ALL IN 1/1

Furrowing her brow Karen gazed down at the cards in her hand, carefully calculating her next move. Sitting on the floor across from her Bill waited impatiently. This was not how he anticipated his evening would turn out. The raging storm outside left them powerless and stranded for the evening and Bill was partially relieved that they had no prior plans.

It was ironic that their retirement suddenly allowed them to regain their evenings and weekends and yet in the months since moving up to Vermont they had been busy every weekend. Social time was no longer a luxury but a normal part of life that their careers hadn't allowed before. This was weekend was the first in three months that the couple did not have a social obligation. The prospect of having nothing to do slightly alarmed Bill. With no work or friends to occupy his time he was nervous at spending an evening alone with Karen considering things were, while significantly better, somewhat strained. Thus he was relieved when she suggested an after dinner game.

Shuddering due to the cold that was beginning to seep into him, his impatience got the better of him.

"Can you play or are you finally going to fold?"

She smirked and peered over her cards at him. She wondered if he knew how funny he looked sitting there in nothing but boxers, a t-shirt, and one sock. Glancing over at the pile of his clothing next to her she felt somewhat proud. It was she who suggested poker as an after dinner game. He was willing as long as it was strip poker, to which she agreed and here they were an hour and a bottle of wine later; Bill with nothing on and Karen who was fully clothed.

Raising an eyebrow, she slowly pushed her chips into the centre of the floor along with the rest of the pot.

"All. In."

She said with a satisfied grin which elicited a snort from Bill. There was no way she was going to win this round. He had a straight and he knew she had nothing since she had been hesitant the entire hand. Victory would be his! Calling her bluff, he moved all his chips over to where hers rest. Pleased that he was able to surprise her, Bill laid down his cards in triumph.

"A straight, huh? That's impressive Bill," Karen whispered as she carefully laid her cards down next to his. "But I'm afraid even that's not enough: Flush."

Bill choked on his wine and looked down at her hand as Karen threw her head back and laughed maniacally. Who taught her how to play? Defeated, he slouched back against the couch and watched as she gleefully got to think about which article of clothing he would have to remove next. However, he was surprised as she gathered up his already discarded garments and handed them to him. Finishing off her glass of wine, she leaned over and placed a gentle, deep kiss on his lips. Pulling back she stared at him enticingly.



"Put your clothes back on," she quietly demanded.

"Karen, the purpose of strip poker is that the loser is supposed to remove clothing, not put it back on," he chuckled, but added more seriously "Unless of course, my punishment is no sex, which, up until two seconds ago, is where I thought this was going."

Grinning, she pulled him off the floor and began leading him upstairs.

"It is and you will be undressed by the end of the night. But this time, I want to be the one who takes off your clothes."