His Risk to Take (5 page)

Mind made up, Ruby came forward until she could look up into his face. He sucked in a breath, she suspected, at her unexpected nearness. She pushed his jacket off his shoulders before she went to work the buttons of his shirt. His tortured gaze followed the progress of her hands. “You’re not getting rid of me. I’m the only one who decides where I stay. Right now, I’m choosing here. With you.”

“No, Ruby. We can’t anymore,” he said gruffly. “Everything is different now. Whether you’ll admit it or not, I’m responsible for you. This falls under the heading of me taking advantage.”

His shirt fell to the floor and she paused to appreciate the swell of his chest, the sculpted ridges and dips of his stomach. “Then let me take advantage of
you
.” Her seductive words wrung a groan from his lips, and Ruby felt an answering heat build between her legs. “What happened to the filthy-mouthed detective who wanted to get me on my knees?” Her nimble fingers removed the wallet from his front pocket and handed him the condom tucked in the front. His gaze sharpened on her face as he interpreted her meaning. She moved on to his belt buckle, feeding the leather through the metal loops. His erection pressed insistently against his fly, swelling with each breath he took. She slid her hand inside his pants and gripped his thick length, forcing him to place his hands behind him on the dining room table for support. Ruby knelt on the ground in front of him. “I don’t get on my knees for anyone, Troy. Remember that.”

“Christ. Please don’t—”

Ignoring his halfhearted protest, she took him in her mouth and tasted him, learning his texture. She swirled her tongue around the plump head, mimicking the way he’d tasted her nipples two nights earlier. He dug one hand into her hair on a throaty groan, hips rolling forward as if magnetized by her mouth.

“Goddammit, you little tease. Stop licking at it and take it deep. Show me how much you missed me.”

The now-familiar transformation in his demeanor—from concerned boyfriend-type to dominant sex god in mere seconds—sent her stomach quaking, turning her legs to jelly. Hot and restless, anxious to experience more, she gripped him at the base of his erection and did as he asked, blocking every thought from her mind other than driving him to the same mindless state he’d driven her to in his bed. Stretching her lips to accommodate his size, she took him as deep as she could, then sucked on her way back up, pulling him with her mouth. He only allowed her to repeat it twice before reaching down and yanking her into a standing position. She was only given a brief glimpse of his determined face before he whirled her around and bent her over the kitchen table.

“You don’t get on your knees for anyone.” Troy sucked her neck hard enough to leave a mark and reached his hands around her front to unbutton her jeans. “Except for me. You’ll get on your knees and use that smart mouth on me. Correct?”

“Correct.” She shuddered, pushing her ass against his lap. Her entire body shook in anticipation of him finally being inside her. She bit her lip to stop herself from screaming at him to hurry, knowing he would find a way to make her sorry for making the demand.

“That’s right. You will. Anytime I want it. Yes?”

“Yes.
Yes
.”

He jerked her jeans down her legs, past her knees, and she stepped out of them. When nothing happened for long moments afterward, she turned to look at Troy questioningly, only to find to his eyes riveted on what he’d uncovered. Then she remembered. This morning, she’d eschewed her silky underwear for the black boxer briefs he’d given her Friday night.

“You’re wearing my underwear.”

She felt a flush creep up her neck but quickly crushed any embarrassment. “So what?”

He slid his hand down the flat of her stomach to disappear inside the briefs with painstaking slowness, as if he wanted to savor every touch of her skin. Long fingers inched closer to where she needed them to, taking much too long to get there. He cupped her in his palm, then pushed her forward with his body until the juncture of her thighs was wedged more firmly between his hand and the table.

His voice vibrated sensually near her ear. “Do you have any idea how much it turns me on, knowing something of mine has been cradling your sweet pussy all day long?” Without warning, he thrust two thick fingers inside her with just enough force to make her cry out, bring her up on her toes. He didn’t move them, only held them there, high and tight inside her. Ruby’s head fell forward on a moan that was equal parts frustrated and relieved. He’d finally filled her. But she needed so much more from him, and he seemed determined to take his time. “You walked around with your naughty secret all day, didn’t you? Did you think of me while you sat in class wearing my underwear? Did the thought of me get you all wet, baby?” His thrust his fingers deeper. “Answer me or you’ll get no more.”

“Yes! I got very wet.”

He rewarded her honest answer by stroking her clitoris with his thumb. “Fuck my fingers until I’m satisfied with your answers. What happens next depends on how happy they make me.” With his hand still trapped between her and the table, she began pumping her hips against the solid pressure of his fingers, whimpering as his thumb continued its unyielding assault. “What did you think about in class, Ruby?” She released an impatient sob. “Answer me, or I’ll remove by thumb.”

“No. Please, don’t.” She sucked in a shaky breath, trying to divide her focus between talking and his insistent torture of her damp, needy flesh. “I thought about w-what would’ve happened if I’d stayed the whole night,” she breathed, her words running together. “I thought about waking up…wondered what you would have done.”

“Should I show you?” he growled.

“
Yes
.”

In the blink of an eye, he removed the hand between her legs and spun her around to face him. Her backside hit the surface of the table hard, and he pushed her legs open forcefully. Troy deftly rolled on the condom, and drove himself home inside her in one powerful thrust. Ruby’s scream mingled with his shouted expletive. Before she’d fully registered his ample size filling her so completely, he began to move. He rolled his hips down at an angle, his swollen length making contact with her clitoris with each frantic pound into her.

When her head fell back on her shoulders, Troy sunk his fingers into her hair and tilted her head back up until she looked him square in the eye. “As long as you’re with me, I don’t want some punk thinking he has the right to touch your gorgeous face. If you want to be touched, you tell me where, and I’ll take care of it. I’m the only one who touches you now, Ruby.
Me
.”

Ruby tried to think, reason through the pleasure, but her mind wouldn’t allow it. She could only concentrate on Troy’s calculated dismantling of her defenses. He guided her down with his body until her back arched on the table’s surface, and then he straightened again.

“Stay right there. I want to see every inch of your body when you come. It’s going to happen soon, baby. I can already feel your pussy tightening up on me.” His feverish eyes were hidden almost completely by his eyelids, pleasure blanketing his sensual features as he continued to drive into her at a wild pace. Once again, he dipped his thumb between her legs to massage her in that perfect spot, sending her hurtling toward release.

“Oh God, Troy. Oh
God!
”

As she writhed and shook on the table, Troy gripped her knees and pushed them wider to accommodate him. Leaning down over her, he buried his face in her neck, his thrusts increasing in their intensity until she could feel the table scraping on the ground underneath them. He swelled larger inside of her, his groans of satisfaction getting louder and more guttural with each forceful movement of his big body. When he finally reached completion, her name was a growl against her neck before he sunk his teeth into her shoulder. She cried out, grateful for the shock of pain because it brought her back to earth. To where Troy lay on top of her, struggling to regain his breath, their bodies locked together like two puzzle pieces.

He pulled back to look at her. “Are you still here with me?”

Nodding, she reached up and cupped his cheek. “I’m here.”

Relief transformed his face before he scooped her up and carried her to the bedroom. When he laid her down on his bed, she scooted under the covers. Troy climbed in beside her and pulled her up against his bare chest, sighing as their heads hit the pillows.

Ruby waited, knowing their conversation from earlier was far from over. She didn’t want to think about the ramifications of their mutual connection to Lenny Driscol or Troy trying to send her away. Simply wanted to lay there in his arms and collect her scattered thoughts. Behind her, however, she could feel tension slowly building in his hard frame and knew what would eventually come to shatter their momentary peace. So she shattered it first.

“What do you want Lenny for?”

Troy sighed. “You know I can’t tell you that.”

Her heart lurched. “Because you’re afraid I’ll clue him in?”

“No, dammit. The less you know, the safer you’ll be.” After a long silence, Troy continued. “At the very least, you have to let me put surveillance on you. For your own protection. I won’t be able to concentrate otherwise, knowing you’re out there. Vulnerable.”

She turned to face him. “No. I’m sorry, but no. I appreciate you wanting to protect me, but I know these people. If they want to come find me, some unmarked vehicle won’t stop them. They’ll spot it a mile away, just like I would. It’ll only make things worse for me in the end.”

“You have an incredibly shitty image of cops.”

She brushed the hair from his forehead. “Maybe I used to.”

Troy turned his head to kiss her hand. “I can’t budge on this. You have to meet me halfway. My preference would be to lock you in a safe house.” A corner of his mouth quirked up at her look of horror, but quickly flattened. “I can’t even protect you myself because I can’t be seen with you.”

She could feel herself giving in. It surprised her how little this one concession cost her. Normally, she would fight to get her way, but if this one thing made him safer on the job, helped him concentrate, she could suffer through it. “All right, copper. I’ll make you a deal. If I spot your surveillance guy, I lose them. If they can stay well hidden, I’ll let them stay.”

A relieved smile transformed his face, tripling her feelings of guilt. Because in the back of her mind, she knew with absolutely certainty that she wouldn’t be able to stay out of it. Starting tomorrow, he’d have her help whether he liked it or not.

Troy took both of her hands in his and rolled her over. He ripped open a new box on the nightstand and removed a condom, then slid it down his swelling erection. With one push of his hips, he seated himself deep inside her, eliciting a moan from Ruby’s throat.

“See how easy that was, hustler?”

Then he leaned down and kissed her, swallowing her persistent cries with his mouth as he started to move.

Chapter Eight

Troy looked up as Daniel entered the precinct, Brent and Matt close behind. For the first time since they’d received the news about Officer Tenney being found beaten half to death in Brooklyn, they looked like they had good news. Troy certainly needed some. He’d left Ruby pretending to be asleep in his bed this morning. Knowing they needed to talk but also very aware of the fact that spending the night with him had been a concession in itself, he hadn’t pushed his luck. If he pressed her too hard, forced her to promise she wouldn’t take unnecessary chances with her safety, she might break their hard-won agreement about the surveillance.

Knowing she had a car following her was the only thing keeping him from losing his mind as he sat behind a desk, narrowing down Lenny Driscol’s possible location.

She thought she’d kept her intentions hidden the night before, but he’d seen them in her eyes. He needed to solve this case before she found some way to interfere. The night he’d met her, he’d recognized her curious nature, and she wouldn’t be happy taking a backseat for long. She would not only threaten the case, but her safety in the process. Not to mention, it had taken some fancy footwork on his behalf to convince Lieutenant Rhodes to assign the protection detail and not bring Ruby in for questioning instead. Troy didn’t have long, however, before the man’s patience ran thin and he started looking for information anywhere he could find it. He couldn’t allow Ruby to be used as a possible source, something that could endanger her welfare, but he needed to work quickly or it would be unavoidable.

One thing he knew for certain. If he didn’t stop thinking about all the possibilities of what could happen to her, he would never get anything accomplished.
Concentrate.

His silent command helped for all of two seconds. Scenes from the night before played on an endless loop in his mind. Ruby kneeling in front of him, Ruby beneath him, Ruby’s dark hair spread out on his pillow as she slept beside him. He’d woken up half certain she wouldn’t be there. But she had been. She’d placed her trust in him, something he suspected she didn’t do easily. Now he needed to earn it. Once a girl like Ruby gave her trust, her heart would follow. He meant to earn that, too.

Daniel propped a hip on his desk, breaking the cycle of his thoughts. “Morning, Bennett. You want the good news or the bad news first?”

“Good,” Brent answered for him. “Always take the good first.”

Shaking his head at Brent, Matt pulled up a chair and sat. “Tenney woke up from his coma this morning. We just got back from the hospital. No permanent damage.”

A wave of relief rushed over Troy. “Great. That’s great. What’s the bad news?”

“Brent is still here,” Daniel deadpanned.

“Funny, asshole,” Brent returned, seemingly unaffected. “The bad news is that tip we received about Tenney being involved with Driscol proved out. Tenney told us from his hospital bed that one of Driscol’s guys worked him over.”

Troy nodded, unsurprised. He’d already been convinced that Driscol was responsible, based on the fact that he’d gone into hiding and the evasive answers he’d gotten when questioning his associates. “That gives us what we need to bring him in.”

“Right. It’ll take us a day to put a team together. First, we need his location.”

Troy pushed his notes across his desk toward the men. “I’ve got it narrowed down to two places. Both in Brooklyn. Now that we know Driscol is our guy, the lieutenant will put more bodies on this. We should easily have his location by tomorrow.”

Brent picked up his notes and scanned them quickly. “Heard you put surveillance on a possible witness? The lieutenant wasn’t exactly forthcoming about the details.”

Troy shifted uncomfortably, knowing he had to come clean. His conscience wouldn’t allow him to leave his fellow officers out of the loop, unaware that a possible wildcard was in play. “Remember the girl pool player from Quincy’s the other night?”

“The long-legged beauty with all that black hair?” Daniel’s grin spread wider. “Sure, I remember her.”

Troy glared at him, then quickly explained the connection between Ruby and Driscol.

Brent’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you kidding me? She could lead us right to him.”

“Not going to happen,” Troy enunciated. “We’re not putting her at risk. She’s not one of them anymore, and if her association with me is discovered, we’ll be doing just that. We find Driscol on our own.” He turned to find Matt watching him silently.

“Guess a lot has happened between Friday night and this morning.”

“You could say that.”

Brent’s head dropped forward into his waiting hand with a
smack
. “Please don’t tell me you fell for this girl. She cheats people out of money for a living.” Troy didn’t answer, merely raised an eyebrow. He had no interest in discussing his relationship with Ruby. Not when an axe still teetered so precariously over their heads, waiting to fall. “Thank Christ this emotional bullshit will never happen to me,” Brent continued. “If I ever see it coming, I’m going to haul ass in the opposite direction like I’ve got ten mother-in-laws chasing me with rolling pins in their hands.”

Matt gave an uncharacteristic laugh. “Your time is going to come, Brent.”

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall,” Daniel chimed in with a nod.

“Fuck that. If I go down, I’m taking you all with me.”

Daniel sighed. “I assume you’d be taking me along for advice on pleasuring a woman? You see, there’s this thing called a cl—”

“Are you lovely ladies finished?” Troy broke in impatiently. “We’ve got two locations to scout, and we don’t have a lot of time.”

…

Ruby walked briskly down the sidewalk, throwing occasional glances over her shoulder. Evening had fallen, and the cold wind nipped the skin of her cheeks. After hiking her yoga mat higher on her shoulder, she dug her hands into her pockets for warmth. She’d spotted the unmarked police car five minutes ago, but she had to admit they were doing a good job of staying inconspicuous. If she hadn’t known to look for them, their presence might not have registered.

Too bad she was about to lose them anyway.

She’d walked for a good half hour to a billiards hall in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn she hadn’t frequented in over a year. The surrounding neighborhood had taken a turn for the better, college kids attending school in the city taking advantage of the cheaper rent in Brooklyn as opposed to Manhattan. New stores and coffee shops had popped up shortly thereafter to take advantage of the new blood.
Her
destination, however, had remained true to itself, standing out among the new developments like a sore thumb at the end of a row of empty warehouses. A broken-down eyesore, Hildebrand’s Billiards hopefully still drew the same rough crowd it always had, in addition to the newer, younger crowd invading the neighborhood. In fact, Ruby was counting on it.

If she could do something to keep Troy from tangling with Lenny Driscol, she needed to do it. This was
her
dark, twisted world. She had the kind of access he would never have. And unlike every other man in her life, he hadn’t tried to use her to his advantage. He truly wanted to keep her removed. Safe from harm. She knew what Lenny Driscol was capable of. Her father, who’d never been scared of another soul or a dangerous situation in his life, had lived with a healthy fear of Lenny. He’d warned her on several occasions to keep her mouth shut about anything she saw or heard pertaining to the man. Had even hinted at the possibility that Lenny might have friends on the police force or in political office who kept him out of trouble.

She couldn’t sit by and watch the same fate befall Troy as it had so many before him. Her own father, even. Not when she could so something about it.

She ducked into the yoga studio she’d looked up online this afternoon after returning from Troy’s apartment. A man in a white robe standing behind the counter looked up expectantly with a welcoming smile on his face. “Welcome. Are you here for the seven o’clock class?”

Ruby ignored his question. “You have a back door in this place?” He looked confused, but obviously interpreting the urgency behind her expression, pointed toward a dimly lit studio toward the back. “Great. Thanks.” She started walking in the direction he indicated but came up short, turned, and picked up a brochure off the counter. Maybe she’d come back some time and see what all the fuss over yoga was about.

A moment later, she slipped out the back door into the alley running behind the studio. Knowing she only had about an hour before her personal surveillance team realized she wasn’t actually taking a yoga class, she hastened toward the back entrance of Hildebrand’s.

The crack of pool balls and bass-heavy classic rock greeted her as she pushed inside, immediately noting her favorite table stood empty in the corner. She skirted around a group of college students in trucker hats drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon and made her way to the bar, grateful when she recognized the stocky man behind it. Pulling a pint with one hand, Gerard smiled wide in greeting.

“Well, shit. If it ain’t Ruby Elliott. Where you been at, girl?”

“Around,” she said with a mysterious wink. Out of the corner of her eye, she scanned the bar for the man she’d come to find, but didn’t see him. “Mind if I knock a few balls around?”

“Go on ahead. Your table awaits.” Gerard leaned forward on the bar and dropped his voice. “Just do yourself a favor and don’t take any money off my new hipster clientele. They’ll write a Yelp review faster than you can blink, and that ain’t good for nobody.”

“No worries, Gerard. Their money is safe tonight. I’m only here to practice.”

He straightened once more, suspicion tightening his mouth, but he didn’t comment. Anyone who’d known Ruby a year ago wouldn’t believe she would waste her time in a place like this unless there was a pile of money waiting at the end of the night. Before he changed his mind and questioned her further, she grabbed a tray of pool balls off the counter and headed toward her table.

Forty-five minutes passed without any sign of her man. Ruby tried to appear disinterested in the comings and goings of customers into Hildebrand’s but felt herself beginning to get nervous. She needed to walk out the front of the yoga studio within fifteen minutes or the unmarked car would report back to Troy that she’d ditched them, which would lead to a series of questions she didn’t want to answer.

Just as she was about to give up hope, she saw Tim Keith walk in through the front entrance and park himself at the farthest end of the bar. Gerard automatically began building a pint of Guinness for Tim, a Hildebrand’s regular and neighborhood lifer. If information existed about Lenny Driscol’s whereabouts or what he’d done to put the cops on his trail, Tim Keith would know the details. Now she had to find a way to get the lowdown without trying too hard.

Ruby re-racked her balls, shoved her stick back inside the rolled-up yoga mat, and headed toward the bar. Sliding into the seat beside Tim, she sent a smile in Gerard’s direction. “Ginger ale, please?”

“You got it, honey.” Ruby turned to find Tim watching her closely, so she smiled back casually. “Hey, Tim. Long time no see.”

Tapping an unlit cigarette against the bar, he nodded. “Haven’t seen you in this neighborhood in a while. What brings you by?”

“Just missed it, I guess.”

“Huh.”

Gerard set her drink down in front of her, and she took a sip to wet her suddenly dry throat. Tim had never been anything but friendly toward her, but he now appeared mildly suspicious. She should have gotten up, cut her losses, and walked out right then, but she stayed rooted to her seat. If she wanted to help Troy, she needed information. And besides Bowen, who she definitely couldn’t go to in this case, she had no other way of retrieving it. Ruby leaned back in her chair, trying to appear relaxed, and waited for him to speak.

“Haven’t seen your daddy around in a while, either. Is he still working with Lenny, or is he following your lead and turning over a new leaf?”

She ignored Tim’s question about her father, knowing he’d only asked it to needle her. “Actually, this new leaf I turned over isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I’m thinking about asking Lenny for my old job back. I can’t get the same kind of action working solo.” Her cell phone went off in her pocket, and she ignored it, knowing it had to be Troy. Her time had run out. “I can’t seem to find him. Any idea where he’s doing business now?”

Tim’s sharp eyes met hers, delved deep for any kind of deception. Her friendly, open expression didn’t waver. He seemed to make a decision then, his body relaxing in the stool. Finally, he pulled out a pen from his coat pocket and scribbled an address on a napkin before sliding it across the bar in her direction. When she reached for it, he held on to the edge. “This place is just a hunch. He dropped out of sight almost a week ago, and no one really knows where he went.” He lowered his voice. “He put a beating on a badge last week for some unpaid debt. Put the freaking guy in a coma. Now he’s got another cop sniffing around, so he’s more than a little paranoid.” Tim shook his head. “I hear he’s already marked this new cop as next on his list. He’s starting to lose his touch for subtlety.”

When Ruby slipped back into the alley moments later, her mind ringing with Tim’s words, she forgot all about walking back through the yoga studio so her tail could follow her home.

I hear he’s already marked this new cop as next on his list.

She needed to work fast.