Chapter 7

The poker game continued on strong, both Sly and Carmelita pretty evenly matched in both their skill and their luck. Both players had their ups and downs, mind you, but for the moment at least, it seemed that Carmelita was having one of her 'up' moments. She'd somehow regained nearly all of her clothing, with the exception of her jeans and boots; while Sly, on the other hand, had lost nearly half of his wardrobe already, naked from the waist up, but for his mask. Needless to say, Carmelita was feeling rather confident just about now.

Carmelita's light brown eyes twinkled as she reviewed the hand before her. "Okay, Cooper...let's make this quick, shall we? I'll start the bidding with my gloves," she declared, pulling off her leather glovesone at a time and laid them upon the table in rather dramatic fashion.

Sly cast her a sidelong glance, not believing his luck the last few hands, which had been all bad. "Very well then, beautiful, you're on! I'll see you your gloves, and..." he informed her, pausing to get to his feet, whereupon he unfastened his trousers, and quickly slipped them off, folding them neatly and laying them atop of Carmelita's gloves. Despite what you might think, Sly seemed unconcerned that he's now showing off his prim white boxers. Nor apparently was he overly concerned with the fact that Carmelita's big brown eyes had now gone huge, as well as the fact that she seemed to have forgotten how to breathe exactly. "…I'll raise you my pants," he finished, resuming his seat at the table.

Carmelita gasped audibly as she finally remembered to breathe, trying very hard, but failing rather miserably at, not boldly staring at Sly in his sexy white boxers. Her attention wavered from there to his finely toned legs, his narrow waist, as well as his strong legs. Carmelita, although her heart is beating fast and furiously, tried to shrug off her obvious excitement by trying to appear blithely nonchalant. "Um, er, nice boxers, Cooper," she managed to utter, then succumbed to a rosy blush.

Sly grinned at seeing this, also noting her somewhat glazed expression, as well as the way her nostrils flared over and over again as she breathed. "So…you like 'em?" he asked rather brazenly, causing her to look away momentarily. "I know I find them comfortable." Sly chuckled, noticing how unsettled the beautiful, but at the same time innocent vixen seated across from him had become. "Carmelita, Carmelita, Carmelita...it's one thing for you to look at meyou are a grown woman, after allbut it's rather poor taste for a lady of your quality to openly drool, you know," he observed while grinning, liking the fact that she appeared to be so interested in him.

Carmelita blinked her big brown eyes rapidly, embarrassed to be caught staring unabashedly at his boxer shorts, which caused her to blush furiously. She shook her head in an attempt to clear it, and nearly writhed in embarrassment as she realized she actually was drooling...though only a little. She growled at the grinning raccoon, irritated both with his smile as well as hot blush she now had to deal with. "Grr! Don't flatter yourself, Cooper. Er, it's just been a while since I last ate, is all..." However, no matter what she said, her furious blushing continued, and if it could, intensified briefly.

Bentley re-entered the living room as she said this, and her frowned. He then looked over to where they sat and groaned before exclaming. "Geez! Aren't the two of you finished playing strip poker yet? Why don't the two of you get a room already?" Bentley complained, after which the turtle realized what he had just said and blushed furiously.

Carmelita blushed at that comment too, but ignored the surly turtle's obvious innuendo. "Don't you worry, this game won't last much longer. Look," she replied, crooking a thumb over to where Sly sat, reviewing his cards. "Cooper here is rapidly running short of clothing, you understand. He's down to his boxers…and not much more." She smiled sweetly and victoriously at the half-naked raccoon.

Sly grinned back at Carmelita, giving her a clever wink. "Hmm, perhaps, Carmelita dear, but then again, I'm not the one wearing a skimpy little thong now, am I?" he challenged, then grinned wolfishly, adding, "Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I happen to think you look stunning in such sexy lingerie, my love…"

Carmelita´s black-tipped ears angled sharply back, as she was torn between continuing to try to distract Cooper with her smooth bare leg, while somehow not showing off her seemingly inappropriate choice of underwear. She chose to ignore (which was far harder than she would of ever thought!) his blatant staring at her scanty thong, and decided to continue distracting Sly, flexing her lovely leg smoothly, grinning when she noticed that Cooper was almost mesmerized by the play of the muscles in her leg. "Hmph! Enjoy it while it lasts, Ringtail. Because this is the one and only time you'll ever going see 'em!" she riposted.

"Then, O Alluring One," Sly replied, his eyes roaming the luscious figure of the vixen before him. "You won't mind if I stare at your beguiling form for just a little bit longer, hmm?"

Carmelita, caught unaware again (Damn that raccoon!), found herself blushing, and she drew her chair in tighter to the table, and lowered herself down a bit to keep her admittedly scantily clad lower half from his hot and devilishly inviting deep brown eyes. "Just play your cards, Cooper! And…keep your eyes where they belong, buster!" she growled, even though she was mentally chastising herself for the feeling of satisfaction his words had brought her.

Bentley couldn't help but blush again, seeing how Carmelita was obviously and rather blatantly trying to seduce Sly's attention away with her sexy legs. He understood how Sly might be mightily distracted…but, he expects more from his friend somehow. "C'mon, Sly...get a grip, man! You know she's only showing off her legs to distract you," he admonished.

Sly blinked at that, but then grinned at his friend. "Yeah, I know, Bentley. But…man! Isn't it great?" he observed, then turned back to the lovely vixen across the table from himself, encouraging her. "C'mon, Carmelita...do it again!" He arched one eyebrow suggestively at her, causing her to blush, and look away again. All part of my strategy, he tells himself...and nearly believed it!

Carmelita fumed at being forced to look away from Sly, caught red-handed at her game of distraction. She then, a moment later, looked shyly back, and quickly lowered her leg down, suddenly mightily embarrassed by how she's been behaving of late. "Am not!" she denied to Bentley, ignoring Cooper's racy remarks, and changed the subject quickly. "All right, Ringtail, let's try to get back to the game, shall we? I'll see your pants, and raise you my earring." She reached up to remove it gently from her ear, and laid it down atop the growing pot.

Sly blew her a flirtatious kiss, pleased that he's finally got her to put her tantalizing legs down out of sight at last. "Hmm, your earring, is it?" he mused as he reviewed his cards one last time. "All right, I'll call, Carmelita my love." He laid down his cards for her to view. "A flush, O Bewitching One. Can you top that, O Woman of my Dreams?" he asked whimsically, while gazing dreamily into her face, his eyes seeking hers.

Carmelita´s mouth opened soundlessly as she inadvertently locked eyes with him for a brief moment. She shuddered, feeling a quick rush of excitement through herself as she felt herself drawn in by his nearly hypnotic gaze. But, as enticing as all that might of been, it simply paled in comparison to the hand Carmelita now was holding! She smiled triumphantly, and laid down her winning hand. "Ha! I can beat that, Cooper…easily. Four Queens, Ringtail. That tops your paltry flush rather handily, I do believe!" She laughed softly as she scooped back her winnings, unable to not gloat…at least a little. "One more win, Cooper, and I've got this match won. So, buster…deal those cards!"

Bentley wrung his hands, unable to stand the tension any longer, and groaned, rushing from the room, shaking his head at them both. "All right! You win! I'm leaving, you two! Tell me when you're" he protested, then shuddered at the thought! "done!"

Sly shuffled the cards once more, looking over to Carmelita, who was softly humming, rather pleased with herself. "Can you believe that guy, Carmelita?" he asked, indicating where Bentley had been with a jerk of his chin. He might be losing this match, mind you, but he was having what had to be one of best times he'd ever had! He still found it hard to believe that he was sitting mere feet away from the most beautiful lady he'd ever seen…and who was dressed in only a brief halter and one amazing thong!

Carmelita stopped humming a moment to respond to him, grinning.
"Yeah! You'd think he'd never seen a card game before, wouldn't you?"
she agreed, grinning mischievously. For some reason, Carmelita suddenly realized something…something that, truth be told, somewhat shocked her. She was enjoying herself! Very, very much in fact. She couldn't remember the last time she had ever had this much fun. She found her initial assessment of one Sly Cooper was changing, albeit slowly toward a much more favorable one.

Sly laughed softly at their banter, enjoying just being in her company. They were both interacting…and without any use of shock pistols or furious words! Well, who'd of ever thought? "A card game like this one? I'm sure he hasn't, most beautiful lady! Though, to be fair, Bentley doesn't really get out much...you know, with the fairer sex, I mean."

Carmelita tried to appear shocked, but instead ended up giggling softly. "No! I find that so difficult to believe, Mr. Cooper!" The two shared a good-natured laugh together at their brief bout of wittiness, then got back to business and continued their match.