The kiss went from sweet to primal in what seemed like an instant. Ruby deepened it, thrust her tongue into my mouth, and took from me, and I was only too happy to give. Our mouths were fused together, the energy between us sizzling so much that visible sparks wouldn’t have surprised me if I’d opened my eyes. But I kept them closed and melded into Ruby’s mouth, her body.

Here lay a woman who mere weeks ago had never been kissed, yet she was kissing me like the goddess of love herself.

I reveled in it, in her, as she exerted her strength and rolled us over so she was on top of me. My cock nudged against her vulva, her soft hairs tickling the head.

I had to have her, had to feel her slick walls suctioned around my cock. Though it pained me, I broke the kiss.

“Ride me, baby. Sit down on my cock and ride me.”

She slid upward, her skin sticking to me from the perspiration between us. Her scent hung in the air. That intoxicating mélange of female musk laced with vanilla. I could smell it forever and never tire of it.

She plunged down onto my cock, her plump breasts bouncing lightly against her chest. Her nipples were dark and ruddy from my attentions, still hard as little berries.

How had this happened? How had she come to mean everything to me? At a time when I wasn’t even sure who I was anymore, Ruby Lee helped to define me. I needed her. I could only hope she needed me.

She continued to fuck me, her hips alternating between pistoning and a figure eight that slowly drove me crazy. My whole body seemed covered in flames as my nerves raced around me, making me quiver. My nipples were hard as she brushed her fingers over them and then planted her hands on my chest to support herself as she rocked faster, faster.

I brought my hand to her vulva and fingered her clit as she pulled herself up and then sank down upon my hardness once more. I slid my hands to her hips, that beautiful feminine swell, and then cupped the globes of her perfect ass. I caressed her softness, gliding toward the crease. How I itched to finger her tight little asshole…and I would. But not yet. That would scare her.

She was mine. I felt it in the very depths of my soul. One day I would have all of her.

Just the thought of breaching that tight virgin ass, and I was ready to come, but I didn’t want to yet. I needed to have her under me, taking me in all the way.

I lifted her by her hips and sprang up, flipping her onto her back. In a flash I was back inside her, pumping my hard cock into her tight little pussy. I maneuvered her legs onto my shoulders—all that yoga made her extremely flexible, apparently—giving me the angle I needed. I looked into her sparkling blue eyes and was surprised to see a tear slide from one.

No, I couldn’t be hurting her. Could I?

“Baby?”

“Yeah?”

“You all right?”

She nodded. “Fine. Keep going. Please.”

She didn’t need to say any more. I continued my thrusting, taking her, making her mine. Protecting her. As long as I lived, no one would hurt her. Never again.

When her walls began to spasm around me and she cried out in climax, I plunged into her to the hilt, my balls slapping the crease of her ass. As I convulsed, as I emptied every last drop of myself into her body, I closed my eyes and said the words again.

“I’m in love with you, Ruby.”

Then I collapsed on top of her, a sweaty mess.

We lay there for a few moments, both breathing rapidly. I finally moved to relieve her of my weight. She was gleaming, covered in perspiration, her hair sticking to her forehead and shoulders.

She’d never looked more beautiful.

I waited. And waited.

Waited for her to return my sentiment. To say the words I wanted to hear.

She remained silent.

I wouldn’t pressure her. After all, I was her first relationship…ever. But one way or the other, she’d be moving in with me. For her own safety. It had nothing to do with how I felt about her.

That was a bald-faced lie.

These feelings were so new to me. During the few years that Anna and I were together, we’d spent many nights here, in this very bed. But never had I imagined her staying forever, moving in. Of course she’d never needed my protection either.

We still didn’t know who had texted Ruby and told her not to go home tonight. Yes, it could have been a hoax, but I wasn’t taking any chances.

I was wet with perspiration. “Shower?” I said to her.

She chuckled. “Yeah. Good idea.”

I got up and pulled her off the bed and into my embrace. I held her for a moment, enjoying the warmth of our bodies, and then I led her into my bathroom. I got out a couple of clean towels and handed one to her.

Her cheeks had turned red.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. It’s just… I’ve never showered with a guy before.” She looked to her feet. “I mean, I know I’ve used your shower before.”

She had. She’d awoken in the middle of the night after a bad dream, and I’d found her in my shower, scrubbing herself raw.

“If you want, you can shower first. I’ll leave you alone.” I smiled.

“No, of course not. I don’t know why I even said that.” She hung her towel on the shower door and opened it. “Let’s do this.”

I couldn’t help a laugh. She sounded like a cop getting ready to investigate a crime scene. I gave her a few seconds to get used to the water, and then I entered behind her. Her long hair was pasted to her back in an onyx sheath. So gorgeous. I grabbed my Mane ’n Tail—yes, I used horse shampoo. What was good enough for Sergio was good enough for me—and squirted a liberal amount onto my palm, much more than I used for myself. Ruby had a lot more hair than I did.

“Come here.” I turned her around to face me and spread the shampoo into her hair.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Are you crazy? I want to. Your hair is a work of art.” I lathered it into her scalp and then pulled it through to her ends. “I might not have even used enough.”

She smiled. “It’s plenty.”

I continued to massage her scalp and then pushed her back into the shower stream to rinse her head. The trickles of water rivered down her beautiful body, and I was hard again.

Damn.

Without so much as a thought, I lifted her, turned around so her back was against the shower wall, and shoved my cock into her once more.

Every time was more amazing than the last. Every time I felt something new with this woman. This time, as our wet bodies slid against each other, a new sensation—something foreign and unsettling but deeply arousing—surged through me.

It wasn’t love. I already felt that. It wasn’t passion or desire. I was well acquainted with those around Ruby. Yet this emotion contained all three of those and more. It was almost an ache. Emotion so pure and strong that it hurt, but in a good way.

I embraced it, thrust myself into her body as she pressed her dripping breasts into my chest.

“Ryan,” she moaned, closing her eyes.

Her orgasm took her with more force than I’d yet seen, and I thrust into her deeply, filling her. I closed my eyes as well, letting her clamping walls milk every last drop of cum out of me. And when the convulsions subsided, still embedded inside her, I said again, “I love you.”

Again, she didn’t respond.

I set her on the shower floor, and we finished up, washing each other and sharing a few kisses.

When I turned the water off and we stepped out and toweled off, it was time to get serious.

“Ruby,” I said to her, her blue eyes slightly bloodshot from the shower, “you’re moving in with me.”