She glances back over her shoulder as she unhooks her bra and tosses it. The next to go are her jeans and underwear until she’s stark naked, standing at the side of a creek bed. She wades in up to her knees and plunges forward on her stomach, submerging herself to her neck near the middle of the stream.
“Ready or not,” she says, goading me.
“Somebody could catch us.”
“Not likely. This is ranch property. Only one way in, and your truck is blocking it now.”
I hesitate with my hands in my pockets, watching her golden hair fan out in the water. This scene is eerily familiar, only this time I get the pleasure of full daylight and Ruby stark naked.
“Come on, Grumpy,” she says. “Live a little.”
“I’ve lived plenty without ever going skinny dipping.”
“There’s a first time for everything.”
“Doesn’t have to be.”
She splashes some water toward the shore, soaking my jeans, and she repeats the motion, moving closer. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way, but you’re getting wet one way or another. You might as well enjoy the view.” She rises to the surface so her gorgeous tits are floating above the water.
I throw my head back and groan.
Ruby kicks back and floats, putting her whole body on display. The last of my resolve crumbles, and I strip naked right then and there, rushing into the water like I’ve been wading through the desert and Ruby is my oasis.
When she rights herself, I’m almost fully submerged.
I tug her against me. “You’re going to be the death of me.”
“I did promise I’d get you naked,” she murmurs, her lips hovering close to mine.
“You didn’t have to get me into freezing cold water for that.”
“Maybe not, but it’s much more fun this way.” She slips her arms around my waist, her hand inadvertently tracing over the tattoo she hasn’t seen yet, and it sends a chill up my spine. She pulls me deeper into the water until her feet don’t touch the bottom anymore and wraps her legs around me. I grip her ass and haul her higher so she’s not hovering over my rapidly hardening cock.
With a curious expression, she skates her fingertips over the faint scar near my eyebrow. “What’s this from?”
I draw in a slow breath through my nose as the memories assault me.
“I didn’t mean to pry. You don’t have to tell me.”
She gazes at me tenderly, and it makes mewantto open up to her. There’s a sincerity to Ruby, an innate gentleness abouther that I know deep down I don’t deserve. I soak it all in anyway.
“Our second foster home wasn’t a great situation,” I say. “They fed us one meal a day and kept us locked in our bedroom for hours on end. One night, Connor snuck out to get a snack from the kitchen. Our foster father caught him, and I stepped in the way of his fist. Took a boot to the ribs, too.”
Tears gather along her bottom lashes, and she palms my face. “Oh, Liam. I’m so sorry.”
I press a kiss to her shoulder. “It was a long time ago.”
“Time doesn’t always heal.” Her lips graze against the faint scar on my temple. “Did you tell anyone?”
“I didn’t have to. Social services came by for a check-in the next day and they removed us from the home as soon as they saw the damage.”
“And the next one? Were they kind?”
“They were probably the best home we ever had. It’s where I learned to play piano and guitar, and Connor got really into dinosaurs. We were only there for a year.”
“What happened?”
“They found out she was pregnant, and they didn’t want us anymore.”
