by L. J. Wilson
He snickered at the remark and turned in a tight circle. Looking back at Ruby, he narrowed his eyes and thrust his hands to his waist.
“My relationship with Stefan, it might not be that—but it’s mature… multifaceted. You can’t build a life based on hot sex.”
“So sex,” he said, an eyebrow arching. “You want to tell me our relationship is about nothing but sex—no substance?”
“The fact that I’ve shown up here to tell you proves how serious I am on the subject. If you’re waiting for me to say I don’t want you physically, I can’t do that. You’d never believe me. It’s not true. But I’m willing to risk being here, in your bedroom, in order to prove my loyalty to Stefan. I want what I have with him more.” She managed to produce an expressionless face. “You’re going to have to accept that.”
She could tell he was fighting words and actions, everything from calling her a liar to throwing her onto the bed and succumbing to the heat they both felt. Ruby needed to drive her point home. She didn’t know how much longer she could be here. Gently she clasped her hands together—the way you might in church. That was good. She could use a prayer. “What we had,” she said, glancing fast at the bed, “it was once in a lifetime. But it’s not the kind of thing you make a lifetime out of. We’re not right for each other for so many reasons. You should think about that. I have.”
“Changed that much in seven years, have you? Changed enough to want some slick suit who kisses your ass—publically anyway. Why Ruby? When did money and power become such turn-ons for you? The girl I knew didn’t give a shit about any of that. She was a nurse—she helped people. She stayed late after her shift to play with the kids on the peds floor who didn’t have families who gave a damn. She wanted a family something like mine. Did Stefan so easily do away with all that?”
Ruby pursed her lips and summoned the words. “No,” she said, brushing past him and toward the exit. “You did that.”
The door opened a few inches, and Aaron’s hand came from behind, slamming it shut. “You’re that determined. Stefan is so what you want, prove it to me. Stay in this room and prove to me that our relationship is nothing but sex.”
Her back was to him. Aaron wasn’t touching her, but she could feel how close he was—his breathing, his body. “I just told you what I had to. I acknowledge a twisted physical addiction between us—probably the kind that would benefit from counseling. Clearly, it survived the past, and it survived prison. Other than words, Aaron, how, exactly, would you like me to make the point?” Ruby closed her eyes once more, and this time she did pray. She prayed for the kind of self-control she knew was in short supply with Aaron. She prayed for the ability to focus on the end game, the plague-like prophecies that would befall Aaron and his family. She needed to be stronger than the tug between them. This was too important. Determined to keep things under control, slowly, Ruby turned.
Aaron looked equally determined. “Undo the dress.”
“What?”
“The dress,” he said, glancing at the sash set to the waist of her wraparound dress. “Untie it.” He shook his head. “Don’t worry. I have respect. I’m not going to touch you.”
“Then—”
“Just do it, Ruby. I swear, what I’m after, it has nothing to do with sex.”
Aside from hot and funny and clever, Aaron was also wickedly smart. She’d have to surpass the challenge in order to win the argument. Ruby shrugged as if he’d asked her the time. The cleavage of the dress rose as she breathed deep and followed the instruction. The silky fabric slid lazily to the sides. She stood before him in pale-pink underwear, a matching bra. She felt her stomach muscles clench, nipples growing hard at the exposure.
Regardless of his claim, the stirring between her legs was automatic. Aaron’s mouth opened slightly, and then it closed. He took his own deep breath. “There,” he said, pointing toward her bare thigh. “I want you to explain to me how those two pieces of body art got there, especially the first one.”
Instinctively, Ruby’s hand covered the unique tattoos. “You know how they got there.”
“You bet your ass I do. But the way you’re talking, it seems you don’t. In our sex-crazed relationship, explain to me the reason they exist. Here, let’s make this even. That way I can make myself perfectly clear.” Aaron shucked off the dress shirt and pants, and Ruby was forced to take in a less-dressed Aaron.
She went for the safety of a medical route, imagining this was the way he’d present himself for a physical exam. But it was a weak front. She’d never looked at any man from this perspective, not in that situation. Ruby was confronted by tense, muscular forearms that met with defined biceps and broad shoulders. She wanted to rip the damn undershirt off him. Aaron read her mind, obliging and removing it. There was no safety zone. Ruby’s gaze traveled downward—a hard-on strained the fabric of his briefs. It was Aaron’s turn to shrug. “Like you said, that kind of reaction is just a given between us. Ignore it.”
She snorted a laugh and worked like hell to stay within the boundaries of the current conundrum. She did her best not remember how it felt when Aaron was inside her. She forced her focus away from yesterday, when his tongue touched her in that shattering way. Ruby struggled in vain, not envisioning his mouth on hers, or how he’d fucked her more than once against the very wall where they now stood. A tremulous breath sucked in. She’d underestimated the power of facing him in this room.
But Aaron remained true to his word. He didn’t touch her. His talk wasn’t about the steamy memories pounding at her brain. “Tell me, Ruby—about the ink… our ink. How did the tats get there—and you can skip the literal translation, Al’s Body Art on Third Street.”
There was a slight nod. It was the only body part she dared move. “We, um… we earned them.”
“That’s right. And how did we do that?”
“By, um… by not having sex.”
“For how long?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Yes you do.”
“A while, a few months.”
Aaron’s arms braced on either side of her head. “A few?”
“Fine. Eight. More like eight.”
Aaron stood with his legs slightly parted. “And do you remember which one came first—because it sure as fuck wasn’t me.”
Ruby didn’t know why, but she didn’t have control of her own actions. Her hand moved forward, placing her palm on Aaron’s leg, covering the symbol for love. “This one…we got this one first,” she said as if he didn’t know. The muscle tensed under her touch. He inched closer. There was little left between her argument and Aaron’s besides his rock-hard cock.
But Aaron didn’t deviate from his verbal point. He didn’t touch her in any way. “And even after we got the first tat, it took more time, didn’t it? We were in this thing months before we had sex. And it wasn’t a celebration. In this relationship, you had to work hard for Ruby ink.”
“Aaron, I…” Was he so close that she could feel his hardness make contact with her body? Or was she just wishing it would? A heavy swallow rolled through her throat, recalling the rules of Ruby ink.
“And the second tat, did we get that one right away? Did we run right out and paint ourselves with happiness ink?”
Ruby shook her head, no longer able to look at him. Finally, he did touch her, Aaron’s hand wrapping gently over her thigh. It made her body stir in some dizzy way that bordered on out of control.
“No, we didn’t. After we got around to the sex part—the thing you claim owns this relationship, we earned happiness.” Aaron’s hands drew to her face, cupping it from either side. She could hear bitter and anger in his voice. “We may never get to peace, Ruby. But don’t you stand here and tell me that you’re marrying that bastard because sex is all we’re about. You make me understand, sweetheart, because you’re not leaving this room until I do.”
Ruby wished she was of the passing-out nature. It seemed like the only plausible escape. Unable to move right or lef
t, she slipped from his hold by sitting hard on the floor. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t save him, or his family—not like they needed to be saved. Years’ worth of tears spilled out, the open dress puddled around her like petals plucked from a flower. A second later, Aaron was there. He kissed the top of her head and whispered, “That’s what I thought.”
He picked her up off the floor and in one fluid motion deposited them on the bed. Comfort and terror made for combative bedmates. Overwhelmed and out of options, Ruby gave into the peace she so desperately wanted—even if it wasn’t real, even if it was only for a sliver of time. Aaron loomed over her, kissing her. She kissed him back, their tongues mingling, his lips on her neck, his hand cupping between her legs. Every old sense kicked into gear, watching him, feeling him. He wasted no time, unhooking the bra, the dress lying open around her. “Do you know how many times in the last seven years, I thought about this? How beautiful you are… How…”
Ruby’s finger pressed to his lips. He suckled her index finger, moving rapidly onto other body parts, breasts that begged for his mouth. Ruby was unable to do anything but encourage him. She wanted his lips on every part of her. Her hands wrapped around Aaron’s head, her body sinking into the mattress as the kisses grew more indulgent, moving down the flat of her belly. It was a delectable tease, a new level of longing when it came to Aaron. Even the air filled with the sensual fragrance of desire. Her body nearly hit tilt as Aaron deftly slipped a finger inside her. She pushed against it, inviting more.
“You’re right,” he whispered, “I’ll be quiet. You just show me how much you want this.”
Aaron’s thumb caressed the swollen nub, and Ruby reacted. First a breathy gasp, then her teeth sinking hard into her bottom lip. He left her in a tremulous state of neediness and edged off the panties—kissing the pale-pink fabric and skin on the way down. At the same time, Ruby kicked off her heels as Aaron peeled the undergarment away. He followed, stripping off his underwear, and Ruby swallowed—hard. Seeing him again, every part of him, it was some place she’d rarely allowed her mind to go. If it were possible, he was even more sculpted than she remembered, lean muscle giving way to a thicker Aaron—but maybe circumstance had required the striking presence before her. From there Ruby’s mind switched to autopilot, committing to a course of heated pleasure. Things she wanted desperately to give him.
She sat upright and shuffled to the edge of the mattress, her legs straddling his as every hard inch of him waited. It was absolution as her mouth traveled from his chest, sinking lower, to a thicker trail of hair. With her hands on Aaron’s hips, she nudged him back, enough to slip to her knees. A gravelly moan erupted from him as she first ran her hand over the thick shaft, so anxious to take him in her mouth. The gratification wasn’t all Aaron’s. It pleased Ruby to know how much he enjoyed this—surely how often he thought of it. Aaron didn’t seem to forget a beat, a ragged, “Jesus, Ruby…” slipping from him. His fingers wove through her hair as she took him deeper into her mouth. Her hands cupped around his ass, then flirted delicately with strictly male parts. As her grip grew surer, tighter, so did his. She could tell Aaron was holding back, his hand holding harder around her head, then easing off. “Ruby… damn, I can’t… If you don’t stop, you’re going to make me come, baby. I’m going to explode right in your mouth…”
He was so fucking hard. She loved it when Aaron reached the point of no control—he so rarely did. But he was going to win this one too, his voice divided between a precipice of pleasure and exactly how he wanted this to happen. Maybe how he needed it to happen. “Please, Ruby… I want…”
She knew what he wanted because she wanted the same thing. Ruby made a slow sexy stop, her hand never releasing the pending volatile steeliness of him. Aaron’s hand covered hers, their eyes meeting in a point-of-no-return gaze. She was back on the bed, falling into the mattress under his weight. Aaron pushed her legs apart, an old edge of gentleness absent. Ruby understood why. He needed this like he needed his next breath. But Aaron seemed to steady himself, gathering her in his arms. It was a place as familiar as it was sweet. Ruby smiled, kissing his shoulder. She could feel Aaron reining himself in. “Don’t,” she said. “Just make this what you need it to be. I want you to.”
With his face so close to hers, a glimmer of crooked smile formed—like he appreciated the offer, but he wouldn’t dare. That was Aaron, wanting things… wanting Ruby, but always putting her first. Ruby had no idea what her life would be after she left this room, and she planned on leaving with a memory seared into the moment. “I mean it, Aaron.” Her lips grazed the edge of his ear. “Fuck me like you thought about all those night for all those years…” His brow knotted, the late-afternoon sun casting woozy daylight across the bed and around them. He searched her serious face as Ruby’s fingers dug hard into his shoulders.
“Then it has to be exactly what I imagined… start to finish.” She nodded at his terms, prepared for perhaps an Aaron she didn’t quite know. He grabbed her arms, pinning them up over her head, his mouth covering every inch of skin that he could reach. His body was impossible to resist, powerful and rigid—captivating. One hand was more than enough to keep hers at bay, and he got busy with the other, stroking a clit that needed only the kind of release Aaron could bring. He knew it and he used it, all the while making his most private thoughts known. “You can never imagine what I thought about all those nights—fucked up pleasure and pain because you were everywhere. But really, you were only in my head.” Aaron kissed her, and Ruby responded as their mouths met over and over. “You’re so fucking wet… I thought about that a lot,” he said, slipping a finger inside her, the pressure never easing. “But which do you want more, Ruby? Do you want this,” he said, sure how to take her to the absolute brink, “or do you want me to fuck you so hard you forget the last seven years even existed?”
A desperate, willful smile escaped past pursed lips. “Both,” she said, “I want both.”
“Good. Good answer. Bend your knees, baby… more. That’s it.”
The movement heightened everything, the expectation ravaging Ruby’s body, the preciseness and pressure with which Aaron used both hands—one tightening ever so slightly around her restrained wrists, the other matching the feel of tension and pressure as he circled a sweet spot that she could no longer resist. Ruby cried out, an achy pounding of pleasure coming with his name—an incomprehensible feeling she hadn’t forgotten but hadn’t experienced anyplace but in a dream. He freed her wrists, Ruby so grateful to wrap her arms around his body. Aaron didn’t give her a moment to recover, moving on with his post-prison fantasy. “Look at you,” he said, positioning himself over her. “So fucking ready for this… for us.” He thrust inside her, hard and without apology. And she wanted it that way, Aaron stretching her body to fit his. It took her breath away, and he slowed for a second. “Are you okay? Do… we can dial it back.”
“No!” she said, her fingers holding fast to the muscle of his shoulders. “Don’t you dare.” Still, he hesitated, his mouth covering hers with the most exquisite kiss. The rest of Aaron returned to what he’d promised them both. His arm hooked around her leg as he thrust deeper inside her. She invited more with throaty gasps, words of encouragement, an urge building inside her all over again. Ruby’s hands traced every part of his body she could touch, reacquainting herself with the power and depth of Aaron Clairmont. Jolts of current linked into one steady stream of energy, Aaron’s body using hers in a way she couldn’t describe to another human being. Passionate kisses reflected the past, and Ruby guiltily kissed him back, knowing Aaron thought they were paving the way to the future. She came again, Aaron following with a thunderous climax. It shuddered helplessly through both of them. He captioned the act with simple sincere words. “Do you know for how long and how much I’ve loved you?”
Ruby nodded, burying her face in his shoulder, explaining her tears as happiness.
Hours had passed. They made love again. This time Aaron’s pace was more measured,
more thoughtful—not like a man who’d just done hard time. Afterward, Ruby grew quieter. Lying in his arms, the two of them stared out the dormered window of the Dutch colonial. The sun had set to dusk, stars showing up one by one. Aaron took the night sky as a fresh start. They’d been lucky. The house had remained quiet, peaceful. That couldn’t last. Under Ruby’s hand, Aaron’s chest rose high and lowered.
“That breath feels like a confession,” she whispered.
She could even translate his breathing. “It is. Ruby, I have to explain something. I don’t know if now is the right time. But we can’t go forward, not unless you know everything. Maybe not knowing is what made you think Stefan was still the right choice.”
“Aaron, you couldn’t be more…” She didn’t finish the thought. Instead, Ruby pushed up on her elbow and peered down over him. “It’s about that night. Isn’t it?”
“Yes. Everything that came before that night,” he said, flexing his battered fist. “And after.”
She nodded gently, listening.
“I was overseeing drug runs for Silas Brikk. You know this. The whole fucking world knows this.”
Ruby remained perfectly still.
“What you don’t know… No one knows is that I was also working undercover for a covert branch of the DEA.”
Ruby’s body rustled, he felt her leg stiffen against his.
“Those vague jobs, the college classes I never talked much about—I was training with the DEA, working my way up from nailing bars and liquor stores that served minors to high-end stuff, like Brikk’s organization.”
