Rawhide: Ace in the Hole

By Desiree Holt

At Rawhide, the very exclusive dungeon where only those with connections gather to indulge their sexual fantasies, a new twist has been added—a deck of cards. For each Master and sub, the choice of cards from their deck determines the play for the night. Who knows what twists a game of chance can bring…

Cut the Cards

Kelly LeBlanc was hot and aroused at being selected as part of a demonstration for Rawhide's members and guests. A card game for sex? What fun! But then she meets the Dom, Tanner Sloat, and finds all her wildest fantasies are about to come true.

Blackjack

He was everything Nia March ever dreamed about in a Master. As he takes her to levels higher than she's even been, touching something deep inside her, she wonders if she can protect her heart.

Texas Hold 'Em

Sage Drummond thought she'd never recover from the effects of a relationship filled with cruelty, but she craved the role of sub. When she tentatively dips her toe in the waters at Rawhide, the last thing she expects to find is a Master who will satisfy her needs as well as heal her heart. Can it last?

Dealer's Choice

Cade Sullivan was one of the most in demand Doms until a tragedy sent him hiding from the world and out of the D/s life. Working at Rawhide gives Fiona Wilder the urge to try the D/s life. Can she be the key to help Cade forget the past and build a life with a sub that is all his?

Two of a Kind

They each bring their baggage to a night at Rawhide that is supposed to be nothing but fun—a night of intense D/s play. Neither is prepared for the intense connection they make or how it will change their lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
• Release date: Jan 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9781509234837

Desiree Holt

A multi-published, award winning, Amazon and USA Today best-selling author, Desiree Holt has produced more than 200 titles and won many awards. She has received an EPIC E-Book Award, the Holt Medallion and many others including Author After Dark’s Author of the Year. She has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and in The Village Voice, The Daily Beast, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The London Daily Mail. She lives in Florida with her cats who insist they help her write her books, and is addicted to football.

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You

Rawhide: Ace in the Hole

by

Desiree Holt

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

Rawhide: Ace in the Hole

COPYRIGHT © 2021 by Desiree Holt

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Contact Information: [e-mail]

Cover Art by Diana Carlile

The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

PO Box 708

Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708

Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com

Publishing History

First Scarlet Rose Edition, 2021

Trade Paperback ISBN 978-1-5092-3482-0

Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-3483-7

Published in the United States of America

Dedication

To Laura Topaz, who gave me the

idea for this fabulous anthology,

and to my endlessly patient,

wonderful editor, Diana Carlile.

Dear Readers,

Welcome back to Rawhide, the exclusive high-end, sought-after BDSM club in San Antonio, Texas. It’s been a while since we visited there, but here we are and with some new characters. For one thing, the club has added a Dungeon Master, a mysterious but knowledgeable man known only as Ruelas. For another, our new cast of characters includes Doms with an anguished history and brand new subs exploring their newly realized submissive sides. So put on your best halters, short skirts, and thigh-high boots and join us at Rawhide, where your wildest fantasies can come true.

Then please join us at Desiree’s Darlings, where we celebrate and discuss all my books, and every day is a party.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/DesireesDarlings

Desiree

XOXO

PRAISE FOR AUTHOR

Desiree Holt

Desiree Holt is the most amazing erotica author of our time, and each story is more fulfilling than the last.

~Romance Junkies

~*~

DO YOU TRUST ME

This thriller grabs you from the first paragraph and doesn’t let go until the satisfying ending. Espionage coupled with BDSM makes for one titillating ride. Secondary characters enhance the action and add to the suspense.

~RT Book Reviews

~*~

LASSOED BY A DOM

As with every Desiree Holt book I’ve read, there’s more that happens than just the impossible-to-ignore-passion that they have going for each other. I have read many Desiree Holt books but this was my first in the Rawhide series. I look forward to checking out the others after this one. An easy recommend for readers who don’t have much time but love a good hot read.

~Long and Short Reviews

~*~

COYOTE HEAT

"If you’re looking for a sexy Alpha with a sensitive side and blistering hot love scenes, this [Coyote Heat] is a winner!"

~The Romance Reviews

Cut the Cards

Welcome to Rawhide, Miss LeBlanc. Clint Chavez, a partner in the premier BDSM club, Rawhide, smiled and nodded. Reulas will be pleased you were able to make it tonight.

His email sounded exciting. Something new. How could I resist? In fact, I’m looking forward to it. Kelly LeBlanc held out her hand. May I have a key, please?

Of course. He lifted one from a board set into a recess on the wall. Your usual locker is available.

She shrugged out of her thin coat. It isn’t often I get a special call from the new Dungeon Master, asking for my presence. Or my participation in a special event. A demonstration, he said?

Clint smiled. We are introducing a new activity tonight. I believe he thinks you are the perfect sub for it.

A performance? She lifted an eyebrow. I haven’t done one in a while.

Reulas knows what he’s doing. You quickly became one of his favorites.

She knew that. She also had a feeling the Dom involved with the demonstration would be hardcore.

For some time now, the Doms she’d been playing with hadn’t really fulfilled her needs. More and more, she wanted someone to push her past one edge and then another. She’d talked to Reulas about the ramping up of her needs, told him about the extremes she now wanted from her Doms.

Reulas, being the careful person he was, had questioned her until he was assured she knew what she wanted and needed. Satisfied, he’d told her he’d take care of her. Maybe this was his idea of giving her what she’d asked for. Kelly trusted him, knew he wouldn’t put her with anyone who was too over the top. Still, he had acknowledged her need for a more demanding Dom, a more inventive one.

Clint nodded toward the cloakroom. I’d put my things away. Reulas doesn’t like to be kept waiting, even for someone special. Then he surprised her with a conspiratorial wink. He listened to what you said to him and set this up. But be prepared. We have a very large crowd tonight.

Kelly smoothed down her short, red leather skirt, adjusted the fabric of her abbreviated halter top also in screaming red, gave her long, blonde hair one last flip, and strode toward the main lounge on her stiletto thigh-high boots. She paused at the end of the short hall just as it widened into the lounge and took a long look.

It was indeed crowded tonight. Every table, every couch and chair was filled. Even the bar stools were all occupied. An air of excitement shimmered like electricity in the room.

Nodding and smiling at some familiar faces, she looked around for a place she might sit, wondering if someone would tell her what was on the schedule.

Thank you so much for accepting my request for this evening, Reulas greeted her. The Dungeon Master was a man of mystery. No one really knew where he’d come from or how he’d ended up at Rawhide.

Kelly had been a member for five years and was known by the regulars as someone who chose her Doms very carefully. She never played with a certain one for too long, but she had a reputation for being responsive and sexually satisfying. She had her pick of Masters. That she was chosen for whatever was on tonight’s agenda excited her, made her nipples tighten and her pussy throb in anticipation. Knowing Reulas, it was sure to be something that would appeal to her complicated needs.

Allow me to introduce a very special friend of mine. He stepped to the side. Kelly LeBlanc, meet Tanner Sloat.

At this point in her life, it took a lot to steal Kelly’s breath, but the man with Reulas managed to do it in an instant. He wasn’t as tall as most of the men she played with, probably not more than five ten, which suited her petite frame just fine. But it was a well-defined, sexually sizzling five foot ten. His body was muscular, not gym-conditioned, but that of a man who did some kind of hard labor for a living. Midnight-black hair hung in a thick curtain of silk just to his shoulders, and matching hair dusted the hard wall of his chest. His eyes were an unusual pale gray, fringed with thick black lashes, silver beacons in a square-jawed face with high cheekbones.

Tanner Sloat was everything subs imagined Doms to be, power flowing from his body. It was hard to ignore the bulge at his crotch, and it had cream flooding the tiny crotch of her thong at the sight of it. Her nipples hardened, poking into the soft material of her halter. At once, she imagined herself on her knees in front of him, his cock on her tongue, her hands squeezing his balls. Would he spank her if he thought her performance lacking?

Oh, yes! Please!

She was instantly even more wet and needy, and he hadn’t even said hello to her yet.

When she looked up at Tanner, a tiny knowing smile flirted with the corners of his mouth and sexual hunger flared in his eyes. He raked his gaze over her slowly, taking in every inch of her. Now she knew what the phrase undressing someone with his eyes meant, because that was exactly how she felt. At that moment, if he’d told her to strip naked, get down on her hands and knees, and let him fuck her ass, she’d have done it without a moment’s hesitation.

Holy shit!

She swallowed and curved her mouth in a smile. Welcome to Rawhide.

He dipped his head once. I can see you’re everything Reulas said you were.

And exactly what was that?

Tanner is just back from a tour of duty as a member of a Delta Force team, Reulas explained.

Ooo-kay. So that explained the ripped body. She wondered if he had any interesting scars. Without realizing it, Kelly licked her lips.

I picked up a little game while I was in…a different country, Tanner said. When I mentioned it to Reulas, it interested him. He suggested giving a little presentation to the members. His eyes looked her over again. From everything he told me, I thought you would be an excellent choice for a game partner. You enjoy exhibitionism, right?

Did a bank have money? Heat sizzled through her at the idea of performing before this crowd with this highly sexual man.

I do, she answered. Can you tell me what the game is about?

He held out a deck of cards. Take a look at these. The idea is each partner goes through the deck and removes any position or activity that they absolutely will not do. Then they go through them one at a time.

Of course, no one expects to complete the entire selection in one session, Reulas added. So each partner picks his or her top three and then they begin.

Kelly cocked an eyebrow at him. Your email sounded intriguing, and everyone is always looking for something new. I’m sure that’s why there’s such a big crowd tonight.

Reulas nodded. If I’d told them you were going to be part of the performance, we’d have been so crowded the fire marshal might have shut us down.

Reulas tells me you are a particular favorite. Tanner’s voice rolled over her nerves like the electric wand she loved so much, sending sparks along the surface of her skin.

He’s very kind. But I do my best to please.

As a good sub should. He gave her a penetrating look that pierced all the way to her pussy. Her inner walls clenched, and she had to resist the urge to squeeze her thighs together.

Why don’t the two of you step into the little alcove over there? Reulas pointed. You can select your cards. When you’re ready, I’ll get everyone’s attention and announce the beginning of the performance.

If Tanner hadn’t come vetted by Reulas, Kelly might have had second thoughts about this. She was very selective with her Doms, but the club owner wouldn’t put her with a man unless he trusted him. Besides, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt such a strong sexual pull, such a desire to do anything and everything with anyone, no restrictions.

She smiled at Tanner and waited for him to precede her, following him with her head down and hands clasped behind her back, already in her submissive role.

The alcove was barely more than a niche in the wall as it curved back toward the hallway. It contained a café table and two chairs and provided a modicum of privacy for two people to conduct their negotiations away from the crowd. Tanner nodded for her to sit, then opened the deck of cards.

This is a new game to you, he told her, so I would like you to make the first choices.

She took a deep breath, fanned out the cards, and started turning them over.

****

Tanner had to use every bit of his well-developed personal discipline to keep himself under control. His dick had hardened and swelled painfully the moment he set eyes on Kelly LeBlanc. And his entire body went on full alert. If he had less discipline, he’d have asked Reulas for a room right then, stripped her naked, and fucked her brains out.

What the hell?

The supple leather of her very short skirt barely covered the sweet curve of her ass. His hands itched to slide beneath the material and probe her cunt that the flimsy material shielded. Was she wet already? Did just the discussion of exhibitionism turn her on? The first time he’d participated in a demonstration, he was astounded at how the excitement of exhibitionism stimulated him. How intense his orgasm was when he finally gave up his self-control and allowed himself to experience it fully.

Twenty years ago, he had visited a dungeon near the base where he was training before he was selected for Delta Force. He’d gone with a friend, reluctantly, and become addicted after just one night. He’d learned the dungeons were a good place to put all that energy stored up from missions.

An experienced Dom had trained him, taught him to respect his subs, how to deal with bringing them out of subspace and reinforcing the importance of aftercare. In the clubs