12. Ruby
twelve
I lean into the curve of the road; my body feels like it’s only inches from the pavement. I shift my weight coming out of it and increase my speed. The motorcycle growls beneath me and I push it even faster. There are no cars on the road, but at two o’clock in the morning I didn’t expect there to be.
My heart thunders in my chest. Pounding with thrill and fear. Excitement and worry. It’s a feeling I relish in. One I don’t think I’ve ever felt. I’m not scared of Cassius. I’m not worried that he’ll harm me. But I am scared of how I feel around him. I’m wavering. Teetering precariously close to the edge. One I’m not sure I can back away from.
His car sits at the scenic pull in. Ominous beneath the moon. The white paint reflects in my one headlight. He lies on the hood of his car, his hands beneath his head. He doesn’t move when I pull my bike up next to him.
I kill the engine. The night is quiet. Still. The city below us is so far removed from where we are that it’s like we’re sitting on a cloud. My movements are silent, and even though he knows I’m here, he startles when I lay next to him.
“You requested my presence?”
“You came,” he says matter-of-factly, as if I’m not sitting next to him. He turns his head to look at me, a smug smile creeping across his face. “But did you come, Ruby?”
Fuck this arrogant prick. Forget every thought and feeling that has penetrated my armor. In one quick movement, I’m straddling him. Blood trickles down his cheek where the tip of my blade presses into his skin.
His eyes close, and he inhales deeply. Curious. So curious. I can feel him growing hard beneath me. Removing myself from this situation would be in my best interest. It would be. But I don’t move. I don’t dare move. If I move, it will be to grind my pussy over his length. I will not move. I can’t move. Moving would be a mistake, for both of us.
“Your scent is intoxicating, Ruby, the perfect mix of vanilla and blood,” he says, his words carrying on the empty air.
I tilt my head, really taking him in. How is he so relaxed? His arms still folded beneath his head, his body hard with muscles and wanting, but completely calm and still.
“You are intoxicating, Ruby. Has anyone ever told you that?” His features are muddied in the dark, but his eyes twinkle in the night sky. They look into mine, but I don’t look away. If I do, he wins. And I don’t lose. Ever. “You are sexy as fuck after you kill someone and fuck me if the thought of you killing me right here, right now, doesn’t have my dick standing at fucking attention.”
“Is it me?” My breath hitches. “Or is it fear?”
“Both.”
I glide my blade across his jawline, not drawing blood but showing him I could. It barely grazes his skin, enough to get my point across. He removes his hands from behind his head and places them on my hips. I pull up, trying to distance myself from his hard-on, but he pulls me back down and grinds me back and forth across his erection.
My blade twitches in my hand, and I press it into his neck, once again drawing blood. He does not stop though, he just drags me harder along his length. I slice into his chest, my dagger easily cutting through his shirt to his skin. Blood blooms on the fabric. Still, he doesn’t stop. He takes one hand and puts it on my throat. His fingers dig into my neck, and I can’t breathe. Not because he’s choking me, but because I’m so close to coming for him for a third time today.
Every time I hurt him; he pushes me harder.
I need it to … to … I need it to stop.
I spin the black steel of my dagger around my finger, the rubies on the hilt glimmer in the moonlight. Spinning it into position, I control my grip and plunge the shallow blade into his stomach. His hold on my throat tightens, and he uses his massive size to flip me to my back.
“Fucking bitch,” he growls as he lets go of me.
“Fucking prick,” I retort.
“I need to be inside you.”
“You need to die.”
Cassius climbs off me, removing his shirt, and uses it to apply pressure to his wound. It’s not fatal, but I needed to interrupt whatever the fuck was happening between us.
“Who says?”
“I do not reveal my clients, Cassius. That would only put a price on their head, and then we would be stuck in a never-ending loop where I would run out of people to kill. And Cassius—I really like to kill.” I say the last part through gritted teeth. “I need to kill.” I admit.
“I like when you kill, baby. Just not me.”
I turn towards him, eyeing him warily. He called me baby and fuck; I actually liked it.
“What if I double your fee to not kill me?” he asks, his voice flat.
“I do not break contracts.”
“But if you kill me, you won’t be able to fuck me. And we both know you want to.”
My phone dings, and I pull it out to look at the screen.
Rowan: Where are you?
I look at the time, I have not been gone long. What could she possibly need?
On assignment.
Rowan: Why is your location turned off?
Must be a glitch.
Rowan: Or a dick. Get home before someone else notices you’re gone.
I climb off the car, my heart no longer thundering in anticipation. Its beats are slow and rhythmic. Back to normal, I suppose. Cassius extends an arm out … to stop me? To pull me back? I don’t know, but his injury is substantial enough to put me outside his reach. I will always be just outside his reach, and he will always be just outside of mine. True intimacy will always be a pipe dream.
I wish it was one I could chase.
I hold the clutch and push the start button on my bike. The motorcycle roars to life. Part of me wishes I could do the same.
A cloud of dirt is all I leave behind.