You know how it goes, here I am, writing a long, epic length story full of angst and hurt/comfort when my muse pops in and asks me what would happen if our favorite warrior and bard got into a game of strip poker <g>. So I pulled up a fresh sheet of cyber-paper and jotted out this little ditty. Enjoy :) B L

Copyright: The characters of Xena, Gabrielle, Argo, etc. are owned by MCA/Universal. I only borrowed them for a little while. No infringement was intended. The rest of the story is mine and I hold the copyright to it. Do not use any part of this story without my written permission. I may be contacted at IQ139@aol.com.

Sex:This story contains scenes of two women making love. :) If this offends you, please don't read this story. There are many other wonderful stories out there.

CARDS ANYONE?

By B L Miller

Rain spattered down outside, making the cave seem even darker than it should have been for that time of day. Xena moved the pile of wood from the mouth of the cave to the back, hoping that she had gotten enough to wait out the storm. Gabrielle was leaning up against the saddle, the tip of the feather of her quill touching her lip, her eyes glued to the parchment in front of her. The warrior looked over at her weapons one more time. They were as sharp as she could possibly have gotten them and polished to a brilliant shine. She leaned up against the wall of the cave and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Want me to tell you a story?", the bard asked, her eyes never leaving her work.

"No, I'm tired of stories. I want to do something.", she reached for her chakram. Gabrielle's eyes went wide and she dropped her parchment and quill and snatched the round weapon from the warrior's hands.

"Oh no you don't. I'm not playing 'let's see how close to Gabrielle's head we can get with the chakram' game.", she set the disc on the far side of her, away from the bored hands of her companion.

"I have to get my practice in sometime.", Xena replied, her eyes looking around for something else to do. Gabrielle looked thoughtful for a moment, then her eyes grew wide.

"I've got it!", she exclaimed and reached for the saddlebags, which seemed capable of holding everything without bulging. She pulled out a pack of cards held together with a piece of leather.

Xena scoffed at the bard's idea. "I'm not playing cards, Gabrielle. Where'd you get those anyway?"

"Ephiny gave them to me the last time we were at the village. She said it might get you down off the horse. I forgot I had them.", she replied as she shuffled the cards. "Come on, Xena. What else are you going to do?"

Xena looked out at the continual downpour and sighed. She hated games. Such a waste of time. She looked back at the eager bard. "What are we playing?"

"A game Autolycus taught me, Axes and Hammers."

"Axes and Hammers? What's he doing teaching you that?", the warrior said, drawing an indignant look from her younger companion.

"Xena, I am not a child. I'm old enough to play Axes and Hammers. I am an Amazon Queen, you know.", she said, her eyes conveying hurt, instantly triggering the warrior's sense of guilt for treating her as such an innocent in need of protection.

"Okay, fine. We'll play Axes and Hammers. What are we going to bet with? We don't have two dinars to rub together."

"Well, what did you do when you played with no money?", she watched as the taller woman suddenly found something of great interest in the fire and started to poke at it with a stick. She mumbled something unintelligible. "What?", Gabrielle asked, wondering if warrior's face was turning pink from the heat of the fire or from embarrassment.

"I said we stripped.", Xena said quietly, her gaze never leaving the fire. Gabrielle remained quiet for a moment, her gaze also falling to the fire.

"Oh.", Gabrielle replied. "Well, we could do that. I mean, it's not like we haven't ever seen each other naked before."

Xena's heart pounded fiercely in her chest. While it was true that they often saw each other naked, it was usually only for a brief moment while entering and exiting the water or changing their clothes. She didn't know if she could keep the desire that had burned for so long from her eyes if forced to see her companion naked across from her. Perhaps it was desire, or curiosity, but the warrior nodded her head mutely and moved to a position where they could sit across from each other and play. Gabrielle smiled broadly and passed out five cards to each of them before setting the rest down next to her.

Xena looked at the cards in her hand. One ax, two hammers, and two maces. She set the ax down and waited for the bard to hand her another card. Another hammer. A full tavern. Her face remained impassive as she watched Gabrielle take two cards.

"Okay, what'cha got?", the bard said, smiling broadly as she looked down at her three axes.

"A full tavern.", the warrior replied, splaying the cards out on the cave floor for the bard to see. Gabrielle rolled her eyes and tossed her cards down. With an impish grin, she unlaced her left boot and slid it off, wiggling her toes for a moment before putting them directly beneath the warrior's nose. "Cut that out!", Xena growled playfully as she pushed the offending foot away. "Trying to make me pass out?"

"Funny, this from the woman who has to take her boots off far from camp. Don't put them in the stream or the fish will jump out and commit suicide.", she joked. They exchanged playful pokes for a moment before the giggling and laughing subsided and they resumed their game. She promptly lost the next hand and thus, her other boot.

Xena's heart thudded when she realized what the next piece of clothing was that Gabrielle would lose, that damned awful green top. Looking at the way the firelight bounced off of the muscled abs, she had to admit that the top did have it's advantages over her previous tops. To her dismay, she lost the next two hands, putting her in the same position as her companion.

Gabrielle looked at her new hand and felt her heart skip a beat. Four axes. There was no way Xena was going to beat that. She tossed her fifth card and got a new one, trying hard not to let her excitement show. It was so rare that she had the opportunity to see the beautiful swells of flesh that belonged to her best friend. The long felt desire to move their relationship beyond its boundaries resurfaced. Ever since the kiss and Xena's resurrection, Gabrielle's realization of the true depth of her feelings had plagued her thoughts. When at the amazon village, the bard had tried to watch the warrior's face whenever the dancers were performing, looking for some sign of interest in women. As usual, her tall companion's face had remained stoic and impassive, as if seeing practically naked women dancing around was a normal occurrence.

Bringing her thoughts back to the present, she looked up quickly and caught the warrior's deep blue eyes with her equally deep green ones. For the briefest moment, both swore they saw the same thing in each other's eyes. Xena cleared her throat and looked down at her cards. "Three axes and two hammers."

"Hah! Four axes!", the bard said, laying her cards out slowly to rub in the victory. Xena sighed and stood up. Gabrielle watched disappointedly as the warrior removed her leather skirt and sat back down.

"Problem?", Xena quipped as she noted the look on her face and a question formed in her mind.

"Uh, no. Just forgot about the skirt, that's all.", Gabrielle said nonchalantly as she collected the cards and shuffled them. She noted a slight warmth building between her legs. She pulled two hammers, two maces and a sword. She tossed all but the sword back and waited for Xena to take her cards.

Xena looked at her cards. Three maces, a sword, and an ax. Gabrielle laid her three swords, one mace, and one hammer down. "Maces beat swords.", Xena said as she showed her cards.

"You're right.", Gabrielle said as she gave a quick smile and loosed the laces to her top. The warrior's blue eyes darkened with desire as the full, soft globes escaped the confines of the bard's clothing and fell under her gaze. Xena turned her attention down to the deck of cards in her hands and concentrated on shuffling them while her mind continued to go back to imagining the feel of her mouth against those soft breasts. Gabrielle noticed with quite a bit of interest that her best friend was having a hard time meeting her eyes or looking at her. Several questions formed in her mind.

Xena's head never raised up as she looked at her cards. She threw two back and took her replacements. One pair, a useless hand. As expected, she lost to Gabrielle's pair of hammers and axes. She unceremoniously reached down and pulled her leathers off, leaving her in just her short britches. Through half-lidded eyes, Gabrielle stared at the full breasts, the dark nipples pointing out, hardening under the breeze coming into the cave. She licked her lips unconsciously. Slowly Xena brought her head up to catch Gabrielle's gaze. The look on her blond companion's face answered at least one question, but started even more. "Uh,", Xena's mouth seemed quite dry at the moment. "Are you going to deal?"

"What?", she said bringing her head up quickly. "Oh, yeah, heh heh." She started to absently toss the cards about, stopping only when she realized that they both had more than five cards. Gabrielle gave a sheepish grin and collected the cards to deal again. The lack of concentration wasn't missed by the warrior, who stopped trying to keep her thoughts under control. She paid close attention to Gabrielle's actions, wondering just what game they really were playing.

"Three hammers and two axes!", Gabrielle said triumphantly. Her smile faded when she saw the grin on the warrior's face.

"I believe that four maces beats a full tavern.", Xena said as she set her cards on top of the bard's in a victorious pattern. "Your turn to lose something.", she leaned back and watched as Gabrielle rose and removed her leather belt, setting it on the ground next to her while holding her skirt in place as she sat back down. "Hey, belts don't count.", the warrior protested.

"Belts count.", the bard said firmly and passed out the cards. "You'll probably win anyway, so stop griping.", she said, her gaze never leaving her cards. Xena smiled with a most lecherous thought about winning and brought her attention back to the other game they were playing.

"Three hammers.", the warrior said, her chest moving quicker as she found she couldn't keep her eyes off of Gabrielle's chest. The bard's face was glued to her cards, a full tavern, and the implications of that hand.

"A full tavern.", she said, her voice barely above a whisper. Gabrielle reached over and grabbed the waterskin, the twisting of her body exposing her breasts even more to the warrior, who was desperately fighting the urge to take the bard in her arms and make love to her.

"Huh, what?", Xena said, suddenly realizing that she didn't know who had won the hand.

"I said I have a full tavern.", Gabrielle repeated as another question was answered.

"Oh...well...I guess that means I've lost, huh?", Xena replied as she stood up. She pulled her britches down, noting the dampness on the crotch and the wetness between her legs. She sat her naked body down cross-legged, her hands resting on her knees. The warrior watched as Gabrielle's eyes traveled down to rest on her dark curls before returning to the pile of cards scattered between them. Without saying a word, the blond woman shuffled and dealt out another hand.

"Gabrielle, you won. I'm naked. What happens if I lose?", while asking, Xena's mind was filling with all sorts of possibilities.

"I'll think of something. I'm not ready to stop yet.", the bard replied. Both picked up the double meaning of the words.

"Three axes.", Gabrielle said as she placed her cards down. Xena looked at her hand, a full tavern. A million thoughts, including fear, raced through her mind as she folded up the cards and set them face down on the floor.

"Can't beat it.", she said softly, her blue eyes locking with her companion's green ones. She sat quietly and waited for Gabrielle to speak.

"Well, I guess...uh...let's see, how about if you do something you don't normally do?", the bard said nervously.

"Like what, Gabrielle?"

"Uh...like what...um...how about hugging me? You don't do that very often."

"You want me to hug you?", two hearts pounded painfully at the thought of body contact. Xena crawled over and knelt next to her. Time stilled as the wrapped their arms around each other and pulled their bodies close. The heat of Gabrielle's skin seared Xena's senses as the bard's warm breath so close to her breast caused a fresh wave of warm wetness to form between her legs. Slowly, arms began to stroke backs as they soaked in the wonderful sensations. Only when both realized just how long they had been holding each other did they separate, the warrior moving back over to her side of the card pile. With hands that shook ever so slightly, she shuffled and passed out the cards, daring the bard to continue the game. Gabrielle swallowed and looked at Xena, daring her to make eye contact.

"Ready?"

Not quite certain how to answer the question, Xena merely nodded and passed out the cards. She smiled when the end result left her with four hammers. Her groin tightened when she saw the smile break across Gabrielle's lips as she laid four axes over Xena's cards. "It seems you lose again, my warrior friend.", the smile died when the bard realized that she had to once again pick a suitable action for Xena to do. "Uh...what next?"

"I believe the next action would be kissing, Gabrielle.", the warrior said softly as she moved closer. Her breath brushed against the bard's ear. "Are you ready for this, Gabrielle?"

The bard shuddered noticeably, her eyes still focused on the winning hand of cards. Xena's hands went to her shoulders and turned her closer. Green eyes floated up to lose themselves in the swirling mist of blue as the warrior lowered her lips ever so slowly. Warm softness met warm softness as their mouths came together. Xena held her passion in check, pulling back after a friendly, respectable amount of time. It was several heartbeats before Gabrielle opened her eyes to see the warrior sitting across from her, cards in hand.

She moved over next to Xena and took the cards out of her hands. "No more games.", Gabrielle said softly as she rose and let her skirt fall to the floor. Her hands went to her britches and were met with the long fingers of the warrior.

"Let me.", she said huskily, her fingertips curling around the soft material and pulling it down. Soft blond curls appeared, moistened by desire. Gabrielle's legs trembled slightly as Xena's lips brushed against the taut muscles of her thighs. She put her hands on the warrior's shoulders and stepped out of her britches. Xena's hands went to her hips and pulled her down to straddle her lap. Gabrielle's hand reached out to rest against the warrior's cheek, tracing the sculpted features with her fingertips. There was silence for the longest time as both women took in the recent events and the ramifications.

"I love you.", Gabrielle murmured as her lips connected with the warrior's. This time Xena refused to hold herself back, bringing her tongue out to lightly graze the bard's lips, eliciting a soft whimper before Gabrielle opened her mouth to accept the questing muscle. With a gentleness that surprised the bard, Xena kissed her deeply and passionately, expressing her passion and desire mixed with her deep love.

Gabrielle's hands moved to lightly caress her shoulders as the warrior's arms wrapped themselves around the willing bard. Breasts pressed up against each other as their tongues danced around each other, gently loving each other with their mouths. Xena moaned when she felt the wet warmth press against her belly, just above her own curls. She placed a series of soft kisses up the bard's jawline before taking an earlobe into her mouth and suckling softly. Small sounds of pleasure escaped from Gabrielle's lips as her fingers intertwined with the warrior's raven hair. Xena moved her mouth downward, gently kissing and tasting her throat before pulling back to look into the green eyes dark with passion.

"I love you, Gabrielle.", she said with all the feeling in her heart as she leaned the bard back, bringing her breasts into view. The light from the flames flickered across her left breast, inviting the warrior to sample the treasure so close to her mouth. Xena brought her right hand up and gently laid it across the bard's breast, the nipple hardening under her palm as she squeezed softly. Both women closed their eyes at the sensation. Xena moved her hand and brought her lips down and kissed the now hard nipple. Gabrielle inhaled sharply and pressed against the warrior's head with her hands, encouraging further exploration. She gasped when she felt Xena's tongue caress her erect flesh, the sensations echoing themselves deep in her loins.

"Xena...", she moaned as the pressure increased. Gabrielle's body was on fire with emotions as the warrior continued to cause wave after wave of glorious pleasure to pass through her. Xena's mouth and tongue blazed a trail to her right breast, lavishing it with the same attentions. Gabrielle had no control over her body as she writhed against the warrior's hot mouth. The soft moans that escaped from her lips only served to encourage Xena to possess her. Her fingers clasped and unclasped the raven hair as she surrendered to the warrior's ministrations.

Xena rose to her feet, lifting the bard with ease, and headed to their bedrolls. With the gentlest of movements, she lowered her lover onto the blankets and reclaimed her mouth as she stretched out next to her. The warrior's hand continued to assault the bard's senses with its manipulation of her nipple. Gabrielle's hips moved of their own volition, silently begging for Xena to take her to the Elyssian fields with her love. The strong arm of the warrior slipped between the bard's thighs and pressed against her sex, causing Gabrielle to cry out and rake her fingernails across Xena's back. With infinite slowness, the taller woman slipped her finger between the soft folds and was immediately soaked with the bard's love juice. Xena's eyes closed at the exquisite feeling.

She moved her finger upwards, brushing lightly across the small bundle of nerves. Gabrielle cried out and pulled Xena against her, smothering her mouth with kisses. The warrior moved her fingers back and forth in an ever increasing rhythm, letting the rocking of the bard's hips set the pace. She moved her mouth down to gently suckle Gabrielle's throat as she slipped one long finger deep within her warm tunnel. The bard arched her hips as her head lolled back. All coherent thought was gone as she blindly reacted to Xena's touch, her hips rocking back and forth, forcing the pace again and again as she rose higher.

Xena slipped another finger in, reaching in and up to caress the special spot inside as colors danced behind the bard's tightly closed lids. Her cries were constant, filling the cave as they echoed off the walls. The muscles in the warrior's forearm tightened and relaxed as she moved her fingers in and out, meeting the bard thrust for thrust. Gabrielle's arms wrapped tightly around the warrior's neck and she pulled her close as the sound of her own blood pounding filled her ears and she tightened around Xena's fingers. With one last cry of her lover's name, Gabrielle went over the edge and sailed into the glorious wave of pleasure. Xena stayed with her, drawing the pleasure out for as long as possible before lowering the spent woman back to the blankets and removing her fingers.

Long moments passed before the green eyes opened and focused on the warm blue ones. "I never...", she let the thought pass as she felt Xena's hand move again, this time lightly brushing back and forth across her sensitive nub. "Xena...wha-what are you doing to me?", her eyes closed as the touch brought her back to ride a new wave.

"Relax and enjoy.", the warrior murmured before moving her body down the length of the bard's body until her lips neared the soft blond curls. With cat-like grace, she parted Gabrielle's willing thighs and settled down between them. A deep moan escaped from the warrior's lips as she got her first taste of her bard. She took her time exploring and tasting her beloved bard as Gabrielle writhed and ground her hips against her. Xena's tongue slid back and forth, up and down as she lapped up the free flowing juices. Gabrielle's cries of pleasure sang to her, filling her ears with sounds so sweet that the warrior swore she'd never heard a more beautiful sound. Her own sex throbbed with need as she felt Gabrielle's body tighten and the pressure of the bard's fingers on her head increase.

"Oh gods...Xena...I need....", she couldn't describe the need she felt, but her lover knew instinctively just what to do. Using her thumbs to part the folds for her, Xena wrapped her lips around the smooth bundle of nerves and stroked firmly with her tongue. Gabrielle's body quivered as tears rolled down the sides of her face, her eyes squeezed tight as her body exploded in ecstasy. Xena grabbed on to her hips and held her there, doing everything in her power to drink up every drop that came from Gabrielle's body. Only when she felt her go limp did Xena stop her actions and scoot up to lie alongside her beloved.

"Perhaps we should play cards more often.", Xena quipped as she placed a kiss on Gabrielle's nose. The green eyes opened and focused on the warrior's face as a gentle smile came to her lips.

"I like that idea.", she whispered as she pulled Xena down for another kiss. Neither noticed that the rain had stopped long ago and neither cared.

THE END

written 8-17-97