Written in the Ruby

by Ravyn Wilde

  “Yeah, I didn’t find any. In fact, I was beginning to wonder if this thing actually worked,” she replied.

  “It works. Let’s get out of the cold and you can tell me what the hell is going on,” Zane demanded.

  “Don’t you think someone will notice you’re not transmitting anymore?” she asked.

  Mad as he was, Zane did the same thing Nicole had on the way to his house, keeping them shielded in the trees and bushes covering his property. Unless potential watchers were using some type of infrared goggles or other high-tech device, they wouldn’t be seen. But Nicole watched enough Military Channel to know if someone wanted to track their movements, they could do it.

  Which made her wonder again—why did the two phony agents want her help?

  As if Zane read her mind, he shook his head. “No one’s out there watching. If they’re listening, maybe they’ll think it was the spilled coffee that mucked up their audio.”

  And how did he know there was no one watching them? Enhanced vampire senses maybe?

  Within a few minutes they were at her side door. He frowned at her when she just reached out and turned the knob.

  “You didn’t lock it,” he accused.

  “No. I figured your guards and electronic security—not to mention the twelve-foot wall—would keep anyone from getting inside your compound. Something I’ll have to reassess now that we’ve found a bug on your clothing.” Flipping on the light in the kitchen, she went to the coffee pot sitting on the white-tile counter. “Want a cup?” she asked, holding up the pot.

  “Yeah, black. Obviously the security isn’t tight enough. Or someone I employ is mixed up in whatever this is.” The look on his face told her he wasn’t happy with that thought. “I haven’t left the compound today, Nicole. The bug had to come from somewhere.” Taking the cup, he turned and sat at the table.

  “Unless they broke into your house and bugged all of your shirts. Or do you send them to the cleaners? Maybe they put the bugs on there. I have no idea where it came from, Zane. The little information I have doesn’t include an inside person. In fact, the men who contacted me today wanted me to be the inside person. If it’s possible, I’m more confused than I was before.” She watched Zane lean back in the chair and raise the coffee cup to his mouth. He had a fantastic mouth, wide and full.

  Zane’s brown gaze was distant. As if locked in visions of the past…or maybe it was the future bothering him. Was he wondering if he had any, well…”enemies” seemed to be the appropriate word?

  Taking the opportunity to study her sexy neighbor while he was otherwise occupied, Nicky catalogued the many intriguing features of his face.

  Dark-brown eyebrows accentuated fascinating deep-chocolate eyes. She tried to decide if those eyes held hundreds of years of untold erotic knowledge. And determined that was wishful thinking.

  Zane had high cheekbones and a rugged jaw with very sensual lips. Kissable lips. Yum. His long, dark-brown hair wasn’t tied back tonight. She’d never seen it unbound before. The sight of all that dark hair falling in loose waves to the middle of his chest had her clenching the coffee cup in an attempt to keep from reaching out to smooth her fingers through the wild mass.

  “Someone wanted you to be the inside person to spy on me? Why? Would you mind explaining what this is all about?”

  Nicole just barely stopped herself from responding with something totally stupid, she was so lost in her private musings. The question wasn’t an easy one to explain. She should have taken a few minutes to plan this conversation before she went to his house. Did she just blurt out that someone thought he was a vampire?

  No.

  “I was at the library today,” she started. “Doing research for a book until I was interrupted by two men who said they were FBI agents.” She reached for the recorder she’d left on the table. “I’m not sure you’d believe me if I told you what they said. I don’t think I would believe me. Luckily I was recording notes and the men didn’t realize the recorder was in my lap. I think you might want to hear this.”

  The sound quality wasn’t great, but Nicole could still understand the conversation. Watching Zane as he listened intently, she saw his brown eyes blaze in anger. As his muscles tensed, his massive shoulders threatened to rip the black t-shirt to shreds. So far they hadn’t mentioned his name. Could he be reacting to the men’s treatment of her?

  Uninterested in hearing the replay of this afternoons events, she focused on the expressions rolling across Zane’s face. Propping her hip against the counter, she let her mind wander down what had become a favorite path since she’d met Zane two months ago. What would it be like if he were making love to her?

  As the recorded voices droned in the background, she imagined leading him up the stairs and into her bedroom. I’d light candles, so the red highlights in Zane’s hair would be more pronounced, and make him sit on the side of my bed while I stripped the tight t-shirt from his body. Then, stepping between his legs, I’d run my hands over the primitive temptation of his strong, muscled chest. She wondered for at least the millionth time if he had chest hair or smooth, supple skin.

  It didn’t matter, either one would be a treat. Turning the tables on me, he’d take control of the seduction. Shredding my clothes in his haste, he’d remove the barriers between us.

  She didn’t hear the click of the recorder as it turned off, but stayed immersed in her fantasy.

  Pushing me back on the bed, crawling over me, he’d slide his skin over mine in a very tantalizing prelude to his claiming. As he rises above me, his chest golden and strong, his long, dark-brown hair would provide a curtain to wrap us in a private world. With the muscles in his arms bulging, he’d use them to keep his weight off my body. Moving those slim hips to plunge…

  “Nicole.”

  Growling my name, his voice full of passion and need, Zane pushes his large and blatantly erect cock into my body. Nicole frowned. Umm. The “blatantly erect” thing might need some work. Never mind. You’re not writing this so there’s no need for self-editing, she thought. Where was I? Taking all of him…

  “Nicole, if you don’t stop right now I refuse to be responsible for what happens.”

  His voice is husky. Hungry. Frantic with the overwhelming need to bury his very large cock into my warm and very, very wet puss— Did I already say that? she wondered. Never mind, then. Scratch the second very large cock.

  Playing to that hunger, using my nails and teeth—heck, why stop there? Using my entire body to drive him wild, I rub my breasts against his chest and writhe beneath his magnificent form. From the moment I met Zane, I’d been attracted to him. Fantasizing about what it will be like to have his mouth on mine, the anticipation of this first kiss makes me moan. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pull him down…

  “Damn it, woman!”

  In the sensual fog of her own making, Nicole heard the words but didn’t comprehend their meaning. The scrape of the chair and the small crash it made when it hit the floor didn’t register either.

  But Zane’s black-cotton-covered chest appearing in front of her face did.

  Feeling the strength in his fingers when he grabbed her hips and pulled her to him, her world centered on his lips as they captured hers. She was lost.

  Lost in the sensation of hard determination melting into something she couldn’t name. At first his lips were cool to the touch, but they soon warmed as he feasted on her mouth, nibbling at her bottom lip until she opened for him with a startled gasp.

  For the first time she realized this was no longer a fantasy. Nothing in her very active imagination had prepared her for the sensual promise of this kiss. Every nerve ending in her body came alive and screamed for attention. She wasn’t dreaming about the hard press of his body, she was living it…and she wanted more.

  Her scalp tingled as he loosened her braid, combing fingers through her hair. With layers of clothes between them, her breasts made contact with this hard chest and her nipples grew swollen and achy. As Zane captu
red and claimed her mouth, she quit writing scenes in her head and decided she’d do just about anything to have his hands on her naked skin.

  Zane was totally screwed. He’d been fighting his attraction for Nicole since the moment he met the firebrand in his arms. She was trouble, all soft curves and big, blue eyes looking right into his soul. Lately he’d spent an inordinate amount of time picturing the long, silky black hair freed from the confining braid she favored. He wanted to see the strands spread out in ebony waves on his snow-white pillows.

  When she’d looked at him with desire and longing, when he saw her little pink tongue dart out to moisten those soft, rosy lips…when the pictures she painted in her mind of the two of them together flashed into his consciousness…he consigned two months’ worth of good intentions to hell.

  Forgetting the threat she’d captured on tape, he seized the opportunity to feed the desire rapidly spiraling out of control. Her mouth was hot, the flavor of her so honeyed and intoxicating it made him ache. Cupping the back of her head in his left hand to deepen the kiss, he swallowed her moans. The muted cries of delight pushed at the boundary of his sanity. More. He had to have more of her.

  It had been a very long time since he’d wanted something with every fiber of his being. With the decision made, overwhelming lust rode high on a devastating wave of urgency, staining his vision red.

  As red as the ruby pulsing in his front pocket.

  When Nicole had knocked on his door he’d been trying to decide where to hide it. Her unexpected arrival had him shoving the thing back in his pocket. Now it throbbed in time with his heartbeat, somehow feeding his arousal.

  That was insane.

  This claiming wouldn’t be what she’d imagined. No bed. No soft candlelight and slow seduction. He wouldn’t make it up the stairs. The primal urge clawing at his gut had to be sated. He would take her. Now. Claim and possess the body writhing against his.

  Before he lost his fucking mind, he pulled back. Panting.

  “I want you. Here. Now.” Not meant as a warning, the words were all he could manage at the moment. The minute they’d entered her kitchen, she’d shut out the night and the risk of prying eyes by closing the curtains so he didn’t worry about being seen. Part of his mind urged her to reject him. She didn’t.

  “Mmm. Good.” With fingers tangled in his hair, Nicole yanked his head down, guiding his mouth back to hers. She was impatient for him.

  Any thought of leaving evaporated.

  A small measure of sanity warned him to forgo a simple wave of his hand to make their clothing disappear. She’d definitely want to ask about that. So instead he’d do it the slow way. Caging her between the heat of his body and the kitchen counter, he grabbed the hem of her green shirt. Releasing her mouth long enough to pull it over her head, he tossed it behind him. Full breasts spilled over her bra. A temptation he had no intention of resisting.

  Lowering his mouth, he kissed the firm curves of each breast. Nicky’s nipples stood full and sharp beneath the fabric, and he licked her through the sheer satin. Her hips twisted against him. The hot rise of his cock throbbed against his jeans with her every quiver and sigh.

  She deserved patience and a thorough exploration. But for the last two months all he’d thought about was touching her and the desperate whimpers coming from her throat made his blood run hot. Made him pant.

  He didn’t understand why he mentally connected with Nicole every time she wrote about sex, but tonight the small threads linking their minds turned into a six-lane-sensory highway, locking them in erotic hell. From her point of view, he experienced the touch of his hand on her breast. The tight, coiling heat built, shooting to her core, making her wet. Making him sweat.

  He didn’t want to be the only one aroused beyond thought. Picturing a scene of him kneeling between her legs, tonguing her clit, he pushed the image into her subconscious in explicit detail. Her heated response ricocheted back. Tearing at the rest of her clothes without a shred of finesse, his thoughts focused on getting her naked. Wanting to fulfill the vision in truth.

  Discarding her bra and pushing her jeans and green satin panties around her knees, he put his hands on the bare flesh at her waist. Lifting her onto the counter, he stripped the pants down her legs.

  The sight of her waiting for him, head thrown back, long hair in an erotic tangle covering very little of her magnificent body, seared him. With palms resting flat on the tile and thighs open to reveal dewdrops of moisture on the strip of hair covering her mound, she thrust her breasts forward. She was a siren—calling to something deep in his soul. She had sliver-dollar-sized areolas. Dark-rose nipples he could suck all night and never get enough of.

  Leaning over her, Zane laved an areola, circling the peak over and over. Suckling her nipple, he pressed it to the roof of his mouth and thrummed it with his tongue. Reaching down between her legs, he buried his fingers in her wet heat. She cried out, already on the verge of climax. Taking her there, he shoved her over the top with two fingers buried deep inside her sex.

  Moaning, she rolled her hips with such abandon, he lost it. Sweet. Oh God, so sweet. Her mind was open to his, calling to him with a hunger that matched his own. Abandoning all sense of outward awareness, he concentrated on what was spread before him.

  Dropping to his knees, he took a deep breath, inhaling her spicy musk. All the reasons why this wasn’t a good idea were forgotten and he focused on devouring her. Growling low in his throat, he used his upper body to shift her legs farther apart. Reaching out with his tongue, he licked. Starting with a long, slow swipe along her clit, he lapped up her cream, losing himself in her taste. As he tortured her for long moments, the nature of their linked minds meant he felt every rasp of flattened tongue, every hard stab at her small bud.

  Close to a second climax, she fisted her fingers in his hair and held him to her. He could have told her he wasn’t going anywhere. Shouting through her explosion, she sagged back on the counter with lust-glazed eyes, slumberous.

  Zane laughed. “You’ve a while to go before you can sleep, Nicky. Just let me take care of this…” Standing up, he stripped off first his t-shirt before toeing off his boots and removing his jeans. Before tossing his pants aside, he felt the stone in the pocket. Pulling the ruby out, he frowned.

  Nicky’s hands went to his chest, drawing his attention back to her. Her eyes were gleaming, focused on his chest. “I knew it. I imagined you with this soft pelt on your chest. God, you are gorgeous.” Her hands trailed through the dark curls on his chest.

  The ruby in his hand throbbed. It was hot, almost painfully so. Intending to lay it on the counter behind her, his naked hip touched her thigh. As if it had a heartbeat of its own, the stone pulsed in his hand. The sensation reverberated in his blood. Shocked, Zane stepped back, breaking physical contact with her.

  They groaned together, tears falling from Nicole’s eyes. With hearts aching with the pain of separation, they reached for each other. Bowing his back in sudden shock, he felt his lust igniting, growing fierce in its intensity. Desperate to feel her inner muscles wrapped around him, he nudged his cock at her entrance, dipping into the wet heat of her pussy. Smelling her arousal, he heard total surrender in her throaty cries and surged forward. Burying his shaft deep within.

  “Oh! Godohgodohgod! Yes! More.” Nicole wrapped her hands around his shoulders and dug her nails into his back. Demanding everything he could give her, she drew blood.

  The smell enveloped him. Taunting. He rocked his hips. Faster. Harder. Oh fuck! Deeper still. His balls slapped against the cold counter as he pummeled her.

  “Zane!” she cried, screaming for more.

  With one fist still clenched around the ruby, he pulled her forward and felt the pulsing hammer of life within his cock. Watching the vein in her neck beat in the same rhythm, he realized the flow of their blood, their very heartbeats seemed inexplicably synchronized to the stone’s vibrations. Arousal magnified to a state he’d never imagined.

  Leaning
forward, he licked the pounding vessel just above her collarbone. Nicole dropped her neck back, turning her head to one side. Offering her life’s essence in easy acquiescence. Only she didn’t know what she was doing. If he hadn’t been sharing her mind, her pleasure, he might have been able to pull away. The ancient, indecipherable call of the ruby made everything worse. Better.

  Hell. Nothing made sense!

  Except taking everything Nicole offered. Sucking a small morsel of flesh into his mouth, he bit down, letting his incisors sink deep. He swallowed, the blissful euphoria found in her blood making his body convulse and setting his veins on fire. Frantically seeking release, he slammed in and out of her tight sheath.

  Moving the fingers of one hand to pinch her nipple, he lifted his head when Nicole exploded first. Her screams echoed through the yellow kitchen.

  Her spasms were just what he needed.

  Closing his eyes, Zane ignored the bright light vibrating deep within the ruby and dug his cock deep inside her sex. Succumbing to the rapture of her clenching heat, he gave in to his body’s demands, shouting his satisfaction.

  For several minutes, Zane stayed right where he was. Body still joined to Nicole’s, he rested his head on her chest as she leaned against the backsplash. Her back was killing her. He sensed her pain through the threads still linking their minds.

  Leaning back to place a soft kiss on her freckled nose, he scooped Nicky into his arms. His flaccid length slipped slowly from her body and they both moaned low in regret. Walking out of the kitchen into the living room, he sat on the couch with her held tight to his chest.

  She reached up to pull a soft blanket around them. He had her right where he wanted her.

  Earlier he’d promised himself he wouldn’t take her in the kitchen with the lights blaring and the cold tile under her body. The reality of their joining had scrambled his brain, tormenting his mind with her uninhibited response.

  “Next time I’ll take you to bed. I’ll light candles and spend hours worshiping your body.”

  Nicky snorted. “In case you didn’t notice, I’m not complaining, champ. The kitchen’s fine with me. Or the floor. The stairs. Hell, we’re sitting on a perfectly good couch. That works for me too.”