Chapter 17

By two o'clock, out of the ten players who had started the game, only Diana, Ward and two of the other men were left. Diana and Ward had traded back and forth at being the chip leaders. Diana had taken out four of the men by putting them all-in and then winning the pots, and Ward had taken out the other two.

Diana had picked up on several of the men's "tells" early on—she knew when they were bluffing and when they had good hands. She was still a little unsure about Ward. He had so many damn expressions to his face, she couldn't tell whether he was bluffing or not!

She chuckled as she remembered that the big man had once told her that Ward had no "poker face" when it came to surprises. Evidently, Ward had no poker face ... period. She simply had to bet based on the strength of her own hands when she bet against him and leave it up to luck as to whether she had the better hand.

It got down to three players—Diana, Ward and a big man from Texas. Diana folded on a hand and the two men went up against each other. The Texan ended up winning the pot, severely cutting into Ward's chips. The next hand, Diana and Ward went up against each other, and she took the pot, substantially increasing her chip lead and almost wiping Ward out. The next hand, she folded again and the two men battled; the Texan took Ward out by putting him all in.

Finally, it was down to Diana and "Tex." He was in his late 30's, and he'd been eyeing her hungrily all night. It was about 3:30 and all of the other women had left. Diana started to subtly flirt with Tex to see if she could read any of his "tells" better.

When he had a weak hand, he'd try to throw her off by leering at her intently and making some overtly sexual remarks to try to intimidate her, but she didn't back down. On this current hand, Diana was dealt pocket Kings. When Tex opened with a mediocre bet, she decided to go all in since she held the chip lead.

Tex looked at her intently. Damn it, woman ... Are you bluffin' or not? He ogled her breasts. "Damn, honey, your nipples have been big and hard as marbles all night! I thought a woman's nipples only got that big and hard when she was excited about something! You've been staring at me for a while. Do I excite you? Want me to show your pussyfoot husband over there how to satisfy a hot woman like you?"

Charles sat forward on his chair like he was going to get up, but Ward stopped him. Whoa, Tex! You better watch it! Here ... I'll give you something to watch! Diana leaned back in her seat and arched her back provocatively, thrusting her breasts forward. She dragged her hands up her body to cup her breasts and rub her thumbs over her hard peaks a few times as she stared at Charles and smiled sexily.

As she did that, she said, "My nipples have been hard all night because I'm anticipating my sexy husband fondling my breasts and sucking them into his mouth while he fully satisfies me with his big, long, hard cock ... as soon as I win this game!"

The look on Charles' face changed from anger to mostly raw desire ... mixed with a little embarrassment! Bear with me, sexy man! I'm doing this for a good reason! It's the bottom of the ninth ... two outs and the last batter is at the plate ... That was the first pitch...

Charles had been about to grab her and drag her out of the casino. You did that on purpose, too, didn't you, pretty lady?

Diana looked back at Tex, who appeared very flustered. Strike one! Hey, batter, batter!!!

She stood up and leaned forward with her hands braced on the table and said sternly, "The only thing about you that excites me is the thought that I'm about to beat you at this game. And I wouldn't piss my husband off any more if I were you! He's an FBI agent in excellent physical condition and I'd be more than willing to bet that he could kick your ass!" She looked at Charles and purred, "Should I make that bet, my sexy man?"

I see what you're doing, pretty lady! I'll play along... Charles grinned at her and replied confidently, "You bet your sweet ass, my pretty lady!" He leaned back in his chair, propped his right ankle on his left knee and nonchalantly folded his arms over his chest. He would probably have his hands full if the big Texan tried to start a fight, but he was relatively sure he could take the man down ... especially if he was mad enough! But from the look on Tex's face, Diana had already put him in his place.

Charles had almost gotten jealous when Diana had started to flirt with Tex. But he realized she was doing it on purpose ... and it had worked! You're so smart, pretty lady! She knew how to use her "feminine wiles" to throw men off guard. His trust in her had deepened significantly watching how she'd handled herself. I'll just sit back and let you do whatever you need to do to win this game ... just don't try to take it too far!

Diana's grin widened and her eyes burned at Charles. I guess that means you could take him! I know you'd never risk my ass unless you were sure! She kissed at Charles, ran her tongue along her upper lip provocatively and winked at him.

She turned her attention back to Tex. The man was staring at her breasts again. She was leaning forward and her arms had forced her breasts closer together. A generous amount of her cleavage was visible in the deep v-front of her gown. So, Tex ... you wanna keep playing? OK ... here comes the second pitch...

She thickened her southern accent again. "You're the one who's been staring at me all night! Do I excite you, Tex? Have I thrown you off your game by making all the blood leave your brain to flow into your loins and make your cock hard? Have you been wishing that I would crawl across this table, flop myself in your lap, unzip your pants, whip your cock out and impale myself upon you? Have you been envisioning something like that all night, Tex?"

She couldn't help but grin. Tex's eyes got bigger with every question she asked. Is that exactly what you've been thinking and imagining?! He was staring at her open-mouthed—his eyes widened in shock. Steerike two... !!!

Here's the wind up and the third pitch... Diana stood up straight and put her hands on her hips, cocking them provocatively to one side. In her no-nonsense voice, she said, "Well, Tex, I'm sorry ... but as I've already told you, I want to win this game so I can impale myself on my husband—and your holdin' us up! Now, do you have big enough balls to call me ... or would you like to borrow my husband's?" You gonna at least take a swing at it, Tex?

Tex's face reddened as he jumped up and yelled, "Hell yes, I'm callin' ya!" as he turned up his hole cards.

The batter takes a mighty swing...

Diana grinned when she saw his cards. And it's a high fly right toward centerfield! I won't need a miracle to win this game! He had a Queen and a five off suit—not much chance he could make anything with those cards! She flipped her hole cards over.

"Aw, shit!" Tex muttered. Fuckin' pocket Kings!

Charles and Ward came over to stand by Diana when she turned up her cards. Charles looked at her and grinned widely. You've been goading that man to call your bet and he fell right into your trap!

When the flop came, Tex looked a little more relieved when another Queen showed up. He looked at Diana. "Well, at least these ladies are trying to be kind to me!"

The turn card was no help to either one of them and the river was another King, giving Diana 3 of a Kind! And that's the game, folks! Diana squealed and laughed as Charles picked her up and spun her around, also laughing excitedly. She'd just won the $1,000 pot from all the players' buy-ins!

Tex flopped in his chair. Well, I'll be damned ... I got beat by a woman!

When Charles set her down, Ward hugged her and congratulated her. The other men who'd been playing that had stayed to watch the rest of the game also came over to congratulate her. Most of them had also seen her performance in the nightclub earlier. They remarked to Charles that she was very beautiful and talented, as well as a skilled poker player. They also commented that if she was as aggressive in bed as she appeared to be, then Charles was very lucky!

He grinned at them and looked at her with his eyes ablaze. "Yes, gentlemen. I am a very lucky man!"

Finally, Tex came over looking a little sheepish with his cowboy hat in his hands. "Beggin' your pardon, ma'am, but are you from Texas, too? I couldn't help but notice your accent at times and you sure as hell play Hold 'Em like a Texan!" Diana smiled and shook her head and told him where her accent came from. Then he said, "Well, my apologies for insultin' you, and I'll hafta learn not to underestimate women so much until I get to know 'em first."

Diana smiled and chuckled. "Yes, Tex, that would be a good idea!"

Tex looked at Charles and asked, "Are you really an FBI agent?" Charles pulled his ID and badge out and showed it to him. Tex said, "I'm real sorry I insulted you by ogling your wife all night and making those inappropriate remarks. But I couldn't read her at all and I was just trying to throw her off somehow!" Then she ended up turning the tables on me!

"She seems like one hell of a woman! My hat's off to you, partner, since she made it perfectly obvious that yer the man she wants—and she could probably have any man she wanted! Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if she could make someone like..." Tex paused and surveyed the group around him and spotted Ward. Hey ... you've been in movies with The Duke! Now, there's a real man... " ... like John Wayne fall in love with her!"

Ward did his best not to bust out laughing. Oh, partner ... if you only knew!

He did NOT just say that... ! Diana dropped her head into her hand, covered her eyes and just shook her head.

Even Charles didn't know whether or not to laugh. OK ... that's just too much of a coincidence...