Chapter 5
Carmelita sighed, shaking her head at what she had gotten herself into, as she limped over to the table in the middle of the living room. Therefore, she was in the process of seating herself, when Sly came back a fresh deck of cards in hand, whistling merrily to himself. Great, Carmelita groaned and proceeded to curse herself for being such a competitive soul. Well, there's no turning back now, she told herself. She shored up her courage, sighed once, and watched as Sly sat down. She had to repress a shiver of dread…as she thought to herself, what are you going to do, girl, if that blasted raccoon is actually good at this?
Sly opened the deck, his hands quivering slightly from the combination of being anxious and excited. But, the Master Thief had weathered storms worse than this one, so he composed himself, and gave the frowning vixen seated across from him his best confident smile. "Still here then, Inspector?" he teased her, and was rewarded by her scowl.
"Yeah, Cooper," Carmelita managed to growl, though her heart was thundering in her chest right that moment. "I'm here. Why? Suddenly find you had a pressing engagement, Ringtail?"
Sly grinned at her, looking her in the eyes until the flustered vixen looked quickly away. "Well, my dearest, since we're both here…shall we start then?" Sly asked.
"Knock yourself out, Cooper," Carmelita answered. As she watched Cooper shuffle the cards, she was suddenly beset with a case of nerves, nearly panicking as she could not remember a single thing about poker. But, she covered her panic up quickly by asking, "By the way, it has been a while since I've played poker, Ringtail. How does the scoring go again?"
"Of course," Sly replied giving her a smile (one that unsettled her even more!) before answering. "Here are the winning hands, from the strongest to the weakest, all right? The Royal Straight Flush (all of one suit, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace) is the hightest, and beats Four of a Kind (four of one rank of card, like four Queens, with the Ace being the highest), which in turn beats a Straight Flush (all cards of the same suit in sequential order, like 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of Hearts). Now, after that, you will find a regular Flush (all cards of the same suit, not in order, like 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, Jack), which beats a Straight (all cards in sequential order, but not of the same suit). After the Straight, you have a Full House (three of a kind of one card, with two of a kind of another), and that in turn beasts Three of a Kind, then Two Pair and finally a Pair, which is the lowest," Sly explained, impressing Carmelita by providing examples of each type of hand with dexterous skill. He then looked up into her eyes, some sort of challenge, as well as something else entirely (which made Carmelita blink, her heart racing) in the back of his deceptively innocent brown eyes. "Now…did you get all that, honey?"
"I did," Carmelita huffed, then glared at the full of himself raccoon. "And, don't call me 'honey'!" God, she thinks, he's got me this flustered and I haven't played a single hand yet! Pull yourself together, girl! She calmed herself by looking at her cards, which weren't all that bad really. "All right, Cooper, since you're the pro, you start."
"Pro? I think not, Ms. Fox. A talented amateur perhaps," Sly replied, reviewing his cards. He then laid them down and doffed his cap, tossing it on to the table. "Time to ante up, sweetheart," he told her, indicating his cap in the center of the table. "What'll your pleasure be, gorgeous?"
Carmelita snorted at his flattery, but made sure she didn't meet his gaze either. She thought a moment, then smiled. She then laid her cards down, and reached up, gently removing the ear ring from her ear, lying it down upon Sly´s cap. "There you are, Ringtail. My earring will match your mangy cap. Now," she then stripped off her left glove. "I´ll see your cap, and raise it with my glove, buster."
Sly nods, and smiles, thinking to himself: she's betting a bit cautiously now, isn't she? Well, then let's see how high she's willing to go, shall we? He smiles, then peels off both of his blue gloves, tossing them on top of the growing pile. "I'll see your glove, and raise you with both of mine, you ravishing creature," Sly observed, leaning his chin upon his hand, gazing hotly at the attractive vixen. "Your turn, gorgeous."
Carmelita felt herself shiver under his intense gaze, though, she snorts derisively at his attempts at flattering her (which are working much better than he probably thinks!) before responding. "I'll raise those gloves of yours, Cooper…but you're going to have to give me a minute here…" She bent over, and quickly unlaced her remaining boot, her left one, and dragged it off. She then rose up and placed that piece of footwear upon the pile of clothing gracing the table's center. She then looked Sly right in the eye. "There you go, Cooper. Now, what's your play? You gonna raise the stake, or call?"
Sly didn't answer straight off, deciding to review his cards again, though he did smile charmingly her way again. "Hmm. I think I´ll call your hand, my lovely Inspector." He lays down his hand, which is a very respectable four queens, "Four lovely ladies, my sweet…though none of them hold a candle compared to the likes of you, Carmelita," he replied.
Carmelita couldn't repress the shiver of excitement that coursed up her spine, and glared at Cooper for causing it. She looked at the four Queens spread out on the dark grey table, and then grinned triumphantly. "Nice try, Ringtail…but my four fellas beat those ladies of yours," she declared, taking the pot as her own. She then grinned victoriously and placed Sly´s cap over her wavy black locks, and slipped on his blue fingerless gloves. "Nice, I think I like this game, Cooper. C'mon now…ante up, buster! The night is still young."
They played a few more rounds, both somehow managing to win two hands a piece. Needless to say the competition was fierce.
Bentley decided it was high time for a break, having finished surfing the ThiefNet, looking for background information. So, feeling a bit hungry, he headed down through the living room on his way toward the kitchen. Now, unbeknownst to him, that was where Carmelita and Sly were having their rather heated game of Strip Poker at that moment.
The prudish turtle nearly fainted from his surprise upon stumbling upon the two of them engaged in such a game. He goggled at them both, noticing (and not really wanting to!) that Sly had somehow acquired Carmelita's weathered leather jacket, which didn't fit him all that well actually, while he twisted what undoubtedly was her golden earring about his index finger. Meanwhile, the lovely Carmelita sported Sly's favorite cap upon her wavy raven locks, as well as his gloves upon her much smaller hands. Bentley gulped, and froze in his tracks. "Mother…" he whined.
Carmelita viewed her hand (a straight flush), and convinced she had a winner, decided to take what she hoped was an appropriate action. It was clear she had surprised Sly when she suddenly pushed back her chair and stood to her feet.
Sly canted his head, hiding his cards from her view. "Going somewhere, my sweet?" he said a bit flippantly.
She frowned at him, then shook her head, her ebony tresses waving with the movement of her head. "As a matter of fact, I'm not," she replied, then proceeded to unbutton and unzips her tight jeans, wriggling her rounded hips out of them.
Sly's jaw dropped nearly to the table's surface. "Oh, dear Lord," he managed to croak, his brown eyes riveted upon her at that moment.
Carmelita couldn't stop from blushing furiously as Sly Cooper's eyes nearly popped out of his head, as she slipped out of her faded jeans.
Sly blinked as he watched her bend over to remove her jeans, one leg at a time, and in doing so, caught sight of all her alluring curves as well as the scant yet pretty white thong that she wore! Sly's mind ceased to function at its normal rate, as he goggled the most obvious charms of his true lady love.
"Put your eyes back in your head, Cooper!" Carmelita growled, prudently curling her bushy reddish tail around her hip to cover her 'unmentionables' from view as she quickly seated herself again. "Now, I'll see your boots, and raise you my jeans." She laid her jeans on top of the pile at the center of the table. She blinked again as she realized that a part of her was inordinately pleased that she was so captivating in his eyes. Get a grip, girl! her mind told that voice immediately.
Sly blinks rapidly, his mouth dry, his heart racing a mile a minute. One thing was for certain…he wouldn't be forgetting the most bewitching sight of the lovely Carmelita in her scanty thong for a long time to come. With great difficulty, he focused again on the game, caging his voice to answer back as charmingly as he could manage. "My eyes are fine just where they are, Ms. Fox," he told her roguishly. "Heavens!" he muttered to himself, forcing his breathing back to normal. "I acknowledge your bet, lovely lady…though, I do have to say one thing…that's one wicked thong you're now sporting, my beautiful lady..."
Carmelita blushed again, even though she had anticipated him saying something along those lines. Much to her own surprise, she smiled...though, only very faintly. So…Cooper likes what he saw, did he? she observes silently, a part of her very pleased. Well, at least he's good and distracted now, she also notices. Hmm, she thought, then decided to distract the overly lucky thief even further, by twisting her chair to one side, and then propping her injured leg up on the table. She did this for two reasons, really: the first, because it would reduce the swelling in her foot, which would be a blessed relief; and the second, because she noticed Sly shaking his head at the sight of her lovely leg in full view. She grinned smugly, and upped the ante even more by periodically stretching her foot then relaxing it, and thereby showing off the smooth muscles of her very attractive leg. After all, she told herself, I didn't get to be an Inspector by sitting my rump down in a padded chair every day... "So, thief, what's your call?"
Sly blinked, having great difficulty tearing his eyes away from Carmelita's very shapely leg...and many of her other attractive physical attributes as well! Goodness, but she was absolutely breathtaking! He coughs repeately, trying to clear his head, then acted, trying to bring his focus back on the game at hand. "All right, Legs...you've got yourself a deal! I call. What have you got there, Carmelita my love?" Sly replied rather silkily, consciously trying to increase the softness and timbre of his very smooth voice. "Besides, I mean a truly stunning pair of oh-so-lovely legs?"
Carmelita blinked herself then, unprepared for his continued showering her with very flattering comments on her legs…which she is more than a little proud of. She caught herself smiling what had to be one of her more stunning smiles, which she found directed across the table at Sly Cooper. Damn! He knows he's getting to me, she groans, then tries to hide it with frown, but can't somehow manage it, so she decided to simply lay her hopefully winning hand down face up on the table. "There you go, Ringtail! Read 'em and weep! A Straight Flush! Beat that, if you can, amigo!"
Sly shook his head, smiling at her with his most devastatingly charming smile. "So beautiful, so young…" he laid down his cards with an even bigger smile, adding, "So unlucky! I'm rather afraid my four Kings beat your Straight Flush, my lovely Carmelita. And, as such, these are all mine!" He quickly retrieved Carmelita's jeans, pulling them into his arms, holding them as if they were the greatest of treasures. He then grinned, placing them on his lap for safe-keeping, before he responded happily, "So, what shall we play for next, hmm, Loveliest of Inspectors?" He arches a most suggestive eyebrow her way, which makes her blush furiously once more.
Carmelita shook her head, not believing her luck…or lack thereof! "Grr! Just you wait, Ringtail! Just you wait. I'm still half dressed, pal. And, don't tell me you're thinking clearly, Cooper! I happen to know I've got nice legs, very nice ones, actually. And, believe you me, I'm watching you watching me." She smiled as she then added, using her most sultry of voices on him…something she was definitely out of practice doing! "I'm not distracting you…am I, Cooper?" She smiled, batting her long dark eyelashes at him to considerable effect, before she ran one slender hand over her shapely leg just once, very slowly, until Sly was nearly panting! She then thumped her hand down on th table, breaking her spell. "C'mon! Deal the cards, Cooper. I'm not out of this game yet!"
Bentley, who'd been watching this battle royal, gulped air furiously before managing the effort to turn and run quickly out from the living room, thinking to himself, Run, Bentley, my friend! Just run away, and never turn back! As he trotted along up the stairs, he added, perhaps, if I forget it ever happened, it'll just fade from my memory? He winced, shaking his head. Yeah, maybe in a few decades, that is…