Heart of the Devil (The Forge Trilogy #3)(41)

“You don’t have to change a single thing for me. I just don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

His gaze drops to his lap. “I’m uncomfortable, all right, but it’s not because of my wet shirt.”

This motherfucker. God, he’s sexy.

Never before has the prelude to a poker game been the best foreplay of my entire life. My thighs press together, but my lack of panties means that my skin is slick with my own arousal.

I’m going to ride him all night long—after I win.

“Then by all means, get comfortable.”

His stormy gaze bores into me. “Oh, I plan to. Deal the cards, Indy. I’m ready to play.”





40





Forge





How could I have ever walked away from this woman? Temporary insanity.

If being honorable means living without her, honor can go to hell. I can’t walk away from her again. I’ll take whatever she’s prepared to offer me tonight and never let go.

“Blinds,” Indy says as she pushes in a stack of $100,000 chips.

“Playing deep tonight.”

Her blue eyes spark with challenge. “That’s the only way I like it.”

Fucking siren. Lure me in. I push double the amount of chips in for the big blind.

Her delicate hands deftly shuffle the cards, and she deals the hole cards from the top, at least as far as I can tell because she’s quick as fuck.

I didn’t check the decks for markings, because if she wants to cheat to win, I’m not going to complain. She’s here to make some kind of point, hopefully to save what I fucked up so badly.

Eagerly, I reach for the two cards in front of me and slide them toward me facedown. My brain is running a thousand miles an hour, and I barely remember how to play poker at this point.

I’m tempted to throw the game, but I suspect that’s not what she wants. We’ll go head-to-head, toe-to-toe, and then I’m going to beg for forgiveness and promise her a future that’s beyond anything she can imagine.

For weeks, I’ve been drifting without purpose, and nothing could hold my attention. I didn’t give a fuck about work, about life, about anything. Because without her . . . I’m a shell of a man. But in her presence, I can slay dragons.

Indy lifts the edges of the two cards in front of her enough to see what they are, and I do the same. Nine of hearts and eight of hearts.

With a glance across the table at her, I can’t help but wonder what she’s holding. Although that thought is a far distant second to all of the things I want to do to her right now. Peel that dress from her body, find out what she’s wearing beneath it, if anything.

The thought sends the remaining blood in my body to my dick. I can’t concentrate, and it’s even worse when she smiles at me from across the table.

Whatever she’s holding is good.

Or she’s got me so mixed up, I don’t know how to do anything but stare at her.

Indy pushes chips into the center of the table, and without a second thought, I shove two stacks forward. I don’t count or care. One hand. That’s all this game is going to last, because everything I need is sitting on the other side of the green baize. She’s the one thing money can’t buy, and she’s my fucking world.

Indy looks up at me, and I hope like hell we’re on the same wavelength here.

“Bold,” she murmurs, rolling a chip across her knuckles. She burns the top card before dealing the flop.

Jack of hearts. Ace of diamonds. Nine of spades.

Indy bets first, and I watch for her tell, but I spot nothing. I call, barely paying attention as she tosses another card aside.

The turn comes next. Queen of hearts. We both check.

Last burned card.

Finally, she lays the river on the table between us. Ten of hearts.

I have a straight flush.

Indy watches while I lay my hands on the rest of my chips and shove them toward the center.

“I’m all in, Ace.”

She looks up at me, her indigo gaze searching my face. For what, though, I’m not sure.

“But are you really?”

I stare at the woman across from me, the only woman I’ve loved enough to try to be a better man. Whatever she wants from me, she’ll get.

“What do you mean?” I ask, because I need to make sure I understand her question.

“You held back before, and then you wrecked me, Jericho. I’ve never felt loss like I did when you threw me out of your life as if I meant nothing to you.” All playfulness is gone, and her eyes shimmer with tears. “You decided my future without even asking what I wanted or how I felt.”

My head dips under the weight of my shame.

“You pushed me away. Made me think I was nothing to you.”

My hands clench into fists, and my own vision blurs with unshed tears. “I don’t deserve you, India. I’ve never deserved you. I will never deserve you. Even when I tried to do the right thing . . . all I did was hurt you.”

I look up at her as she drops the chip.

“But I will never let you go again, as long as there’s breath in my body. Honor can go to hell. All I want out of this life is you. I love you, India, and if I could, I’d rip my heart from my chest and put it on this table, because it’s yours. But all I have is this.”