AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Perfect. I have a ton of vacation time. Jamaica was the first vacation I took since I’ve been on the force.”
“Hell, no. You’re not coming along. I can’t have you in danger.”
I dropped my mouth open. “Are you kidding me? This is my father we’re talking about as well as yours. I am sure as hell going along. Besides, I’m a trained police detective. Don’t say I won’t be an asset, especially since Mills and Johnson have disappeared.”
“Ruby, please. You have no idea what I went through tonight. I thought you had disappeared.”
“I’m fine. And I’m going.”
“Please. Don’t do this. I need to know you’re safe.”
“That’s great. You get to know I’m safe, but I’ll be worried sick over you while you’re out doing God knows what around people who are potentially more dangerous than my father. That’s not fair, Ryan.”
“Damn it!” He raked his fingers through his disheveled hair and then grabbed me. “You’re going to fucking do what I say!”
“You can’t—”
His lips came down on mine. He was playing me, dominating me, and though I rebelled against him mentally, physically, my body took over. My lips parted, and my tongue darted out to meet his.
I was powerless in this man’s presence. Powerless to resist the passion between us. I melted into the kiss and let him take me away.
No more Theodore Mathias. No more Wendy Madigan.
Just Ryan. Just me. Just the Ryan-Ruby combination we became when we succumbed to our desires and our lovemaking caused the earth to move.
How had I lived without this for so long?
None of that mattered. I could have been with a hundred past lovers and none would have compared to what I had with Ryan Steel. I knew that in the depth of my bones, the core of my soul.
Our kiss was crazed, hot and wet, and just when I thought I might pass out from the beauty of it, he broke it with a loud smack.
“Bed,” he said. “Now.”
The thought of disobeying him never entered my mind. I walked to the bed, my legs shaking and barely able to hold my weight. Then I turned to meet his blazing eyes.
His gaze seared my flesh.
Normally this was the time he ordered me to strip off my clothes. I thought I might beat him to the punch, so I began unbuttoning my blouse.
He shook his head at me. “This time, you undress me.”
This was something new. For once maybe he would be naked before I was. I wasn’t sure that had ever happened between us. I turned the corners of my lips up into a sly smile. I would be happy to undress him, to bare, inch by inch, every piece of his magnificent physique. Not a hardship at all.
I trailed my fingers over his shoulders, the soft cotton of his shirt teasing my flesh, down his arms to his hands. Then I pushed him over to the bed, and he sat.
I knelt at his feet and began working on his boots.
“I like you there,” he said. “You look beautiful kneeling before me.”
I hadn’t thought about the submissiveness of my position until he mentioned it. I had only wanted to please him. Restless legs syndrome suddenly struck my knees and legs, screaming at me to rise. I ignored them, staying in the kneeling position, as I pulled Ryan’s boots off. Afterward, I peeled his socks off, baring his feet, which were oddly beautiful for a man. Then, I was able to follow my instincts and stand. I took his hand and pulled him off the bed. Now I stood before him, facing him, his brown eyes staring down at me with electric heat. I began unbuttoning his shirt, and as I did, I let my fingers trail over the warm beauty of his bronze skin. I fingered the chest hairs, the hardness of his muscles, his abs. I trailed over each nipple. They were already hard, yet they hardened even further at my touch. When all the buttons were undone, I parted the two layers of fabric, baring him to my view, and pushed the shirt off his shoulders.
I skimmed my fingers around his soft leather belt, the hard metal of his belt buckle. And beneath it, the bulge that awaited me. Slowly I unbuckled the belt and pulled it off of his jeans with a flourish. I unsnapped them, unzipped them, brushed them over his hips until he was standing in a blue denim puddle. He stepped out of them. Only his boxer briefs covered him now, and his cock was bulging out of them, a small dab of fluid visible on the light-green cotton.
I gaped at him. I had seen him naked many times before—he wasn’t even totally naked this time—but every time, he was even more beautiful, more magnificent.
But his patience was wearing thin. After a few minutes of my gawking, he said, “Do I need to repeat myself? Undress me.”
His words made me shiver. I had been on my own for so long, never answering to anyone other than bosses. I’d always had great bosses—until Mark, apparently—so I never had to follow orders from anyone I didn’t respect.
