“A walk on the beach?”
“Sounds great.”
I wanted so badly to take her hand, but I didn’t. Ruby was a special person, a person who had been through a lot of shit. Whatever we had together, it would go at a snail’s pace. As much as I wanted her, I had to be okay with that. Did I like this woman enough to move at a slow pace?
The truth of the matter was yes, I did.
We didn’t talk much, just walked on the beach, me carrying two pairs of shoes. I had dressed better tonight, in shorts and a printed rayon shirt. Tomorrow, for the wedding, we were all wearing white pants and white shirts. I didn’t know what the women would be wearing.
All I knew was that Ruby would look beautiful.
I was content to simply walk beside her, letting the soft breeze ruffle my hair and shirt. Her hair was down tonight—soft, silky, and straight, flowing over her creamy shoulders and down her back.
Then we came to the nude beach again. Other couples were walking, and some were under cabanas. This part of the beach had several cabanas containing beds. They were walled off, but open on top so the stars were visible.
I longed to be alone with Ruby, to take her into one of the vacant cabanas.
But I knew how she would react to that.
“You want to go for a swim?” I asked.
She sighed. “Now that’s something I would normally say no to, but I think I might like to. It’s a beautiful night, and I haven’t been in the ocean yet. But what will we do with our clothes?”
Here was my shot. “Why don’t we put them in one of the empty cabanas? We can set them on the bed so they won’t get all sandy.”
“All right.”
I led her to one of the straw cabanas, and we went inside. We stripped off our clothing, and my cock was at half-mast again. She turned away from me as she undressed. I didn’t think anything of it. At least she was undressing. She folded her clothes neatly, set them on the bed, and then turned toward me, her arms over her chest. She had trimmed her bush since this afternoon. And, oh my God, I could see the lips of her pussy. So beautiful. Pink and fleshy. Plus, her sumptuous tits. Nice and plump with pink-brown pencil eraser nipples.
Fuck.
My cock tightened and threatened to grow. The cold ocean water would take care of that in quick order. I took her hand in mine. I ran with her to the water, and we splashed in.
Ruby laughed—she actually laughed—as her hair got wet and plastered to her shoulders and back. “Stupid move on my part. I should’ve put my hair up. This will be a bitch to brush out.”
“But you look so pretty. Like a mermaid.”
And she did. She was up to her belly button in water, her beautiful black hair plastered all over her body, her breasts plump, her nipples dark and hard. Her blue eyes sparkling. It was easy to imagine a glittering aquamarine fishtail underneath.
Of course, what was underneath was much better than a glittering fishtail. Between her legs was heaven. Beautiful heaven.
Shit, this water wasn’t doing much for my cock. Easy, Ryan. You walk out of the water with a giant hard-on, and she’ll run screaming in the other direction.
I touched her cheek again. She had let me do that before. Her lips were dark and glistening in the moonlight. I ran my thumb across the lower one.
“Ruby,” I said, my voice low and husky. “I’m dying to kiss you.”
She slid her tongue out and touched it to the tip of my thumb.
My God. My dick was raging. Just because this woman had touched her tongue to my thumb. What would happen if I actually kissed her? Really kissed her? Not a silly brushing peck like last night, but the joining of our mouths, our tongues, our lips sliding and slipping?
Just a kiss. That’s all I needed. Just to kiss those beautiful lips, slide my tongue between them…
She closed her eyes and lifted her face.
Was that an invitation?
Whether it was or not, I decided to go for it. She would stop me if she didn’t want it.