Yes, Master, page 11
As her body relaxed, her pussy softening, Ruby pulled free and opened her eyes. The pool was empty, Drake and the woman gone. Ruby sighed and stepped away from the wall, feeling more alone than ever. “I need a man,” she muttered. Once more, Drake’s sexy smile slid into her mind. The way he’d stared at her just moments ago. Her fingers itched to touch his big, powerful body. Ruby’s heartbeat sped up and she cursed. Why had she watched? She’d tortured herself and now she would never get the man out of her head. “It’s going to be a long, lonely night.” She turned and headed back inside. Another glass of wine, that was what she needed. It’d relax her and maybe, just maybe put her to sleep.
As she tugged on the sliding glass door, a sound from behind her caught her attention and she froze. Please don’t be Drake. Ruby turned. “Bryan?” She frowned when she saw him stagger. Was he drunk? Fear skittered up her spine. “What are you doing here?”
“Y-you hung up on me, Ruby.”
Oh, he was definitely drunk. And pissed, judging by the ugly glare. His white-knuckled fists weren’t giving her a warm cozy feeling either.
Wow, could her evening get any worse?
2
Drake watched Skylar back her little red coupe out of his driveway. After she was gone, he closed and locked his front door and shoved a hand over his face in disgust. “I’m fucking insane,” he gritted out. Why else would he tell a hot blonde who was willing to do anything and everything he asked of her to leave before he could even get her to the bedroom? “I’m certifiable.” Skylar had been more than willing to play with him the rest of the night. He could be satisfied fifty ways to Sunday instead of standing in the middle of his living room with his dick as hard as granite in a pair of soaking wet swim trunks.
Too worked up to sleep, Drake went upstairs and changed into a pair of old, worn jeans and a black tank. A few minutes later he headed into the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge. That’s when he knew the truth. Ruby was to blame for his hard-on. He popped the top and took a long drink, then slammed the longneck bottle onto the countertop. Ruby had been standing on her deck earlier. Watching. Drake had felt those baby blues of hers on him.
He smiled when he thought of how she’d hidden deeper in the shadows, thinking she couldn’t be seen. But Drake had known she was there. He could feel her. Unfortunately, the knowledge that she wasn’t the one naked and in the pool with him had put a real crimp in his Friday night plans. It’d taken him all of ten seconds to realize that Skylar was nothing more than a substitute. He even knew why he’d chosen her from all the other women at the club tonight. “She was Ruby’s exact opposite,” he muttered. Short, petite, and blonde. Skylar had big brown eyes that weren’t anything like Ruby’s deep blue pools. The two women couldn’t be more different. No doubt about it, Skylar was cute and eager, but she wasn’t Ruby. Only his redheaded neighbor’s voluptuous body would satisfy the ever-present ache that Drake had been living with for the last several months. The problem was, Ruby avoided him like the damn plague, and he was getting good and tired of it.
If he smiled at her, she frowned. If he said hello, she mumbled under her breath and stuck her nose in the air. Like a queen addressing a lowly peasant. Shit. No way in hell was he going to get a wink of sleep tonight.
He’d never get any peace of mind. Not until he had the snooty woman in his bed. Drake crossed the room and opened the back door. He wondered if she was still up. When Drake stepped out onto his deck and looked toward her house, his hopes plummeted. No movement at all.
Their houses were close enough together that if it were daytime he’d be able to see the dirt on Ruby’s white siding. He’d noticed the almost totally unobstructed view of her entire backyard the moment he’d moved in. He’d been impressed with her well-groomed lawn and the flower beds she clearly took great pride in. He’d yet to spot a single weed anywhere. Last week she’d purchased a new patio set. When she seemed to have trouble putting it together, Drake had offered to help, seeing it as a chance to get to know her better. Then her asshole boyfriend had shown up and screwed with his plans. The pale little dweeb with his perfectly manicured nails and neatly pressed shirt had struggled for hours putting together the swing, making Drake wonder what the hell she ever saw in the guy.
The woman had the sort of curves a man drooled over, but she wasn’t just a pretty face. She was smart and independent and ambitious as hell, judging by her work schedule. So why was she with the dweeb? He’d cursed and gotten nasty with her, and she’d put up with it. Drake groaned and rubbed at the sweat beginning to bead on his forehead. Midnight and still hot as blazes. August in Ohio sucked.
He closed his eyes and thought back over the one time he’d gotten more than a quick glimpse of Ruby’s pretty curves. A little over two weeks ago, Drake had been lucky enough to catch the little beauty sunbathing. He’d spotted her through his kitchen window as she’d sprawled out on her lounger wearing the cutest little black bikini he’d ever seen. He’d stood there, unable to move, staring at her. Her round, lush bottom beckoned him to walk right over to her and grab a handful. Hell, even now Drake remembered the little white drops of sunscreen she’d dribbled on her skin. Drake couldn’t figure out why she’d bothered to lie out to begin with. Ruby didn’t have a tan. Her skin was way too fair, and probably too delicate. She’d burn to a crisp. Still, he’d sure as hell imagined how delicious all that creamy skin of hers would taste against his tongue. He wanted to lick every inch of her body just to find out if she tasted as good as she looked. Drake had enjoyed the view that day, but he’d vowed to stop torturing himself with fantasies of taking her to his bed. Which was why he’d brought Skylar home.
“Great plan, dumbass,” he muttered as he stood alone in the dark, aching for a woman who didn’t even know he existed.
He needed a cold shower. As he turned to head back in, movement from next door caught his eye. Someone came around the side of Ruby’s house and stepped onto the deck. It wasn’t Ruby. And judging by the way the person staggered, Drake would bet money that they also weren’t sober. Suddenly Ruby came out of the shadows of the deck and Drake wondered if maybe she was meeting a man on the sly. Drake couldn’t make out who the person was in the dark, but the larger frame definitely resembled a man.
When the guy stepped onto the deck and grabbed hold of Ruby’s arm, Drake stiffened. She jerked away and started for the house, but the guy was faster as he grabbed Ruby around the waist, pulling her to a stop.
“What the fuck?” Drake muttered as he sprinted across his deck and hit the grass running. When Ruby yelped, Drake saw red. He’d break the bastard’s hand if he hurt her.
“Bryan, I thought I made myself perfectly clear on the phone,” Drake heard Ruby say. “You and I are through. You can’t just pop up here in the middle of the night, as if you have the right.”
Drake slowed as he reached the steps leading up to the deck, and listened as Bryan tried to talk his way back into Ruby’s bed.
“Ah, you don’t mean that, sweetie.”
“Yes, I do,” she bit out. “And don’t call me sweetie. I’m not your sweetie.”
Ruby was clearly pissed, and Bryan was drunk as shit. Drake had just about heard enough. He rushed up the steps as Bryan grabbed Ruby by the arms and tugged her up against him.
“Let go of me!” she yelled as she tried to wrench herself free.
Drake knew she was angry by the tone of voice, but it was the fear in her eyes that spurred him into action. He took hold of Bryan by the back of the collar and yanked him backward. “You heard the lady, Bryan,” Drake bit out. “Get lost.”
Ruby’s gaze widened as she looked over at him. Unless he missed his guess, there was a huge dose of relief in those blue eyes too.
“Who the hell are you?”
Drake about gagged at the amount of alcohol on the guy’s breath. “Do us all a favor, buddy, and shut the fuck up.” He looked over at Ruby. “Do you want him to stay?”
She rubbed her upper arms and shook her head. “Definitely not.”
Drake nodded. “Then you might want to call the law. I’m not sure it’s a good idea for Bryan to get behind the wheel right now.”
“Oh, of course!” She turned and ran for the back door.
“Fuck you,” Bryan spit out. “I’m not going anywhere.”
After Ruby was safely inside the house, Drake wrapped a hand around Bryan’s wrist and squeezed. “Lay a hand on her again and I’ll break it.” Drake tightened his grip for emphasis. “We clear?”
“I wasn’t going to hurt her,” Bryan sputtered as he tried to pull free.
Christ, was he going to start crying? Drake had zero patience for drunks and even less for a man who would hurt a woman.
“You blew it with her. Time to move on.” Drake dragged Bryan to the nearest chair and shoved him into it. He heard a siren off in the distance. “And Bryan?”
“Huh?”
“Don’t come back,” Drake warned.
The next hour was spent talking to the cops. Bryan mostly cried. Ruby barely looked at either of them. The few times that her gaze had strayed his way, a blush stole into her cheeks and she’d quickly glance away. Drake thought he knew why too, but he wanted to hear her say it.
Once they were alone, Ruby escorted him into the kitchen and offered to brew a pot of coffee. It was the olive branch Drake had hoped for, and he wasn’t about to turn it down.
Once they were seated at her round, oak table, each of them nursing a hot cup of coffee, Drake found himself at a loss for words. Ruby was so quiet, and Drake was beginning to worry that maybe Bryan had meant more to her than he’d initially realized.
“Did you love him?” Drake asked, needing to know what he was up against before he moved any further on his campaign to get the woman in his bed.
Ruby’s gaze shot to his. “Who? Bryan?” Drake nodded. “God, no. I’m not sure why it took me two months to break it off with him, to be honest.”
“Then why so quiet?” Drake thought of the way she’d rubbed at her upper arms earlier and he frowned. “Did he hurt you when he grabbed you out on the deck?”
She shrugged and ran her left hand over her right arm. “Not really. I’ll have a bruise probably, but I bruise easily.”
Drake got up and came around the table. He crouched in front of her and took her arm in his, rubbing over the spot Bryan had grabbed. “That little shit,” he ground out. “I should’ve hit him.”
One corner of Ruby’s lips kicked up. “No, then Bryan could’ve said you assaulted him or something. This way he gets to spend the night in a jail cell and you get to sleep in your cozy bed.”
He grinned and went back to the chair he’d vacated. “You do have a point there.”
“I’m sorry you had to deal with all this.” He watched her look toward the other end of the kitchen. “God, it’s one in the morning, you must be exhausted.”
Drake shrugged. “I couldn’t really sleep anyway.”
Ruby’s cheeks turned red and Drake knew immediately that she was thinking about the little interlude in the pool. “Oh, I, uh, I see.”
Drake smiled. “What about you?”
“Me?”
“You’re up later than usual, aren’t you?”
“Oh, well, sort of. I was celebrating.”
“Celebrating?” She’d been alone, hadn’t she? What sort of celebration was that?
She nodded. “I got a promotion at work. One I’ve worked really hard for. It was a big night for me.”
And yet she’d spent the evening alone. “Then Bryan had to go and ruin it, huh?”
She swirled a finger around the rim of her cup and Drake wished like hell that finger was playing with his cock instead. He tamped down on his overeager sex drive. A woody wasn’t a good way to start off things with a woman as classy as Ruby.
“I was supposed to be celebrating with him actually.”
Drake frowned, not liking the idea of her celebrating anything with Bryan. Or any other man, for that matter. “Then why were you home alone tonight?”
Her nose wrinkled. “I said some not-so-nice things to him when I broke it off with him on the phone earlier.”
He chuckled and leaned closer. “Now this I’ve got to hear.”
She shook her head. “No, you don’t. It was rather crude.”
“Now I definitely need to know.”
“Well, I sort of told him he had a small—”
Drake held up a hand to stop her, not needing to hear the rest. “Ouch, no wonder the guy was wasted.”
She snickered and slapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh God, I’m a horrible person.”
“Hell, you ask me, he deserved it.”
“No,” she rushed to say. “He isn’t really that bad. He and I just didn’t click, that’s all.”
“So, you never got to celebrate.”
She shook her head. “Not really.”
Drake stood and carried his cup to the sink. He poured most of the contents down the drain, having only managed a few drinks. All his concentration had been on Ruby. When Drake turned, he caught her staring at him. She bit her lower lip, and Drake imagined what it’d be like to have the right to tug the plump flesh free of her teeth and lick the little sore she was creating there. Quit stalling. It’s now or never. “How about you and I celebrate together then?”
Her gaze widened. “Huh?”
“I can pick you up tomorrow around noon. There’s a little place that serves the best ice cream known to man.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter. “Are you in?”
Ruby was quiet a moment, her gaze eating him up from head to toe. Finally she stood and crossed the room. This close, Drake could see the way her full breasts filled out the flimsy blouse she wore. Drake’s mouth watered for a nibble. “Is this a date?” she asked, a frown marring her pretty features.
Damn, the woman was skittish. Drake crossed the little bit of linoleum separating them and cupped her chin in his palm, needing the connection. He was desperate to touch her. Every inch of her. “I’d like it to be, yes,” he answered.
She shook her head. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
Drake shrugged, uncaring if it was the smart thing to do or not. All he could think about was spending more time with her. “What do you have to lose?” he asked, hoping logic would sway her to his way of thinking.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before replying, “When you put it like that, how can I say no?”
“Exactly,” Drake murmured. He suddenly felt as if he’d won the lottery. He dropped his hand, but before he left there was one other little matter to tend to. He leaned close and whispered against the shell of her ear, “I saw you tonight, by the way.” Ruby gasped, telling him in a heartbeat that she knew exactly what he was referring to. Before she could attempt to recover, Drake growled, “It was naughty of you to watch, Ruby.” He stepped back and their gazes connected. “Good thing I like naughty.”
“Drake, I—”
“I’ll pick you up tomorrow at noon,” he said, halting her rushed explanation. “It’s supposed to be a hot one, so you might want to wear shorts.”
She nodded. “Yes,” she replied in a shaky, quiet voice. “Okay.”
“Sleep tight,” he murmured, leaving her standing in the kitchen and staring at him as if she wasn’t quite sure what to do with him. On the other hand, Drake knew exactly what he wanted to do to her.
As he reentered his own house, a shot of adrenaline sped through his system. Tomorrow he would take Ruby to lunch, but if the gods were at all kind, it’d be her delectable body he’d get to feast on afterward. “About friggin’ time too.” He’d ached for the woman long enough. It was high time to bring a few of his X-rated thoughts to life.
3
“Let me get this straight. You watched the two of them having sex in his pool?” Connie asked around a mouthful of chips. “Yet, he asked you out on a date today?”
When her wacky, purple-haired friend had called earlier asking to come over, Ruby hadn’t wanted to see her. She was too nervous about her date with Drake. But Connie wasn’t one to take no for an answer, so she’d come over anyway.
“Er, is it really a date? It’s lunch, not dinner and a movie. Does that still count as a date?”
“It’s Saturday and he’s a hot guy. Of course it’s a date, you skinny fool. He could’ve had blondie all to himself until the wee hours of the morning, yet he chose to have coffee with you instead. He’s obviously into you.”
For Connie to call her skinny was just downright hilarious. The woman was so thin she looked anorexic. At six foot one, she towered over most men, not that she could ever really appear intimidating. ’Course, her bold mouth was pretty intimidating. And it wasn’t that Connie was really anorexic. Heck, she could out-eat most guys. She was just one of the lucky few who didn’t gain an ounce. A trait Ruby had often envied.
“For all I know he did spend the night with blondie. Crap. Another thing to consider here. I mean, what sort of man asks a woman out while he has another in his bed?”
“Uh-uh.” Connie pointed a chip in her direction. “Sounds to me like he sent her home. Right after he caught you spying on him.” She winked. “You little voyeur, you.”
Ruby blushed. “Either way, I’m not calling this a date. Not until I find out more information first.”
“Like, is he single? Does he want you as badly as you want him? And is he hung like a horse or did he get the short end of the stick like poor old Bryan?”
Ruby really didn’t want to laugh, but she couldn’t help it. Connie had a way with words and had since they were in grade school together. The woman was incorrigible. “Terrible way of putting it, but yes, those are all valid questions.”
All at once Connie stopped eating and her gaze widened. “Ooh, yummy,” she practically purred, the bag of chips forgotten.
Ruby turned in time to see Drake at her back door. He wore a pair of black shorts and a white T-shirt. It appeared as if he’d even tried to tame the wild mane of his hair, not that it had done much good. Dark strands hung over his forehead and he kept pushing them back. God, he looked good enough to lick, to hell with the ice cream.
