Texas Bind 'em

Poker. Such a lovely game. When people know what they're doing, it's a cornucopia of nonverbal communication. Reading tells, knowing how to bet, slow playing; it's rarely about the cards. It's all about the players, what they're willing to risk, when they'll stop. Like the song says, know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em.

Of course, if what you're betting on is the humiliation and torture of your sub, it may not be the right move to fold....

Texas Bind 'em

Lisa moaned from the floor as the machine pistoned itself in and out of her dripping pussy. Max shook his head at her, partially in disgust, partially in envy, and dealt out the cards.

There were four of them playing. Billy was the blind, which was why Lisa was still on the machine. Alberto had one hand resting on his pet's hair – Max hadn't gotten her name. Carolyn, his mistress, sat directly across from him. Next to her, Kevin sat on Josh's naked back. If he lost the hand, Josh would have to bring him a real chair before paying the penalty.

Max looked around as the four of them looked at the cards they'd been dealt. He almost shook his head again. Their tells were so obvious to him. It would have been so easy for him to take all the money in the world from any of the people at the table. Of course, that was why he was dealing.

Mistress Carolyn had mischief in her eyes when he looked at her. Did she know he was reading the tells? Would she be able to tell, through him, when someone bluffed? And if she did, would she use that information to win the hand, or to make sure to lose it?

Alberto looked at his hole cards again. “I'll bet a word,” he said.

Carolyn hadn't even glanced at her cards yet. “I'll call,” she said.

Kevin rubbed his fingers over the cards, tracing their edges. “Make it a word on the face,” he said.

Everyone agreed, and so Max dealt out the flop.

Eight of Diamonds, Ace of Clubs, Seven of Clubs. Possible straight, possible flush. Alberto's fingers flinched, but he didn't reach to check his cards. He had something. Not the flush or the straight. Maybe a pair.

“I'll bet that the word be 'cock whore' and it be written with a sharpee.”

Carolyn laughed at that, which made Max a bit worried. Sharpees last a while, at least a day. There'd probably still be traces of it when he went in to work on Monday, and his hair wasn't long enough to cover it. She looked at her cards for the first time.

Max saw her breath bait just a little bit. She had the flush. She had to. “I'll raise you a pair of shaved eyebrows,” she said.

Kevin tapped his cards a few times, as if he was thinking. He looked over at Carolyn, then at Alberto. Max decided Kevin had a pocket pair, but the flop hadn't helped him. “I call,” he said. The woman kneeling next to him whimpered slightly.

It's a funny thing about eyebrows. Most people don't notice them, but when they're gone, a person just looks wrong. And still some people can't put their fingers on why. They'd be able to with Max, though. His dark hair would make it really obvious.

Billy smiled and glanced over at Lisa. “I'll see your shaved eyebrows,” he said, “And I'll raise you the words 'whore' and 'cunt' written in their place.”

That brought a chuckle from the other players and a frown from Max. It was a big enough bet to suggest that Billy had something worth playing.

Alberto's lips swelled as he breathed through their tiny opening. “I call,” he said. Still a good enough hand to stay in, but not good enough to raise. Max decided Alberto did not have the ace.

“I raise a blow job to every man sitting at the table,” Carolyn said. Her smirk, and the sparkle in her eye, made Max wonder if that meant she had the flush, or if it meant she was intending to throw the hand. She licked her lips. That didn't help.

“I call,” Kevin said. So did Billy.

Out came the next card. Jack of hearts. No help to anyone.

Alberto looked at his cards. He should have folded from the start. He didn't have pocket anything, the flop had given him maybe a pair, but it wasn't even the high pair. He didn't have the makings of a flush or a straight. In short, his hand was shit. Which was why he bit his lower lip. And why he bet the way he did.

“Check,” he said.

Carolyn's eyes darted across the cards on the table. She was trying to calculate if someone had the straight. With a seven, an eight, and a jack, it was possible. Nine and ten would do it. But Max had watched as the card landed. No one had been helped. No one had the straight.

Carolyn took a deep breath. “Full body shaving,” she said. “Every single hair.”

Kevin rubbed the back of his neck and then scratched his head. He looked at Carolyn long and hard, then put one hand underneath him to feel the tension in his slave's back. “I call,” he said.

“Full body shaving,” Billy said, “And a full round of play on the machine.” He looked around the table. “Anally.”

Max could hear the girl's relief when Alberto finally pushed away his cards to fold. The girl would still have to meet the last bet he had called; she'd still have to suck off every man in the room. But at least she got to keep her hair. Clearly, that was okay with her. Max would have laughed if Carolyn hadn't been the next to bet. She chewed on the corner of her mouth, a sign that she wasn't entirely confident in what she was doing. “Call,” she said, and Max felt the sweat start to bead on his forehead.

“I'm in,” Kevin said.

And so came the river. King of hearts. No possibility of a flush. A queen and ten would make a high straight, but probably wouldn't have made it this far into the game.

“Head shaved bald,” Carolyn said, “And answers the door for the pizza completely naked, offering to give head for a tip.”

Kevin raised an eyebrow. “I'll raise you jerking off every man in the room until they cum on the slave's face, then licking it all up.”

Billy laughed at that. “Oh, I'll definitely call that,” he said. “As long as that comes after a full ten minutes of anal machine pounding.”

Max looked at Carolyn with desperation in his eyes. Please fold. His look begged her. He knew she couldn't win the hand. The river had made sure of that. She wasn't going to win, and he didn't want to lose. Bad enough that he would have to shave his head again, bad enough that he'd have the offer to suck off the pizza boy while completely naked. He did not want to spend ten minutes having his ass pounded by that relentless machine.

“I think I'm done” Max almost sighed in relief, until he saw Carolyn's smirk, “playing for such low stakes. I'll raise you each a full twenty four hours with my slave. No toilet play, no animal play, but anything else goes. If you boys think you can handle that big of a bet, that is.”

Kevin would probably have folded if she hadn't questioned his capabilities as a top. He should fold; nothing had helped him since the initial deal. A pocket pair lower than a jack, at best. “I'll raise you a night at the club sucking cock for five dollars a shot.”

“Whoring your slave out on Craig's list,” Billy said. “Five times.”

Max whimpered a little bit. Please fold, he thought. But he knew she wouldn't.

“Serving as a toilet at a cocktail party,” she said.

“Walking into a biker bar and asking 'who's cock do I have to suck to get a beer around here?' and keep doing it as long as the beer keeps flowing.”

Billy shook his head and let out a whistle. “Been holding on to that one, have you?” He reached as if to fold, but thought better of it. Max knew why, and hoped Carolyn would figure it out sooner rather than later. “I will bet my slave's slavery,” he said. “She will be the slave to every submissive in the room in turn, submitting to the worst thing they can think of.”

“And then must rate what is done, and the best sub gets a prize,” Carolyn said.

Kevin shook his head and folded. “Sorry love,” he said, patting his seat's head. “Looks like you're heading to a biker bar. But at least you'll get your revenge on someone.”

Billy smiled and said the words that made Max's blood run cold. “I call,” he said.

Then he flipped over his cards. Ace of spades, king of diamonds. He had two pair.

Carolyn shook her head and shrugged. She kept her eyes on Max's when she flipped over her cards. The eight of clubs and the five of clubs. One pair. And a low pair at that.

“Damn it,” Kevin said. “I had two nines.”

Billy laughed and looked at Carolyn. “Looks like you lose,” he said.

She looked at Max. “That all depends on how you look at it,” she said. She winked at Max. “Don't you think?”