Saving Stakes

by Saving Stakes (lit)

  "No, thanks. I'll pass." Cole dropped his hand to his side.

  "Are you sure?" Isabella slithered like a cobra into a straighter position. "I promise the minute my hands touch your skin you'll forget all about those sore muscles."

  "Isabella." Brody Longhorn snapped a warning that made Isabella's sinfully painted lips take a decided curve south. He turned his attention on Cole and lifted a bottle of whisky in offer. "Can I interest you in a drink, Mr. Duvall?"

  Cole nodded. "Don't mind if I do."

  Longhorn poured the whisky, passing Cole a glass and then took a slow sip of his own, eyeing Cole over the rim of his glass. Like Guy Masters, very little about Brody Longhorn's appearance gave away the evil beneath the surface. The hefty cowboy stood a good six-foot-three with graying auburn hair, a slim angular face, and an average physique for a wealthy rancher. His expression revealed nothing, either. The man could put on the best poker face in the South, never letting any emotion show in his beady black eyes or thin lips.

  "I appreciate you sticking around. The others are usually out the door after the last hand so fast you'd think the hounds of hell bit at their heels."

  Smart men. Cole kept the comment to himself, knowing he stared down the king hound even as he sipped his single malt whisky. He shrugged. "Not much else going on tonight. Besides, I've never made it to one of your poker games before tonight. I wasn't quite ready for it to end."

  "We play a set number of hands each time. Same as we did when your father played. Keeps the game from stretching on all night for those who have women at home waiting up for them." Longhorn clicked his tongue and narrowed his eyes. "Gotta admit, you showing up tonight surprised me mighty good. First time Guy here doesn't issue the invite, and you show up anyway. Makes a man wonder why."

  "A man gets an invite to the highest stake poker game in four counties for several years running and suddenly hears of one going down without his bidding makes a man curious why he's suddenly left out," Cole countered, his tone as level and conversational as Longhorn's.

  Longhorn nodded, his expression remaining blank, unreadable. "I gotta figure you know the answer as well as I."

  "Yeah, gotta figure you're right. Question that springs to my mind is whether it was a lure or a trap."

  "Why, Cole, sweetheart, tonight was just a friendly poker game among prominent men," Isabella purred. She sashayed to him, trailing one long red nail down his cheek. Cole didn't flinch, though bile rose to burn his throat. "Mighty nice of you to come to your man's rescue. Heroics always make me so hot." She smacked her lips. Her hand slid to his chest and kept falling lower down his front.

  Cole caught her wrist in a sure grip before she reached his cock. "Jay isn't my man." The truth of that left a bitter taste in his mouth.

  "But you'd like him to be," Guy Masters spoke for the first time since they'd moved to the parlor after the poker game. He sat quietly in an overstuffed recliner until now, his booted feet crossed at the ankles, his hands laced over his expansive belly. It'd been a while since Cole had seen the man without his cowboy hat, and he'd been surprised to see the older man was damned near bald. Hard lines and deep wrinkles creased his aged face, his jowls more pronounced with the passage of time. Not much remained of the handsomeness the Masters brothers shared in the eldest Masters anymore.

  Cole said nothing to Guy's declaration. He couldn't allow himself time to contemplate the emotions twisting his gut in knots over Jay right now. The poker game might have ended some half hour before, but the night's festivities just began. He needed all his wits and none of the sappy stuff taking root in his chest to get through the rest of this encounter.

  "How about a little proposition, Duvall?" Longhorn asked. He set his glass on a nearby table and rubbed his hands together. "Seems the itchy palms I get when I need a good poker game ain't quite cured for the night yet."

  "Maybe you should try Calamine lotion instead," Cole commented. "I hear it's great for persistent itches."

  Longhorn flashed him a tight, quick leer. "Not exactly what I had in mind. I reckon we go for another hand of Texas Hold'em, just you and me."

  Cole pretended to consider the suggestion as he brought his glass to his lips for another swig. His heart kicked and adrenaline pumped through his blood. Longhorn was playing right into his hand. Now, if only Cole could keep the man thinking it was all his idea, keep Longhorn thinking he had one up on Cole. "What kind of stakes you got in mind?"

  Longhorn shrugged. "Nothing too big. A grand, perhaps."

  Cole lifted a brow. "Money?" Not what he'd expected. Cowbells clanked, sounding an alarm in his head.

  Longhorn slanted Cole a look. "You figured I'd put something else on the line?"

  "I figured you'd want something more out of it. It's no secret you never walk off this land with the money you win. You give it to Masters in exchange for…" Cole stopped, nodding slowly as it clicked. "You're looking to make a purchase with that grand."

  "Your boy will be a lot of fun tonight. I've no doubt about that. But, seeing as it's his first time, another night could be useful, give us more of a chance to show him the true pleasures we've given his brothers over the years."

  If Cole didn't know better, he'd have sworn he saw Guy Masters flinch. No way would he look away from Longhorn long enough to prove himself right. He couldn't say he hadn't seen it coming. Still, his expecting it didn't stop the anger from boiling. The need to pound Longhorn into the concrete foundation of Masters High Manor surged so strong within him he had to tense his muscles to keep himself from acting on the urge.

  Cole shook his head and played his trump card. "I don't know, Longhorn. Stakes just don't seem to be even this time."

  "Oh, you got something else in mind?"

  "As a matter of fact, I do. Jay for a thousand dollars and me." Cole didn't have to know better or be looking dead at Guy Masters to know the man sat up straighter this time. Isabella gasped, but the sound was more of an excited inhale than one of horror.

  "You'll want to make that wager clear, boy," Guy Masters told Cole, his tone one of warning.

  Cole spoke to him rather than Longhorn. "We play one hand of Texas Hold'em just like before. Longhorn wins, you get the grand and he gets me for the night. I win, Longhorn loses his night with Jay and you cut Jay loose. You tear up that contract you conned Jay into signing, he still gets his third of this ranch, and you lose any control over him for good."

  "Why would we agree to something like that?" Isabella asked, laughter shaking her voice. "You call that fair stakes?"

  "Come now, Isabella," Cole closed the distance she'd put between them. "You aren't suddenly worried your man'll lose, are you?"

  Isabella's chin went up. "Of course not."

  Cole traced the heart-shaped line of her bodice with his fingertip. "Am I not worth the gamble? Think about it, my lady, a night with me at your mercy. Don't you think it's worth a little bet?"

  "You know what you're offering, Duvall." Masters said it as more statement than question but Cole turned and nodded. Their gazes locked and for the briefest of moments, Cole thought he saw relief, even gratitude flicker through the old man's eyes.

  Cole blinked and wondered if Longhorn managed to slip something in his whisky, something that made him see things that weren't there. Though he doubted it, he set his still half-full glass aside.

  "I know exactly what I'm offering. Now, do we have a bet, gentlemen?"

  Longhorn and Masters exchanged looks and the Longhorn nodded. "We have a bet."

  "Then let's get started." Cole followed the two men back to the game room, flinching only slightly when Isabella hung back and hooked an arm around his shoulders.

  "I'm going to make you feel so good," she purred. "You'll scream and beg and cry until you're writhing on the bed for more. Brody won't be easy on you either. He'll—"

  Cole stopped listening, his thoughts going to Jay. He pictured Jay's river blue eyes as they peered back at him, felt the firmness of Jay's body against his. He sa
w Rusty, too, the hope and promise that swirled in the chocolate depths of his eyes, felt the electric jolt that sizzled through him each time their bodies brushed.

  He might be playing this game for Jay tonight, but come morning they'd both be his. No games, no pretenses, no fear. Cole learned to play poker from one of the best gamblers in Texas. Daniel Duvall never spent a faithful day in his life to his wife, but he'd been faithful to the game and taught Cole everything. Cole hadn't lost nearly every hand in tonight's game without rhyme or reason. He'd endured the humiliation at the smirk quirking Longhorn's lips each time he'd folded because he'd known it would pay off in the end. It brought them right here to the last hand of the night and the highest stakes yet.

  This time Cole couldn't lose.

  Chapter Three

  Rusty saw Cole enter the stables, watched him stop a foot inside the doorway. He wore his cowboy hat low, the brim shielding his eyes. Rusty could be grateful for that. He didn't want to see the apology, or worse, the pain he expected the other man felt when his gaze landed on Jay.

  A muscle in Cole's strong jaw jumped. He hooked his thumbs in the pockets of his jeans. It would've been a casual stance, sexy as hell at any other time given the man's drool-worthy body clad in well-worn denim and a western style shirt of blues and browns with blue fringe. It would've made him look relaxed and ready for anything if not for the squared set to his shoulders, the stiffness of his elbows, and the grim set to his lips.

  "Planning on running?" Cole spoke just loud enough for his question to carry to the open stall where Jay stood brushing his horse's mane with such a gentle hand it made Rusty's loins ache even as his heart wept.

  Jay's hands didn't shake. He didn't show any sign of the fear that had to be snaking a river through him right about now. Any minute, the Longhorns would come out of the main house in search of him, ready to claim their prize for the night, ready to take Jay away to do with him as they pleased until the sun rose on a new day. A new day that would find Jay Masters a changed man and likely not for the better.

  Rusty couldn't suppress a shudder.

  "Naw, I've never been the running kind." Jay didn't turn. He continued to brush the horse, slow and tender strokes that spoke of the gentleness inside the man. Despite the rapid viciousness of the love making they'd shared, Rusty felt that gentleness as he'd held Jay, as he'd felt Jay struggle not to crumble against him when the news came of Cole's loss. God, he didn't want to see that tender nature shattered by the evil delivered from the Longhorns. "Can't seem to find the honor in that."

  "Things in there didn't happen the way you thought they would."

  "I know. I heard. Bo and Jesse seemed all too ready to rub my nose in the news. It should've been me in there tonight. Can't seem to find much honor in sending you in there to fight my battles for me."

  "You didn't send me in there," Cole countered.

  Rusty stared at them, wanting to open his mouth, not having a clue in hell what he'd say if he did.

  "Rusty asked for my help." Cole lifted a shoulder and glanced Rusty's way, though Rusty still couldn't see Cole's eyes beneath the cowboy hat. "I gave it. There's honor in being man enough to accept help when it's offered, even more to ask for help when it's needed."

  Jay nodded slowly. "I suppose you're right about that."

  "You couldn't have taken them, Jay, couldn't have beaten them. I'm not saying that just because I lost."

  "No, you're saying it because I wouldn't be where I am now if I hadn't gambled myself into a corner to start. The Longhorns came up with the bright idea of the wager that night." Jay finally turned to look at Cole, one hand staying on the horse to idly brush its back. "Did you know that? Guy, my father, went along with it, of course, used it to his advantage every chance he got, but he didn't set the stakes of that game. They did."

  "I can't say I'm surprised to hear that."

  Cole may not be, but Rusty sure as hell was. He stood straighter, taking an involuntary step forward. The move brought him a little more out of the shadows of the stable. He'd been standing there since he reluctantly let Jay out of his arms between the haystacks. He wanted to watch over Jay, but, at the same time, tried to give him a little space.

  "You never told me that." Rusty couldn't help the accusatory tone that laced the statement.

  Jay's gaze flicked to Rusty. "It didn't seem to make much difference. The Longhorns and Guy are like a happy little threesome when it comes to swapping money for a piece of Masters ass. Hell, as far as I know, the Longhorns could be shoving it up Guy’s ass, too."

  Rusty wouldn't have thought so. Despite the decidedly grotesque things Guy Masters allowed the Longhorns to do to Bo and Jesse, Rusty had never seen the evil glint in Guy's eyes that shown in his two sons. He'd believed Guy's association with the Longhorns to be one of strict financial means and a pimpish dealing of bartering his sons for the gain.

  "It makes no difference," Jay said again. "What's done is done. Tonight won't be so bad. I'll get through it. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, right?"

  Cole nodded. "He does, which is why you need to put up that brush, grab your hat, and come with me."

  Jay stared at Cole, emotions so twisted and torn in his handsome face it made Rusty's throat ache. "I'm not running, Cole. Not even with you."

  "I didn't say I planned to run anywhere. I figured we'd take my truck."

  "Cole—"Jay began, but Cole held up a hand, stopping him.

  "I told you things in there didn't happen the way you thought they would. I lost damned near every hand I played against that sonuvabitch tonight."

  "You shouldn't—" Jay started again, but Cole's next words had him stopping once more, this time his jaw falling open.

  "On purpose."

  Rusty felt his eyes grow wide, and his own jaw nearly hit the dirt covered floor of the stable.

  Jay blinked, put down the brush, and jammed a hand through his already tousled hair. "You lost on purpose."

  "I did some gambling myself tonight. Lucky for me, lucky for us, Longhorn played right into my hand."

  "What are you saying, Cole?" Jay's voice shook with emotions Rusty didn't want to attempt to define, but hope rang paramount.

  "Longhorn and I played one last hand after the others left."

  Jay gulped visibly and asked the question Rusty wanted to ask himself. "What was the wager?"

  "Me for you."

  "You sonuvabitch." Jay sounded livid. "How could you put yourself on the line like that? Of course the Longhorns would take that bet. They'd do damned near anything to get their paws on a man as gorgeous as you."

  Cole's thin-lined lips tilted ever so slightly at that, as did his head in an almost imperceptible nod. "Thank you. Glad to know this attraction doesn't flow one way."

  "I thought I proved that the night we met," Jay sighed. "Damnit, Cole, I won't let you do it. I won't let you take my place tonight."

  "I don't intend to. I won that last hand, Jay. I knew they would take the bait if I made it sweet enough. I only had one ace up my sleeve to get you free of this shit. I didn't want you safe for tonight. I wanted to be sure you wouldn't ever have to face this kind of shit again."

  Rusty blinked, afraid to believe what Cole said. He looked from Cole to Jay, saw the same twist of disbelief in the other man's handsome face, then looked back at Cole.

  "You won?" Jay asked in a barely audible whisper.

  Cole finally lifted the brim of his cowboy hat, the look in his eyes as he gazed at Jay indescribable. Rusty's eyes filled, happiness warring with a heavy dose of jealously in his chest. He'd wanted Cole Duvall to look at him that way for so many years. Yet, he couldn't help but be elated then as he saw the emotions pass between Cole and Jay.

  "I won," Cole said softly. "Guy's agreed to tear up that stupid contract, to let you be, and tonight you're going home with me. Now get your hat and let's go."

  Rusty kept quiet as he watched Jay secure the door to the horse's stall. The cowboy snatched his hat off the nail and
shoved it on his head, a wide smile plastered to his handsome face.

  What could Rusty say? "Hey man, I'm happy for you both." Though true, the words got stuck somewhere in the mix of relief and hurt tightening his throat. He didn't move as Cole turned and took two steps toward the door of the stables. Jay walked more slowly behind him.

  When Cole stopped short in the doorway, Rusty's heart slammed into his breastbone. Cole turned to look at Rusty over his shoulder, and lifted one sexy brow. "You coming, or what?"

  Rusty blinked. "I didn't know if…" If Cole wanted him to come along, too. He didn't finish the sentence aloud. He and Jay decided they wanted Cole. They made a vow to do what it took to make him happy, to make him theirs. But this night dealt so many surprises Rusty suddenly found he had trouble keeping up.

  "I told you I wanted you at my place with Jay tonight, didn't I?" Cole cut him off.

  "Well, yeah." Jay stopped to look at Rusty, too, a keen edge of “here's our chance to have him” glistening in his amazing eyes.

  "Then get your damned hat and come on."

  "Bossy cowboy," Rusty muttered, but smiled as he snatched his hat off the bench along the wall and did a quick two-step to catch up with the other men.

  * * * *

  Jay couldn't believe the turn of events the night had taken. He sat between Cole and Rusty in the cab of Cole's Chevy. Excitement and wonder pumped through his veins, threatening to spread his lips in a smile even a double barreled buck shot couldn't have wiped off his face. He bit back the smile, letting his heart do the grinning instead. His mind shifted from the scheming his way out of the mess he'd gotten himself into to devising a plan to make his and Rusty's night with Cole last forever.