Poker Face (Chimera Club Stories) Read online

  “There will be scheduled breaks for you find…relief, but the ladies may come as many times as they like.” My head was filled with images of a room full of women writhing and orgasming all around me. It made me hard, and I had to sit back and adjust myself. I wasn’t subtle about it, and I caught a glimpse of triumph in Meenan’s eyes. He had me on the hook and he knew it.

  “And what do the ladies get out of this?”

  “They will be well compensated.” I bet.

  “And they will be screened for STD’s?”

  “All doctor approved. Some even virgins.” He paused again for dramatic effect. “Would you like a virgin, Brandon?” My throbbing cock twitched in my pants, answering for me.

  “Perhaps,” I said, playing coy, but we both knew it was just playing. I’d never had a virgin. I’d never felt a woman open up for me and me only, letting me into her most sacred of spaces. Fuck, if I didn’t shift this train of thought I was going to unload right here under the table.

  “I can see that you get one, if that is your preference. I have a line on one right now that I think would please you very much.”

  “If you want to distract us into losing isn’t a virgin counterproductive? They are hardly skilled at the art of seduction. They don’t know how to make a man come with their bodies.”

  “What they lack in skill they will more than compensate for in the experience they give you. Imagine trying to remember to watch your opponent’s faces while you feel her hymen break around you. The sound of her whimpers as she opens to you, her pleasure and pain reaching into the most primal part of your nature, driving you to drop your cards and grasp her hips for a good hard fuck.”

  I could imagine every sensation in excruciating detail. I was rock hard from the description he gave, but also from the idea of fighting it to keep my head in the card game. I’d wanted a challenge, to experience something to make me feel alive. This would surely do it.

  “How,” I stopped to sip my drink, and cleared my throat before going on. “How will you know that I’m on the edge of coming? You said she had to keep me there, what if I don’t feel anything, and she just sits on my dick while I gamble my life?”

  “We’ll wire you up and track your vitals. There is a spike in pulse and temperature when you orgasm. You can’t hide it, and if you can manage to be immune to a sweet virgin riding your cock you will automatically forfeit and lose. You’re not a homosexual are you?”

  “No.” When he smirked at me I felt some of the blood leave my dick. Anger helped me regain some sense of composure.

  “Then do we have a deal?” He knew I was going to say yes. He was only asking because he was an asshole.

  3-The Hand of Fate

  Camille

  “I’m afraid I’m going to have to let you go, Camille.” Carol had pulled me into her office when I arrived at work three days later. I hadn’t known what to expect, but getting fired wasn’t even on the radar.

  “You’re firing me? Why?”

  “I think you know.” She shuffled some papers on her desk, finally locating what she was looking for. “A few days ago did you take a reservation for a Mrs. Rodger Jackson?”

  “Yes.” The old hag had called and complained about me even after I gave her a discount? “I thought she was happy when we ended her call. I gave her ten percent off her nightly rate just to keep her booking.”

  “Yeah, that’s not the problem. The problem is you stole her credit card information, and used it to order some things on line. Honestly, Camille, that’s bad enough, but you shipped them here to the motel. That takes some nerve.” Her look of anger shifted to disappointment as she stared at me. I felt the knot in my stomach that never seemed to really go away tighten up again, and I covered my mouth to keep from throwing up in her desk. After a few deep breaths I took it down, and tried to find the words.

  “I didn’t do this Carole. You have to believe me. I need this job!” I felt my eyes tear up from the desperation and anger I was feeling inside.

  “Save the water works. I’m sorry, but I can’t let you stay here after this.”

  “But I didn’t do it!”

  “Brian heard you take the information, and the package came today, along with a call from Mrs. Jackson canceling her reservation. She’s threatening to sue me. Jesus, Camille, how could you be so fucking dumb?” I felt a flare of hope.

  “Brian! He did this. You’re right, he heard me take Mrs. Jackson’s information! He had access to it. We were changing shifts when she called. He heard me repeat it back to her for verification. He did it!” Carol’s face grew red.

  “Don’t you dare!” she yelled, slapping the desk with her hand, making me jump and cower in my chair. “Don’t you dare try and blame my best employee for your own lies and mistakes! I know how much you need money. This is exactly the kind of thing that someone in your position would do. I took a chance on you, girl, and you let me down!” She took a few deep breaths and sat back down again, steepling her fingers together while looking at me like I was something she had just scraped off her shoe.

  “I’m not going to report this to the police, even though I should. Frankly, I don’t want word getting around about what happened. It could hurt my business. Instead, I am going to fire you, and I will make sure that no other hotel or motel in town will ever hire you, missy. No siree, I won’t let you steal from another hard working business owner.” She shuffled some more through the paperwork on her desk before shoving an envelope at me.

  “This is what I owe you, minus the cost of the things you ordered from on line. Gather up your personal things, and be off the property in fifteen minutes. If I catch you here again I will have you arrested for trespassing.” She turned away giving me her back, and silently telling me that we were done, just in case I had missed it between the accusations and threats.

  There wasn’t much in my locker, just a sweater I kept there for when the AC gave me chills, and an old bag of chips from the vending machine outside. I tossed the chips, and headed out through the lobby. Brian stopped me before I could reach the door.

  “Hey, Camille, wanna meet your replacement?” I didn’t, I really didn’t, and I don’t know why, but I turned around to see Brian standing behind the desk with his arm around the shoulders of a girl. She was smiling.

  “This is my girlfriend Terri. Terri, this is Cami, the loser you’re replacing.” I closed my eyes as the knot in my stomach tightened again. Brian had set me up to get his girlfriend a job here. I could see the math in my head. Quick fucks in the closet, or in empty rooms while the phone was forwarded to the wireless handset. Best of all though was knowing where your girlfriend was, and what time she got off.

  No. Absolutely not. There’s only so much a girl can take. I took my hand off the door and turned around, planting my feet firmly before looking her in the eye.

  “Maybe you knew about this and maybe you didn’t, but your boyfriend spent the majority of the time I worked here rubbing his dick up against me every chance he got. He touched me, verbally harassed me and now he’s set me up to lose my job so that you can have it. If you were part of that plan, shame on you. Either way, you need to ask yourself one question. Who’s Brian going to be rubbing his dick against while you’re stuck here behind a desk for eight hours a day?”

  I saw a flash of worry and recognition in her face, telling me that Brian had spent some time rubbing on her, and she recognized his go to move. I was glad I could fuck up his life just as he had done to mine.

  ***

  I wasn’t even in my car when my phone rang. It was Evergreen, the care facility that took care of Mama. I got in and closed the door mindful of my fifteen minutes, and terrified of what was waiting for me at the other end of the line.

  “Camille Jones?”

  “Yes.”

  “This the payment office at Evergreen. Your payment for the month did not go through.” I did some quick math in my head. It should have gone through, barely, but still.

  “I don’t un
derstand. The funds should have been there.”

  “That’s between you and your bank. If the balance of the bill is not paid in full within the next fifteen days you will have to find another home for your mother.”

  “I’ll take care of it right now. There’s just been some kind of misunderstanding.”

  “Our office is open until five, Monday through Friday.” I mumbled my thanks and hung up to drive to the bank. I stopped at the ATM outside the main entrance, and used my debit card to check my balance. Negative forty-five dollars.

  “No way,” I said to the machine, and checked it again. I got the same answer. Taking a deep breath, I went inside, and got in line to find out what had happened to the almost thousand dollars that had been there yesterday.

  The line took forever. I looked around the bank hoping that someone else would be free to help me, but everyone was busy. In the far corner I noticed a man talking quietly with a bank representative. Even with my life falling apart my heart skipped a beat when I saw him. His hair was dark, and his shoulders seemed broad under his expensive navy blue suit. I couldn’t look away, even when the line moved forward and I took a dreamy step closer to the teller, bumping into the person in front me.

  “Pay attention!” the man snapped, his voice echoing through the lobby. The handsome man in the corner turned to see what was happening, giving me a complete view of his face. He was gorgeous. Five o’clock shadow covered his jaw, and his eyes were the same piercing navy blue as his suit. I felt my jaw go slack when his eyes met mine, and an electric tingle moved over my entire body. I saw one side of his mouth curl up into an almost smile that I returned without thinking. For just a second there was no one but us in the entire bank, until the teller’s voice cut into my reverie.

  “NEXT!” she yelled, like she had said it more than once. I jumped and moved to the window, losing sight of Blue Eyes in the corner. Looking into the teller’s tired face reminded me of all that had happened to me this morning, crushing my romantic fantasies about a handsome stranger to dust.

  “Yes, I need to find out what happened to the money in my account, please.” I gave her my number, and she gave me a print out of purchases that had been made against my funds in the past seventy-two hours. Apparently, I had been on quite a spree. I had bought clothes on line, shoes and make-up, and a half dozen other things that I had no use for what so ever. “These are not my charges.” She barely managed to not roll her eyes.

  “Fraud claims are at the next window. Fill out the forms, and we will investigate the charges. If we find that they are not yours, you will be reimbursed within thirty days after the finding is filed.”

  “But I don’t have thirty days. I need this money now.”

  “Then move to the next window and fill out the forms.” Caught and hung in the red tape of the world around me, I had no choice but to do as she said.

  Forty-five frustrating minutes later I exited the bank, still broke, still fired and way past the land of reason. My eyes were filled with tears of frustration and rage, and I wasn’t looking at where I was going. Before I even cleared the side walk in front of the bank I collided with someone and was knocked to the ground, sending my copies of the fraud claims, one for each charge, flying up into the air. The person I ran into didn’t even slow down. I was seriously thinking of not getting up again, of just staying there on the ground forever, or until they found my money, which might still be forever, when a deep voice cut through my cloud of misery and pain.

  “Let me help.” I glanced up and found myself staring at Blue Eyes, in his blue suit, with his five o’clock shadow and his almost smile. I watched him move around with a grace that left my mouth dry, gathering my papers one by one, fishing the last one from between two cars that were parked in front of the bank, while I sat there like an idiot. “I think I got them all,” he said, coming back to me, and offering his hand to help me stand.

  “Thank you,” I told him, meaning it more than any other time I had ever said those words in my life. The small kindness this handsome stranger had offered me was something I desperately needed to take my next breath. He flashed the half smile again, and handed me the papers.

  “It’s no problem,” he added, sliding his hands into his pockets. When I was standing again, I noted that his shoulders were truly as broad as they had seemed in the corner. In addition he was about six three, I estimated, comparing his height to my own five seven. Standing next to him made me feel small and delicate. I wasn’t used to that, and I found it a curious almost unwanted sensation. I had to be strong, now more than ever. I had to figure out how to make things work in a world that had completely disintegrated around me in a matter of hours. Still, I needed him to know how much his gesture meant to me.

  “No, really. Thank you. I’m having the kind of day that could make a person turn in their humanity card, and run to the woods. What you did just now makes me want to hold on a little longer to see if things turn around.” He blinked, clearly surprised by my candor, and then hit me full force with the most beautiful smile I had ever seen. This thing made the sun seem dim in comparison. I wouldn’t have been surprised if a bright cartoon star appeared over the corner of his mouth with a tinkling sound for effect. It made an already gorgeous man turn into a Photoshop billboard Adonis.

  “Ugh! Do you have a license for that smile?” He burst out laughing, the deep sound of his amusement making my insides relax despite the day I was having, making it feel like a gift to me to make him laugh.

  “I do, but not on me. Am I trouble?”

  “All the time would be my guess.” He preened a little, and I should have rolled my eyes, but the thought couldn’t have been further from my mind. I liked looking at him too much to be judgmental about his vanity. He was the most pleasant of distractions. Still unhinged from his kindness as much as his appearance I went on. “I would buy you a coffee to thank you, but,” I gestured to the bank with my handful of papers, “I am currently hacked and overdrawn.”

  “Then let me buy you one. Just to help reassure you not to turn in your humanity card and run to the woods.” Normally, no matter how handsome he was, it would have been a hard no, but today wasn’t just any day. Today was the day I had dreaded all my life. Today was the day that I lost control of all the things I should have been on top of.

  “I would appreciate that, very much. I think there’s a coffee shop about a block up on the right. He gestured gallantly.

  “Lead on, fair lady.”

  ***

  Brandon

  She was lovely. Her long dark curly hair blew with breeze that moved around us as we walked to the coffee shop. I caught her sneaking glances at me with curious green eyes that reminded me of the rain forests I had visited a few years ago. Her body was lush and rounded in a way that made me want to touch her, and her lips were amazing, especially when she smiled at me.

  I’d just signed my entire life away. Why was I meeting her now? In the comfortable silence between us I wondered if I would have signed Meenan’s papers if I had found her on the sidewalk on my way in to the bank, instead of on the way out.

  I shook myself as she reached for the door. It was done now, and wondering about the impossible would change nothing. I would take this moments respite with a beautiful stranger, and then focus my will on winning the game.

  The barista behind the counter tried to flirt with her when she ordered her cappuccino, but she didn’t notice. Her attention was on me. That wasn’t new, women paid attention to me all the time, but never before for an act of kindness that might convince them to remain a card carrying member of humanity. She was looking at me like she might see the man, instead of the image that was Brandon Davies, heir to the Davies steel fortune. It was intoxicating, and a little scary, so, of course, I wanted more.

  We took a booth in the back of the shop. When she took a cautious sip of her coffee, I was captivated, and when the cup came down I wanted to lick the coffee mustache off her lip, and kiss her until she forgot how bad her d
ay had been.

  For a few long minutes we drank our coffee and looked out the window, watching people walk by. It was the most peaceful few minutes I could remember having in years. She took a deep relaxing breath and exhaled slowly, placing her oversized cup on the table carefully and deliberately. “You must be the most amazing friend to have,” she told me, placing her right elbow on the table, and resting her face in her palm. Her eyes moved over my face like I was a mystery she needed to solve.

  “What makes you think so?” In point of fact, I had no friends, only acquaintances, business associates and former lovers, but never in this life would I tell this woman that fact.

  “There’s something about you that is calming, and hopeful, and peaceful.” I laughed, which made her frown. She pulled back from me, and I watched her reach for her coffee to hide behind.

  “Sorry,” I told her, reaching a hand out toward her to get her attention. I wanted her to see that I meant it. She surprised me by placing her hand on top of mine. Our hands danced there together for a couple of awkward seconds before aligning themselves so that our fingers could intertwine. I couldn’t take my eyes off them.

  When her hand flexed against mine, I took a sharp breath, feeling the warmth of her spread through me slowly from head to toe. My hand flexed back, my thumb caressing her hand. I looked at her eyes then, and found her pupils blown wide with arousal. My cock stiffened as images of her laid out on the table between us moaning while I fucked her in slow rolling waves filled my mind.

  No, in my apartment that I kept in town, in the shower on her knees for me while I fucked those gorgeous lips slowly, giving her only what she could take as I stared in to her eyes. Even better, her spread out on my bed while I buried my face between her thighs. Any of it would do, and I would do all of it, to make her keep looking at me that way. Before I could figure out how to get from here to there, she pulled her hand away, slowly extricating herself. I wanted to hold on, but I didn’t know how.