Rivgarr,she thought.
He couldn’t be older than his early thirties. Standing tall and broad-shouldered. Handsome, by all accounts, but knowing how he made his money almost sent wine back up Orelia’s throat. He had one hand on the ass of the woman at his side. She smiled up at him, pushing her straight blonde hair over her shoulder.
The golden man handed the dealer a black coin, then took the last open seat two spots down from them. “You’re late, Fargus,” the dealer said.
Not Rivgarr.
Fargus pulled the blonde woman onto his lap, her skin-tight gold dress barely covering her ass. “Had business. But I’m here now.” He grinned a straight white smile and surveyed the other players.
“Viktor, Egan,” he said to the two men who nodded their greeting.
Egan, or Rivgarr, as Vade had been calling him, was the scrawniest one at the table, plainly dressed, with an upturned mustache. Not quite the obvious brute she had expected.
“And I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you, red woman,” Fargus crooned.
The woman of mention exhaled another puff of smoke and offered him a gloved hand across the table. “Riata.”
He kissed her satin-covered knuckles. “Pleasure’s all mine.” Fargus’s silky, practiced voice brought a smile to Riata’s face, revealing teeth too large against blood red lips.
“I could say the same,” she said, looking him over while she tucked a crimson strand of short hair behind her pointed ear.
Fargus’s flirtatious smile paused when his eyes landed on Vade. He looked at the fae’s leathers, then under the table at his boots. “I definitely haven’t met you, dark stranger. Who are you?”
“No one,” Vade said coolly.
Fargus narrowed his eyes. “Close to the vest, I see. I can respect that. Don’t worry. I’ll find out who you are soon as I take all your money.”
The other players chuckled, but Vade remained stone-faced.
Aqua eyes shifted to Orelia. “Where’d you find her? She’s a hell of a fine specimen.”
Vade’s grip on her hip tightened.
Though Fargus spoke about her like a prized horse, Orelia grinned and fluttered her lashes. She was a pleasure girl tonight and she would play her part.
“She is, isn’t she?” Vade drawled. “Fucked her twice upstairs to make sure she was worth bringing along. Happy to say she was.” He gave her a devilish look. The same look he’d used on the barmaid in Ricaboro.
The sight wilted her smile. Orelia wasn’t sure why she expected him to act differently with her, but she had.
He looked at her strangely, almost like he was concerned.
“Care to share her with the rest of the table?” Fargus asked.
“Pay me enough, and we’ll discuss it.”
Fargus chuckled. “I like you, dark man.” He clapped his jeweled hands together. “Well, let’s get on it with it, shall we?”
The dealer puffed on his pipe and dealt the cards as he explained the rules of Devil’s Reap. His words faded into the background, but she caught something about betting on the number of ‘tricks’ each player expected to win per hand. Orelia sipped her wine, unable to focus on anything other than the calloused finger bringing goosebumps to her skin as Vade swept his thumb across her back. He was barely touching her, but he had the ability to ignite her entire body with such little effort.
Human women brought over stacks of chips on trays and placed them in front of each player. A tall stack of wooden chips, a medium stack of iron chips, and two small stacks—one silver, one gold.
The dealer finished handing out the cards, turned one over, and placed it in front of him for all to see. Everyone at the table grabbed the five cards they’d been dealt. Orelia looked at Vade’s hand, but she didn’t know if it was good or bad. He held a few cards with differing pictures of dragons and numbers directly above them. He studied the cards, then placed them face down on the table.
“Your bet first, my lady,” the dealer said, gesturing beside him.
Riata placed a few iron chips in front of her. “Two.”
Orelia didn’t know what it meant, but Vade was next.
