Chapter 10

10

T he speeches were deadly dull. Ruby had already delivered hers—it brought the house to tears, as she had expected, and she was proud of it—but now Kate was waxing poetically and at extreme length about Angela and their sisterhood and… frankly, it was lacking. She liked Kate, but she also wished Kate had asked her to lend a hand with editing. With a subtle lift of her hand, Ruby caught a waiter’s attention to refill her wine glass.

Across the room, she saw Sasha sitting with Rose, Jim, and Aunt Cecelia. Ruby wished they were sitting together. She was situated between Danny and Dom Junior at the main table, and as much as she loved her brothers, Danny was entirely besotted with his bride while Dom was more interested in talking fantasy football with Dante on his right. Bo- ring . She drained half her wine glass.

She could be thinking about where she’d be going next with Declan and Nicola’s story, which she hadn’t touched since she’d arrived in New York. Or she could be texting Nat for updates on Winston. But she missed her sweet little old man and was tipsy enough that pictures of him would make her cry. And if she was going to think about any romance right now, it was whatever romance she might be able to have with Sasha.

Ruby picked up her wine glass and sipped, keeping her eyes on her friend. Her shy, sweet friend who had always been there for her, who made sure she ate and drank when she needed it, who supported Ruby’s writing wholeheartedly, who Ruby’s mother absolutely adored…

…who gave her kisses that thrilled her deep in her soul, who pulled her hair just right, who somehow knew exactly how to touch her to make her toes curl… what if everything Ruby had ever looked for had been right in front of her the whole time? Every little thing that Sasha had done to help and support her, what if each one of those had been Sasha saying, I love you ?

Danny nudged her with his elbow. “Stare any harder and you’re gonna drill holes through her skull, Rubes.”

She shook her head and blinked. “Oh.”

He squinted and looked at her as if he was searching her face for answers. “Hey, that conversation we had really did shake you up, huh, Rubes?”

She could only laugh and swallow down more wine, shaking her head. Her baby brother sure was a clown with that understatement.

And he wouldn’t let up, either. “Rubes, come on, you had to know, didn’t you? On some level you had to know or you wouldn’t be with her, right?”

Ruby motioned for another refill and waited until her glass was full and she had her face all but buried in it before mumbling, “I’m not with her.”

“Huh?”

“I’m not with her,” she whispered, leaning to get right in his ear. With her free hand, she grabbed his wrist and squeezed until he let out a tiny yelp of pain. “We’re not really together. It’s fake, she’s helping me out. I couldn’t come to the wedding without a date! I’d never hear the end of it.”

“Oh, what the fu—Rubes! You gotta be kidding!” Danny glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them. “And here I thought you’d finally woken up! I was so happy for you. We all were! What the hell?”

“I mean, I don’t, I just…” She set her glass down and took a deep breath. “Look, I’m not going to have this huge long conversation in whispers, because it is a huge long conversation. Let me cut out the filler: we’re not really together. But now I am thinking maybe I could explore the notion.”

“Explore the—Ruby, do not make me strangle you on my wedding day,” Daniel hissed.

“Well, offer me some constructive advice, then!” She was a little too loud, catching Angela’s attention.

The bride leaned in. “What’s going on?”

Danny kissed her. “Baby, my sister is real goddamn dumb, but I’ll have to explain when we’re alone later, trust me.” He turned back to Ruby, rummaging in his pockets. “I was going to suggest you grab Sasha and use my car to go back to the house and talk, but you have been putting away the vino, sis. What I’m doing instead is getting you an Uber. This party’s gonna go all night, the house is empty, get your girl and go talk, for Christ’s sake.” He began swiping and poking at his phone. “There. You have got ten minutes, your driver is Lillian and she’s in a blue Nissan. You remember how to sneak out of here?”

“Yes, little brother, I do.” Ruby rolled her eyes. “But hey, I wanted to dance! It’s your wedding, don’t send me away.”

“You have to go away so I can dance at your wedding, Ruby. Now go!”

“She seems to be trying to send signals,” Rose observed, watching as Ruby, at the head table, was twitching her head to the right.

Sasha was a good half bottle into the bar’s Ketel One stash, and it was hard to focus. “You think?”

Rose was propping her chin in her hand and squinting at her little sister. “Yeah. Definitely signals. I think there’s a…” She sat up. “Yeah, there’s a door over on that far wall. Does she want you to sneak out? Ridiculous. That’s the worst way to get out of here.”

“Sneak out?” Sasha’s brain felt like pudding.

“I got you. Don’t worry.” Rose’s hands moved in what looked like a complicated array of gestures, then she grabbed Sasha and stood up. “Follow me.”

“Are we sneaking out now?”

“No. Ruby is, because I pointed out there’s another door right behind her table. You and I are officially going to the powder room. No sneaking.” Rose expertly steered the two of them through the halls of the Grand Colony, rose petals fluttering out of her updo and a cloud of Givenchy Organza floating in her wake.

“I don’t really understand why we’re sneaking anywhere.” Having drowned most of her confusion and sorrow in the vodka before even touching the penne carbonara with chicken, Sasha was finding life to be very difficult to cope with indeed.

“I have no idea. But she clearly wants to leave, and Danny was sitting next to her nodding, so it’s my duty as the oldest sibling to help execute any kind of sneaky plan. This ain’t my first rodeo.” She winked, blue eyes twinkling. “I don’t think either of you are fit to drive, so I am assuming someone has arranged transportation to wherever it is you’re supposed to go. Let’s go see if Ruby’s made it out to the front steps.”

Ruby was indeed pacing in her satin and velvet confection, her fire-engine red updo looking a bit wispy and droopy and her eyes hazy with the wine Sasha had been watching her drink. “Rosie, thank you.”

“No problem. It’s my job.” Kissing both of them on the cheek, Rose gathered up the hem of her deep pink gown and sailed back inside. “Oh, look, this must be your ride pulling up now. Have fun, you two.”

“Have fun? What did she mean by that, I wonder?” Sasha mused as Ruby dragged her into a little Nissan driven by a cheerful looking elderly woman.

“What she said,” Ruby chirped out, about two seconds before she lunged across the back seat, grabbed Sasha by the lapels, and hauled her in for a deep, steamy kiss.

Sasha’s mind seemed to splinter and scatter like a dropped glass under the heat of Ruby’s lips and tongue. Hunger was all she could think as her fingers curled into the slippery satin at Ruby’s waist, as her back arched away from the car door. She wanted nothing in this moment more than to be as close to Ruby as possible. Today, this time, the thought of stopping to talk didn’t even cross her mind. She only wanted , and a tiny growl slipped out as Ruby bit her bottom lip gently and tugged.

“Ahem.” In the driver’s seat, the little old lady was clearing her throat. “I don’t mind if you two strip down and go right at it, but I don’t want the cops pulling us over, so wouldja mind buckling yourselves in?”

No matter what Danny had said, ‘talking’ was not Ruby’s priority at the moment.

She kicked her bedroom door behind the two of them, the sound echoing through the completely empty house. With one hand she deftly twisted the doorknob lock. Her other hand had a firm grip around Sasha’s necktie, and she used it to drag her over to the bed.

After Lillian’s seatbelt safety moment in the Uber, they’d spent the ride back to the Fierelli house in a state of quietly giggly, almost-but-not-quite-touching tension, hands close enough to feel each other’s warmth and the electric crackle of nerves between them. She hadn’t dared touch or kiss Sasha again. She wouldn’t have been able to stop and despite Lillian’s racy suggestion, she wasn’t inclined to ravish anyone in the back seat of a Nissan. Especially not with a woman who might have played canasta with her grandma watching.

But now, they were free. There was no conversation, they just needed to touch.

Ruby took Sasha’s face in her hands as they tumbled into her bed and let herself indulge in another of those toe-curling kisses that had been replaying in the movie theater of her imagination since the night of the joint bachelor party. She managed to ease Sasha’s suit jacket off and toss it to the floor.

When Sasha pulled back to look at her, dread pooled in Ruby’s stomach. Please don’t say we need to talk again…

But Sasha only looked deeply into her eyes for a long, taut moment and asked, “Rubes. Are you sure ?”

“Are you ? I think we know this has to happen.” Ruby countered, doing her best to square her shoulders against the bed pillows. “I brought you here. Was that not clear?”

Swallowing hard, Sasha smiled and took a deep breath. “Got it.”

Before Ruby could respond, blink, or even take her own breath, Sasha had lifted her breasts out of the boned velvet top of her dress and, with lips and tongue and wet fingertips, had her nipples standing to attention in seconds. Ruby gasped and her hips bucked upwards. She grabbed Sasha’s shoulders and clung on for dear life as whirls and sparks of pleasure flooded her body.

She couldn’t help the whimper that slipped from her mouth when Sasha pulled away to sit back. But frustration melted into quiet awe as Sasha, more confident than Ruby had ever seen her outside of a kitchen, slowly unbuttoned her shirt, her eyes fastened on Ruby’s as she pulled it off and tossed it to the floor. She had a black binder on underneath that she struggled slightly to pull off; her skin was red here and there with compression marks. Ruby sat up to trace her fingers along them.

“Does it hurt?”

Sasha’s eyes were dark and half-lidded as she watched Ruby’s wandering fingers. “Most of the time, no. It’s like a hug. Sometimes it chafes, like today. But it’s not a big deal.”

Leaning forward, Ruby kissed one of the red marks. Goosebumps bloomed along Sasha’s ribcage and overhead, she moaned softly. Ruby lay her palm over the pebbled skin and looked up to meet Sasha’s gaze. They’d never been so naked together, and they were only half undressed. “I want to see the rest of you. I want to see all of you.”

Sasha licked her lips. “I want to undress you,” she replied, her voice husky.

She started with the pins and flowers in Ruby’s hair, plucking them free one by one and tossing them onto the bedside table with tinny little plinks. Gradually, locks of Ruby’s hair tumbled down in silky crimson ribbons over her shoulders and bared breasts.

When every pin was gone, Sasha led Ruby to stand up in front of the mirror on the back of the door. With care, she inched the zipper down on Ruby’s dress. Ruby watched, mesmerized, as the dress was pushed to her feet in a puddle of satin. Her strapless bra was unhooked and discarded, her black silk pantyhose removed with reverence and kisses down the length of her thighs and calves.

She’d never felt so much like a goddess before. The tingles shot through her body like an ocean of electricity.

All that was left were her lacy black panties. Sasha was still in her trousers and shoes, still on her knees. Before Ruby could say a word, Sasha had leaned forward to press a kiss right on the damp gusset of the panties. Pulling them aside, she worked her tongue between the warm lips of Ruby’s pussy, the tip going right for her clit. With a sharp surprised breath, Ruby buried her hand in Sasha’s curly hair and held on for dear life.

Her entire world was that nimble tongue, the sucking lips, the teeth that nipped at the tender skin. Fingers slipped into where she was wet with desire, one, then two, pumping into her as Sasha licked and sucked at her clit. All of her senses were overloaded; the smell of sex, the feel of Sasha’s curls under her palm and Sasha’s fingers inside her body, the gasps in her mouth and the sounds of Sasha moaning and sucking between her legs. It felt so natural, it felt so good.

“Fuck me harder, I need it so bad,” Ruby moaned.

Without hesitation, Sasha quickened the pace, fucking Ruby deeper, harder, faster, every thrust jolting her body. The slick wetness of her core melted away around her.

Ruby wasn’t a virgin—she’d had great sex before, but for the first time in her life, she thought the word transcendent applied to the experience. No one had made her feel like this, so revered, so good, so sexy.

Her legs gave out when the build up took over her body and hit her like a hurricane. Sasha guided her safely down to the ground with her free hand, her fingers still working within Ruby as wave after wave of pure pleasure pulsed through her.

“You are so fucking wet,” Sasha groaned as she worshipped Ruby’s body.

Ruby bit her lip, edging her body closer into Sasha’s. “Don’t stop fucking me, I’m going to cum so hard,” Ruby hummed.

Sasha’s body pressed harder over Ruby, her fingers stretching, fucking, filling her. She kissed her way down to Ruby’s swollen clit, desperate to give it attention.

As the circles traced around her wetness, she felt Ruby tighten around her fingers. She felt the almighty orgasm crash through her body as her body melted into a clump of fuzzy joy.

Awareness returned to her as they lay tangled on the pile of fine fabrics that had been her gown. Sasha had eased her hand free and was holding Ruby in her arms, against her warm, bare breasts. Ruby could feel her heart racing, that lovely and generous heart. “You good?” Sasha asked softly, pressing a kiss to Ruby’s temple.

“Amazing,” Ruby breathed, enjoying the feeling of being truly cared for. “I guess we’ve taken this fake relationship thing to the next level, right?”

But then she felt bereft as Sasha stood up and pulled Ruby to her feet after her. “Maybe we should took about this with clear heads…”

“Aw,” Ruby sighed. She’d hoped the cuddles would go on a bit longer.

To her surprise, Sasha led her to the bed and sat her down, then found a T-shirt and pulled it on. “Sit tight,” she advised.

“What for?” Ruby glanced around. “Should I get dressed, too?”

“Absolutely not!” Sasha looked shocked. “No, I said sit tight. I’m going downstairs for snacks and water. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t eat a lot before you dragged me away from the wedding.” She grinned. “We’re both going to need more energy if we want to take full advantage of this empty house. I’m not finished with you.”

Ruby lifted an eyebrow. Ah. She reclined seductively on the bed, letting her red hair cascade down around her. To her immense delight, Sasha swallowed hard. “Full advantage, you say?”

“Uh…”

“Ma keeps the reusable shopping bags in the pantry,” Ruby advised. “Grab one. You’re gonna need to bring back lots of snacks.”

She couldn’t quite believe how things had developed, but at the same time, she couldn’t imagine another way. This felt good. Really fucking good.