Page 2 of Conflicted
Chapter One
Ruby tossed her keys in the small basket on the side table. The darkness of the night cloaked her home, but through the curtainless windows, she could appreciate the lights of the city below. Her studio apartment might be pricy for a single woman, but Ruby didn’t need much else, and she found the high ceilings and large windows well worth the extra costs. She was grateful to snatch up one of the top floor studios before they got rented out. Ruby loved the open plan and industrial feel of the space.
She plopped down on the black leather couch without bothering to put on the lights. Her eyes had gotten used to the dark by now, and she should head to bed anyway. Her mind wandered back to the evening events, and her pensive mood turned gleeful as she remembered the radiant expression on Sandra’s face and the tenderness in GT’s eyes. Maybe love isn’t a fairy tale?
Ruby shook her head to eradicate those wishful thoughts. Although many couples had found their significant others at Club Indigo, Ruby didn’t believe in commitment and happily-ever-after. Her parents seemed the best example. Ruby scowled as she remembered the letter she had gotten from her sperm donor – again. She had no clue why the man kept trying to get in contact with her, but she had nothing to say to him – nothing!
The bastard had gotten Ruby’s momma pregnant at the tender age of sixteen and promptly left her behind to tour with his band, no care whatsoever. Shunned by her parents, Jewel McCormick had lived in the attic above the hairdresser’s salon where she worked after school. If not for the kind and generous owner, her mother would have ended up homeless.
The sperm donor was the lead singer, bassist, and founding member of Magenta Castle. They were a successful hard rock band – not that Ruby followed them, but she couldn’t miss the news items about sold-out concerts and yelling women. It seemed like women didn’t care Luke Peters was an asshole who left his pregnant girlfriend behind to become a rock star.
Luke wandered in and out of their life for Ruby’s entire childhood. At the age of sixteen, Ruby refused to meet the sperm donor anymore, and she rejected every attempt at contact. Ruby suspected her mother continued meeting him when the bastard spent some time in town, but eventually, he heeded her wish and left her alone.
Apparently, her wishes became less important about eight months ago, when his first letter came, pleading for her forgiveness and a chance to meet. She opened it, not even recognizing who sent the message. The rest of his correspondence she returned to sender without bothering to read any of it. To say Ruby resented Luke Peters was a mild way to put it, but Jewel didn’t seem to harbor ill feelings towards the man. Even if the man in question had cost Jewel’s relationship with her parents and ruined her chance of experiencing life before becoming a mother.
Like always, when thinking about her mother, Ruby’s features softened. Jewel was the best mother a girl could wish for, and she’d become a surrogate mother to Sandra as well, who had ‘ghastly Gisela’ for a mom, a woman with no maternal instinct at all.
Ruby made a mental note to go by her mother’s tomorrow. A couple of months ago, a mugger attacked Jewel on her way to the bank, and the experience had left Ruby’s mother shaken. Ruby wanted to be there for her mom like she had been for her and Sandra through the years. The police hadn’t been able to catch the mugger, and it didn’t sit well with either Jewel or Ruby. What if he tries again?
Ruby sighed and rose from the couch to go to bed. She couldn’t do anything about her father or for her mother until the next day anyway. Still, both her parents occupied her mind as she went through her evening routine and soon slipped beneath the bed covers.
Despite her tiredness, she couldn’t get to sleep. Ruby tossed and turned for over an hour and finally caved. She took her vibrator from her nightstand, switched on the hot pink device, and teased her nipples. With the little hoops through them, the buds were super sensitive. Ruby arched her back and enjoyed the vibrations as she alternated the pressure.
Her sex drive was high, and she didn't need much stimulation to get with the program. Even after only teasing her nipples, her pussy tingled and clenched, but she kept at her breasts for a little longer. By the time she reached her goal, she wanted to be primed and ready to go off like a rocket.
With her free hand, she plucked the nipple piercing on her other breast. She learned to enjoy the bite of pain, but this didn't feel as exciting as when a Dom pushed her to her limits — or even a bit past them.
Ruby trailed a line from between her breasts to her mound with her free hand and softly stroked the bare flesh. Waxing was torturous, but she always found the result worth it. She grinned when she remembered Will's reaction to her waxed pussy. No one had eaten her with more enthusiasm before, and Ruby never came harder in her life.
She allowed her hand to slide lower and hummed at the wetness between her thighs. All right, time to get down to business.
She lubed the head of the Ultra Bullet by teasing it through her wet folds and placed the humming vibrator a little above her clit. Her vertical clit hood piercing vibrated pleasantly right below it. Although Ruby had wanted the triangle piercing, she hadn’t sufficient hood height to get it, but the vertical one gave lots of pleasure and extra stimulation as well.
Looking for a fast orgasm or two, she cranked the small device up to its highest level. Although small and silent, the toy packed a punch, and she liked it rough. However, tonight it didn't seem to go fast enough.
Her free hand gripped the bedding as she pushed the head of the vibrator with more pressure against the sensitive nub and added a little wiggle. The device lacked the soft wetness of a man's tongue, but the movement reminded Ruby of Will's ministrations, and something in her belly fluttered.
Her legs strained as the first waves of her second orgasm started to ripple. Ruby closed her eyes and arched her back as she imagined the big man standing over her. She cried out as the climax took over, and she slowed before she pulled the vibrator away as the aftershocks shuddered through her body.
As quickly as the release came, it also went. Like placing a small tattoo in black ink on someone. Rewarding and pleasant but done fast and easy to forget.
Ruby sighed and used the hand not holding the vibrator to spread her folds and expose her clit more before lowering the still humming bullet to the small bud. When the telltale tightening in her lower half started this time, she sucked in a breath and held it. With a rapidly beating heart, Ruby strained against the climax and the urge to pull the vibe away. She hovered on the pinnacle as the pleasure built and built until she could no longer contain it, and it billowed outside and rushed through her body.
Now that's more like it! Her last orgasm was more akin to finishing a full sleeve in vibrant colors. Now limp and satiated, she curled on her side and dozed off, the Ultra Bullet resting in her limp hand.
The following day, Ruby shot her mother a quick text while she munched on the last spoonful of her morning cereal.
8:34 Hey, momma, time for a coffee in an hour?
Ruby rinsed her bowl and spoon and went to the bathroom to finish her makeup. She scowled at her reflection. Her appearance exuded exhaustion, but she could fix her shallow complexion with foundation and a little bit of blush. Her tired eyes needed more attention. She searched her makeup box and pulled out concealer, eyeliner, and mascara together with her mega big eyeshadow case. She would need at least three colors to brighten her appearance. Her phone dinged, and she placed the mascara wand on the sink to read the text.
8:47 Would love it, 9:30 at the Sweet and Savory Table?
Ruby looked at her phone, and her cheeks rose. The Sweet and Savory Table was their favorite meeting place. The small breakfast and lunch café sold a delicious assortment, was cozy, and situated at a walking distance from her mother’s hair salon. What momma McCormick didn’t know, the owners all frequented Club Indigo. Originally co-owned by Sonja, Suzie bought in, and the women expanded from just lunch to also serving breakfast. Suzie’s husband, Connor, was the financial brains, and the women ran the small breakfast and lunch café together.
