This Is War - Chapter 10 - The Gamble
Cole stood on his chair and cleared his throat. “Ladies and gentlemen!” he yelled.
What is he doing? No! Don’t call everyone’s attention to us!
“We have a dice chip in play!”
Cheers went up around the casino as a crowd swarmed our table. Everyone was pushing and shoving to see the action. A few guys even stood on nearby tables and slot machines.
Oh my God. This was my worst nightmare. There were so many people watching me. And I was still half naked. I crossed my arms to try to cover my boobs, but all it did was push them up more. Damn it!
“It’s okay,” whispered Chastity. “You got this.” She squeezed my shoulder.
To make a better show for our spectators, Cole flipped his cards. A two and a seven.
“Oh yeah!” I yelled in celebration. “I knew you were bluffing. Our straight beats your trash hand. Boom.” I pretended like my fist was exploding in his face.
Cole responded with a confident smirk.
What am I missing?
“Don’t celebrate yet,” said Chastity. “He has a shot at a flush.”
I looked at his cards again. They were both diamonds. And two other diamonds were showing. If one of the final two cards was also a diamond, he’d win. My chips and my body.
I held my breath as the dealer flipped the next card. An ace of hearts. Yes! I was still safe.
“One card to go,” said Cole.
“Yup,” I agreed. “Get ready to lose.”
“How confident are you?” asked Cole. “I’ll tell you what. I’m a gentleman, so I’ll still let you fold.”
“Now why would I do that?”
“Because if you do, then I’ll settle for a blowjob.”
“And if I don’t fold and you win fair and square?”
He stared right at me. “Then I’m going to bend you over this table and fuck you senseless in front of the entire casino.”
I gulped. Was he serious? The way he was devouring me with his eyes said he was very serious.
I crossed my legs under the table, hating my body for kind of wanting him to be serious.
No. No, I definitely didn’t want that. Not in front of all these people.
Why couldn’t he fuck me senseless back at his place like a proper gentleman?
“So what’ll it be?” he asked. “Fold or play?”
I looked to Chastity for help.
“Well…” she said. “It’s your choice. But the odds are in your favor.”
My heart was beating out of my chest. I’d literally die if I had to bang Cole in front of all these people. Would it be better to fold and blow him instead? At least then I’d get to keep my lingerie on…
“I…” My mouth was too dry to speak. Which would be really bad for a blowjob. And I’d much rather feel him deep inside of me…
“Play!” yelled one of the spectators. Then another guy joined in. And another. Soon the whole casino was chanting for me to play.
I looked around for some sort of sign. And there he was again. Tanner . Standing by the slot machines staring daggers at Cole. I tried to catch his gaze, but someone walked in front of him. And then he was gone.
Was I hallucinating? The stress of all this was messing with my head.
It wouldn’t be the first time I’d seen a ghost. Three years ago when my sister had disappeared, I’d kept catching glimpses of her face in crowded places.
At restaurants, on buses, on the sidewalk.
My therapist had said it was just wishful thinking.
I had desperately wanted to see her, so I had.
Chastity tapped my shoulder. “You have to decide.”
I stared at Cole. He raised his eyebrow at me and then his eyes scanned down my body like it already belonged to him. What a cocky asshole. There was no way I was gonna give him the satisfaction of scaring me into folding. Raven Black didn’t fold.
“Play,” I said.
Everyone cheered.
Oh God, oh God, oh God. I could feel my heart in my throat. Sweat poured down my sides.
“Let the lady do the honors,” said Cole.
The dealer slid the top card off the deck and put it in the center of the table face down. He motioned for me to flip it over.
I took a big gulp of my drink to stall for time. I could still fold. I could still get away with just a blowjob. But Chastity had said the odds were in my favor…
I put my hand on the card. Anything but a diamond. Please be anything but a diamond. I pulled one corner up ever so slightly so that I was the only one in the room who could see.
First I saw that it was a queen. But what mattered was the suit. If it was a heart, spade, or club, I won. But if it was a diamond…well, I didn’t want to think about that.
Anything but a diamond, I repeated in my head as I peeled the card up a bit more to see the suit. And it was the queen of…diamonds.
Fuck.
Fuckity fuck fuck shit!
I went into total panic mode. Rather than flip the card, I slammed my hand on top of it and pinned it to the table. If no one saw it, then my body was still safe.
But it was only a matter of time until Cole would force me to flip it.
And then what? Would Cole tear my lingerie off?
Or would he make me get on the table and strip?
The thought was horrifying, and I hadn’t even gotten to the really crazy part.
I pictured myself lying on the table, the chips digging into my flesh as Cole thrust into me.
Would the crowd cheer when he claimed me?
Would Chastity watch? And how big was he? Because he looked like he was packing.
I shifted in my chair and tried to look for an escape. But there was none. The crowd around us was too thick. I’d never be able to push my way through them. I was trapped.
“What’s wrong?” asked Cole. “Didn’t like what you saw on that card?”
“Can I still fold?” I asked. My voice squeaked as I said it.
Cole laughed. “I’m afraid it’s too late for that. Flip the card.”
Chastity gave my shoulder another sympathetic squeeze.
“Flip the card!” chanted the crowd. The crowd that was about to watch Cole ravish me.
Could I just refuse? Rape was strictly forbidden in the Society. So if I said no, he’d have to honor that. Or did the dice challenge trump that? It had been very clear that my body would belong to him if I lost.
And I’d lost.
“Flip the card!” continued the chant.
I was out of options. And honestly? As mortifying as this would be…
I couldn’t stop staring at Cole. He was so handsome.
Would it really be the worst thing in the world if I climbed on this table and spread my legs for him?
I took a deep breath. Raven Black was filthy.
Or maybe I was just turned on because I’d just seen Tanner’s ghost. Fuck you, Tanner.
I removed my hand and flipped the card. And Cole’s face… sunk?
Huh? Why was he upset? He had won. I looked at the card. It was a two of clubs. I blinked to make sure I was seeing it right. How is that possible? A second ago it had been a queen of diamonds. I was sure of it.
But now it was definitely a two of clubs. I looked back over my shoulder to where I thought I’d seen Tanner. But he wasn’t there. Because of course he wasn’t.
I looked back down at my cards. It took a second for it to sink in that I’d just won. I’d freaking won!
“Ha!” I yelled right in Cole’s face. “You suck!”
“Should have let her fold, sucker,” said Chastity as she scooped up all the chips. $360K worth.
Cole shrugged. “It’s your loss, really. You could have had the night of your life.” He gave me another stupid cocky smile and left the table.
***
I was exhausted by the time I got home. I’d had way too many drinks without nearly enough food.
And it was about six hours past my bedtime.
I stumbled through my tiny family room and into my giant closet.
The two rooms could not have been more different.
My apartment was one step above homelessness, while the closet was fit for a queen.
Queen. The image of the queen of diamonds popped into my head. That had magically become a two of clubs. How was that possible?
It didn’t matter. Because despite being exhausted, I felt alive for the first time in months.
Every ounce of sense I had told me to forget about Cole.
He was clearly a total manwhore. And he would have been more than happy to strip me down in front of an entire room of people and have his way with me.
And yet…I couldn’t stop thinking about him. More than once since he’d walked away from that table, I’d found myself wishing that I’d lost. Especially after I went to the cashier and found out that my $360K in winnings was actually just Monopoly money.
When could I see Cole again? I could probably convince Chastity to go back to Club Onyx tomorrow night. But first I needed to get out of these clothes and get some sleep.
I pulled my dress over my head and hung it up on a rack before slipping out of my bra. God, it felt so good to get out of that push-up bra.
“You should be more careful,” said a deep voice.
I screamed and nearly fell over. What the hell!? Who’s in my closet?! I covered my boobs and spun around.
“AH! Die, pervert!” I chucked my bra at him, dove behind a table, and started throwing shoes.
He dodged them all easily.
“Are you stalking me, baby?”
Oh God, the last thing I needed was another stalker… Wait. That’s not what he’d said. He’d asked if I was stalking him. And I only knew one person that would say that to me. I poked my head above the table.
What the hell? My heart started beating even faster. And tears welled in the corners of my eyes. It couldn’t be. “Tanner?” My voice cracked.
“That’s my name.”
“Tanner!” The tears spilled down my cheeks. I ran over and gave him a big hug. It was really him. He was here.
“Ash.” His arms wrapped protectively around me, holding me firmly against him.
The smell of blueberries washed over me. God, I loved his smell…
No! I hated him. And his stupid smell.
I pushed him off and covered my boobs again. My heart was still pounding. But I wasn’t scared now. I was fucking furious. “What are you doing in my closet? You can’t just sneak in and watch a girl undress.”