“I don’t know. I’ve given up trying to understand my relatives,” I said. “They’re all nuts.”
“Tell me about it,” Ryan said, squeezing my hand.
“Where do you think your father went?”
“I have no idea. But he’s a planner. He probably had something set up for every contingency. And I do believe he will take care of Daphne.”
The reality was still so jarring. Not only Brad Steel but also Daphne Steel was alive. We still didn’t know the story behind that, and who knew when Brad Steel would surface again to tell us.
Talon and Jonah were no doubt filling their wives in on everything right now.
I closed my eyes and sighed.
Ryan leaned over and kissed my cheek. “Want to go to bed?”
I laughed. “Sure.”
He stood and then swooped me into his arms.
“Hey!” I said.
“You said you weren’t moving until tomorrow, so I figured I had to carry you.” He smiled down at me and walked up the short staircase, through the kitchen, and down the corridor to his master suite. He nudged the door open, walked in, and laid me gently on the bed.
He positioned himself beside me, and I snuggled into his shoulder, closing my eyes.
* * *
I awoke in the middle of the night, still dressed. Ryan was snoozing soundly next to me, also still dressed.
I was parched from the travel, so I rose, walked to the kitchen, got a long drink of water, and let the dogs back in. Little Ernie needed to be fed, so I gave him some of Ricky’s kibble. I’d have to get puppy food in the morning.
Soft padded steps came up behind me, and then Ryan’s firm lips grazed my neck.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey yourself. I’m just feeding the puppy and getting some water. I’m so dehydrated.”
“Yeah, me too.” He went to the sink, got himself a glass, and drained it in one gulp. In seconds, he was back behind me. “I’m sorry I fell asleep.”
“Last time I checked, so did I.”
“You want to take a dip in the hot tub? I know it’s the middle of the night, but it would feel great.”
Sounded like sheer bliss to me. Plus, the dogs could go back outside and do their business.
“Mmm, perfect. I’ll need to borrow one of your robes.”
“There’s no one here, Ruby. We can just use towels.” He padded back to his room and returned a few minutes later with two king-sized bath towels.
We undressed in the kitchen and wrapped the towels around us. I couldn’t help lasciviously appraising Ryan’s masculine beauty. I’d never grow tired of looking at him. I untangled my hair from its band and piled it in a messy bun on the top of my head.
“Ready,” I said.
“You look good enough to eat.”
“Nothing stopping you that I can see.”
Without ceremony, he lifted me onto the kitchen table, the towel around me sparing my behind from the cold surface.
I squeezed my eyes closed against the harsh fluorescent lighting.
The first time Ryan had set me on this table, I’d freaked, resulting in a nightmare after which I ended up in the shower trying desperately to wash the filth of my father from my body. It was the harsh lighting that had taken me back to the time my father attacked me. He’d started in the kitchen.
But this was Ryan Steel. A man who loved me, who wanted to marry me. This was his kitchen, not my father’s. And I was here willingly. Oh, so willingly.
“You okay, baby?” Ryan whispered against the flesh of my neck.
I nodded. I’d be okay. I had to be. No more would Theodore Mathias rule my life.
“Good. Because I can smell you already. I need to taste you.” He sat down in a chair and positioned himself between my legs. “Mmm, so wet. I love how wet you get for me.” He slid his tongue over my clit.
I gripped the edges of the table. So good. His tongue swirled around every part of my vulva, and then he lapped at my clit before forcing his tongue inside my wetness. He groaned as he ate me, and I closed my eyes, tilting my head back, letting only good thoughts in.
Only good thoughts…
“Baby, you taste so good,” he said against my pussy. “Come for me.” He inserted two fingers, hitting that place that made me go instantly crazy. My skin tingled, and every cell in my body tensed and then released, pure pleasure flowing through every part of me and grounding itself in my pussy. I throbbed and throbbed, and he sucked on my clit, bringing me to new heights each time he twisted his fingers inside me.
After my fourth consecutive climax—how was that even possible?—I grasped his damp hair in my fists and pushed him away from my pussy. “Enough. I can’t take any more.”
He rose and kissed me, giving me a taste of my own tangy musk. “Oh, you can,” he said. “And you will.” He tucked my towel back around me and then led me outside to the hot tub, the dogs cavorting at our heels.
Chapter Forty-One
Ryan
Had to have her. Had to get inside that tight little pussy. We hadn’t been together in three days, with all the goings-on. Someone from the FBI was always in the identical house wanting to talk to one of us, and we’d had no chance for any alone time.
I needed her. Needed to claim what was mine.
I ripped the towel from her body and regarded her in the moonlight. A goddess, even with her hair piled in a mess on top of her head. Her skin was opulent, her breasts perfect round globes. Her red nipples were puckered and hard. I reached forward and gave each of them a pinch.
She gasped, closing her eyes.
A waft of her vanilla scent drifted toward me, and I inhaled deeply. No sweeter perfume. I took her hand and led her into the steamy water.
I sat down and pulled her onto my lap facing me. The steam floated around us, a mesmerizing cloud.
She inched down on me slowly, and with every millimeter of her pussy surrounding me, I was convinced I’d entered heaven itself. She sat on me, my cock totally embedded in her body, for what seemed like forever.
I wanted to lift her off, to thrust in and out of her, yet I also wanted to stay like this. Joined to the woman I loved, for a lifetime.
Within a few minutes, though, she rose, moving her hips in a tantalizing figure eight, and began fucking me slowly.
Oh. My. God.
This woman, who’d had no experience whatsoever when we met, had turned into a sexy seductress, a tempestuous siren who knew how to drive a man into madness.
Her breasts jiggled as she fucked me, her nipples bobbing like tiny berries on the surface of the water, begging me to catch them. I caught one between my teeth and tugged, eliciting a soft moan from her sweet red lips.
“Touch yourself, baby,” I commanded. “I want you to come.”
She reached down and began playing with that beautiful pussy, and that’s all it took to catapult me over the edge. I thrust upward, giving her all of me, ramming against the entrance to her womb as I spilled everything I had inside her.
“Ruby. God, Ruby. I love you so much!”
She burst into climax at my admission, clenching around my convulsing cock like a perfect vise.
And we soared together.
* * *
The next morning, I awoke to the smell of bacon frying. I inhaled, went to the bathroom quickly, and then pulled on a pair of boxers and walked to the kitchen. Ruby stood at the stove wearing nothing but one of my T-shirts. It covered her cute little ass as a miniskirt would. I walked up behind her and cupped one of those luscious butt cheeks.
She swatted me away. “You’re going to get splattered with grease.”
“I’ll splatter you with grease,” I said, laughing.
“Ha ha.” She turned off the burner and placed the fried slices of bacon on a waiting paper towel. “Sit down. I’ll bring you some breakfast and a cup of coffee.”
She moved about my kitchen as if she already lived here. I liked what I saw. I liked the idea of her here always. I’d tried to get her to move in with me a few weeks ago when I feared for her safety. I still wanted her here forever.
Damn it, she was going to have to marry me.
We hadn’t had a chance to talk about my proposal—I’d asked twice now—in a while, due to all the other shit going on.