by L. J. Wilson
Aaron stroked her clit harder—an unforgotten tempo. “Just… just let it happen, baby,” he whispered. As a thunderous orgasm hit her, Aaron deftly slid a finger inside, and Ruby clenched around it. She said his name again, or maybe it was Ruby just assuring herself that he’d be there when she opened her eyes. Her hand covered his, holding him there as he held her up. Without hesitation, she reached for his pants, Ruby’s hand not able to cover the strangling erection. Aaron’s voice was rough, frustrated. “Jesus… it should be me inside you—us together. You know it should be.” His finger pushed inside the warm emptiness again, a residual tremor winding through Ruby. Then he was kissing her again as if to remind Ruby that the two acts were not mutually exclusive.
She clung to Aaron, too spent to respond with more than an achy tremor seeping from her throat. Ruby had his belt open, pants unzipped, and her hand wrapped around a steely shaft that pumped hard into her palm. There was a low moan from Aaron as a drop a sticky wetness enhanced the glide of her hand. Ruby didn’t give a damn if it was against a tree, like two animals in a forest, or if he wanted to climb into a car in the parking lot—any car. “Don’t talk. Just… just do it…” Ruby wanted every part of Aaron around her, every part but the words, because words invited reality.
He picked right up on it.
“Ruby, damn it, no… not here. Not like this.” Gently, he shifted their hands, releasing their respective holds.
“But this morning…”
“This morning was insane desperation—absolutely on my part. But now…” Aaron let go of her hands and zipped his pants, adjusting her skirt. His forehead bumped against hers. “Now I’m…”
Ruby’s head thudded against the tree. “On a date?”
There was a fraught punch of laughter. “Not what I was going to say… But yeah, as ridiculous as that sounds. I’m not fucking you in the parking lot of Incontro then faking dinner conversation.”
“Will you be fucking or faking anything afterward?”
“I’m not going to sleep with Shauna. Do I really need to tell you that?”
“I could hardly blame you. It’s not like I’ll be alone when I go back to Abstract Enchantment. How do people do that, Aaron? Have affairs, go home, and climb back into bed with somebody else?” A breath shuddered out of her and into him. “I take that back. I know exactly how it feels.”
“How so?”
“Since I’ve been with Stefan, deep down, I know that’s why it doesn’t work. That’s what it felt like, me cheating on you.”
He kissed the top of her head. “I guess we’ve both learned a few lessons we’re not going to forget anytime soon.” They stood that way for a while, fighting the past, fighting time. “Ruby, we can’t get into everything right now, but I need to know… I mean, you did slap me this morning for a damn good reason. What about…”
It was the first time she looked at anything besides him. “I’m working on that.” Then her eyes shot to Aaron’s, remembering what Alec had said. “Aaron, I spent years wishing there was more to the story. I realize now that no matter how many lawyers you insisted tell me otherwise, I should have listened to my gut. I know there’s more. I don’t know what it is, or why you’ve kept such an incredible secret from me… from your family. But I do know there’s got to be a reason. At least tell me that much is true?”
Aaron’s mouth gaped, like an explanation was right there. He only had to say it. Then it clamped shut. He closed his eyes, and Ruby watched his fists clench. In that moment, she saw something veiled by the shock and rage that had blinded her years before. She saw fear. “This…” Aaron said, opening his eyes, “was never supposed to happen.”
“What wasn’t supposed to happen?”
“You coming back to Nickel Springs. My early release. Us, together. I was supposed to do another ten years at least. I looked forward to coming out of that hole middle-aged. By then you’d be so gone from my life, I’d have no hope of getting you back.” Aaron stroked her cheek. “Being here, it’s some kind of fucked-up crazy fantasy.”
“Yet here we are.” Ruby smiled at him. “Maybe that tells us something.”
The storybook thought faded, and a look of concern fell over Aaron. For the first time since they came outside he leaned hard, peering around the tree. “I hope so.” He looked back at Ruby. “You have no idea how much I wish the world would disappear—seven years ago and tonight.”
“Why can’t it?” she said. The idea had great appeal. They could skip over the bad parts and start again, somewhere new. But with her palms resting flat on Aaron’s chest, moonlight toying with a five-carat diamond, Ruby knew it was nothing but more fantasy.
“Ruby, what… what about him? What are you going to tell Stefan?”
It was all so complicated. She didn’t want to hurt the man she was engaged to, but Ruby’s first instinct was to protect Aaron. “Whatever I tell him, you won’t be part of it. I’m not sure where I’ll start or what I’ll say. But he can’t know anything about us, Aaron. I don’t think I need to explain why.”
He was silent for a moment. “As much as it kills me to admit it, Stefan’s wielding some pretty good power. I don’t know if I could survive it, Ruby. Me, back in that place. You…”
She held onto him. “Don’t say it. Don’t think it. We’re going to figure this out. But for right now, I need to get back to Abstract Enchantment.”
Aaron shook his head. “No. You’re not going back there—not tonight, not ever. Do you seriously think I’m going to send you back to that slick-suit’s bed? It’s not going to happen.”
“Aaron, be reasonable. I know Stefan. Abruptly dumping this on him is not the way out. What do you want me to do—write him a Dear John letter and slide it under the door?”
“Works for me,” he grumbled.
“We have to be careful… so careful. Even if I said I decided to join the Peace Corp and relocate to Batswana, he’d put it together. As it was, he was one bright question away from figuring things out this morning.”
“Don’t,” Aaron said as a pained looked seared into the ground. “Just don’t say anything about what happened this morning—or since the fucker walked into your life. I don’t want to know.”
Ruby let go of his hands, or he let go of hers. They couldn’t turn time back. Their beautiful past was forever altered. “I, um… I understand how you feel.”
“I doubt that very much.” Wide irises blinked into hers. “Tonight, it was one date—dancing, dinner, conversation. Add to that, I guess, the idea of me sleeping with Shauna. How many drinks did you down in record time based on those fun facts?”
She didn’t have a reply.
“Like I said, you have no idea how I feel when it comes to you and him.”
“I know you don’t want to hear this, but for whatever reason, Stefan turned up when I had pretty much hit bottom. I’d lost you. I’m still in the slow, miserable process of losing my father. I’d lost Tandy and my entire life. I get how my relationship with Stefan isn’t something you want to know about, but he isn’t the monster you’re making him out to be.”
“I’m not so sure about that, Ruby. I doubt he’d hesitate to throw my ass under the first transport bus to Biddeford.” Aaron sighed, but a wide-eyed gaze shot from the ground to Ruby. “Holy shit… Honor.”
“Honor? What about her?”
Aaron’s hand clamped to his forehead. “Jesus Christ, Honor. She signed a contract with Stefan.”
“What kind of contract?”
“It gives Honor exclusive catering dibs at Abstract Enchantment, and house money to play with to expand her business. It’s part of a deal he cut her. Stefan’s investment and Honor’s Guests—he owns half interest in her business.”
“You’re kidding?” She could see that he wasn’t. “All right… okay,” Ruby said, summoning the strength emergency situations required. Admittedly, control was easier to grasp when it wasn’t your own life at stake. She held tight to Aaron’s hands. “Then we really do need to
take this one step at a time. Now the fallout involves someone besides you and me. Just… just please let me handle Stefan. And like it or not, for now, that means we have to accept that we have obligations to other people.”
Aaron’s eyes closed, and he pulled Ruby to him. “And I thought the last seven years was the longest night of my life.”
Games. That’s all it was, sexual games that they both agreed to and enjoyed. But looking at the red handprint across Vanessa’s bottom, Stefan knew this session had exceeded previous encounters. His aggression wasn’t fueled by Vanessa games but the other game he was playing. The one where winning truly mattered. Damn. Stefan deplored it when emotion slipped from his control. But it appeared, he realized, looking at her bright-red ass, to be evident. Vanessa had even used the safety word—something she’d never done before. He picked up his phone and reread a text message. It had arrived directly before Vanessa:
You wanted to know if I saw Ruby tonight. I did. She’s here, at Incontro.
Stefan set the phone aside. In the quiet of the carriage house, Vanessa stayed perfectly still, waiting instruction. Ruby’s behavior was not unexpected. What was less calculated was his reaction—or the fact that he had one. It was the ease with which his darling fiancée had fallen to old temptation, and the degree to which it bothered him. Stefan cleared his throat and tried to remove himself from the disturbing rush of anger… jealousy. It wouldn’t budge. Standing behind Vanessa’s naked body, his hand lay crooked around the back of her neck—like he might break it. The notion held the promise of improving his mood—getting the nasty taste of rejection out of his mouth. Stefan’s grip didn’t ease. In fact, it tightened. There was soothing satisfaction in controlling another human being.
Nervous breaths jerked in and out of Vanessa. He could feel her tremble. It wasn’t lust or anticipation or a game. It was fear. Stefan acquiesced. His rage had nothing to do with her. He let go. A cascade of red hair tipped back. She did have beautiful hair. Stefan’s hands clasped gently around her shoulders, and he tenderly kissed the right one. He couldn’t see Vanessa’s face. Yet Stefan knew her fine porcelain forehead had crinkled in response. His gesture was unlikely—particularly given the moments prior. He imagined her sugar-colored teeth sinking into her pouty bottom lip. “Turn around,” he said.
“What’s going on?” Her voice was hoarse, timid. “This… you’re so angry… different. Is it because she’s here?”
Stefan widened his eyes. He’d once fucked Vanessa on the tenth floor of Windamere’s Treasure Tower, their Las Vegas property, while Ruby slept in the penthouse suite. So no, that wasn’t it. But he wasn’t about to share the peculiar stirring of emotion, the one caused by his fiancée’s inability to control her desire for another man. Stefan thought on it a moment. It couldn’t be the idea that Ruby had so easily succumbed. After all, that was the point, and painstakingly planned. It was more about Ruby’s lack of loyalty after everything he’d done for her. She could have at least made an effort, given it twenty-four hours. He wasn’t wrong. The circumstance would be enough to infuriate any man.
Stefan gathered his composure. Ruby’s desire wasn’t the point, just a byproduct. There was too much at stake. He’d come too far. Stefan looked back at Vanessa. Taking his mood out on her would arouse suspicion. He didn’t need that. Better just to play out the scene. Of course, in light of the immediate situation and her red ass, he’d have to backpedal. Again, he’d have to appease Vanessa with the thing she truly craved. “That’s it, Ness. You’re onto me. Housing us so nearby was an unwise choice.” Stefan walked away, lighting a cigarette. He glanced toward the bathroom. Had it been stocked with mouthwash? He couldn’t go back to the executive suite reeking of cigarettes—or her. “I, uh… I miscalculated the conflict, having you and Ruby here at the same time.”
“But which is it?” she said, grabbing her robe and slipping it on. “You’re feeling guilty about your fiancée? Or the idea that I’m here, in the carriage house, out of reach at two a.m.?”
Stefan offered a well-staged glance—part realization, part imagination. Vanessa would make out of it what she wanted.
“You’re upset because of us,” she concluded, unable to hide a swell of triumph. Stefan offered a non-committal shrug. “Seriously? It’s us?”
“Ness, you know my rule on mixing business with pleasure. It’s the reason we couldn’t get involved publically. How much of one man can you own?” he said, tossing her some temporary upper hand. “You’re intimately involved in my business dealings. Clearly, we’re intimately involved in this setting. But if you were to truly control my heart… Well, it’s more than my ego will allow.” Stefan stared pensively out the window. A car pulled into the entrance. He needed to move this along. He mashed the cigarette into an ashtray and crossed the room, willfully gathering Vanessa into a passionate kiss. “But I have to confess,” he said. “I needed you in a different way tonight—and… and my earlier behavior, that was me acting out. I channeled my passion in a boorish, thoughtless way. Forgive me?” Stefan focused on her face, wondering if she’d ever had her nose tweaked. It was a tad too perfect.
“Forgive…” He could feel needy breath fill her lungs. “Of course I forgive you.”
“I was afraid… afraid to show you what I was really feeling—and I went too far the other way. Tomorrow everything will be so different.”
“Different how?” The trembling had stopped, her arms folding around him in a comforting embrace—as if they were a couple.
He smiled. “Just as tomorrow progresses, remember tonight. You’ll be on hand for the luncheon, correct?”
“Of course. Abstract Enchantment will be filled with Windamere brass. Why? Stefan, what are you up to?”
“Ness, do you really want to waste time talking?” he said, his mouth crushing hard over hers.
To his surprise, she pulled away. “You’re kissing me.”
“How very astute.”
Ribbons of red curls shook back and forth. “You never kiss me. It… it’s never what you want.”
“Right now, you’re all I want. I swear. For a little while, I need to be us… no games.”
It sounded like something she’d want to hear. Stefan pushed the robe from her body, his touch carefully avoiding her bottom, which had to sting. He maneuvered them onto the bed, thinking he’d make love to her some big-screen way—trite sexual romanticism. Looking down into Vanessa’s adoring face, he nearly expected a director to yell “Action!” The kissing commenced. At first it was cursory, although Stefan sensed a subtle shift to the scene. The longer it went on, the more he was coaxed into focusing. A shared kiss or two with Vanessa—well, he’d never paid much attention. But now he had to admit she was an excellent kisser. The act was… enjoyable… The out of place moment grew more vivid, more enticing with every pass. Damn, she truly did want him. Ideas about acting slipped from Stefan’s mind, and he found himself kissing Vanessa back. Something inside him was moved. It wasn’t powerful, but a slow rising of energy. No. A feeling. He was feeling something other than the lusty vigor that drove their usual encounters. The kissing went on with mind-rattling aggression, Stefan finding his cock oddly, instantly hard. A few minutes ago, he wasn’t sure how he was going to fake that.
It all was so curious. Vanessa blindfolded, wrists bound to a headboard, sure. Vanessa braced against shower tile, a few fun pleasure props in the mix, absolutely. Vanessa, bent hard over a side of frozen beef, her skirt hiked over her ass, a no-brainer. But Vanessa lying plainly on a bed, a leg bent slightly in some come-hither pose, her fingers dancing delicately over his back… No, nothing like this should arouse him. Then, adding insult to injury, she spoke. Not dirty little words asking for him to fuck her—how hard and in what position, but sentimental whisperings that sounded like a greeting card. That sounded real.
“I knew it would happen this way. I mean, I love the naughty things… you know I do. But I knew if you just gave into us… Gave things an honest chance.”
&nb
sp; He paused over her pouty mouth. “Meaning what, exactly?”
“Stefan, I want us to be more than the game that keeps you from getting bored with life. And the way you’re behaving now… It doesn’t seem like all that much of a fantasy.”
He didn’t answer, nipping her shoulder in a way that was impossible to read. Stefan rolled on top of her, Vanessa’s long, pale legs wrapping around, inviting him into the traditional position that complemented traditional feelings. But he didn’t accept immediately, struggling against the bizarre feeling that had cropped up inside him. Stefan ran his hands through her hair and lingered over Vanessa’s body, studying it from the poignant point of view.
His mouth began a downward descent, paying attention to each inch of skin, the way a lover would. His tongue caressed her nipples, his mouth expanding the territory. She was anxious and encouraging as Stefan kissed her thigh. More forcefully, he gripped her hips, moving on to eager inner folds of sensitive flesh. Vanessa’s back arched on contact as her hands crushed into the pillows that lay beside her. Naturally, he’d been present when she’d reached this point before, under his tongue, under his fingertips… under a table in a dark little bistro on the outskirts of Venice. He’d been most entertained watching her contain a public orgasm. But this time Stefan found himself mentally participating. He felt it when she cried out his name, moaning with a sincere pitch of pleasure.
