by KB Winters
An unexpected giggle broke free as my eyes roved over his flawless form.
Steven’s eyes flashed. “What?”
I smiled, shaking my head. “You’re just ridiculous…like something from one of those superhero movies I suffer through on bad dates.”
Steven grinned and then placed two fingers under my chin. “Dates huh?”
I rolled my eyes playfully. “Trust me, nothing you should be jealous of.”
He laughed and kissed me again before dragging his lips back to my ear. “Trust me, baby girl, after tonight—you’ll be completely ruined for all other guys.”
My head spun at his bold statement. “Oh, really? Then I guess you better plan on sticking around a little longer than a month.”
Steven pulled away and my heart raced. Had I said something wrong? He brushed his fingers through my hair. “For you, Rubes? It would be worth staying put for a little while.”
My heart flip-flopped inside my chest and I gave him another eye roll. “Okay, we’re getting off track here. I shouldn’t have said anything. Of course you can’t stay here. Hell, I don’t even know where I’ll be—” I stopped myself and waved my hand through the air. “It’s just one night. No strings. Got it?”
Steven faltered, as though he wanted to object, but he quickly fixed his seductive smile back in place and kissed me again. By the time he unhooked my bra, all other thoughts were driven out of my mind. My modestly sized, but perky breasts fell against him as he dropped the lacey garment to the floor, and I wrapped my hands around his neck as he pressed in close enough that our hearts hammered together.
I arched back against the wall to get closer to him and Steven groaned as my hips rolled against his. “Come on, Steven. Ruin me.”
His fingers slipped between us and made quick work of the button and zipper on the front of my jeans. He stooped to slide them from my legs and I sucked in a sharp breath as his face came level with my throbbing pussy. He’d left my panties on and I squirmed as he pressed his lips against the delicate fabric. “Shit!” I hissed, scraping at the wall.
Steven smirked up at me and then lifted a leg over his broad shoulder, parting my lips. He teased me with a series of slow, lingering kisses up the inside of my thigh and then ever so gently, tugged the soaking wet panties aside. He groaned as he ran a finger up my slit. “Fuck, Ruby. You’re so fuckin’ wet!”
I nodded, transfixed on his stormy eyes as he drank me in. A moan escaped my lips as he slipped his finger inside of me, and I slapped my hand over my mouth to muffle the sound.
Steven laughed softly. “You can be loud, baby. We’re the only ones here. Let me hear what you like.”
He fingered me softly and I melted against the wall. I moaned and dropped my head back as he stroked my g-spot. The pressure built quickly and stars floated behind my eyes. When his lips found my clit, the stars exploded and I cursed under my breath. “Holy shit, Steven.” It was nearly impossible to stay upright as Steven licked and sucked on my clit, all the while, working his fingers inside of me until I was ready to explode. “I’m gonna—Steven—oh my—shit!”
“Come for me, baby.”
His deep, commanding voice pushed me over the edge, and I gripped my hands on his shoulders, my nails digging into his firm skin, as my body shuddered. Steven’s tongue danced over my pussy, lapping at me as my nerves sizzled from the intense orgasm.
Before standing, he lowered my leg from his shoulder and tugged the wrecked panties down. I stepped out of them and stood on my own wobbly legs. I collapsed back against the wall, still panting and twinging from the aftermath of the explosive climax. When my eyes fluttered open again, Steven was smiling at me. He leaned in close, one hand going to palm my breast. “You taste as good as you look, baby.”
My cheeks warmed and I let my hand wander down his chest, tracing each carved muscle with my fingertips. Steven hissed as I dropped lower on his abs, my fingers just skimming the top of his shorts that now hung low on his hips. I smiled and trailed down the front. His eyes closed as I wrapped my hand over his smooth cock. He was rock hard. Harder than any dick I’d ever seen or touched. My pussy clenched as I thought about the way he would feel inside me. “Do you have any—” the rest of my question trailed off as he reluctantly pulled away from me and went to the duffel bag on the floor beside the bed. He pulled out a foil wrapper from one of the many pockets.
“Got it covered, baby.” He held up the packet.
I crossed the room to the full size bed and then crooked a finger at him, grinning wildly. “Then get your perfect ass over here.”
He chuckled and came over to the bed. I tugged his shorts off, letting his thick cock spring free. “Damn.”
Steven laughed. “You don’t see that in the superhero movies, do ya?”
I snorted and shook my head. “Not at least in the ones I watch. Although…who knows. People are crazy, so superhero porn probably exists somewhere.”
Steven chuckled and grabbed for my hips. “You want me to put on a cape or something?”
I shook my head. “No. This is—” I gasped as he got close enough the tip brushed against my hip. “This is perfect.”
He kissed me and the subtle lingering taste of my pussy got me extra excited. I curled my fingers around his cock and stroked. Steven sucked in a sharp breath and I heard the sound of the condom wrapper as he tore it open. He pulled away slightly and I held my breath as I watched him slip on the condom. He was huge. Even without him inside me, I already knew he was bigger than any other guy I’d ever been with. Not that there’d been a lot to compare to. But still…a flutter of anticipation and achiness swept over me as I watched him. He caught me staring and smirked as he came back over to the bed. “You ready, Ruby?”
I nodded vigorously and nibbled on my lower lip.
“God, those eyes.” He lowered down to the bed, holding his weight in his forearms as he moved over my body. His cock pressed against me and I wrapped my legs around his narrow hips to allow him access. “Mmmm… I can’t wait to feel that tight little pussy wrapped around me.”
He plunged inside of me and I arched against the bed. “Shit!”
It was a tight fit, but I was so wet, the shock melted away into waves of pleasure and I groaned as he pulled out and then pushed back inside. My pussy clenched tightly around him, desperate and craving more—almost greedily. My heels locked around him and he let out a groan that hummed through his whole body.
“Look at me, baby. I want to see those beautiful eyes.”
I locked onto his eyes and he smiled as we moved together, in sync with each other, riding the same waves. Steven rolled us over on the bed and I straddled his hips. He placed his hands on my hips and guided me into a steady motion. I dropped my head back and smiled at the way my hair felt dancing along my bare back. My breasts bounced and when I looked back down at Steven he was watching them with a dark smile. He slid his hands up my hips and covered my breasts. He ran his thumbs over my nipples, pinching slightly and I moaned out loud. “I fuckin’ love your titties, baby. They’re perfect.”
I decided to give him a real show and dropped a hand between my thighs and began stroking my own clit as I rode his hard cock. Steven’s eyes went wide and I smiled deeper. “You like that too?”
“So—fuckin’—hot,” he gasped, watching me pleasure myself. “You trying to ruin me too?”
I flashed him a crooked smile. “Maybe.”
Steven rolled us over again and pulled me to the edge of the bed. He lifted my legs over his shoulders and slammed into me so deep that fireworks exploded behind my eyes. “Fuck!”
“Yeah, baby. You like that?”
I nodded, squeezing my lips together in a tight, thin line to keep from screaming loud enough that the entire neighborhood would hear me.
It didn’t take long before we both reached the top and came like wild animals—together. That was a new one on me.
He went still inside of me and my walls desperately gripped onto him, not wanting him
to ever leave. He felt…right. Even though we both knew it was so, so wrong.
Chapter Eight
Ruby
“So, tell me, how is it that no one’s snapped you up yet?” Steven asked, his fingers tracing over my hip and waist as we lay facing each other on the small bed.
I laughed softly. “I don’t know. I dated a few guys in college, but nothing that ever lasted for more than a semester.”
“How come?”
I sighed. “I guess I’m too picky…”
Steven shook his head, immediately discarding my theory. “Impossible.”
A smile flickered over my lips. “How do you know? I might have crazy rules.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know…something like he can’t drive a red car or like baseball or that he has to have a Persian cat!”
Steven laughed. “Do you?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Didn’t think so.”
I rolled to my back and Steven relaxed his hand on my stomach. It struck me as strange how intimate we were. Sure, we’d just had sex, but the aftermath was usually the most awkward part of the whole thing. Usually the guy was trying to figure out how to get me out of his bed. Hell, usually I was the one looking for the way to get back in my clothing as soon as possible. But with Steven, it felt like the most natural thing in the world to lie together and talk about life and love.
“What about you?” I asked, lolling my head over to face him.
He smiled. “I’m never in one place long enough.”
“Come on. Don’t tell me that in the ten years since you left here, you haven’t had a girlfriend.”
He shrugged. “Not really. I went to boot camp right after I turned eighteen and you remember me in high school. I wasn’t exactly the cool, confident son of a bitch that I am now.”
I laughed and threw a small decorative pillow at his face. “I don’t know that you’re any cooler now, Maxwell. You did bring up superheroes during foreplay.”
He tossed the pillow right back with a deep laugh. “Umm, think you need to rewind the tape, Westin. That was all you. Over there fantasizing about Captain America while you stripped me.”
Tears pooled at the edges of my eyes from laughing so hard. “All right, all right, you win. That was all me.”
“Thank you.” He gathered me closer as our laughter subsided. Our eyes met and the room went quiet all at once. He traced a finger down the side of my cheek and kissed my lips softly. “You want to know why I’m still single? The real answer?”
I nodded, barely daring to breathe.
“I haven’t met the right girl yet.”
I lifted up from the pillow and kissed him again. Words passed between us without speaking as our lips met and it was almost like time stopped, frozen in place for as long as we kissed.
Until a loud ringtone shattered the silence.
“Shit!” Steven sprang away from me and went to grab his phone from the table that held a sewing machine.
He silenced the call but barely made it three steps back toward the bed before it rang again. He snatched it up and cursed again, “Shit!” Steven had his back to me and I jolted at his harsh tone.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, tugging the sheet up to cover myself. I glanced over the side of the bed and spotted my discarded clothing. Should I get up and dress? Was I staying? Was he?
Steven turned around but his eyes remained glued to the screen. “It’s my CO.”
“CO?”
He flicked a glance at me. “Right, sorry, um, Commanding Officer. I need to call him back.”
“Oh. Right. Umm, let me just—”
Something dark flashed in his eyes. Regret? “Rubes, I’m really sorry. This was—”
I held up a hand, silencing him, before offering him an easy smile. “This was just a little Christmas fun. No strings, remember?” I got out of the bed and retrieved my clothing. When I dared to look up at Steven, his eyes were wide, locked onto mine. His lips parted and my heart hitched, clinging onto a shred of hope that he would correct me, but the hope vanished in an instant, swallowed by the sharp ringtone again.
“Shit! Sorry. I gotta—” he stopped and went into the bathroom attached to the bedroom.
Tears stung at my eyes as he closed the door. “What the fuck, Ruby?” I scolded myself, flicking them away. “This was just a one-night thing. Don’t go all gooey fairy tale.”
I dressed quickly and slipped out the window, not wanting to risk running into his parents in case they returned home before I made it to the front door. I shimmied down the tree and jumped the last three feet. I landed in the soft grass with a thump. I paused at the base of the tree and looked up at Steven’s window. The bathroom light flicked off and I waited, hoping he would call down for me, but he didn’t come close enough for me to see him.
I dragged myself away and rushed back to my parents’ house before I could start crying again.
* * * *
“Ruby? Are you home?”
“Yes,” I groaned, answering my mother’s frantic call. “Where else would I be?”
She bustled into the kitchen minutes later, both arms weighed down with rows of plastic and paper bag handles. “Help, help, help.”
I jumped up from my place at the kitchen island—my unofficial office for my stay—and rushed over to help take the bags. “Mom, you do know it’s okay to take two or three trips, right? It’s not like this is my walk up in New York. You have a garage.”
She laughed. “I know. But I’m in a rush.”
I sighed and set three of the bags on the counter. They looked full to the brim with the supplies for Christmas dinner. Since Rick and Vanessa and little Kayla were heading to her parents’ for the actual holiday we were having Christmas dinner as a family, two days early. “There’s a shock.”
My mom shot me a scowl and peeled the rest of the bags from her arms. “Okay, shopping is done and they had these amazing little helpers at the mall and for a twenty-buck donation, they did all my wrapping!”
I wrinkled my nose.
She caught my sour expression and scoffed, tossing her long, blown out hair over her shoulders. “Don’t give me that, Ruby Marie. I was in a pinch.”
“I know, I know. I guess I just rank paying people to wrap your presents up there with fake trees and pre-cooked turkeys.”
My mom flapped a hand at me. “It’s done, and right now, that’s all that matters. If we had more time, I’d have done it properly. But between work deadlines and this last minute plan of your brother’s to go to her side for Christmas…” She paused and shook her head.
“We both know that wasn’t Rick’s idea,” I muttered, starting to unpack the groceries.
“Yes, well, he’s certainly not trying very hard to change her mind is he?”
My mom’s bitter tone startled me. She’d never really warmed to Vanessa. None of us had. But I’d never heard her say anything negative about their relationship. Then again, no one had ever tried to pry her brand new baby granddaughter out of her arms two days before Christmas.
I sighed and shut the door to the refrigerator. “I know. But we’ll have a good time tonight and then you guys are stuck with me.”
The only silver lining to Rick’s early departure was that he wouldn’t be there to heckle me when I finally got around to telling my parents about my job and housing situation.
My mom smiled and scooped me into a quick embrace. She pressed a light kiss to my temple. “Thank God one of my babies will be here.”
Probably for longer than you even realize…
She released me and I went to unpack the final bag of groceries while she took the shopping bags of wrapped presents to one of the two Christmas trees in my parents’ house. The larger, professionally decorated tree sat in the front living room beside the fire place so that anyone driving by could see it. The one we’d decorated as a family with our knick-knack assortment of ornaments and decorations was in the breakfast nook off the family
room where we would gather to open presents.
“You want me to get started on the pies?” I offered, seeing the recipe cards scattered on the counter once the final grocery bag was put away.
My mom finished unpacking the presents and stood up, folding the bag together. “Sure, honey. That would be a big help. I need to get the bird into the oven. Let me go change and I’ll come join you.”
“Okay.”
I started getting the ingredients from the walk-in pantry and when I poked my head back out again, my mom was stopped in front of my laptop. I cringed as her eyes swept the screen. She glanced up and her eyebrows rose up her smooth forehead. “Honey? What’s going on? Are you…looking for another job?”
I drew in a slow breath. “Well…I…um…”
“Ruby?”
I pressed my eyes closed tightly. “I was going to wait and tell you and Dad together…once Rick left. But, I…I got laid off from my job.”
My mom blinked twice like she couldn’t quite understand the words that had left my mouth. “Laid off? When?”
“Two weeks ago. Roughly.”
“Right before Christmas? Who does that?”
“I know. Wall Street isn’t exactly a touchy-feely place. Apparently, they don’t care about things like holidays.”
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart!” She raced around the large island and gathered me into a tight embrace. I shut my eyes again, fighting off the tears that had been dangerously close to the surface all day. The job hunt was harder than I’d imagined, mostly because I had no idea where I wanted to end up living, and—therefore—working. And then, in any down time, my brain liked to remind me of my night—with Steven—and highlight the fact that he hadn’t called or texted since.
“Well, at least you’re in New York. I mean, sure the competition is stiff, but think of the opportunities there!”
I groaned against her shoulder. “No, Mom, I’m not.”
“What?”
“I sublet my apartment…”
“You what?”
“Mom, can we talk about this later?”
She eyed me for a moment, but then brushed my hair out of my face and smiled. “Of course, honey. Let me go change and we’ll start baking. Go ahead and finish that application if you want. You know we’d love to have you so close. San Diego would be lovely!”