Ruby's Fantasy (3 page)

Ruby stretched easing the tension in her shoulders as she thought about their business. Money in the business cheque account was running low. This business had to work.

She unpacked her bag, making room in the chest of drawers for her sensible cotton underwear amongst the lacy snippets that posed as panties, which were labelled and ready to go on sale downstairs. In the wardrobe, she pushed aside the long, glamorous gowns to hang her conservative shirts, skirts and jackets. Biting her bottom lip, she realised she had forgotten to pack her own nightgown.

On searching the upper shelving in the wardrobe, she pulled out a movie-star silky teal and lace romantic nightgown with a plunging neckline, thigh-splitting seam and matching silk slippers.

It was stunning.

She wondered what Jake would think of her wearing this. She could imagine being the princess Jake thought she was, though given their upbringing nothing could be further from the truth. She felt her cheeks warm as she fingered the sensuous fabric and glanced at the mirror to see her eyes were shining. Jake, a complete stranger, had a way of making her feel sexy and beautiful. Comparing him to her ex, she realised she'd done the right thing breaking it off.

Up until this moment she'd wondered if she was one of those women who didn't like sex. Sure she could have an orgasm, but never with her ex. He hadn't seemed to care. Was it her own fault because she couldn't get close enough to a man to say what she needed?

With a sigh, she undid the buttons of her trousers and stepped out of them, pulled her tunic over her head leaving herself clad in her sensible bone-coloured bra and underwear. Putting everything in the hamper, she picked up the nightgown and matching slippers, walked down the narrow hallway and into the bathroom to fill the bath.

She unclasped her bra and pulled down her panties, leaving them on the tiles and hopped into the bath. She needed the time to think about what had just happened and as the water filled, she thought about Jake. In her job doing accounting for small businesses in the Blue Mountains, she had a good sense of people. There was something very appealingly cheeky about Jake even if he was testosterone on legs. She swore he'd been rock hard with need, but he'd stopped when she'd asked him to.

For the first time in her life, she realised what it was like to be with a man who sparked a fire inside her as soon as he came near, instead of feeling dead below the waist and believing it was her fault.

Her nipples contracted at the thought of him.

Pumping the liquid soap container she washed under her arms and over her breasts, so that her nipples tightened. Her hand moved between her legs and her fingers slid in between. Why did Jake have to take her in his arms and kiss her like that leaving her edgy and needy?

Closing her eyes, she made long, languorous movements with her fingers as she rocked her hips. A sigh burst from her lips followed by a deep moan as little tingling sensations made her clench and unclench.

She'd been able to feel every muscle on Jake's hard washboard stomach as he'd pressed himself against her when he'd kissed her. Her breath came hot and hard as she imagined what Jake would look like naked. How did a guy so tall and strong get to be so gentle and sexy at the same time?

Opening her legs, she stroked harder, her hips rising and falling so that the water splashed over the bath. Her knees pressed against the hard porcelain sides. Ruby groaned. She wanted Jake to be doing this, Jake to be kissing her hard like he had downstairs, stroking her body, murmuring her name as if she were the only woman in the world who existed for him.

The orgasm exploded, travelling up her spine until she arched and groaned, the tone primal and urgent, echoing off the walls. ‘Jake,' she cried out.

She slumped trying to catch her breath. Jake. Jake. Jake. Her heart thumped his name.

Next door she heard someone open a door and close it and she realised how paper thin the walls were. Luckily, she was unlikely to be meeting her neighbour on this busy strip called The Golden Mile which was a small, Vegas-like area full of nightclubs and strip joints interspersed between shops and cafes.

Ruby relaxed back into the bath and closed her eyes. She'd never experienced wanting like this. She was certain she would enjoy sex with a man, if that man were Jake, she thought dreamily. Even his name aroused within her a painful, desperate need.

A sharp splintering sound of glass smashing made her eyes snap open. She leapt up with her heart hammering. It sounded like the front window of the shop had caved in. Grabbing a towel and rapidly drying herself, Ruby pulled on the nightgown, slipped it over her head so that it slithered down her body and ran downstairs.

Night had gathered pace since she'd last been downstairs and the shop looked ghostly due to the outside glow of neon lights from the strip, which caught the reflection of the shop mirrors.

A large shape blocked out the window. Ruby froze. A scream started in the base of her throat, rose up to her mouth, yet only a strangled sound left her lips as fear froze her voice box.

Crunch! A man, his body bulky, his face broad and dark, stepped into the window box. From the side, a street neon light flashed and for one brief moment, she made eye contact with the man, more monster than human. A spider tattoo webbed his face and in his hand a knife gleamed bright.

The scream that had frozen on her lips filled the room, ringing out until it seemed to bounce off the walls. She turned, searching the shop for something to defend herself as her survival instinct honed from years of needing to protect herself and Emerald, kicked in. Escape wasn't an option. There was an exit door at the back of the shop but by the time she fiddled with the deadlock he would be on top of her. No. The Cross was busy. Draw attention. Scream. Fight at the front.

Spying a baseball bat mounted on a wall display, she pulled at it bringing the whole ensemble to the ground. With adrenalin charged nerve endings she tried to keep an eye on the intruder and find the light switch. Impossible. Taking her eyes off the intruder for an instant, she located the light switch on her right and slapped at the bank of lights. The shop flooded as the strip lights in the ceiling turned on. When she turned back the man was gone.

Instead, she saw great shards of glass littering the front of the shop. The mannequin, adorned with a robe, corset and garters, which stood in the shop front window box, had toppled over like a corpse.

‘Princess. Are you okay?' Past the mannequin, Jake stood on the street looking in where the intruder had been. ‘Jake!' Her voice came out husky with fear and she ran towards him.

‘Stop! Don't come any closer. There's glass here.' Jake climbed through the window, righted the mannequin and jumped from the window box onto the floor, his large boots crunching glass under his feet. Sweeping her into his arms, he carried her back to the stairs. ‘Stay there. I'll check the back of the shop.' In moments he returned. ‘All clear,' he said.

‘There was a… m…an,' she stuttered aware.

Jake gathered her into his arms. He smelled warm and safe. ‘Did he hurt you?' ‘N…no.'

‘What did he look like?' He pulled back from her clearly studying her face.

‘Dark figure. Spider tattoo here.' She touched her cheek.

He frowned and stroked her cheek. ‘Don't worry. I'm here now. He can't hurt you.' He glanced at the baseball bat that she still clutched and prised it from her fingers.

Her fingers felt stiff when she relinquished it.

Passersby gathered at the smashed in window, talking and looking in. ‘Wait a minute,' Jake said. Releasing her, he strode over to the window. ‘Did anyone see anything?' he asked with authority.

The night clubbers and tourists who frequented The Cross shook their heads and moved on.

In the background, Ruby could hear the wail of a police siren coming closer.

Jake returned and put his arms around her, pulling her in tight against his chest. ‘I can feel your heart beating.'

‘He had a knife.' She threaded her arms under his leather jacket and hugged him leaving no space between their torsos. She didn't care that she had only met him late that afternoon, he felt wholesome and good to her. ‘I…thought he was coming to k…kill me.' She was aware her teeth were chattering.

‘That won't happen. I won't let it.' He stroked her hair as if he were taming a frightened animal and Ruby knew from the way her body was trembling, she wasn't far from it.

What had her twin done to bring this on them? Sure, her sister flirted and often multiple dated which made some of her boyfriends jealous but she'd never done anything to make a man crazy enough to want to kill her.

Until now!

A sickening twisting sensation started in her stomach as she looked around in dismay. ‘What a mess.'

‘Hush, Princess. Don't worry. I'll organise the window repair for first thing tomorrow and get you back in business.'

‘Thanks…you're kind…but I'll manage. It's just a shock. I wasn't expecting this.' She'd always looked after herself and her twin. It was kind of Jake to offer to do things for her, especially as he was a stranger. She shivered and he rubbed her back, his thumb tracing over the nodules of her spine so that she was suddenly aware of how little she was wearing and how damn good his touch felt on her bare skin.

‘Do you have any idea of who would do this?' he asked, studying her face.

She shook her head.

‘I'll speak to the muscle doing protection on the strip, but this doesn't seem like their handy work.'

‘Does that still go on?' Ruby had read about the level of crime at The Cross but in the past ten years with all the new, up market apartment buildings just down the road in Elizabeth Bay, the surrounding area had taken on a gentrified feel leaving only this short stretch from the Archibald Fountain to William Street for the nightclubs, sex shops and strip clubs.

Jake gave her a quizzical look that seemed to say country bumpkin. ‘There's a war on here, Princess. The biker gangs are fighting for domination of the drug trade. There are over a hundred clubs in The Cross. I set up my security business here so the clubs can guard themselves from bikers who want to distribute drugs in their clubs and demand protection money.'

‘Protection?'

‘Don't worry, you're mine to look after.' Jake swept low and took her mouth in a swift, claiming kiss.

There was something utterly intoxicating in his kiss. Her heart was fluttering with fear and she clung to him. What had Emerald been thinking of when she'd set up their business on the strip? No wonder the shop had been cheap. ‘I had no idea The Cross was still so bad. I thought it had become gentrified.'

‘Only outsiders think that. I grew up in the Eastern Suburbs, but my grandmother lived here and I stayed over on weekends a lot before I went into the army. I learnt how to fight and I learnt how to stay alive on these streets.'

A white and blue police van zoomed into view, mounted the gutter and parked on the pavement. ‘Good, the cops are here.'

‘That was quick,' she said.

‘Yeah, well, the police station is right next to the Archibald Fountain, plus I have buddies on the force. Don't walk in here until I've cleaned up the glass.' Jake released her, slipped his leather jacket off and put it around her shoulders.

She slid her arms into it, conscious of the smell of leather, spicy cologne and him. His scent turned her on and breathing it in, despite the distraction of the police appearing, an image of Jake naked in her bed, hard and waiting for her appeared in her imagination.

The police checked out the shop and talked to Jake who knew one of the policemen. While she gave her statement, Jake found a broom and was already sweeping up the debris. She marvelled at just how familiar he seemed to be with the shop and everything in it, even though it had only been open a week. How long had he known Emerald?

Thanking the police and promising to call in at the station the next morning if she remembered anything else, she walked back into the shop to see that the glass had been piled in one area against the wall, so that the floor was clear.

‘Why didn't you pull down your security screen like you normally do at six o'clock?' Jake asked.

She had been too entranced by meeting him to think about it.
She paused, aware that his gaze had become piercing as his blue eyes narrowed. ‘Um…I'll never make the mistake of leaving it up again.'

He walked outside to roll it down so that the shop was closed off from passersby. Then he came back in and locked the front door. The space between them seemed quiet now that the noise from the busy strip outside no longer blared.

‘Thank you for being there.' She wasn't used to it, having a man to protect her.

‘Princess, dressed like that I'll be wherever you want me to be. You could have me on my knees.' He raised one wing-like eyebrow.

Ruby swore her blush must have started somewhere just above her collarbone because she could feel it gathering heat on her neck and cheeks. The image of him hot and naked kneeling between her thighs besieged her. Her mouth went dry.

His gaze lingered on her face and moved lower. ‘Let me know if you want me to tuck you in tonight.'

‘Yes! No. I don't want to be alone.' She folded up the arms of his jacket. Every time she shifted, it smelled of his body. It was like being enveloped by him.

He walked over to her and put his arms on her waist. ‘Which is it, Princess?'

Her heart made a leap. She wanted him so badly, yet a myriad of thoughts snapped through her mind. She'd always depended on herself, determined not to be the simpering kind of woman her mother had been, pandering to her father's every need before she had run off.

‘How did you appear so quickly like that?' she asked, pulling away from his arms and walking across the floor. She grabbed the broom where he'd left it leaning against the wall. ‘I mean one minute I hear glass smashing and the next you're climbing in the window like Rambo.'