“Next stop—the storage unit,” Ruby said.
Hearing her sigh, Damon went to her. He drew her against him and brushed some wayward strands of hair off her smooth skin. She was so beautiful.
“Thank you,” he said.
Her eyes quirked as though in confusion.
“For coming with me here,” he said. “I don’t like reminders of my past, either, so I know what this must be costing you.”
She blinked a few times. “You have to stop doing that.”
“Doing what?” he asked.
“Making me fall for you.” She gave him a semifirm shove.
He took the hint and stepped back, not missing the ground he had gained with her. They were walking into territory neither of them welcomed. Damon’s heart directed him, as he was sure hers did, too.
Where it led them, only the brave could go. Damon had never been weak, and he suspected Ruby was of the same ilk. He hoped they both ended up on the same path.
Chapter 9
Ruby noticed Damon checking and rechecking to make sure they weren’t seen when they left the Nightcrawler and drove to Kid’s storage unit. Damon insisted they leave his car at the club and take a cab. He walked with her several blocks before hailing one, telling her only then that he had noticed Santiago had someone tailing them. This was part of the plan. He was no fool.
Ruby had to fight off the tingling sensation of arousal the whole time.
Kid had kept all of his haunts close. His club, the Foxhole, his home, the storage unit. Even his mistresses lived close to his center of business. He must have put them up on his dime. Funny—or not—Ruby hadn’t cared then, and she cared even less now.
It was getting late in the afternoon. The storage business wasn’t busy in the middle of the week. It was an older establishment, something that may have appealed to Kid. Quiet. Off the beaten path. Mom-and-pop.
Reaching the storage facility, The cab driver parked in front of the one Kid had rented. They got out. The facility manager was waiting for them. Damon had obtained a search warrant. So the manager opened the unit and rolled the door up. Damon found himself looking at plastic-wrapped crates.
When Ruby stepped forward, he stopped her.
“This is when we have to make it official.” Damon took out his phone and called his boss. They’d go through everything and keep it secret until the investigation was over.
Afterward, Ruby looked one way and the other, watching for Kid’s men to jump out of the shadows.
“We weren’t followed,” he said. “You’re safe.”
Her shoulders lowered as tension drained out of her muscles. “You’re sure?” She wanted to feel relief, but fear hung on to her.
“Very. That’s why we took a cab. Santiago knows we went to the club and nothing more.”
“So he’ll want to know where we were,” she said.
“We were at the club,” he said.
Sirens and lights were a heavenly welcome sound and sight.
* * *
Damon got Ruby away from the DEA team foraging in the discovery of drugs in Kid’s storage unit. He hid his great disappointment that only drugs had been found, no armory. Although he was sure Ruby shared his sentiment, she was quiet, exhausted. He needed to get her back to his apartment. Their absence would not go unmissed by Santiago and his men.
He had the taxi driver drop them several blocks from the Nightcrawler. Ruby was clearly done. Emotionally and physically. Damon had called Sean, and he and January would keep Maya for the night. She would be safe there. Damon could not predict what might transpire tonight. Santiago would not know they had discovered the storage unit, but he would know they had vanished from the nightclub.
He hoped Ruby was up for his plan.
At the nightclub, Damon readily saw two of Santiago’s men watching as they got into his used maroon Cadillac.
Expected.
Ruby didn’t notice. He ushered her into the passenger seat and got behind the wheel. He watched the car follow them. It would take some clever driving, but he knew just the route.
Using his blinker, he turned left. The car followed.
“This isn’t the way to your apartment,” Ruby said.
“We have company.” He looked in the rearview mirror, which compelled her to lean forward enough to see into the passenger-door mirror.
Damon made a right and then another immediate right. There was a parking garage, again another right, where he drove and sped up to maneuver the lane. This garage had two entrances. The other opened to another street. Damon drove there and made a right. The next left brought him back to the road he’d originally been on. He watched the rearview mirror. The other car never appeared.
“Wow, you’re good,” Ruby said.
Damon drove to the back of the Foxhole, and the two of them climbed out. It was getting late. Ruby yawned. It had been a long day for her. He wanted to get her into the apartment and pamper her. She made him want to do things like that for her. He adored even her yawns.
Eyeing her fondly, he opened the door for her. The sound of people in the pub told him the bar hadn’t closed yet.
Inside, he stopped short with Ruby when he saw Santiago and Orlando standing near the lower apartment door, waiting for them.
“Where were you?” Santiago demanded.
Ruby glanced at Damon, and he sensed her trepidation.
“We went to Kid’s club looking for your weapons,” Damon said.
“I’m aware of that. Where did you go after that?”
Damon put his arm around Ruby. “We wanted to be alone.”
“You can be alone here.” Santiago moved closer, inspecting them, or more like trying to dissect them.
“Can we?” Damon said in challenge.
“You didn’t tell me where you were going or what you planned to do. My men lost you,” Santiago said.
Just then, Sonny walked through the door. “He lost me on purpose.”
“Your car was at the nightclub, and you were nowhere to be seen.”
“We took a cab,” Damon said.
“Why?”
“Why do you think?”
Santiago stared hard at him. “If you are trying to dupe me, you are making a big mistake.”
Releasing Ruby, Damon stepped closer to him, standing a couple of inches taller. “Look, I don’t like being followed. You said you want your guns—I’ll get your guns, but you’re going to have to call off your dogs.”
Santiago glanced at Orlando with a nod.
Orlando moved on Ruby before Damon could predict what he would do. She gave a shriek as he grabbed her and put her back against him, holding a knife to her throat.
Ruby’s eyes widened in terror.
Damon looked at Santiago. “Let her go.” He swore he’d end this whole charade right now if he hurt Ruby. He was already afraid he’d do just that, if provoked. And Damon didn’t think it would take much provocation for a man like him.
“This is what will happen if you do not cooperate, Damon. I’ll take what you value from you. I want to know where you are and what you are doing at all times.”
“Fine. Let’s schedule a status update once a week like the corporate people do,” Damon said. He had to fight to keep his cool. He’d accommodate the man, but Santiago also had to know he was no coward and he was not afraid of him or his men. “I’m sick of being followed. Stop tailing me.”
Santiago held his gaze in that same deadly way. Then he looked at Orlando with another nod.
He released Ruby, and she ran to Damon, who held her to him. He took her hand and guided her in front of him toward the door.
“I want a status report at the end of the week,” Santiago said.
“You know how to find me.” Damon entered the code, careful to conceal it from Santiago and his men.
Inside, Ruby’s head fell against his chest, and she breathed deeply a few times. “I was scared out of my mind.”
“I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. Santiago knows if anything happens to you now, he will never get his guns. He’s just having a control-freak moment. And unfortunately, scare tactics are his way of maintaining that.”
Ruby looked up at him, doubtful and tired. Damon realized she wasn’t physically tired. She was tired of dealing with the fallout of Kid Mercer.
He understood now why she had so readily agreed to let Maya stay with January and Sean. Her number-one priority was Maya: she could not be exposed to anything relating to Kid’s debauchery.
“Hey.” Damon took her hands in his. “Maya is safe tonight. Let’s get you relaxed.”
Seeing the distressed response in her eyes, Damon held her hand and took her up the stairs. At the top he opened the door and ushered her in. Then he locked them inside.
“Go get comfortable,” he told her. “I’m going to check the security system.”
While she went to her bedroom, he did a security sweep and set the alarm. They were all alone tonight. Safe.
* * *
Ruby ran a bath in the main bathroom. She found some stress-relieving bubble bath and poured an ample amount in the warm water. Damon had been sensitive to her low bandwidth for Kid’s criminality. She was so grateful Maya was with January tonight. She was at her limit of endurance. Please, could she just get Kid out of her life?
She wasn’t sure if Damon had put candles in here on purpose, but they worked magic on her nerves, along with the vanilla-scented bubbles. The flickering flames offered the only light, which she loved. She rested her head back on a bath pillow and closed her eyes to ecstasy.
A knock on the door brought her head up.
“I poured you some champagne,” Damon said.
That did sound lovely. Ruby checked the bubbles. They covered her nakedness.
“All right. Come in.”
Damon entered with two glasses held in one hand and a bowl of strawberries in the other.
“Why are you doing all this?” Ruby asked.
He sat on a chair near the tub and put down the bowl and then one of the glasses of champagne. “I figured you haven’t gotten enough of this in your life.”
“Pampering?” She reached for the glass, careful not to disturb the concealing bubbles.
“Yes. And...you’ve had a rough night,” he said.
She wondered if he had another reason. He was, after all, in the bathroom with her while she reclined naked in the tub. He didn’t seem to acknowledge that, though. He was being a gentleman.
It was true: she hadn’t been treated like this in years. “I had a boyfriend right after high school who opened doors for me and brought me flowers,” she said. Then laughed ruefully. “I should have hung on to him.”
Then she would have never met Kid. She also would have never had Maya, and that was unthinkable.
“I’m glad you didn’t.” Damon moved to sit on the tiled edge of the tub.
At first Ruby was alarmed, but then the intimacy of him being there took over. She couldn’t ward off the warmth he brought to her soul.
He lifted a strawberry. “I had one of these already,” he said. “They’re so sweet and juicy. It’s what made me come in here.”
“You wanted to share the experience?” she asked.
“Yes.” He brought the berry to her mouth, and she took it and chewed. “Mmm.” He was right. They were the perfect ripeness.
He ate one, too and handed her the glass of champagne. “There’s a reason why people eat strawberries with their bubbly.”
She sipped with him, unable to look away from his eyes.
After long seconds, he put down his glass. “I think I should join you.”
She raised her brow. “What?”
“Yeah. You’re getting the full effect of champagne and strawberries.” He removed his shirt. “I feel left out.”
She laughed despite the alarms going off in her head. He was being so fun-loving. And she couldn’t deny temptation. She’d been fighting that even before she’d learned his true identity.
“Okay if I join you?” he asked.
“Yes.” How could she refuse? She wanted him too much.
She bent her knees up and folded her arms around them while he dropped his pants.
And then all she could do was stare.
“What I should have done a long time ago.” He climbed into the water and sat at the opposite end.
Ruby had gotten a good look at him. He was pleasantly endowed. She hadn’t been with a lot of men and, other than statues and pictures, hadn’t seen many naked men, but he was beautiful.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“Uh...” She shook herself out of her stupor. “Yes. I think so.”
“We’re just taking a bath.” He stretched his legs out on either side of her, knees bent to accommodate their length.
“Come here,” he said, patting the bubble-topped water in front of him. Damon leaned forward, took her glass of champagne, and put it next to his and the bowl of strawberries.
“Just come here.” He took her hands and pulled.
She slid in the water, and before she found her balance, he had her back against him.
“Okay,” he said. “Now relax.”
“Ha. Really?”
Damon picked up her glass and handed it to her. “Wait.”
She waited, hotness pooling low.
He presented a strawberry in front of her mouth.
Ruby took it and then sipped champagne, hearing him do the same behind her, feeling his muscles as he moved. She leaned her head back against him.
“No pressure, Ruby, okay?” Damon put another strawberry in front of her mouth. She took a bite.
He ate the rest of it and then sipped the last of his champagne.
She drained hers as well.
With both glasses on the tiles of the large, oval tub, Ruby waited in heated anticipation for what he would do next.
She was afraid to move. To think. To feel. To anything. Feeling wasn’t an option, she discovered. She felt powerful attraction for him.
He slid his hand around to her abdomen, setting her afire with the liquid caress. Then he lowered his face next to hers and nibbled her earlobe, his warm breath slow and steady and too, too arousing.
“Damon?” she was on thin planks that made up a bridge she could not cross safely.
“Shh,” he murmured against her ear. “I won’t do anything but this unless you want more. I won’t hurt you. Not ever.”
His words were like honey, warm and promising, but she had to be prudent. Smart. Cautious.
Didn’t she?
Damon’s hands ran over her body now, over her breasts, down to her abdomen and lower. A sound escaped her, a foreign sound. She had never made that sound with any other man. Damon pulled sexual hotness from her she had never felt before.
“Damon...” Ruby heard her breathless, lustful tone and tried to check herself. Her mind spun with uncontrollable feelings she could only describe as love, or the makings of it.
“Let go, Ruby.” Damon kissed her temple and then her cheek, going down to the side of her mouth.
“Oh...” Ruby was losing control.
Or had she ever had that with him?
She turned her head to find his mouth. He met her, answered her, and she heard his satisfied groan.
“Damon...”
“Kiss me, Ruby...”
“Oh...” She did. She kissed him with all her heart.
Water sloshed. Her wet hand came up against his face, and his equally wet hand found her breast. She sought his tongue, and he gave it to her. They shared a tender play of loving intimacy.
After too many sensuously tor
turous moments of kissing, Damon ran his hands down her body, over her breasts and lower. He rubbed her. Ruby was taken aback by her instantaneous response. She had to break away from his passionate kiss to catch her breath.
“Damon...” If he didn’t stop...
“It’s okay,” he murmured passionately.
The sound of his voice sent her tumbling over a sweet edge. She came so hard she cried out and arched her back involuntarily.
“Oh...” Ruby breathed deep several times. Then reality descended. “That has never happened to me before.”
Damon wrapped his arms around her. “Good. I like firsts with you.”
Ruby relaxed against him. She hadn’t had such an intense orgasm with any man, ever. She melted against him, her head resting on his shoulder, taking in the low, flickering light from the candles.
Damon’s strong, muscular arm moved, and he filled their glasses. Then he picked up hers and put the rim to her mouth. She sipped, closing her eyes. She felt him take a drink from the same glass and put it down.
“I want more moments like this with you,” he said.
So did she. But she didn’t voice it. Something was missing. He had pleasured her and not received the same. Searching her heart, she realized she wanted him to feel what she had. She felt him against her lower back, an invitation he couldn’t hide. He was hard as stone. She could have another orgasm. That would be new for her. Two in one day...
This was so intimate. They could easily take this all the way. But what would sex with him do to her mental state—and her emotional state? Deciding to ignore the warning in the back of her mind, she decided to let what might happen happen. She had already been intimate with him. What damage could be done by pleasuring him the way he had her? Besides, it touched her tremendously that he showed such restraint—and respect for her.
She tipped her head up to see him. His eyes were warm with desire, but in a contented way.
Colton 911: Temptation Undercover Page 13