Twisted

by HELEN HARDT

  Ruby

  Well, Ryan, your time is up.

  I pulled up to Ryan’s house on Steel Acres Ranch. He hadn’t called, and I was determined to make sure he was okay. I’d called his cell first, but he hadn’t answered, so here I was, going after him like a bitch in heat.

  That wasn’t true, of course, but that’s what this situation would look like from his angle. In truth, I was simply concerned. The last thing on my mind was sex.

  I walked to his door and knocked.

  Ricky ran to the window next to the door, wagging his tail.

  “Hey, Rick,” I said through the door.

  When no one answered, I knocked again and rang the doorbell. After a few minutes, I tried the doorknob, and to my astonishment, it opened. It wasn’t like Ryan to be so careless. My nerves lurched, and I drew my gun, just in case.

  “Hey, there. Where’s Ryan?” I petted Ricky’s soft head and then let him out the back door to do his business.

  I checked the bedroom and all the other rooms. Nothing suspicious. Unfortunately, Ryan was nowhere to be found either.

  I jerked when my phone rang. “Detective Lee.”

  “Ruby, hi.”

  Ryan! “Where are you? I didn’t recognize the number.”

  “I’m calling from Talon’s landline. I left my phone at home.”

  “You also left your door unlocked.”

  “I did?”

  “Yeah, you did. I’m here now. I let the dog out.”

  “Oh, thanks. What are you doing there?”

  “Looking for you. I was worried. You said you’d call me today, and when you didn’t, I feared the worst.”

  “I’m sorry, baby. I’ve been kind of stuck in my own head. Things are still a little fuzzy.”

  I could understand that, given recent events. “It’s okay. I’m just glad you’re all right.”

  “I’m fine. Talon and I have been doing some research, and I wanted to tell you that you were right about your hunch. About Anna Shane.”

  Anna Shane? I searched my memory. Right. Ryan’s ex-girlfriend. “Oh?”

  “We found some documents. Apparently my deranged mother didn’t think Anna was good enough for me and got my father—or rather, the Steel Family Trust, which none of us knew existed—to purchase their ranch. I had no idea we owned the Shane ranch. None of us did.”

  “Wow. Interesting.” My mind reeled. He’d said the Shanes moved only recently, which would have been after Brad Steel’s death. Was Wendy Madigan somehow involved with the Steels’ money?

  “That’s not all. It was conveyed by quitclaim deed so there wasn’t any record of money exchanging hands. But they obviously got enough to relocate to Hawaii and live happily ever after.”

  If they were still alive. I hated the words as soon as I thought them.

  And then I recalled some other words.

  Stay the fuck away from my son, bitch.

  Wendy’s words to me, more than once.

  Was I in danger from Wendy Madigan?

  Not going there. She might be crazy, but she was locked up. She was no danger to me or to anyone. If I could believe anything in this mess, I could believe that.

  “I’m thinking your mother doesn’t think anyone is good enough for you, Ryan.”

  “You are.”

  “Not according to her.”

  “Has she said something to you?”

  I was done lying to—or rather, keeping information from—him. “She texted me from the number of a female orderly at lockup. Told me to stay away from you. Then, when Melanie and I went to see her, she told me again. Of course, that was after she denied sending me the text and told me how happy she was for us.”

  “She’s nuts.”

  “For sure.”

  “You want to come over? Help us keep looking through this stuff? I’m not going to be home for a while.”

  “Uh…yeah. I guess.”

  “Great. Grab my phone, will you? It’s in the kitchen.”

  I let Ricky back in and fed him, grabbed Ryan’s phone, and was on my way.

  * * *

  When I got to Talon’s home, Jade and Marjorie were also there. The five of us were in the basement going through old boxes. Ryan had hardly said hello to me, let alone hugged or kissed me. I chalked it up to how involved he was in this process. Sounded good, anyway.

  I was at a disadvantage in that I didn’t know what I was looking for, but when I voiced the concern, the others told me not to worry.

  “None of us know exactly what we’re looking for,” Marjorie said. “Just tell us if you find anything that might be suspicious.”

  “What might that be?” I asked.

  “You’re a cop. You’ll know when you find it,” Ryan said.

  “As a cop, I approach everything as suspicious. But I’ll do my best.” I leafed through the documents on my lap.

  Nothing, nothing, nothing,

  Until…

  It was a death certificate. That alone wouldn’t raise my suspicions if it belonged to someone in the Steel family. But it didn’t. The name on the certificate was John Cunningham. How the hell did all these documents—from after Ryan’s father’s supposed death—get in the house?

  I looked at the date. He’d been born around the same time as my father.

  The same time as Bradford Steel…

  “Ryan, when did your father die?” I asked.

  “About seven years ago,” he said. “Why?”

  So had this poor schmuck. “Was he about six feet three, two hundred pounds, by any chance?”

  “About. Why?”

  I handed him the death certificate.

  He scanned it. “Ruby, what is… Oh, shit.” He handed it to Talon.

  “Have any of you seen your father’s death certificate?”

  “Yeah, of course. It’s around here somewhere,” Marjorie said. “What’s going on?”

  Talon handed the certificate to Jade. “What do you make of this?”

  She scanned the document.

  “Did you ever check the number?” I asked Ryan. “The one your father supposedly called you from?”

  “No. Mills and Johnson have been off the map, and that’s who we’d have do it.”

  “Your new phone won’t show the call. All I need is permission to access your records, and I can do it through the department.”

  “You’ve got permission,” Ryan said. “But I don’t want to take advantage.”

  “Besides,” Talon said, “our father is not alive. We had him cremated, for God’s sake.”

  “Are you sure?” Jade asked.

  “Of course I’m sure. What kind of a question is that?” Talon said.

  “Easy, babe. I’ll check this document against the database tomorrow. It may be nothing.”

  “Just out of curiosity,” I asked, after texting the requisite department to get Ryan’s cell phone records, “who identified the body after your father died?”

  “He was taken away in an ambulance,” Ryan said. “He had a heart attack and was dead on arrival.”

  “Still, someone would have had to identify the body for the coroner,” I said.

  “I don’t know,” Talon said. “Did either of you?”

  Ryan and Marjorie both shook their heads.

  “It must have been Joe then,” Talon said. “Oldest brother and all. He probably volunteered.”

  “Call him,” I said. “Let’s get to the bottom of this.”

  “For Christ’s sake,” Talon said.

  He got up and left the room, Ryan and Marjorie following.

  “This is a lot for them to take,” I said to Jade. “I’m sorry about that.”

  “It’s not your fault,” Jade said. “You’re asking the kind of questions a cop asks. As for me, I’m going to do the lawyer thing and check this out.” She fingered the death certificate of John Cunningham. “If I were a betting person, I’d bet this isn’t anywhere in the requisite database. Scratch that. I’ll bet it is, right down to the number on the cer
t. But I’ll bet it bears Brad Steel’s name, and that John Cunningham never existed, according to records.”

  Chapter Ten

  Ryan

  “This is ridiculous,” I said, as Talon punched in Joe’s number.

  “Do you trust Ruby?” Marj asked.

  What a loaded question. A week ago, the answer would have been yes. Now I wasn’t sure. But I did trust her cop instincts. “Yes.”

  “Jesus.” She swallowed. “This is all so…”

  “Twisted?” I said.

  “Yeah. That’s the word, all right.”

  Talon laid his phone down on the table in the kitchen. “You’re never going to believe this.”

  “What?” Marjorie and I said in unison.

  “Joe didn’t identify Dad’s body. He was going to, but someone else volunteered to do it for him, and he allowed it. He didn’t want to see our father’s dead body.”

  “Who?” I asked.

  “Wendy Madigan.”

  I had to stop myself from doubling over. Swallowing down nausea, I fell into a chair at the table. “My mother.”

  “We’ll figure this out, Ry,” Marj said, touching my arm.

  But I didn’t want a sisterly touch. Or a brotherly touch. That wasn’t going to cut it right now.

  I craved something more. Someone more. And she was still downstairs.

  I got up, saying nothing to my brother and sister.

  “Ry,” Talon said. “Joe’s on his way over. Where are you going?”

  “I’m leaving.”

  “No. You can’t.”

  “The hell I can’t.” I walked to the basement door and down the stairs.

  Ruby and Jade were talking, Jade holding the death certificate of John Cunningham.

  “We’re leaving,” I said to Ruby.

  “We are?”

  “Yeah. It’s important. Come with me.”

  She didn’t hesitate. Didn’t ask any questions. She simply got up and followed me.

  * * *

  In my bedroom, she undressed for me when I asked her to.

  When she was naked, I undid my jeans and pushed them and my boxers to my knees. “Suck my cock, Ruby.”

  She knelt before me and timidly touched her lips to my cock head, giving it tiny kisses.

  I closed my eyes.

  This was Ruby Lee, who had been through so much. Who was a cop, used to taking care of herself. Now she was willing to take care of me. To do whatever I asked of her.

  I flashed back to the time in her apartment. I’d just found out about my maternity, and I’d gone to her. She’d submitted to everything I wanted, needed, no questions asked.

  She was doing the same now.

  It seemed unlike what I knew of her, yet here she was, kneeling before me, taking my cock between her gorgeous red lips.

  Her hair was in a ponytail today rather than the tight bun she usually wore. She looked like a goddess—a nude goddess, so beautiful.

  My cock was hard as a rock, and I wanted to pick her up, throw her on my bed, and shove it into her.

  But first, I’d see how far she was willing to go with obeying my commands.

  “That’s it, baby,” I said. “Lick me. Take me.” I resisted the urge—for now—to grab her by that ponytail and fuck her mouth. But God, I wanted to do it. Wanted to make her take all of me down her sweet little throat.

  She swirled her tongue around my cock head and then licked my length, stopping to flick her tongue against my tightened balls. I couldn’t take it any longer.

  I seized her ponytail and met her sparkling blue gaze. “Suck me. All the way, Ruby. Suck me.” I pushed her mouth onto my cock.

  She opened her lips and took all I gave her. I stopped when I felt my tip nudge the back of her throat. She was still very inexperienced, and I didn’t want to choke her. One day, though… One day I’d fuck her gorgeous mouth the way I wanted to at this moment.

  She didn’t gag. Or if she did, she did a great job of hiding it. This time I was gentler as I pushed her mouth down upon my cock. For a moment, I imagined her mouth in an O, opened with a spider gag. I’d never been much for toys in the bedroom. From what little I knew, my brothers’ tastes were darker than my own. But the image of Ruby, those scarlet lips being held open and ready for my cock…

  Damn! I nearly came right there.

  I continued moving her back and forth along my cock. She added her hand, and who was I to complain? This way she got farther down, almost to the base with each thrust.

  “Baby, baby,” I said. “God!”

  I opened my eyes and met her blue gaze. She was looking directly at me, her mouth full of my cock.

  So trusting.

  So trusting for someone who’d only lost her virginity weeks ago.

  As much as I wanted to come in her mouth, I wanted her pussy more. I pulled her off of my cock and drew her up against my still-clothed body. I took her mouth in a crushing kiss. She opened instantly, our tongues dueling. When I needed a breath, I broke the kiss, panting, and lifted her in my arms and onto my waiting erection.

  “Ah, God!” Such sweet suction.

  She wrapped around me so completely, hugging me with an intense grip that was almost painful in its pleasure. I worked her on and off my cock, her breasts jiggling and colliding with my cotton shirt. How I wished I’d taken the time to undress so I could feel her soft flesh against my chest. Too late to stop now, though. I was nearly—

  “Ahh!” I groaned as I climaxed, filling Ruby’s pussy.

  As I came down, I set her gently on the bed. Her skin was pink all over, but I wasn’t sure if she’d climaxed.

  “Did you come, baby?”

  She shook her head shyly. “Not this time.”

  I smiled, unbuttoning my shirt. “Not a problem. I can take care of that.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Ruby

  I lay, floating on the silk of Ryan’s comforter. I felt…good. Really good. This was the second time he’d taken me pretty forcefully, and I found that I liked it.

  That scared me a little bit.

  I’d never been one to give up without a fight. It wasn’t in my nature. I’d been fighting my whole life to get ahead, get away from my past, to bring my father to justice.

  Submitting wasn’t me. So why did I submit to Ryan Steel?

  He was gentler with me now as he spread my legs, kissing my thighs. Shivers ran through me at the touch of his fingers, his lips. How had I gone my entire life up until the past few weeks without any of this? How had I ever thought I could live without it?

  Now, a life without this very essence of existence seemed empty.

  And it hit me.

  I could never go back.

  I was in love with Ryan Steel. If he didn’t return my love? I’d stay anyway. I’d stay until he no longer wanted me because I couldn’t live without his touch.

  “So beautiful,” he said gruffly. “Such a pretty pussy.”

  He stroked his tongue over my slit and then licked and tugged on my labia. My nerves sizzled under my skin. He swirled his tongue over my clit, making me crazy, and then he played with my swollen labia once more. Finally, before I nearly cried out for penetration, he thrust two fingers inside my channel.

  That along with his hot tongue on my hard clit was enough to shoot me over the edge and into oblivion.

  “That’s right. Come for me, baby. Come all over me.” The deep timbre of his voice vibrated against my slick thighs.

  When I finally stopped quaking, I opened my eyes. He was smiling between my legs, his stubbled chin glistening.

  “Get ready to roll, baby. We’re not even close to done.”

  He flipped me over onto my hands and knees. A second later, his warm tongue slithered in my crease, touching my…

  I went rigid.

  “Relax, baby.” He kissed one cheek of my ass. “I’m not going in there. Just kissing you.” He slid his tongue over my anus once more. “Just let it feel good. Let it take you away.”

 
Take you away… Ryan was the one who needed to be taken away right now, with all that he was dealing with. Then again, I wouldn’t mind a pilgrimage to another place either, a few minutes not to think about my father and the horrible things he’d done, was still doing. I’d never in my life considered that a rim job might take me away, but with Ryan, I was willing to try anything.

  So I closed my eyes, melted into the covers, and let him do what he wanted to do.

  The sensation was warm, slippery. A little jabby. And…kind of improper. I couldn’t help wriggling a bit.

  He grabbed my hips, steadying me. “Hold still.” His tone was commanding.

  Something in his voice made me obey.

  He continued to tongue me, and again, I sank into the comforter, determined to find the pleasure in what he clearly was enjoying himself.

  Still warm, still slippery, and then…

  I sighed, moaning softly. Dirty. Taboo. Kink.

  And I was enjoying it.

  His tongue snaked below, and he massaged my perineum, streaked across my pussy folds, and then he was back at my ass, circling, probing.

  Goose bumps erupted all over my body, and again I wriggled, but he kept me in place. I clutched at the covers, moaning, sighing.

  So bad. So good. The ultimate contradiction.

  Such a fucking turn-on.

  I had no idea how sensitive that area was, and I was on the verge of another climax. When he pushed his fingers inside my pussy, I imploded.

  I sank into the bed, pleasure surrounding me, my body quivering as he still worked me with his tongue. The covers muffled my cries, and a foggy haze took over my mind.

  All I wanted was more of Ryan’s tongue on me. Every part of me. Especially that part.

  He flipped me over and sank his cock into my pussy.

  “You’re so hot, Ruby,” he said. “Such a hot little ass.”

  The warmth of embarrassment flushed through me, but his dick inside me felt so amazing I didn’t care. I wanted to get lost in Ryan Steel, become part of him. As he thrust into me again and again, I imagined us joined forever, our bodies one, our souls united.

  In love.