The Gambler (25 page)

He picked her up and held her close, as soon as the door was closed behind gramps. She clung to him like his little flower as he walked them over to the bed, and it helped to settle his racing heart a little more. He was thinking that he, of all people, should’ve expected, should’ve known, that there was more to her than met the eye. He’d been around greatness all his life after all. Had studied it for himself
, up close and personal.

So why then had this blindsided him? It wasn’t because he was losing his touch, the week before they’d met he was still on his game. So why had his baby been the first one in all these years to get one over on him? The thought puzzled him for all of five seconds before his mind was turned to other things.

She started with soft nibbles on his ear as he was unbuttoning her shirt and pushing it off her shoulders. She didn’t stop there though, as soon as he pulled his own shirt over his head, her lips found their way to his chest. He was too enthralled by her actions to do more than hold the back of her head as she moved her lips over him.

He knew she was just repeating what he’d shown her, as she ran her hands all over him. When she started fighting with the buckle of his belt he helped her, before pushing her back gently to pull her jeans down over her legs. He took his time this time, running his fingers lightly over her, teasing her with little nibbles of her flesh.

She sighed and cooed and heated his blood with her wild responses to his touch. When he lifted her for his tongue, her ass held firmly in his hands, he dove in. She was like the sweetest nectar, and her hands in his hair, pulling him closer to her heat, made his cock leak.

He didn’t complain when, after she came in his mouth for the second time, she pushed him back. He did wonder at the secret smile she gave him as she made her way down his middle with her lips and teeth; until she reached his straining cock and licked him.

He watched as she stroked him up and down with her mouth covering his tip, her tongue tormenting the shit out of him with her slow licks. When it became too much, he pulled her up and over him until she was over his cock. Holding her eyes with his, he lowered her down gently until he was buried inside her to the hilt.

She made a little hitching sound in her throat as she bit her lip and flung her head back. He could only watch her as she took her pleasure from him. So sensual, so responsive; his heart was full to overflowing with the love he felt for her
. He made another vow that no matter what he would find a way to keep her safe. When he’d said that before he’d had no idea of the shit she could get up to.

“Come here baby.” he pulled her head down to his for another kiss. This one was different though; she was more aggressive. She pulled one of his hands away from her hip and placed it on her tit, then she started fucking him harder as he played with her nipple, all the while she was laying and hide and go seek with his tongue.

“Fuck Jenna! He lost his train of thought as the wild thrashing of her hips as she rode him brought him to the brink. She had somehow learned how to massage his cock with the walls of her pussy and it was driving him insane. He couldn’t get enough of touching her, tasting her, feeling her.

He turned her over onto her back, his hips cradled between her thighs, as he cautioned himself to go slow even if it killed him, but she didn’t want slow. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, digging her nails and her heels into him as she moved. He was pounding into her, his hands caught in her hair as he held her head back for his tongue. 

He fucked his little flower into the bed as all the worry and the stress of the past few days caught up with him. The fact that he’d found her alive and safe, that he could hold her in his arms once more, when the fear that she might be lost to him forever was something he hadn’t even allowed himself to dwell on, but had been there nonetheless.

“I love you baby.” The words were said into her mouth as she clenched around him and he spilled inside her.

For the rest of that day, he didn’t let her out of his sight. He kept her close while the five of them tried to figure out what the fuck they were going to do. They’d let the guys in on some of what was going on but not all, they didn’t need to know everything; because when this was over, he was planning to put her criminal past behind them. He knew she couldn’t unlearn all that she knew, but hopefully he could steer her in a different direction.

She was back to being his little Jenna again, tinkering with that toy of hers, only now the shit made him nervous because he wasn’t sure exactly what it was she was doing on the thing. Though every time he’d sneak a peak she’d be playing
one of her games.

Gramps, for some fucked up reason found the whole thing hilarious and Andros was two steps away from braining the old man if he didn’t stop his shit. He didn’t find anything about this amusing, though the fear had eased a little
, they were nowhere near being in the clear. He didn’t think he’d breathe easy again until they were back home where he could keep her safe.

As night approached and they still had no sure answers, he grew restless; he knew it was going to be up to him, that he was the one who would have to find a way into the palace, but so far they’d come up with nothing. They had a quiet dinner prepared by the staff. Jenna didn’t seem worried and he put that down to her natural innocence. He wasn’t sure how her mind worked when it came to these things; she had so many different angles, it was almost hard for him to keep up.

“Angel bath.” She made that announcement as they left the table.

“Okay I’ll run you a bath.” He didn’t question the fact that they’d taken a shower not too long ago; maybe she just preferred baths. His mind was so preoccupied that he just ran the bath and got her set up before heading back downstairs with the guys.

“Okay no matter what, I have to find a way into this place, if I don’t do it, she’s going to try and I can’t have that. We have just a few hours left to come up with a plan. Gramps you’ve been here before, do you know anything about the place? Is there anyway to gain an audience or some other bullshit?”

“Uh, ahem.”

“What is it old man?” Gramps was looking rather suspicious all of a sudden, and Andros knew that always spelt trouble for him. “What did you do?”

“Nothing, but, there’s a game there tonight.”

“Game, what kind of game?”

“Well, while you were asleep I put out some feelers and found out that there’s some kind of high stakes game going on there tonight. Lotta the big boys are gonna be there.”

“How does this help me? I can’t just walk in there can I? you usually have to buy into those things.” When the old man didn’t answer but just gave him a look, he still hadn’t caught on. It was Garrett’s ‘oh shit’ that did it.

“JENNA.” HE took the stairs two at a time with his heart already at the bottom of his feet. He heard water running in the tub and bent to hold his knees in relief. He was breathing like a runaway train. Walking over to the door he pushed it open and felt his blood run cold.

He searched the room but he knew she wasn’t there. He turned off the water before running back downstairs. “She’s gone, let’s go.” He wasn’t sure what he should feel. Beyond the fear was anger, anger that she would do this even after he’d told her not to. Anger that she was in danger and there was nothing he could do about it. He wasn’t prepared to storm the fucking presidential palace of Cuba for fuck sake.

The men scattered around the room were very appreciative of the beautiful blonde as she made her way around the room. She was almost the perfect woman; beautiful smile, amazing body, and she barely spoke. The other women here would talk your ear off, but this one knew her place.

When the private doors leading down to the wine cellar were opened and the nod was given, they knew it was time for the fun to begin. “Who do you have there Pierre?” The man in charge posed the question in his heavy accent, as the others wondered the same.

The women didn’t usually play, they were just here for window dressing, but
at one seat, it seemed the roles had been reversed. Though no one would ever mistake Pierre Gaston for window dressing. The man was an over enthusiastic blowhard with nose hair and a bulbous nose that took up half his face.

His
gout-ridden body left much to be desired as well, and everyone came to the same conclusion; the young beauty had to be with the old fool for his money, of which he had plenty. Pierre wasn’t interested in what they thought, he had a pretty good idea what was going through their heads but the joke was on them.

This particular young beauty had skinned him out of millions a few months ago. It wasn’t the money that bothered him, he had more than enough for one lifetime, but his pride had taken a licking an
d he needed to get some of his own back. What better way, than to have some of the world’s foremost billionaires suffer the same fate?

When she’d contacted him with the idea he hadn’t bat a lash, though the location was a bit odd.
He’d played here before, everyone knew the dictator loved to gamble, and those in the know knew all about the little secret games held in his dungeon. It had been no trouble at all getting an invite and paying the entrance fee, and so here he was getting some of his own back. Only tonight he wasn’t planning on playing.

“This gentlemen, is my protégé.” They’d come up with that little story together to make it more acceptable to the others.

The smiling coquette was gone, and in her place was a very serious woman who studied her hand like she meant business. The men didn’t make a fuss about playing with a woman, they’d done it before, but she didn’t look the type. The room started out with friendly ribaldry and good joshing as the hands were dealt and the money pile grew. It didn’t take long for the atmosphere to change as they watched the very serious and very quiet young woman win hand after hand.

“Pierre, what’s going on here? where did you find her?” the old man just smiled and shrugged his shoulders as the men tightened their belts and got down to serious playing. They weren’t about to let this newcomer best them, and not a woman at that.

She let them win the next two hands, not giving away too much, just enough to make these men less suspicious. She handily trounced them the next two hands before she beckoned the older man down so she could whisper one word in his ear. “Restroom.”

No one thought anything of it when the request was made, least of all the dictator who was getting hot under the collar at being bested at his own table. He knew most of them let him win, he didn’t care about that; he only cared about winning, however that was achieved.

The kindly assistant showed her the way down the long hallway before returning back to the room downstairs, after ascertaining that she knew her way back. He hoped she’d take her time though; the way things were going he was in for a long night. He’s the one who was in charge of setting up the games. His boss hadn’t been too thrilled about this one to begin with since he had a delegation of very important men arriving soon, and the game had been set up last minute.

He’d had a time of it convincing the man that this would be a good way to relax and unwind
, while they waited to handle the other matter concerning the man that was being held even now in another part of the palace. When he’d been contacted and offered a cool half a million to set up the game, he’d jumped at the chance. He had been in a bit of trouble lately and the money would go a long way to easing his burden.

She knew she didn’t have a lot of time as she threw the dress and the wig into her purse. She got hurriedly dressed in the skintight Kevlar body suit before putting her hair up and shoving it under the cap which she pulled down low over her eyes. Taking the pieces of the gun that Andros had forgotten to take from her backpack, she put it together in less time than it would’ve taken one of the army’s elite.

Each move was precise and calculated. She listened carefully at the door before easing it open and making her way as carefully as she could down the winding hallway heading in the opposite direction from where she’d come. With her keen senses on high alert, she made her way to the other end of the palace where she had deduced that her father was being held captive.

It hadn’t been easy since she’d never been there before, but after studying the blue prints on file, she’d chosen this one by process of elimination. There was no room for mistakes, she would only get one shot at this, and though she’d practiced she knew that this was the real deal and anything could go wrong.

She saw the lone figure sitting outside the door and breathed a sigh of relief. This must be it after all. Staying to the shadows, she made her way stealthily towards the man who seemed to be nodding off at his post. That worked in her favor, she was expecting to use the element of surprise to disarm him before he raised the alarm, but this way was much easier.

She made short work of putting him to sleep with her hand around his neck in the way she’d seen on the tapes she’d been studying since she was a teenager, fascinated by the stuff. When his body slumped she positioned him just in case someone happened along. She’d learned that trick from watching one of her shows too.

She put her ear against the door as she turned the knob and opened it into the darkened room. Her dad sat up as soon as she entered. He looked haggard and scared but and she wanted to cry out, but there was no time. Her heart beat erratically in her chest as she approached him. “Jenna?”

“Come.” It was all she said as she took his arm and pulled him up from the bed. He wasn’t wearing shoes and was barely dressed, but it would have to do. She pulled him along behind her, totally focused on where they were going. Each time he tried to question her presence she shushed him with a finger to the lips.

It was late and no one was about, as she made her way to the back of the palace. She could hear the drone of men’s voices as they patrolled the grounds outside with attack dogs and semi automatic rifles. She found the trap door that led down to the tunnel leading underground, the dictator’s escape hatch.

It was only then that she felt the fear set in. She was hoping that Angel had discovered her gone by now, she’d left the water running for just that reason, so that she could have a head start but that he’d be waiting there for her at the other end. She hoped he understood the plans she’d shown him earlier.

She didn’t question why she had so much faith in his ability to find her, she just did. It never entered her mind that he would be angry with her, he was her angel; he loved her.