Ruger was a powerful man to look at. He had a height of six foot five and a lithe muscular form, which gave him a striking presence in any room. With pale but warm hazel coloured eyes that lit when he was in an impish mood, yet smouldered when his thoughts turned brazen. Layla couldn’t deny that she had noticed he was attractive. But to have him kiss her, to shut her up and take liberties with her mouth, she hadn’t expected that.
Except she’d become accustomed to his mouth now; the way he teased her lips with his for a few seconds before his tongue requested entry to join with hers. Not that it asked politely, he always managed to catch her on an inhale and before she was finished breathing his tongue would meet hers and the greeting was like that of intimate friends.
His touches weren’t bold, and she sensed that he was holding himself back, though she didn’t know why or if she wanted him to. Other than his tongue-in-cheek squeeze of her breast in the alley, he’d always kept the touching to her arms, shoulders, and above. He avoided making contact with her chest and anything below the waist was a no-no.
Layla’s initial assumption was that he was easing her in, taking things slow so that he didn’t come off as a sleaze. But for a week now he’d been kissing her and she still didn’t have any idea about his package or how quickly he became aroused. Considering whether or not he was holding back because he was ashamed of the anatomy below his belt, Layla was surprised when he took hold of her shoulders and broke their kiss.
‘Colt will be here in ten minutes. He’s a stickler for time-keeping,’ Ruger said, moving her aside so he could pass her. ‘You should get dressed.’
Catching his wrist, she made him turn back to her. If she asked him straight out what was preventing him from moving things forward, she might come off as a slut and she didn’t want that. Of their own volition, her eyes moved south and she sought out some evidence that she had an effect on him.
‘What you looking for, Legs?’ he asked with swagger in his tone. ‘You looking for a show of your own?’
‘Maybe,’ she said. Having never been accused of being bashful, Layla folded her arms and leaned on the foot-rail perch Ruger had just vacated when his hands went to his belt.
‘If I drop my pants, you’ve got to drop the towel,’ he said, sliding the leather from the buckle and popping the tooth from its hole in his belt.
‘Says who?’ she asked, wearing a grin matched by his. ‘Are you gonna make me?’
‘When I show you what I’ve got, you’re going to be begging to get naked with me.’
‘You wouldn’t make me beg,’ she said. ‘You’ve been dying to get with me since the minute you saw me.’
‘Confident, aren’t you?’
‘You can’t prove me wrong, Ruger Warner, it’s why you’ve been grabbing me and kissing me all this week. You want me, just admit it.’
‘You admit it first,’ he said. ‘You’ve been kissing me back all week, showing off that sexy body, flaunting it around me, because you want me to kiss you.’
‘I know what I want, you’re the one with the jitters.’
‘Jitters?’ he said, prowling over to her and coming so close that she had to breathe in to accept his body as close as he insinuated it. Grasping the bar behind her, Layla used it to keep her steady since her toes were barely touching the floor. ‘The only thing I’m not sure about is if you can take it.’
‘Oh, I can take it,’ she said, enjoying their mischief.
Most men didn’t know how to respond to her gibes because they didn’t know if her wry words were sincere. Ruger got it. He got her. These provocative taunts kindled their attraction and the fuel burned hotter with every exchange.
‘Sure about that?’
‘Mm hmm,’ she said, taking her sweet time about moistening her lips, revelling in the fact that the action of her tongue transfixed him.
‘I think you’ll regret telling me that,’ he murmured, still watching her mouth.
Easing away, he finished unbuckling his belt and yanked open his fly. Presenting his hand to her, her butterflies reached her throat when she placed the back of her hand on his palm. Increasing his grip, he lowered it and enticed her hand into his underwear.
Guiding her fingers around his girth, a knowing smirk adorned his face when her own eyes widened. She had never felt a man so large before, never experienced it first-hand. She supposed that she shouldn’t be surprised because he was large in every other part of his stature and his attitude. A man this cocky had to have the goods to back it up.
‘Still sure?’ he asked as though he expected her to retract her hand, make her excuses, and never lay lips on him again.
‘That will never fit in my throat,’ she said, squeezing her fingers around him.
Now it was his turn to be surprised, his eyes rounded but his form loosened, like she’d just given him the greatest gift womankind could give.
‘But if he’ll be happy in my pussy…’ she whispered. Swinging an arm up to catch the back of his neck, she pulled his mouth to hers and took charge this time. Working her fist around his cock, which was still sheathed in his underwear, she dug her fingernails into the side of his neck and let a moan of curious pleasure escape into his mouth.
His hesitation was gone now. He snatched her waist and lifted her onto the bottom bar of the bed, and while she was still too low to welcome him into her body, she did part her legs to allow them to get closer than they’d ever been.
‘Ruger!’
‘Fuck.’
His sudden curse was accompanied by a glare that could probably have turned his mother to stone had she been in the room. Luckily, she wasn’t. His mother’s call had originated in the upstairs hallway, meaning there was no time for Layla to try and accommodate Ruger now. His angry frustration at this reality distracted him, and it was only when she squeezed him again and coiled her thumb over the head of his dick that she got his attention back.
‘Colt will be here in a few minutes,’ she said, pleased to know that his anticipation was now unleashed. ‘Is that all the time you need to satisfy yourself in my body?’
‘Right now? Probably, yeah,’ he said, but his anger melted away and he rested his forehead on hers. Keeping her head in place, he joined their mouths again. ‘We’ll get this dinner out the way, I’ll make our excuses and we can come up here—‘
‘Can we have sex here? Is that allowed?’ she asked.
In high school she’d been a bit of a prude, “a late bloomer” was what she told people. In truth, her mother’s cancer and her overprotective brother meant that her house wasn’t a place boys liked to come and spend time with her.
So having a tryst in Ruger’s mother’s house would be the first time she’d had sex whilst there was a parent of one of the participants under the same roof.
‘Do you want me to reserve a hotel room?’ he asked.
That would be just as bad as doing it in the same house as his parents; everyone would know that they were going there just to get it on. With a shrug, she exhaled and finally took her hand out of his underwear.
‘It doesn’t bother me to do it here if it doesn’t bother you,’ she said.
‘Really? ‘Cause I can just as easy—‘
‘No,’ she said. ‘That’s just a crazy waste of money. We’ll just be quiet. It would be rude to ask your mother to listen to us doing that.’
‘I think I’d like to hear you scream,’ he said. ‘Let’s just get down to dinner, I’ll figure something out.’
‘Problem solving is kind of your thing, isn’t it?’
She didn’t begin to understand what being a fence involved. From their brief conversations since he’d confessed the truth of what he did, Layla had figured out that people came to him with goods they wanted to sell. Often, Ruger had no idea about the purpose of said goods, or how to operate or utilise them himself. But if he wanted a reasonable cut of the sale then he had to figure it out and ensure that no one was short-changed.
‘We could always do it in my truck,�
� he said, sinking lower to capture her mouth.
Urging him back, she laughed. ‘It would be a shame to dodge the cops for all these years just to be finally caught for public indecency, wouldn’t it?’
‘Lady has a point,’ he said.
‘Ruger! Your brothers are here!’
Again, his mother called for him and this time Ruger rolled his eyes like a teenager. Gripping his tee-shirt, Layla curled her legs around his thighs. ‘Your mom must know you’re in here,’ she whispered. ‘Every other day she’s come and knocked on the door to tell me that it’s time for dinner.’
‘You know I am a grown up and I’ve had plenty of sex before, plenty.’
‘I’m sure you have, honey.’
‘This is so frustrating. You’re right, I should just get a new place, shouldn’t I?’
‘Unless you’re willing to ask Suzette to vacate it might be your only choice. You said you were trying to change, didn’t you? That you weren’t going to do illegal things anymore.’
‘Yeah. I’m just not sure what that’s going to be yet.’
‘You’re going to need a base somewhere. My guess is that it’s here or Jersey, you’ll need to take your pick.’
‘Jersey?’
‘You know Drew, so you had to have met him in Jersey, that’s what I figure.’
‘We have a lot to talk about,’ he said, sliding his hands under her hair to hold the back of her head and tip it so he could sample her mouth again.
She didn’t like the way that he said that, like there were things he had to reveal. He said it in a release of breath like the confessions were no more than an inconvenience; a boring routine that they had to go through in order for him to make love with her under the guise of full disclosure. But he so often said things like that when Drew came up and it made her wonder what she didn’t know about her brother.
For now, his brothers were down the stairs and they were the ones that Ruger had to worry about. Resigning herself to reality, Layla slid off the foot bar of the bed and pushed him to the door, walking him backward all the way.
‘You’ve seen me, shouldn’t I get to see you?’ he asked when she opened the bedroom door and had to catch her towel to prevent it from falling.
‘I haven’t seen anything,’ she said, holding her towel together in her cleavage. ‘And when it’s time for you to appreciate the view, that’s when you’ll get to see it.’
‘I’ll appreciate it,’ he said, but she gave him another shove to send him backwards over the bedroom threshold before closing the door on his protestations.
Layla wasn’t shy about her body, though it wasn’t by any means flawless. But she wasn’t going to dress in front of Ruger when what they both really wanted was to stay naked and enjoy each other.
This was the part of relationships that she enjoyed the most, when it was fun and new and exciting. She could revel in this part because there was no pressure. This situation was a bit different because she was living in Ruger’s mother’s house, but that wasn’t a choice either of them were happy with. She would be out of here just as soon as Drew was finished with what he was doing.
Layla had spoken to her brother on Ruger’s phone three times this week, and each time he was as evasive as the last time. He was still chasing the story and Ashcroft was still having people watch him. But from what he’d heard the men who Ashcroft had sent to Miami were back empty handed. Layla hoped that meant she was off the hook and that there wouldn’t be any danger coming her way any time soon.
If danger did find her, she had faith that Ruger would keep her safe. He might not be a martial arts expert or a security guard, but he had a heart and guts that would see them both through safe. She was in no rush to have Drew call the all-clear.
Yes, she wanted her brother and Serendipity to be safe. But she was happy spending this time with Ruger and the generous Warners. There were worse places to be and she knew that she’d miss all of these new people when this was all over.
Chapter Eight
Layla was the last one to make it to the dinner table and she could tell that something was wrong as soon as she stepped into the dining room. Prudence was talking everyone through her process of cooking the meal as Layla had heard her do before. Pru and her husband seemed unaware of the tension humming around the brothers and their girlfriends, but it brought Layla up short when she entered.
Ruger was the only one who made eye contact when she came in. Lyssa was busy trying to maintain the conversation with Pru by making all of the right noises about how wonderful the food was. Colt was fixated on Blaser who was whispering to Bri.
If Layla was nervous, which she hadn’t been, there would have been no need for her to be self-conscious because no one noticed her arrival. Pru welcomed her in and Ruger rose to pull out her chair, but the rest of the table was preoccupied.
It was only after dinner, when everyone moved through into the living room for coffee, that Layla found an opportunity to question Ruger while he was in the kitchen stacking the dishwasher.
‘What’s going on?’ she asked.
‘Don’t ask,’ he mumbled.
Except she wanted to know and didn’t like feeling as though she was the only one out of the loop. Though Layla had to admit, she wasn’t actually a part of the family and so had no rights to be involved in any of the intrigue.
‘Are you ok?’
‘Mom will be wondering where you are,’ Ruger said. ‘You should go through and have coffee.’
‘I told them I was coming to help you.’ And since she was here anyway, she traversed to the sink and began to rinse off the rest of the dishes that were waiting to go into the huge dishwasher.
‘You don’t have to do this,’ he said. He’d seen her helping out all week and had given up trying to deter her a few days ago, so this new grumpy attempt concerned her.
‘I know that it’s none of my business, but I could tell as soon as I walked into the dining room that something was wrong. If I knew it then your mom knew it too, but she’s acting as if nothing is wrong. Did she give you news before I got downstairs? Is she…?’
She hesitated to ask about Ruger’s mother’s health, because Layla wasn’t sure that she was the best person to give advice on the matter if Pru was indeed sick. Her own heart seized at the notion of such a wonderful woman being torn from her family when she was still so loved and involved with all of their lives.
‘No, it’s nothing to do with Mom,’ he said. Putting a bowl in the dishwasher, he gave up on the chore and leaned back in the corner formed by perpendicular work surfaces. Sensing that he was about to say something, Layla laid the dish she’d been rinsing in the sink and waited. ‘It’s Bri.’
The young vibrant woman at the table, whom she hadn’t been formally introduced to, was a beauty, but a meek one and Layla hadn’t expected that. Maybe if Bri had just been given bad news, this wasn’t the best day to judge her personality.
‘What about her? Is she ill?’
‘She’s pregnant,’ Ruger said, locking his eyes on hers.
The seriousness didn’t elude Layla, having a child was a life-changing thing. But Bri was with a man who loved her and Layla doubted that Blaser would turn his back on her. ‘How is Lyssa taking it?’ Layla asked, because an accidental pregnancy could upset the couple who were trying in vain to achieve the goal.
‘Lyssa is great, I don’t know… Colt told me before we sat down. I haven’t had a chance to talk to them properly yet.’
Though her hands were damp, Layla moved over to loop her arms around him and offer some comfort. ‘This is good news,’ she whispered. ‘It might be a shock but they love each other, Ruger. Blaser and Bri, it’s obvious from the way he talks about her how he feels.’
‘I know that,’ he said, catching her hand before she could touch his face.
Movement made her turn around. Colt and Blaser were heading across the kitchen toward the back door. ‘Outside,’ Colt said to Ruger and didn’t miss a step in Blaser’s wake.
The two men went outside and the screen door swung shut. ‘Go on,’ Layla said. ‘I’ve got this.’
‘Thanks,’ he said. Brushing a kiss on her head, he passed her to follow his brothers into the back yard.
Carrying on with the task that Ruger had left was the only way that she could contribute and she was happy to have something to do. Colt was level-headed and Ruger was loyal. She knew they’d help Blaser process this and help him to do whatever was needed.
When Ruger got outside, Colt was on the edge of the slate patio watching Blaser stride around the vast yard in a tight circle. Leaving Blaser to his journey, Ruger stood beside Colt and joined him in watching their brother knowing that Blaser would talk in his own good time.
‘I guess he isn’t taking the news well,’ Ruger said. ‘How’s Lys?’
‘Lys?’ Colt asked, shifting his concentration away from Blaser. ‘Why are you asking about her?’
‘Layla did,’ Ruger said. ‘She thought Lys might be upset that Bri tripped and fell into what you guys have been trying for.’
‘Shit,’ Colt said, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck, then holding on. ‘She’s fine, I think… I didn’t think about that.’
‘Women,’ Ruger said on a tut. ‘I guess you have to be a woman to think like one.’
‘I’ll take her home early and take her temperature.’ That was something that Ruger had heard his mother and Lyssa talking about with regards to fertility and the correct time for conceiving. Unsure about how Lyssa would feel about making an attempt at conception after receiving news like this, Colt must have read his confusion. ‘Not like that temperature, metaphorically. I’ll check she’s ok.’
‘How did you get out of there?’ Ruger asked. ‘Mom has been on overdrive all night, she knows something is going on.’
‘She never asks,’ Colt said. ‘She just assumes we’ll tell her when we’re ready.’
‘Are they going to tell her?’
Game Of Risk (Risqué #3) Page 9