“Yes, that’s what I’m saying. This guy is bad news, Ruby,” Crit said, his voice low and angry.
“What is it you don’t like about him, Crit? That he has money? That he treats me like a man should treat a lady? He wasn’t afraid to be seen with me, not like you!” I hollered accusingly into the phone.
“Ruby, I’m not playing around here,” he slurred.
“You’re not, huh? So up till now, you didn’t care who or what I did, but since you have it out for this guy, for God knows why, you think you can tell me what to do?”
“Ruby, look, just do me this one favor. Don’t go out with him again.”
“I’m not making that promise, Crit. Why should I? You have no claim on me, not that you’ve ever even tried to make one anyway. Are you ready to tell your family and everyone else in Sugar Hill that I’m your girl?” I asked, my heart filling with the tiniest bit of hope that he had finally come to his senses.
“Not yet, Ruby. In time. I can’t deal with this right now!”
“Well, then I guess we’re at a crossroads, Crit. If I want to go out with Lincoln, or anyone else, for that matter, I sure as hell will. And I don’t intend to ask your permission either!”
“Ruby Rae, I mean it, goddammit!”
“I mean it, too, Crit. I’ll go out with who I damn well please!”
I hung up on him and sat down on the side of my bed. My hands were shaking, hell, my whole body was shaking, and as I laid back, hot, wet tears began sliding down my face.
I crawled into bed, turned off my phone, and cried myself to sleep.
☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼
“Howdy, Mr. Rust,” I said to Ruby’s dad. He had opened the door for me and let me in. I had only been to Ruby’s house a few times before. We had preferred to spend time outside of the suffocating air of sadness that permeated from her father.
“Crit, haven’t seen you in ages, boy, how’ve you been? How’s your folks?” he asked, his eyes glassy and yellow from years of drinking.
“My folks? They died, sir. Remember? In a car accident,” I said.
“Oh, damn, I forgot, Crit. I’m sorry. Sometimes I forget my own name!”
“That’s alright, sir. I understand. Is Ruby around?”
“She’s in her room,” he replied. “You can go on back,” he said, just as Ruby walked into the room. She looked surprised to see me, and her eyes were puffier than I’d ever seen them. I hoped it was from sleeping and not from any tears I may have caused. I already felt like an asshole for calling her last night. Her bright red curls bounced wildly around her face, and the red and white checkered dress wore made her look like she just stepped out of a magazine. My cock twitched in my jeans, but I ignored it as best I could.
I pushed the white roses I had picked at the farm at her, and tried to grin. It was hard to smile, not only because I felt like shit after drinking all that whiskey last night, having finished the entire bottle after I retired to my room, but also because there wasn’t much for me to be happy about right now.
Hell, Ruby was the only light I had in my life these days, and I was doing my best to sabotage our relationship.
“Thanks,” she replied, looking at me warily. “I’ll put these in some water.”
She disappeared into the tiny kitchen of the trailer, and I stood awkwardly while I waited for her to return. When she did, I tried to smile again, but I couldn’t help but notice her coldness.
“Can we talk?” I asked, stealing a glance over at her father. “Alone?”
“Sure, come on,” she said, walking back to her bedroom with the vase of flowers. Her room was small and completely pink, with clothes strewn all over. She sat down on her bed, and looked away from me, her gaze focused out the window.
“Ruby, I know you’re mad at me, darlin’. And hell, you have every right to be. I’ve been acting like a bullheaded fool and there’s no excuse for that.” I sat down next to her, and gently pulled her chin my way. Her bright green eyes met mine, and I felt my heart skip in my chest. She was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen, and she deserved a lot more than I could ever give her. But I wasn’t about to give her up. She was all I had. “I’m real sorry, Ruby Rae.”
She didn’t smile, she didn’t say anything, she just sighed and looked at me with those sad green eyes and I felt my heart break, knowing I was the one that put that sadness there. I cursed myself silently, vowing to make everything right with this beauty, if it was the last thing I did.
“Ruby, please forgive me? I’ve just had a lot on my mind, and I know it’s not an excuse, but I promise not to snap at you like that again. I just got so mad when George told me you went out with that fella —,”
“I can go out with whoever I damn well please, Crit Hope!” she hollered, so loudly my ears rang a little.
She said it with such force, such determination, that it almost seemed like she had rehearsed it. But of course she had, I had given her every reason to. Her lip quivered and tears filled her eyes. She lifted her chin defiantly, and instead of upsetting me, it just made me realize why I loved this woman so much.
She was fiery. A spitfire. My own little firecracker.
Ruby Rae didn’t back down to anyone or anything, and I loved that about her. Before I could stop myself, my lips were on hers, and I was pushing her back on the bed, lying on top of her and kissing her with a passion I didn’t even know I possessed.
She moaned beneath me, her lips pliant and soft, letting me kiss her, letting my tongue slip between her pretty pink lips and explore her soft wet mouth. My cock hardened in my jeans till I was throbbing painfully against her center and all I could think about was being inside of her, being close to her, forgetting about everything that was swirling around in my stupid head for just a few minutes and basking in the pleasure of her sweet body.
Ruby was my escape, my little piece of paradise, and I needed her as much as a sunflower needed sun. I was thirsty for her. Hungry for her. Yearning to hear her moans, to feel her soften beneath me, to feel the soft caress of her hands on my back.
She wrapped her thighs around me, and I melted into her embrace as I kissed her harder. Her hands snaked to my chest, her fingers unsnapping the buttons of my shirt, sliding her hands across my shoulders as she pushed the shirt from my body. I pulled my lips from hers, reaching up and pulling her dress over her head quickly.
Her bare breasts pressed against me, smooth and silky, heaving against my chest. Her skin was on fire, and our lips crashed together again.
I reached down and slipped my fingers into her panties, moaning when I felt her sweet slickness. I plunged inside of her, her heat scorching my fingertips as she rocked against me, her moans turning to whimpers as I thrust into her center, over and over, harder and harder, until I was drenched in her sweet flowing nectar.
Her mouth broke away from mine, my name escaping from her lips as she threw back her head. I watched the stunning beauty dance across her face as I brought her over the edge, her soft, velvety walls spasming around my thrusting fingers rhythmically.
Slowly, I slid my body down her slick, taut skin, planting kisses along her belly until I reached her hips. She raised them readily, as I pulled her panties down her creamy thighs. My mouth enveloped her center as she cried out softly, her fingers sinking into my hair, pulling me closer into her rocking sex. She tasted like sunshine - clean, crisp and sweet. I moaned against her, pulling her clit beneath my teeth, sucking and licking it, softly at first, and then harder, rougher, faster, until she was begging me to stop.
I had no intention of stopping.
My gaze traveled up her magnificent body, splayed out on her bed like an angel of sin, writhing wildly, her copper curls a sharp contrast to the pink sheets on her bed. I smiled to myself, love rushing through my veins for this beautiful goddess.
She was everything to me.
Hunger surged through my body, and as she softened beneath me, her panting slowly subsiding, I slid my fingers and mouth away from her, standing at t
he side of her bed as I stared down at her. She smiled up at me, her green eyes shining bright and clear with such starkness that it took my breath away.
I kicked off my boots and unbuckled my belt buckle, leaving it dangling as I unzipped my jeans and pushed them down to the floor. When I stood back up, my cock was aching painfully - erect, ready, twitching with anticipation.
“I love you, baby,” I said, hovering over her, our naked bodies sliding smoothly together, our lips finding each other again at the exact moment that my cock slid deeply inside her.
Pleasure washed over my body, the warmth enveloping me as I moaned against her, our kiss deepening with every inch that brought us closer and closer together, until I was rocking against her, her thighs pulling me closer, deeper, burying me inside of her softness.
Slowly, I pulled back, and then plunged back in, again, again, and again, until I became so lost in her that everything disappeared, the world melted away, the weight of everything that had fallen upon my shoulders vanished - leaving nothing but the savage animal that rested below the surface of my existence.
I gave in to it, groaning into her mouth as I rocked against her faster and harder, until I was slamming into her with all my strength. She opened her thighs wider, welcoming me, opening and softening beneath me as I reached down and dug my fingers into her perfect ass, pulling her hips up, digging deeper into her, until the world stopped completely, and I stiffened in ecstasy, my cock exploding hotly inside of her, filling her with my pulsing pleasure, our bodies slick and sweaty and our arms wrapped around each other so tightly, that I knew I never wanted to let her go. She whimpered below me, pressing her hips up into me and moaning seductively.
“I love you, Crit,” she whispered in my ear, her soft voice like a caress on my heart.
I slid out of her carefully, lying next to her as I caught my breath. Pulling her over to me, I wrapped my arms around her as her head fell on my chest. Our breath fell together, perfectly in synch, as we lay there peacefully.
“I love you, Ruby Rae,” I whispered, as I realized just how sacred these moments were.
It’s about time to ask this girl to marry me, I thought. To hell with every one else. There’s no reason in hell I needed to keep this a secret anymore. There’s no reason I shouldn’t be spending every night with this amazing woman in my arms.
All I had to do was deal with getting my farm back, and then everything was going to fall into place.
It had to. I wouldn’t accept any other outcome.
I pulled Ruby a little closer, and kissed the top of her head, her curls brushing against my face as I inhaled her sweet scent.
She smelled like home.
***
At some point, I must have fallen asleep. The shrill sound of Ruby’s phone on the table next to my head broke through the fleeting peacefulness that I had found, that I always found when Ruby was naked and in my arms. My arms that were now empty.
I raised my head and looked around her messy room, wondering for the millionth time why every female’s bedroom I had seen looked like it had been hit by a Texas tornado.
Her phone buzzed again, and I glanced at it. The display was lit up, and I froze when I read the text she had received from Lincoln.
‘Dinner tonight, beautiful?’, it read.
I groaned out loud, my voice echoing in her empty bedroom.
This motherfucker thinks he’s going to take everything from me, I thought.
My veins filled slowly with rage. I sat up and threw my clothes on. I was pulling on my boots when Ruby walked back into the room.
She padded over to me, sitting next to me and kissing my cheek. My jaw clenched as I stood up and faced her.
“That was amazing,” she purred, smiling up at me. She was wearing a pink silk robe that opened to a deep v in the front, her beautiful breasts that had only moments before been pressed against mine peeking out invitingly.
My eyes grazed over her body, and my cock stiffened in my jeans, if it had even softened at all. The urge to throw her on the bed and take her again was overwhelming, but so was the furious rage that was so strong it created a wall inside of me that nothing could penetrate.
Not even Ruby.
“I gotta go,” I said, as she stood up. I grabbed her arms and pushed her away.
“Now?” she gasped. I wanted to kiss her and tell her that I was going to fix everything, and as soon as I did, that we would be together and everything was going to be alright.
But words are cheap.
And in order for everything to be alright, I had to take action. If I came to her on bended knee now, my hands would be empty. I had nothing to offer her.
But once I got Lincoln LaCroix out of the way, then I could be the man that a woman like Ruby Rae Rust deserved.
She followed me down the hall. Her father was passed out in the living room, and once I reached the front door, I turned back, our eyes crashing into each other.
I don’t know what she saw in mine, but the raging storm of confusion, love, and lust that I saw in hers did nothing but motivate me further.
She was mine.
And nobody else was getting in the way.
I kissed her, hard, the familiar feel of her lips settling deep inside me, digging in and lassoing my heart like a skilled roper.
She was mine.
But, even more than that, I was hers.
I broke away from her, thundering out her door, everything I needed to do clearer than ever.
☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼
The smell of Crit was still on me, on the sheets, in the still air of my small bedroom. But that was all I was left with. His smell. And the feel of his hands, lips, skin, cock, caressing my memory like a ghost.
He waltzed in like a prized thoroughbred, throwing his irresistible studly charm around like a secret weapon, a weapon that had worked perfectly. I hadn’t hesitated to open my arms, and my legs, with enthusiasm at the drop of his belt buckle. But there was no surprise there, hell, I’d never been able to say no to Crit.
And he knew it, goddammit.
But hell if he wasn’t as confusing as all get out! One minute he’s yelling like an angry mare at me on the phone, the next he’s making love to me like it’s the end of the world, and then he just leaves like it’s no big deal, as if he couldn’t wait to get away, as if it was some casual roll in the hay.
I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hurt.
Sure, I was the happy-go-lucky Ruby Rae Rust, always up for a good time kind of girl, but I had feelings too.
And the feelings I had for Crit Hope threatened to be the devil of me. Every wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am that I experienced with him cut me wide open, and just when I thought I might be healing a little, that the scar tissue might have grown tough enough to resist him - he always found a way in.
Was there any way I could protect myself from getting hurt by him?
Maybe if I didn’t love him so goddamned much.
But how do you get over someone like that?
I laughed bitterly when I realized that if someone else asked me that question, I would tell them the quickest way to get over someone is to get under someone else.
But I couldn’t really follow my own advice, could I?
I thought of Lincoln, and turned over in my bed. The light on my phone was flashing, and I grabbed it off the table.
“Dinner tonight, beautiful?” Lincoln had written.
I hesitated before responding, inhaling the lingering scent of Crit, for the millionth time engraving it upon my memory. The image of him storming from my room - and then kissing me so hard it almost hurt before leaving without any explanation, without any promise or indication of a future for us - filled my head.
My heart sunk as I came to the conclusion, for the hundredth time, that maybe Crit and I were just not meant to be any more than what we’ve been all these years. Some crazy mix of friend and secret lover that had no label, no commitment - no real foundation.
I texted Lincoln
back before I could change my mind, and then threw the phone on the bed, jumped up, and wiped my tears.
When I saw Lincoln’s reply, I took a deep breath and turned my phone off completely.
I looked in the mirror, the same mirror I had been looking into for most of my life, the edges of it filled with mementos from the small town life I had led. Pictures of me and George at the state fair, a picture of me and my mom and dad when I was a little girl, a sad, crooked Christmas tree in the background - it was the only picture I had of the three of us. Barrel racing ribbons hung from the top and in the center of it all, was a picture that George had taken of me and Crit at the rodeo in Houston a year ago - all remnants of a life that was long gone.
It was time to move on. It was time to go down some new roads, meet new people, experience the world. I’d spent my whole life in Sugar Hill, and a good chunk of it was spent chasing after Crit Hope.
It was time I expanded my horizons.
Even small town girls have to leave the nest sometime.
I tried to make my hair look a little less unruly, pulled my dress back on, and gathered my purse and keys.
I had just a few hours before I had to be ready for my date with Lincoln, and I had absolutely nothing to wear.
I left a note for my dad that I was out shopping, and hopped in my hot car. As Loretta Lynn sang I Want To Be Free, her voice flying out of my window as I drove down our old dirt road, the sweet smell of Crit hit me again, his sexy musk drifting off my skin in the hot sun.
I turned the stereo up, and forced myself to think of Lincoln as I sang along with Loretta.
Everything is free, everything but me…
I’m going to take this chain from around my finger…
and throw it as far as I can sling her..
‘Cause I wanna be free….
☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼
ABANDON ALL HOPE: The Hope Brother Series (Book Two) Page 7
