Double Down (Take a Gamble) (11 page)

He rolled his eyes. “Aside from my cock then?”

She laughed, "Your cock’s only a large part of the overall package. I want all of you Caleb."

He smirked at the large comment. Woman knew how to placate him. “Nothing is ever that simple Shade. Nothing.”

"
No things never are." she looked down at her plate.

“But if
that’s what you want, that’s what you get regardless… You don’t have to win the tourney.”

"Oh I'm going to win the tourney."

“Yeah you say that now… But when I win…” he grinned. “So what about your other wish? You still have one and they need to be done soon… Actually by tomorrow night… or you forfeit them.”

"By tomorrow?
That’s a pretty crappy deadline. Honestly I don’t know, it’s not like I need anything, maybe I could go down the route of world peace. That’ll sure put my father in an early grave."

Caleb laughed. “I don’t make the rules, usually its one week for you to make your wishes, but as you’re a demon, and the magic, a
s we have seen,” he petted his Shadow Scar, “is working oddly, I wouldn’t want you to miss out.”

"
Right, so tomorrow and how many wishes?"

Caleb held up
one finger. “Too taxing for you?”

"
Not at all, I'll manage to think of something to do with it."

Caleb nodded and went back to eating, his thoughts turbulent. He never thought he would want a woman to make that one wish, the one that bound them together,
Djinn and consort, for all time. But here he was, musing on a future tied down like his cousin, all because her nature captivated him. He was turning into a pussy. Shit.

They ate in silence the rest of the time, enjoying their meal and the sea air. One of the crewmen turned on the deck lights and they were treated to the colored globes of paper glowing softly around them. It could have been called romantic, if Caleb was inclined to be that way.

He put his fork down and picked up his wine and swirled the deep crimson liquid in the crystal and then looked at Shade. “So should we stay here tonight, or back at my suite?”

"Both are suitable." she stood gracefully making her way over to his seat. Sitting in his lap she took his hands
and placed them on her body straight through the Shadows. "You decide."

Caleb growled and kissed her h
ard, his fingers finding the Shadow on her side as if drawn to them. He broke the kiss and smiled. “Doesn’t matter to me… Perhaps the suite then, unless you would like another night… aboard.”

"Hotel it is then, I don't want any excuses for you being late tomorrow."

“Not a shot in hell I’ll be late, nor will you…” he kissed her again. “Though we aren’t leaving this deck till we have had dessert.” He winked and laid her back. The Shadows parted for him, making a clear line from her collarbone to her sex of perfectly heated flesh for him to feast on.

"Count on it." she rubbed the heel of her foot up his inner thigh. "And I’m starving."

Chapter
5

Caleb checked himself in the vanity mirror and slipped his Rolex on and slipped the catch. Tie perfect, his dove grey Dolce and Gabbana suit hanging perfectly on his large frame. He affixed his tie tack, a large ice diamond, to his tie and then straightened his collar.

Shade was standing behind him then, her hands g
oing to his collar. She watched herself fix it and his tie knot in the mirror and smiled at him. Caleb smiled back.

“You know, this feels rather domestic, and I gotta be honest, it’s pretty satisfying.”

"It is." she agreed smoothing her hands down his shoulders and arms. "Though it’s a wonder how you lived this long with crooked tie tying skills." She teased, there had been nothing wrong with the tie she just needed an excuse to touch him.

“I’ll have you know my tie tying skills are impeccable.” He winked at her in the mirror and then tu
rned around. “So you ready to lose to me love? I guarantee it will be a win win…”

"I'm not losing to anyone and when I beat you I promise not to be gentle."

“Promises Promises…” he said and wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her. “Thinking about those wishes yet?”

"I
have them in mind but they'll wait for later."

“Fair enough.
So Lady Shade? Shall we go and finish this ridiculous little bet?” he asked and cocked his head.

"Ridiculous as you'll feel when you get your ass handed to you my dear." she reached up on her tiptoes kissing his cheek lightly.

They left the room minutes later and made it to the casino floor and to their seats at the table quickly. Caleb ordered a G&T and sat down, two seats over from Shade.

She pouted at him as she sat, it just wouldn't do them being so far apart but she'd deal for now. As people
wittled down they’d be moved closer together. She ordered soda and lime when the waiter asked, she wanted to keep her brain free and clear for the game and even the slightest alcohol could impair that. That had been her failing last time, that and Caleb’s sexiness so close to her had made her skip count.

She counted her chips playfully while covertly studding the other players on the table. There were five in total, she sat at the end
, then a man in another cowboy hat sat beside her. Shade seriously wanted to know what possessed a rational human being to put one of those on. Then sat a no nonsense woman dressed in a grey dress suit of lesser quality to Caleb's and a plain button up dress shirt. Clearly she wasn't one to flirt as a distraction which was fine, it wasn't exactly Shade’s tact either. She just did it to throw away from the fact that she really was a serious competitor and maybe today to piss Caleb off. That’s if he was the jealous type. Then sat Caleb, looking amazing as ever. Next to him sat the chip leader, a tallish man of Asian descent. He sat coolly, his sharp eyes surveying the table as deftly as Shade did. He would be the one to beat aside from Caleb.

"You know," she smiled girlishly turning to the cowboy making sure her breasts threatened to spill out of her dress. "I really love that hat. Maybe I could borrow it later for luck." she fingered the rim above his eye dipping it down giving him full excuse to
oggle her.

Caleb watched her with bemusement and shook his head as the older cowboy stammered and then blushed and grabbed a
handkerchief from his coat pocket to blot his head from the sweat. Yeah, Shade did do that to a man. His reaction to the minor amount of flirting proved he was not really a threat to anything and would probably be out in two hands from a heart attack if Shade kept it up. So be it. They didn’t need any long term distractions anyway.

The dealer came to the table and a hush fell over the crowd. Caleb looked over to Shade and winked.
Let the game begin.

The
first few hands blasted by, Shade not doing much but playing the allotted coins for the hands and watching each card shown, slotting them away in her mind as shown.

Caleb matched her bets, or went minimally higher, to keep it interesting and to keep from dying from boredom.  Players dropped like flies. The cowboy didn’t last four hands, and miss prim and proper s
chool marm was out in six. Mr. Roboto on the other hand was one hell of an opponent, but even he was out after ten hands. Leaving both Shade and Caleb to duke it out.

"Isn't that much better?" she smiled keeping her eye still in the cards being dealt. "Now
 I can move all the way over here." she pushed her stack of chips over beside him as she spoke sitting next to him.

“Of course… and now the real game starts.” He turned to her for a quick second. “And may the best man win.”

Three hands later they were no closer to winning on either side. Shade played at a brutal pace, determined, it seemed to rid him of all his capital. Deal had gone bust twice, and Caleb knew it was coming to the end.

"You're not as good at this as I am, still it could drag on forever and I really want to go dancing." she waved the
 dealer off as he made a move to deal the next hand "How about this, one hand all in? And when I win you can lap anything you want off my chest as we dance... I’m in the mood for cognac."

Caleb gave her a sideways look and shrugged. He knew she had something up her sleeve, but at this point he didn’t care. It was getting boring and it was obvious they weren’t going to be finishing any time soon.
“Fair enough. All in then?” He stacked what was left of his chips, almost twenty-five thousand dollars, in front of him. “I’m in.”

"
Excellent," she smiled triumphantly. "Now what I really wish is that I could win this hand."

Caleb turned to her with venom in his eyes and scowled.
This he didn’t expect, but what could he do. He was magic bound by their physical covenant to give her anything she desired, even if she was being a cheating cow.

“Done.”
He said and shook his head. Not only was he going to be out a yacht, but he was going to be out over a million dollars.

"
Excellent," she grinned gleefully practically rubbing her hands together as the dealer drew the cards and sealed their fate as Shade won the hand. "Now don’t be a sour puss and lets go dancing, I want to dance."

The crowd, having no idea what happened, applauded for her. Caleb bowed to her and then kissed her hand and stepped aside as the pit boss and hotel brass presented her with her
winner’s trophy and fake check for the million, which she won on top of what she did on her hand, which three her flush about three times over.

He went over to the bar and ordered a drink and waited for her to be finished with the press and the pictures. He had been duped, using a fucking wish to win? What a crock of shit. She was going to get a strapping to her ass for this one. It was beyond cheating.

"You've got such a face on you." she sidled up beside him sometime later taking a seat.

“Hell no.
You cheated.” He said and took a sip from his G&T and then smiled. “Though now I can strap that ass good and red for your cheek.”

"What about me made you think that I had any moral compunction about cheating?"

He frowned. “Well nothing actually. Still it was a sneaky thing to do. So you win… What exactly did you win again?” he asked and yawned.

"My shiny new yacht and you.
You’re my bitch now." she smiled smugly the red lipstick she wore gleaming. "And I want to go dancing and show you off."

He gave her a droll look. “As my lady wills…” he said with forced weariness. “
Salsa? Swing? Just shake your ass at La Nova?”

"Nothing so civilized. There's this club just around the corner
, a real scummy tourist spot. Bar Six. Loud techno and strobe lights. Smoke and hot sweaty bodies." she moved closer to him as she spoke pressing the hot line of her body against his.

Caleb regarded her with interest. It was something he could get into, especially if she was planning what he thought she was planning.
“Fine.” He said with mock boredom and drained his drink. “Let’s make this quick… you have a spanking coming.”

"Excellent!" she smiled taking his arm.
"This way."

They left the casino and hailed a cab to take them to the sweaty dive Shade was dying to go to. In the backseat Caleb teased her, kissing her, his hand sliding up her skirt to tease her inner thighs.

She pressed against him, her hand slipping under his shirt to play across his chest. "Oh this is going to be fun." she nibbled delicately on his neck.

“You think so? I would have much rather taken you back to the room or the boat and fuck
ed you blind but hey… you’re the winner…” he shrugged.

"Who's saying we can't do that later? Poor Caleb," she climbed onto him placing her hands on the back rest on either side of him her nipples peeking out from over her dress. "Did I hurt your ego? I could stroke it better for you."

“Oh you’re gonna stroke something baby…” he murmured and pulled her to him and nipped her throat and then licked the skin to sooth the sting.

"Count on it." she ground her core onto him the liquid heat of her seep
ing through to him. 

Caleb groaned and nipped her harder. “
Such a fucking tease…”

"Always." she nipped him back breathing him in as the car rolled to a stop. "We're here." her eyes flawed excitedly the
Shadows swirling around her. She jumped out the cab leaving him to pay.

He got out seconds later as Shade tugged on her bottom lip with her teeth. He slammed the door, adjusted his erection and then paid the cab driver with a fifty and told him to keep it.

He looked over at the line to get into the club and shrugged. Even a dive has a wait, not that it made any sort of difference, they would just walk in. He took Shade’s hand as they walked up to the bouncer who eyed them with scrutiny.

“Hey…
how’s it going..” Caleb said as he shook the guys hand and slipped him a bill. The guy looked down saw the tip and let them both in, with no more than a smile to Shade in her barely there dress.

"Subtle, I like
it." she hooked her arm around his guiding him into the dark wall of noise. "I'll get the drinks then." 

She squeezed his ass
, moving over to the bar with an extra swing to her hips. She leaned over chatting and ordering the drinks. The girl behind the bar produced a bottle from the bar and two shot glasses and Shade handed her a note with a kiss. 

She sauntered back over to him handing him a glass.
"Drink?"

“Obviously.
And what was that all about?”

"What that? The owner of this clubs a succubus. Every so often they lace their glasses with devils breath. Makes for one hell of a party." she held out her glass pouring two shots. "Our glasses are clean
, we don't need nudged into participation."

“And the kiss?” he said and took his glass.

"Just being friendly."

Caleb smirked. “It was just
bordering on hot.”

"I know." she shouted against the noise throwing back her shot.

Caleb followed suit and poured them another one. “You still wanna dance?”

"
Like it's going out of style." she took his hand leading him onto the heaving mass of the dance floor.

They moved as one, Shade with her body c
lose to his. Caleb touched her, felt the pulse of the Shadows as they wrapped around the two of them. They were joyous, and he loved the feel of moving with her.

They had the attention of a good portion of the dance floor, and the staff.
Run by Succubi? Lord he could only guess as to the things that went on in the backrooms in a place like this.

The humans in the crowd were already succumbing to the aphrodisiac
’s potency, writing and grinding against one another in the closed space. Shade, for all her enjoyment of the scenario kept him to herself, her hands pleasantly running over him as they danced, her Shadows keeping them private and apart from the near orgy around them. 

He kissed her, gripped her body and nuzzled her throat as she turned to roll her rump into his groin. “Such a tease my love…”

"Mmmm love." she purred throatily, her hands sneaking round to grab at him.

“Careful… Unless you are hip to fucking like bunnies right here… in which
case…” he asked and reached up to grip her breasts, “Why are the Shadows keeping us from the fun…”

"
It’s not the fun stuff just yet, it's always best to watch for a while before they really get into the swing of things. Better late to the party than early." that and she and her Shadows wanted him all to themselves for a while.

“Fair enough, and I do aim to please love…” he nuzzled her again and slipped his hands up under her dress. “But this entire thing is just a tease. We could be back on the boat, you on your hands and knees on our bed with me fucking you hard and fast from behind.”

"There's no rush we've got all night and I do plan on getting to that." she swirled her hips under his hands, grinding back against him. "Of course if you prefer that I could use my final wish... We could be there in a flash?"