Seth's Cravings: An Endless Series: Book 2 (2 page)

     “…eyes.” Landon finished with a laugh.

     I wrapped up my amusement with one last chuckle at his
riposte. Carrie gave him the evil eye with a crooked grin. Nic just gave him
the evil eye.

     “You’re getting too easy Nic. I was expecting steam out
the ears at any moment.” Landon leaned back in his chair with a grin.  

     “First the suggestion of no clothes, than the touching;
you’re lucky I’m not hauling you out of that chair to beat you senseless.” Nic
grumbled pulling Carrie’s chair closer to him and away from Landon.

     I grinned but frowned inwardly. I’d asserted just
moments before that I would not share what was mine, but I wasn’t that
possessive concerning Melissa? Hell, did I really want to be? Landon was just
being a joker, and Nic could barely contain his jealousy.

     “Nic, he was just playing.” She leaned over to give him
a quick kiss on the lips. At least I’m sure she’d planned on it being quick.
Nic had other ideas. He held her to him and went deep for about five seconds.
When he finally let her up she was breathing hard and blushing brightly. She
stood up on wobbly legs. “I need to go to the restroom. I’ll be right back.”
The next second she was rushing out of the room.

     I couldn’t help watching her go with a small amount of
covetousness. Not for her per say, but for what the two of them had.

     “You know, you’re lucky you can’t read minds because
then you’d be hauling so many guys out of their seats you wouldn’t have any
time to kiss your girl. Then where would she be; lips all lonely, waiting for
her guy. Only you’re off bashing some guy’s skull in for daring to think dirty
thoughts about your girlfriend. Better get some control or her lips might find
another’s.” Landon pursed his lips grinning like he could be that guy. 

     Nic controlled himself throughout Landon’s teasing; his
only response consisted of one raised finger.

     Landon’s grinned spread. “There you go, already showing
some restraint.”

     I rolled my eyes at his death wish.

     Landon turned to me. “Are you coming or what dude, or
did your girlfriend confiscate your balls while you were gone. Although, I have
to say she wouldn’t look like she’d know what to do with them if she had.”

     I raised my brow at his attempt to work me like he had
Nic, but decided not to respond to it. Maybe I should have been offended on
Melissa’s behalf, but I wasn’t. I mean, shit, he was just teasing…most
likely…probably not completely. Sometimes it was hard to tell with Landon.

     “Yeah, I’ll come.” It would be more entertaining than
staying in on a Monday night.

     Landon looked at Nic and shook his regretfully. “I
won’t bother asking you, you’re no fun any longer. Girls are fun killers.” He
said mournfully but with a small sneer.

     Nic barked out a laugh. “Well, I guess that special
girl won’t be seeing you with your clothes off any time soon then. However,
mine will.” He got up with a smirk and strolled out the door.

     “You walked into that one.” I grumbled. I stood up to
grab a couple more slices of pizza.

∞                  
∞                    ∞

     Landon and I walked into the rec room of Jax’s rented house
to a crowd of people milling around the center of the room laughing and
commenting loudly on some action that appeared to be taking place at the gaming
table.

     “Jax, she’s schooling you hard.”

     “Damn, it’s like she knows what cards are coming.”

     “She has to be counting cards, nobody is that damn
good, or lucky.”

     We worked our way through the crowd, which wasn’t difficult
when you were as large as I was, to an unexpected sight. Greg was dealing Black
Jack to Jax and some chick. An extremely hot chick.

     If this was the new player on the scene than Jax had
been down playing the extra interesting observation…she was way more than that. 

     I estimated her height, since she was sitting, to between
five-eight to five-ten. Her hair was a mix of strawberry blonde and blonde
highlights, wavy, and a couple inches past her shoulders. Walking further
around the table revealed flawless creamy pale skin, a deep pink rosebud mouth,
and amazing aquamarine eyes. This girl was completely different from Carrie in
looks, but her beauty was just as arresting. Also dissimilar to Carrie, this
girl knew how to apply make-up perfectly highlighting everyone of her striking
features. She also wore clothing that showed her figure to the best advantage. An
eye catching b-cup was displayed nicely, yet discreetly, in a short sleeve pink
top.  

     You would have had to be dead to look at her and not be
affected, and I wasn’t dead, but I was still surprised when my dick swelled
almost painfully in interest. My body’s reaction pissed me off. I didn’t want
to have this kind of visceral reaction to a female that was most likely shallow
like all the other females that hung around these parties for trust funds and
lacrosse players.

     Moreover, I had a girlfriend that I cared deeply for
and it felt like a betrayal of sorts. I mean, shit, I wasn’t expecting my body
to be comatose around other women, because like I said I wasn’t dead, but I
shouldn’t be this affected by some random chick either. What made it worse is
that I hadn’t had a reaction like this to either Carrie or Melissa…or to anyone
else that I can remember.

     “Fuck, she’s a cool cucumber; she barely looks at her
cards before she’s either betting or folding.”

     Forcing my gaze away from her I studied the game they
were playing. It was standard Black Jack or Twenty-one, but it appeared they
were playing the game at an accelerated pace. Each hand lasted about five
seconds, and after about one minute I could see that Jax was using up more of
those seconds than the girl. Her gaze seemed zoned in on the cards flying
across the table, and she would either tap the table in front of her or wave to
stay almost instantly after receiving her two cards. I also took note that
while Jax checked the displayed cards at least twice, or more, before he made a
decision for further cards she never really looked at his at all. She appeared
solely interested in where her hand was going.

     If I had to take a guess I would say that she was
either psychic, or she could indeed count cards. It wasn’t something I had ever
come across before and had to admit was rather fascinating. She was winning by
a substantial amount, maybe three or four hundred and I had to wonder how long
they’d been playing.

     Greg was reaching the end of the deck of cards when Jax
called a halt at the same time laughing. “Shit, girl, that game is just too
fucking nerve racking. Whoever came up with speed Black Jack must have money to
burn and balls of cold steel, because I have to tell you I need to dip mine in
an ice bath right now I’m sweating so badly.” The crowd around the table
laughed at his comment.

     I could see that Jax did indeed have noticeable
droplets of sweat beading his brow. The girl on the other hand leaned back in
her seat looking ten times relaxed and smiled. The smile dripped of
sensuality. 

     My jaw, and dick, twitched involuntarily.    

     Jax looked up and spotting us spread his arms out
smiling in welcome. “Landon! Seth! Great to see you guys. Hope your summer was
awesome and all that shit. There’s beer in the fridge or cooler if you want
one.”  

     We did as Jax suggested, grabbing two beers each, and then
snagged the two empty seats at opposite ends of the table that Jax had saved
for us, across from the ‘extra interesting’ new female player. Roman was
cashing out her winnings from the Black Jack game and she slipped the bills
into the purse she had resting on the table.

     The crowd had dispersed mostly during the time Landon
and I grabbed our beers except for a few female hanger-on’ers. Besides the one
female at the table the rest of the five players were teammates of ours; Jax,
Landon, me, Roman, and Greg.

     “Ladies, you’re going to have to find something else to
do for a couple hours. We don’t like people looking over our shoulders as we
play causing distractions or possibly giving away our hands.” Landon stated
categorically. “So run along and we’ll find you later if we’re interested.”

     Looking put out at having to leave, but not necessarily
at having been labeled as inconsequential, they tripped away on their expensive
high heels. The new girl had been watching us with a smile, a rather impassive
smile, but I noticed that her eyes narrowed slightly at Landon’s words.  

     However, before I could process the expression Landon
turned his attention to her. “Not that I don’t appreciate the view, but when
did we start letting females play?” Landon groused twisting the cap off his
beer.

     The female in question maintained her smile, raised the
glass she was drinking from in a salute, and then brought it to her lips to
drink. All three actions were sexy as hell and my dick pulsed in attention
causing my temper to simmer. Watching her play cards may have been fascinating
but I did not want to find her fascinating beyond that. I gulped half my cold
beer in an attempt to cool myself off.  

     “I think that was around seven months ago when you
invited Carrie to play.” Roman replied with a snort sorting poker chips.

     Landon’s beer glass thumped onto the table. I could
tell he was getting tired of hearing about that moment; especially since the
last one was only hours ago. “That was one time and part of an experiment. Can
this girl play anything besides trick games?”

     The girl in question, again, only smiled at the slur. I
found myself absorbed by the curve of those pink lips.

     “Nadezhda has been a player at quite a few games this
summer while you guys have been gone. She’s good, real good, almost a little
too good.” Greg grumbled raising an eyebrow at her while pointing the top of
his beer bottle in her direction.

     For some reason that familiar action made my shoulders tense.

     And what was with her name? It was enunciated like
Nah-Dye-zhda which sounded completely foreign.

     Nadezhda’s rosebud mouth quirked. My dick jerked in
response yet again. “Greg, I told you if you would feel better zat I not be
here I would go. I don’t want to ower stay my welcome.”

     Holy shit! This girl just kept it coming. Her husky voice
and Russian accent sent both chills and heat rolling over my skin.

     Greg shook his head quickly. “You know we love having
you here, Nadezhda.”

     Fuck, Greg, could you get anymore up her ass.

     The chick smiled impishly. “Ewen zough I take all your
money?”

     Right, like she was that good. If she did have the
uncanny ability to count cards that wouldn’t work for her at the game of Poker.
These guys were probably too distracted gazing at her face and cleavage to play
a proper game around her, and from the expressions ranging around the table
that looked about right. 

     I wasn’t going to allow myself to be distracted in that
way if that was her plan.

     Greg smiled suggestively and waggled his eyebrows. “As
long as you come you can take my money any time.”

     It wasn’t difficult to catch Greg’s sexual innuendo and
I felt myself stiffening unexpectedly at it. The smile on Nadezhda’s−shit,
that name was a mouthful−face remained but I thought caught a flash of
something in her eyes belying its geniality. Maybe this chick actually had
something going on inside her head besides crafty card tricks.

     “I guess I’ll keep coming zen.” Lifting her glass she
downed the clear liquid contained in it.

     I experienced a surprising flash of disappointment at
her apparent acceptance of sexual suggestions and wondered why I cared. The
chick was obvious and predatory, my least favorite things in a woman. It also
had me wondering if the two had been doing more than playing poker together.  

     “Are we playing anytime today, or has this suddenly
become a book club?” I grumbled lifting my bottle and downing the rest of my
beer. Grabbing the other one I twisted off the cap noticing that Nadezhda topped
off her glass from a vodka bottle she’d brought up from the floor. She was
living the full Russian lifestyle then was she.

     “Yeah, let’s play.” Landon concurred. “What are the
stakes tonight?” He asked pulling out his wallet.

     “We could play light at five hundred or go for a full
thousand.” Jax proposed.

     I found myself watching Nadezhda as Jax made his
suggestion. Her expression remained tranquil but I noticed her pupils flare.
Was it in excitement or trepidation? Did she have the money to play our high
stakes games? I would assume so since Greg had said she’d been to several games
already. Shit, I didn’t even know if this girl was a student or a friend of a
friend. She looked about our age though.

     She remained silent on her preference but looked around
the table. Her gaze was calculating and that was another check against her in
my book…not that I was considering her for anything. I was sick and tired of
calculating females that’s why I was with Melissa.

     Aquamarine eyes suddenly meet mine and froze as her
gaze seemed to get caught in the stare I was directing at her. She stiffened
slightly and her pupils flared again, but I had to hand it to her, her
expression revealed nothing. Curling her lips faintly in a smile she nodded her
head in acknowledgment before her gaze moved on.

     I felt a whoosh of air leave me and realized that I’d
been holding my breath. My thighs and groin were tight and heavy as well.

     What the Fuck! I did not like the reaction I was having
to this female.

     “Let’s do a thousand.” I said in hopes that it would be
too pricey for her and she’d bow out.