I immediately get my reeling mind under control and smile at him, drawing my fingertips across my lips in a “zip it” motion.
Lucky rubs my thigh again. “‘Atta girl, Ava doll.”
Turning back to the chips, I shove the entire pile to the center.
“Ooohh…” Piper does a coquettish shimmy of her shoulders while shoving in her whole pile as well. “I might be in trouble.”
Pearl gives a dramatic pause before dealing the last card.
King of spades to pair with the king of clubs in my hand.
I look at Lucky in a simple reflex. A warm, easy smile is tugging the sides of his mouth, and I find myself mirroring it.
Piper and I lay down our cards at the same time. My four of a kind beats her full house.
I gasp in delight, and Lucky slams his fist on the table, and we shout in unison, “Yes!”
“Awwww…” Piper whines.
Pearl reaches to pat her hand. “No worries, honey. You’ll get it back with the next hand.”
“Nope.” Lucky shoves the chair back from the table and forces us to stand. “Give my girl the cash, ‘cuz I’m takin’ her to bed.”
Piper whispers in Pearl’s ear while Pearl stacks the cash and passes it to me.
“See you kiddos tomorrow,” Pearl says with a mischievous smile.
“You guys, too.” I gather the cash and start to step away from the table.
Once we’re in his suite, Lucky pours us a couple of drinks while I sit on a sapphire blue velvet chaise lounge and fan out the cash.
I wave it in front of my face. “This is a lot of money from one hand of poker, but it will never happen again.”
He smiles as he picks up the glasses and crosses the room to sit next to me. “You don’t think so?”
“I have chronic beginner’s luck.” Taking one of the glasses from him, I flutter the bills in front of his face. “That means I’ll lose every time going forward.”
Lucky takes the money from me and tosses it carelessly in the air. The bills flutter down around us, covering the chaise lounge, and he arches a brow. “Now there’s a kink I didn’t know I had.”
I grin mischievously. “What is?”
He leans close to my face. “I think I wanna fuck you on a pile of cash.”
I laugh loudly. “I don’t know, Lucky. I think cash is a little too dirty for me to let it get anywhere near my lady parts.”
“It’ll be way more dirty when I’m done with it. And you.” He clinks his glass against mine. “Saluti, dolcezza.”
“Saluti,” I mimic, then sip my drink. “Do I get to know what you and Piper were saying earlier?”
“No, and don’t ask again,” he says without missing a beat. Despite his clipped tone, his immediate dismissal is actually a little bit comforting, given what I was worried the Italian exchange might have been.
“I have no intention of asking again.” I take his glass and set both down on the floor next to the chaise, and then push his chest to make him lie back so I can straddle his lap. “Only if you promise to use Italian exclamations when I make you come in a minute.”
Lucky rests his head against the chaise, looking at me through hooded eyes and gripping my hips to pull me hard against the erection straining in his trousers. “I hope by this point you know better than to suggest it only takes me a minute to come.”
I laugh loudly. “Touché.”
Leaning forward, I grind my hips against his and kiss his neck while grabbing the knot of his tie to loosen it and slip it out of his collar. He fists my hair with one hand while squeezing my ass with the other, quietly growling in the back of his throat.
