Free The Gambler by Lois Greiman

muffled Raven's movements as Charm still fought for breath.
    "Hey, you! Come on out of there. Bring back the girl."
    Charm raised her head, searching for her rescuers. "Over here!" Though she tried to scream, the words bleated out as no more than a rusty croak of sound.
    "Shut up!" ordered Raven, still scrambling along beneath her.
    "Here!" she called with renewed strength, but suddenly she was tumbled from his shoulder. Even as she fell, her knees kept pummeling and her hands were searching for a weapon. But in an instant he was atop her.
    Again her air left with a painful whoosh.
    "Quiet," he ordered, but for the moment there was no purpose to his words, for even had she found the nerve, she could not fill her lungs.
    "Come on out of there!"
    The voice was closer now. Charm opened her mouth, trying to yell despite her debilitation. But Raven's hand made an effective stopper as it covered her mouth and nose.
    His face was very near hers. "Shh," he whispered, as if she had a choice. She rolled her eyes toward him and tried to breathe, but it was no use. He was heavy and strong, and though it was possible he wasn't trying to smother her, he was temporarily distracted by their pursuer and forgot her need for air.
    Blackness loomed on the edge of Charm's consciousness. She could feel herself falling into the abyss and fought one more time. Her throat squeaked painfully, crying for air.
    "Charm?" Raven whispered.
    Her eyeballs rolled upward, blurring the vision of his face. He swore in silence and slipped his hand away. Air rushed in through her nose in sweeping, painful drafts and into her mouth in delicious, aching gulps. "Promise not to scream," he whispered, but there was little chance of that just now. "Promise?" he asked, lifting his palm above her face again.
    Charm nodded, panting for life.
    They lay together, not exactly side by side, but more in layers, with his left hip at the center of her abdomen, and his shoulder pressed between her breasts. Charm remained very still. Off to her right she could hear another man passing. She wanted to yell out, but Raven was watching her, his eyes dark and deadly in the long shafts of light that slanted through the branches from high above.
    Perhaps if she waited just a little longer, he would think her too terrified to call out. And perhaps indeed she was, Charm realized suddenly, for again her breathing had stopped.
    "What the devil's wrong with you?" he whispered, glancing warily about before returning his gaze to her face. "You damn near got me killed. Again." His eyes bored into hers.
    She didn't speak. Couldn't, for fear had again suffocated her senses.
    "Blast it, woman!" he snarled as he shook her slightly by the shoulders. "You're turning blue. Breathe, for God's sake."
    Air wafted into her lungs. She took it gratefully and shut her eyes, trying to block the thought of him from her mind so that she might continue to do so.
    Silence descended over the woods. Whoever was searching for them must have moved on, Charm reasoned. She was on her own. She took another breath, not moving.
    "I didn't kill Grady." Her own words surprised her. She could feel his gaze on her face but dared not open her eyes to its scorching heat. "I promise you."
    "Tell me what happened," he ordered quietly.
    Now would be the time for a really first-class lie, Charm thought raggedly. But the truth was, she didn't have a first-class lie ready. In fact, she couldn't think of a single viable story that might cause this madman to release her. "I never met anyone named Chantilly Grady. I swear it on my father's thigh."
    She opened her eyes just in time to see his brows rise toward the dark mass of his hairline.
    "On your father's thigh?" he asked dubiously.
    "It's a sacred Hebrew vow," she explained earnestly.
    He opened his mouth as if to question but finally shook his head. "I don't even want to know. All I want to find out..." He shrugged, shaking his head again, as if he asked so little. "All I want to know