“Do you have a shower?” she asks, suddenly looking down at me.
I swear her eyes flick to the tent made by my achingly stiff cock, and I let her.
“Of course I have a shower,” I tease her. “It’s a cabin, not the year 1850.”
She smiles, her eyelids fluttering down.
“Just checking,” she says, laughing.
“All I’ve got is a bar of soap, but you’re welcome to it,” I say.
She raises her eyebrows.
“No shampoo?”
I shrug.
“I just use the bar soap,” I say. “It’s all just soap in the end, right?”
Ruby looks very, very skeptical.
“It’s not like I have a lot of female visitors, either,” I tell her.
It’s the truth.
I could have ‘female visitors’ if I wanted them. Hell, at least once a week while I’m tending bar some woman will get too drunk on lemon drops and positively throw herself at me, but I’ve never taken one of them up on it.
First, I don’t want some random lay to know where I work. Then she’d be able to find me again, and I don’t need that.
Second, I don’t want some random lay. I’ve been down that road before and no, thank you. The next time I have sex with a woman it’s going to be because I’m in love with her, not because I want a random piece of ass.
Third, ever since the first time Ruby walked into the road house and ordered a cheeseburger and fries, I haven’t been able to think about anyone else.
Even though it was a year ago, when she was nineteen and far too young for me. Even if she’s only twenty now and still too young. I know I shouldn’t be thinking about her at all, and I absolutely shouldn’t be thinking the kinds of thoughts that I am.
She’s young. Sure, she’s perfectly legal, but I can tell she’s inexperienced. I think she might even be a virgin.
“I guess your lack of shampoo explains some things,” she says, teasing me with a pointed look at my hair. “I’ll go see what I can do.”
Ruby turns and heads for my bathroom. I sit on the bed and lean my elbows on my knees, taking deep breaths.
And, more than anything, trying desperately not to think about Ruby’s lithe, tight young body. Wet in my shower. Soaping herself up, slippery with the suds, letting the water rinse her off.
Fuck.
I head into the kitchen, jerking the bedroom door shut behind myself. It sticks a couple of times, and I have to lift up on the knob to get it to go right. The cabin’s well-built, but by now it’s a few years old and it’s settled a little. A few things need adjusting.
I throw together a quick breakfast — bacon, coffee, eggs — while I wait for Ruby to get out of the shower, but she takes forever.
And ever.
And ever.
I put the stuff into the oven to keep it warm, wondering what’s taking her so long.
Is she okay? Did she slip and fall?
Did Viper get in in there, somehow?
The thought is completely ridiculous, but I can’t help but worry about my Ruby falling prey to that monster yet again.
Finally, I realize something: she probably needs towels. It’s not like I keep guest towels in the bathroom, and the one I’ve been using probably isn’t even in there.
Even if it were, I’m a man who lives alone, deep in the forest. I’m not sure when the last time I washed that towel was. It would be barbaric to expect her to use it.
I grab one out of the bedroom closet and knock softly on the bathroom door.
No answer. My chest tightens one notch, and I force myself not to panic. I knock again, harder this time.
Still no answer.
Gritting my teeth, I raise my fist to knock again, hoping that nothing’s happened to her, but before I can hit the wooden door it swings open on its own, revealing a steamy bathroom.
I guess I need to fix this door, too.
Before I can do anything, before I can even close my eyes, my gaze falls on the shower door. It’s fogged with steam, but behind it I can make out the clear silhouette of Ruby, naked and wet.
Seated on the back lip of the tub. Leaning back, both hands between her legs.
She’s holding my shower head.
And moaning, the same way she was when she was dreaming this morning.
It all goes straight to my dick and I’m rock hard instantly, straining uncomfortably against the zipper on my pants. This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life, and it’s happening right here in my shower.
I should leave. I should just drop the towel and back out of this room, because she’s naked and wet and masturbating and I’m sure she doesn’t want me in here, watching her.
But I can’t. I physically can’t force my feet to move away from her, and I can’t force my eyes from her form. I don’t think anything could tear me away from this sight right now — not tigers, not tractors, not a fleet of tugboats.
Suddenly, Ruby freezes.
I hold my breath. My limbs finally work again, and I drop the towel on the floor, ready to back out of the bathroom, but as I do Ruby looks over at me.
I should leave and pretend I didn’t see anything, but I don’t. The woman’s getting herself off in my shower, and besides, she doesn’t look angry.
No, the look in her eyes is something completely different.
“Jax?” she asks. She doesn’t move, just watches me.
In a few moments I’ve closed the distance between us and I’m sliding back the glass door. Ruby gasps as she looks up at me, but she doesn’t try to hide herself.
Every single inch of her is perfect, gleaming wetly, her eyes big and her wet hair slicked down her back. She’s slightly flushed, her eyes still unfocused, breathing hard like a woman on the edge of orgasm.
Leave, I think. It’s your last chance.
My cock twitches again.
“Better than your dream?” I ask. My voice comes out low and gravelly, filled with lust.
Now she blushes even harder, her cheeks going scarlet.
“My dream?” she whispers, as if she doesn’t know what I’m talking about.
I lean against the shower, still taking her in with my eyes.
“The dream that made you moan and dry-hump me for fifteen minutes this morning,” I tell her. “Don’t tell me you don’t remember.”
“You knew?” she asks, her eyes wide and her voice quiet.
“Hard to miss, sweetheart,” I say, leaning in. “I had to take notice when you rubbed against me so hard I nearly came myself.”
“Oh,” she says, but she’s still making eye contact with me. “I didn’t realize…”
“That you were moaning my name?” I say.
She wasn’t, but I want to see how she reacts. Her eyes widen even more, and she swallows hard.
“Sorry,” she whispers. “I didn’t think you’d know…”
I sit on the side of the tub, lean in toward her, and reach back to turn the water off.
“Hard not to wake up when a pretty girl is moaning your name in her sleep and saying she wants more,” I guess.
I take her face in my hand. Even if I know I don’t deserve her, I can’t resist her any more.
“Ruby, I’m going to kiss you now,” I say softly. “And then I’m going to make your dreams come true.”
Chapter Six
Ruby
Jax leans in, his powerful frame towering over me, even though we’re both seated. He’s got one hand on my wet, bare thigh and the other on the tile next to my head. I feel like I can’t breathe, he’s so close.
And then he kisses me. His mouth is warm and rough, all at once, claiming me fully. I kiss him back uncertainly, moving my lips against his. It’s been a long time since I kissed someone, and I’ve never kissed someone like this.
Jax opens his mouth against mine, and I part my lips. His tongue darts through, seeking mine, and I moan softly despite myself. I can feel his teeth against my lower lip, his hand moving upward against my slick skin, and I gasp, my hand against the hard muscle of his shoulder.
My brain is going a thousand miles a minute. I’m half-certain that I’m still dreaming, but as much as I liked them, the dreams never felt this real.
Jax captures my lower lip between his teeth and tugs at me lightly. My breath catches in my throat, and I hear the deep gravel of his chuckle.
“Is that why you kept coming back to the road house?” he asks, moving from the lip of the tub. “You were dreaming about me, sweetheart?”
Now he’s on his knees in the tub, his thick, powerful body between my thighs. I can see his huge erection tenting his pants, the mere sight of it making me more than a little nervous.
I don’t know very much about penises, but I’m pretty sure that’s a big one.
A very big one.
“Yes,” I whisper, but his mouth is on mine again before I can say anything else. Even though I’m wet and starting to get chilly, he’s warm and dry, his hot body pressed up against mine. He doesn’t care that I’m still wet from the shower as he claims me, wrapping my legs around his waist and pulling me onto him, right there on the bathtub floor.
“Good,” he growls, his lips tracing their way down the soft, sensitive skin of my neck. “I’ve been having the same dream about you since the first time I saw you.”
He nips at my neck, sucking gently at my collarbone before releasing it. He’s gripping my ass hard with both hands, pulling me against him, not caring that I’m getting us both wet. I can feel his hard length against me, and I hold onto his shoulders tightly. I feel like if I don’t, I might be swept away on a tide of lust and longing, but Jax is my lifeboat.