Page 41 of A Tempting Seduction (Protectors of Jasper Creek #5)

Chapter Twenty-Four

I saw Carrie’s car coming up my drive and was out my front door before she had a chance to get out of her car.

“Anxious much?” She grinned at me and handed me the sack of clothes and sundries she’d picked up from Ruby’s place.

“I just didn’t want you to knock on the door and wake Ruby.”

Carrie’s expression changed to one of concern. “How is she?” she asked as she handed me back Ruby’s house key.

“She’s been better. Fuck, Carrie, those sisters of hers are stone-cold bitches, and they about broke her heart.”

Carrie shook her head. “It’s not fair that someone as good as Ruby has to deal with women like that.”

I blew out a breath. “I agree. In good news, turns out she’s blood related to half of Jasper Creek.”

“What?”

“Yeah,” I smirked. “Turns out Miss Gladiola is her great-granny, and Little Grandma is her great-aunt. So, all those Magills floating around here are kin.”

“Whoa.” Carrie had the same dazed look on her face that I must have had at the diner. “You’re going to be marrying into Jasper Creek royalty.”

I gave my know-it-all sister a deadpan look. “Who says I’m marrying Ruby?”

She slapped me on my chest. “Don’t lie to me. I know all.”

The scary part was, she kinda did. “First I’ve got to get her to agree.” I hated hearing the nerves in my voice.

“Ford, Ruby is head over heels in love with you. She’s going to say yes, and you are going to have a passel of kids and live happily ever after, all because she knocked you on your ass just like I told you she would.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Now go back inside and do things I don’t want to know about.”

She reached up and kissed me on my cheek and got back into her car and drove off.

Damn, I had sure won in the sister sweepstakes.

I jogged back up the steps to my house, quietly let myself back in, and made my way back to the bedroom. Ruby was still asleep. I put the bag that Carrie had given me on the dresser then, shucked off my clothes and joined her in bed. I was still tired, so a couple more hours of z’s sounded good.

I woke up to warm lips kissing their way down my chest, and clever fingers circling my hardening shaft.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked in a raspy voice.

“If you have to ask, I’m doing it wrong.”

I chuckled. “Everything you’re doing feels right to me.”

“Good.” Her tongue swirled along the edges of my belly button and all the blood from my head went to my dick. Who knew that my navel was an erogenous zone?

Ruby’s warm, soft hand teased light patterns all over my cock. I wanted her to grip me tight, but at the same time, I loved her featherlight touches; they felt like adoring whispers. Her tongue licked downward, following my trail of hair toward my erection. God, I needed her mouth on me.

Please.

God.

Now.

She moved so slow, her fingers continued to tease and torment me.

“More,” I begged.

Ruby let out a husky laugh. “More of what?”

“Your mouth. Your hands. Everything. Just more.” I heard myself begging and couldn’t believe it. Then she sucked me into her mouth, and I could believe it. Fuck, I’d beg for this every day for the rest of my life.

My eyes closed and my hips arched up off the bed.

Ruby kept up a slow rhythm with her fist and mouth that was as close to heaven as I’d ever been.

After hours or seconds, I was finally able to lift my lids and look down at my woman and what I saw almost caused my heart to stop.

There she was, caressing me in the most intimate way possible, and what I saw in her eyes, as they lifted to stare at me, was a mixture of hunger, joy and love.

I had to blink twice to keep tears at bay. How did I ever get this lucky?

But then my body took over. Fire raced down my spine, and I felt myself getting ready to spend.

“Stop, sweetheart,” I gasped.

She looked at me with a glint of laughter and redoubled her efforts. I reached down and tugged at her hair. She sucked and squeezed harder, and I was a goner. I shouted out her name like she was the only person in my universe as I came.

Ruby didn’t let loose, she continued to play with my cock like it was some kind of rare instrument and she was a classical artist. She finally let me go and licked her lips. I was never going to be able to move again. Then she gave me a smug grin.

It was the grin that did it.

I shot up into a sitting position and tore off my tee that she had been wearing. Then I had her naked on her back before she could say a word.

“Ford?”

“Feel pretty happy with yourself, don’t you?”

Her pretty green eyes glittered with mirth. “Maybe.”

I clasped her wrists in one hand and stretched them above her head.

Then I bent down and took one of her nipples into my mouth and proceeded to torture her like she had tortured me.

I sucked, and scraped, and teased until she was calling my name.

She wrapped her legs around my waist, and I felt just how wet she was for me.

I switched to her other breast and feasted. Then I moved lower.

“What do you think, Ruby? Should I taste your belly button?”

She stopped breathing. I had my answer.

I kneaded the soft flesh of her stomach and then dipped the tip of my tongue into her belly button, and she let out a long wail that sounded like my name.

Ah. She liked this. I kept at it, and she tried to get her hands loose, and I finally relented.

She grabbed my hair and pulled hard. It felt good.

I peeled her legs off my waist and spread them wide.

“Your pussy is beautiful, sweetheart. Ruby red and so wet for me.”

She yanked harder at my hair. I could tell it was a rebuke. “You keep pulling my hair like that, and I’ll just keep saying how fuckable you are. How much I want to taste you.”

She let go of my hair.

I parted her folds and took a good long taste of her cream.

The tangy taste shot through me like fine whiskey.

I could get drunk on this woman, but I needed to keep my head.

I needed to give her as much… no. I needed to give her even more pleasure than she had given me.

Ruby deserved all the pleasure, all the caring, all the love that I could possibly bestow.

I took my time, just like I wanted to. Lazy forays around Ruby’s swollen clit had her whimpering, whispering my name, over and over again. I was lost in a world of my own making, drunk on her taste, her sounds, her body, as I continued to tease her.

Her whimpers changed to sounds bordering on real distress and I looked up. There was my woman, stretched out like a goddess, need and want showing clearly on her face.

“Please, Ford.”

I lifted my head. “Shhh, baby. I’ve got you.” I dipped back down and drew the taut bundle of nerves back into my mouth, and suckled hard, my teeth scraping just a little and she screamed.

My name.

She screamed my name, as her release roared through her.

I moved up and pulled her trembling body into my arms. I pressed her cheek against my chest, hoping my steady heartbeat would help to bring hers back into a normal rhythm. Soon she was breathing normally again.

I continued to stroke her beautiful, silky hair. I could spend hours playing with Ruby’s hair.

Then I felt wetness on my chest, and I tensed.

“Ruby, baby. Are you crying?”

“No. Yes. I don’t know.” Her words were soft and confused.

I tried to tilt her chin up so I could see her eyes, but she stayed tucked against me.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong? Or right?” I hated feeling helpless.

“I feel like I’m taking advantage of you,” she whispered.

“What?” Now that didn’t make a damn bit of sense.

“You’ve had to roll around in the filth of my life, and you could have died because of it. I’m hardly bringing anything at all to you.”

I lifted her higher, so that we were eye to eye—if she’d just open her damn eyes, that was.

“I’m glad to hear you say hardly. Ruby, sweetheart.

You’re still probably overtired, and the wicked witches of Beverly Hills did quite the number on you.

These last seven weeks have been the happiest I've been in ten years.”

That got her eyes to open.

“I laugh so much with you. That’s because you’re fun.

I love just spending time with you talking about anything and nothing.

That’s because you’re intelligent and well-read.

I adore watching you with my nieces and nephews.

That’s because you’re a natural nurturer.

And you make me feel cherished. Nobody has ever made me feel so loved before. ”

Her eyes widened on that last remark.

“Not even?—”

“Nobody. I feel like I can walk on water and take on ten hired killers at once when you look at me like you do.” Then I grinned slyly. “And Ruby, I haven’t even talked about the sex yet. Don’t get me started on how often my dick gets hard just thinking about you.”

“Ford, that’s just not true.”

I shouted with laughter. “It is, too. Are you telling me that you haven’t touched yourself, thinking about me, when I’ve been away?”

Her cheeks didn’t slowly turn pink, they burst into red flames. “I’m not going to answer that question.”

“You have!” I cried out. “I wanna watch that some time.” Okay, I was a little side-tracked, but mostly I was relieved that Ruby was no longer thinking that she was in any way unworthy. That bullshit had to stop.

“Ford, you’re always so outrageous.”

“You know how you can shut me up, don’t you?”

“I have some ideas.”

“Then you should deploy them.” I leaned back on the pillows, my arms splayed wide. She leaned down and kissed me. Yep, all her thoughts of unworthiness were gone. Now she was back to being my love goddess.

We were in my living room later that night. Ruby was lying down on top of me as we debated what to watch next on Netflix.

“Is there any pizza left, or did you eat it all?” I asked.

“Don’t be an ass. You’re the one who wolfed down the last three pieces. If I’d known that you were going to eat three quarters of the pizza and still be whining for more, I would have ordered two.”

“I still can’t believe you only ordered one. Cold pizza for breakfast is awesome.”

She shuddered. “At least heat it up.”

“Nope. Cold.” I bent down and gave her a swift kiss. “Did you decide on what to watch?”

“I want to say something.”

Amazingly, I didn’t tense. With Ruby, I knew she wasn’t going to blindside me. I trusted her.

“Say whatever you need to say, sweetheart.”

She cleared her throat. “I’ve told you I love you.”

“No backsies,” I teased.

Her green eyes warmed. “Never. I’m going to love you until the day I die, Ford Larson.”

I didn’t respond, I let those words linger.

“But sometimes it just feels like those three words are not enough.”

I put my finger across her lips. “You saying you love me, is everything.” She licked my finger, then nipped it.

“I’m not done talking.” I nodded, and she continued.

“Going out with you that first time was a big deal for me, and that night you were wonderful.” Her eyes glistened.

“Every time after that, whether you were goofy as we raced cars, or we went on drives or on the Ferris wheel, you made me happier. Ford, you made it safe for me to feel good. You made it safe for me to trust again.”

“I’m glad, Ruby.” My heart was getting too big for my chest.

“You’re not just a builder for your job, you built our relationship. Moment by moment, you built up my faith in you. You gave me somewhere secure to entrust my heart.”

Her eyelashes fluttered downward. “I know I sound stupid. But bottom line, Ford. You’re my one true safe space. I can be me and ultimately trust that you’ll love me. You make me feel treasured. You are the best gift that God could have ever given me.”

“Ruby…” I felt like there was gravel in my throat, but I knew it was tears. “Dammit woman, how dare you say something like that before I’ve bought you a ring.”

Her eyes went wide. “Ford?”

“Don’t act so surprised. You said I was good at building relationships.

Well, there isn’t a chance in hell I’m not making sure we are together for the next sixty years.

” I sat up with Ruby on my lap. I traced her lips with my fingertip.

“Ruby Banks Miller. Will you marry me?” I whispered the question, then held my breath.

“Yes, Ford James Larson. I want to be your wife more than I want my next breath.”

I exhaled. Then proceeded to carry her to our bedroom.