Alien Vacation Ch. 09

Miranda's plan for the casino played out easily enough. Kyle and Angela both turned a few thousand dollars into chips as a reasonable start, freely sharing with Asami and Miranda. The four explored the gaming floor, feeling no particular need to rush since the goal was to hang onto their money and cash out again later rather than lose it to the casino. Angela and Asami gradually paired off. Kyle and Miranda held hands as they wandered.

Psychic flirting held more attraction than gambling, though eventually Kyle gave it a try.

Within minutes at the tables, Kyle made a new discovery: Xin made him insanely good at blackjack. Angela quickly discovered the same talent. Though Xin couldn't predict everything flawlessly, she kept up with the game with incredible speed and acumen. Where they'd thought to throw away a few chips on a lark to make their efforts look good, Kyle and Angela both found their piles of chips steadily increasing.

"Winner again," said the dealer, pushing chips Kyle's way. He looked down at the pile in front of him in mild surprise. Within only a few games, he'd doubled his starting funds.

"Holy shit," he murmured.

"Don't look too shocked," Miranda whispered in his ear. She seemed just as pleased as him, but held her poker face better. "Sometimes people win. Don't draw attention to it."

Xin scoffed. Oh, I can fix the attention. Listen, there are cameras everywhere, but it still takes a person to decide you're a problem. Or no problem at all, as it happens.

"Winner," called out the dealer behind them. Angela and Asami laughed happily as her pile increased, too.

"I'm going to guess this is more of your power at work?" Miranda asked.

"Kinda. Yeah." Kyle paused. He leaned in to speak under his breath. Xin would make him understood to Miranda alone without fear of eavesdropping. "Feels a little like cheating."

"Don't you dare," Miranda warned playfully. "This is Vegas. The whole business is based on giving the player bad odds. If they didn't want you to turn the tables on them with psychic powers, they should've written that into the rules."

"It probably is written down somewhere just to cover every base," Kyle joked. He pulled back from the table, gathering his chips on a tray after leaving a tip. "Maybe we ought to call it good for a little bit if you're bored?"

"Are you kidding?" asked Miranda. "I'm having a blast. We can keep at it all you want."

"You're mostly watching."

"I'm watching you," she said, kissing his neck. She lingered there. Kyle's eyes wandered to his other two partners and their shapely legs hanging from the stools at their table.

Xin's perceptions wandered, too.

"I trust you," Miranda said, still trailing her lips around his neck. "I long for you. I enjoy you. I like being at your side. Feeling like a partner."

"You are," Kyle breathed.

"Including your partner in crime?" She flashed him a teasing, naughty grin. "You don't have to be a saint with me. Or the others."

"Are we talking about women or money?" he chuckled.

"Both."

Did I mention how much I like Miranda? Xin asked.

He looked around the room absently, with no more of a goal than coming up with the next thing to say. It was a moment's wandering of thought, nothing more, though Miranda's proposal sparked his wandering eye. Once again, he felt a certain synergy with Xin.

His psychic partner picked up far more of interest than his easy glance.

Kyle. Oh wow.

"All I'm saying is we know our personal boundaries," continued Miranda, trailing her lips along his neck. "We're comfortable with them. I think we're all looking forward to be a little naughty."

Hah. Funny she should put it that way with these two topics. Over there. Walking away from the bar. Look.

His eyes followed her urging. With Xin's guidance, he promptly spotted her interest: confident and beautiful, probably a little older than Kyle, with her dark hair in an asymmetrical cut. Her light blue dress suggested a shapely figure. Their eyes met for a split second. He knew it had to be Xin's influence, maybe the result of a little probing, but the woman's lips twitched with just enough of a smile to suggest at least some passing appreciation.

The man beside her distracted her from anything more. He was definitely older but still fit, with broad shoulders and a relatively trim figure in a button-down shirt and slacks. Kyle immediately read negative vibes from him: a cold heart, an ease with doing harm, a certain callousness inside and out. Possessiveness, too. The man took his companion's wrist rather than her hand, but they didn't seem to struggle. A less discerning glance might think them pleasant.

She knew how to navigate all that. Knew how to live with him. Knew how to make the best of it, which ultimately wasn't all bad. But it had its trade-offs.

She held Kyle's gaze for only that moment, almost smiling at him with a distant appreciation. Then they moved on.

"Wandering eye?" Miranda teased.

"Sorry."

"Don't be. Ever." Her lips still trailed his neck. "What did you see?"

Okay so I know we came to account for the money you already have, but... how would you like to go home with a lot more?

Kyle blinked. He thought: I kinda feel like that's inevitable at the way Angela and I are picking up on blackjack. I'm assuming you're gonna do the same for Miranda and Asami, too?

Obviously. Blackjack and every other game of more skill than raw luck. Don't ask me to beat those slots, though. What a rip-off. It's just sad. But Kyle. It's not just blackjack. The other card games here are even easier. I mean, I can track a few decks and play the odds, but against live opponents with brains...?

Hey now. It's one thing to throw a superior alien intellect at a game against a bunch of shuffled decks. Mind-reading our way through a card game is a little harsh. Anyway, who was she?

Getting to that. Her. Them, really. So you're sure you don't want to lean on me in a card game ever? Even if the players are terrible people?

Like, really terrible people?

...and fucking loaded?

Miranda was still painted to him. The others kept tearing up the blackjack table. Nobody would bother them. Xin assured him of that. She also teased him with a few more details.

"Hey, Miranda?" Kyle whispered.

"Mm-hm?" Her face turned up toward his.

"How would you feel about exclusive high-stakes poker with some really shady characters?"

Her eyebrows rose with intrigue. "How shady?"

"Shady enough to include a couple of walking international arrest warrants sitting at the table." He paused. "And six-figure buy-ins without a single honest dime."

Miranda flashed him her sultriest grin. "Tell me more."