Page 28 of A Promise of Peridot
“I told you not to touch me.”
I yanked free and slipped back into the game room, even smokier now than it had been before.
“You finally joining us? I have a great hand.” Trevyn lifted his brows at me.
“Yes,” I chirped, before sitting down. “Deal me in.”
“Woo!” cheered Mari.
After a beat standing behind me like a headstone, Kane sat back down next to his commander.
“Coin on the table, ladies,” Rhett drawled. “Ten thousand to play.”
My mouth hung open.Ten thousand?I should have known. An elite private game for nobles and royalty—shit, shit, shit.I searched through my satchel and found a handful left over from dinner. Maybe seventeen or so. “Will this do?” I tried to bat my eyelashes.
Rhett and Trevyn laughed like rabid animals at my insufficient coin, nearly to tears, but Crawford’s icy expression was what made my stomach turn.
Kane chuckled. “Well, it was fun while it lasted.”
Griffin sighed in relief.
“I’m happy to loan you both some. Kane fronted your brother his dues,” Fedrik proposed.
It was a kind offer, but I didn’t want Fedrik’s coin. Especially not after Kane referred to him as mylapdog.I didn’t want any of their help. “There has to be something else I can use?”
Crawford looked at Rhett before turning to Mari and me. “The only other currency is surely too lewd for women such as yourselves.”
I swallowed hard. “Try me.”
“Your clothes.” His broad, sharklike smile gleamed and a chill clawed through me at both the sight and the suggestion.
“Nobody wants to see that,” Ryder groaned.
“Enough, now.” Kane’s voice was lethal as he stood, shaking the table beneath us and sending towers of chips cascading over the floor.
“Watch it, man!” barked Rhett.
I couldn’t stop my gaze from flicking to him. Sheer, punishingrage simmered in his eyes. I couldn’t tell if it was from the way Crawford was toying with me or the thought of me stripping for all these men. Or if it was how impotent he was in this moment—unable to control me or anyone else. Whatever it was, Ilovedit.
“Fine.” I surprised myself with the assuredness in my voice.
“Me too! Stripping and cards—how fun.” Mari hiccupped.
“Why don’t you sit this one out?” I said to her, low enough for only her ears. She was too drunk to agree to something so stupid.
“Oh, come on, Arwen,” she whispered back. “You take everything so seriously! Wasn’t it you at dinner who said we should try making some mistakes?”
“I meant— Never mind.”
Rhett dealt us in, and I couldn’t help but glance at Griffin, whose pale green eyes were boring deeply into mine. He was less upset when we were under siege.
I shrugged at him. It wasn’t my fault Mari was a spitfire. Most likely she’d be incredible anyway and take all our coin without losing so much as the shoe on her foot.
?I had discovered the one thing on the continent that Mari was atrocious at. Maybe it was the orange wine and ale and sugar flowing through her system, but Mari couldn’t bluff for the life of her. When she had anything halfway decent, a rosy pink glow would spread across her cheeks. A lousy hand and she’d frown at her cards, as if they had gone out of their way to disappoint her.
I wasn’t quite as inept as Mari was, but hadn’t been doing much better, either. I had lost the meager coin in my satchel, both shoes, an earring, and the white silk ribbon from my hair.
Kane—who was an excellent gambler, and was leading with more than half the coin at the table, and most of Mari’s and my accessories—hadn’t given me more than one single glare etched in steel since we began playing, but I didn’t care. I liked the gameplay, the rush of betting, and the anticipation of the win. I liked the dangerous men’s eyes on me. The illicit thrill. Kane’s anger and possessiveness over each slice of my body that I offered to these gluttonous men was an added bonus.
