Five Card Studs Page 5

  I think of everything that's happened, and before I know it, my body starts to respond. I can feel the aching heat between my legs, and as I lean against the bathroom door, I let the towel drop. My hand slides down my shower-pruned and reddened skin, and when my fingers find my pussy, I gasp softly. I ease one finger inside, and I moan quietly as I push deeper and curl it against that one spot. The fingers of my other hand find my clit and roll over it, making my hips tremble. I think of them telling me how they share — how all of them share, and my pulse roars.

  There are five of them. I mean, two is dirty. Three would be firmly in naughty, bad girl territory, and I'm not sure that's even something I'd be capable of.

  But five?

  Five is flat-out filthy. Five guys sharing me is just…

  I moan.

  I want so say it's wrong, or gross, or too dirty. But I can't. Not when just thinking about it gets my pulse skipping in my chest and gets my knees shaking. Five big, gorgeous, sexy men all taking me together? I picture ten hands, and five mouths and all of them centered on me. I imagine what it would be like to have five big, thick, hard cocks all for me — all desiring me, and wanting me and me only.

  The cry breaks from my lips as a second finger joins the first, sliding in and out of my eager lips as my other hand teases my clit. I roll my fingers faster and faster over it, picturing the five of them claiming me. Five hot guys growling into my skin as they tore my clothes off and kissed every inch of me. I remember Gaige telling me not to come until tomorrow, but there's no stopping it. My fingers move faster and faster as the completely filthy daydream plays out in my head — the five of them taking me any way they please and making me come like nothing I can even conceive of.

  And when I do, crying out and sagging back against the bathroom door with my fingers blurring across my clit, that's exactly what I imagine — the five of them, all at once.

  And all for me.

  The next night, I follow the directions Gaige texted me to head around to the back entrance of Lume, to the unmarked door next to the service entrance. I can feel excitement teasing through me, even if I am just here for work. My heels click against the alley pavement, and I hug my thin jacket a little closer around the black cocktail dress I've chosen to wear for the night. Normally, I'd be in comfier shoes and probably jeans and a low-cut tank top, but Gaige also made sure to let me know in his text that tonight is not the madness of club bartending. It's more just pouring the occasional beer and scotch for poker players.

  I tell myself that's why I've dressed like this — for the tips. But really, I know I've dressed extra hot for them.

  A click unlocks the door when I buzz, and I open it to find a set of wide, richly ornate stairs plunging into the lower-level of the club. I follow it down, hand on the smooth railing, until they open up into the main room.

  Wow.

  Lume itself is a gorgeous enough club, without a single expense spared. But this is something else altogether. The space is large, and decked out like this super sexy, ultra-sultry casino lounge. The whole place is low enough that the ceiling which makes up the floor of Lume towers above us, with this big, dark-tinted lofted space that must be a VIP room or something off to one side presiding over the whole space. Big, felt-topped tables are spread around the room, and the dealers standing at each one are even in uniform. Men — some rich and scary looking, some just rich — in expensive-looking suits stand around the perimeter talking, arms hooked around the waists of gorgeous, elegant women.

  I take this all in with big, star-struck eyes before I shake myself and head for the bar off to one side. A sullen, scowling looking kid who begrudgingly introduces himself as Rick, my bar back for the night, has already set everything up, so I jump right in.

  I don't see the guys for a few, but as people start to take their places at the tables, I suddenly see Gaige and Dane making their way right towards me through the crowd. My cheeks burn at the look in both of their eyes, and especially in Gaige's. He licks his lips with a smirk on his face, and while it might come off as totally crude and gross with anyone else, with him, it just seems to fit his cocky, insanely magnetic personality.

  They're still moving towards me, stopping occasionally to shake hands with someone or other on the poker floor, when I see Vince step out of what I imagined was the VIP loft space. He pauses in the doorway, and his eyes train right on me, sending a tremble up my spine. God, that dark, piercing look of his is like a blade that cuts right through me in the most insanely hot way. The look lingers, setting something on fire in me and also reminding me just how bad and wild I've been over the last two days. I've slept with three of my bosses in that time, and all three of them are currently in this very room, letting their eyes tear my clothes away and devour me.

  And they want to share me. Or at least, they've hinted that they will. All of them. The thoughts I had the night before after my shower come flooding back, and instantly, I can feel my skin tingle and my panties grow warm and damp. The flush creeps up my cheeks before a voice cuts through my thoughts and drags me back to reality.

  "I'll take a double, please."

  The voice is gravelly and low, and when I glance over at its owner, I take a quick breath.

  Woah.

  The man is a giant. A very, very, insanely attractive giant. He's this big beast of a man, with a huge, build and broad shoulders, a gorgeous smile, auburn hair and these beautiful, kind blue eyes. He grins, resting his elbows on the bar top and leaning towards me, his chiseled biceps rippling and stretching his grey t-shirt. Two full sleeve tattoos extend out from the shirt, covering his muscled forearms in ink.

  "Looks like I interrupted something nice you had going on inside that head."

  I swallow as I realize I'm still flushed pink as I stare at him like a weirdo. I shake my head as I smile.

  "Oh, no, it's nothing. A double of what?"

  He grins, his eyes burning right into mine as he shrugs.

  "I don't know, I just heard this was the place to get a double serving."

  I smile, but my brow furrows in confusion. "Sorry, gonna have to tell me what you want to drink if you want twice the amount of—"

  "I’m Luke."

  I freeze, and the color comes rushing into my face. Luke, as in Vince and Gaige and Dane's friend and partner. Luke of the mysteriously mentioned Luke and Noah. And Luke who clearly has a pretty good idea what I've been up to with his friends the last two days, judging from the grin and the comment.

  "Oh," I say quietly, feeling my face burn.

  He just grins, and I cringe.

  "Oh God—"

  "Yeah those guys can’t keep a secret," he says with a chuckle. "Well, Vince can. Dane probably can. But Gaige?" Luke snorts, his big frame shaking in a laugh.

  I know I'm bright red as I start to bury my face in my hands out of sheer embarrassment, when suddenly his large, warm, powerful hand reaches out and squeezes my arm.

  "Hey, hang on." His whole tone changes — the jokester fading and serious concern coming into his voice. "Hold on, I didn't mean to make it weird or anything."

  I give him a look and he chuckles. "Alright, the joke was a bad opener. Let's start over." He grins as he pulls his hand away from my arm and sticks it out towards me like a handshake across the bar. "Hi, Tess, I'm Luke. I've heard a lot about you from my friends, and I'd hate myself if I didn't tell you right now that I think you're a fucking knockout."

  This time, the blush that floods over my face isn't from embarrassment.

  I take his hand, swallowing at the restrained power I can feel in his grip. I mean the man is easily six-and-a-half feet tall, and all muscle. And yet, he takes my hand like it's the most delicate thing in the world, shaking it slowly as he holds my gaze and grins.

  "Too much?"

  I shake my head. "No, I thought that was a pretty suave line actually."

  He laughs. "Good."

  "Sorry for crumbling like that, it's just…" I trail off and make a face, but he seems to
get it.

  "It's a lot to take in. By which I mean, getting to know us and our, uh, less than normal views on sharing is a lot to take in."

  "Uh, yeah, it is," I say with a laugh, finally letting the air out as his charming personality slowly lowers my guard. Behind him, everyone in the room — including Gaige, Vince, and Dane, start to move to poker tables and sit, and cards are dealt as the tournament begins.

  "Let me guess, your 'I'll take a double' line was a fucking bomb, right?"

  My eyes dart to the other man who's just appeared behind Luke — this one with slightly curly dark brown hair and these totally gorgeous emerald green eyes. He's got some scruff on his chiseled, defined jaw, and he chuckles darkly when Luke turns and gives him the finger.

  "Told you, dipshit."

  Luke rolls his eyes and glares at the new guy. "Tess, this, unfortunately, is—"

  "Noah." The man smiles this smile at me that is flat-out the living definition of "panty-melting." For a moment, I want to chide myself for whatever the hell is happening to me these days. Because now beyond the whole scandalous "having a threesome with two of my bosses" thing, followed by the "epic and mind-blowing fuck-fest with my other boss" thing, I'm now flirting with and feeling all tingly and warm over two of my other bosses.

  I mean, shit, how bad was my dry spell?

  "Can I grab a whiskey, Tess?"

  "Sure." I smile, trying to hide the flirtiness that I just can't seem to tamp down as I reach for a glass and the bottle.

  "I'll take one too, actually," Luke says. "Just a single," he adds with a wink that gets my cheeks hot all over again.

  "And honestly, have one yourself if you want," Noah shrugs. "This is really an easy crowd at these things."

  I think about it for one second. I think about what a very bad idea it is for me to have a drink when I'm already thinking all sorts of things about the two staggeringly good looking guys in front of me. Yes, there are three other guys in this room — their best friends and business partners, at that — who I've already, uh, experienced. But as filthy as that sounds, it really only ignites something inside of me when I think about it.

  It's like they've ignited this dark, dirty, wild side of me that I've never known about. And I have to say, I like it.

  I pour myself a small glass as they grin at me, and then clink my glass to theirs when they raise a silent toast. I nod behind them at the poker tournament that's underway.

  "You guys aren’t playing?"

  Noah shrugs. "Nah. Not my scene. These guys are all fucking scumbags, and I can’t play with scumbags." He chuckles. "And Luke here—"

  "Shut it," Luke grumbles, shooting him a look and taking a big swallow of his drink.

  I grin. "Oh, there's a story here, I can tell."

  Luke flashes a small grin at me before he scowls. "I’m not allowed to play in this tournament," he grumbles.

  "Because?"

  "Because he also hates scumbags, but he ends up beating the shit out of them," Noah chuckles.

  "In…poker?"

  Noah laughs. "In fist-fights. They think he's got anger issues, so he's barred from playing now."

  I swallow as I eyeball the big, gorgeous man sitting in front of me. "Do you?"

  "Only with shit-heads." He grins, knocking his drink back.

  I laugh.

  The first break in the tournament comes along, and suddenly, I get busy — fast. I'm a quick bartender, but when every single guy in the room and their dates all want drinks at once, I'm suddenly very much underwater.

  But suddenly, I catch a shape darting under the end of the bar, and before I know it, Noah's back with me, his arms a blur as he grabs glasses and starts to pour orders.

  "Thanks," I spit quickly, whirling to try and keep pace with the rush.

  "Anytime, beautiful," he murmurs, making me gasp a little at how close his lips are to my ear as he moves behind me. I can feel his hard, muscled body brush against me as he darts around me to grab something, and I can't stop the warm shiver that teases through me.

  "I bartended for a long-ass time," he tosses over his shoulder as he darts for another order. He moves past me again, and I swear I feel his palm brush over my ass right through my black dress. Anyone else, and there'd be a slap coming his way, but with him, I just bite my lip and let the sizzling tease through me.

  No, it's not because he's good-looking that I let him get away with it — I mean, I'm not that girl. But it's that in the ten minutes I've been talking with him, I already feel like we've been friends forever. The same goes for Luke too, actually. Really, it's with all of them. All five of the guys have had this way of just melting whatever barriers I usually put up, or maybe it's just that there's something about them all that I just click with.

  Whatever it is, that's why I don't mind — and in fact, like it — when Noah's hand brushes my ass again. It's why I only swallow thickly and shiver heatedly when he moves behind me and presses close in the narrow bar, letting something very thick and very hard press into me from behind.

  And then suddenly, there's a low bell, and the crowd at the bar just starts to magically thin as people head back to their tables to play.

  I take a deep breath, my blood pounding from the madness of the rush.

  "Damn," Luke whistles from his seat at the bar. "You work fast, beautiful."

  "Thanks," I laugh, nodding at Noah. "And thank you for the help."

  "Anytime," he purrs in my ear, making me shiver as he brushes past me again, letting me feel what I know is his very hard, very big cock tucked into his jeans. He slips back under the bar and leans against it.

  "I'd have helped, but…" Luke shrugs and then grins as he gestures down at his size. "Pretty sure you and I woulda been a tight fit back there."

  My apparently completely hormone-drunk brain immediately takes it in a dirty way, and I know my face suddenly goes bright red at the filthy way I take his words. Luke definitely notices, because suddenly his smile fades as something dark and hungry blooms over his handsome face.

  "Dirty," he rumbles lowly, his brow arching as his eyes suddenly pierce into me. I can feel a teasing heat creep through me as the man who was the good-looking teddy bear suddenly looks at me like he wants to devour me whole.

  "When's your break?"

  I turn to see Noah looking at me intently, his eyes tracing over my body in a way that leaves a fire in their wake.

  I bite my lip, knowing what that look means but somehow powerless to diffuse it. Powerless, or maybe completely unwilling.

  "Do I get a break?"

  "I mean, we say you do. And technically, we're your bosses too."

  I swallow, glancing back at Luke and seeing that heated, hungry look still on his face.

  What am I doing?

  I know this is wrong. I know that I've already gone way past any line I should have crossed with Gaige, Dane, and Vince, and that this job is too good to mess up by being some insane girl and hooking up with all of my bosses.

  But somehow, I can't just say no.

  "I guess now might be a good time?" I say quietly, trying to keep my voice from trembling — either from nerves or excitement, I'm not quite sure which. "You know, since the next round of the tournament is underway."

  "Sounds good to me," Noah purrs, his voice low.

  "Rick can watch things for a while."

  Luke nods at the perpetually sullen-looking bar back, who shrugs and ducks under the bar after I step out.

  "So..." I swallow, twisting my hands together. "Where to?"

  Noah grins in a way that sets a fire inside of me, and when Luke takes my hand, I gasp quietly.

  "This way," he growls, before suddenly he leans down and lets his lips brush my ear.

  "Oh, and beautiful? I can promise you that you and I will be a tight fit."

  10

  Luke

  My cock is throbbing hard as we lead this little angel around the perimeter of the room. There's a hunger inside for her — for all of her. It's a phys
ical thing, obviously. I mean, every damn molecule in my body wants to pull her panties down those thighs and run my tongue over every soft, wet inch of her. Every single part of me wants to know how she'd feel when I inch my big, thick cock deep between her legs until her cream drips down my balls.

  But it's more than that too. I want to know what she looks like when she sleeps in in the morning. I want to know how she takes her coffee. I want to make her laugh, and watch the way she fuckin' lights up a room whenever she enters one.

  I want people to see her on my arm and go green with jealousy. And let me tell you, here in our den of scumbags, they sure as fuck are. Men stare at Noah and me leading this perfect creature around the edge of the room with a cold sort of jealous fury. Their stares drip with envy, knowing by the way we walk and the way our hands linger on her arm that this angel is ours tonight.

  …What they don't know is, I want her to be ours tonight and every single night after this. Forever.

  Jealousy is a weird fucking thing. For instance, if I saw Tess with literally any other guy in the world, I'm pretty confident I wouldn't be able to control my possessive anger. I know I wouldn't. I know I'd see red, and taste blood, and want to murder anyone who laid their hands on her. Anyone, that is, except Noah, Gaige, Dane, or Vince. What we have as friends is, well, weird. I know that. It's not normal, I’ll grant that, but it's the way we work, I guess.

  I don't know when it started, but I'd guess the why would be that the five of us are thicker than water. Thicker than blood, really. Yeah, Gaige and Vince are legit brothers, but it's really like all five of us share the same DNA. Being so close meant we were after the same girls a lot of the time growing up. No, it was never anything wild like all five of us dating one girl or anything. But two of us? Yeah, that'd happened, even if never really worked. For the women, it was frequently cause for conflict, but never for us. There were girls who wanted two guys of course, but as a relationship? No. Two dudes weren't who you brought home to meet Mom and Dad, that's for sure.