Bonnie, not put off, just moved along with him, recapturing him with her mouth and sucking him in deep again as she stroked his balls. Evan closed his eyes, determined not to spoil things for the others, but the image that instantly rose in his mind’s eyes was the lovely, dark-eyed Ruby.
“Switch,” Liam called, and the girls at once repositioned themselves.
Allie wasn’t quite as ferocious in her attentions, but she was just as skilled. Her touch was lighter, her tongue teasing along Evan’s shaft until he actually thrust forward, reaching for her head to pull her onto his shaft. It felt incredible, and it wasn’t long before a climax was gathering itself in his loins.
He didn’t want to come in Allie’s mouth, however. And more to the point, he didn’t want another guy coming in Ruby’s mouth. “Switch,” he gasped, pulling back from Allie before he shot his load.
And there was his lovely girl, kneeling once more before him. She looked up at him with adoration in her eyes, and he stared back, his heart actually hurting in his chest with an emotion he wasn’t quite ready to name. All he knew was that he was desperate for this woman. He was dizzy with lust, his body filled with light and heat as she expertly and lovingly worshipped his cock and balls.
He reached for her, entwining his fingers in her hair as he thrust into her mouth. Neither of those guys better call for a switch, because he had no intention of letting go of his girl. He moaned, the sound low and feral, as a powerful orgasm hurtled up from his balls and along his shaft, exploding against her tongue.
Ruby held on, kissing and milking him with her perfect mouth until he sagged with pleasure. Oblivious of the others, he sank to his knees in front of Ruby and pulled her into his arms.
“Ruby,” he murmured into her hair, holding her name in his mouth like a prize as he held her close. He felt undone, more vulnerable and exposed than he’d ever felt in his life. “You,” he whispered. “All I want is you, you, you.”
Holy shit. He was in deep.
He pulled away from Ruby’s embrace, his eyes opening as his awareness of their surroundings returned. Both Matt and Liam had apparently finished, as they were both standing with their wives in their arms.
Embarrassed to be kneeling, Evan, too, rose to his feet. He held out his hands, pulling Ruby up and into his arms. He closed his eyes again, hiding his confusion and discomfiture by nuzzling again against Ruby’s hair.
What the hell was happening to him?
Chapter 13
After the dungeon play the night before, they’d all gone back upstairs for chocolate éclairs, coffee and brandy. Sometime around midnight, Evan and Ruby had said their good nights, leaving the other two couples to continue their visit.
They’d washed up quickly and tumbled into bed. Evan had been strangely quiet, but Ruby chalked it up to exhaustion. She’d curled around him, falling asleep almost the instant her head made contact with his warm, firm chest.
The next morning they awoke around nine. All was quiet on the ground floor, Allie and Liam apparently still asleep. While Evan made the coffee, Ruby unloaded the dishwasher and cleaned up what dishes and glasses were left over from the night before.
As they sat together at the table sipping their coffee, Evan said, “Hopefully Bob won’t have any sudden emergencies today. Maybe I’ll just forget to turn on my phone,” he added with a grin. “Should we try the touristy thing today?”
“Sounds great,” Ruby agreed. “And we can get breakfast along the way.” They left a note for their hosts, letting them know of their plans, and headed out.
They went to a museum and then to the zoo. It was fun to do vanilla couple things together. Ruby couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so comfortable with a guy, not only in the bedroom, but out of it.
While Evan seemed to enjoy himself, he remained quieter than usual. Ruby wondered if something was wrong, but didn’t want to push him. After all, he was allowed to be quiet from time to time, and she was just happy to be with him.
In the afternoon, they ordered bento boxes from a Japanese food truck—Ruby got the honey lemongrass pork with yakisoba noodles and Evan got the spicy ginger beef—and took them to a nearby park. They sat under a tree near a small lake to eat their lunch. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and children ran and played nearby.
After they’d eaten, Ruby leaned back against the tree with a contented sigh. Evan was staring out at the water, a faraway look in his beautiful gray-green eyes.
“A penny for your thoughts,” Ruby said lightly.
“What?” Evan turned to regard her.
“I said, a penny for your thoughts. You seem to be off somewhere in your head today. Is everything okay?”
“Uh, yeah. Sure. Just thinking about this week, I guess. The grand opening is this coming Saturday. I have a possible job opportunity in New Orleans after this. Bob had also said he’s got something brewing in London, but he wasn’t ready to discuss details yet.”
“You’re so like me,” Ruby said with a smile. “We go where the wind blows—where it seems right. I can’t imagine ever settling down in one place. At least not for a while—not until I’ve expended my wanderlust.”
“Same here,” Evan said. He smiled, but somehow it didn’t reach his eyes.
Ruby’s phone chimed in her bag. She rummaged inside and pulled it out to see. It was an email from Alan Chandler, a good friend she’d made when working for Volunteers Around the World, a group that specialized in literacy programs.
The subject read: Help! Can you drop everything and come to Mexico City!
Both intrigued and worried, Ruby clicked on the email.
Hi Ruby,
I hope you’re doing well. I heard you were back in the States for a while. I am in something of a jam, as my father was just moved to hospice care (he has stage four lung cancer and we’re at the end of a long, difficult road) and my mother is totally cracking up. I am scheduled to teach a new group of volunteers for the literacy program in rural Mexico, and I’m having a hell of a time finding a replacement.
I promised Ernesto I’d teach the Americans that are coming down for the training next week, but there’s no way I’m going to make it. You’ve worked for so many of the programs that I bet you could teach the basics in your sleep. Is there any way you could pop down to Mexico City by Tuesday? I already checked with Ernesto, and he’s cool with it.
Class starts first thing Wednesday morning. I would never impose like this if it wasn’t an emergency. VAW can cover the plane ticket, and Ernesto says he can get you a teaching stipend as well. It’s the usual five-day training intensive. You just need to follow the teacher’s manual. It’s a piece of cake.
Let me know, sweet girl. I’ll be forever in your debt. I’d love to pay you back properly one day soon (wink, wink).
Hugs, Alan
“Everything okay?” Evan asked. “You look worried.”
“A good friend is reaching out. His dad is dying, and he needs me to cover a training down in Mexico City.”
“Mexico City?” Evan repeated.
“Yeah.” Ruby handed Evan the phone.
As he read the email, his eyebrows furrowed, his mouth curving down in a frown. “Tuesday, huh,” he said, handing back the phone. “That’s only two days from now. You’d miss the grand opening.”
“Yeah.” Ruby sighed. “I really wanted to be there, too.”
“Sounds like you’ve already made up your mind,” Evan said tersely.
“Huh?”
“You said, ‘I really wanted to be there.’ That tells me you’ve already decided to go.”
“Oh.” Ruby looked at Evan, but he’d averted his face, staring out at the lake again. Did he expect her to refuse a friend in need?
Maybe she wasn’t the only possibility on Alan’s list. Surely there were other people he could tap? But he’d asked her, and clearly, he needed her.
Alan and she had dated for a while when they’d first met some years before. She sensed he would have been happy to pick up
where they’d left off, even though he lived with a woman when he wasn’t traveling for the job, but it wasn’t in the cards, at least not in Ruby’s cards.
Still, they had remained good friends, and they’d done a lot of good work together over the years. The literacy program was a worthwhile effort that had helped a lot of poor Mexican children catch up so they could enroll in school and have a chance for a better life.
But it would mean leaving Evan sooner than she’d planned.
“Do you think I should tell him I can’t do it?” Ruby asked. She held her breath, not sure if she wanted Evan to say yes or no.
Their time together had been wonderful, and she felt closer to him than she had to any man in her life. But it had also been a whirlwind of intensity and passion. She’d been so caught up in their tempestuous romance that she hadn’t really taken a moment to breathe. Maybe this offer had come at exactly the right time. It would be the break they both needed—a chance to take a step back and assess just what it was they shared between them.
Evan looked sharply at her, a range of emotions moving over his face that seemed to encompass anger, fear, desire, longing and sadness in equal measure. But when he spoke, his voice was light. “No, you should go. Your good friend needs you.” He put a slight emphasis on the words good friend, his tone a little snarky.
Maybe she’d only imagined that. She was reading too much into Evan’s expression and his tone. He was just having an off day. He was allowed. She would take him at face value.
“Yeah,” she agreed. “You’re right. I should do it.”
He drew in a sudden breath, as if he hadn’t expected the words.
She placed her hand on his arm. “We’ve been pretty intense these past nine days together. Maybe it’s a good idea for us both to take a little time apart.”
He pulled his arm away and got to his feet. “Absolutely,” he said stridently. “I was just thinking the same thing.”
~*~
Why was he being such a dick? He was acting like a petulant jerk, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. He had been looking forward to their being together during the grand opening of the BDSM Connections Event Center. True, he hadn’t really thought about what would happen after next weekend, but he had expected to be the one to make the decision.
Now, it had been wrested away from him. She was leaving in two days, and who knew where he’d be in a week’s time? He could stick around Portland for a while, he supposed—maybe stay with Bob or at a hotel. But he had never done anything like that in his life. Evan Stewart didn’t wait around pining for some girl. He was the one who moved on, like the guys in the old Westerns on TV, riding off into the sunset.
And who was to say she’d even come back from Mexico? For all he knew, she might be off and running on her next volunteer adventure with that dude, Alan, who Evan had gotten the sense was more than just a friend, no matter how Ruby couched it. “Wink, wink.” It made him want to puke.
Maybe it was for the best. After all, there was no way they could sustain the kind of intensity and passion they’d shared over these past days together. Maybe it was good to cut things off at the pinnacle, instead of waiting for the relationship to fizzle out, as they invariably did.
Meanwhile, he wouldn’t ruin things by acting like a teenage boy. He would make the best of the time they had left. “The day is still young. Let’s go to check out that street fair you were talking about earlier.”
~*~
Evan headed out early Monday morning to meet the workmen who were coming to fix a leak in the roof of the warehouse. Allie and Liam had been out when they’d returned home the evening before, and this was the first chance Ruby had had to tell Allie of the new plans.
“Just like that?” Allie asked, frowning. “You’re leaving tomorrow?”
They were already hard at work, finishing the last of the canes for the grand opening sale.
“I know it’s really sudden,” Ruby said. She explained Alan’s predicament. “This is how my life works. Somehow, the next thing always appears at the right time. I love working with the children. I might even stay on, as Alan suggested.”
Allie shook her head, her face scrunching in disapproval. “What about Evan? What about the incredible connection between the two of you? And now you’re just going to fly away, and that’s that?”
Ruby blew out an exasperated breath. “It’s only for five days, Allie. I didn’t make any further commitment, though they’re always in need of volunteers. And anyway, Evan’s heading off who knows where as soon as his job is over next weekend. What’s a few days early in the scheme of things?”
Allie’s expression was outraged, and she opened her mouth to continue her protest, but Ruby stopped her by laying a hand gently on her arm. “Listen, my dearest friend. I know you view the world through your romantic rose-colored love glasses, but not everyone is like Liam and you—destined to be together from the start. Evan’s actually in favor of me going. I asked him what he thought when I showed him the email. He’s the one who said I should go, before I even fully made up my mind.”
“That’s just his defense mechanism kicking in.”
“Huh?”
“From what you’ve told me, he’s not the kind of guy who would beg a girl to stay, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want you to. Or that it isn’t a mistake to just take off like this. What’re you afraid of, anyway? Are you afraid that maybe Evan is the love of your life, and that admitting it might somehow clip your wings and turn you into some kind of housewife drudge who waits at home washing dishes and scrubbing floors while her man goes to his eight to five job?”
Ruby laughed at the absurdity of Allie’s remarks, though she couldn’t deny some element of truth hidden beneath them. That was probably one reason she and Evan got along so well. Neither of them wanted any strings attached to their affection. Neither could tolerate the slightest hint of obligation or duty, which would contaminate the pure, sweet joy of being together in the moment.
She shrugged, not willing to continue the argument. “If he is the love of my life, as you say, the universe will let me know. Meanwhile, I have a good friend who needs me, and I’m giving less than a week of my time to help him out. If my leaving a few days before I had planned means Evan disappears off the face of the earth, then clearly, we weren’t meant to be.”
Allie grunted, but didn’t say anything more on the subject. They worked together in silence for a while, and then Allie said, “I’m going to miss you, Ruby. I’ve really loved reconnecting like this. I hope it’s not another decade before we get together again.”
“Definitely not,” Ruby said staunchly. “I love Portland, and I love the life you’ve built for yourself here. I’ll definitely be back, sooner than later, I promise.”
~*~
Allie arranged a dinner out on Monday night, which included Taggart and Rylee. Evan would have rather spent the time alone with Ruby, but he recognized it wouldn’t be fair to claim all her attention. He did manage to get out of his head long enough to enjoy the meal and the company. He had no intention of behaving like a grumpy, possessive lover who was about to be jilted.
Nevertheless, he was gratified and deeply relieved when Ruby declined their hosts’ invitation to join them at Club Paradise, a private BDSM club both couples belonged to. “Evan and I need some alone time tonight,” Ruby said softly to Allie, who nodded her understanding.
When they returned to the house, Evan suggested a last session in the dungeon. He planned to give her a night she wouldn’t soon forget.
They both stripped naked at the door of the dungeon. Evan had Ruby stand at attention, her hands locked behind her head. He moved slowly around her, using a heavy flogger on her back, shoulders, ass, thighs and breasts until she was panting, her skin rosy pink, her eyes bright with lust.
Setting down the flogger, he took her face in his hands and kissed her passionately until she was moaning against his mouth. His cock and balls ached with the need to fuck her, but the ev
ening was still young.
“I’ve never caned that lovely ass,” he noted. “I’d love to leave you some marks to remember me by. Would that please you?”
“Yes, Sir. Yes, please,” Ruby said eagerly.
Evan had her lie down on the padded bondage horse, her torso draped along the top, her legs resting on the ledges on either side, her lovely ass and cunt on full display.
He tapped lightly against her bottom with the long rattan cane, further warming her skin. All negative thoughts flowed away as he allowed himself to fully enter the moment, entirely focused on what he was doing.
Power coursed through his blood like an aphrodisiac as the cane cracked against her flesh, eliciting a lovely, breathy yelp. A white welt appeared, quickly darkening to pink. He painted three more welts on her perfect ass. Each whistling, whippy blow was punctuated by another sweet cry of erotic pain.
When he couldn’t stand it another second, he dropped the cane and pulled her toward him along the bench so her ass hung just off the end. He spit on his hand and fisted his cock, guiding it between her legs into her soft, moist heat.
She groaned as he entered her. He gripped her hips as he pulled her back onto his shaft. Her ass was hot to the touch, the welts an angry, dark red. The sadist in him thrilled to the realization that he’d put those marks on her willing flesh. She suffered for him, and he reveled in her suffering.
“Yes, yes, yes, yes,” she chanted as he thrust and swiveled inside the tight grip of her sweet cunt. He reached beneath her, his fingers seeking the slick, wet folds and the hard nubbin of her clit. He rubbed hard and fast as he fucked her, and her words spiraled upward into an incoherent cry. They climaxed together, her body spasming and shuddering against him as he ejaculated deep inside her.
When she stilled and he caught his breath, he pulled out of her and helped her up from the bench. He lifted her into his arms and carried her to the recovery couch. He lay her gently on her stomach and proceeded to smooth salve over her welts.