Page 46 of Lust

“Oh, Aaron.” She plunges her fingers into my hair and pulls my face down for a kiss, her tongue sliding between my lips. “You’re my angel,” she says finally. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”

I’m about to start listing her numerous incredible attributes when an alarm tone sounds loudly. At first, I look at Ruby, assuming she must have an alert on her phone. But she just shakes her head.

Then I remember: I set up my phone so it would ring through if Delilah called. In case of complications with Brent.

“Shit!” I jump up and grab my pants. Sure enough, she sent a text five minutes ago telling me Brent was getting ready to leave. Followed by another one thirty seconds ago saying he was walking out the door. She must have called when I didn’t respond to either.

Ignoring the call, I pull on my boxers.

“Brent is on his way home.” I turn to Ruby. “Come with me,” I plead. “I can’t stand leaving you here with him.”

She frowns and shakes her head.

“Aaron, spending time with you has been amazing, but your life is so different from mine. It’s not just that I can’t risk being so public. I’m also not, you know, the right kind of girl for you.”

Without bothering to fasten my jeans, I run to where she sits on the edge of her bed. The skin of her face is cool against my palms as I cup her jaw, staring into the endless blue pools of her mesmerizing eyes.

“When will you believe that you’re the only girl for me? That no other girl has ever mattered?”

Her lip trembles, and moisture gathers in the corners of her eyes.

“I want to believe you,” she whispers. “I do. Let’s just not push this any faster than we have to. I don’t want to destroy the fantasy.”

“It’s not a fantasy, Ruby.” I press my mouth against hers. She opens slightly, just enough for my tongue to gain entrance, just enough for my breath to move into her, as if I could resuscitate her hope, her belief.

She pulls away, and a tear spills down her cheek.

“Nothing has ever been more real to me than you.” I kneel before her and bury my head in her lap.

“You should go,” she whispers, though her hands are tangled in my hair.

“What if I could make him disappear?” I rise slowly, and her grip loosens.

“Then part of my nightmare would be over.” She smiles. “Only the mafia left to worry about.”

“Fuck them.” I stand, fasten my jeans, and pull on the rest of my clothes. “Every resource Arrow has will be at your disposal. The Fioravantes won’t touch you.”

“You sound so certain.” She hurries over to the window and pulls it open. “About them, and about Brent.”

“I know I’ll get you the best security money can buy.” I climb over the sill and drop down onto the lawn outside, then turn back toward Ruby. “As for Brent: the less you know, the better.”

“Then I won’t ask.” Ruby leans out through the opening.

I grab her jaw.

“He doesn’t touch you, understand?”

She nods.

I tighten my grip.

“I’m serious,” I reiterate. “Brent Michelson no longer lays his hands on what is mine.”

“So possessive.” A smile tugs at her mouth, and she leans forward, puckering her lips. “It kind of turns me on…” She winks and rotates her body, smacking her ass so it reverberates in front of me.

“Bad girl.” I reach through the window and smack her, too, hard enough to communicate that she’s not allowed to arouse me right when I have to leave. “Save that until tomorrow.”

“Why?” She leans over the windowsill, her breasts bulging like tantalizing cantaloupes. “What‘s happening tomorrow?”

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