She claimed she loved him, and her body told him as much. So why was she holding back?
A last cry burst from her lips. She collapsed to the bed, knees splayed while he slowly lapped her pussy clean of juices and lost more of his heart to her.
When he raised his head and met her stare, the words rushed out. “Marry me.”
She stared.
Feeling this was right to the marrow of his bones, he crawled up her body to hover over her, braced on his arms. His erection jutted against her pussy. A small shove and he’d be inside that slick heat he craved. But not yet.
“I mean it, Ruby. Marry me. Let me make you my life. I can’t imagine living any other way.”
She didn’t speak, and he went on, “I want to keep you safe. Make you happy. Give you everything you’ve never had.”
She stopped him with a finger over his lips. Still, she didn’t speak. At last, she shook her head. “Don’t you know you give me all those things? I never believed I’d have a man like you. The men I’ve seen were horrible or selfish. My own father was so selfish he trapped me in his hell.”
Her father was being released from the hospital soon, after a long course of treatment for malnutrition and infection and a surgery to fix what they could of his fingers. When he was ready, he said he wanted to return to Ruby’s Place and run it the way his mother meant for it to be run, minus the brothel. Though Elias had questions about his ability to stay out of trouble when it came to gambling, he hoped the man proved honest from here forward.
And left his daughter out of it.
Ruby brushed her fingertips over his lips and trailed them across his jaw. She searched his eyes. “You’ve given me my life back.”
“You can choose what you want to do with it. Don’t you see that?”
Her mouth popped open as if what he said finally hit home.
Seeing he’d struck a nerve, and maybe could convince her to say yes, he stared down at her. “You don’t actually believe you deserve your life back, do you?”
She didn’t speak. She pushed against his chest, and he rolled off her, still hard and throbbing, but sex was far from his thoughts. When she sat on the side of the bed, he stood up and circled to kneel in front of her. He took her hand and squeezed her fingers.
“Ruby, you’re deserving.”
She looked away. “I didn’t always choose the correct path. I screwed up.”
“Nobody’s perfect. You were in a desperate situation.”
“But I sent girls away to fend for themselves.”
“The world needs rules to keep operating. I employ those rules to keep people safe, and you did the same.”
She dropped her stare to their joined hands. “When my girls were in the middle of that gun fight, I knew I’d failed them.”
He set his fingertip beneath her chin and drew her eyes up to meet his. “Sweetheart, you never failed. You couldn’t have stopped the mafia from rushing in there. They opened fire on us because they knew we were about to end their reign.”
When a shiver ran through her, he wrapped her in a blanket, stood and drew her into his lap. She curled against him, which gave his heart a pang of love mingled with pain.
“I was self-centered. Focused on saving my father. I should have been less selfish.”
“Let’s say for a second that you were selfish—that you could have done more. Then let me ask you if you’d do it all the same way.”
She shook her head before he finished the sentence.
“See?” He hugged her closer, breathing in her sweet scent. “You changed. Grew. That’s what life is.”
“How do you know all this?”
He shrugged. “They call me the jack-of-all-trades for a reason.”
She arched a brow. “I’ve been wondering about that. What’s the reason?”
“I’m not one to talk myself up, but I only need to see something once to learn how to do it.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I saw how you selflessly gave up everything in order to keep your father alive. You love with no restrictions—and you taught me to do the same.”
She made a hitching noise in her chest, and he drew her chin up to meet her eyes again.
“Say yes, Ruby. Say you’ll be my wife.”
A tear zigzagged down her cheek, and he caught it with his thumb. Then, as if the sun broke through the clouds, a smile lit up her face. A soft laugh bubbled past her lips.
“Yes.” She leaned into his palm. “I’ll marry you.”
He stared at her. “Really?”
“Yes!”
He bracketed her face in his hands and kissed her. The passion flowed between them, growing stronger with promise of their yet-to-be-spoken vows.
Then she pushed on his chest, sending him sprawling on the bed. She straddled him and threw off the blanket he’d cloaked her in.
Planting his hands on her curvy hips, he drew her onto his cock. In a hard thrust, she took his length to the hilt. Need blasted up from his balls and tightened around every inch of his erection inside her. She moaned, and he claimed it with his tongue swirling over hers.
She rocked on him, again and again, pulling his hard cock through her slippery hot sheath. When he felt her begin to tighten on him, he locked her body close to his and rocked his hips to fuck her.
Love shattered his heart at the moment she began to come. A spurt burst from him, and he roared with the ecstasy taking over his body.
His heart. His soul.
Ruby undulated her hips a final time, trying to kill him. He grunted and rolled, pinning her beneath him again.
“You sure you love me?” he rasped.
Confusion lit her stormy blue-gray eyes. “Why would you ask me that? I just told you I’ll marry you.”
He offered her a sly glance. “Well, I may have jumped the gun and made some plans.”
“What kind of plans?” Outrage sounded in her tone.
“I rented us a place. It’s a shack really, but I’m handy.”
“Don’t tell me you know how to build too.”
“I’m skilled with a hammer and saw.”
“You got a house for us before knowing I’d say yes?”
He searched her beautiful eyes. “It’s called hope, sweetheart. I hoped and prayed that you’d be at my side for the rest of my life.”
She shoved him in the chest. “You mean you knew you’d get your way.”
He grinned down at her. “I have an edge, you must admit.”
He chuckled and twisted a lock of her hair around his finger. “I have enough sex positions to keep you satisfied for a lifetime stored up here.” He tapped a fingertip to his temple.” Besides, I haven’t showed you how fun that washing machine can really be.”
Lust flooded her eyes again. “Maybe you’d better show me some of those positions now. The washer will have to wait.”
He cocked a brow. “How many times do you want to come tonight?”
She locked her thighs around his hips. “Why don’t you show me what you’re made of, baby?”
“Mmm. That’s a name I haven’t been called yet.”
“Gasper. Elias. Jack. Doesn’t matter what they call you.” She kissed him with a tender brush of her lips and then whispered, “You’re all mine.”
“I knew I’d win you someday. Quitters never win.” He twitched his hips, filling her with his cock again and listening to her soft cries grow louder until a final scream issued from her. Seconds after his final jet of cum left him, a loud banging shattered through his haze of pleasure.
“Dammit, I’m gonna kill these guys if it’s not important.” He yanked on his jeans while Ruby rolled up like a burrito in the covers to conceal her nakedness.
He strode to the hotel room door and unchained it. One peek through the peephole showed him the fisheye view of Penn standing there. When Gasper opened the door, all the guys burst out laughing.
“You guys are damn loud, ya know that?” Shadow ribbed him.
Gasper shot a glance over his shoulder at the bed. Ruby pulled the covers over her head to hide her blush.
“What do you assholes want?” He grinned at his brothers.
“We’re celebrating. Meet us in the bar. Both of you.” Penn shot a glance past him toward Ruby.
Gasper scratched his head. “What’s to celebrate?”
“Paxton made it through his second surgery, and they say he’ll be good as new and joining us as soon as he finishes rehab.” Penn’s words brought a rousing cheer from the rest of the team.
Gasper grinned. “Damn, that is good news. Give us five minutes. We’ll meet you.”
After he was finished and Ruby poked her head out from beneath the covers, they shared a smile. “Such good news.”
He walked over to the bed and slapped her bare ass as she climbed out of bed to dress. She squealed, and he barely held his need in check as they dressed. He grabbed her hand and threaded their fingers together.
Tenderness and pure love filled him. For another today in his life. For his brothers. Paxton.
For Ruby.
To his surprise, she went on tiptoe and pecked him on the cheek.
“What’s that for?” he asked.
“We have some good news of our own to share, don’t we? Let’s go. I could use a drink that I don’t have to serve for once.” She tugged his hand, drawing him faster down the hallway to the bar. He’d follow the strong woman who was the love of his life anywhere.
1-CLICK THE NEXT IN SERIES
Paxton’s story
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Em Petrova
Em Petrova was raised by hippies in the wilds of Pennsylvania but told her parents at the age of four she wanted to be a gypsy when she grew up. She has a soft spot for babies, puppies and 90s Grunge music and believes in Bigfoot and aliens. She started writing at the age of twelve and prides herself on making her characters larger than life and her sex scenes hotter than hot.
She burst into the world of publishing in 2010 after having five beautiful bambinos and figuring they were old enough to get their own snacks while she pounds away at the keys. In her not-so-spare time, she is fur-mommy to a Labradoodle named Daisy Hasselhoff.
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