ClaimingRuby (13 page)

He dressed her in the outfit he’d picked—snapped on her
garter belt, rolled on the stockings and made her step into the skirt. He laced
up her bustier, confining her with just the right amount of pressure.

He’d done everything—washed and dressed her. Nurtured his
submissive like a good Dominant should. Like she’d read in books. He was
perfect.

He dressed quickly in a pair of jeans. Nothing else. Her
mouth watered at the sight of his ass encased in denim.

“Follow me.”

She followed him through the apartment to a room she’d not
been aware of. He pushed open the door and she blinked.

A play room. It was decorated modestly in dark browns and
beiges like the rest of his home. It looked more like an office than a BDSM
room.

“Isn’t this supposed to look like a dungeon?” she asked,
intrigued.

He shrugged. “I like to break the mold.”

He gestured her inside and she saw her initial thought had
been wrong. The colors might scream corporate but the furniture was pure BDSM.
Racks of toys, floggers, canes, whips and blindfolds lined one wall. All in
pristine condition.

She wondered if his cleaning lady knew about this room.

In one corner sat a wooden cross. She’d seen them, and the
pleasure they could bring, at Decadence. There was a table with stirrups and
restraints and a throne-type chair with similar bondage attachments, but it was
the suspension harness hanging from the ceiling in the center that caught her
eye. Could anyone be comfortable in leather and chains? Then again, maybe it
wasn’t about comfort.

“Are you scared?” He stroked her collarbone and she made a
mewling sound.

“No. Curious but not scared.” In matters of pleasure and
pain, she trusted him implicitly.

“The harness take your fancy?”

She inhaled. “Just wondering how it works. How can a sub be
comfy?”

He tugged her hair. “It’s not about what the sub wants,
Ruby. It’s about how she can please her Master.” He walked her over to the
harness, forced her nose into the leather. “What does it smell like?”

“Leather. Oil.” A familiar, comforting smell that had juices
pooling between her thighs.

“Anything else?”

“It smells like home.” She couldn’t describe it but it did.
It called to something deep inside her, something primal and old.

“Good girl. I’m going to put you in the harness tonight.
Your body already belongs to me. Tonight I’m taking your heart.”

“You have it.”

He did, had from the moment he’d stepped into her apartment.
She just wished she had his in return.

“Thank fuck,” he uttered, stroking her cheek tenderly before
securing her wrists to the shackles suspended from the ceiling and fastening
the harness around her waist. Blood rushed through her veins. Her arms grew
heavy as he pulled a long chain so her feet just brushed the ground.

“This is the easiest level. One day I’m going to suspend you
completely.” He shoved up her skirt, leaving her ass bare. She was exposed and
vulnerable and very wet.

Joshua took a paddle from the rack. He teased it against his
hand a few times. Each time it connected with his flesh, she jerked. Her ass
already throbbed, preempting the soreness and ache following a spanking.

He didn’t prep her, just starting spanking. One crack on
each cheek then two. Three. Four. Five.

She rattled her bonds and moaned. Her butt was on fire but
she didn’t give a fuck.

He switched to a flogger with fronds made of intricately
woven rope. She clenched her teeth.

This would hurt.

“Take it. Show me what a good girl you are.”

She nodded. She could take it. She knew that now. A mild
Dominant was no good for her. She needed the pain, she needed someone who would
take her to the edge of what she could endure and beyond.

Joshua was that man.

The flogger clapped against her burning ass and she cried
out.

Tears prickled. Her chest heaved.

All she had to do was breathe through it.

She wasn’t wearing any panties and her thighs were soaked.
Every new mark on her delicate flesh made her cream harder.

“I can smell your cunt. See your juices glistening on your
thighs.” He scooped some with his fingers and tasted her. “Mmm, you fucking
taste amazing. My Ruby.”

The blows began in earnest, over and over until she couldn’t
remember her name. He flogged her until she was raw, until the pleasure-pain
barrier blurred and she hung on the precipice of need.

The spanking stopped. Endorphins flooded her system as
pleasure cascaded into her erogenous zones. Her skin was so hypersensitive she
tingled all over. Her core tightened and relaxed as the promise of orgasmic
bliss abated. Her mind floated in a haze.

Cool liquid on her ass made her gasp.

“You ass is flushing. You should see the pattern. Perfectly
crisscrossed. You won’t be able to sit down without wincing and thinking of me.”
He pressed a kiss to her temple. “You’re a perfect submissive. My submissive.”

“Yes.” His, all his. She couldn’t deny him anymore.

A strip of cloth covered her eyes and she twisted in her
bonds. “What’s that?”

“Just a blindfold. Do you trust me, Ruby?”

The question sounded serious, not just sexual. After all
they had been through, did she trust him? Yes. Implicitly. Old doubts still reared
their ugly heads but he’d proven himself to her time and again.

It was time to just trust, to give herself over to him
completely.

“Yes Sir. I trust you.”

She heard him moan softly. Had he been worried about her
answer? Was Joshua Quinn, businessman and millionaire mogul, unsure? His
self-doubt made her love him more.

“Good girl, Ruby. Good girl.”

Was that relief in his tone?

He moved to her front and lifted her breasts out of the
bustier. He plucked the hardened buds. Blood rushed to the tips as he twisted
and let go.

Something dripped on her skin. Something hot and extremely
painful.

Wax.

She’d seen people play with it but never had it done to her.
Fear spiked and dampened her arousal. It could lead to real pain and permanent
damage.

“Trust me.”

She relaxed and focused on his movements.

Joshua poured hot wax onto her breasts. The initial sting of
fire burned but cooled quickly. Little drips hardened on her nipples. The licks
of fire shot down into her belly then lower into her pussy. She clenched her
thighs and let out a loud moan.

Drip. Drip.

“Oh god.” She panted. Pressure built and her upper thighs
quivered.

Almost there.

The delicious torture stopped. He removed the blindfold and
stood in front of her naked, his cock hard, the head purple and ready to
explode.

“Your drive me insane, Ruby. Watching that wax harden on
your tits…” He was on her, dragging her forward in her chains. “Can’t wait.”

His shaft pushed inside her. There was no resistance, she
was too wet.

He started to pull out. “Shit, no protection.”

She stopped him by clenching her walls around him. “No. No,
it’s okay. I want to feel you.” She looked into his eyes and begged. “Please, I
want to feel you come inside me.”

Something inside him seemed to break. His expression changed
as if something had been unleashed. He pounded into her. His fingers dug into
the sensitive flesh of her ass but she didn’t care. He controlled their
movements, the depth and rhythm of his strokes. The harness meant all she could
do was take.

“Jesus. Fuck.”

Sweat beaded on his forehead. She strained toward him. Her
cunt pulsed, drawing his cock in deeper.

She needed to feel him come. Claim her. Mark her as his with
his scent.

“Can’t wait much longer.” He frigged her clit.

The orgasm ripped through her like a violent cataclysm, a
rush of electricity that stole her sanity. Couldn’t think. All that mattered
was the explosion of pleasure between her thighs.

He roared in her ear. Hot jets of cum rushed inside her
core. She felt them splashing against her walls. He jerked and the movement
sent tiny shock waves through her. She came again, mini ripples that made her
muscles taut and her back bow.

“Christ.” He pulled out.

Ribbons of cum slithered down her thighs. She’d been
completely and utterly used.

Finally.

He cupped her face. “I love you.”

The sincerity in his eyes robbed her of thought. She’d been
waiting for this moment.

Tears ran down her cheeks. “I love you too, Sir.”

Ruby hummed as she tidied a table display of new books in
the middle of the store. Her ass burned from the crisscrosses Joshua had
branded her with. She didn’t care. It felt good. For the first time, she was
content. She was owned, in every sense of the word.

Who knew having a Dominant could be so fulfilling? She’d
always dreamed it would be but the reality was more incredible. Her mind felt
free, as liberated as her body. Joshua wasn’t there to command her, he was
there to protect and nurture her the way a good Dom should.

Doubts from her past still floated beneath the surface but
she and Joshua would work through them together. She loved him and he loved
her.

She pinched herself and laughed. She was living her very own
erotic fantasy.

Unbelievable.

The bell above the door chimed and she turned, beamed at her
first customer of the day.

The smile dropped as she came face-to-face with Julia Lowe.

“Hello, Ruby.” She flicked her perfectly coiffed hair and
appraised Ruby’s store. “Quaint little place.”

The word “quaint” came out like a derogatory curse.

She didn’t have time to deal with Julia’s jealous bullshit
this morning. She wouldn’t let the bitch ruin her good mood.

Ruby crossed her arms over her chest. “What do you want,
Julia?”

The model leaned over the table and smirked. “I just came to
see if you’d heard the news.”

“What news?” Whatever news Julia had, Ruby couldn’t care
less.

She unfolded a highbrow newspaper and tapped at the society
column. “This. My engagement to Joshua Quinn. Announced in this morning’s paper
and confirmed by this.” She flashed Ruby a ridiculous diamond engagement ring
the size of a small country.

Her stomach twisted. No, she wouldn’t believe it. Not this
time. “Give me that.”

She snatched the paper from Julia and scanned the column.
There it was, in black-and-white.
Ms. Julia Lowe announces her engagement to
successful businessman and tycoon Mr. Joshua Quinn
.

Her world crumbled. Her heart split and her airway felt as
if it was closing.

“I told you Joshua would never love a lump like you.” She
waggled her fingers. “I’m the one he’s going to marry and I’m the one who gets
to fuck him night after night.” She straightened. “He’s mine. The fat girl
always loses in the end.”

Was it true? Was Joshua was engaged to that bitch?

Unable to think clearly, Ruby acted on instinct. “Julia?”

“Yes?” The model stopped at the door and turned to look at
Ruby.

Ruby bounded over and slapped Julia’s cheek as hard as she
could muster. She put all her anger and tears into the slap. The thwacking
sound echoed around her store. It would leave an angry mark but she didn’t give
a shit.

“You’re a bitch. Now get the fuck out of my store before I
break your goddamn perfect nose.”

Julia’s eyes widened as she cradled her cheek. “You’re
insane. Joshua is better off without you.” She scrambled for the door handle
and scuttled out.

She steadied herself on the doorframe, emotions and thoughts
swirling through her brain. She’d been here before—things in newspapers weren’t
always true. The last time she’d seen Joshua in the news she’d overreacted. Not
this time. She needed to be mature, act like an adult and give Joshua a chance
to explain. It still stung like hell but she owed him that.

She grabbed her purse and flipped the closed sign on her
door. At this time of day there wouldn’t be much traffic. As she locked the
store and headed for her car, she prayed the announcement was nothing but Julia
Lowe’s bullshit.

The ride in the elevator to Joshua’s office took forever.
She tapped her foot and counted the floors but the doubts continued to niggle.
She’d called him about twenty times on the way over and received no answer. She’d
left six messages and didn’t care if she came across as a crazy bitch. He hadn’t
called back. What the fuck was he doing? She refused to let Julia break the
trust she’d built in Joshua. He’d explain this, take her in his arms and
reassure her. Then he’d deal with Julia Lowe.

As soon as the doors slid open, she bounded out and headed
straight for his office.

Joshua’s secretary rose and said, “You can’t go in there,
Miss Romano. Mr. Quinn is in an important meeting.”

Ruby gave her a dismissive wave and went in. Joshua stood in
front of his desk. Julia was beside him, a few inches from his chest. Ruby took
in her rumpled hair and bee-stung lips. They looked as if she’d been kissed
harshly. Julia’s appearance sliced into Ruby and carved away her resolve in
Joshua’s innocence.

She slid her gaze to him and her knees weakened. He had the
same disheveled look. There were lipstick marks on his cheek and his shirt
collar.

Ruby clutched at her throat. She couldn’t breathe. She had
to get out.

“Ruby, I can explain.” He moved a step toward her, guilt
plastered all over his handsome face.

Julia wore a cat-who-got-the-cream grin.

Ruby stumbled back. “No. No. Don’t come near me ever again.”
She turned and fled with Joshua’s protests ringing in her ears. The pain
threatened to overwhelm her.

She rushed down to the parking garage. How could she have
been so stupid? Men like him always married their own kind. Alone, she crumbled
to her knees and clutched the paper to her breast. He’d ripped out her heart
and stomped all over it. It wasn’t just bruised this time, it was irrevocably
broken.

He’d betrayed her and the trust she’d placed in him. She’d
given him total submission and he’d been playing her for a fool. Using her as a
fuck toy before settling down with someone more of his standing. He was just
like her ex. He’d used her, taken what he wanted then discarded her as if she
were one of his fancy toys. She should have trusted her instincts.

She wanted to cry but tears wouldn’t come. Her skin felt
clammy and cold.

Was she going into shock? Possibly.

He’d broken her.

How humiliating
.
With every encounter, she’d given
away more of herself—going to Decadence for the first time, servicing him at
his office, lying in his arms.

Were his friends laughing at her too? Were they in on the
act?

She couldn’t stay here in New York. She needed to leave, get
away, lick her wounds for trusting another rich asshole. Would she ever fucking
learn?

She’d go visit some friends in Miami. Get some sun and put
half a country between her and Joshua Quinn.

Somewhere along the way she’d try to mend the pieces of her
broken soul.

* * * * *

“She’s gone.” Joshua sank back into the sofa and clenched
handfuls of his hair. After Ruby stormed out, there was no way he could stay at
work. He’d retreated to his home and called in the cavalry.

Bastien handed him a beer. “What do you mean, she’s gone?”

“What I said—she’s gone.” He took a pull on the beer and
glared at his two friends. “I’m going to fucking kill Julia.”

He’d heard about her stunt when one of his staff sent him an
email congratulating him on his engagement. He’d found the announcement and
called the paper. He’d threatened to shut them down with an expensive lawsuit
unless they printed a retraction immediately. He’d rather eat glass than marry
that viper. Apparently Julia had flat-out lied when sending in the
announcement. She was marrying another rich man.

Good luck to him.

Then she’d turned up at his office, had declared her love
and thrown herself at him, peppering him with kisses. Despite her willowy
frame, she was strong and he’d had to fight to get her off him.

And just his fucking luck, that had been the point Ruby
walked in.

The broken look on her face crushed him. He’d gone after her
but by the time he managed to get away from Julia and down to the parking lot,
she’d gone.

He’d tried calling Ruby for the last two hours. She hadn’t
answered. Her store was closed.

And now she was gone. His chest tightened as if an iron band
were squeezing him.

“Are you sure she’s left town?” Alex’s question brought him
back to the present.

“Yep. Can’t find her anywhere. I’ve got someone checking
flight manifestos.”

“Isn’t that illegal?”

“I don’t give a shit.” The crushing weight around his chest
made it hard to function. He should have seen this coming. Anticipated it. How
had he been so stupid? Now he’d lost the one person most precious to him.

He drew a jewelry case out of his jacket pocket and opened
it before placing it on the desk. It was a thin silver collar inlaid with a
ruby.

Alex sucked in air. “Jesus, you were about to collar her?”

Joshua nodded. “I was ready to make that commitment.”

“We’ll find her.” Bastien placed a hand on his shoulder.

He swallowed.

He was a mess. Ruby had burrowed inside him. He’d never
known a woman as passionate and giving as she was. She was everything he’d
imagined in a submissive. A true submissive. Eager to please. A woman not afraid
to embrace her natural desires. Someone to cherish, protect. A woman not
attracted to him for status or money, but someone who knew his soul.

A mirror image. A perfect match.

His phone buzzed. Joshua reached for it and read the brief
message.

Found her. She’s waiting for a Miami flight. Still at
airport. Flight leaves in two hours. Limo outside waiting.

Hope surged. As if galvanized, he scrambled to his feet and
gathered his things. “They got a hit.” He snapped the jewelry case shut as he
formed a plan. This was what he was good at—strategizing, planning a mission.

“This is what I want you to do.” He filled his friends in on
the plan before bounding out of the apartment.

He was going to claim his Ruby forever.

* * * * *

Ruby swung her foot as she sat in the boarding area. She
couldn’t concentrate on magazines or her book. She was numb. From pain or
shock, she wasn’t sure.

The sting of betrayal ran deep but it was the disregard of
her love that hurt the most. She’d opened herself to Joshua—mind, body and soul—and
he’d trampled all over her.

She dragged a shaky hand through her hair. Dammit. She
wouldn’t cry. Not again.

“Miss Romano?”

She looked at a policeman and blinked away the unshed tears.
“Yes?”

“Can you come with me please?”

“Why? Has something happened?” Fear clawed at her spine. Was
it Jamie? Her family? The store? A hundred scenarios ran through her head.

“Nothing to worry about. We just need you to clear something
up concerning your store.”

The policeman gave her a reassuring caress on her shoulder
as he escorted her to a private set of rooms. She found the gesture oddly
intimate. A Dominant’s gesture of comfort.

Maybe she was crazy. Maybe she was searching for it
everywhere now that her world had been opened to it.

“Please wait here and someone will be with you soon. Please
don’t worry.”

“But…”

The cop left and closed the door behind him. She hated
waiting and facing the unknown. To kill time, she scanned the room. It was
plain and nondescript—beige walls and carpet, a small sofa and a table and
chairs. No windows. She glanced at her watch. Less than a minute had passed.

She paced up and down, around and around. Terror threatened
to overwhelm her with each second that ticked by.

Ruby turned as the door clicked open. Her knees almost
buckled as Joshua entered.

His presence sucker-punched her in the gut. Her body sparked
to life and hormones surged. She wanted to run her hands over his jaw, through
his hair and across his shoulders. She needed to touch him but logic kicked in.
He’d hurt her. How could she still react to him so violently?

“What are you doing here?”

He leaned on the door in a casual manner, shirtsleeves
rolled up. It reminded of her of when she’d first met him. It seemed like a
lifetime ago.

“Were you running from me, little girl?”

Her temper flared. “Don’t fucking patronize me. And I’m not
your little girl.”

“You are. Always were.” He stalked forward and she edged
back.

“Does your fiancée know you’re here?” She spit the words at
him but it cut her to even say them.

He withdrew his iPhone and handed it to her. “Read. She was
never my fiancée.”

Ruby snorted but snatched the phone. “That’s what they all
say.”

She read the headline. A retraction. She winced as the paper
apologized for any damage to Joshua’s reputation and any distress caused to his
loved ones.

“You wouldn’t answer your fucking phone! And then I saw you
together.” The image of them surfaced and threatened to overwhelm her.

“I didn’t answer my phone because I was on my business line
dealing with this bullshit. You didn’t trust me. After everything we’ve been
through. You didn’t trust your Master.”

“I know what I saw.” Did she? She hadn’t actually seen them
kissing. What was she supposed to believe in the face of such overwhelming
evidence?

“What did you see, Ruby?”

“I saw you kissing her,” she said and sneered.

“No, you didn’t. You saw the aftermath of Julia pawing at
me. You didn’t see me pushing her away.” He sounded so sincere.

Anger drained, replaced by confusion. Had she been the
stupid one? She glanced at Joshua. Could anyone be so sick as to make up this
kind of excuse?

“Rather than put your faith in me, you believed that viper
bitch and ran from me, your Master.”

He kept repeating the word “Master”. Her defenses were crumbling.
Had she been blinded by her own insecurities?

She’d been a fucking fool. She’d been so quick to judge, to
believe he was just like the rest.

“Joshua, I’m…”
I’m sorry
just didn’t seem to cut it.