Vegas Ch. 11

A number of the situations have been inspired by some of the small band of authors whose work I immensely admire. I have attempted to occasionally incorporate a flavour of their imagination in this story, in tribute to them. Without their inspiration, this story would not have been told.

This is the final chapter....

CHAPTER 11: THE FINAL TABLE

Daniel woke up with a king sized headache. How long had he been sleeping? He checked the time. An hour and a half's sleep before the biggest day in his life. He already knew he was going to be a poker millionaire, reaching the Final Table had guaranteed him that. The question was, how much could he win? He was aware that the higher he placed the more the prize money, culminating in the ten million dollar first prize.

But that was not all at there was at stake. Not only would the winner take that gigantic first prize, but the sponsorship and spin off actions promised to double that at the very least. And then of course there was the prestige of being the World Champion, the history associated with it, the rubbing of shoulders with the true poker greats. If not as an equal, it would at least be as someone worthy of consideration for entry into the big league.

The thoughts race around his head as he lay on top of the covers, still wearing his clothes from the previous day. His achievement in reaching the Final Table had been the greatest of his life. The amount of money he had earned was life changing. The potential rewards for further success were mind boggling. Yet all of that had paled into insignificance when he had returned to his hotel room.

What he found had simply resulted in the most devastating feeling he had ever experience in his life. On walking through the door, he could immediately see that all of Grace's clothes were gone. The empty closet and vacant open drawers reinforced that point all too clearly. But that shock was nothing compared to what he found next. A videocassette on the bed, with a note simply saying, 'Play Me'.

And so he had. His heart had dropped when he saw himself and Katherine on the screen. Somehow their lovemaking session that first night at Samuel Smith's had been captured in vivid technicolour. His initial reaction had been to turn off the recording. But after doing so, he realised that he needed to understand exactly what was on the tape. So, reluctantly, he had played it again.

His original feeling of horror at being captured this way had been compounded by the thought that Grace had almost certainly seen this, and that was why she had moved out of their room. There could be no other explanation. He cursed himself for being so stupid, so weak. He knew he had been playing with fire during his sessions with Katherine and he was aware he had no one to blame but himself.

But even as the thoughts went through his head, the video had cut to a view of Grace in the dressing room, the same room that he and Katherine had just been recorded in. Daniel quickly realised she was with Samuel Smith, who was explaining to her how he was going to make her a star, painting a picture of success as he took her hand and laid it on the bulge in his trousers.

"What I'm looking for right now, is evidence of your desire. I need to know just how committed to your own success you are, Grace," he heard him say.

And as the next part of the video unfolded, it quickly became apparent that not only did Grace want it enough, but she put her heart and soul into pleasing this man. How could she have done such a thing with someone she had never met before? It was when Grace had gone along to her first rehearsal, it had to be. All the time he had been experiencing such guilt over his and Katherine's activities, Grace had been cheating on him. She had been attending what she termed as rehearsals every day.

Some rehearsal he had thought, the anger building in him. No wonder she seemed happy to keep him away from the Club.

But as he watched, even that had not been all. As the video had continued he had watched stone-faced as each dirty little scene unfolded. He saw Katherine enter Grace's dressing room and felt physically sick when he watched her seduction and exploitation. This was the independent red haired woman who had manipulated every part of his mind and had caused so much angst as he had struggled to come to terms with the guilt he had been feeling.

And now it seemed she was being controlled by Grace? How the hell had that happened? And as he had continued to watch, the video faded into a second session between the two women, this time in Katherine's hotel room, the same room in which she had fucked Daniel whilst she trapped him on the phone to Grace. And then, finally, he had to watch some bastard take Katherine from behind, whilst she begged him to fuck her.

He had lurched to the bathroom and been physically sick, retching into the toilet bowl as the images invaded his mind. What the he had he got himself into? What sort of sick City was this? What had happened to Grace? Where was she now? And was this really what Katherine was all about? The thoughts had reverberated around his mind and he had slumped to the bathroom floor, sitting there feeling sorry for himself until he had been sick again.

After some time he had summoned enough mental energy to climb to his feet and had returned to the bedroom. He had removed the videocassette and attacked the tape until his hands were red from his exertions. He had ripped it to shreds, impossible for him or anyone else to view again. And then he had lain on top of the still made bed for a long time, the same thought echoing around his mind. Why?

It was not until eight o'clock in the morning that he had fallen asleep, and now it was half past nine. He felt tired, but wide-awake. The scenes on the destroyed video were again playing through his mind, albeit a little faster, more fuzzy than the real thing that he had watched playing out before him.

Almost in slow motion, he stumbled up from the bed, making his weary way back to the bathroom. His body ached all over and his mind did, too. Everything took him twice as long to complete and he stood under the shower for a long, long time, allowing the cleansing water to cascade down his body. He managed to shave despite his shaking hands and when he finished he suddenly found that he felt better, fresher, and was able to gain a different perspective on what had happened.

He had probably known in his heart that his time with Grace was coming to an end, and he actually surprised himself in that he did not feel too bad about that, it was more the way it had happened. He was also aware that his brief relationship with Katherine was as a result of their individual sex drives, nothing else, there had never been any chance of the relationship developing. So he convinced himself that was fine, too.

And after seeing the video, he decided that these two women deserved everything they got. The very least he deserved from Grace was a chance to talk through the situation and end their relationship in a different way, and any way would have been far more preferable than this. He momentarily wondered how much of this was known to Lauren, but then decided it made no difference to him.

He decided that if Grace and Katherine were happy with what they had done and where it would lead them, then so be it. Now, it was all about him. He would think about number one and not about pleasing anyone else. He was now rich and even if he did not win the event, he was guaranteed some poker fame. And if he did win the darn thing, that meant poker immortality. He had to turn his feelings about what he had seen on that video to his advantage.

From this very moment, he decided he was going to be fully focused on the day ahead, the poker he had to play. That deserved, and would get, his full attention.

He dressed slowly, attempting to refocus his mind. He wore his light chinos and black Practically Poker shirt. At least he would look good, even if he did not feel that way. He sat quietly on the edge of the bed, gently closing his eyes and breathing deeply, allowing the last of the negative thoughts to drift out.

It was only when he was eventually able to replace the pictures in his mind of Grace and Katherine, with image of the Rio card room, memories of some of the other players, recollections of hands played and won, did he feel ready to leave. He knew that he must have sat there for over half an hour, willing himself into a positive state of mind and one focused on the day ahead. Finally, he was ready.

Before leaving, he packed his case. He had no intention of returning to this room, or this hotel, again. He queued to pay his bill, a little more than he thought but a drop in the ocean compared to his combined winnings so far. He asked reception to ring the Bellagio and see if they could book him a room. They did, at twice the cost of his Treasure Island room.

When he arrived there by taxi twenty minutes later, he immediately upgraded to a suite. That act alone had a positive impact on his psyche. He left his bag with them, immediately grabbing the same taxi that somehow had agreed to wait for him. He gave instructions to head for the Rio and when they arrived, the cab driver received his biggest tip of the week.

*

It was arranged that Mario would drive Grace to the airport. Her flight to Hollywood would allow her an evening's rest before her big day. At first she had not believed Joshua when he told her that she would be making her album, but his smiling face and the contract he had shown her had confirmed the fact. This was her big break and if the album was successful, she would have made it into the big time.

Then he showed her the itinerary they had arranged for her promotional tour, with performances in all the major cities across America. This was a fantasy, a dream come true, and at long last she was going to reap the rewards of all her efforts over the years. Thanks to Lisa, Joshua and Samuel, her life was changing for the better and would never be the same again.

She packed early and rang Mario, asking him to collect her two hours ahead of the time they had previously arranged. She knew it was a good half an hour's drive to the tattoo parlour and she had one outstanding piece of business. She had thought about it long and hard the night before and decided that this would square the Vegas circle. When she told Joshua, he just laughed and gave her his blessing.

Although Grace's request was unusual, Mario followed her directions and he remained an interested spectator in the limousine as Grace headed through the familiar door, which appeared as if it had been the subject of one or two repairs since her last visit. The bearded giant of a man looked up from behind a counter as she walked a couple of paces across the wooden floorboard, a smile on her face.

"Hello, Sam," she huskily purred.

His eyes were wide open in surprise and he put down the magazine he was flicking through and returned her smile.

"Hello, Missy," his deep voice rumbled. "Now this is a surprise."

She stopped halfway between them and swiftly turned back to the door, swinging around the 'Closed' sign before turning the key to lock the door.

"You told me that Samuel didn't allow you to fuck his Angels," she softly said. "But you didn't say anything about an Angel fucking you. Has that ever happened, Sam?"

He slowly shook his head, his tongue flicking across his large, thick lips.

"Good, I want this to be a first," she purred, her smile broadening.

She turned away from him again, but this time it was in a different direction. Her sandals made no noise as she walked across the bare, wooden floorboards towards the black curtain at the rear of the room. As she was about to walk through, she paused and turned back to look at him.

"Coming?" she softly said, raising her right eyebrow before turning back and walking through into the back room.

She smiled to herself as she heard Sam's heavy footsteps on the floorboards as he hurried to join her. She had dressed specifically for the occasion and by the time he entered, she was naked. She watched his eyes widen again as he saw her, and crooked a welcoming finger indicating that he should come closer. When he did, he attempted to reach for her but she shook her head and took a step back.

The momentary puzzlement on his grizzled face disappeared when she stepped back to him and pulled up the same sleeveless t-shirt with its faded design that he had worn during her previous visit. For his age, his exposed, muscular chest was in good condition. She ran her soft fingers down the tattoos on both arms and then deftly unfastened the top button of his faded black jeans. Maintaining eye contact, she unzipped him and slid to her knees as she gently tugged the jeans down his legs, allowing him to step out of both them and his boxers.

Throughout his undressing his penis had been steadily reacting to the situation and Grace could not help but smile to herself when she saw the size of him again. He was just as she remembered. She pushed him down into the wooden chair behind him and lowered her red, glossy lips, her small cheeks billowing as her eager mouth enveloped his thick shaft. She heard him gasp in pleasure as she closed her full lips around him and allowed her expert tongue to commence its work.

Sam watched the incredible sight of her head gently rotating in his lap as she coated his entire shaft with her saliva. The suddenness of the situation had increased his arousal and he snaked his right hand down onto her moving head, his fingers tightly gripping into her silken, brown hair. She pleasured him for a few minutes, easing back until just the bulbous head of his penis remained in her mouth before taking his entire length again. When she felt he was close, her mouth left him and nibbled up his chest as she rose to her feet.

Without a word, she leaned in and kissed him, his thick, bearded face tickling her skin. As she did, she raised first her right and then her left leg so that she straddled his body, pushing him back into the chair as she felt the round tip of his heavy erection rest against her opened vulva. She eased herself down on him, and both sets of breathing were replaced with helpless whimpers as she slowly accommodated his exquisitely, full girth into her hot, tight body.

She looked down to see his mouth open as she fucked him, grinding and rotating her needy hips against him as she began to raise and lower herself on top of him. She dug her nails into his muscular chest as he hungrily squeezed her naked buttocks in his big hands, and looking down she saw the bearded face contort as he felt his own climax building. That encouraged her to increase the pace. After all, she had a plane waiting.

She increased the intensity of her downward thrusts, her hips loudly smacking against his naked thighs, and she could tell from the throbbing of his penis that he was close. She loved the eroticism of what she was doing, providing this older man with an experience he would remember forever.

"Is this good, Sam?" she breathlessly asked, continuing the pace she had set.

"Yes. Yes, Missy," his dry mouth responded.

Her breath was warm and soft as she pulled his head down to hers for a lingering, caring kiss, her active tongue running around his mouth.

"Good," she whispered. "You like fucking Grace?"

As she teased him with her words, she made a point of rotating her shapely hips in small circles, eliciting a long gasp before she began to simply hump him again, rising up his shaft and then plunging back down on him again. She was in control and determined to make this large man cum inside her.

"That's good," she hoarsely rasped, feeling her climax approaching. That was not supposed to happen, she wanted to make him orgasm first.

"Oh fuck," she gasped. "That's so good, Sam, so good...."

She realised that she could not hold back and with a cry, she reached her shuddering orgasm a few seconds before old Sam climaxed too. His big, bulky body trembled as he came, his hands tightly gripping her firm buttocks as her hands tightly wrapped themselves around his neck.

Ten minutes later she was back in the limousine and Mario was driving her to the airport. She purred contentedly as she glanced at her watch. It was just before eleven.

*

One hour before the noon start and Daniel had sat down for coffee with Norman Chad. He had explained to his new friend a little of what had happened that morning, though naturally enough without any of the detail. Chad had been a great help, talking him around from his still befuddled state and providing a few pearls of wisdom, forcing into him the need to blank everything out of his mind. For as many hours as it took, he had said, focus on only one thing.

Daniel had quietly thanked the television commentator for helping him put things in perspective and felt that where he had once been anxious and on edge, he was now calm and focused. Whilst his life away from poker had been turned upside down in the space of a few hours, that very fact brought with it the benefit that he had nothing left to focus on other than his poker.

Right now, peeking at the first hand dealt to him, Daniel pushed everything else out of his mind. He kept telling himself that he was the Chip leader going into the Final Table of the Main Event at the World Series of Poker. This was everything he had dreamed of and that was all that mattered. The pace of play continued as it had been in the final two hours of the previous day, tentative and slow. And that was exactly as Chad had told Daniel it would be. Patience, he had counselled.

It stayed that way throughout the first session and all through the second session too. Four hours into the day and there had been little real action. But it began to change soon after the start of the third session. The Alabama Cowboy, Hoyte Corkins, was on the button and raised with Ace-Ten of hearts. Minh Nguyen called in the small blind, as did Daniel with Seven-Six of diamonds in the big blind. The flop gave him a pair of sevens and a six on the turn gave him two pair.

The Cowboy went all-in when he paired his Ace on the river and Daniel had increased his chip stack further whilst eliminating the first of his eight opponents.

David Sklansky was the short stack and two hands later he went all-in against Marcel Luske. He left when his pocket sevens failed to hold up and the worst Daniel could finish was now seventh. Play slowed as they approached the dinner break and Daniel was sitting on three million in chips. But so was Marcel, and both Gavin Smith and Allen Cunningham were also in good shape.

Although Daniel decided not to tangle with Marcel at this stage, when the Dutchman made a small raise, in early position, Daniel called with Ten-Nine of hearts. Dan Harrington called behind him in the small blind, not something Daniel was expecting, as Action Dan was pretty low on chips.

The flop came Nine-Five-Two, giving Daniel's top pair.

Harrington checked and Luske bet another 100,000. Daniel tried to put the Dutchman on a hand but somehow failed to do so. Luske was an affable character and he hummed again to himself and the table in general as he dropped his upside down sunglasses over his eyes. Daniel was not going to lay top pair down but as a result of his uncertainty, he simply called.

To his chagrin, so did Action Dan behind him.

The turn was a Five, pairing the board. Harrington went into action, immediately pushing all his chips into the middle. Luske called. Daniel was sitting with two pair, but knew he was behind and folded.

Harrington turned over pocket Fives, for a set. Luske flipped over his pocket Twos for a full house. Unless he hit another five, or the board paired, Harrington was out. The Ace on the river confirmed the fact. Now there were six.