Riskier Business (Crossing the Line 0.5)(6)

“Daydreaming about punishment, hustler?” Slap. “Have I not spanked you enough lately?”

“You have…I-I just—”

“Do I need to start making regular trips to your workshop to spank and f*ck you? If you want it raw three times a day, Ruby, just say the word. I’ll give it to you as often as you need it.”

“Yes. More. Even more.”

“Consider it done,” Troy growled.

He watched her fingers straighten and flex against the wall with each blow, her moans increasing in volume until he wasn’t so certain anymore about the neighbors not being able to hear them. Troy realized then that his own shouts of pleasure had joined hers. He could hardly stand due to the overwhelming necessity to be inside his woman.

Troy tossed the brush onto the bathroom floor and fell to his knees behind Ruby. She looked over her shoulder at him and his head rushed when he saw the blistering arousal on her face. Eyes half open, lips bruised from biting into them with her teeth, damp hair stuck to her neck and forehead. If he hadn’t already been on his knees, she would have put him there with that single look.

In one swift move, he seated himself inside her, savoring her scream. Gritting his teeth, he gave her a moment to adjust to him, something she still required whenever they made love in this position. The one that got him so damn deep. He loved it. Those few moments of forcing himself to wait for that first perfect thrust. Months ago, when they’d both gotten tested and Ruby had gone on the pill, that careful control had eluded him for weeks, but he’d finally regained it. Even if the experience of loving her without an albeit-thin barrier still rocked him to the core every single time.

One of her hands left the wall to dig her fingernails into the skin of his thigh, a silent plea for him to move. He knew neither of them would last long after the evening’s buildup, what they’d done, what she’d revealed. So he threw his head back and worked his hips in slow yet demanding circles, felt her start to close up on his cock.

“Good girl. Come for your man. Don’t make me wait.”

The backs of her thighs began to shake; her shoulders followed. Fuck, he was strung so tight after the events of the day, he couldn’t hold back. He brought his palm down on her ass with a loud smack and sent her over the edge. Troy followed almost immediately, driving into her a final time before drowning in the bliss of her. Feeling drained and fulfilled at the same time, Troy pulled her upright, back against his chest, and held her tight.

He kissed her neck, closing his eyes when she pressed closer. Drenched and kneeling in the shower, it felt as though they were two survivors of a storm. But deep down, he knew the storm was only beginning.

“I love you, Ruby. We’re going to be all right.”

He wouldn’t let it be any other way.





Chapter Three


Ruby pushed her goggles onto her forehead and turned off the wood lathe when Mya Hicks signaled her from across the workshop. She raised a questioning eyebrow at the woman who, in a short space of time, had gone from unexpected investor to friend, business partner, and coworker.

“I’m ordering lunch. You want?”

She pretended to consider a moment. “Chicken salad on wheat. Extra pickles. Diet Coke.”

“You read my mind.”

Ruby shook her head. They ordered the same thing for lunch every day. Asking had turned into a mere formality. She slipped her goggles back on and resumed her work on a cue that was due in Dallas by week’s end. The customer had requested a naked woman etched into the handle. Had even sent her a picture of his girlfriend to work with. Pool players were superstitious and often eccentric, so she’d grown used to the odd requests. It wasn’t her place to question. With the amount of money she charged, they could ask her to carve a naked Santa Claus and she wouldn’t bat an eyelash. In fact, she’d done it just yesterday.

She glanced up from her work long enough to watch Mya hang up the phone and resume work at her desk, cataloging custom orders, filling out invoices, and ordering the supplies Ruby needed to create her designs. Not for the first time, she acknowledged how out of place Mya looked behind a desk completing paperwork. With a shock of pink running through her haphazard dark hair, and a tattoo sleeve twining up her right arm, she looked more like an artist. Or a biker. Basically, the furthest from a paper pusher that one could get. In her midforties, Mya had struck Ruby as a free spirit upon first glance. Although she looked young for her age and acted even younger, there was a knowledge in her eyes to which Ruby could relate. While Mya was certainly a beautiful woman, her looks didn’t seem to sit comfortably with her. As if she would shed them in a heartbeat if it were possible.

When her college professor came to her and claimed he knew an investor willing to take a chance on her fledgling business idea, she’d been naturally wary. The ink on her business school diploma hadn’t even dried. It had seemed too good to be true. When they’d been introduced, her curiosity had only grown. The word “investor” connoted a man with a briefcase. Not a rock star look-alike with a Korn beanie and ripped jeans. Yet they’d connected immediately. As they’d met and outlined their business model and strategy, Ruby had eventually stopped waiting for the other shoe to drop. Mya was noticeably standoffish about her past, but then, so was Ruby. No one wanted to invest their money in an ex–pool hustler, right? And obviously, Mya had her own demons on her tail. So through an unspoken agreement, they left the past off the table.