by Tessa Bailey
“You did,” Troy countered firmly. “Never question that.”
She propped herself up on her elbow and kissed him softly. “Troy, you took a bullet for me. I don’t know whether to be mad as hell or fall even deeper in love with you.”
“I’ll take option two.”
“Good.” Her voice resonated with sincerity. “Because I’m yours until the end, Troy Bennett.”
Love burning in his chest, he brushed his lips over hers. “Then I hope the end never comes.”
Epilogue
Ruby closed the door behind her mother and leaned against it for a moment. With a small smile, she turned and began to clear dishes from the table. Dinner had gone well. In the three weeks since Troy had been shot, they had made significant progress. They’d talked about the past in bits and pieces, although one of them usually changed the subject before the conversation turned too heavy. Their relationship would never be even remotely conventional. Thank God.
For the last three weeks, taking care of Troy had been Ruby’s number one priority, not to mention, her pleasure. She’d been working at home as much as she could, only running to the workshop to pick up supplies, or relying on Pamela to drop off new work orders. Before her father had returned, she’d thought her relationship with Troy was strong, their bond unbreakable. Now, however, their strength as a couple had increased tenfold. They had even begun communicating in new, subtler ways, through touches and simple intuition. The terror of nearly losing him, that emptiness she’d felt on the ambulance ride to the hospital when he’d been bloody and unconscious, had forced her to acknowledge feelings she’d never realized existed. Troy was a part of her. They held each other’s hearts in their hands. Exposed, and yet completely safe.
She would never again, for a single second, take that kind of love for granted.
By the time she’d told Troy about Bowen being her half brother, his jealousy had become merely an afterthought. Something irrelevant and in their past. He’d even tried to help her locate Bowen, to thank him or even just to talk, but her wayward sibling wasn’t ready to be found just yet. They hadn’t seen him since that night in the alley behind Mancuso’s.
She hadn’t told Troy about the look she’d shared with Bowen. It wasn’t one she could interpret or put into words, nor did she understand it, anyway. But it came with the certainty that, unless she fought and pushed, her relationship with her half brother had ended in that alley.
So someday very soon, she would fight. Like she’d been taught. Like hell.
Ruby put the final dish on the drying rack just as Troy’s arms slipped around her waist. Complete. She felt so complete. Her fingers trembled when she thought of how close she’d come to never being held by him again. Never encountering his scent, his voice, his solid form. Every time she closed her eyes for the last three weeks, the what-ifs came. Would they ever stop?
“You okay, baby? You’re cold.”
“I’m fine, I just—”
A loud thump against the front door of their apartment sent a jolt zigzagging like lightning through her middle. She didn’t know why such an innocuous sound alarmed her to such a degree, but it did. It sharpened her instincts like two blades striking against each other. Troy’s body stiffening behind her told Ruby he shared her concern.
Without making a sound, Troy reached around her hip to open a kitchen drawer, taking out his department-issued Glock and turning off the safety. He laid a soft kiss on her forehead. “Everything is going to be fine.”
With a stilted nod, she disengaged from Troy and followed him slowly toward the front door, ignoring the nightmarish image of it swinging open, some unnamed danger rushing in. Watching Troy get hurt again, when he finally stood so solid and reassuring before her. With a finger pressed to his lips, reminding her to stay silent, Troy looked through the peephole into their building’s hallway, his blue eyes showing no signs of seeing anything lurking on the other side. After positioning himself in front of her, he turned the dead bolt and opened the door.
Sitting on the floor near her feet sat the leather knapsack her father had fled the motel room with three weeks prior.
She dragged the heavy bag inside, and Troy bolted the door closed behind them. Opening it in the manner that one would rip off a Band-Aid, she gaped at the contents. Money. So much money. She took quick stock of the neat stacks. Fifty thousand dollars. Her father had come back, at his own risk…to give it to her? A message. But what kind? Was this his way of apologizing? The little girl inside her wanted to weep, grateful that he’d thought of her. Wondering if the gesture meant he loved her, even a little.
The woman inside her wanted to burn it.
“What do you want to do?”
Keeping the money never even crossed her mind. “Do you think we could find someone who needs it? Maybe through the police…”
“Of course we can. Tomorrow.” He took her hand, pride shining in his eyes. She let him pull her into his side and lead her away from the door. Always protecting. Placing himself between her and the danger. Halfway to the kitchen, Troy pulled her back against his chest. “What were you thinking about before? In the kitchen.”
No secrets. “I almost lost you,” she whispered. “The fear. It’ll never go away.”
He made a gruff sound. “I’m here.” His warm breath sent a shiver vibrating through her belly. “Let me show you how much I’m here.”
Automatically, her head tilted to the side so his lips could run up the side of her neck. When one warm hand pressed against her abdomen, bringing her bottom back onto his lap, Ruby groaned.
“You know we can’t, Troy. One more week until the doctor clears you.”
He ignored her, snapping open the button of her jeans. “I’m very aware of how much longer you’ll be playing my nurse, baby. I’m enjoying every single second of it.” His fingers slipped beneath the waistband of her panties, one finger delving deep inside her. “But I’ve also had way too much time to fantasize about fucking my bossy nurse whose uniform consists of goddamn panties and a T-shirt. I can’t wait another week to play them out. I can’t.”
Her breath hitched when he used the dampness he’d gathered to massage her clit. Three weeks was the longest they’d gone without each other since they’d met. God, she needed him, too. So damn bad. As soon as his color had returned to normal and he’d been able to walk without being hunched over, she’d started feeling breathless every time they were in the same room. It had been about a week of lingering touches and going to bed sexually frustrated. Troy hadn’t made it any easier, insisting he would deal with any amount of pain to be inside her, filling her ear with sensual promises as they lay in bed. It hurts, Ruby. Climb on and fix me.
She’d been the sole voice of reason in the house. But her patience had started to wear dangerously thin.
“Are you s-sure?” she asked now.
With a growl of triumph, he unzipped her jeans and yanked them down her hips. A few seconds later, she heard his own jeans hit the floor, the clank of his falling belt sending shivers racing across her skin. “Am I sure, Ruby?” Then he was walking her forward and turning them as they reached the kitchen table. He fell into one of the chairs and brought her down on his lap. In one rough move, he’d sunk deep inside her. Their simultaneous moans ricocheted through the kitchen. “Do I feel sure enough to you?”
“Oh God, yes.”
Ruby kicked off her jeans the rest of the way so she could drape her legs over his thighs, pushing him even deeper, to the hilt. Then she braced her hands on his knees and began to work her body up and down his stiff erection.
Already, she could feel her stomach muscles tightening. He felt huge inside her, touching her everywhere, stimulating her every sense. “Does that…feel okay?”
He ran desperate hands up the insides of her thighs. “You never feel anything less than perfect, but hell, three weeks without me has done you good, hustler. It feels like I’ve got a fucking virgin riding me.”
With a scream of relief,
she went hurtling into a shaking climax. Her hips bucked to get her through it, wringing every last ounce of sensation from her aching body. When it passed, her bones felt liquefied, but she could still feel Troy hard inside her. Hands on her shoulders, he drew her swiftly back against his heaving chest.
“Don’t you dare stop.” Her T-shirt was ripped over her head and tossed to the floor. When his hands molded to her breasts, another wave of heat rushed through her. “Don’t slow down. Don’t rest for a goddamn second. Not until you’ve satisfied your patient.”
“Yes, Troy.” She planted her feet on the floor and increased the pace of her hips, letting him slip out until only his thick tip remained inside her, then sinking back down with a wicked twist of her body. Over and over until she heard his groans of pleasure grow uneven behind her. The fingertips of one hand dug roughly into the flesh of her thigh, telling Ruby how close he was to release. She cried out his name when he used the other hand to pet the sensitive spot between her legs, once again sending her racing toward a mind-bending climax.
“Fuck, I’m almost gone.” He wrapped her hair in his fist and turned her head to the side. “You know what I want to hear while I’m coming. Say it.”
She licked her parted lips. “I love you. So much. I…ah.”
His orgasm sent her flying into another one, somehow more intense because she could see his eyes glaze over as it overtook her. She watched him throw his head back and shout her name at the ceiling with such intensity, her chest felt crowded with emotion.
Troy’s voice bathed her ear in heat. “I love you, too. Until the end.”
She turned and kissed his lips. “Until the end.”
The story continues in Tessa Bailey’s exciting new Crossing the Line series.
Risking It All
a Crossing the Line novel by Tessa Bailey
Three years ago, Seraphina Newsom’s brother was gunned down by a ruthless mob kingpin. In order to take down the killer, Sera has gone undercover unsanctioned. Alone. Her only protection lies with Bowen Driscol, the reluctant new head of South Brooklyn’s crime family, who the NYPD blackmailed into pulling her out. But when the two meet and Bowen feels a deep, damning shiver of desire, he knows there’s only one way to keep her safe…to claim her as his own.
Excerpt from Risking It All
“You know, if I were working for tips, I might smile more.”
The words were spoken so close to her neck, the small hairs at her nape shifted, sending a wicked shiver down her back. An unusual stirring took place in her belly before exploding through her veins, hot and liquid-like. Her lips parted on a small gasp. At his audacity? At her reaction to this stranger? She didn’t know.
Pull it together. Play your part. Allowing her lips to curve up at the ends, she turned to give him a playful retort, but the words died on her lips. She’d just looked up into the most strikingly handsome male face she’d ever seen. His gray eyes were noticeably tired, but intensely focused on her, mouth tilted in a smirk. From a distance, he’d been attractive, even with the painful-looking black eye. Up close…he affected her. A lot. Something she definitely couldn’t afford while needing to keep her game face intact.
Sera took a step away from him. “I have a hard time smiling when I’m being stared at.”
“Then you must not smile much, because you’re a fucking stunner.”
Whoa. Huh? The long pull of sexual attraction in her stomach came as a shock. That line had actually worked on her? She’d never had a thing for Brooklyn accents before, but the way he pronounced stunner like stunna did funny things to her insides. Or maybe the sincerity in his voice had done it. He’d said it like he meant it. Coupled with the steady manner in which he watched her now, the effect was potent. It figured that the first man she’d felt a physical pull toward would show up while she was undercover.
Can’t do anything about it here. Put him off.
She wanted to kiss the bartender when he set her beers down on the bar. “Excuse me. I’m trying to work here. I have customers who need drinks.”
“Yeah?” He took a slug of whiskey, throat muscles working. “Now I need one, too.”
“You’re not in my section.”
Too late, Sera realized she’d said the wrong thing. Setting his empty glass on the bar, he swaggered past her toward the back of the club where tables were arranged. He dropped into the first available chair, close enough to the table of men that she couldn’t deny it was her section, before looking back at her expectantly. She turned to ask the bartender for a refill on the rude man’s whiskey, but he’d already set it down on the hatch. Apparently he could move quickly when he wanted to.
Teeth gritted with the effort to appear casual, Sera placed all four drinks on her tray, ignoring her smile coach’s snort when she served the three men first.
“Took long enough,” one of them commented. “Someone should talk to Hogan. Get him to light a fire under your perky ass.”
Behind her, a chair scraped back with such force, she jumped several inches in the air. All three men at the table froze, eyes going wide when her admirer leaned over their table, supported by his clenched fists. “Apologize to her now.”
One of them stood, hand out in a conciliatory gesture. “Shit, I didn’t know she was with you. I-I didn’t…she—”
A fist hit the table, knocking over one of the fresh beers. “I asked for an apology. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s asking for something twice.”
A chorus of sorrys immediately went up, but all she could do was nod her acceptance. Who was this guy? The three men looked utterly horrified at having offended him, like their very lives were at stake. Slowly, he straightened and went back to his table, settling back in his chair. Everyone in the club had gone deathly still, but he didn’t seem to notice or give a damn. Not knowing what else to do, Sera placed the full glass of whiskey in front of him. When she tried to walk away, his hand snaked out and grabbed her wrist.
“Can I get that smile now?”
“If I don’t give it to you, what happens?” she asked, with a little more steel in her voice than intended. “Are you going to shout the smile out of me?”
His thumb massaged a circle into her palm, watching her closely. “Careful, Ladybug, you’re showing your spots.”
What is that supposed to mean? She snatched her hand back. “Maybe I keep the smile for my boyfriend only.”
He leaned back slowly and sipped his whiskey, all traces of amusement gone. “If you do have a boyfriend, he’s about to be sorely disappointed.”
“Why is that?”
“I’ve never been much good at sharing.”
Sera stared at him in shock. Instinctively she knew not to challenge him in front of the men sitting behind her, no doubt hanging on every single word. For some reason, they seemed to fear him, and until she knew the lay of the land, making a scene wouldn’t help her cause. She set her tray down and lowered her voice to a whisper. Still, she couldn’t let him get away with that comment. Share her? As if she were a can of Coke? “Who do you think you are?”
His gaze dropped to her lips. “I’m the guy who’s going to kiss you tonight.”
“Like hell you will,” she sputtered, crossing herself before she could resist the urge. “I don’t even know your name.”
A single eyebrow rose. “Did you just cross yourself?”
She shifted on the balls of her feet. “I’d tell you to try it, but it appears to be too late for religion where you’re concerned.”
“No arguments here.” He leaned forward, clasping his hands between his knees. The way his head tilted to the side probably sent most girls into a squealing fit. It hadn’t escaped her notice he still hadn’t revealed his name. “I’ll make you a deal—”
“Oh no.” She shook her head. “This is how every episode of Dateline NBC starts.”
“Ah, sweetheart,” he murmured so low she could barely hear it. “How did you end up here?”
Sera didn’t know what to m
ake of his confusing question, so she picked up her tray and started back toward the bar, but his voice brought her up short.
“If I can make you smile, I get that kiss.” He rose and gently pried the tray from her hands. “That’s the deal. Harmless enough for you?”
“Nothing about you is harmless.” The statement slipped out on a whisper. “Aren’t there other girls you could be kissing?”
“Sure there are.” Without looking, he tossed her tray on the table. “But none of them bless themselves after saying ‘hell’ or make me crazy to see them smile.”
“You appear to be crazy regardless.”
His lips twitched. “How about it, then? If I’m so crazy, there’s no harm in the deal. No smile, no kiss.”
A slight hesitation was her mistake. Before she could protest, he grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the back of the bar. “Wait. Wait. I have customers.”
“They’ll live.” His calloused fingers twined with hers as he led her down the back hallway, past the bathrooms, and into the kitchen. The short-order cook and his assistant glanced up, looking completely unconcerned to see her being dragged through the kitchen by the insane customer. She opened her mouth to ask for their assistance when her kidnapper greeted them both by name. Fabulous.
“Where are you taking me?” Sera might know how to defend herself, but it wouldn’t be wise to go somewhere alone with this man she knew nothing about. She threw a desperate look at the cook. “Stop him!”
Laughter sounded behind her as she was pulled into the alleyway behind the club, the kitchen door slamming shut behind them. Never having been back there before, she took a moment to take in her surroundings. A loud extractor fan above the door hummed, and street sounds greeted her ears in the distance. It had rained earlier, leaving damp asphalt in its wake and water dripping from the drainpipes of the apartment building across the alley. A cool breeze whipped down the passage and Sera wrapped her arms around herself to protect her exposed skin.
