Snowed In(manxman)

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Will took the deck of cards in his hand, enjoying the feel of them sliding across his fingers. It had been too long since he’d held those fifty-two pieces of gaming heaven.

Turner settled himself down on the end of the bed and fixed him with an intense stare. Will felt a tremor pass over his spine. It was a good tremor, full of anticipation for what the day might bring.

Turner had kissed him. Not that hard, intense, lust-filled way he’d kissed him before but a soft, tender kiss that had completely stolen Will’s breath. Will wanted Turner, he wanted him in a bad way, but first he wanted to know him. Turner seemed as if he were a steel vault when it came to information but it would appear that Will had found the way to crack it… or at least he hoped so.

With a flourish, Will shuffled the cards and dealt out five a piece. He was taking a chance on playing stud. There wouldn’t be much skill involved and it all hinged on luck. Thankfully, Will had always been pretty damn lucky when it came to poker.

“Pick ‘em up,” he urged.

Turner’s eyes didn’t leave Will’s face and Will shifted under the scrutiny as both men picked up their cards. Will glanced down at his hand and bit back a curse. Two fours. All he had was two lousy fours.

His only hope was that Turner’s hand would come up empty. Will glanced at the man and realized that Turner was still staring at him. Had the man even looked at his cards?

“What do you have?” Will asked.

“I have no idea,” Turner laid down his cards and Will felt his heart sink. The man had two nines and that beat two fours.

With a sigh Will laid his cards down as well, “Be nice,” he mumbled.

Turner scratched at his bearded jaw, “I can ask any question?”

“Yes,” Will shifted on the mattress.

“And you have to answer?”

“I’m a man of my word so, yeah,” Will replied.

Turner clicked his tongue and thought hard for a moment, “Where’d the scars on your wrists and ankles come from?”

Will froze. He glanced down at the scars marring his wrists. They were still red in their newness and not yet toned down to match his skin, “Ask me something else.”

“No, that’s what I want to know.” It was clear from the tone in Turner’s voice that he wasn’t going to let this go until he had an answer.

Will knew he owed it to Turner to tell him the truth. If they were going to have a relationship then Turner needed to know about the brothel.

Will took a steadying breath and focused his gaze on the quilt, “I was tied up in the brothel. Thompson kept me tied to the bed like some kind of offering. The scars came from fighting to get away the first few times…” Will’s voice trailed off and he spared a glance at Turner.

Instead of seeing disgust on the man’s face, Will saw rage. But this rage was different because it wasn’t directed at him. Turner’s firm lips were in a hard straight line and his brown eyes flashed with anger.

“He kept you tied up?” he growled.

“Yes,” Will replied as he gathered up the cards. “Are you up for another round?”

“But those scars aren’t from a few weeks ago… were you tied up the whole time?”

“Yes, but I only fought hard in the beginning. After that he kept me pumped full of so much laudanum I barely knew what day it was. And that was two questions so when I win this next round I’ll be asking you two as well.”