‘I’ve got you,’ he said putting his big hands around her waist so that she didn’t topple onto him.
‘There. It’s done.’ She dropped her arms and went to step back except Jake didn’t release her. Instead, he stared down into her eyes. In one smooth movement, he leant down and kissed her.
Ruby opened her lips to protest except the sound of her dissent died in her throat when his hot lips pressed against hers. He pulled her to him so that her breasts were pressed flat against his naked chest and she could feel his heartbeat thumping against her ribs.
With a deep sigh, she put her arms around the back of his neck and kissed him back. His lips were firm and possessive. His tongue intertwined with hers and he growled with such pleasure, that a shiver of excitement shot through her. There was something about the warrior in him and for a long time she was lost in the fantasy.
Finally, he pulled back. ‘I’ve been wanting to do that from the moment I walked in.’
Ruby touched her lips. They felt swollen and hot. On her cheeks she was aware of where his slight bristle had rubbed the delicate skin. Worse, the rest of her body was on fire as if he’d ignited something she barely knew existed. ‘I don’t usually kiss clients. It must be the sexy outfit. I think I got carried away.’
‘Outfits can be removed,’ he said unclipping his collar. ‘The man stays the same.’
‘Well maybe you’d better change behind the curtain.’ Because one thing was for sure, the sight of him naked would be too exciting.
He walked into the change room and pulled the curtain. She heard the clunk as the kilt hit the floor. Ruby turned away, even though she couldn’t see through the curtain.
She was about to leave the room when Jake called her. Turning she saw that he had picked up the kilt and that his arm was extended expecting her to take it from him. Moving closer, she did so. She attached the kilt to the hanger when Jake stepped out of the change room. ‘I need a partner to take to the party. Will you come with me?’
‘Yes.’ The word left her lips before she even had time to think about it.
‘Good. Because that means I get to help you choose your outfit,’ he said before walking into where the women’s costumes were lined up on a rack and pulling out a barely there scrap of fabric. ‘Like to strip off and get into this?’ he asked, one eyebrow raised.
If she said yes, she had a feeling she’d be getting a lot more than she bargained for. ‘That doesn’t go with a Gladiator. You need a Roman lady.’
His eyes twinkled. ‘I’d prefer a slave girl.’
‘That’s called marriage.’ She pursed her lips thinking. There was a good outfit somewhere. Now where had Emerald put it?
‘Remember the slave outfit Princess Leia wore in Star Wars?’ he asked.
Ruby took the scrap of lace he held in his hand and put it back on the hanger. ‘You had a misspent youth.’ She searched along the rack.
‘I was locked up with a bunch of young soldiers training all day. Do you know how many times we watched Star Wars in the barracks?’
‘Obviously not just for the action scenes.’ She remembered Emerald designing the Princess Leia slave girl outfit, having decided it would be a popular rental. ‘Here you are. Your fantasy come true,’ she said, holding up the brass bra and bikini with its attached see-through skirt for his perusal.
He touched the fabric and looked at her with admiration. ‘That’s just how I remember it. How did you copy it so well? Will you wear your hair up with the long plait down the back?’
‘You don’t have strange fetishes I need to know about, do you?’ Jake looked so excited about the Princess Leia outfit that she wondered what she was getting herself into.
‘No. But I could develop some if you like. Try it on.’
A sharp pang of desire hit her when she stared up into his eyes. How was it that he managed to affect her in a way no one had before? She swallowed aware that her throat was dry. ‘I’ll try it on but you do not open that curtain until I’m ready.’
‘Yes, Ma’am,’ Jake saluted her.
Ruby walked to the change room aware that Jake was following her. She closed the curtain in his face.
Untying the knot at her silk belt, she let her trousers slip to the floor knowing that he was standing just outside. She pulled her tunic off along with her bra, realising that standing almost naked with a man she didn’t know just on the other side of the curtain mightn’t be the smartest thing to do, but Jake didn’t alert her creep radar.
‘Do you need help?’ Jake asked.
‘I’ll manage.’ Ruby suppressed a smile at the enthusiasm in his voice. She slid the slave-girl skirt over her hips and tucked her bikini underwear into the waistband as best as she could. G-string panties would look better even if the silk of the skirt were slightly see-through. She put on the brass bra moving her girls into position. Emerald had padded the inside with fabric so it made her breasts sit up so high, they were almost spilling out. She flicked aside the curtain and stepped out.
Admiration lit his handsome features. ‘You look fantastic. Turn around.’
She did as he asked, the skirt fabric fluttering around her legs.
He moved his palm up to her face, resting it momentarily on her cheek. ‘You’re beautiful. You know that?’ He pulled her to him, tilted her head back and brought his lips down on hers. His fingers gripped her hair as he kissed her. With his other hand, he pressed her to him so that she was up tight against his whole rock-hard torso. His fingers caressed her hair, her face, and her earlobes before brushing her hair out of the way and moving softly down her neck. She could hear her own breathing, high and ragged. This was madness kissing a stranger in the back of her shop but the intensity he used to kiss her swept her along like the froth on a boiling wave.
His kiss was possessive, firm and demanding. Her body melded against his, wanting more, needing more. When he pulled back she stared up at him breathing hard, barely able to believe her response.
‘You’re like my fantasy woman come true.’ His hands stroked over her waistline down to her hips until he reached where her sheer, long skirt split at the sides. He bent forward and kissed her stomach.
A hiss of surprise, of shock, left her lips. Her sex muscles clenched but things were going too far, too fast. ‘Stop!’
He did as she asked. Immediately. He stood. She saw the raw, aching desire in his eyes.
‘I should go.’
‘Yes.’ There were no more words. Her mind was swirling with what had just happened between them. She wanted him in a way that she had never wanted any other man.
His gaze swept over her one more time in a broad sweeping motion taking in every inch of her. He turned and strode from the shop, closing the door behind him.
This wasn’t finished.
Chapter 2
Ruby cleared a space on the floor of the second bedroom so she could put down her overnight bag. Looking at her watch she saw it was seven p.m., time to try telephoning her twin again. Pulling out her mobile phone she pressed redial hoping her sister would pick up.
Surprise hit her when she heard her twin’s ring tone somewhere in the bedroom. Scanning the room, she searched for the phone. Clothing design patterns littered the floor, fantasy costumes hung on racks, some no more than wisps of satin and silk. The bed, although made, was scattered with big, rainbow-coloured cushions on a cream comforter. The whole room was a colourful, swirling mess. Shifting aside some lacy underwear from the dresser, she pounced on the mobile phone. No wonder her twin wasn’t answering her calls. She hadn’t taken her mobile, a move Emerald would have done on purpose when she wanted to avoid nasty phone calls instead of dealing with them. It was like home all over again when the debtors had called looking for their father. Ruby always dealt with the difficult issues.
Part of her wanted to cut loose, to stop worrying about family, especially now she’d settled her father’s gambling debts since he’d passed away.
Ruby stretched easing the tension in her shou
lders as she thought about their business. Money in the business cheque account was running low. This business had to work.
She unpacked her bag, making room in the chest of drawers for her sensible cotton underwear amongst the lacy snippets that posed as panties, which were labelled and ready to go on sale downstairs. In the wardrobe, she pushed aside the long, glamorous gowns to hang her conservative shirts, skirts and jackets. Biting her bottom lip, she realised she had forgotten to pack her own nightgown.
On searching the upper shelving in the wardrobe, she pulled out a movie-star silky teal and lace romantic nightgown with a plunging neckline, thigh-splitting seam and matching silk slippers.
It was stunning.
She wondered what Jake would think of her wearing this. She could imagine being the princess Jake thought she was, though given their upbringing nothing could be further from the truth. She felt her cheeks warm as she fingered the sensuous fabric and glanced at the mirror to see her eyes were shining. Jake, a complete stranger, had a way of making her feel sexy and beautiful. Comparing him to her ex, she realised she’d done the right thing breaking it off.
Up until this moment she’d wondered if she was one of those women who didn’t like sex. Sure she could have an orgasm, but never with her ex. He hadn’t seemed to care. Was it her own fault because she couldn’t get close enough to a man to say what she needed?
With a sigh, she undid the buttons of her trousers and stepped out of them, pulled her tunic over her head leaving herself clad in her sensible bone-coloured bra and underwear. Putting everything in the hamper, she picked up the nightgown and matching slippers, walked down the narrow hallway and into the bathroom to fill the bath.
She unclasped her bra and pulled down her panties, leaving them on the tiles and hopped into the bath. She needed the time to think about what had just happened and as the water filled, she thought about Jake. In her job doing accounting for small businesses in the Blue Mountains, she had a good sense of people. There was something very appealingly cheeky about Jake even if he was testosterone on legs. She swore he’d been rock hard with need, but he’d stopped when she’d asked him to.
For the first time in her life, she realised what it was like to be with a man who sparked a fire inside her as soon as he came near, instead of feeling dead below the waist and believing it was her fault.
Her nipples contracted at the thought of him.
Pumping the liquid soap container she washed under her arms and over her breasts, so that her nipples tightened. Her hand moved between her legs and her fingers slid in between. Why did Jake have to take her in his arms and kiss her like that leaving her edgy and needy?
Closing her eyes, she made long, languorous movements with her fingers as she rocked her hips. A sigh burst from her lips followed by a deep moan as little tingling sensations made her clench and unclench.
She’d been able to feel every muscle on Jake’s hard washboard stomach as he’d pressed himself against her when he’d kissed her. Her breath came hot and hard as she imagined what Jake would look like naked. How did a guy so tall and strong get to be so gentle and sexy at the same time?
Opening her legs, she stroked harder, her hips rising and falling so that the water splashed over the bath. Her knees pressed against the hard porcelain sides. Ruby groaned. She wanted Jake to be doing this, Jake to be kissing her hard like he had downstairs, stroking her body, murmuring her name as if she were the only woman in the world who existed for him.
The orgasm exploded, travelling up her spine until she arched and groaned, the tone primal and urgent, echoing off the walls. ‘Jake,’ she cried out.
She slumped trying to catch her breath. Jake. Jake. Jake. Her heart thumped his name.
Next door she heard someone open a door and close it and she realised how paper thin the walls were. Luckily, she was unlikely to be meeting her neighbour on this busy strip called The Golden Mile which was a small, Vegas-like area full of nightclubs and strip joints interspersed between shops and cafes.
Ruby relaxed back into the bath and closed her eyes. She’d never experienced wanting like this. She was certain she would enjoy sex with a man, if that man were Jake, she thought dreamily. Even his name aroused within her a painful, desperate need.
A sharp splintering sound of glass smashing made her eyes snap open. She leapt up with her heart hammering. It sounded like the front window of the shop had caved in. Grabbing a towel and rapidly drying herself, Ruby pulled on the nightgown, slipped it over her head so that it slithered down her body and ran downstairs.
Night had gathered pace since she’d last been downstairs and the shop looked ghostly due to the outside glow of neon lights from the strip, which caught the reflection of the shop mirrors.
A large shape blocked out the window. Ruby froze. A scream started in the base of her throat, rose up to her mouth, yet only a strangled sound left her lips as fear froze her voice box.
Crunch! A man, his body bulky, his face broad and dark, stepped into the window box. From the side, a street neon light flashed and for one brief moment, she made eye contact with the man, more monster than human. A spider tattoo webbed his face and in his hand a knife gleamed bright.
The scream that had frozen on her lips filled the room, ringing out until it seemed to bounce off the walls. She turned, searching the shop for something to defend herself as her survival instinct honed from years of needing to protect herself and Emerald, kicked in. Escape wasn’t an option. There was an exit door at the back of the shop but by the time she fiddled with the deadlock he would be on top of her. No. The Cross was busy. Draw attention. Scream. Fight at the front.
Spying a baseball bat mounted on a wall display, she pulled at it bringing the whole ensemble to the ground. With adrenalin charged nerve endings she tried to keep an eye on the intruder and find the light switch. Impossible. Taking her eyes off the intruder for an instant, she located the light switch on her right and slapped at the bank of lights. The shop flooded as the strip lights in the ceiling turned on. When she turned back the man was gone.
Instead, she saw great shards of glass littering the front of the shop. The mannequin, adorned with a robe, corset and garters, which stood in the shop front window box, had toppled over like a corpse.
‘Princess. Are you okay?’ Past the mannequin, Jake stood on the street looking in where the intruder had been. ‘Jake!’ Her voice came out husky with fear and she ran towards him.
‘Stop! Don’t come any closer. There’s glass here.’ Jake climbed through the window, righted the mannequin and jumped from the window box onto the floor, his large boots crunching glass under his feet. Sweeping her into his arms, he carried her back to the stairs. ‘Stay there. I’ll check the back of the shop.’ In moments he returned. ‘All clear,’ he said.
‘There was a… m…an,’ she stuttered aware.
Jake gathered her into his arms. He smelled warm and safe. ‘Did he hurt you?’ ‘N…no.’
‘What did he look like?’ He pulled back from her clearly studying her face.
‘Dark figure. Spider tattoo here.’ She touched her cheek.
He frowned and stroked her cheek. ‘Don’t worry. I’m here now. He can’t hurt you.’ He glanced at the baseball bat that she still clutched and prised it from her fingers.
Her fingers felt stiff when she relinquished it.
Passersby gathered at the smashed in window, talking and looking in. ‘Wait a minute,’ Jake said. Releasing her, he strode over to the window. ‘Did anyone see anything?’ he asked with authority.
The night clubbers and tourists who frequented The Cross shook their heads and moved on.
In the background, Ruby could hear the wail of a police siren coming closer.
Jake returned and put his arms around her, pulling her in tight against his chest. ‘I can feel your heart beating.’
‘He had a knife.’ She threaded her arms under his leather jacket and hugged him leaving no space between their torsos. She didn’t care that
she had only met him late that afternoon, he felt wholesome and good to her. ‘I…thought he was coming to k…kill me.’ She was aware her teeth were chattering.
‘That won’t happen. I won’t let it.’ He stroked her hair as if he were taming a frightened animal and Ruby knew from the way her body was trembling, she wasn’t far from it.
What had her twin done to bring this on them? Sure, her sister flirted and often multiple dated which made some of her boyfriends jealous but she’d never done anything to make a man crazy enough to want to kill her.
Until now!
A sickening twisting sensation started in her stomach as she looked around in dismay. ‘What a mess.’
‘Hush, Princess. Don’t worry. I’ll organise the window repair for first thing tomorrow and get you back in business.’
‘Thanks…you’re kind…but I’ll manage. It’s just a shock. I wasn’t expecting this.’ She’d always looked after herself and her twin. It was kind of Jake to offer to do things for her, especially as he was a stranger. She shivered and he rubbed her back, his thumb tracing over the nodules of her spine so that she was suddenly aware of how little she was wearing and how damn good his touch felt on her bare skin.
‘Do you have any idea of who would do this?’ he asked, studying her face.
She shook her head.
‘I’ll speak to the muscle doing protection on the strip, but this doesn’t seem like their handy work.’
‘Does that still go on?’ Ruby had read about the level of crime at The Cross but in the past ten years with all the new, up market apartment buildings just down the road in Elizabeth Bay, the surrounding area had taken on a gentrified feel leaving only this short stretch from the Archibald Fountain to William Street for the nightclubs, sex shops and strip clubs.
Jake gave her a quizzical look that seemed to say country bumpkin. ‘There’s a war on here, Princess. The biker gangs are fighting for domination of the drug trade. There are over a hundred clubs in The Cross. I set up my security business here so the clubs can guard themselves from bikers who want to distribute drugs in their clubs and demand protection money.’
Ruby's Fantasy Page 2
