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I looked at the business card in my hand and then up at the ancient house. From the outside, it looked as if no one had lifted a finger in upkeep for years. But the man who gave the card to me was one of those fatally attractive types. The minute his dark eyes landed on me, wetness dripped between my legs. I can’t even remember his name, but the sound of his voice still hummed in my ears and his spicy scent wafted around me like magician’s smoke.
He had taken the seat next to me at the five-card stud table and as I threw my last dollar in the pot, he glanced at his cards and folded. Unfortunately, the dealer’s hand beat mine and my stomach dropped to the floor.
Dark eyes leaned close and slid the card into my hand. “Maybe next time you’d like to frequent a house where your odds are better.”
Just his touch sent a rash of gooseflesh across my skin, along with some of the more lewd thoughts to go along with it. I think I even came a little when he flashed his grin at me.
That was two weeks ago and as soon as I got my paycheck, I put on this old silk dress and pulled the card that I had taped to the refrigerator. As I stared at it, I debated whether to use a portion of my gambling money for a ride to the casino or to the address listed on the card.
And now I was wished I hadn’t sent the cab off the minute he dropped me at the curb. Silence blanketed this section of the neighborhood and the iron fence creaked as I pushed it open. As soon as I stepped onto the walkway, the sub-bass beat I hadn’t noticed at the curb pounded into the soles of my high heels.
I glanced at the card again, just to make sure. The blood-red address stood out on the white vellum. I ran my thumb over the letters. Below the looping script read Formal Attire Required, as if it had been stamped on as an afterthought.
The dress I wore matched the color of the text and I bit my lip. My insides scrambled, raising a siren that almost made me turn and run, but my feet had other ideas and moved me forward toward the door and the beat that pounded in the ground beneath me.
The hesitation in my blood burned, leaving me annoyed at my skittish response to the old house. The drapes covering the windows didn’t give a hint at what played beyond them. Under a moonless sky, the dark seemed absolute, as though the house were just an extension of the night.
The first wooden stair creaked under my weight and the pounding became less pronounced. Each step screamed at me and by the time I climbed the dozen steps to the covered entry, I was more than just a little spooked. One glance behind me at the fog that rose thick enough to block the view of the road made my decision. I turned and banged the ancient brass knocker three times.
I shifted my purse from one hand to the other and just as I turned away to find the road and a long walk home, the high-pitched whine of the door hinge pulled my attention.
“May I help you?” The words sounded as if the elderly gentleman had grave dirt in his mouth. I let out a nervous laugh and glanced beyond him into the grand foyer of the house.
I handed him the business card, unable to speak at the spectacle before me. The entry looked just as ignored as the front of the house. When the butler smiled and waved me inside, I shivered, unable to move from my spot.
“Um, the man who gave me that card...”
“Yes. Mr. Kaine mentioned you might drop by. Please, come in and I will bring you to the casino,” he said.
All I needed to hear was casino and my brain stopped functioning, turned off all the warning signs that accosted my body. I stepped over the threshold and scanned the decrepit home. The sound of the door shutting behind me gave me a start as the ancient butler started toward the hallway to the right of the sweetheart staircase.
The hall was dark and musty. I had to rub my nose to keep from sneezing, but my eyes still burst with tears to fight the dust. I blinked them away. A great wooden door stood at the end of the hall. The old wood glowed under the low light bleeding through the frame, outlining the graceful arch at the top. When the butler opened it, it let out a groan that was drowned by a modern beat.
Music drifted up the stairs; the butler waved his hand and stepped aside so I could pass. Once I was on the landing, the door closed. I sensed that my only way out had just been shut off.
I tried to shed the weight on my chest, but with each step, both the music and a level of fear that left my mouth sour pressed against me. I licked my lips with a tongue that carried no saliva. I took the last turn and stopped. The gaming floor laid out in front of me seemed bigger than the footprint of the house. My breath stalled with that familiar pulse beat in the back of my throat that spread a tingling need through me.
I stepped onto the dark wood floor and scanned the tables looking for my poison, and then I saw the neon sign announcing the poker area. The sign sparkled and I started in that direction. As I got closer, I realized I couldn’t see in the room. A veil of black surrounded it, buffering the view and when I stepped toward the door, the pit boss caught my arm.
“Only those that purchase chips can enter.” He gave me a sharp once over.
“Oh,” I mumbled and opened my pocketbook, pulling out my meager two hundred dollars. It was all I had and I prayed I’d see it at least double before I left.
He gave me a tight smile and traded the cash with odd-looking chips that looked like gold, but had strange symbols etched in each side.
“Thank you,” I said and he parted the curtain just enough so I could slip through and then he released the fabric and closed down my exit point. I scanned the room and swallowed the lump that had formed and blocked my ability to breathe. There was only one table under an eerie spotlight in what seemed like a cavern of black. My gaze met his and the warmth I felt at his proximity in the bar wrapped around me and pulled me forward like a wrangler with a rope.
The song playing faded and the new one made me slow my step. “Layla” by Eric Clapton started and my cheeks burned as my gaze fell back on the dealer. He smiled.
“Why hello, Layla, welcome to hell’s den.,” He spread his hands out. His smooth tone nearly knocked me over.
“Um, hello.” I glanced around at the empty space. “Am I too late?” I asked because I couldn’t fathom being the only player.
“No, darling, you are right on time.” His dark eyes sparkled. “Why don’t you take a seat?”
The chair looked inviting, so I sat and dumped my handful of coins on the table. Mr. Perfect slid in the chair opposite me and folded his finely manicured hands before him on the table.
I took a quick look at his lapel, looking for a nametag but it was just smooth, unbroken black fabric and I met his gaze again. “I’m at a disadvantage. You know my name, but I don’t know yours.”
“Kaine,” he said.
His voice sent a chill of pleasure through me, and I busied myself with piling my coins in a neat stack. “Well, Kaine, what’s the ante?” I licked my lips and met his gaze.
“A day.”
I blinked and my gaze dropped to my chips. Confused, I looked back up at him. “I, um.” I glanced around the room. “Is this a joke?”
His laugher wrapped around me in a caress that left me wet and wanting.
“No. House rules. The ante is a day. Twenty-four hours. You have to open with a day as well.”
“I don’t get it...” I trailed off.
“You have two hundred days to lose and the ability to win an unlimited amount.”
I stared at the gold coins and then back to him. “What about money?”
He leaned forward. “Time is more precious. Now, are you ready?”
“No,” I said and stood. This was not worth my time and despite the need to stay in the good graces of Mr. Perfect, I needed money more. I had a rent to pay, food to buy, all the mundane things that kept me alive.
His eyes flashed a warning. “Sit down.” He didn’t raise his voice, but his tone matched the sharpness of his gaze.
I paused. “I need money.” I reached for my coins. There were plenty of ways to win out on the casino floor.
His hand clasped around my wrist and yanked me closer as he stood. Our faces nearly met over the center of the table and the first thread of fear wound its way around my legs.
“You no longer require money,” he whispered. That scent that had made me nearly cream my jeans two weeks ago made my stomach roll.
I yanked my wrist from his grasp and stepped back. The smile he sent my way broadcast the underlying meaning. It was far more diabolical than I was willing to gamble on, but my feet were planted in place.
He leaned forward and his hot breath tickled my ear. “If you forfeit, you will forever regret not taking the chance to win more time.”
“What does that mean?”
“You have a chance to win time; if not, you have a choice between an eternity of pleasure or pain.”
The choice seemed easy, but as his hand waved to the right, the viewing of what I assumed was pleasure left me cold. Several men and women were bound and splayed while a pack ravaged them. I wasn’t sure whether the ones ravaging were men or women or something else altogether and I shuddered. Not one of the poor souls had an empty orifice, and not one looked like they enjoyed being pillaged.
I pulled my gaze away from the lewd scene and met his dark eyes.
“You are out of your mind.” My voice held the throaty quality of fear.
“House rules.” He tilted his head and waved to his other side. “Unless you would prefer this destination.”
My stomach did a slow roll at the gruesome display. The main staple seemed to be knives and the poor victims couldn’t scream beyond the duct tape as blades slowly sliced them to pieces.
I forced myself to look down at the table between Kaine and me. I had gambled all my life, had left my husband and kid destitute. I no longer had a home beyond the casino and that was only on my winning days, which were fewer and far between these days.
“Who are you?” I whispered when I was sure I wouldn’t throw up.
He just smiled and dealt the first hand. Setting the cards down, he waved toward the latest brutal scene. “Pain?” Then he waved his hand to the sadistic orgy. “Or pleasure?” His last wave went to the table. “Or play?”
“None of the above. I want out of here.” I glared at him.
He chuckled. “Then I will choose for you.” He picked up his cards.
When he lifted his gaze from the cards, I wanted to shrivel up into a ball and disappear.
“Why am I here?” I asked, stalling. I did not want to pick up the cards he dealt. I had a feeling the minute I engaged in this mad game, I was lost.
His gaze narrowed as he studied me. “Put your ante in and pick up your cards,” he growled.
I jerked in the seat in shock and then flicked a coin into the center before I reached for the cards. It was hard to concentrate with my hands shaking as though I were in sub-zero temperatures.
My cards weren’t bad: I had two kings, a jack, a six and a four. I dropped the six and four and put two fingers up.
He chuckled. “What’s your bet?”
I flung another coin and shivered at the thought of even a day in chains. “Where are we?”
“You have stepped into my domain.” He matched my bet.
“And what domain would that be?” I leveled a sharp snark in both my glare and my voice. I figured showing fear had diminished my chance for getting out of this room in one piece.
He matched my bet and dropped a single card. My stomach knotted as he dealt two cards to me and a single one to his hand.
I had pulled out two pair with a king high, but his single card weighed on me. I bit my lip and counted out three chips, tossed them in the pot while I gave him a tight smile.
“Hell.” He called and spread his fucking full house across the table.
My cards flew toward the table and he grinned, collecting coins in slow motion. The tink of metal echoed and when he looked up, I slid my chair back.
“That’s eight days.” He moved through the table as if he was a ghost and before I could blink, the burn of his hands lifted me and slammed me into a hard wall.
My chest heaved as shock, fear, and anger webbed through me. His hands were rough as they tore the fabric of my dress. His mouth was even worse as it closed over mine, forcing a kiss that tasted like brimstone and ash.
“Where did you say we were?” I asked when he pulled away, fixating on me with a salacious grin.
“You are in hell,” he whispered.
I blinked as his hands continued to explore my body. The satin buffered me from his scorching fingers. “That would make you...” I trailed off and shivered. A cry let out as his fingers found an opening; I tried to shove him away. Invisible binds pulled my arms wide, clamped them in place even as the rest of me struggled against his advances.
“That would make me Kaine,” he whispered. My mind couldn’t grasp any meaning in the name. I gasped as his hands pushed my thighs apart.
“Is that supposed to mean something to me?” If I kept talking, maybe this lunatic would back off.
“Yes,” he whispered, and this time the tone was the same as it had been in the casino a few weeks ago, prompting emotions I would rather kill at the moment, along with his smug grin.
His chuckle was punctuated by more tearing at the silk fabric and I panicked. “Why am I here, again?” My voice hit a high pitch.
He stopped his exploration and met my gaze. “You are on the edge of death. If you lose all your chips, you belong to hell.”
I fought against the thought and a flurry of questions drowned my mind. I had no recollection of an accident of any sort. This had to be a sick joke and I spat at him. “Let me go!”
“I have you for eight days,” he said.
“Not if I win them back,” I said purely out of desperation. A growl in my voice overrode the fear.
“House rules: you pay your dues as they accrue,” he whispered, his voice no more than a feral snarl.
“Fuck the house rules,” I gasped.
He pulled away from my skin with a blink. His eyes flashed something more than just the beast with wandering hands, as if he waited for me to say something. When I just glared at him, his features hardened.
“Feisty bitch.” He leveled a sharp gaze at me. “Perhaps I’ve miscalculated,” he purred. “Instead of hell’s whore, I may claim you as mine instead,” he said. And damn it all, my cheeks heated. He was a fine specimen but I just never pictured being the devil’s slut for all eternity. I said as much.
He leaned in close. “I’m not the devil,” he whispered and stepped away. With a brush of his hand, whatever held me in place let go. I pulled myself back together with what was left of the red silk fabric. I hand combed my hair back and met his probing stare.
“Does this mean I get another chance to win my week back before you defile me?” I tried to sound confident, but my shaking voice only served to entertain the bastard.
He circled around me, looking like a feral beast and when he bit his lip in contemplation, I cursed the flush of heat that encompassed me. The way he stalked around me made both my heart and my pussy clench. My thoughts wandered of their own accord and my gaze slowly dropped from his intense eyes, to his full lips, and then down to the open vee of his shirt to the smooth, tan skin of his chest.
I couldn’t help it; I licked my lips and my damn libido fired up.
Kaine stepped closer. “I will give you a chance, but if I win, you have to swallow me whole for however many days you lose.” He took my hand and pressed it against the front of his pants.
What lay beneath the fabric pulled a squeak from my throat. My heart did triple time at the thought of sucking him. He grinned.
“Deal?”
I blinked, my hand still cupping a part of his hard form and for a moment, I questioned whether this was real or just a really hot dream. It seemed all too familiar. His throaty chuckle brought my gaze back to his.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” He stepped away, taking a seat at the table.
With a wave of his hand, both visions disappeared and it was only the two of us, surrounded by absolute blackness. He shuffled the deck, scanning my disheveled form. “Sit.” He nodded toward the chair.
The little voice in my head balked but my body obeyed; I took a seat. Five cards sailed in front of each of us and he raised an eyebrow. I tossed in my ante and he matched it. When I picked up the cards, my throat closed and I had a bear of a time drawing a breath. My gaze kept looking at the ante. A day. I bit my lip, trying to decipher what I was going to do with this shit hand. I had to match my ante to get cards and I couldn’t see winning this.
“What if I fold?” I asked and he grinned.
“They you suck my cock for whatever you have in the pot.” He picked up my ante and shuffled the coin between his fingers before he dropped it back on the felt between us.
I nearly chewed through my lower lip. My highest card was a nine. I didn’t even have one face card or one pair to gamble with, and my heart clamored in my chest. If I held onto the nine and dropped the rest, I could get as bad a hand as I had now. That would mean two days’ worth of constant blow jobs.
I closed my eyes and hung my head, shuffling the cards in front of me.
He tapped his fingers on the table as he waited.
“Fuck it,” I mumbled and put four cards down, flipping another coin into the pot.
He dropped three cards this time and the minute the four cards were placed in front of me, I held my breath. One by one, I lifted them and with each card revealed, my stomach dropped lower and lower. My less than stellar hand consisted of a pair of nines.
“It’s your bet,” he purred. His eyes sparkling at my readable reaction.
“Call.” I met his gaze.
He shuffled coins and then moved five into the growing pot. It was a dare and I couldn’t fathom sucking him off for that long.
“Dammit,” I growled and threw my hand down.
The table disappeared and so did my chair. I landed on my knees in front of him.
“That’s ten days,” he purred. My gaze snapped up to his. “Ten glorious days fucking your mouth.”
“But I thought it was just two days,” I gasped.
“You got straight A’s in math—you can count. But in case you are having a hard time of it, you owed me eight days before this hand. Eight plus two.” His hand snaked out, grabbed a handful of my hair and pulled me closer to his crotch.
“I...I...” I stuttered, trying to backpedal.
He looked at his watch. “Time starts now.” His gaze left me hot and cold at the same time.
“What if I refuse?” I breathed the words and his features hardened.
“Then I will make sure your ten days are more brutal than what I showed you earlier. I will let them have you.” He pointed. The new display showed beings with teeth and claws, and the souls stuck in the space with them screamed as they were ripped slowly to pieces while being ravaged by the beasts. It was a combination of both horrors he showed me before.
I blinked, and then made my decision. I reached for his zipper and he sighed with a grin as my lips slid over his hard cock. He was longer and thicker than any man I could remember sucking off and lately, there were more than I cared to admit. He stretched my lips, filling the space in my mouth with only a quarter of his length.
He let me do the work, sucking and stroking, until both his hands threaded into my hair. The first thrust of his hips choked me and I gagged around him, but that didn’t slow him down. He pressed farther and farther down my throat; each thrust bashed my uvula until all the muscles in my neck constricted and pulled him farther down my esophagus.
“That’s it, baby, swallow every fucking inch of me,” he purred as he fucked the back of my throat. Each stroke slammed his balls into my chin. “Oh, fuck, yeah.” He sped up his assault until he drowned me with semen.
He pushed one last time, the spasms sending spurts after spurts into my throat and when he pulled out of my mouth, a thick line of cum drizzled onto the floor. He sat as I coughed and gagged and finally caught my breath.
“Two hundred thirty-nine hours and forty minutes to go,” he said with a smile and I stared in horror as he twitched back to life.
I blinked back the tears and took a deep breath before I covered his cock with my lips. Instead of stroking, I ran my tongue around the sensitive tip, slid it in the slit and tasted the hint of pre-cum that bloomed. It was salty, like I expected, but it also burned on my tongue.
“Are you considering forfeiting?”
“No, I’m just caching my breath.” I cursed the gods for taking the gamble.
“There will be no breath catching.” He pulled me back in place, widening his legs and lounging with his cock at attention and his balls hanging over the edge of the chair. “You can suck my balls when you need to catch your breath.”
I glared at the smug look on his face. “I might just bite it all off,” I muttered. His gaze traveled to the horrific scene still playing in the background. The volume increased and all I could hear were screams of agony and the tearing of flesh.
Instead of reacting, I lowered my mouth over him, accepting my punishment for taking the gamble in the first place. I calculated the number of times I would have to suck him off and let out a wail of despair when I realized I had to do this another seven hundred and nineteen times, assuming it took him twenty minutes to blow his load and less than five minutes to recover between orgasms.
* * * *
HE GROANED, UNLOADING again, and then he pushed me away. “Time,” he whispered, his voice so satiated that I wanted to inflict as much pain on him as I was experiencing. My lips were chapped, raw, and as swollen as my tongue was. My throat felt as if I swallowed a dozen razors between his continued mouth fucking and my vomiting. After the thirtieth time, I couldn’t stomach his jizz and every time he finished, I leaned over the bucket someone had provided and purged my stomach. This time was no different.
The whine that came out when the acid flowed over my lips sounded almost inhuman and tears burned my eyes. The scraping of chairs pulled my attention and I spit before I looked over my shoulder. The poker table was set back up.
Kaine had one arm over the back of his chair and he nodded toward the opposite seat.
“You’re fucking crazy,” I whispered, my voice as raw as my lips. But I got to my feet and stumbled to the chair.
Without words, he threw in a chip and waited until I tossed in mine. I met his gaze and my throat clenched at the amusement etched into the curve of his lips. I can safely say after ten days, I hated him. The spice scent that radiated from him was vile. I hadn’t caught the undertone of depravity, but now it’s all I smelled.
“Ante up,” he purred with a grin.
“Fuck you,” I hissed through my cracked lips.
“That can be arranged,” he said.
“I’d like to see you suck cock for ten days straight.”
His smile turned sour and his eyes sharpened to a glare. “Try doing it for ten years. It’s not pleasant, especially when it’s the devil’s dick.” He shifted and leaned forward. “Put your ante in,” he said through clenched teeth.
His statement caught me by surprise, but it didn’t lessen the anger filling my skin. I flicked the coin and glared at him, wishing him dead.
He shuffled a new deck; his gaze kept dropping to my ruined lips and back to my eyes. Kaine sighed and placed the cards in front of him before he reached toward me. I couldn’t move back fast enough; his thumb swiped my lips and left me gasping in pain.
He resumed shuffling and stared at the coins. Tingling replaced the pain and I couldn’t help but trace where he had touched with my own fingertip. The raw, bloody lips were gone. What was left was the smooth satin I was used to and my hand dropped to my lap.
“That’s for the next time you lose.” His tone carried the same fire burning in his eyes. Whatever awe I had momentarily felt vanished. He just healed me in the event of a repeat.
“You didn’t like the feel of raw lip burn?” I asked, wielding sarcasm.
He huffed at me. “Not particularly.”
The fact it wasn’t as satisfying to him after a while made me laugh. “If it bothered you, why didn’t you do this earlier?” I waved to my healed lips.
He smiled. “That would have defeated the point of your suffering.”
“You’re such a sleezy shit. Deal the fucking cards.”
This time his laugh was genuine and he dealt the five cards. I glanced at my hand and blinked. Spades. All five cards were spades and my breath caught as I rearranged them. Holy shit, I had a straight flush—not a royal straight flush but the likelihood of him beating me was slim.
“How many?” he asked and I shook my head.
“Pass,” I said and his eyebrow rose.
Kaine took three cards and his lips twitched.
“It’s your bet.” He met my gaze.
I looked at my pile. With a deep breath, I pushed it into the center. “I’m all in.”
“Are you sure?” He cocked his head and I nodded.
“Okay.” He matched the amount in the pot. “I’ll see your bet and I’ll raise you a fuck you will never forget.”
Damn him and that cocky smile. Despite my anger with him, my pussy clenched against the wetness now dripping from it. If I folded, he’d own me for all eternity. If I took the bet, even if I won, it meant he’d have his way with me. I was screwed either way.
“Check,” I muttered and nodded my chin toward him.
He slid his cards face up. The shit had four queens, but it wasn’t enough to beat a straight flush and I fanned my cards out with a smile.
He stared at the cards, his smile fading a moment, and then his gaze rose to mine. A heat like I never knew existed burned through me at the familiarity in that look. I couldn’t quite place where I had seen it before, but my lament dissolved the minute he pushed the table aside and motioned for me to come to him with his finger.
“You already gave me a fuck I would never forget.”
Kaine pressed his lips together and his eyes narrowed into slits. “Come here,” he ordered.
I laughed. “I want you to crawl to me on your knees,” I said, unwilling to be submissive to him after what he made me do for days on end. To my surprise, he got on his hands and knees and stalked toward me. My body reacted to the flare in his eyes as he approached.
He sat back on his knees in front of me and slid his hands up the inside of my calves. I inhaled, irritated that his gentle touch turned me on. This was the thing that relentlessly fucked my mouth like he had something to prove. When his soft caress reached my knees, he pushed out and spread my legs wide. The silky fabric of my skirt shred with the motion and left me exposed.
He kissed the inside of my thigh, twirling his tongue on my flesh as if he was giving me a lewd preview. And it worked: I was literally hotter than hell.
“What was that dream you had?” He cocked his head and tapped his lips with his finger.
“What dream would that be?” Even my voice carried that breathless, horny quality.
His eyes sparkled like the stars on a moonless night. “The one you had the night I gave you my card?”
Heat filled my face and I knew exactly what he was talking about. My pussy dripped at the thought and he leaned forward and flicked my clit with his tongue. I think I moaned. I know I gripped the sides of the chair as he slid me forward and ate me with the same ferocious zest he had fucked my mouth with.
It was beyond any fantasy I could conjure and I hated the fact this bastard could make my entire form tingle. My nipples hardened against the satin fabric of my dress; the soft whisper of silk heightened my sensitivity. Each swipe of his tongue sent a shiver through me and his dark eyes danced with aroused amusement when I came for the first time.
My moan filled the darkness. I expected a quick fuck to follow, but instead, he kept on licking. Just the sensation of his tongue and nothing else on my body drove me mad.
“Scream for me,” he whispered between swipes.
The wails in the background layered with mine, but there was a different quality in my release. It wasn’t born of pain; this was on the border of heavenly and my eyes opened and stared at the blackness as he built me up to another orgasm.
“Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck.” My fingers slid into his thick silky hair and I pushed him harder into me. His tongue hit a speed I didn’t think possible, one that set my form to liquid fire.
My legs wrapped around his shoulders and my head tilted back at the ecstasy Kaine created. This time when my body contracted, come sprayed out of me and my scream ignited the room.
Kaine shifted and when his hips centered with mine, I brought my gaze to his. He smiled and slammed his full length and girth into my dripping pussy. I moaned, still clinging to handfuls of his hair. His retreat was so slow it almost burned and then the hard slam of our hips ripped another groan from me.
The rest of my dress shredded and he dipped his mouth to my nipples, spending time to pull another cry from my lips. His slow, hard strokes left me breathless and squirming for the same hard and fast thrusts he had exercised in my mouth. But he continued the slow grind until I was covered with sweat and begged him to go faster.
A low growl formed in his throat and his lips traveled to my neck; the chill spread, drying my sweat and I moaned. When his teeth bit my earlobe, my eyes rolled back in my head and my entire form contracted with the orgasm.
“Layla,” he whispered. “I could fuck you forever.”
His hot breath tickled my ear and my eyes flew open at his tone. It was soft and rang with longing, triggering a familiarity that escaped me. This was very different than his demeaning and demanding tone I had been assaulted with since I walked through the curtain. My gaze bounced to his. The sinuous motion of his hips sent waves of pleasure through me, but it was his eyes that made the moan well in my throat.
I saw the human under the folds of evil and the want in his eyes locked my breath in my lungs. His eyes closed and his head tilted back while his fingers dug into my thighs. My begging finally broke through and he moved fast and hard, and the gruff groan that came out of his throat sent me into another moment of bliss. He stiffened against me and pulled my hips to his.
Shudders cascaded through both our bodies and I unwrapped my trembling legs from around him. Kaine’s forehead dropped to my shoulder and his chest heaved, but he didn’t pull out of me yet and I didn’t hurry him along. As warped as it seemed, having him fill me gave me a sense of peace. It wasn’t until I ran my hands through his hair and pushed his head away from where it rested that I suddenly wanted him out.
His salacious grin made me feel dirty and used, and I wanted to wrap the torn fabric of my dress around me. He circled his hips once and then pulled out with a light laugh, becoming the demon I was used to.
I tried to pull the fabric together, but the dress was a total loss. He climbed to his feet and zipped himself back into the finely pressed pants. He reached down and picked up his shirt, keeping eye contact with me.
“I think that will stick with you for a very long time.”
I couldn’t argue with him. That was the kind of lovemaking that moved the earth. Unfortunately, there was no love in the equation. I shrugged and feigned indifference.
“You are a little slut, aren’t you?” His entire demeanor shut down on me as he pulled the silk dress shirt over his shoulders.
“Drop dead.” But even my voice sounded as pathetic as my curse.
He pulled the table back in place. “You have close to a year.” He made neat piles and pushed them to my side of the table. His eyebrow cocked.
I stared at the coins. “What happens when time runs out?” At a cellular level I knew. I would be his slave for the rest of time. His smile answered me. Before he even uttered the words, I knew a year was not enough. I wanted to see my son grow up and get married, have kids of his own; I wanted to see my grandchildren grow and a year was not enough time. Now I understood his comment. Time was more precious than money when the clock was ticking.
“I will come to collect my prize.” He leaned back and crossed his arms.
I flicked a coin into the middle of the table, and shifted the fabric so it at least covered my lap. There was nothing I could do about my bare chest and I cursed the chill biting at my skin, leaving my nipples hard and a focal point of his attention.
He threw his ante into the pot and shuffled the cards before dealing.
My target was twenty-five thousand days. That’s what I needed to win to have the lifetime I wanted and I was ready to endure whatever this shit threw my way to get there. I met his gaze.
“Deal,” I ordered.
He obliged.
“Fuck,” I muttered, looking at the hand. This was one of those I knew wouldn’t go my way, but I tossed in a coin to see if I’d somehow get lucky with the flip. I dropped three of my five cards and glanced at him.
The bastard counted out coins. I raised my eyebrow.
“The bet to stay in is ten days.” He glanced at me.
I pressed my lips together and looked at my hand. I threw it down and glared at him, shaking my head.
I expected a chuckle or some snide remark, but there was an underlying aggravation etched into his features. He sighed, shaking his head for a moment. He closed his eyes and inhaled; when his eyelids opened a chill settled over the room. He moved the coins to his side of the table and stood, waving his hand across the surface. A solid board covered the table; he stepped to my side and pulled me to my feet.
Something about the resolve in his hard features hit a panic switch and I tried to yank away. He grabbed me by the back of the neck and slammed me face down on the board. His hand pressed between my shoulders and held me down hard enough to pull a gasp from my lips. Cuffs clasped on my wrist and I struggled as he pulled my arm out, locking the other side to the end of the table. He shifted, trading his hand holding me down and did the same with my other wrist. The bindings were so tight I couldn’t move and he pushed me far enough forward so my head dropped over the front side of the table.
Chains clasped each ankle. He pulled my legs wide and secured them in place. I was bound and bent over, completely at his mercy, and I panicked when he stepped in front of me. He crouched down and his dark eyes promised pain, but there was no glee there like there was when he lost the bet.
Somehow, this made it even worse and I couldn’t pull in a breath.
“Time starts now.” He stood and retreated behind me. His fingers probed, gently at first, spreading me before he paused and pulled his hand away. I got a sense he didn’t want to do this but before I could say anything snide, his fingers returned, this time with a vengeance. At first it was one finger and his motions brought forth a wave of wetness, coating my pussy. Two fingers spread me wide before three and four fingers forced their way in. When the rest of his hand pushed inside, I cried out at the pressure. His fist turned in slow rotations as he pushed it farther and farther in.
What he was doing wasn’t painful; it actually sent a shiver through me, coupled with a moan. The tickle to my pleasure centers abruptly came to an end. He slammed his fist inside me with such force, my feet lifted off the floor; I strained at the binds. A scream hissed from my mouth and my eyes burned with tears.
His mouth clamped down on the meat of my ass, sucking flesh between his teeth as he continued to use my cervix as a punching bag. I was sobbing when his fist slowed back to that slow rotation again. His mouth moved to my other cheek, biting and sucking to the point I was sure my entire ass was covered with dark hickeys.
I gasped for breath and tried to quell the sobs. I shook my hair out of my face and my focus landed on a pearl of blood that rolled down my thigh. Kaine climbed to his feet. The sound of his zipper pulled another sob from my chest. The thought of him pounding against my aching pussy horrified me. When his hands parted my ass cheeks, I attempted to struggle, but I was secure enough to only aid in the pain of his penetration.
I had to say one thing for Kaine: he knew how to fuck with abandon. He didn’t seem to care that I screamed throughout his thrusts to the point my vocal cords burst and only harsh, rasping cries escaped from my mouth. I couldn’t see his face, but I imagined he held that same smug smile he had carried the entire time I sucked his cock, enjoying my screams at a level I’d never understand.
The beast alternated between fisting and fucking, regardless of how much blood he drew. The welts from his mouth stung each time his hips collided with my ass. I must have blacked out because when I came to, he had me unbound and stretched out on something soft.
He tucked a stray hair behind my ear when I turned my head toward him. My body throbbed and the stark bruises on my wrists reminded me of what I had just endured. If I had more than two days invested, I probably would have died. I turned away and buried my face in the pillow to muffle my sobs.
“A year, then,” he said.
I whipped my head in his direction before I forced myself to my feet and took a seat in the chair opposite the table. I had to clamp my mouth around the whimper that begged to be released by the discomfort of sitting. I was too tired to worry about my state of nudity.
“No,” I whispered, unwilling to let him win. His jaw dropped.
“Layla.” He tilted his head. His eyes offered me another glimpse of sadness before he shook his head and waved his bruised hand over the board.
The chips and cards reappeared and he moved the table closer to me so I didn’t have to shift. His wince pulled my gaze back to his hand and the ugly bruises covering his skin.
He shuffled with difficulty before he tossed in his ante with his flawed fingers. I knew he had the power to heal. He had fixed my ruined lips yet he seemed to be in genuine pain and I didn’t understand.
He raised his gaze to me. “Ante,” he said with no enthusiasm.
I blinked at him and moved a coin to the center. “What’s wrong?”
He shook his head and dealt the cards slowly. Each movement of his hands brought forth a grimace.
“Why don’t you fix that?” I picked my cards up and uttered my own wince at my movement.
“Because I started to fix you and was forbidden from doing any more,” he said.
“Why?”
“You passed out after four hours.” He met my gaze.
“Fucking a comatose girl isn’t your thing?” The question came out wrapped in a laugh.
“Normally, I don’t give a damn.” He didn’t laugh and I took a closer look at him. “Normally, I don’t stop.” He shook his head in disgust and squeezed his eyes closed.
I blinked and leaned back in the chair. “You...stopped?”
He squeezed his fists and sucked air through his teeth. “Are you fucking deaf?” He glared.
I opened my mouth to ask when and then closed it. I didn’t want to know.
“I stopped when you started hemorrhaging,” he muttered.
My gaze dropped to my lap. There wasn’t a hint of blood on me and yet I was sore enough to wince. “How long...”
“I tore you to shreds in eight hours and I stopped before twelve hours had passed,” he said. I could swear a sheen of tears covered his eyes before he dropped his gaze to the cards in his hand. After a few seconds, his glare was back and he leaned forward. “I used to relish that. I used to revel in the screams and sobs and the flow of blood. I fucking loved it.” The growl in his voice made me cock my head in his direction.
“So?” I said.
He pointed a bruised finger at me. “You owe me a day and a half.”
I shrugged and dropped two cards, flipping another coin into the pot.
He glanced at his hand and pushed ten more coins into the center.
Grinding my teeth together, I counted out ten chips and then moved ten more in just to fuck with him. I had three of a kind in my hand. While it wasn’t the best hand in the world, his audacity made my stomach burn and my sense of self-preservation falter.
He glanced at his hand and matched my bet before he dropped two cards.
He dealt my two and his two and picked up his cards. I did the same and exhaled. My eyes fell to the pot and my stomach clenched at the thought of losing that many days.
“Your bet.”
I glared at him and pressed my lips together as I counted out five coins. With a shaking hand, I dropped them on the pile and he just grinned.
My heart fluttered as he counted five and put them in the pile.
“I’ll see your bet and raise you...” he drifted off and pushed a large pile into the middle. “Five years.”
I blinked at him and swallowed. My gaze dropped to my pile and then my hand. I put my cards in a neat pile. He grinned and reached for the pot.
“I didn’t fold, but I don’t have the amount to match.” I met his gaze and pushed my pile into the center. “If I win, I not only get the pot, but you have to get me something suitable to wear.”
He laughed. “And what do I get to make up for your four-year deficit?”
I swallowed hard and waved to the empty space where my chips had been. His smile chilled me. He nodded and flipped over his cards one by one until four jacks were exposed.
I hung my head for a moment, swallowing the sob as he laughed. His laughter died when I fanned my hand out on the velvet tabletop. I had four kings and I couldn’t help the grin.
Kaine blinked and his jaw dropped before he snapped his mouth closed. I pulled the pile to my side of the table, ignored the pain it caused in my abdomen, and then looked at him expectantly.
He was too stunned to compute the rest of what he owed me. I raised my eyebrow and when he still stared at me with a blank expression, I said, “Suitable clothes?”
“What?” he snapped.
“Part of the bet was providing me with something suitable to wear.”
His jaw tightened and his chin dropped to his chest. Then he unbuttoned his shirt. He peeled it off and handed it to me over the table. I took it from his hand and he closed his eyes as our fingers brushed. My gaze fell to his bare chest and I couldn’t help the flush of heat that colored my cheeks as I struggled to put his shirt on.
I stood, letting the hem of the shirt fall to the middle of my thighs and I focused on the buttons. Once I had the shirt buttoned, I rolled up my sleeves and gave him a small nod.
He had busied himself with neatening the piles for me while I covered up. I pulled back to the table and grit my teeth against the flare of pain as I sat back down. He pointed his chin at my pile.
“I’m not done yet.” I tossed him two coins. “That’s what I owe you, plus a half a day bonus.” I added my ante to the center of the table. “Deal,” I said. I knew caution should have taken precedence, but I was that much closer to the goal due to his foolish bet.
He shuffled the cards again, this time much slower than the last. I saw the slow nod and then his eyes met mine. A flash of something danced across his irises and then he placed the five cards in front of each of us.
I picked up the cards and sucked my lip in, wondering what I would have to endure this time, as I slowly put the cards down and slid them toward him with a shake of my head. His eyes closed for a moment and when they opened, it was as if he steeled himself for what came next.
He pushed the table to the side and called me to him with just his index finger. When I didn’t move, he whispered, “It will be so much worse if you don’t come here now.”
I forced myself to my feet and crossed until I stood in front of him. My eyes misted and I blinked the tears out of the corners. He slowly unbuttoned the shirt, his fingers fumbling and his jaw tight. He eased the fabric off my shoulders and it drifted to the ground around my feet.
“Spread.” He pushed my feet wider than the chair.
“Can’t I just give you a blow job?”
His soft smile ate through my defenses until he spoke one word without explanation. “No.” He reached his hand toward me and hesitated; instead, he stood and slid his index and middle finger in my mouth. “Make them wet,” he said in no more than a breath and I sucked, coating his fingers with my saliva. His other hand had found my breast and rolled my nipple through his fingers. Kaine pulled his fingers from my mouth, sat down, and slid them into my sore pussy.
I cried out but he didn’t stop the consistent movement. Out of self- preservation, I grabbed his wrist and tried to pull his hand away. With a quick warning glare, my hands were pulled behind my back and bound in metal clasps.
“Kaine, please,” I whined as his fingers still plunged to the knuckle like a vibrator on auto-fuck. His feet kept my legs spread and he slid them out an inch farther, pulling more hot tears from my eyes.
“You played the hand.” He looked at me. Whatever sadism lived within him was tempered by his own pain. His jaw tightened and he leaned forward.
When his mouth latched onto my breast, I gasped. He sucked as if he was removing venom and the way his teeth kneaded my nipples hurt. His mission of debasing me for every loss started to sink in about the time he switched breasts.
I cried out and the sound of his zipper made me start to hyperventilate. He pulled away from my breast and his fingers gave me a reprieve for enough time for me to catch my breath. Then he pulled me over his lap.
Instead of lowering me onto his hard cock, his hands gripped my waist and he stood. His full length plunged inside me and lifted me off my feet, peeling a scream out of me. He pulled out of me as he sat down and the glint in his eye sparkled. He repeated the plunge over and over until I couldn’t stand on my own. That’s when he collapsed into the chair, still embedded inside me.
The edges of his dark hair clung to the sweat on his brow as he guided my body up and down his shaft. Each full penetration brought a cry of pain from my lips. His mouth worked my breasts the same way he had worked my ass the last time, and one look at the black and blue hickeys pulled more teary gasps from my chest.
He arched into me, groaning and grinding, and I felt every drop of his eruption as it burned down the raw walls of my vagina. He dropped his head against the back of his chair and met my gaze. He actually huffed a small laugh.
As we sat, still coupled, the trembling shaking my form wasn’t from me and I looked at his arms. The muscles actually quivered; same with the muscles in his thighs. This had overexerted the randy bastard.
I forced my breathing to slow as his shaking subsided. His hands squeezed my hips.
“Bastard,” I breathed.
“This wasn’t just a punishment for you,” he said through a new wave of laughter as his hips circled, grinding, and my chest hitched with a sudden gasp.
“Why?” I managed.
“Because,” he said, punctuating it with a quick hip thrust.
Pain threaded from the point of contact like a spiral out of control. I cried out again and his hands clamped harder on my hips, his fingers digging in.
“Kaine?” I gasped.
“Shut the fuck up,” he growled. The warning in his features confused me. “Unless you’d like to be handed over to His Majesty for the rest of the game,” he added as he propped me back on my feet to start the rotation over again.
This time he didn’t have me suck his fingers first; instead, he functioned as if he was on autopilot. I caught his gaze when his fingers pulled out. He was not taking pleasure in this and the standing slam began, each penetration more painful than the last until he had to sit.
Agony and exhaustion rolled my eyes back in my head.
“Don’t you dare pass out,” he breathed, pulling me back with the growl in his voice.
“What happens if I do?” I whispered.
“He takes over and you’ll never see the light of day again.”
I met his gaze. “He?”
“My boss,” Kaine said and I blinked. “I’m a kitten compared to him.” As if arguing against his point, he lifted my hips up and down his hard shaft in blows meant to crush the spirit. “Fuck,” he gasped. Both his eyes and his hands squeezed closed, ripping a scream as his fingers tore through my bruised skin.
His semen boiled against the torn walls of my insides and I couldn’t breathe. There was no scream loud enough to voice my suffering.
Kaine pulled my mouth to his, delivering the kind of kiss I dreamed about, but in the current landscape, it only served as a vivid kernel in this drawn-out nightmare. It wasn’t until he yanked away with a gasp of his own that I understood. He had gone off script and something in his eyes told me to keep quiet as my pussy started the slow tingle of healing.
He circled his hips and I whimpered. “Please, no more,” I whispered.
“Layla.” He tilted his head and glanced at his watch. “We still have another four hours to go.”
I just stared at him as he propped me back on my feet. I knew this torture took a long time before he came, but I didn’t think we burned through twenty hours with just two completed fucks. When his fingers dipped inside me, I didn’t react at all. There was no more pain.
“Four hours?” My question was clouded by confusion.
“I owed you half a day back.” He slammed his fingers.
I winced, but it wasn’t the same reaction as the breathless screams of the last two times and his jaws tightened. When I didn’t react to the next few strokes, more fingers were added until his fist breached me again.
“I can’t let you just numb over on me.” He twisted his wrist slowly. Unfortunately for both of us, what came out of my mouth wasn’t a scream, it was a moan.
“Fuck,” he muttered and pushed his fist in a punch that lifted me off my feet and drew the scream he was looking for. Pain webbed again and my breathing labored as he delivered three pounds in succession before withdrawing.
Now came the stand and sit motions; each drew the same screech of a scream as before until we collapsed on the chair again. His forehead rested on my chest as he fucked me hard. Harder than he had before and I felt every inch of his brutality.
And through it all, I wondered why the hell he had given me a reprieve.
His head whipped back and his growling cry echoed on the blackness surrounding us. Every muscle in Kaine’s body shuddered and I added a throaty scream, to mimic the sounds I had made earlier.
Something told me my life depended on it.
When he opened his eyes and met my gaze, the seriousness in his features drew me a picture that made me shudder and I whimpered. Within a blink, that sadistic smile was back and he checked his watch.
“Time.” The binds holding my wrists disappeared and he set me on my feet.
I stumbled back and landed in the seat with a sharp cry.
Kaine picked up the shirt and tossed it to me. “Is six years enough?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Sixty years might be, but not six,” I said and the table slid between us.
“You’re pushing your luck.” He picked up the deck and shuffled. “The next time you lose, it won’t just be me fucking your fine ass.”
I had a chip in my hand and I met his gaze. “What do you mean?” The question came out husky and raw.
“We’ve done all the solo acts,” he said. “Next comes the gang bangs. You would have been better off losing that big hand.”
I bit my lip and stared at the chip in my hand. “You haven’t done a sixty-nine scenario.” I raised my eyes to his. It was my stall. If I had to be brutalized, I’d rather be brutalized by him and not be put in a group position.
His huff sent my stomach spiraling to the floor. “I get your mouth, anyway,” he said, sending a shiver through me.
“I guess I better not lose.” I tossed the coin into the center and his lips thinned.
Kaine shuffled a few more times and added his ante before he dealt the cards.
Luck shined on me this hand with a full house. I stared at the twenty-five day pot and weighted my options. I didn’t want a gang scenario but I also didn’t want to lose out on an opportunity to earn big. There was really no halfway bet. Go big or go home, and all that happy horse shit.
“I’m all in.” I pushed my pile to the center. “And I want you to heal both of us when I win this pot.”
He laughed and matched the bet. “I’ll see you, and I’ll raise you a private sixty-nine scenario,” he said, using finger quotes. His eyes shimmered with something devious.
I nodded. “Call.”
He flipped his cards over. I had to hand it to him. The flush of hearts was impressive, but it wasn’t a straight flush and it didn’t beat my full house.
His smile cranked down a notch. He thought he had me and when I leaned forward to scoop up my winnings, he tapped my forehead.
The tingle gripped my entire form and my gaze dropped to his hands as he collected the cards. The bruises faded to nothing before he set the deck aside.
“You want the bottom or the top?”
His question threw me.
“Sixty-nine. Bottom or top?”
“You were serious?” I pulled away from the table.
“Bottom.” He took the choice away from me as his zipper cranked down and he pulled me onto the table. The back of my head hung over the side and I opened my mouth to argue. His cock filled the space but he didn’t force himself on me.
Kaine stood still, letting me set the pace as he leaned forward, wrapped his arms around my thighs, and buried his face in my pussy. Coins dug into my back, creating a cool shuffle against my hot skin. I think the bastard’s tongue was magic; it created a heat that consumed me and I stroked him with the opposite motions. I used slow strokes to his fast tongue flick.
My first orgasm caught me by surprise and I moaned around his thick girth. He inched farther into my mouth. His hips formed small circles as his breath panted with each lap of my pussy.
I lost track of time and of the number of times he brought me to the brink. I dripped in waves and he still had yet to come once, but every vein on his cock stood out and my lips carried that pleasant stretch of a good workout.
“Suck faster.” His hot breath tingled over my sensitive clit.
I kept doing a slow stroke and ignored his request.
“Dammit, Layla, go faster,” he growled, but his hips didn’t force it like I thought he would at this stage and his tongue resumed.
I pulled away. “Fuck you.”
He lifted far enough off my body to meet my gaze before I did another slow stroke and let out a little laugh as a bubble of pre-cum surfaced.
“Please,” he whispered and his body trembled with need.
I shook my head, doing the same coy, slow stroke. He stayed elevated over me and went back to flicking me at that insane pace. I wanted him to fuck my mouth right now, but I couldn’t voice that. I couldn’t give in to the need drilling my core and I arched, screaming into this orgasm and squirting my come all over the poker table.
I panted between the slow strokes and he mumbled curses at me.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” He stood and grasped my head, forcing the fast stroke on me with only the length that fit comfortably in my mouth. When he came, it ricocheted off my throat and pooled on the roof of my mouth. I sucked and sucked through each aftershock until he finally pulled away and collapsed in his chair.
“Take the deal, Layla,” he said, with such defeat that I found the energy to lift my head and look at him.
“It’s not enough.”
“It’s twelve years.” He gained some of his energy back and he zipped up his pants.
“I want more.” I rolled off the table.
Exasperation etched into his features. “That’s precisely what got you into trouble in the first place,” he snapped.
I shifted the shirt, getting comfortable again even as the itch of drying cum tickled my thighs. “You know nothing about me.” I pulled the chair back in place before my gaze landed on the shimmering coins. I picked up one and put it back down as if it transmitted leprosy. The shimmer on the top layer was my come and I glanced at Kaine, waving toward the table.
“Get over it.” He didn’t seem to have any of the warmth he had a few minutes ago.
“Deal,” I said.
“Ante up.” He nodded toward my slick pile and I tossed one in.
“What did you mean that’s what got me into trouble in the first place?”
The muscles in his face twitched and he closed his eyes, hanging his head before he tilted a glance in my direction. “You really don’t remember?”
“Remember what?”
And for the briefest of instances, his eyes flashed with unfathomable pain, but the slow close of his lids shut it off and he just shook his head.
“It doesn’t matter,” he whispered. The cards sailed across the space.
I didn’t lift mine up; instead, I stared at him and waited for some sort of explanation. “I remember the casino,” I finally said. He let out a soft laugh.
“That’s not what I was referring to,” he muttered. “Are you in or are you forfeiting?” His icy stare penetrated me as hard as anything he’d dished out to that point.
I picked up my cards, well aware of the gamble I was making. Losing right now wasn’t an option. If what he said held true, any loss would be more painful than the agony I already experienced.
I had a pair of kings and a ten and two other crap cards. Even a one-day loss wasn’t okay and I tossed the second day in, swallowing hard. His face didn’t give me anything as he matched coins. I dropped two cards and he dropped four. That was the most he had ever dropped and as I picked up the new cards dealt to me, I felt a little better about my hand. Two pair was still at the low end of the pole, but I needed to stay in, even if it was a bluff.
I had a two-day deficit but he wasn’t acting all cocky anymore. I counted ten coins and tossed them in the pot. He looked at the pot and then at me, biting his lower lip.
He counted out ten and tossed them in, and then tossed another ten in as a raise. He called my bluff and I made the decision to pursue it further.
“I’ll see your raise.” I matched his bet and then I glanced at my pile. I chopped my hand down the middle of my pile and pushed half in the center, looking back up at him.
“How much is that?” He pointed at the pot.
“Six years,” I said and he met my gaze. He threw his hand down with a growl.
“You’re folding?”
He crossed his arms and nodded; the muscles in his jaw jumped every second or two as if he ground his teeth between his tightly clamped lips.
I moved the pile back to my side, gaining a month and a half.
“Are you through?”
“Not even close.” I tossed the coin in the middle, felt that rush of invincibility now that I was on a roll.
He matched the ante and shuffled. His gaze kept traveling to my growing pile and then he’d sigh and focus on the cards in his hands.
The next hand was worse than the last and after the flip, I bit my lips and did another repeat, but with only five chips instead of ten. This time, he didn’t raise; he matched and called. My meager pair of jacks spread on the table and his eyes closed.
He slowly spread his cards out and my heart plummeted. I lost twelve days; my heart jumped in my chest and all the saliva dried in my mouth. Kaine looked truly defeated when his eyes opened.
“You should have taken the twelve years,” he whispered as the air shifted.
He went to stand, and a massive hand pushed him back into the chair.
“You forfeited the game. You get to watch,” the voice thundered. What appeared out of the dark made me scramble backwards and my chair toppled over at the man-beast that stood next to Kaine.
A collar wrapped around Kaine’s neck, yanked his head back against the chair, and his hands slammed down on the armrests, locking in place so he couldn’t move. The fear and horror in his expression equaled what ran amuck in my blood.
“Please,” he whispered, raising his gaze to the thing.
“You folded,” it hissed. “We had her for six years and you folded.”
I stepped backwards into a solid wall of groping hands. And when Kaine’s gaze jumped to mine, a hand flew over my mouth. Fabric tore and I struggled against the insistent hands.
“Why?” I managed to ask and successfully squirmed out of the invisible grip that accosted me. My only option was to step closer to Kaine and the beast. My options were limited, but right at the moment, my focus wasn’t on what was coming; it was locked on the devil’s statement.
My meek question caused the beast to laugh and he turned his red eyes in my direction. I blinked at the rush of fear and familiarity that swept over me.
Without a word, he waved a clawed hand and it was as if I stepped into a multiplex with multiple movies playing. Visions of Kaine filled the space. I scanned the multiple screens, showing multiple card games. It took me a few moments to see the pattern, to see where his games with me diverted from his normal modus operandi. I dropped my gaze, utterly confused.
Kaine played poker, and collected hard time from the players when they lost, but not once did he exchange sexual favors when the players won. The screens multiplied until they were nothing more than half-inch frames, all showing the same brutal beast, and then the walls went black.
The next view provided made my knees buckle. Kaine’s face as he brutalized me earlier was not the smug smile I imagined, but tear-stained and horrified as I lay unconscious and bleeding, tied to the table. There was no joy in his eyes, just the raw pain of the horror he was visiting on me.
“I can’t do this.” He pulled out of me, leaned over, and placed a kiss on my back. The constant flow of thick blood trickled to nothing; then he waved his hand over me and the binds holding me in place released. He scooped me up into his arms and gently kissed my lips.
“I’m sorry, baby,” he whispered before he laid me on the soft bedding that appeared.
I dropped my gaze to his, trying to fathom what the hell was going on, but he stared at a point on the floor between his feet.
The next glimpse I was provided showed his hand as I moved six years into the pot. I stared at the straight flush just before he threw his hand down. Folding. He knew his odds of winning were high, yet, he folded.
“Why?” I asked again, and his gaze rose to mine.
The beast stepped into my line of sight. “The game is over,” he growled. “Kaine lost his bet. Now you’re mine.” He grinned and his sharp teeth gleamed in the darkness. The cloth covering me shredded and the next thing I knew, I hung upside down with both my wrists and ankles bound to a pole, leaving me completely exposed.
“Kaine!”
“You took the gamble,” his voice answered, but it carried the complete defeat I felt. I dropped my head back to see what was coming. The beast stood next to Kaine and when his pants dropped, I struggled against the bonds.
My shakes rattled the chains that held me, and he circled around, stopping between my legs, letting me have a full view of Kaine.
Kaine closed his eyes and turned his head, unwilling to watch.
“You will watch until I tire of her,” the beast growled. Kaine’s head snapped upright and his eyes went wide as though someone tapped them open. “Then you can have what’s left.” The words flowed over me, creating the surreal panic that I couldn’t wrap my arms around.
“Please, don’t,” Kaine said and his chin trembled.
I didn’t have to ask “don’t what,” and the scream of agony ripped through me as efficiently as the devil’s double wide. He didn’t just have one double wide, either, and the plunge nearly split me in two.
“No!” Kaine struggled but his screams of protest were drowned by mine until a strip of duct tape clamped down on his cries.
I should have listened. I should have heeded his warning and as I watched the tears paint his face, a memory materialized.
The wail that escaped from my lips was his name, and as our gazes locked, I understood the tender moments, the way he took me when I won the bets. It was a lover’s touch and now I understood his anger at my not remembering him. The pain that fractured my soul had nothing to do with the devil’s wrath.
It had everything to do with Kaine.
A lifetime ago, when I was on one of my earlier gambling binges, I had run into a downward spiral and Kaine slid into the seat next to me. The sparkle in his eyes, along with his close proximity, had the same effect on me as it did two weeks ago. I was completely smitten.
But instead of my losing every cent I owned, my luck turned hot and I ended up with him in the penthouse for the weekend. Kaine was my one and only affair with something other than cards while I was still married.
Stolen nights at the casino became weeks on end. Kaine knew how to make me laugh and he was the best fuck on earth. Sobs ripped through me now that I understood his comment about wanting to give me a fuck I would never forget.
How in the hell could I have ever forgotten him?
Shame bit me harder than the beast and I screamed Kaine’s name. The pain in his eyes shredded my soul. The devil spilled more than just my blood as he drove through me, hell-bent on destruction.
I derailed Kaine’s mission. I took hell’s main soul collector and turned him against his master. I turned him into a loving man. My mind filled with every tender moment, every smile, every kiss, and I screamed again.
Piece by piece, memories of our history unfolded until we stood in this very room, in the same situation. My greed and his inability to make me see reason, to make me take what I had and run like hell, pounded me harder than the beast slowly tearing me in two.
That time, when the devil came for me, Kaine traded his soul for mine.
He took my place in the chains and the last dark shadow of memory was the beast stepping in front of him and yanking his head back just before the devil whispered, “Open wide.”
The End