Chapter 25—Kooper #2
I go back to Nat and see her eyes wide with fear, but she doesn’t back down, just blinks it away and hands me Ruby.
Who stumbles more than I’ve ever seen in my life.
I bend down and throw her over my shoulder before turning and heading for the door, which is now standing wide the fuck open without a single person in my way.
“That looked like fun. I want to do that. Put me down so I can do that,” Ruby says as she pushes off my back to look around.
I just keep walking, and Nat meets my stride as we get outside and make our way to the car.
“Think we could charge money for that? I bet we’d make more than they do each night. Ha! I’m three for three. Hashtag winning.”
I look at Natalie over Ruby’s rump, and she shrugs. She’s just as clueless about Ruby’s rambling as I am.
“Ooh, you know what we should do? We should get tacos. No, wings! I love wings.”
I grin at her drunken words as I lower her beside the passenger door of her car.
“You good to drive?”
At Nat’s nod, I reach into Ruby’s front pocket and pull out her key fob.
The outline was clear to see when she was dancing, and since Ruby isn’t a girl who brings a purse to a party, I don’t even hesitate to get them.
But maybe I should have. Or at least thought this through.
Because while Nat was on the other side of the car, and the music from the house party was loud enough to cover most of what someone said to another person when close, I did not miss Ruby’s moan.
Or the soft rotation of her hips as she tried to get my fingers to move to areas that, if sober, she’d never let me touch.
I toss Nat the keys after unlocking the door, then pull Ruby to me so I can get her door open. She comes willingly, pressing her entire body to me and even rubbing against me.
I should get fucking sainthood after this shit.
Getting Ruby into the car is easy, if not a bit rough.
To keep things the way they should be, I might have pushed her in.
And while she tried to fumble herself into a sitting position, I put her seat belt on and shut the door.
If she touched me one more time, I don’t know what I would do.
She’s definitely on something. I need to prepare for what the night will bring.
I tap the hood of her car and head to my bike behind them. Nat sticks her head out the window when I mount up.
“Head home. I’ll follow you.”
She nods and drives off.
I take a second to check my phone.
Nice hostage rescue.
Dick. Of course he was watching. And not helping. Not that I needed him to.
Shut it down.
His response is a meme of the Grinch smiling with plotting fingers in front of him. I don’t care what he does, just want this place to learn a lesson. One being that you don’t do this shit to anyone. Two, you don’t fuck with a Hound. And three, that Ruby is off-limits.
My guy might not be a Hound, but that’s just because he likes to travel too much. I told him to become a nomad, but even then he’d have to prospect in one spot for a year. He isn’t the type that can stay still for a month, let alone twelve.
The drive to Ruby’s isn’t long, thank fuck. I must be tired, because my vision blurs a bit. I have to adjust more times than not and almost wreck at the last turn.
I pull up just in time to see Nat trying to get Ruby to stand long enough for her to close the passenger door.
I park my bike and walk, stumbling a bit, over to them.
“You get the doors. I’ll get her,” I tell Nat, who nods.
Once again, I bend down and put Ruby on my shoulder. I need her secure so I can use the banister on the stairs to help guide me. I must have gotten a taste of what she had in that last drink.
Shit.
“Did you know your ass is really nice? I bet I could bounce a quarter off it. Hey, Nat, do you have any quarters?”
“Shhh. And no, all out. Sorry, hon.” At least Nat’s smiling at Ruby’s antics and not berating her as she opens the door and lets us pass through.
I march down the small hallway and drop Ruby onto the bed hard enough that she bounces and giggles with glee. And I fucking stumble into the damn wall.
“Are you all right?” Nat asks.
I shake my head, then hold it to stop it from spinning. “You guys take anything tonight?”
Maybe she and Ruby wanted to have their own party. It happens. No judgment here. Just need to know what it is so I can plan for how to get it out of our systems.
Nat shakes her head, unfortunately. “No.”
“How may drinks did you have?”
“I had three. And I don’t know about Ruby. I went to the bathroom at one point, and when I came back, I saw her drinking with those guys you, uh… you punched out. They tried to get me a drink, too, but I wasn’t feeling it, so I called you.”
Awesome. So they gave her something, and I took it too. Could be a whole lot of somethings. Only cure for most of it is time and flushing out the system.
“Get her to bed. I’ll get some water.”
I leave them to it as I lock down the place. I refuse to sway even a bit. Even if the floor slopes at some points tonight like it never did before. I grab a bottle of water, chug it all, then grab three more before I head back to her room.
“All I could get off her was her boots. She’s too wiggly.”
I nod at Nat. “Go get some sleep. I’ll watch over her.”
“Okay. Night, Ruby. Night, Kooper.” She turns and starts down the hall but stops when I call out to her.
“You did good in reaching out. Shit could have gotten worse if you hadn’t.”
She licks her lips and seems to gather some courage before she speaks. “I know she’s had a hard time with her dad being gone. I just want her to be safe. Losing family is never easy.” She goes into her room, shutting her door before I can question anything.
Her words feel odd to my ears. The background on her says she’s an orphan. But what she just said makes me think she had family. At least once.
“It’s so hot. Why is it so hot?”
All thoughts of Nat die as Ruby’s struggles pull me back to her.
I close the door and then look at her. She’s writhing on her bed and clawing at her corset.
Soon it’s off, leaving only pasties to cover her nipples.
The next second, she kicks her pants off, and the smallest bikini briefs ever made lie against her pale skin.
God—if there is a God—give me strength.