My gaze traveled upward, over her tits that dripped with water, and then it settled on her face. Her mascara was faintly smudged under her eyes, but the rest of her makeup seemed in place. It exaggerated her pretty blue eyes, which were cloudy with desire.
I needed to watch. Had to figure out what she was thinking as we came together.
She slowly drew a deep breath when I pressed the first crucial inch inside. Her eyes widened as I moved further, burying myself deeper. Holy. Motherfucking. Shit. Had she always felt this good? So wet, and hot, and tight? Her expression mirrored what I felt. Surprise and enjoyment.
Her moan was soft and erotic. It was a sound like she’d finally gotten what she’d been waiting a lifetime for. The muscles in my abs quivered as I pushed slowly all the way to the base and she was fitted perfectly around me.
“Jesus, Ruby,” I whispered.
Yeah, she was way better than I remembered, and we hadn’t even started fucking yet. I held still, my knees digging into the ridged step, and tried to soak her all in. She was undulating beneath me, her eyes half closed, but her gaze pinned on me. So utterly gorgeous, my sorry excuse for a heart ached.
Why the fuck did things have to go down the way they did? I disliked Chicago, but I would have stayed for her.
Christ, all she had to do was fucking ask.
Pain mixed with frustration at the situation, and clouded like a dark storm in my head. I withdrew slowly and sank into her once more, pissed off at how good it felt. All these years I’d missed this. I was still angry at her, but I was angry with myself for walking away.
“Oh, God,” she gasped. “More.”
I gave her a gentle thrust, creating a small wave in the water. Her eyes fluttered closed and her head tipped back, exposing the long line of her neck, so I took advantage. I skimmed my teeth over her skin and felt her pulse roa
ring there. Her heart seemed to be beating as furiously as mine.
My next thrust was serious. Her pussy clamped tight around me and a groan rolled through my chest. I latched my non-supporting hand on her hip and drove into her. Everything in me was searing with pleasure and chanting for more, and I moved my hips in time.
The water sloshed around us like a turbulent sea, and she cried out. It came from her sounding desperate and thirsty. Her hands flew up and she laced her fingers together behind the back of my neck, holding on for the ride. It was insane.
“Fuck,” she moaned. “Oh, fuck.”
I beat my hips against her in a punishing rhythm, and she responded in kind, rocking into me. Her trembling thighs gripped me tightly, encouraging me to plunge back inside on every stroke out I made. Our kissing was broken occasionally as one of us had to gasp for breath.
As much as I loved looking at her, my knees were grinding against the step and the position was murder on my back. I pulled out and climbed to my feet, gripping her waist and hauling her to stand before me. She squeaked a noise of surprise, but I spun her in my arms, pressing my chest to her back, and snaked my hands around her body. The water was up to our thighs, keeping our undone clothes floating there.
I let my hands wander and play for a moment, just a moment, before I planned to bend her over—
“I loved you,” she said breathlessly. “You know I did.”
It was a needle dragging on a record, and my hands stilled. I didn’t want to think about love right now. “Enough.”
Her head turned, giving me a view of her profile, and a water droplet rolled down her throat. “Kyle, I loved—”
“Enough.”
Pushed too far, a dark force took over. I put my hand in the center of her back and shoved her forward. Her hands flew out and caught the handrail at the steps, clinging on. And then I did something I’d never done before, I acted completely without thought.
Only instinct.
The sound of my palm cracking against her ass cheek, followed by her sharp gasp, were as loud as a cannon in my ears. For the longest second of my life, nothing happened. It took another full second for terror to seize me.
What the fuck did I just do?
Chapter
ELEVEN
Ruby’s hands were white-knuckled on the railing, but her pale skin where I’d struck her was already blossoming pink. She turned her head to face me and blinked in shock, her kiss-swollen mouth hanging open.
Oh, Jesus. Any time I’d spanked a woman, it had been playful and soft. This one had been aggressive and backed by a dark desire to punish.