ABANDON ALL HOPE: The Hope Brother Series (Book Two) (15 page)

I stared across the table at her, her clear, bright green eyes shining back at me, full of excitement and dollar bills.  I smiled at her, shaking my head.

“I can’t believe you’ve never run your own business before, Eva,” I said.  “You’re a natural.”

“I do have good business sense.  It’s true.”

“I can see that.  So, do you have any special instructions for me regarding Dixie?”

“Yes, I do, in fact!  I sent out a questionnaire to all the interested ladies, asking them about their preferences and boundaries.”

“Of course you did,” I said, winking at her.  She shrugged and brought her wine glass up to her lips.  I watched with pleasure as she licked a drop of red wine from her lips, my cock hardening in my jeans with anticipation of the caress of those lips later.  I never tired of Eva’s body, every inch of her turned me on.  Her lips were moving, and I struggled to comprehend what she was telling me.  I couldn’t get back up to the room with her fast enough.

“Dixie loves being kissed on her neck,” she said.  “She also loves it from behind, apparently.  And she requests that you wear your hat and boots at all times.”

“Jesus Christ,” I murmured.

“We’re selling a fantasy, Lee, remember?” she said.

“Sure, I remember,” I mumbled, as I looked around the restaurant for our waitress.  “I need another beer.”

“Wow,” Eva whispered, her gaze trailing behind me.  “That’s quite a fat lip.”

I turned around and locked eyes with a man in a dark suit walking by.  He was tall, with slicked-back black hair, slender, and indeed, he was sporting a big fat lower lip, with an angry slice right up the side of it.  His green eyes met mine, his gaze sharp, angry, cold.  He looked away, passed our booth, and sat in the booth behind us and pulled out his phone.

The waitress walked up to him first, and I heard him growl at her as he asked for a whiskey.  She jumped at the loudness of his voice, quickly walking away to get his drink.

“Great,” I murmured to Eva.  “I’ll never get my beer.”

“He looks like he needs a drink more than you do,” Eva joked.

“Yeah, I guess so,” I nodded.

“I’m going to the ladies room, I’ll be right back,” she said, grabbing her bag and leaving me alone in the booth after planting a quick kiss on my cheek.  I watched her ass wiggle away, and reached down to shift my growing erection.

The waitress brought the whiskey for the man in the suit, and quietly asked if she could bring him anything else.

“I’ll fucking tell you if I want something else!  Fuck off!” he yelled.  
What a fucking dick
, I thought.  The girl left his table, quickly coming over to me.  I grinned at her, asked for my beer, and thanked her quietly when she brought it back.

The dick at the next table began screaming into his phone.

“This place is a shit hole, Janet! Couldn’t you find a better hotel in Houston?” he screamed into the phone, turning the heads of everyone within ear shot.  He ignored his surroundings, obviously comfortable infringing on the space of everyone around him.  “Are you kidding?  No way am I keeping that piece of shit  property.  I’m selling it as soon as possible.  In fact, I’ve already made arrangements to have the house demolished, and all the trees cut down and sold for lumber.  I’ll sell the land to a developer afterwards.  I couldn’t give a shit about what my uncle would want.”

He’s one of those assholes
, I thought as I listened to the stranger.  Houston used to be a nice place to live, with nice neighborhoods that weren’t overly developed with condos and high-end retail shops.  But in the last few years, like every other place in the country, every little piece of land was being bought and developed by some greedy corporate fucks that didn’t even live there, or care about the communities they were destroying.  It was disgusting, and I was thankful the destruction hadn’t affected Sugar Hill just yet.

Listening to this guy go on and on about how much he hated it here, how he hated this land he had, and his incessant ranting and raving - well it was no wonder someone had beat him up.  I wanted to punch him just because I had to sit next to him and be subjected to his loud phone call in such a fancy restaurant.

That was the thing about rich people.  They all seemed to be assholes and they acted like they owned every place they walked into.  They had no regard for any one else.

As I watched Eva appear around a corner and sashay back to me, I vowed to never be a dick, no matter how much money we made together.

“You ready to go back to the room?” she asked, her pretty eyes flashing seductively, as she slid into the booth sensually.

“You bet your sweet ass I am,” I replied, my cock raging in my jeans.

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

I picked up on the first ring.

“Crit, are you okay?” I asked.

“Of course, why?”

“I saw what you did to Lincoln,” I replied, accusingly.  It was good to hear his voice, but his nonchalance was driving me crazy.  I’d been pacing in my room all day, waiting for him to call.  I’d called him when I woke up, but he didn’t answer, and he didn’t call me back for hours - in contrast to the hundred times he must have called me yesterday, I feared he had given up on me.  “I was hoping you could tell me why punching him was necessary.”

“Fuck that guy.  Ruby, you have to stay away from him.  He’s bad news.”

“Why did you fight him?  Did he hurt you?”

He scoffed, and I could hear him smile through the phone.  My stomach flipped as I pictured him in my mind.  I wanted to kiss him full on the mouth and never stop, I wanted to lose myself under him, around him, and feel his touch all over my skin.

“I’m fine,” he finally answered.  “Not a scratch on me.  Are you okay?”

“Yes, Crit, I’m fine.  Listen, I’m sorry,” I said, the words rushing out before I could even believe I was saying them. “I hate fighting with you.  I had no idea about the farm, about Olly dying.  Crit,” I said, my voice lowering, “you could have told me.”

“Some things I just have to deal with alone, Ruby.  I appreciate it, though.  You’re a sweet woman, babe.  But don’t you worry, I’m going to figure all of this out, and everything is going to be just fine.”

I smiled, not surprised one bit that he would maintain his usual stance of being the one in control.  From what Lincoln had told me last night, it sounded like this time Crit wasn’t in control.  But the confidence he was exuding was just the way he moved through the world, no matter what he was facing.  I thought about how he had held the family together after his parent’s death, and realized he was right.  I had no doubt he would figure this all out on his own, and everything would be okay.

“Even if there’s nothing I could do, I could listen.  I’m here for you, Crit, whether you want me to be or not.”

“You know I want you, darlin’.  There is one thing I need from you now, Ruby.”

“What’s that, cowboy?” I asked, my body coming alive at the sound of his voice, at the return of the easiness between us, the joy and closeness that I so craved to feel with him, putting me under its spell once again.

“Just don’t go out with that city fella.  I need you to promise me, Ruby.”

“Perhaps I could think about agreeing to that,” I said, teasingly.  “I might need you to come over and help convince me, though.”

A low growl sounded in my ear, and I smiled, knowing exactly what that familiar sound meant.  I could almost feel his cock growing in my hand.

“I’m on my way.”  The phone clicked in my ear, and I threw it down on my bed.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” I whispered, talking to myself in my bedroom mirror.  “Patience, Ruby.  Patience.”

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

 I couldn’t get to her fast enough.  I wanted to forget about everything, pretend, just for a few moments, that there was nothing wrong, nothing making me feel trapped or hopeless, that none of this was even happening.  Ruby was my only escape.  Somehow she seemed to effortlessly make everything disappear -  with just a smile, a caress of her gentle hands, or a soft, sultry moan.

By the time I got to her house, I was throbbing with anticipation.  She greeted me at the door, a fiery tornado of sensuality, pure sex, and heartbreaking sweetness.

I glanced at her sleeping father on the couch, and we quietly stole away to her bedroom, falling onto her bed wordlessly.  I didn’t want to talk.  I didn’t want to think.  I just wanted to feel her.

Her kiss was gentle, soft, searching and loving.  As our clothes melted away and each inch of her milky skin was exposed, I felt every worry-filled thought float away, until there was nothing left but our two souls on a shared journey into the blissful magical ecstasy that only we could find together.

“Ruby, Ruby…” I whispered in her ear as I sank into her, needing to be as close to her sweetness as possible, to fill her surrounding me, enclosing me with her love.

Our hips rocked together, our hands grasping flesh, and the love flowing between us like two people that were meant to be together forever.

By the time we lay spent, panting and snuggled close together, I believed with all my heart that no matter what happened with the farm, I had found my true home right there in Ruby Rae’s arms.

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

 This time, when Crit left my house, he did it with such loving tenderness, I felt like my heart would break as I watched his truck back out of my driveway.

I could still feel his caress on my skin, his lips on mine, his throbbing masterpiece still moving inside of my body.  With a promise to return as soon as he could and a last, lingering kiss, he had disappeared, once again leaving me alone and able to think about nothing but him.

Crit Hope was without a doubt the man of my dreams.  I didn’t care if he lost the farm, if he was homeless and moved in with my dad and me, I didn’t care where we ended up, as long as we ended up together, as long as I got to fall asleep in his arms every night for the rest of my life, I would be happy.