Her feigned ignorance, coupled with the wide-eyed innocence shining
from her aura, left even Luc wondering. If not for their private conversation, he would’ve believed the lies she told Tito and the other players, who smiled and nodded, apparently falling for her ingénue game.
“
Right, sweetheart,” Tito said, shuffling the cards. “We’ll start out easy for your benefit. Just a little five card draw to get your feet wet. Then, if you like it, we’ll move on to Texas Hold ‘Em and then, Trees or Razz.” He allowed the guy in the fedora to cut the deck. “Ready?”
At her nod, he dealt five cards to each player.
Jodie watched the men pick up their cards to study them before following suit. A puzzled expression crossed her features. “Ummm…how do I know what to do next?”
Damn,
she was good. Luc made a mental note to never take her at face value again. Clearly there was more to Jodie Devlin than a few scars and a soft heart.
“Keep your best cards.” Tito could barely keep his knowing smirk in check. “Hold onto any pairs or high cards, and discard the rest.”
Before the first hand ended, Luc realized Jodie Devlin wasn’t just
good
at poker. She was a goddamn card shark. In fact, if, in life, she’d ever decided to try her hand at those high-stakes games in Vegas she allegedly saw on television, she could have been a multi-millionaire, as well as a semi-celebrity.
The true skill in her game lay in her ability to completely disarm her opponents.
For the first few hands, she smiled and simpered and feigned a total lack of sophistication that charmed the other players into letting down their guards. And they fell for her ploy faster than a skydiver fell from a plane.
She started
out slowly, losing hand after hand with good-natured giggles, allowing the men to stake her each time her chip supply became depleted. Always, she’d lean forward to her generous donor and purr, “I promise I’ll pay you back when I win. You’ll see. I’ll get the hang of this game soon.”
Through it all, L
uc remained outside the circle of spectators, showing absolutely no interest in the game—even when he felt Jodie’s heated stare cocooning him.
Gradually, she turned the tide.
Never winning large pots, occasionally still throwing away perfectly good hands, all to draw Tito tighter and tighter into her net.
When her small victories resulted in an impressive pile of blue and red chips, Tito switched the game to Texas Hold ‘Em. Again, Jodie pretended to fumble her way around each hand, never completely out, but coming dangerously close to losing her shirt
—and Luc’s perfect record—a time or two. As the game continued to gain momentum, the energy in the room grew frantic. The low hum of interest bounced off the walls, zinged around the spectators, and brightened the dim light.
When
Jodie finally gave Luc the nod, she had allowed her ample chip supply to dwindle to a pitiful little collection. The other two players folded, leaving her facing off against Tito and his Midas-worthy pile.
“How many cards you want?” Tito asked.
“Four.” She fumbled with her hand. “No, wait. Three. No. Two. Oh, dear. Ummm…two…”
He arched a black-lin
ed brow. “You sure?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “Definitely. Two.”
To confirm her last reply, she placed two cards face down on the table. Tito dealt her two new cards and chose to discard and replace two also.
Luc took a step closer to the action. What the hell was he supposed to do now to bring this game to a conclusion? Especially since Jodie now studied her hand with an intensity normally reserved for a med student performing his first brain surgery. Should he continue to hang back? Or should he step into the fray and demand they leave now? He stifled a snort. What good would that do? Tito would just refuse to leave again, and they’d be no closer to wrangling the old rock star upstairs than they were before the stupid card game began.
Tito must have sensed victory at hand because he pushed an enormous
pile of chips into the kitty.
Jodie shook her head. “I can’t cover that.” She turned imploring eyes toward the other two players. “I do have a pretty good hand. Does anyone want to stake me?”
Both men looked away without replying.
“Darn,” she muttered, and with a dramatic sigh, she placed her cards face down on the table. “I guess I’ll have to fold.”
“Whoa, sweetheart! Not so fast.” Tito swerved his focus to where Luc stood. “Hey, Asante. Why don’t
you
stake the little girl?”
Christ on a cracker, she pulled it off without him.
Careful.
Jodie’s voice entered Luc’s mind.
Don’t give in too easily or he’ll get suspicious.
Painting confusion on his face, Luc
met Tito’s gaze. “Even if I could, why would I stake her? The sooner one of you loses, the sooner we can get out of here. You may have a lifetime or two to spare, but I don’t. I’ve got other bounties to retrieve.”
“Heavy is the head that wears the crown, eh?” Tito smirked. “I’ll tell you what, Luc. How’s this for a deal? You stake the lady with your perfect record. If I win this hand, she and I both get to stay here and play on for eternity. If she wins, we both leave with you immediately after this hand is played.”
“Oh, now wait,” Jodie interjected, lashes batting furiously. “You’re getting way too serious on me, Tito. This is just supposed to be a friendly game.”
“It
is
a friendly game.”
“I only wanted to have s
ome fun before I moved on, you know?” she argued. “I don’t want to get anyone into trouble or anything.”
But Tito paid her no attention, his piercing stare fixed firmly on Luc. “What do you say, Asante? You got the balls?”
Luc pretended to weigh his options. At last, he shot his weight to one hip. “If she wins, you come willingly—no debates—and you do whatever the Elders tell you, Tito. Have
you
got the balls?”
Tito’s reply
came out as raucous laughter. Between cackles, he added, “You’re on. Everyone here is a witness.”
Biting her lip, Jodie murmured, “Okay, then, I guess I call.”
With a flourish and a serpentine grin, Tito laid down his cards. “Full house, aces over kings. Better luck next time, Asante.”
He reached for the pile of chip
s in the center of the table, but Jodie’s fingers shot out to grasp his wrist. “Sorry, Tito.”
The shy maiden suddenly became a bloodthirsty vixen. Never losing her grip on Tito, she flipped her cards over to display a perfect line of red hearts
from ten to ace.
“A full house is really good,
” she said with her own predatory grin. “But a royal flush is much better.”
Chapter 24
In the Reception Area, Sherman bounded forward, arms outstretched. “Luc! You did it again, you old dog! I knew you were the perfect hunter for this bounty. Splendid, splendid!”
Jodie, who’d landed immediately behind Luc and Tito Alexander, felt a spurt of anger shoot through her spine at Sherman’s praise. Once again, the powers-that-be underestimated her. But before she could step forward and take credit for Tito’s capture, Luc held up a hand.
“Guess again, Sherman,” he said firmly. “This one was all Jodie’s doing. I was nothing more than an awed spectator.”
“Is that so?” Sherman, scrubbing a hand over his chin, turned his speculative gaze her way. “How did you manage such a feat, young lady?”
Tito Alexander folded his arms over his chest and grunted. “She cheated me at poker.” His tone made her actions sound like the most unforgivable of sins.
“Oh, but you were the pinnacle of honesty?” Luc
shoved Tito, not with any force, but enough to send the punk rocker stumbling into a sugar white column of marble. “Get over yourself, Tito. You thought you could cheat her and she outmaneuvered you. I never saw better sleight-of-hand than hers.”
Surprise stole any argument Jodie planned to make. How
did Luc know she’d manipulated her cards? He hadn’t seemed to pay the slightest attention during the game. And she’d struggled to appear circumspect when she slipped the royal flush from the deck, one card at a time over several hands.
“Played me like a trout at the end of a fishing line, she did,” Tito grumbled, but his eyes shone with admiration. “All that crap about only seeing the game on television and in the movies. I never saw the other shoe drop ‘til she laid her cards down. And then it was too late. Hell, I didn’t even realize she was working with Luc. I thought she was another bounty like me.”
Luc’s face broke into a wide grin that only enhanced the shadows beneath his eyes. “Yep. Jodie’s my very own secret weapon for catching stubborn asses like you.”
Taking a step back, she stared at him from a new angle. Since when?
Shut up and take your bow, Devlin.
Luc’s voice growled in her mind.
You’ve earned the accolades.
“Well, then,” Sherman interjected. “Congratulations, Ms. Devlin. The Board will be enormously pleased to hear of your success.
Especially after your recent transgression.” He turned his ageless gaze to Tito. “Mr. Alexander, if you’ll follow me please, we’ll show you to your room so you may rest before the reprocessing procedures begin.”
On a deep sigh, Tito flipped
his fingers into a pistol gesture aimed at Jodie’s chest. “You owe me a rematch, sweetheart. Come back and visit me before I move on. Give me a chance to get even.”
Once again, Luc stepped between them to become an immovable barrier. “You’re a real glutton for punishment, aren’t you, dude? She already beat you
once—pretty easily, I might add. Do you honestly think she won’t knock you on your ass next time around?”
Veering around Luc’s broad shoulders,
Tito waggled his brows in a Grouchoesque leer. “Are you kidding? I’m counting on it. Nothing gets my juices flowing faster than when a sexy-ass woman has the upper hand.”
Before Jodie could determine whether she was flattered or insulted by Tito’s innuendo, Sherman
stepped forward to drag the punk rocker away. “Come along, Mr. Alexander. You must meet with your Elder Counselor at once.”
Tito surrendered easily, relaxing his stance and allowing himself to be led like a puppy on a leash. “Will Sari be waiting for me in my new life?”
The question nearly melted Jodie’s heart. But the answer brought tears to her eyes.
“That depends on you, Tito,” Sherman replied. “You’ll be given an opportunity to see her in your new incarnation. But first you must come to terms with your past sins. If you and Sari have enough forgiveness and love to sustain you this time, you’ll get another chance for happiness. If either one of you still holds on to the mistakes of the past, you will have to wait another lifetime to try again.
”
Based on what
Jodie had seen of Tito’s immaturity and devil-may-care attitude, which, she assumed shielded a wounded heart, he and Sari would have a difficult time letting go of their past problems. She sighed at the waste. Love, she’d learned in her time here, wasn’t meant to be a weapon or a secret or a curse. Love was a gift that only grew and became more wondrous when it was shared openly.
“Now, come along,” Sherman’s directive interrupted her reflections. “Let’s begin the process.”
Once the ancient spirit guide
led Tito through the crowd, Jodie turned her focus back to Luc. Jeez, he looked completely drained. His color seemed off. His usual golden hued complexion paled to heavy cream, and the shadows under his eyes had deepened to bruises. An odd odor clung to him. Like…stale vomit?
No. Impossible.
“Luc?” She cocked her head and tentatively reached a hand toward his sallow cheek. “Are you all right?”
“Of course I’m all right,” he snarled in rabid dog fashion. On a wince, his features softened. “Sorry. Yes, I’m fine. Just drained from today’s events. By the way,
I meant what I said to Sherman before. You were in top form today. I never could have wrangled Tito here without your participation.”
She blinked once, twice. Oh, boy. Luc must have picked up some bizarre form of Afterlife fever. But his eyes held no bright pinpoints. And his lips remained set in a serious line. No humorous quirk or symptoms of delusion clouded the intensity of his expression.
“Really?” The word came out a squeak, with the hushed awe of a child discovering a pony under the tree on Christmas morning.
“Wow,” he remarked dryly. “I’ve been that much of an asshole to you?”
Embarrassment warmed her insides, and she took a deep breath before replying, “I wouldn’t say you’ve been an asshole…”
On a snort
, he frowned. “Just not very forthcoming with the compliments, though.”
“Yeah, well, I haven’t exactly deserved accolades before now.” She swallowed the lump
of guilt rising in her throat. All the times she’d railed against him for jumping to conclusions about her. Hadn’t she done the same to him? How often had she acted impulsively, running from one burning house to another—figuratively speaking, of course. She sighed. “How about we start over? Give each other a new chance?”
“Lady.” He thrust out his hand. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
She clasped her fingers inside his palm, felt that familiar jolt of static crackle between them and quickly pulled away. Even so, her hand still tingled with little shock pulses. Flexing her fingers to ease the tension, she said, “Let’s go home. Partner.”
~~~~
Jodie needed no assistance to travel from the Reception Area to her room at the Halfway House. Buoyant on Luc’s effusive praise and her own pride in her success, she skyrocketed home. Happiness surged so high, the moment her feet touched the drab carpeted floor, she began dancing like a prima ballerina.
“Congratul
ations, Devlin.” Luc’s approving tone came from directly behind her pirouetting form. “You’re on your way to becoming a star in bounty-hunting, with a record almost as impressive as mine.”
She stopped in mid-rotation and stretched to look at him over her shoulder, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Let’s not go overboard, pal. Too much praise might zip straight to my head.”
“
No, I mean it. You were amazing today.”
Before she might fight the instinct, she spun briskly, wrapped her arms around his neck and captured his lips in a kiss. She caught him open-mouthed, no doubt about to wreck his compliment with so
me remark about how her naiveté wouldn’t always work to snatch the more stubborn runaways.
Screw that.
No way she’d give him the opportunity to bring her excitement down. Not when she felt so goddamn good for the first time since she arrived here.
Her tongue swept his hollow, tasting him, clean and cool, like the air just before snow fell. His original stiff surprise melted beneath the sparks she
emitted. A firestorm crackled between them, igniting a fever inside her. When he tried to pull back, she laced her fingers, successfully cradling his neck in her embrace.
Breaking the kiss
, he stared at her, consternation furrowing his brow. “What are you up to now?”
“I’m feeling vital, alive, and thoroughly in love with myself. And I want to share all this excitement with some
one. Who better than my partner? Meld with me, Luc,” she demanded, her voice throaty with need. “And not just for a quickie.”
He might have been surprised by the invitation, but no more than Jodie herself. Still, while the words hung in the electrically-charged space between them, she refused to take them back or reconsider in any way.
“Jodie,” he murmured, but she placed a finger against his lips to stem his argument.
“No. Don’t talk, don’t make excuses. Meld with me. Co
nsider it a way to seal our new beginning if you have to. Just don’t deny me. Please.”
To hell with pride. S
he
craved
their joining, more than sleep, more than air. To baptize their newfound partnership through humanity’s most powerful force. To give the gift of love and know she was worthy of receiving the gift in return.
Removing her finger, she pressed her lips to his. Fusion blended their atoms into a white-hot tornado. Fire crackled through her, skipping across synapses like a long lit fuse on a
stick of dynamite. All conscious thought vanished. She became Need, thirsting for sustenance only he could supply.
The air around them hummed with anticipation. Every cell inside her ached for him, opened to the possibility of receiving him, strain
ed to create a blinding sun of heat and light. Transforming into a whirlwind of astral dust, she surrounded his hard, throbbing axis, drawing him closer, closer.
Clothing, flesh, and bone melted
away. When their two vastly different swirling pools of energy collided, she pulled him inside her in a yearning older than time, deeper than space. She spun through this screaming vortex, rising into the sky on a raucous symphony. A steady pounding echoed from her core. Luc, her magical percussionist, beat a pulsing rhythm inside her, intended to propel her over the edge.
“God, you’re beautiful.” His voice rose up to fill her senses, and she glowed brighter than a full moon on a black night.
She believed his husky words, accepted the awe behind them as her due. She was a goddess, and he worshipped at her altar with the fervor of the truly faithful. A thousand kisses landed, sprinkled over her in a benediction. Each touch sent a new tremor of ecstasy rocketing through her.
He drank in her essence, cell by cell, taking all she offered and more. And while he slaked himself on her, she feasted upon him, swirling together in a heavenly orb that took them to the brink and retreated over and over again.
The need widened to a chasm until she thought she’d die from wanting him. On a harsh cry, she closed herself around him, burning for release. The torment ended as she reached her pinnacle, a divine gift which smeared colors over the bland walls of the room. Cymbals crashed, vivid hues splashed, and she crested the stars to plummet in a spiral of sated grace.