Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 66217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
I almost say yes, but not for any of the right reasons. I want to keep riding the high of Wolf’s anger, the sharp edge of doing something I shouldn’t. Playing those games with strangers is shitty. Doing it with my friends is unforgivable. I shake my head. “It’d be a poor substitute for what we both want.”
“Speak for yourself.” He laughs and sits up. “But yeah, I think that ship has sailed. Still, if you ever want to fuck someone else together again, that was fun. I’d do it again.” His gaze shifts to the stairs, going contemplative. “I think I will book her, though. Get her out of my system and all that.”
I don’t tell him it’s a bad idea, that Cassim will lose his ever-loving shit if he finds out Zayne is frequenting an escort. He barely tolerates Zayne’s fuckboy tendencies, and the Sarraf family cares about perception even more than my family does. It’s because of how Jasmine ended up in power, and while Jasmine and Jafar are hardly puritanical when it comes to sex and sex work, Cassim is a stick-in-the-mud.
Saying as much won’t change what he’s going to do, though. “Good luck.”
“I hear the doubt in your voice and I’m choosing to ignore it. I’m just looking for a good time, Ruby, not a spouse. Tatiana and I will have that good time and then we’ll go our separate ways.” He scrubs a hand over his face. “Are you hanging out longer?”
“No, I think I’m good.”
“I’ll wait with you while you call a car.”
I know better than to argue with him. And, honestly, with Wolf’s threats still ringing in my ears, I don’t relish the idea of standing on a dark street corner by myself. “Okay.”
We close out our tabs and wait in comfortable silence on the curb for the car to show up. We’re headed in opposite directions, so I don’t offer to share with him. And, to be perfectly honest, I want some time alone to think about what happened tonight.
“Hey, Ruby.”
“Hmm?”
“I’m glad you’re back.” He slings an arm around my shoulders and kisses my temple. “I missed having you around.”
“I missed you too.”
It’s not until I’m in the car that the horrible reckless feeling rises again, not remotely sated by my activities of the night. It’s the only explanation I have for pulling out my phone and sending that picture of Tatiana’s fingers and lipstick on my pussy to Wolf.
The message changes over to read, and I hold my breath as I wait for a response.
He doesn’t type anything. Not on the ride home. Not as I’m showering. Not as I’m lying in my bed, staring at my phone. When I wake up in the morning, not sure when I passed out, he still hasn’t texted me back.
7
“Ruby, I know you’re entering your loveable slut era, but there are lines.”
I carefully apply brilliant-scarlet lipstick in the mirror. “You’ve been to the Broken Tree before.”
“Yeah, which is why I know it’s a bad idea.” Michelle clears her throat. “Look, that was the one place where my dad lost his shit and stepped in. Do you know how humiliating it is to be collected by your father at a bar? Now multiply that by two because that’s what you’ll be experiencing when your dads find out.”
“They aren’t going to find out.” I finish with the lipstick and admire the effect. “I look good.”
“Of course you do.” Michelle actually seems worried in the video chat on my phone. “At least let me come with you.”
“No.” I finger comb my hair a bit to give it a just-been-fucked look. “The last thing I need is Uncle Hook ruining my fun, which is what he’ll do if you step foot in that place again.”
“Ruby.” Michelle leans back. “If you want to fuck someone dangerous, we can make that happen. You were acting reckless last night, but this is on another level. We could go to the Underworld—”
I stop her with a glare. “You know damn well why I’m not going to the Underworld—which is the same reason you don’t go there. The last thing I want is for people who are practically family to witness me getting kinky and wild.” Not that I’m overly kinky by nature . . . or at least I haven’t explored that because where would I explore that? At the Underworld, where my parents have a damn sex date every Saturday? No, thanks.
“Ruby.” Michelle sighs. “Meg can be very discreet. She’s set up a session for me a time or two in one of the private rooms. We could—”
“No.” If the situation were different, that might actually be an attractive offer, but the one thing the Underworld doesn’t have is my stalker. Wolf. Which should be a mark in the positive column. Safe, sane, and consensual are the hallmarks of good kink. There’s nothing safe or sane about meeting a man who’s been stalking me, one I suspect of being a murderer, in a bar that’s decidedly not safe. Can’t pretend it’s not consensual, though. He’s hardly showing up and kidnapping me.