‘I was watching him when you told him your name was Emerald and I corrected it to Ruby. He didn’t seem to click that there are two of you. Didn’t seem interested. Besides if you annoy Abe, you’d know about it. He’s old school Kings Cross. You irritate him, he’ll get one of his bouncers to take care of it.’
‘Nice.’
‘It works for him. He’s spent years carving out his territory. Thugs around here understand the power of a fist and if they’re stupid enough to show disrespect to Abe, they feel it.’
‘Whatever happened to calling in the cops?’ she asked.
‘A lot of cops get kickbacks from the club owners. Keeps them from raiding the clubs too often. That’s how it works here and it always has,’ Jake said matter-of-factly. ‘So stay out of his way and don’t solicit his attention.’
‘Are you always this over protective?’
‘Yes.’
‘But you hardly know me.’
He took her in his arms and pulled her close. ‘So you keep saying, yet your body melds into mine like it’s meant to. When I said leave it to me, I meant it.’
‘It’s too hard. I’m used to looking after myself,’ she said, looking up into his eyes.
‘In this jungle, men have the power. This place runs on corruption and muscle. Women who have protectors stay safe otherwise the predators move in.’ He knew what she was going through missing her twin, more than she realised. Raw pain gripped his chest and he blotted out the thought of his younger brother gunned down in front of him. He’d sworn to protect him. Given his word to his parents. He had to make this right for Ruby because he couldn’t make it right for his brother. He stared down into her eyes and saw a shimmer of a tear so he brushed it away with his thumb.
‘You’re like some superhero who takes over. I’m not used to that.’ She gave him a watery smile.
He’d pushed her. Pushed her as hard as he could without alienating her. ‘I’ve missed things in the past. Made mistakes. I want to make this right for you.’ Remmy’s face rose in front of his eyes. Blood. Holding his brother’s broken body. Trying to stop the bleeding. Impossible. ‘I promise on my life I’ll keep you safe.’
‘What is it?’ Her hand went to his cheek.
He turned from her, powerless to deal with the grief of his brother. ‘I want to test the equipment I’ve installed. Go behind the desk. Feel underneath, find the button and push it. The door will unlock. That way no one comes in here unless you want them to.’
‘You tell me to trust you, but you shut me out, too.’
He put his hand up to stop her moving close. Her face was open and gentle but if she gave him sympathy it’d tear him apart. ‘Can’t talk. Not now.’ Out of the blue, memories of Remmy’s death would seize him by the throat.
Her mouth tightened but she didn’t press him, instead she did as he asked, pressed the button under the shop counter and the security door clicked open. ‘It works well.’
He glanced up at the camera situated in the corner high up where it couldn’t be tampered with. ‘Everything is done. I’ll be right next door monitoring your every move. Careful when you bend over in that skirt, Ghost is working with me today.’
‘He doesn’t say much, does he?’
‘Ghost?’
‘Yes.’
‘Ghost is a ghost. Knows more about technology than anyone. One of the best undercover operatives too. No one notices him and that’s how I like it. Don’t be fooled by it, he’s deadly when he has to be and he acts fast. Can’t speak in front of women though.’
‘He barely said hello to me.’
‘He grunted. That’s a good response for Ghost. Don’t be offended, that’s just how he is.’
‘Fine. I’ve got all the instructions. No going anywhere without you. No talking to Ghost. You guys coming out of the army are all about rules.’ She tapped her fingers on the counter top. ‘I’ve got a few of my own. I don’t like owing money. Write me up the account.’
‘I’ll do it later.’
‘Jake!’
Why’d she have to look so hot dressed as a Dom? He swore he’d never been so affected by a woman until he’d met Ruby. When he looked at her, when she demanded something of him, he could forget his grief. He strode over and backed her up against the counter with his body frame. ‘Are you prepared to do anything to extract it out of me?’
‘Are you prepared to bend over?’ she asked.
‘Me bend over? Not likely. Keep that sexy act up and I’ll have you over the counter.’
Her large blue eyes widened.
‘I have work to get on with. Let’s have dinner tonight. I’ll fix the account for you then,’ he said.
A frown creased her brow and her crystal blue eyes clouded. ‘Dinner will have to be early. I need to catch up on my beauty sleep,’ she added, examining her fingernails.
Jake’s bullshit detector buzzed and a siren went off in his mind. He knew a lie when he heard one and she was a terrible liar. He hoisted her up off her feet, placed her on the counter and stood between her legs so that his chest pressed against hers. The deep scent of roses and leather made his nostrils twitch and his erection throb. ‘I want to spend the night with you. I have to keep you safe.’
She blinked. ‘Not tonight.’
‘And why is that?’ he asked.
She slapped her hands on his chest. ‘I’m not accountable to you. Just because you spent one night playing protector doesn’t mean you have rights over my body.’
‘How about we get to the truth? Are you doing something tonight you don’t want me to know about?’ he asked.
‘How about you put me down?’ Her hand reached for her riding crop.
‘Use that thing on me and I’ll put you over my knee and spank you. I don’t care who walks into the shop.’
‘You wouldn’t.’
‘Try me.’
He slapped his hand on hers and she released the crop. He picked her hand up and forced it up to his lips, kissing her palm, the inside of her wrist and up her arm.
A sigh met his ears and her thighs clenched around his hips. ‘Surrender to me, Princess,’ he murmured as he kissed her throat.
‘You want too much.’
But he felt her press her pelvis against his. ‘I want you, Ruby. In my arms, in my bed.’ In my life.
Her hands shoved against his chest. ‘I need to move slower. You’re crowding me.’
‘I’m an all or nothing type of guy.’
‘I won’t spend every night in your bed. I need time alone.’
For a moment he was met with a look of confusion in her eyes and saw the real, vulnerable woman behind the mask of Dominatrix confidence. Ruby needed looking after whether she liked it or not.
‘You make me feel special, but you’re so intense.’
He reached around her hips again and pulled her closer so that her lower torso met his. He was so damn hard for her. ‘You just worked that out?’
Ruby’s face broke into a smile. ‘Don’t you have a low voltage button?’
‘No,’ he growled, pressing his pelvis against hers.
‘What is this thing going on with us?’ she asked huskily.
‘I don’t know but I can’t let it go. I can’t think of anything else except having you,’ he said, so hungry for her that he contemplated slamming the shop door shut and taking her right there on the counter. Having her, needing her made him feel whole again. Slow down, Jake. Moving back slightly, he put his hand between her legs and was met with crotchless panties. Her petals parted for his fingers. ‘You’re so wet.’
‘You left me alone in bed this morning.’
‘I’m trying to be a gentleman.’
‘Who said I wanted one? You made me want you. I was so disappointed when I woke up and you weren’t in bed with me.’
His brain caught fire as his fingers slid inside her. She was so tight. Ruby responded to him by clenching around his fingers pulling him further into her. He knew the sex would be wild, but he wanted more t
han that, had to see if there could be more. He needed to ground himself in this relationship and blot out the pain of his brother. Life was fleeting and he had no time for frivolity. Afghanistan had taught him that. ‘You’re so responsive.’
She rolled her hips against him. ‘Oh I like it when you touch me. When you stroke me it’s like everything else disappears. I’ve never felt so turned on before.’
He jammed himself against her then remembered Ghost. ‘You know Ghost is next door checking the camera is working.’ But he didn’t want to stop touching her. He ran his fingers up and down her warm sex. Her lips were moist and her eyes hooded, her mouth was open and she was starting to pant.
‘Ghost...next door. You have to stop,’ she said shakily.
Jake’s whole body clenched as he tried to force himself to calm down. He could smell her arousal when he put his fingers to his mouth and he desperately wanted to keep going, but he was well aware that the camera was trained on them. ‘You torture me, woman.’
‘You seem to be enjoying it.’ She rubbed her hand over his crotch and he groaned.
‘When it’s you, I enjoy everything.’ He swallowed, throat parched. ‘I just don’t want Ghost enjoying it, too.’
Ruby clamped her legs together and lowered herself to the floor. She put her hand on his shoulder for support.
‘I’ll have dinner ready at six. Surprise me with your outfit. If you’re not planning to stay over, come as a virgin.’
Ruby laughed. ‘I’ll think of something suitable for the evening.’
He picked up her mobile phone from the counter. ‘What’s your password? I’ll punch in my number and you can text me when you’re ready. I’ll come around and escort you.’
‘I’m capable of walking next door,’ she protested, putting both hands on her hips.
‘I don’t want you leaving the shop without a bodyguard. When you need to go somewhere, call me. If I’m out installing surveillance equipment, call Ghost. I’ll put in his number too. The rest of the time I’ll be monitoring you so that I know you’re safe. Until I find this spider freak, you stay close to me. A knife can do a lot of damage fast.’
Ruby opened her mouth as if to protest and shut it again.
‘Please?’
A sigh left her lips. ‘My password’s quadruple two.’
He unlocked the phone, filed her password away in his memory and punched in his and Ghost’s phone numbers. ‘Now I need your email account. I’ll connect the phone to your computer in case it’s ever stolen. All you’ll have to do is log onto the phone site and you’ll know where to find it, plus I can trace you if you’re snatched and you have your phone with you.’
‘Anything else you want to do before you leave?’
A flame of desire heated his blood to boiling. ‘Keep teasing me, Princess, and I’ll throw you over my shoulder and take you upstairs.’
But Ruby just smiled and blew him a kiss. ‘Now that’s a fantasy for another day. I have the perfect outfit for that one. Bye, Jake.’
Jake shook his head and walked next door to his shop. Why didn’t she trust him? Something was going down tonight and she didn’t want him there. Abe lived life on the edge. Anyone who treated women like he did wasn’t Jake’s style and if Ruby was planning to get involved with him in any way, she was asking for trouble.
Ruby looked around the shop. Jake had mounted one camera in the front of the shop and one in the back, which meant she had to put the samples for the strippers in a bag in one of the changing rooms, which was the only place in the shop where the camera had no access.
She spent the morning serving customers and organising samples that she thought would appeal to strippers and while she had no intention of modelling the outfits for men she was comfortable with demonstrating them for women. Gathering up beaded panties, thongs and bras with matching studded collars, she put them in the bag, along with spectacular crochet lust teddies that Emerald had designed. It was fine for Jake to insist on relying on him, but it wasn’t in her nature to expect a man to protect her. She’d always looked after Emerald. Besides, the strippers wouldn’t talk to Jake, especially with Abe looking on. Things like that made women lock up their secrets. What if they knew something? She was determined to find out.
Jake marinated some steaks in red wine and garlic. Lots of the pungent herb. No one was getting close to his princess. He sautéed some vegetables until they were crisp before looking at his watch. Six o’clock. Would Ruby call? She wasn’t keen to rely on him that was for sure. He’d noticed the darkness in her eyes when she’d struggled with whatever had hurt her.
His phone buzzed and he took in a deep breath of relief, glad he’d managed to get through to her. He strode down his stairs, through his office space and out his front door. Ruby was waiting inside her shop for him.
She unlatched the door and stepped out.
Jake’s gaze moved over her. Her blonde curls were pulled off her face and curled high on her head before toppling down to her neckline, giving her face with its cut-glass cheekbones a more severe look. She was still wearing the dark eye make-up and light pink lipstick so that his focus was drawn to the intensity of her sky-blue eyes. She was wearing a black off the shoulder top over skin-tight black pants that could have been sprayed on and shoes with high, sharp stiletto heels. They appeared lethal. She locked her shop door.
‘Who are you tonight?’ he asked, glancing up and down the street before putting his arm around her and guiding her to his premises. Her waist was curved and he liked the way his hand fitted just above her hip.
‘I’m thinking Olivia Newton John who played good girl Sandy in Grease in the scene where she’s about to lose her virginity to the bad boy.’
‘Planning to keep those “eat me” shoes on while you’re losing it?’
‘Got a thing for sharp black stilettos?’ She walked through Jake’s business and up the stairs into his landing area.
‘With you in them naked. Yeah!’ There was something about her wide-eyed look combined with the erotic intensity of her outfit that made him want her. He walked over to the table where he’d laid out the plates, glasses and cutlery needed for dinner, uncorked a bottle of Merlot and poured two glasses.
Ruby put her handbag and phone on a coffee table nearby, took a glass and raised it in salute before striding over to the kitchen and sniffing appreciatively. ‘You never said you could cook.’
‘Army food’s not great. I learnt from necessity.’ Jake walked over to the back door, opened the bi-folds and put the steaks on the barbeque. The aroma of the steaks, the marinade of garlic, rosemary and wine hit the air.
‘I thought you were going to say your mother taught you.’ Joining him on the outdoor patio she shielded her eyes from the sun, which filtered through the trees and reflected off the rooftops. In the distance she could see the Centrepoint Tower and the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
‘No, my mother was a socialite. She never cooked. Sent us both to boarding school from the age of seven.’ He named one of the exclusive schools in Sydney’s expensive Eastern Suburbs.
‘That seems very young to send a child away.’ She took a sip of her red wine.
‘If it weren’t for my grandmother who lived where The Cross joins Elizabeth Bay I wouldn’t have had a family life. I practically grew up on these streets on the weekend.’
‘Was your mother unwell?’
‘No. Just didn’t like young boys. My brother and I were too active, hence the boarding school.’
‘Must have cost a fortune to send you.’
‘Drop in the ocean for my father. He inherited several coalmines out west from my grandfather and he wasn’t home much. He wanted me to become a mining engineer and follow him into the family business. I had my own ideas and enough of an inheritance from my grandfather to follow my dreams.’ Jake turned the steaks. The fat sizzled and hissed. He hadn’t spoken to his parents in months. Not since Remmy’s funeral where his father had laid the blame squarely at his door for his
brother’s death. The pain of it had hit him so hard he could hardly breathe. Even now, he couldn’t talk about it.
‘What did you do?’
‘I joined the army straight out of school. My father threatened to disinherit me but I didn’t care. My grandfather had looked after me. I still studied engineering while in the army. Specialised in explosives. I never liked to play it safe. Not then anyway.’
‘What changed?’ She swirled the wine in her glass and took a sip.
‘I value life now,’ he said quietly.
‘You’ve gone pale.’ Ruby put her hand on his shoulder.
Jake shrugged. ‘I don’t need the adrenalin of combat anymore. I just need to know that the people I care about are alive and well. That’s good enough for me.’
‘Did something bad happen?’ She rubbed his back between his shoulder blades as if she could sense his pain.
Jake didn’t look at her though her voice was soft and laden with sympathy. Instead he concentrated on cutting into the steak to check how deep the barbeque had seared the meat. He couldn’t talk about his brother. He understood Ruby’s concern over Emerald’s disappearance. Born eleven months apart, he and Remmy had been close. His hand gripped the barbeque fork, his knuckles white. He’d promised his parents he’d take care of his brother as best as he could, but war was an impossible situation. His brother’s agonised face when he knew he was dying flashed in front of him. Gone. One bullet. The difference between life and death, a few minutes. Love and family were the only things that mattered to him now, and it had all disappeared so quickly. That’s when he’d lost all interest in the army. Missing Remmy was a permanent scar and the guilt for encouraging his younger brother into joining the armed forces when he’d finished school instead of going into the family business, surged up to choke him. ‘I’m fine. Just hungry. Bring the plates over, would you, Ruby?’
Jake hadn’t answered her question and she didn’t want to push. The playful, sexy mood had changed. Ruby didn’t know why, but she didn’t miss the look of raw pain on Jake’s face. She wasn’t the only one with problems. Goodness knows she’d carried on enough about her own. She realised how little she knew about him, but she wanted to know more.
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