Chapter 10 Ruby
Ruby
Iwouldn’t call myself forward. It wasn’t that I was afraid to make a move with a woman, but I always needed to be sure, absolutely sure, that the move was welcomed.
As a result, it most often happened that the other person made the first move.
Or I found out years later that I’d missed my chance because I hadn’t been able to read the signals.
But with Cassie not only did I want to make a move, I felt compelled to do it.
I knew instinctively that she was waiting for me to do something, so I pressed my lips against hers, and when she didn’t shove me away, I moved my hand from her cheek to the back of her head and deepened the kiss.
I licked along the seam of her lips, then slid my tongue inside Cassie’s mouth, tangling with hers.
Immediately my entire body felt like it was on fire. Groaning against her mouth, I moved closer, eliminating the space between our bodies. She was a few inches taller than me, but our bodies fit together perfectly, like two puzzle pieces.
Cassie groaned, her hands dropping to my ass, holding me close as the kiss went on and on. There was nothing awkward about this kiss, it was perfectly synchronized, as if we’d done it a million times before, even while the wonder of it suffused my body with something that felt a lot like joy.
What was happening to me? I’d never felt like this before. Never acted like this before. All I knew was that I was desperate to touch her.
We pulled apart slightly, both of us breathing heavily, and Cassie kissed her way down my neck, sucking lightly at the juncture of my shoulder. I had the strangest urge to insist that she bite me, break the skin and mark me. What was that about? I’d never had a biting fetish before.
As if she sensed my racing thoughts, Cassie pulled away, although she kept her hands on my shoulders.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice infused with regret. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
Her apology brought me out of my kissing stupor. I took a step back, needing her to not be touching me if I wanted to think clearly.
“Why would you be sorry? I’m the one who kissed you,” I reminded her. “I should be apologizing for kissing you like that when you’re trying to do your job.”
Cassie took a deep breath, and I watched her fangs recede back in her mouth and a tinge of color return to her face. It was fascinating watching her wrestle herself back into control.
“Regardless, it never should have happened.”
I couldn’t help the crestfallen look on my face. Cassie’s expression immediately softened, and she grabbed my hand, holding it between both of hers.
“I said that wrong. I just meant that I know better than to do anything that distracts me from protecting you, it always leads to trouble. I shouldn’t have let things get so far.”
“You’ve kissed clients like that before?” I asked, misunderstanding.
Cassie shook her head. “Oh gods, no. You’re the only client I ever wanted to kiss, trust me. I’ve never felt like this before, but then again I’ve never met my… never met anyone like you before.”
There was something else there, but I was too discombobulated by that kiss to figure it out right now.
“Let’s just take a step back,” I suggested. “I want to get to the bottom of what’s happening with this stalker guy, and I know you do too. That’s most important right now.”
“The stalker might not be a guy,” Cassie said. “With the focus on your teammates from the International Games, we have to consider that it could be a woman. Someone from a rival team perhaps, or someone who thought they deserved to be on the team and wasn’t selected.”
I moved over to the couch and my bodyguard followed me, carefully sitting on the other side so we had a cushion between us.
“There were a few people who felt like the selection process was unfair,” I said slowly. “I remember hearing that someone lodged a complaint.”
Cassie popped up to find her computer bag, returning with her laptop. “Tell me everything you remember.”
We spent the next half hour going over the selection process, how people were notified, and looking for information about the player who complained that they were excluded. Then she picked up her phone, tapping out a message.
“I’m asking Wanda to run a deep background on the complainant.”
“It makes no sense,” I said. “Those of us who were selected for the team didn’t have any more say in the selection process than anyone who wasn’t picked.”
Cassie shrugged. “People aren’t always rational.”
“That’s for sure.”
“Tell me about the teams you played, the highlights of the games, anything you know about the other players.”
“That’s all I can think of,” I told her after I’d gone through everything I could remember from last summer.
“What are you going to do now?” she asked. “I don’t want to interfere with your normal routine.”
“Well, usually after a hard practice I watch mindless TV while doom scrolling on social media.”
She frowned. “Social media is a waste of time.”
“Don’t I know it. But the Leopards Ate My Face subreddit brings me a lot of joy. And don’t get me started on how much I love those Facebook videos about penguins or babies with puppies. I could watch that shit all day.”
Cassie gave me a long look that told me she had no idea what I was talking about.
“Okay, I’m going to set up at the dining room table and do some work then.”
“Have at it.”
I slouched down on the couch and opened my phone, allowing myself thirty minutes to mess around on social media before I did something more productive. To make sure I kept to it, I set a timer. I’d learned long ago how easily hours could go by while watching ridiculous videos.
Once my thirty minutes was up, I went in search of my kindle. Cassie was focused on the computer, her fingers flying across the keyboard, so deep in concentration I didn’t even think she noticed me leaving the room.
Unfortunately nothing in my e-book library was keeping my attention.
My mind kept wandering to Cassie. The way her lips felt so soft against mine.
The way her hands squeezed my butt cheeks like she was trying to make sure I didn’t slip away.
That unique scent she had, a mix of copper and something earthy that still smelled feminine.
I could fall for her, I realized. Maybe I already had.
I’d never believed in love at first sight, but I couldn’t deny that the first time I laid eyes on Cassie I felt something.
Something strong. Something primal. The overwhelming belief that she was mine even though I’d never had a possessive thought about another human being in my life.
With a sigh I decided to text Eleanor.
Ruby: Sometime soon you and I need to have a long talk.
Eleanor: About what?
Ruby: I thought we were close friends, but you kept a big secret from me. You don’t trust me?
Eleanor: It’s not about trust. The supernatural community learns at an early age to share information about our true natures on a need-to-know basis. It’s safer for everyone that way. But I am sorry that I hurt your feelings.
Ruby: I have questions, many questions.
Eleanor: And I’d love to answer them, but I’m getting ready for a hot date.
Ruby: Ooh, that sounds promising.
Eleanor: Here’s hoping. I’ll see you tomorrow at practice, we can talk then, okay?
Ruby: That reminds me, Cassie suggested we meet up after practice tomorrow so we can assess any risk of the stalker coming for you.
Eleanor: LOL. The stalker is no threat to me. I can protect myself. Your vampire wants to assess the risk that I’m going to steal you away from her.
Ruby: What does that mean? She’s my bodyguard, not my girlfriend.
Eleanor: You’ll have to ask her. Talk to you tomorrow.
I stared at Eleanor’s message for a full minute.
Why would Cassie be worried about Eleanor stealing me away?
My teammate and I were just friends. Good friends, but there was definitely nothing romantic there.
Besides, Eleanor was straight. As she’d once drunkenly announced after a team event, she “loves dick, lots and lots of dick.”
When I glanced over at Cassie, she was still typing. I wondered what she was working on. She looked super intense, with her shoulders hunched, her blonde hair falling forward to cover part of her face, and a little crease of concentration between her eyebrows.
Trying to be quiet, I padded into the kitchen for water, returning with two bottles.
I put one on the table next to Cassie, then headed back to the couch.
It was weird having someone else in my space.
Not bad, but weird. I’d lived alone since I was eighteen, foregoing the dorms in college to rent a small apartment.
When I signed with the Starfish I’d used my bonus to put a down payment on my condo, something I’d never regretted.
My home was my sanctuary, and even with that weird display the stalker left on my door, I still felt safe here.
Especially with my new security system and my badass bodyguard sitting at the table.
She felt me looking at her and turned her head, her brown eyes boring into mine.
“Am I bothering you?” she finally asked.
“No, I’m just a little on edge,” I answered honestly. “A lot has happened in the last two days. I think I’m going to take a nice long bath.”
For some reason Cassie looked disturbed by that, though I couldn’t imagine why.
“After I’m done, we can talk about dinner.”
“Oh that reminds me, do you mind if I leave some nutrients in your refrigerator? They last longer and taste better if they’re cold.”
“Nutrients?”
“Blood,” she said succinctly.
I resisted the instinct to wince. I couldn’t deny that the idea of someone drinking blood made me squeamish. Then again, I couldn’t even look when I had a blood test or I’d pass out.
I knew Cassie had to have blood, and it wasn’t like there wasn’t blood in some of my food, before it was cooked that is.
I always ordered my steaks medium well just to make sure there was no trace of blood left.
It just seemed, well, odd to have blood on its own.
Like was it in a bottle like an energy drink or something?
Then again, a lot of cultures ate and drank things that were strange to me. I remember when we did an exhibition game in Scotland and several of the players tried haggis. I’d declined, it had definitely looked gross.
I’d just pretend Cassie’s ‘nutrients’ were tomato juice. Or try not to think of it at all.
“Oh. Of course, make yourself at home and help yourself to anything you want to eat or drink. I’ll leave a towel on your bed as well. See you in a bit.”