"We gonna go, or make eyes at each other all night?"
"We’re going," Ryan said, waving him on. "Give me a minute to say goodbye to my girl."
"We won’t start the car," Conor advised, "I’ve only got a half tank of gas."
"Go to the Necessaries and buy the beer and chips," she suggested, naming the tiny store located at the end of their block. The proper name of the place was the Resident Store, but for some reason the O’Flaherty’s had always called it the Necessaries. "I’ll be waiting for you when you get back."
"Sure you will," Conor scoffed, bending to kiss Jamie on the top of her head. "See you later, Short Stuff."
She swatted him on the seat as he walked by, sticking out her tongue for good measure. "I’m not considered short when I’m among normal-sized people, Conor."
"Oooh…are you gonna let her talk like that about us, Ryan?"
"I’ve got no control over her mouth, Conor," Ryan replied, smiling down at her impish partner.
"Sure you do," Jamie purred, lacing her hands through Ryan’s hair as she pulled her down for a scorcher. They smiled through the kiss as they heard two sets of feet beat a hasty retreat. They had quickly learned that nothing cleared a room like a serious kiss, but they used the trick judiciously, to make sure they didn’t wear it out.
"You sure you don’t mind if I go?"
Jamie shook her head, her fine blonde tresses swaying with the movement. "Not at all. I really need to devote some quality time to Poppa, and this gives me a good opportunity. Have fun, Sweetheart, and don’t let them take all of your money."
Ryan smiled and kissed all around her face, delighting in the giggles she could always elicit. "How do you know we play for money?" she whispered.
"Because you’re O’Flahertys," Jamie whispered back, the answer obvious to even the most casual observer.
At ten o’clock Liam let Jamie in the door of the small house in Sunset. Peering through the smoke, she saw her lover sitting at a redwood table that had obviously been brought in from the back yard, the only furnished part of Niall’s home. She sat on a stackable metal chair, rocking back and forth on the two back legs, her own legs splayed wide apart for balance. Several tightly-fanned cards were tucked into her left hand, a long, lit cigar in her right. "Oh goody," Jamie muttered, causing Liam to chuckle, "cigars!"
Only Donal and Ryan were playing the current hand, and neither dark head so much as twitched in her direction, even though Jamie was certain Ryan knew she had entered the room. Her face was completely impassive, as was Donal’s, and every set of eyes in the room flicked from one to the other, waiting for the next move. A sizeable sum of money was lying on the table, most of it singles, but Jamie spotted a few tens and twenties in the pile.
My God, I can’t imagine her throwing away money like this! And smoking! What else don’t I know about her?!
In front of Ryan lay a four, a six, a seven, an eight, and a nine, all hearts. Jamie was quite familiar with poker, and played seven-card stud frequently, so she assumed Ryan held a five and either a three or a ten in her hand. Donal was displaying a mess on the table, showing aces of clubs and diamonds, and not much else. Jamie assumed he had the other two aces in his hand, but if her guess about Ryan’s hand was correct, she would beat his four of a kind. Donal leveled his gaze right at Ryan and spoke, "Show ‘em."
She smirked slightly and placed two cards on the table, now displaying her complete hand: a deuce, a four, a six, a seven, an eight, a nine, and an ace–all of hearts.
With a vicious slap of his hand on the solid table, Donal jumped to his feet and cried, "God damn it! God damn it all to hell! She got me again!"
Ryan didn’t even look up, smiling serenely as she pulled the cash toward herself and started to organize it. "H’lo, Jamie," she said blithely, her words a little mumbled since she was forced to stick the rather large cigar into her mouth to gather up her loot.
Donal had stalked off to the back yard to cool off, and Jamie snuck around to his side of the table to pick up his cards. She nearly dropped them when she saw that he carried one ace and a seven of diamonds in his hand. "You lunatics were betting this kind of pot with three of a kind and a flush??!!"
Ryan’s lone raised eyebrow and her nodding head were her only answer. The pot was now neatly arranged, and she withdrew the cigar and exhaled a series of smoke rings into the air. "Cards is more about guts than luck," she declared, obviously pleased with herself.
The remaining family members all laughed at that, with Brendan correcting her. "No, Ryan, cards is all about playing with the one member of the family that doesn’t believe you can count ‘em. The rest of us have learned our lesson."
Jamie cast a suspicious glance in her partner’s direction and went down her list. "I didn’t know you smoked…I didn’t know you’d bet this kind of money…and I certainly didn’t know you could count cards. Anything else you’d like to reveal tonight?"
"I could be convinced," she agreed with a saucy grin. "Let’s go home and I’ll show you." The men all laughed at the nonplussed look on Jamie’s face, but Ryan immediately apologized. "Sorry, Babe, I’ve been with the unwashed masses too long. They’re rubbing off on me."
Jamie crossed over to her, grasping her chin to tilt her head towards the light. "You’re looking a little glassy, Love. I think your tongue has been loosened by too much beer."
"Ooohhh…" Conor began, but both women shot him a look and he kept his ribald comment to himself.
"Let’s go, Tiger," Jamie urged, pulling Ryan to her feet.
Donal stormed back into the house just as they started for the door, demanding, "Hey, no fair! You’ve got to give me a chance to get even!"
Ryan shook her head, knowing that would never happen. "What did you start with, Donal?"
"Fifty," he muttered, slightly embarrassed.
She extracted the wad from her pocket and peeled off two twenties. "Don’t bring so much money next time, pal." Jamie was amazed when the lanky young man gratefully accepted the refund and shoved it into his pocket.
"Thanks, Ryan," he said, pulling her into a hug.
"Hey, I lost money too," Conor complained.
"You were out of that last hand before I had my cards in order," she scoffed, ruffling his hair affectionately.
"I didn’t say I lost it to you," he corrected, pinching her cheek.
"Let’s go, Babe," Ryan suggested, turning to Jamie. "I have a feeling the game’s gonna start up again, and I’d rather quit while I’m ahead."
Jamie took the cigar from Ryan’s hand and extinguished it. Once it was cool, she placed it in the pocket of Ryan’s blouse, patting it gently as she said, "No smoking in my car, Love. Especially not cigars." They said their goodnights and walked the three blocks to the Boxster. "Can you really count cards?" Jamie asked as she hit the automatic lock release.
"Yeah. It’s not that hard," Ryan informed her, sliding her long body into the small car.
"On your planet, maybe not," Jamie teased, "but we earthlings can’t do that."
Ryan sighed, resting her head back against the headrest. "The boys all think it’s a math thing…but it’s not," she revealed with an adorable childlike expression on her face.
"What is it then?"
"It’s just concentration and memory," Ryan insisted. "I had a two, a four, a six, a seven, an eight, a nine, and an ace, right?"
"Right," she said, even though she had no idea of what Ryan’s cards had been.
"Donal had three aces, and I had a pretty good suspicion that’s what he had."
"But how…" Jamie began, but Ryan launched into her analysis immediately.
"There were two kings, three queens, two jacks and a ten in the upcards. Given the suits, he couldn’t have had a royal flush. There was a break in every suit, meaning he couldn’t have had a straight flush either. I knew he didn’t have four of a kind, since at least one card of every denomination was showing. That left a full house." She let out another sigh and said, "A full house was a definite possibility. I had a feeling he was working on aces, and even Donal doesn’t usually go that deep with only a pair."
Jamie’s head was reeling trying to keep up with Ryan's exposition, and she was stone cold sober. "So, how did you know he didn’t have a full house?"
"Oh, I didn’t," Ryan informed her. "Not until he raised me big at the end of the hand. Donal only bets like that if he’s got nothing, or a sure winner. A full house isn’t a sure winner, so I figured he had nothing." She shot a crooked grin at her partner and added a little wink. "They think I win because of math, but it’s at least half because they’re so darned predictable!"
When they walked into their room Ryan turned her back to the bed, flexed her knees, and jumped neatly right into the center of it. Linking her hands behind her head, she crossed her booted feet at the ankle and smiled serenely at Jamie. "Sleepy?"
Jamie shook her head slowly, trying to determine if she was being flirted with. She allowed a seductive smile to show–just in case--and said, "Be right back, Love. I had one too many glasses of tea tonight."
When she returned, still dressed in her outfit from dinner, Ryan looked even more relaxed, but her eyes were flashing playfully. "Wanna play?" Her voice took on its usual stunningly sexy timbre, and Jamie immediately felt the first stirrings of arousal tug at her. Even though Ryan’s tone and look were familiar, she didn’t usually ask for sex quite this way, and Jamie thought she had better seek clarification.
"Wanna play what?" she asked slowly, tilting her head as she approached the bed.
"Stay there," Ryan cautioned, taking the cigar from her pocket and pointing at Jamie with it, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "Stay right there."
Following orders, Jamie did just as her partner had asked her to do, and she waited patiently to receive the next request.
"I wanna play a game," the dark beauty murmured, her honey-toned voice causing Jamie’s knees to grow weak. "Do you wanna play with me?"
"There isn’t a game in the world I’d ever refuse to play with you, Ryan. Name it."
Ryan rolled over and turned on her bedside CD player, flipping through the discs until she found the one that she wanted. The soft, slow strains of a sensual jazz beat filled the air, and as Ryan rolled onto her back, she once again linked her hands behind her head. Blinking slowly, she stated her request. "I want you to dance."
"Dance?" Jamie asked, extending her hand in invitation. "Okay…but you’re gonna have to get up to dance with me, Babe."
"I didn’t ask you to dance with me," Ryan averred. Her deep blue eyes grew even darker as they bore into Jamie’s. "I asked you to dance for me."
"For you…like…
for
you?" she asked hesitantly, as she felt her stomach do a little flip.
"Exactly," Ryan murmured, sticking the cigar in her mouth and nodding her head slowly, a sexy grin tugging at her lips. "
For
me."
Indecision combined with her increasing arousal to render Jamie absolutely speechless. She stood in the middle of the room, her arms folded over her waist as though she was chilled. Sensing her unease, Ryan looked her in the eye and said, "If you’re not into it, it’s no big deal, Babe. I just thought it would be…interesting." Her eyes still emitted an overpoweringly sensual lure, even though her words were giving Jamie an out if she didn’t want to play.
Given that, before Ryan, she had only been fully intimate with Jack, and they'd never played sexy games, Jamie had never done the type of thing that Ryan was suggesting, and a part of her wanted to dismiss the idea and stick with their norm. But another, more insistent part told her to go for it. One of the things she most enjoyed about their lovemaking was that Ryan was apparently hell-bent on keeping it fresh and exciting, and she wanted to encourage that as much as possible, even when it meant doing something that was outside of her comfort zone. Dancing in a sexually suggestive manner was, in fact, way outside of her comfort zone, but Ryan had yet to have a bad idea when it came to sex, and she doubted that she was going to break that streak tonight. Summoning her courage and chasing her doubts to the back of her mind, Jamie smiled at her lover and nodded her head decisively. "I think it would be very…interesting," she agreed, mimicking Ryan’s tone as well as her choice of words. "Just remember–I’ve never done this before, so don’t expect a professional caliber performance."
A self-satisfied grin met her disclaimer, and Ryan assured her, "I have a sneaking suspicion that you have hidden talents in this area, Babe. Give it a whirl."
Taking a moment to decide on how to approach the matter, Jamie assessed her outfit and found it perfect for the plan she was conjuring up. Keeping her gaze fixed on Ryan’s face, she began to sway with the music, letting the beat be her guide. Her hips started to move in a gentle rhythm, and within a few measures she was moving gracefully, slowly losing herself in the music.
As her body took over, she recalled one of the sayings that Ryan had written in the training journal that she had given her for Christmas. The motto had stuck with her ever since she had read it, since it perfectly described Ryan’s outlook on life and was the type of behavior that she wanted to emulate. "Sing as if no one can hear you. Dance as if no one can see you. Love as if today is your last day on earth." Taking the aphorism to heart, Jamie let her body express her desire, closing her eyes as the slow, steady beat became her world. She moved gracefully about the room, not even considering Ryan’s reaction to her display. She was truly dancing as if no one could see her–that simple motto allowing her much more freedom to express herself than she would have if she was doing this only "for" Ryan.
As the song drew to a close, Jamie opened her eyes to see her lover sitting up on the bed, looking very…alert. Her eyes were wide and flashing with desire as she stared, mouth slightly open, at the spectacle that was being presented before her. "That was absolutely fantastic," she murmured, her appreciation evident.
"Another?" Jamie needlessly asked as the next song began.
Unable to form complex sentences, Ryan just nodded, licking her lips in anticipation. Jamie walked over to the bedside table and grabbed the small box of wooden matches they kept there for lighting candles. Moving around the room, she lit every candle in the place–and there were quite a few scattered about. She flicked off the overhead light, crossed back to the bed, and extended her hand for Ryan to take. Pulling her to her feet, she moved her backwards until she was in front of her desk chair, then gave her a little push, smiling when Ryan sank into it. Lighting another match, she put the cigar to Ryan’s lips and instructed, "Suck." Wide eyes greeted her order, but the tanned cheeks pulled inward as Ryan complied, puffing on the cigar to light it fully.
Leaning over from the waist, Jamie gave her partner a seductive smile while her hand slipped into the pocket of Ryan’s chinos, pulling out the substantial wad of bills. "Don’t be stingy," she warned, slapping both of Ryan’s cheeks with the bundle. She nearly laughed at the absolutely stunned expression on her partner’s face, reveling in her ability to continually surprise the vastly more experienced woman.
Gathering her courage, Jamie began to put on a show for her partner, dancing much more suggestively this time. The dress she wore was a relatively unstructured print that closely followed her curves. Tiny covered buttons, running from the neckline to the hem, held the dress closed, and as her body began to move once more, she leaned over right in front of Ryan, her cleavage presented in a most inviting fashion. Her hand dropped to the hem of her short dress, where she began to unfasten the buttons, one by one. Ryan’s hand lifted to examine the treasures being displayed right in front of her face, but Jamie shook her head decisively. "Uh-uh-uh," she teased. "House rules. You can look, but not touch."
Once again, she had to stifle a laugh at the flummoxed look on Ryan’s face.
I don’t know why I get nervous about playing with her
, she thought wryly.
She’s sooooo easy!
Ryan’s hands dutifully fell to her thighs, the still-massive cigar drooping dangerously from her lips. Jamie playfully pushed it into a horizontal position, leaning over to whisper, "You’re getting limp."
Ryan grinned up at her, some of her usual confidence returning now that Jamie was clearly showing that this was still a game. She removed the cigar and rocked back in the chair, smiling up at her partner. "There’s not one part of me that’s limp, Baby. Everything’s alert and ready for action."
Jamie had not stopped dancing throughout this interchange, still moving gently to the beat. She turned around and wiggled her hips, her short dress swaying seductively. "I’ll be the judge of that…if you’re lucky." With that threat, she turned and began to undo a few more buttons, stopping at mid-thigh this time.
Lifting her foot, she insinuated it between Ryan’s spread legs, the heel of her delicate sandals catching on the edge of the chair. The motion exposed her leg nearly to her crotch, and Ryan looked up the expanse of toned thigh, a very pleased smiled gracing her face. "Like ‘em?" Jamie asked, referring to her stockings. Since they had been together, she had only worn a dress a couple of times. On the last occasion, Ryan had made a teasing comment about the unattractive red line that normal pantyhose made on her stomach, and Jamie had privately sworn that the offending hose would never again touch her body. True to her vow, she had discarded every pair that she owned, replacing them with thigh-high stockings, a lacy band of elasticized material holding them tight.
The dark head nodded slowly as Ryan struggled to obey Jamie’s orders that she was not allowed to touch her. Having the muscular thighs displayed in such an arousing manner was almost too much for Ryan. Having to do something with her hands, as well as needing a little oral stimulation, she popped the cigar back into her mouth and took a few puffs, blowing the smoke well away from her partner. "I like them very, very much," she finally said, once she had calmed down a bit.
Satisfied with her answer, Jamie proceeded to undo another dozen of the tiny buttons, moving her body tauntingly the entire time. Now the dress hung open from her waist to her thighs, her lacy white panties peeking out occasionally as she twirled.
Ryan was beside herself with desire, the pulsing between her legs nearly painful. She reached down to adjust a bit, but once again, Jamie interrupted her. "Can’t touch yourself, Sport. House rules. And speaking of rules, this isn’t a charity, ya know. How about prying some of those bills out of your fist?"
Ryan blinked slowly, gazing vacantly from her hand to Jamie’s lips, trying to ascertain if this was really her lover speaking, or some remarkable look-alike.
"Maybe you need a little more incentive," Jamie purred, once again bending at the waist as she opened all of the remaining buttons, her lace-clad breasts just an inch from Ryan’s face.
Ryan knew she was expected to participate in this game, but she was having a very tough time getting that message to her extremities. She finally managed to grasp a few bills from her wad and tuck them into the top of Jamie’s stocking, pausing just a moment to caress the unbelievably soft skin of her upper thigh with the back of her fingers.
Standing up quickly, Jamie dropped the now loose dress from her shoulders, shaking her shoulders quickly to aid in the process. Of course, that action caused her breasts to jiggle, creating heightened interest from her partner. Ryan immediately nestled two twenties right into the heart of her cleavage, earning her a grateful smile from her dancer. "Good girl," she praised. "That just earned you another dance."
Luckily for Ryan, the next number had a decidedly sexy beat, and Jamie used the song to excellent advantage, bending, squatting, shimmying her hips and shoulders–all in a fiendishly contrived plot to drive Ryan absolutely stark raving mad. The plan was working perfectly, judging by the vacant look in her eyes and the fidgeting she was doing. Turning up the heat, Jamie shoved her foot right between Ryan’s thighs, using the rounded toe of her sandals to scrape up and down the seam of Ryan’s cotton pants.
The reaction was a little more than Jamie had anticipated, with Ryan bending over at the waist, trying to close her legs to avoid any more contact. "Don’t you like that, Sweetie?" Jamie hummed into her ear.
Her head nodded furiously, and she gasped, "I can’t let you do that and not touch you. I’m trying to behave." She looked up at Jamie with a pathetic expression on her face and reminded her, "I’m only human."
"You’re a fine human, too," Jamie insisted, and as a reward, she grasped the back of Ryan’s head and rubbed it into her cleavage, letting her breathe in her scent while the lace tickled her face. When she released her, Ryan flopped back against the back of her chair, gasping for breath, eyes comically wide.
"Like that?" she asked needlessly.
At Ryan’s slow nod, she reminded her, "Then pay for it." She smiled when another packet of folded bills was gently tucked between her full breasts. Turning around, she removed all of the money and tossed it to the bed, not wanting its scent or appearance to get in the way of Ryan’s enjoyment.
Even though it was obvious that Ryan didn’t need, and couldn’t stand, much more teasing, Jamie had to give her the full treatment, so she asked, "Would you like a private dance?"
Smacking her lips together, Ryan croaked out, "Yeah. That’d be great."
Slowly, seductively, Jamie lifted her leg, grasping Ryan’s shoulders as she slid it over her thigh, then repeated the action with her other leg. Now firmly straddling Ryan’s lap, she began to gyrate to the music, continually shaking her shoulders as she thrust her hips into the incredibly aroused woman. As she rubbed her breasts into Ryan’s nearly drooling face she whispered, "Twenty dollars for each minute, Baby." She nearly burst out laughing when Ryan took her entire bankroll and offered it up to Jamie, her face never leaving the milky white cleavage that she was so happily nuzzling.
"Just for that, you can take off my bra," she whispered, amazed when the lacy garment was hanging from her shoulders just a nanosecond later.
Boy, she’s good
, she mused, considering that practice really did make perfect. Now Ryan’s entire face got into the act, ably aided by her warm, soft hands. The tables began to turn once she got her mouth and hands on those perfect mounds, and within seconds Jamie was grinding herself against her lover, the pretext of the game completely forgotten.