I can’t help myself around Ruby. She hasn’t even been here twelve hours and I’ve already practically ravished her in the shower, utterly captivated by her beauty, by the lithe curves of her body and the way she moves.

I very nearly took her virginity just now. She wanted me to. I know she did, the way her eyes and her body begged me to fill her up and show her new heights of ecstasy.

But I shouldn’t. Sweet, innocent, beautiful Ruby should give that to someone else. Someone besides a rough former soldier and bartender who spends his nights keeping the Iron Diablos from destroying a shitty road house in the middle of nowhere.

Someone her own age, not at least ten years older than her, like I am.

Someone who doesn’t live in a self-built cabin in the woods.

I stand in the bathtub, helping Ruby to her feet. I’m still fully clothed, but I quickly strip naked and turn on the shower, then wash Ruby as gently as I can with my single bar of soap. We make out, our bodies sliding together under the hot water, and before I know it, she’s coming on my fingers while I stroke her clit, her mouth under mine.

She reaches for my cock, but I turn off the water. I’m determined to keep up a three-to-one, her-to-me orgasm ratio, which means I owe her at least one more.

We finally get out of the shower when it starts to run lukewarm. Normally I’m much more careful about my hot water levels — the hot water heater for the cabin isn’t very big — but today I couldn’t care less. Ruby towels herself off carefully, starting with her hair, and as I watch her, skin still flushed pink with heat, I’m already tenting my own towel.

She notices, wrapping her towel around her hair and standing stark naked in my small bathroom. I watch as a single water droplet makes its way down her neck, over her collarbone, and onto her small, perky breast, narrowly avoiding her nipple.

When I open the door to the bedroom, the rush of cool air is bracing, and I watch as Ruby’s nipples stiffen with it. Her sweatshirt and sweatpants are still on the bathroom floor, along with my half-wet clothes, and neither of us makes a move to get them.

“I should probably go home soon,” she says, still stark-naked, standing in front of me, her eyes flicking down to my incredibly obvious erection.

I skim a hand down her back, over her prefect, perky ass. Every touch just gets me harder until it feels like my cock might explode.

Right now, I could sit down on this bed, pull her on top of me, and have Ruby ride my cock until she comes twice. Fuck, I want that more than anything.

But it’s wrong. She’s young, beautiful, fresh.

I’m… well, I’m me. And Ruby deserves better.

“But you don’t need to leave right now,” I tell her, pulling her closer. “I haven’t even tasted you yet.”

She blushes. It’s beautiful when she does, and there’s something sweet and innocent about it. Despite what we just did in the shower — despite how dirty I can tell she wants to be with me — she still blushes at the suggestion.

“And I haven’t tasted you yet, either,” she teases, biting her lip to emphasize her point.

God, this girl is unbelievable. The perfect combination of innocent and sexy.

“Well, I’m going first,” I say.

I don’t wait for her to answer, I just pick her up and toss her onto the bed. She squeals in surprise, but I’m already on top of her and between her thighs before she can even squirm.

My hands close over her thighs in sheer anticipation. I let my lips drift down her body, already smelling her arousal. The sweet musk scent makes me curl my toes, all the blood in my body rushing straight to my dick as I push her legs apart, listening to her gasp and moan above me.

At last, I dart my tongue out and lick her sweet, sensitive nub. A tremor thrums through Ruby, her back arching and her legs going stiff as her hands clench the bedsheets below her. I smile softly, tracing my tongue down to her lips, skillfully outlining the edges before dipping between them and finally tasting her honey.

Ruby’s breath catches in her throat, and I plunge my tongue deeper into her center, arching it up into the sensitive spot along her front wall. She moans, the sheets tight in her fists, and I pull her down the bed onto my mouth.

I need more. I want to stay here all day, licking and sucking her, making her come a thousand more times—

There’s a knock at the door, and it surprises me into stillness. It’s loud and forceful, the sound reverberating through the small cabin.

“Fuck off, I’m busy,” I murmur, going back to what I was doing. Ruby’s sweet on my tongue, and I lick at her clit again as I gently move one finger to her lips, teasing her before I plunge it into her tight, hot channel.

The knock sounds again. It’s louder this time, and Ruby stills beneath me.

“Fuck off!” I shout. “I don’t want any!”

“Jax,” Ruby says, still panting for breath. “Maybe we should—”

They knock again, this time so hard that I can hear my door rocking on its hinges, and it’s not a weak door. I lift my head, looking at Ruby’s glorious body in front of me, furious at whoever’s trying to ruin this.

“Police! Open up!” they shout.

I quell the urge to shout fuck the police! I’ve still got Ruby’s thighs in both hands, but she’s twisted around, looking through my bedroom door and toward the front.

“Now!” they shout.

“Jax, you should go,” Ruby whispers.

Clenching my jaw, I stand from the bed, unwilling. I’d stay quiet but I’m afraid they’ll break down the door if I don’t answer them, and then I’ll never get to finish eating Ruby out.

“Stay here,” I tell her as I pull on my pants, not bothering with my boxers. “Just like that.”

She gives me a smile, but I can tell she’s rattled. I pull on a plaid shirt as I make my way to my front door, still barefoot, Ruby’s juices still on my lips. I lick them off as I open the door to find two officers, a man and a woman.

“Jackson Stuart?” the man asks, holding up a badge.

I give it a long look before I respond.

“Can I help you?” I ask curtly.

“Mind if we come in?”

“I do, in fact.”

“Sir, we need to—”

“It’s about Ruby Dawson,” the female cop butts in from behind him. The male cop’s jaw works for a moment, and I can tell he’s not happy about the interruption, but he doesn’t say anything.

“What about her?” I ask.

“We believe that she may be in considerable danger,” the male cop says before the female cop can say anything. “And given that she left the hospital late last night with a man matching your description, we have reason to believe she’s here.”

Considerable danger?

His eyes flick briefly to my lips, where I can still taste her. I’m sure it’s obvious what I’ve been doing.

Behind him, the female cop nods once, and my heartbeat picks up speed. I have a flash of memory about the night before — Viper going through the open window in Grandma Flo’s house before I could get him, when I went to Ruby instead.

He’s still out there.

He could be anywhere.

My jaw tightens. I’ll kill him if he tries anything else, and that’s not an empty threat.

“All right,” I relent. “Come in.”