand in her spiky hair as her mouth slithered downwards and sheathed her target.

She took it slowly at first, licking along both sides of his hard length. Pausing for a second, she glanced upwards, the string of saliva between her lips and his cock slowly thinning until it dropped away. "What made you ring me, baby," she asked, her dark eyes teasingly staring into his. "You needed your Carly fix?"

"Too fucking right," he agreed, his words a throaty growl that reverberated around the room. This was the start of moving forward. The slut between his legs was right—she could help him get one over on that bastard Smith. He'd soon be on top of things again. "You and I are gonna go places, girl. Play your cards right and Eddie will take care of you."

"Mmmm," she murmured, deep throating him before pulling away. "I like that. You're gonna be top dog, baby? Carly likes top dogs."

He gasped when she took him deep in her throat again, throwing his head backwards as he fought of an imminent orgasm. Damn, she was good.

She helped his struggle by pulling away. She didn't want him cumming too soon. She needed satisfaction, too. "Gonna get rid of the opposition, baby?" she asked, swinging around and leaning forward over his desk. She wriggled her ass, telling him that her derrière was all his if he wanted.

"Too fucking right," he told her, his words a growl as he stood up and traced the snake tattoo downwards with his fingertips. When he reached her the snake's tongue that disappeared between her cheeks, he jammed his thumb inside her ass. "This is what I'll do to that bastard Samuel Smith," he grunted. "I'll fuck him over. The bastard better be prepared for what's coming to him."

He was knuckle deep, and expected her to flinch. Instead, the sexy little bitch snarled her delight, rotating her ass on his thumb and growling her approval. "Oh yes, baby," she snarled. "Want Carly's ass, Eddie? It's all yours! Tell me what you're gonna do to him, Eddie. Tell me while you fuck your little slut."

His thumb withdrew, replaced almost instantly by the tip of his cock "Uhn!" she moaned as he pushed himself an inch or two inside. She tightened her fingers around the edge of the desk. "Yesss… so fucking good!"

She drew a half breath before he pushed again, and again. He was halfway inside, then three quarter's of the way. "This is how I'm gonna fuck that bastard Smith," he snarled as he slid back and then lunged into her again, harder than the first.

"Oh, yeah, Eddie," she huffed, as his driving hips picked up speed. The desk creaked in protest. "What… are… you gonna do… baby?"

"I'll work it out," he growled, his eyes narrowing as the tightness of her ass closed around his manhood. "Geez…!"

"God, yes," she moaned, resting her head as far forward on the desk as she could. She lifted up on the balls of her feet, pushing her ass up higher as he fucked her. "Yes, Eddie, fuck your bitch!"

"Too fucking right," he snarled again, feeling his balls begin to tighten. "No one fucks with Big Eddie. When it's time, I won't need to worry about that bastard anymore! He'll be gone…"

He pushed down on the small of her back, shoving her flat on the desk as he went for broke.

Carly began to growl. "Ohgodohfuckohgod!" she cried, struggling to catch her breath. How long was it since she'd been assfucked? She'd forgotten what she'd been missing…

"Like that baby," he growled, driving into her. His eyes closed, attempting to delay the exquisite moment of release for as long as he could. His release was teetering on the edge of a knife. "Oh Goddd!"

"Oh Goddd!" she repeated, somehow manoeuvring a hand down between her thighs to allow her fingers to strum across her clit.

She came at precisely the moment his cock went off in her buttery cavity. His world was bathed in a red haze—hers in a series of psychedelic colours. Her body jolted in great, exaggerated ripples with the force of her climax. Each hot spurt of cum that invaded her ass brought another low howl.

Eventually, he pulled himself free with a fleshy pop. "For fuck's sake, Carly," he grunted, his pumping heart working overtime. "You're something else. Keep this up and you'll be the death of me!"

She slowly swung around and pulled him into a long kiss. Then her hands were playfully tugging on his goatee as she smiled deeply into his eyes. "You'd better believe it, Eddie!"

***

The fifty players remaining at the start of day four were all dreaming of Main Event glory. All except for one. Daniel was still reeling. Holly had related her conversation in the washroom. That explained why Rosie had walked over to him, handed him the watch he'd just bought, and left.

You lied, she'd said.

Since then, she hadn't answered a single one of his calls.

He'd been shocked and instead of stopping her, had watched his girlfriend leave. After twenty minutes of brooding, he'd left the Rio and travelled to Midnight Hot. He'd miss the start of day four, but so what?

She hadn't been there, of course. Not that he'd expected her to be. The barman said they hadn't seen her since she'd walked out. He knew that anyway. But he had nowhere else to search. Yes, she had an apartment, but he had no idea where that was. Carly was her friend, but he didn't have her number. He was lost…

Right now, all he wanted was an opportunity to explain everything. To make things right again. Why the hell hadn't he just told her about having sex with Holly? Explain the circumstances. She would have understood. It wasn't the sex that was a problem. It was the lie she couldn't accept.

Returning to the Rio, he was an hour late for the start of play. A few blinds had gone. And now he was trapped in a room with fifty other competitors, playing in the most important poker event in the world. He couldn't have cared less. His mobile phone was at his side—if only it would ring!

Holly headed over to him. "Any luck?" she asked, though his glum face told her the answer. "I'm so sorry," she added. "This is my fault."

Daniel sadly shook his head. His eyes were firm as he looked into hers. "No, Holly, it isn't. It's my fault. All I had to do was to explain things and I didn't. I still don't know why, but I didn't. The fault's all mine."

"What next?"

The crinkly haired Englishman shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know where else to look, Holly. I've just got to wait until she contacts me again."

"She will," Holly told him, though she was far from sure. Her hand softly rubbed Daniel's arm. "Listen, you've got a poker tournament to play. And it will take your mind off things. Just focus on what you have to do. The phone will ring when it rings. Don't throw this away…"

He nodded, but his deep sigh indicated otherwise. Running a hand through his hair, he glanced around, listened to the noise. Despite Holly's wise words, he just didn't want to be there.

"Look at your table," she urged. "Three pros."

His eyes wandered across to them—the delightful duo of Gavin Smith and Humberto Brenes, and the brash and dislikeable Josh Arieh. It was being called the year of the professional. There were considerably more pros in contention at this stage than there'd ever been since the Chris Moneymaker revolution. "So…?" he asked.

"So, they'll eat you up if you don't snap out of it. Look Daniel, if you fuck up and Rosie calls you later, you'll feel like a complete idiot. Push this to the back of your mind. Get on your game. Fuck, you don't want one of the last girls in contention to beat you, do you? I'm here to win this thing. So are you!" She dropped her sunglasses back over her eyes. "Okay, I'm heading back to my table to kick ass. Let's see you kick some, too…"

***

"Hey, girl," Grace greeted her sister, kicking the door to their suite closed behind her. "How's it going?"

Lauren's wide beam answered for her. The blonde was tucking into the soup and sandwiches she'd ordered from room service. "Goin' great," she murmured, jumping up from her seat beside the window and giving her sister a warm hug. "Here, I got some wine, too," she said, pouring and handing her sister a glass.

"Shit," Grace groaned, looking around the room. "I see you haven't done any tidying up. What the hell did you and Rach get up to last night?"

Lauren let out a delightful gurgle. "If you think this is a mess," she told her sister with a mischievous smile. "Wait until you see the bedroom!"

"Mmmm," Grace grinned, flopping down on the couch and taking a long gulp of her drink. "I so needed that," she said, holding out her glass for a refill. "So—a successful night, little sister? Spit it out…"

Lauren's eyes betrayed her child-like excitement. "I can't explain, Grace," she said, topping up her sister's glass. "I'm no innocent, but I did things since coming to Vegas that I've never previously done."

Her older sister laughed. "You're certainly no innocent, Lauren."

"True," Lauren chuckled. "But I've really pushed the boundaries, Grace. And the thing is, I want more. More experiences!"

Grace nodded, waving her glass in the air. She flopped back so that her feet could reach across to the top of the ottoman. "So…" she said, enjoying the wine. "This Rachal was everything you expected? Why didn't you keep her here for me to test drive? I cudda joined in! That's selfish, sis—"

Lauren felt a shudder pass through her. Rachal and Grace—now that would be an interesting threesome. There'd always been something about her sister's body—

Shaking her head to throw away the thought, she brought the bottle across and topped up both glasses. When she sat beside Grace, her sister saw that there was something else.

"What?"

Lauren pulled a mischievous face. "It wasn't just me and Rach…"

"What?" Grace repeated, almost spitting out the drink she'd just taken. "She brought a friend? Who? Don't tell me it was Kay? That woman is seriously sexy!"

"Not a woman," Lauren quickly explained, raising her eyebrows and wiggling them suggestively. "Her boyfriend."

"The other model?"

"Um-hum!" The smile on the blonde's face couldn't get any bigger. She looked like a kid who'd been given every Christmas present she could possibly have wished for.

"And… they stayed the night?" Grace asked, a sparkle in her almond coloured eyes. When Lauren winked, she threw her head back and guffawed. "Hell, girl, you got one up on me."

"It was incredible," Lauren enthused, standing up and twirling in an exuberant circle of joy before flopping back down again. "I have to tell you all about it. But how was Lisa?"

"How was Lisa?" her elder sister bellowed. "That woman has more tricks up her sleeve than a Kama Sutra instructress!"

Lauren threw her arms around her sister's neck and the two women collapsed in laughter. "I want to hear more," she said into Grace's neck, tears running down her cheek. "Kama Sutra instructress—I've found my true vocation. That's what I want to be!"

"Don't worry," Grace stuttered, her thumbs wiping away Lauren's tears of laughter, before she attended to her own. "I'll give you all the details. But let me have a pee first, sis. I'm desperate."

"You seeing Lisa again tonight?" Lauren asked as she unravelled herself.

"Yeah," Grace answered, heading towards the bathroom. "Why?" she asked with a sultry smile. "Does my little sister wanna join us?"

Do I ever, Lauren thought. Yes, please! answered. "It's not that," she settled for saying, "Kay's holding a party tonight. In celebration of the shoot. She wants you to come, too. From what Rach told me last night, it should be wild…"

Grace paused at the bathroom door. "Wild? And a chance to meet this Rach! I tell you what, little sis. I'll give Lisa a call. How about both of us coming along with you?"

Lauren's blue eyes sparkled their delight. "Really? That would be fantastic, Grace. Hey," she added with a wicked smile. "Maybe you and I could swap Rach and Lisa for a while? Try them out? What d'you think?"

"I think you're turning into a sex fiend," Grace grinned, hurrying into the bathroom. "But you know what, little sister?" her laughing voice shouted through the open door. "A foursome might be fun…"

***

The amateur from Ohio had controlled the early action. His chip stack was so superior to the others that even the three pros were staying out of his way. His strategy was to play just about every hand from the start, making big raises irrespective of the cards he was being dealt. It was powerful big-stack poker—stealing blinds, punishing raises. For a while it seemed that the table was unable or unwilling to prevent his march to glory.

Had Daniel been given any sort of hand, he would have pushed in against the golden haired man. Double up or get out. Despite Holly's supportive words, he had no intention of grinding through a long day. Besides, as soon as Rosie called, he was outta there.

But the cards hadn't come. Without them, he had no opportunity to be aggressive, not unless he had a suicide wish. These guys were just too good.

Approaching the first break, pocket Queens gave him the opportunity he'd been craving. With the chip leader to his left, he simply called, waiting for the inevitable raise. It was five times the big blind. Perfect. Daniel pushed all in when the play got back to him.

The man from Ohio grinned. "Trapping, huh?" he gently said. "Okay, I'm here to play. I call."

When he flipped over Jack-five, laughter ran around the table. "Man, I wish you'd play like that against me," Josh Arieh aggressively sighed. "You wouldn't last five minutes, man."

The flop was okay, but with Three-Five-Eight showing, it gave the chip leader some outs.

When the Jack hit the turn, the whooooshing noise that began at the table ran around the entire playing area. All the other players cared about was that another competitor was about to be knocked out. The bad-beat nature of Daniel's demise was irrelevant.

"Man, I'm on a roll," Willson barked, shaking his head.

Daniel sighed. As much as he'd begun with a feeling of not caring, to go out in this way was still hard to take. He'd have been better sticking everything in with whatever he'd had in the first hand of the day. At least he'd have saved himself a few hours irritation.

Standing up in time-honoured tradition, his chair squeaked on the floor as the back of his legs pushed it away. Then Holly was by his side, crossing her hands under her chin as if in prayer. "Pair the board," she repeated over and over under her breath, "Pair the board…"

The eight of spades on the river sent another sound flying around the room. This one was a gasp of disbelief. She'd got her wish.

Doubling up took Daniel from the bottom half of the field into the middle. Another double up would actually put him in contention! Maybe his good fortune would transfer to the phone? With a grateful grin to Holly, he picked up his mobile and moved away from the table. Rosie didn't answer. How many times was that?

With King-Jack of diamonds in the next hand, his aggressive raise was as much a result of his inability to contact his girlfriend as anything to do with his hand. Or was that his ex-girlfriend? Giving him back the watch seemed so final…

Willson called. "We meet again," the man from Ohio smiled.

The flop of Seven-Eight-Nine was no help at all. Not even a single diamond.

Adrenalin flowing, Daniel bet the pot. That would be enough to force the chip leader into folding—unless he had something. If so, Daniel would be in danger of returning the chips he'd won to the confident, golden haired man.

Unfortunately, Willson wasn't going anywhere. He made the call with all the confidence he'd shown since the start of play. Damn.

The turn was a six. Straight draw.

It was unlikely Willson had the five or ten, but with his loose play, the Englishman couldn't be certain. More likely he had a pocket pair, or Big Slick or Ace-Queen.

Daniel thought long and hard. Maybe he should make another small bet, to find out where he was? The problem was the size of Willson's chip stack. He'd be bound to at least call another small bet, no matter what he had. And then he'd be pot committed on the river.

The Englishman only had two options. The first was to check. He chose the second and pushed all in. Stupid. Foolhardy. But he did it all the same.

"What the hell," he heard Willson say. Daniel looked up to meet his opponent's stare. The man from Ohio slowly counted out the chips needed for the call and made a move to push them into the middle. Damn, damn, damn! He had his straight!

But the move was a feint. Designed to produce a reaction. In normal circumstances, he might have got one. But Daniel felt so blasé about whether he stayed or went—he was motionless.

Not getting the reaction he wanted, Willson sat back. He placed his hands on the back of his neck and continued to stare at the Englishman. Daniel's gaze held steady. Eventually, Wilson checked his hole cards again and casually tossed them into the middle, displaying pocket threes.

"I guess you hit the straight," he smiled.

Daniel turned over his King-Jack. The gasp around the table felt comforting. Two double ups in succession. Maybe he actually did have a chance of winning this damn thing?

Okay, start again. Park Rosie to the back of your mind like Holly suggested. For the time being. And play some poker…

***

"Geez, you look bad," the spiky haired brunette said, pushing up out of her chair to embrace the redhead. "Here, sit down, honey."

Rosie accepted the seat. She'd cried so much on the way to their meeting, she'd had to find a washroom to compose herself and freshen up. Then she'd been caught in the middle of that damn rain.

"I got you a cappuccino," the spiky haired woman told her, watching Rosie shake. "But you look like you could do with something stronger. Eddie's really got you scared, hasn't he, honey?"

"It's not that," Rosie said, then corrected herself. "Not just that, Carly. It's Daniel…"

Every nerve in Carly's body tingled. This sounded great news. If the couple had quarrelled, Rosie was falling into her arms. Not to mention her bed. "What's happened?" she breathlessly asked.

"We're finished, Carly…"

The spiky haired woman watched carefully as Rosie fought back the tears. Bingo! She was instantly on her feet, her hands pulling Rosie up with her. "Look at you," she sympathetically said. "Wet and miserable. Come on, we're leaving."