12. Harry
12
HARRY
The taste of Ruby is on my lips all the way back to the hotel. I don’t make eye contact with anyone; I don’t want them to suspect that I’ve had my face buried between her legs. I have never tasted anything so sweet, and rather than shying away from it, Ruby couldn’t get enough of the taste of her on my tongue. Which only makes me want her more.
It’s hard to walk. My legs feel weak, and my cock is throbbing for her.
But there was no way I was going to fuck her quickly in a hidden courtyard, so that we didn’t get caught. I allowed myself to get caught up in the moment—Ruby’s moment—but now we’re going to finish this my way.
At the hotel reception, I ask the concierge to send a bottle of champagne up to our room. Ruby’s lips are swollen, her cheeks flushed, frost clinging to her hair. And she is even more beautiful than she was the first time I met her.
When we reach our hotel room, I start filling the bathtub and drizzle passion fruit scented bath oil into the steaming water.
Without a word, I lead Ruby into the bathroom and slowly undress her, one item of clothing at a time, until she is standing in front of me naked. I’ve imagined this moment many times since the accident, but none of my dreams ever came close to the reality of Ruby Jackson. Her skin is creamy smooth, unblemished apart from a tiny, perfect birthmark on her inner thigh.
Ruby isn’t shy. She watches me studying her the way she might watch a gangly-legged fawn learning to stand for the first time, a faint smile playing on her lips.
I undress myself, wishing that my arm wasn’t in plaster. I want to be as perfect for her as she is for me, but this can’t wait. Not now. Not when I have already tasted her, and I need her like a drug.
I offer Ruby my hand and help her into the tub, then I climb in and sit facing her, the bubbles bobbing against her naked breasts. She doesn’t try to cover herself but watches me with wide, eager eyes, lips parted expectantly.
I pour soap onto the sponge and take her left hand—starting with her fingertips, I smooth it the length of her arm, across her shoulders, and down her right arm, goosebumps popping gently on her skin and tracking my journey. And Ruby watches me the whole time. I wash her legs, raising them one at a time above the tub, and tracing the glistening skin with my eyes. I wash her breasts, resisting the urge to suck her nipples, then her stomach and her back, Ruby arching her spine to accommodate me, a faint smile tugging at her lips.
Still, she doesn’t take her eyes off me, like she’s relishing every single moment.
At some point, room service knocks and leaves the bottle of champagne I requested in the room, departing again like a whisper.
Rinsing Ruby off, I offer her my hand and help her out of the bath, our wet bodies sliding against each other and making my hard cock throb.
I could take her here. I feel every inch of her against me. Wet and slippery. I picture hoisting her up onto me, damp legs wrapped around my waist, my cock teasing her moist slit, as I slam her against the wall and fuck her ‘till she begs me to stop.
It would satisfy the ache building up inside me. Fuck, it would satisfy both of us, but Ruby deserves better than a messy, frantic fuck in a hotel bathroom.
“Harry,” she murmurs and I press my finger to her lips. We’re doing this my way.
Reaching blindly for a fluffy white towel, I wrap it around her shoulders, drinking in the curve of her collarbone, the dip at the base of her throat, the swell of her breasts. The ache in my balls swells to bursting point. All in white, she’s even more perfect to me.
When I pick her up, Ruby instinctively slides her arms around my neck, legs swinging over my arm like a bride being carried over the threshold. This… This is everything I wanted and more as I lay her down gently on the king-size bed.
Her lips part.
I’ve kept her waiting long enough.
I pop the cork from the champagne bottle, fill two crystal flutes, the bubbles simmering towards the rim and then settling down again, and hand a glass to Ruby.
“Cheers.” I clink my glass against hers and take a sip, the bubbles fizzing on my gums.
I take another mouthful and don’t swallow. Instead, I set our drinks aside, lean over Ruby, our lips touching, and drizzle the liquid into her mouth. Her arms wrap around my neck, and she pulls me down on top of her. Her kisses are passionate, demanding, greedy. Ruby’s lips cling to mine until I remove her arms from my neck and pull away from her.
“I want to look at you, Ruby.” Unwrapping her from the towel like a Christmas gift, I kiss her neck, her earlobes, her throat, tracing her contours with my lips. “You’re so beautiful. I want to spend the rest of my life looking at you.”
My cock is painfully hard, but I need to taste every inch of Ruby before I enter her. I want to leave no part of her unsampled. No part of her untouched.
I sip my champagne and, this time, dribble it into her belly button, enjoying the way she wriggles her hips beneath me. I suck the liquid from her and, holding it in my mouth, I force her legs apart, inserting my tongue into her and filling her with champagne.
Ruby gasps. Her back arches, and she instinctively grips the headboard with both hands. I nibble her clit between my teeth, sucking and licking and nibbling some more, discovering her body and what I can do to it.
“Tell me how it feels.”
“I… It feels…”
“It feels?” I pull away and insert a finger in place of my tongue, wanting to keep her there on the brink.
She pants. “It feels like nothing on earth.” The words spill out of her.
“Do you want more?”
“Yes.”
“Say it, Ruby. Say, I want more.”
“I want more, Harry.”
I slide my finger out slowly, studying her wetness on my skin, and push my tongue back in. She’s dripping. Ready for me. I find the spot and lick her hard, her shallow breathing urging me to lick faster. Just as she’s about to come, her gasps become louder, with an animal-like quality.
I stop and kiss her roughly, hungrily, my own lust fueled by her demanding tongue.
I slide myself inside her slowly, relishing the tightness, the way her pussy closes around me, hugging me tightly like she’s never going to let me go. Ruby gasps. Her eyes widen. She pants hard, her fingertips closing around my arms, clinging to me like she’s afraid she’ll fall if I move another muscle.
“Ruby…?” I whisper. “Am I hurting you?”
She shakes her head, a smile forming on her lips and lighting up her face. “No, it’s… I’ve never…”
Realization dawns on me, sending a thrill down my spine and straight into my cock. I throb inside her, and she gasps again, only this time, she’s clinging to me because she’s waiting for more. She wants to experience it all.
I stay there for a while, my length throbbing inside her like a heartbeat, her tongue still chasing mine. I kiss every part of her face, her ears, her throat, teasing her with my tongue, feeling her erect nipples, and her wetness oozing around me.
Unable to wait any longer, I raise my hips, sliding my cock back out of her again, all the way out, until the very tip is stroking her clit. I watch her reaction, the wide-eyed surprise as I pull out, and the back-arching groan of pleasure as I push it back in. All the way in. Her enjoyment is everything, like watching a perfect picture come to life.
Ruby instinctively moves with me, matching my thrusts with her own, forcing herself onto me, begging me to fill her up. Something gives inside her, and I hear the groan escape from my own lips. “I need to come, Ruby,” I murmur, my lips pressed against her neck.
“Do it.” Her lips find mine.
She’s holding me so tightly, I can’t breathe. Our oxygen is combined. Our bodies glued together with love, lust, sweat, and when I come, my entire body shudders on top of her until all that is left of me is her heartbeat drumming in synch with mine.
I wake up early the following morning.We fucked more times than I can remember in the night, dozing in between. Each time I awoke and saw Ruby’s contented face next to mine, I was instantly hard again. I snuck under the sheet and aroused her with my tongue, and she responded by spreading her legs wide and letting me in, until finally, we both fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
I don’t know where I’m going, but I know what I need to do. I think I’ve needed to do this since the first moment I set eyes on Ruby Jackson, but it feels as if Edinburgh is our city. It’s where dreams are made and wishes come true, and the frost sparkling across the cobbled streets when I leave the hotel is only more proof that this was meant to be.
Everyone wishes me a good morning as they walk by.
Everyone is smiling.
The sun is low in the wintry sky, winking at me from behind the gothic buildings, setting the windows aglow and sprinkling diamonds across my path.
Another omen.
I find the jewelers I want, or rather the jewelry store finds me, its small-paned windows blinking in the weak sunshine, letting me know that it’s there. I step inside and breathe in the musty air of a building that has seen far more than anyone else on this planet.
The manager, an old man with silver hair, wearing a red bowtie with a tartan waistcoat and white frilled shirt, peers up at me from polishing a gold pendant and slides his spectacles back up his nose. “Good morning, sir,” he says with a smooth Scottish accent. “How are you enjoying our fine city?”
“I’m enjoying it greatly. Thank you.” It must show.
“Ah, an American accent. Let me guess.” His eyes roam my clothes, my face, the cast on my arm. “You’re a New Yorker.”
“How did you know? Is it that obvious?”
“I’ve spent my life studying people.” He reaches under the counter and pulls out a velvet pad filled with diamond rings. “And diamonds. Now, if I might take the liberty of making a suggestion, I do believe that this is the ring you are looking for.”
I peer down at the ring he is offering to me. It’s a heart-shaped diamond, the facets like tiny, magnificent icicles trapped inside the huge sparkling heart. I had no idea what I was looking for, or the kind of engagement ring that Ruby would like before I stepped inside the shop. But now that I’ve seen it, I’m absolutely certain that this ring was meant for Ruby Jackson.
I hold it tentatively, marveling at the way the diamond catches the light as I turn it around. It’s mesmerizing and made even more so when I imagine it on Ruby’s finger.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” The man finds a small velvet lined box in a drawer and leaves it open on the counter. “I can make the ring larger or smaller if the fit isn’t quite right.”
“I’ll take it.” I didn’t expect it to be this easy, but I’m learning. Everything is easy where Ruby is concerned because we’re cut from the same mold.
With the engagement ring ensconced safely in its box in my pocket, I find a tiny café on a narrow side street and order breakfast bagels and coffees to go. I’m literally floating down the streets, hovering above the frosty ground like I’m riding a magic carpet. I’ve not slept more than a couple of hours, and yet I feel as if I could run a marathon today with the heart-shaped diamond close to my chest.
I’m riding so high on excitement and adrenaline that I don’t even notice the cop car parked outside the hotel entrance.
Carrying our breakfast, I walk into the lobby, my stomach rocking when I spot two policemen, their backs to me, speaking to the concierge at the front desk. It’s okay, I tell myself. They could be here for any number of reasons, and Ruby and I have done nothing wrong.
Still, I don’t wait for the elevator but take the stairs up to our room, not waiting around to be noticed. My heart is thumping. Why would the cops be looking for us? The concierge has my credit card details; we’ve not broken any regulations; we both have valid passports. It’s irrational, but I can’t shake the notion that they’re looking for us.
I hear the phone in the room ringing as I let myself back in.
Ruby rolls over in bed, a bare arm snaking out from under the covers to answer the call before I can stop her. I hear her say, “Hello,” into the mouthpiece, and I put our breakfast down, sitting on the edge of the bed, still in my coat.
Ruby smiles at me, affection gleaming in her eyes. But the smile fades as rapidly as it appeared, confusion knitting her brows together. “Okay, sure,” she says to the concierge. “Let me get dressed, and then we’ll be down.”
She replaces the handset and sits up in bed, clutching the sheet to her breasts. “That was the concierge. The police are looking for me.”
I blink, trying to process this information. “For you, or for both of us?”
“Just me. He said my name, Ruby Jackson. He wants me to go down and speak to them.” Her voice is dull as if a single phone call has sucked the life out of it.
This is wrong. All wrong. I have a diamond ring in my pocket. I was going to give it to her while we ate breakfast in bed. This was supposed to be the happiest day of our lives, so why do I suddenly feel as if the universe has other plans for us?
“Did he say what they want?”
Ruby pushes back the covers and slides her legs over the side of the bed. The clothes she wore yesterday are still strewn across the bathroom floor where we left them last night, but she grabs some panties from her backpack and drags them on followed by clean jeans and a sweater.
Her movements are urgent. Hurried. She grabs her stuff, whatever she can find, and shoves it into her backpack, and I wonder if this is the reason she didn’t hang her clothes in the wardrobe and make herself at home. She was waiting for this to happen.
“Ruby, what’s going on?” I haven’t moved. I’m still clutching our breakfast, the engagement ring burning a hole in my side through my pocket.
“We need to leave.” She darts into the bathroom and collects her discarded clothes. “Now.”
She scans the room to see what she has forgotten, and when I still don’t move, she drags my suitcase out of the wardrobe, unzips it, and starts tossing my clothes in, hangers clattering onto the floor.
I empty the drawers with one hand, sweeping them clear, and depositing my belongings into my luggage. Her sense of urgency is contagious. “Do you want to tell me why we’re leaving?”
“My mom. She must’ve put the police up to this.”
I straighten, a rolled-up tie in my hand. Why did I pack a tie for chrissakes!
“But you told her you were leaving. It’s not like you ran away.”
“I don’t think that matters.”
“I don’t understand.” I rumple my hair with my hand. This can’t be happening. Celia wouldn’t go to such extreme lengths to keep Ruby away from me, would she?
In my head, I replay her reaction when she came to the hospital, and again when she came home and discovered me in their den. She was undeniably angry. But I don’t understand why. I don’t understand what I have done to deserve her obvious dislike and mistrust.
She hasn’t even bothered to ask me how I feel about her daughter.
“It isn’t you.” Ruby shrugs her arms into her coat, hoists her backpack over her shoulders, and turns to face me.
“It sure feels like it is.”
“She’s…” Ruby hesitates, choosing her words carefully. “I don’t know, overprotective since my dad had his stroke.”
I nod. There’s something she isn’t telling me, but I’m not going to press it now.
Leaving the key on the desk in the room, I take one final look around, not to check we’ve left nothing behind, but to imprint the memories of our first night together on my brain.
In the corridor, Ruby heads in the opposite direction to the elevators and through a door marked STAFF ONLY. We take the stairs down to the ground floor and find ourselves in a large room lined with laundry bins. Through the wide fire exit door, and we’re at the back of the hotel, in a small yard with sodden weeds and mini mountains of mulch and trash collecting in the corners.
I hold Ruby’s hand, and we lose ourselves in the narrow, cobbled alleyways of Edinburgh once more.