Page 5 of The Duke and the Darkness
So do I.He glanced at her rapidly dwindling winnings, then slowly moved his gaze over her…down her delicate neck to the temptation of her full breasts beneath the soft velvet he wanted to rip from her body. “Can you afford to lose?”
She laughed, her spellbinding eyes gleaming as they found his. “Canyou?”
Overwhelming need twisted his gut. More than anything in the world, he wanted to be inside her when she closed those shining eyes and cried out with pleasure. The damned seductress knew it, too.
She placed all her remaining money—one thousand pounds—on the first card of the next hand, surprising him. Deliciously so. Because if she had no more money to wager on the rest of the cards in the hand, then…
“When I win this hand, what will you offer me in winnings?” he murmured as he brought his mouth close to her ear. He still didn’t know if she were courtesan or lady, if he’d ever met her before or not. Suddenly, he didn’t give a damn either way.
“What would you like?”
He went hard as all kinds of wanton thoughts spilled through his mind. Her coming on top was the least of them, but it would be a damnably fine way to start.
“Everything,” he drawled. And meant exactly that.
Her gaze held his. “Done. But at least give me the chance to win some of your money on each of the cards.”
“Done.”
She gestured to the manager to lean down and spoke quietly into his ear.
The man’s gaze flicked to Devlin. He said something to her with a pointed lift of his brows. When she answered, he nodded, then straightened and circled behind the table. Thenthe manager signaled for the dealer to step aside so he could finish the hand himself.
“The club is out,” the manager informed them, rapping on the remaining deck with his knuckles. “Understand?”
“Of course,” Devlin answered. She and Devlin would be on their own against each other, negotiating their own wagers. Perfectly fine terms with him.
The first cards were dealt. A queen for Devlin…and a king for her.
“And your wager for the next card?” Devlin asked, leaning toward her again. He expected her to whisper something scandalous into his ear—
“Ten thousand pounds,” she announced loudly enough for the manager to hear.
“The lady stakes ten thousand,” the manager called out, which circulated curious whispers and stares throughout the crowd that had gathered to watch. “And you, Your Grace?”
“Match.” Devlin knew she was bamming everyone in the room, except for him and the manager who both knew she didn’t have those kinds of funds. She was wagering with air on each card. But they weren’t playing for money now.
The next card brought a five for him and an ace for her. He was ahead, but not by much. So he leaned over and whispered into her ear exactly what he wanted for this card’s wager, sparing no details.
Her cheeks flushed at his wanton wager. “All right.” But she couldn’t utter the bet aloud to the manager. Instead, she cleared her throat and said breathlessly, “We’ve agreed on…a private wager.”
Snickers and guffaws went up from the crowd pressing in around the table, which only made her blush deepen. Delectably.
Not keen on letting all of Barton’s know what the two of them would be doing upstairs for the rest of the night, he reached overand carefully removed her sapphire earbob and set it onto the table. “There. Your stake, my lady.”
Let them think she was too proud to admit to wagering away her jewels. He’d give them back to her when she was lying naked in bed with him.
But from the irritated look she threw his way, she didn’t seem at all pleased.
Devlin won both the card and control of the hand. Without a word, only a wolfish smile that told her exactly what he wanted for his wager, he removed her remaining earbob and set it beside the first.
She won the card and edged him out of the lead. Barely. But enough that she was allowed to set the wager for the final card.
“Twenty thousand pounds,” she announced.
The room instantly fell silent, the laughs choking off into startled whispers.
She smiled coyly at Devlin. “Unless you cannot afford it?”
