Oh, yes, he wanted it, desperately, his hands winding around her back and pulling her hard against him.
But it startled him when she wrenched backwards.
‘No. Not here,’ she said firmly. ‘Come with me.’
She took his hand and led him from the study down the hallway and into her bedroom. There, she drew him over to the side of the bed where she started to undress him.
‘Don’t say a word,’ she said, her voice cool but her dark eyes glittering wildly.
He complied, his tongue thick in his throat as she removed his shirt then his belt and then his trousers.
‘Kick off your shoes,’ she ordered, which he did, leaving him standing there in just his boxers.
When she hooked her fingers into their elastic waistband he noticed that her hands were trembling. Good, he thought.
Good? What was good about it? He didn’t want her nervous. He wanted her wanton and wicked and without one shred of decency. He wanted to hate her for doing this to him.
When she pulled his boxers down he hoped she would go down on her knees before him. That way, it would be just sex with her. But she didn’t. Instead, she stepped back and just stared at him, drinking in the sight of him. Not just his erection but his whole body. His face. His chest. His legs. She looked him up and down and sighed, giving him the weirdest feeling that she was trying to memorise him, which was crazy.
Her smile, when it came, was a relief. Because it was all those things he wanted her to be. Wanton and wicked, and, yes, sexy as hell.
She quickly disposed of her lovely red dress and the underwear she had on.
His own smile was just as wicked as hers as his eyes gobbled up every inch of her very beautiful body.
He pounced, making her squeal as he swept her up into his arms and threw her onto the bed.
His hands found all those places that his eyes had admired before moving on to places that couldn’t be seen. She moaned beneath the onslaught of his passion. Or was it fury? Maybe a bit of both. Sebastian was beyond thought. Beyond reason. He no longer cared about the emotional risk attached to sleeping with Ruby. He no longer cared about anything but sinking inside her and satisfying the needs that had been tormenting him ever since he met her. She was the devil incarnate, he decided. Teasing him. Tempting him. But he would turn the tables on her tonight. He would not stop until she was begging him to. Once would not be enough. Ten times would not be enough. If she wanted a goodbye present, he would give her a night she would never forget.
Sebastian woke with a start, blinking as he tried to work out what had woken him. Then the sound came again. Muffled but familiar. His phone.
After a wry glance at Ruby, who was still dead to the world next to him, he leant over the side of the bed and retrieved the phone from his trouser pocket.
The identity of the caller eluded him. It was a private number not connected to his contacts menu. If it was a scam call, he wasn’t going to be a happy man. Actually, he wasn’t a happy man already, his resolve to reduce Ruby to begging not having worked out that way. They had both fallen asleep after that first torrid time, sleeping through until now. A glance at his phone showed it was five-twenty-four a.m. God. Almost dawn. Sebastian tried to blame exhaustion from his trip, followed by the party, but he suspected his age was catching up with him.
‘Yes?’ he said sharply into the phone, never giving his name to an unknown caller.
‘Is that Mr Marshall? Mr Sebastian Marshall?’
It was a woman’s voice. Australian. Brisk. Efficient.
‘Yes,’ he said.
‘I’m calling from ER at St Vincent’s hospital. We had a patient brought in in the early hours of this morning. Mr Zachary Stone. He’s given us your name and number as his first line of contact. I did ring before but there was no answer.’
Sebastian ignored Ruby’s hand on his arm, as well as her whispered what is it?
‘What’s happened to him?’ he asked anxiously.
‘He was stabbed in the stomach. By a crazy lady, according to the patient.’
‘My God! Is he all right?’
‘He’s not on the critical list. And he was conscious when he came in. That’s how I have your name and number. Anyway, he’s just been taken up to surgery. I can’t tell you any more right now, Mr Marshall, I’m sorry. I would suggest you come in, if you can. It’s always good for a patient to see a familiar face when they wake up. Though you might have a bit of a wait.’
‘That’s all right. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Thank you,’ he added, but she’d already hung up.
‘What is it?’ Ruby demanded to know straight away. ‘What’s happened?’
‘Zack’s been stabbed. By some crazy lady, apparently. He’s in hospital, being operated on right now. Look, I have to go.’ He jumped out of bed and reached for his clothes.
‘I’m coming with you,’ she said, doing exactly the same.
‘Don’t be ridiculous. What will Zack think if you show up there with me at this hour?’
‘I don’t care what he thinks, Sebastian. I refuse to stay here, worrying myself sick.’
Sebastian hated the jealousy that flared at her words. ‘And why would you worry yourself sick over Zack? Is there something going on between you that I don’t know about?’
‘Oh, don’t be so pathetic. He’s a friend, that’s all. I care about my friends, especially ones who need caring about. Can we stop with this useless bickering and get going?’
Twenty minutes later they zoomed into a space in the hospital car park, neither of them having spoken during the entire trip. Sebastian had been too worried about Zack to talk.
‘What if he dies?’ Ruby said as they climbed out of the car.
‘He won’t die,’ Sebastian stated with more surety than he was feeling. ‘Zack’s as tough as an old boot.’
‘Is he? I think he has a very soft underbelly.’
Sebastian stopped to stare at her. ‘You have a highly intuitive nature, don’t you?’
She frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Most people look at Zack and think nothing can hurt him. But they’d be wrong.’
‘Would you like to explain that?’
‘No. I wouldn’t.’
‘Should we take flowers?’
Sebastian laughed. ‘Hell, no. He’d be mortified.’
‘Okay,’ Ruby said, and smiled at him.
Her smile did things to Sebastian that worried him almost as much as Zack’s condition. He suspected it was already too late to stop becoming emotionally involved with her. Maybe it wasn’t love yet, but it was certainly more than just sex. He shouldn’t have let her seduce him last night. It had been one time too many. Where would it all end?