And then it’s the seventh hand.
The tie-splitter.
A cold thrill builds against the dread as he deals. Is the sweet call of the win what pushes gamblers to risk it all? Reverend Overstreet may have had the right of it in preaching against it.
An eight of hearts and a king of spades land in front of me. Eighteen. I stare at them until the numbers blur.
“Worried?” he asks lightly.
“Not at all,” I lie, shifting uncomfortably and accidentally squeezing his knee with both of mine. Damn that knowing smile of his. If this pressure wasn’t against me in this last round, I would be able to think straight. But no, throw in the possibility of a naked Warren and a kiss and now my thoughts are all messed up. Now I don’t even know if I want to win.
He has a nine, but there’s no telling what’s under it.
I need to quit stalling, though. Whatever happens will happen. “Stand.”
He flips his hidden card. “Five.”
So, fourteen to my eighteen. My gaze bounces betweenmy cards, his, and the deck. What to do? Win or lose? This would be a wonderful time for Emmaline to wake up, but she hasn’t stirred once.
“Stand.” I want to win. Mostly because I was the ultimate winner at checkers, too. Not because I want to see him naked.
Definitely not that.
Warren’s hand hovers above the deck. “You all right, wife? You’re looking a bit peaked over there.”
“I’m fine.” Another lie proven as such by my fingers stuttering a rhythm against the table. “Just…just draw the card.”
“Not wanting to back out, are you?” Damn his ever-watchful eyes that lock onto my jittery fingers. “We can put the game aside and save it for another day. Maybe tomorrow if it snows again.”
“No.” I don’t mean to snap, but I don’t want to stop. “Let’s finish this.”
Ever so slowly, he peels the card away, curving his fingers around the back. When he grins, my heart triples in beat. “What is it? Let me see.” Now’s not the time to tease.
Arching one eyebrow, he drops the two of clubs onto the table.
“A two.” I close my eyes and sigh with a mixture of relief and tension. Sixteen to my eighteen. “Stand.” I’m not risking going over. The butterflies beat in fury inside my stomach as he claims the next card, but I can’t bear to look anymore.
Seconds tick by, then he murmurs, “Well, damn.”
My eyelids pop open. “What?” I demand, heart pounding again. “What’d you draw?”
“Six of spades. Puts me at twenty-two.” Looking all too proud for a man who just lost, Warren tosses down the card and casually unbuttons his shirt as he stands. “You win, wife.”
Good Lord.
“I won,” I repeat faintly, swallowing through a throat so dry I’d almost think I’d not had a drink of water for days. I don’t know whether I’m feeling relief or disappointment. Instead of our first kiss, I’m going to see my husband naked. Oh, Christ…am I ready for this? My back goes ramrod straight as his hands move to his trousers. He unfastens the buttons with slow intention but holds the waistband taut before it reveals anything.
“You sure you’re all right?” Concern pulls his dark eyebrows together at whatever expression is on my face, but it’s the barely hidden air of anticipation emanating from him that has my fingers clenching the sides of my chair.
He wants to show me just as much as I want to see.
“Fine.” I mangle the word so badly that I have to clear my throat and repeat it. “I’m fine.” His hand tightens reflexively before releasing the material, and as his pants drop, my eyes widen. “Sweet Mary, mother of Christ.”
The biggest cock I’ve ever seen hangs heavily between his legs, and it’s not even hard. I wait for disgust or fear to set in as he stands there and allows me to look my fill, but it never does. His length twitches beneath my attention, so I jerk my head aside and take in the rest of my husband’s form. Over his strong neck and shoulders. Across the very light dusting of hair on his chest to the stacked lines of muscles that taper into a narrow waist. Then down to his muscular thighs and back to a shaft that’s just a bit thicker than it was moments before.
And it was already thick.
Now his proud swagger makes sense—the man’scarrying a cock and set of balls big enough to rival a stallion’s.
