Forbidden Temptation

by Gwynne Forster

  “I’m going with you,” she said. “I haven’t been up there. Is it nice?”

  He looked at her and scattered her nerves with a wink. “You bet. What’s more romantic, more seductive than a full moon on a cold starry night?” He stood and reached for her hand. “Come on. I promise you nothing but joy.”

  Chapter 8

  I’ve wrestled sharks underwater, Luther reminded himself as he stepped off the elevator with Ruby and headed for the balcony. If I did that, I can stay above the water, so to speak, with this woman. If I have to, I’ll come right out and ask her if this prosthesis offended her. I’ll make her look closely at it, touch it. It’s who I am, and she can’t like my face and reject any other part of me.

  “Why are you so quiet?” Ruby asked him.

  “I don’t feel the need to say anything. I’m content right now. I found this place yesterday morning, and I thought I would enjoy sitting here with you.” He didn’t intend for her to get too far from him, so he sat on a sofa that faced the windows, patted the space beside him, and she sat there. “How about going with me to see the ice sculptures in Kellogg Park?” he asked her. “Have you ever seen them?”

  He noticed that she clung to his hand and that she sat as close to him as she could without actually sitting in his lap. “I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never seen them, except on TV, of course. I’d love to see them.”

  “Every January, people come from all over the world to look at those sculptures and to watch the artists chisel those intricate forms out of ice. They do it right there in front of those huge crowds,” he said. “Let’s go tomorrow. I’ve found that it’s best to go at the beginning before it becomes so crowded that you can’t see much.”

  “All right.” She spoke very softly, and he wondered about that, because it sounded to him as if, consciously or not, she wanted to induce greater intimacy.

  He released her hand, slid his arm around her bare shoulders and caressed her flesh. He’d spent the evening trying not to focus on her beautiful bosom that her dress barely covered, and his mouth began to water as the desire to pull her sweet nipple into his mouth slowly got to him. His blood pounded in his ears, and in spite of the increasing heat of his libido, he had a primitive feeling of protectiveness toward her.

  He couldn’t tell what she was thinking or feeling, for she remained as still as a windless winter night. The scent of her perfume teased his nostrils, and he suddenly remembered her own wild woman’s scent, a musty odor that would always remain with him. God help him, he wanted her badly enough to take her and run away with her.

  Somewhere nearby, an alto saxophone wailed the most lonesome blues he’d ever heard, and she chose that moment to lay her head on his shoulder, reach across him and clasp his free arm.

  “Sweetheart, do you want to go to the club and listen to that music? I think it may be on the ballroom floor somewhere.”

  She shook her head. “I want to stay here with you.” Her fingers stroked his cheek, and as if that weren’t enough, he felt her lips on his neck.

  “Ruby, do you know what you’re doing?” Her answer was another kiss in the same spot. “Why are you doing this?” he asked her, hardly recognizing the guttural tones that escaped his lips. “Baby, I’m human.”

  “So am I,” she whispered.

  He couldn’t let it get any further, because he hadn’t brought any condoms with him, and as needy as he was, he didn’t trust himself to withdraw in the heat of his passion. But he didn’t want to discourage her either.

  “Let’s go back to the gala,” he said. “I wouldn’t want you to miss any of it.”

  “I don’t care about anything or anybody in that place,” she whispered. “I just want to be with you.”

  He moved her from him and stared into her face, looking for more than sexual desire, more than momentary passion, as tremors streaked through him and hope surfaced in his heart. “Don’t play games with me, Ruby.”

  “I’m not. Can’t you see that I’m not?”

  He wanted to believe her, wanted that more than he’d ever wanted anything, but he didn’t want the searing pain of rejection that she’d inflicted on him after loving him until he almost lost his mind. She whispered words that he didn’t understand, strung out as he was by the pure feminine spice of her voice and the seductive scent rising from the pores of her satin skin.

  “Kiss me,” she whispered, her eyes sultry pools of desire.

  Her hand grasped his nape and her lips parted. He stared into her eyes for a second, and then, helpless to resist her, he plunged his tongue into her. She sucked him in deeper and deeper, feasting as if starved, and moaning from the pleasure of it. He couldn’t stand it, and his body rioted against its prison of denial until he could no longer restrain the tide. His attempt to break the kiss went for naught, for she clung to him, stroking his cheek and sucking on his tongue, shattering his will and bringing him to a full erection.

  He broke loose as gently as he could. “Do you know where we are?” he asked her in an effort to introduce mental sobriety. “Honey, we’re in a public place.” The way in which she looked at him suggested that she neither comprehended his words nor understood why he’d stopped the kiss.

  “Why didn’t you kiss me last night?”

  “I thought we finished with that. I didn’t because it didn’t seem warranted.” He allowed himself a slight shrug in the hope of reducing the impact of his words. “I’ve about had it with these noncommittal kisses, much as I enjoy them. You just kissed me as if you wanted to eat me alive. Why?”

  She looked away from him. He didn’t want to corner her, but it wouldn’t surprise him if the next time she saw him she blew him a sisterly kiss as if he’d never had his tongue in her mouth or buried himself deep inside her body.

  “I didn’t kiss you differently from the way you kissed me,” she said, a little testily, he thought. “I didn’t hold a gun on you and make you put your tongue in my mouth.”

  He let a grin surface around his lips, although he was certain that it didn’t touch any other part of his face. “Maybe we’d better join the others.”

  “You join them. I think I’ll turn in for the night.”

  “I’ll see you to your room.”

  “Thanks, but it isn’t necessary. Thanks for a pleasant evening, and I really mean that. Good night.” She rushed away before he could stand up, and he let her go, but it would be the last time. If she initiated such an exchange with him again, he was going to make love with her, and when he finished, she would be his.

  Ruby didn’t take the elevator but raced up the short staircase to the grand ballroom. Immediately, she wished she’d taken the elevator when she glanced up and saw Trevor Johns approaching her.

  “Hi, babe,” he said, blocking her way and reeking of free liquor. “How ‘bout a little bitty kiss?” He grabbed her and attempted to kiss her, but after struggling with him for a minute, she kicked his shin, and he released her.

  “Must be the dress,” she said to herself after she reached her room and locked her door. “A lot of screwed-up men around here, led by Trevor Johns. The one I want doesn’t want to settle on me. He pleased me in bed, but I didn’t please him.” She’d give anything if she could laugh about it, but it hurt so badly that she thought she’d cry. If only she hadn’t let herself get out of control with him on that balcony! Shudders passed through her as she imagined what Luther must think of her. I don’t roll over for men, but he’ll probably never believe that.

  “What happened to you?” Opal’s voice startled her when she answered the phone, because she’d thought the caller would be Luther.

  “You know I can stand only so much of the whoopee stuff and no more,” she said, summoning her best superior manner.

  “I don’t know any such thing. You left the ballroom all lovey-dovey with Luther, he came back alone, and you’re in your room. You want me to believe Luther mistreated you? No way, sis. What happened? You two had been as tight as corn kernels all evening.”
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br />   Ruby sat on the edge of a chair twisting the telephone cord around her wrist. “Opal, I’m tired. Yesterday, I nearly drowned. I barely slept last night, and I’ve been going nonstop all day. What do you want from me?”

  “I was hoping you’d…well, open up and let me know what’s going on. Luther looks as if he’s just received a life sentence.”

  “I’m so sorry,” she said, knowing that she’d just kindled Opal’s suspicion, for even to her own ears, her voice sound like the subdued chirp of a bird that couldn’t fly.

  “Be careful, hon. Don’t lose something precious,” Opal said.

  “I can’t lose what I’ve never had, Opal.”

  “What did she say?” Pearl asked Opal as they huddled together in the women’s lounge, where they’d gone ostensibly to repair their makeup and hairdos.

  “I couldn’t get a peep out of her. But I know one thing—she didn’t sound any happier than he looks.”

  Pearl leaned against the marble counter. “I don’t like it. At their ages, they ought to have sense enough to know how they feel about each other.”

  “Maybe one of them just can’t step over that line from pal to lover. What else could it be?” Opal asked Pearl. “Amber swears that Luther loves Ruby, that he didn’t deny it when she and Paul all but told him he did.”

  “Yeah, but Amber’s such a romantic, she may have seen something that wasn’t there. What are we going to do?”

  “D’marcus said we shouldn’t worry about it. He thinks you can always count on Old Man Libido to bring things to a head,” Opal said.

  “Lord, I sure hope he’s right. Anyway, tomorrow we start to get back to normal, and they won’t see each other all day and into the night as they have this weekend.”

  Opal let out a deep breath. “Thank the Lord. When do you start rehearsing with your new piano player? Wade told my husband that you’re very pleased with him.”

  “Indeed I am,” Pearl said. “He’s so sensitive to my singing, and he plays so effortlessly that he makes me sound better than I am. That’s something else to thank Luther for. Sometimes I wonder how we’d get along without him. My label likes my pianist so much that it’s going to pay him to accompany me, and as a part of the deal, he gets a recording contract.”

  “I’m glad to hear it, Pearl. You’ve always had a wonderful voice.” They went back to the party with thoughts on Luther and Ruby.

  From where he stood near the bandstand, Luther saw Opal and Pearl enter the ballroom, both of them looking his way. He supposed that they were speculating about Ruby and him, and especially since Amber and Paul thought he and Ruby were more than friends. He didn’t care how much they speculated so long as they kept their thoughts to themselves. And he hoped they didn’t pester Ruby with advice and comments. He and Ruby would work out their relationship best if left alone to do it.

  Ruby wanted him, or at least she behaved as if she did. But he needed more with her than the passion she didn’t seem able to control. It had occurred to him more than once that she let herself go with him because she had always trusted him to take care of whatever went wrong in her life. Oh, hell! He was tired of trying to figure it out. One thing was certain: she’d changed from an ordinary, nice-looking, kind woman to a siren. Talk about late bloomers! He cut the whistle that almost flew out of him and walked over to speak with Paige and Lyman.

  “This has been an awesome weekend. I’ve enjoyed every second of it, and I wish you love and happiness together forever.” He leaned down, kissed Paige’s cheek and then shook Lyman’s hand. “You two throw a great party, and we’ll all be talking about it for a long time. Thanks.”

  He went to his room then, and when he stepped off the elevator on the seventh floor, he didn’t glance toward Ruby’s room. “I’ve tortured myself enough for one weekend.”

  Half a dozen doors from Ruby’s room, he entered his own, undressed, hung up his tux and prepared for bed. The message light blinked on his phone, but when he checked for messages, he didn’t have any. He sat on the edge of the bed and dialed Ruby’s room number.

  “This is Luther. Are you all right?”

  “More or less. What about you?”

  “The same. Don’t forget that you promised to go with me to Kellogg Park tomorrow.”

  “I haven’t forgotten it. What time do you want to leave?”

  The woman was a bag of surprises. He’d have sworn that she’d find a reason not to go with him. “I’m checking out at nine in the morning. That will give me time to go home, change and be at your place around noon.”

  “Great. Are you in your room?” He told her that he was. “Uh…well, sleep tight,” she said in barely a whisper.

  “And you do the same.” When he hung up the phone, he groaned. What a way to say good-night to someone you loved as much as he loved her! He wished he hadn’t called her.

  He checked out of the hotel shortly before nine the next morning, and large snowflakes were dampening his favorite lizard shoes as he headed up the stone walk of Ruby’s house. How many hundreds of times had he traveled that route? First with his father when he was barely able to walk. Luther knew that house as well as Ruby did. After ringing the bell, he looked up to gauge the elements and decided that they could expect a heavy snowfall.

  Ruby smiled when she opened the door. “Sorry I made you wait. It’s cold out there. Come on in.”

  He gazed down at her for a minute. Even though she reached his shoulder, she seemed so small in that big house. He remembered that she’d said she didn’t like living there alone, and his heart went out to her. Without thinking of what he did, he reached for her and folded her into his arms.

  “I don’t mind waiting on you. You’re always worth it.”

  When she stepped away and looked at him, her expression seemed plaintive. “If you mean that, I’m glad. I just don’t know about you anymore.”

  He drew her back into his arms. “Our relationship has changed, Ruby, and the way in which we used to treat each other and understand each other won’t always work now or in the future. We’re more sensitive, and we hurt more easily.” Instead of saying she agreed, she kissed his neck, and his demon libido raised its head.

  “We’d better leave now, before we start something,” he said. “Where’s your coat?”

  She handed it to him, and he breathed deeply in relief. They were not going to get into a clench every time they were alone together. They no longer knew each other, and he meant to repair that with their outing to Kellogg Park.

  After he parked in a parking garage, they walked several blocks to the park. Noticing that she clutched herself for warmth, he asked her, “Are you cold already?”

  “I’m always cold unless you’re kissing me,” she said through teeth that chattered. “But I never freeze, so not to worry.”

  He stopped walking and tied her long woolen scarf so that it covered her lower lip as well as her neck. “Forget about fashion,” he told her. “This thing is supposed to keep you warm.”

  He heard her mutter, “So are you,” but pretended that he didn’t. In less than a month, she had revealed aspects of her personality that he didn’t know she had, and oddly enough, he liked this new and open Ruby.

  He discovered that she liked the intricate carvings rather than the human figures and marveled that they had that in common along with so many other things.

  “My favorite is this replica of the USS Constitution, with all the sails in place,” she said of the ice-sculpted model of the first United States commissioned ship. “You’d get my vote for first prize,” she told the sculptor, who beamed with pride.

  “How’d you know that was the USS Constitution?” Luther asked as they walked on. “It wasn’t labeled.”

  “Well, Commander Biggens, after the HMS Bounty, it’s the most well-known of the tall ships, isn’t it?”

  “Right. You’d make a fine navy w…woman,” he said and, seeing the delight that shone in her eyes, hugged her close. He’d almost told her she’d make a fine
navy wife.

  “Want to go ice-skating when we leave here?” he asked her.

  “I haven’t skated in ages,” she said. “I’d love—Oh.”

  “What’s the matter? Forget something.”

  “Uh…no. I mean, can you…? I didn’t think you could skate.”

  Whenever they were together and he began to feel that they had a chance, something happened to dampen his spirits. I’m not giving in to it this time, he told himself. “Ruby, I can do practically everything I ever did. I wouldn’t try to tap dance, fence or play football, and I’m careful about getting on ladders. If you ever have the courage to see how this prosthesis works, I’ll be glad to show you.” He realized that he probably came across as testy, but he was beyond caring about that. He wanted her to accept him as he was.

  A frown marred her features, and she worried her bottom lip. “Why would I need courage? And why are you annoyed?”

  He softened his voice. “Some people are unable to accept that many of us are not perfect physically. Imperfections in others repulse them.”

  She took his hand. “Surely you aren’t talking about me. Come on. If we’re going to skate, we’d better go.”

  What was he to say to that? They made their way through the park, enjoying the sculptures, till he noticed her blowing on her hands to warm them.

  “You’re cold. We’d better leave. I don’t want you to get sick.” He put an arm around her waist, walked with her to the exit and stopped beside a pillar that sheltered them from the wind. “I’ll bring the car. Wait here.”

  “Thanks, but I’d rather go with you.”

  He noticed that she hunched over as she walked. “Are you sure you want to skate?” he asked her. “The rink’s outside.”

  “Hadn’t thought of that. I think I’ve had enough cold for today. Besides, I need to get ready for work tomorrow. Marva’s husband told me that she won’t recover sufficiently to come back to work, so I need to meet with him and work out something. Maybe a buyout of some kind.”