“Adam,” said Ruby, “that long cock of yours…”

Ruby let smoke trickle from her mouth as she spoke, curling grey ghosts around each word. She took another long drag of her cigarette, tilting her head to release the smoke up into the air. Whenever Ruby talked about sex when she smoked I knew she was horny, she was hot. It was part of her theatre; truly shameless, but she made no pretence about it. I played along.

She’d toy with me and I’d indulge her, and so we got on. We were at the point where we’d take turns texting or phoning Lizzie at the café to put out the reservation sign on our table, once or twice a week, or once every week or two. We were never regular, busy lives and all that. I didn’t ask Ruby about her life, she didn’t ask me about mine.

Ruby got Lizzie’s number one day, I assumed eagerly given or perhaps confused with her job, and the girl didn’t question me when I used it. She had mine in return. I wondered, in an idle moment while waiting for Ruby, whether Lizzie had us in her phone together as ‘Adam and Ruby’, or whether she had us in separately.

“I do like that girl,” said Ruby, when she arrived. “That tousled, messy blonde hair, those tight little tits.”

“It’s the contrast, Ruby, with yourself,” I replied.

“I suppose you’re right.” She looked down at herself, drawing my eyes down to her deep cleavage. She touched her immaculate hair, pulled back tight. Her hair was black, her nails and lips blood red, and her skin quite pale in the cool autumn light.

When she came out with our drinks, Lizzie had the last fading tan of summer, a faint spray of freckles on her cheeks, and curls that tickled her there. She tried to blow the hair away, her hands full, but a faint cling of sweat held it in place. When Lizzie bent slightly to place mugs and plates on the table, Ruby reached up with a finger and flicked the annoying hair from her cheek.

Lizzie nodded. “Thanks.”

“That’s very intimate, Ruby,” I said, when Lizzie had gone.

“She doesn’t mind,” Ruby replied. “She wants to be part of us, have what we’ve got.”

“And you know this, how?”

“Woman’s intuition, Adam. I’ve seen the way she looks. She’s quite unabashed about it. She’s curious, wants to know. Wants to know about you and me.”

Ruby turned the open end of the pack towards herself, extracted a cigarette and lit it with her usual ritual, sucking smoke deep into her lungs.

“… that long cock of yours. Would you like it in my ass?”

Ruby said it deliberately, not changing the level of her voice, not leaning towards me in a conspiracy. She did it to shock anyone listening to our conversation who shouldn’t be listening. She didn’t do it to shock me. From a table on the other side of the tree I heard a quick gasp and a cup rattle.

Ruby smiled, a sparkle in her eyes. She’d heard the give-away too. She laid her long fingers on the back of my hand, then measured out a length on the table, thumb to extended finger, to remind herself. Then she did lower her voice.

“Well?”

“What? Here, now?” I replied, my voice low, smiling at her delight.

“No, silly. But I want my ass fucked by Tuesday.”

“But Ruby, it’s only Wednesday morning.”

“I know. It builds expectation, makes it oh so very much better.”

She was right. For the rest of the week, all I could think of was the curve of Ruby’s ass, how tight she’d be, and how she’d look, encasing me.

Ruby started the thoughts flowing when she got up from the table and did what she always did, smoothed her skirt down over her thighs. But this time she turned away from me a little, curving her hand further behind to emphasise the tight curve of her bottom.

She glanced over to the young woman sitting at the next table, to send her the same message. Don’t pretend you’re shocked, you’ve thought about it, too. The woman blushed and looked down. “There’s the difference,” Ruby commented, sotto voce.“I’m not afraid to ask for it.”

And when we passed Lizzie after paying, when she turned away, Ruby said, “Will you look at that girl? Her tight little ass, can you imagine?”

I could, and Ruby was imagining it too.

“We really must, Adam, one day. She’s delicious.”

* * * *

Later that week, on Saturday morning, Ruby called me.

“Come around this evening, about eight. Eat before you get here because, you know, I won’t be eating and won’t, not till later. You’re staying overnight. We can go to church on Sunday.” She laughed.

“Should I bring a toothbrush?” I asked. “And soap. So I smell nice for the bishop.”

“You’ll be fine. Come as you are ”

I couldn’t imagine the last time Ruby went to church. She didn’t strike me as a religious woman, not at all. Her body, though, was worth worship; and her mind, her wicked, decadent mind… I’d believe in God if she’d have me.

I liked it, too, that Ruby presumed I’d be staying. A woman who knew what she wanted? I could almost be told what to do.

* * * *

When I arrived at Ruby’s apartment, up on the fifth floor overlooking the river, she already had the lights dimmed, the sweet scent of candles flickering on the mantle-piece and on low tables.

She slid up to me, her dark hair pulled back tight in a chignon, large pearls fixed to her ears. Her dress, unusual for Ruby who usually favoured tight skirts, flowed in a creamy white innocence, like a princess dress or a wedding gown. She wore little white slippers and white stockings. I assumed she was playing virginal.

“I’ve played dress-ups, pampered myself in a long bath.” She confirmed it. “I’m oh so silky and smooth.” Ruby kissed me, her theatre well under way. “And look at you, handsome man. How did you know?”

“You said it was special, Ruby, so I thought -”

“It doesn’t matter though, does it? You won’t be dressed for long. Here, take this wine.”

She’d taken me through to the kitchen, where a bottle and two glasses sat waiting.

“Cheers,” she said, looping her arm with the glass around mine.

“Clink,” I replied, and the glasses rang like bells. The wine was rich, red and smooth, like Ruby’s lips. I remembered the taste where I kissed her.

Ruby led me to the long window, looking down over the ferry jetty lit up with bright floodlights, harsh against the darkness. A ripple of reflected water made shifting patterns on her dress, like a projected art-work in a small bohemian gallery down in the city. She contemplated the outside world, silent and shimmering, far below.

“I like it up here,” she said. “It makes me feel… remote. Sometimes the world is too frantic and I need to escape.” She touched her reflection in the glass. “From myself, sometimes.”

This contemplative Ruby was new, I didn’t know this woman. I remained silent, knowing she wasn’t really talking to me. I was in the room, but as when she smoked, I wasn’t there, she didn’t need me.

Ruby turned and ran her fingers down my cheek, the same way she’d touched her reflected self. “Are you a reflection, Adam, a ghost? I don’t know sometimes, what is real.”

I had never seen Ruby so still. Even her self-absorption when smoking was different to the mood fallen over her, possessing her, now. She shook her head and turned to me, the dress swirling in a tight circle.

“Dance with me, Adam.”

She clung to my neck like she was lost, and when I put a hand to her waist she took it and placed it lower down. We turned slowly in the room and Ruby leaned into me more, fitting her body against mine in a tighter embrace. I cupped both hands on the high haunches of her hips and pulled her closer to me.

I felt the heat of Ruby’s full breasts against my chest and the soft hot breath of her lips on my throat. She nuzzled close up under my ear, like a cat does, and I felt an open mouth bite. No pressure, just the line of her teeth, top and bottom. She could bite if she wanted to. I’d let her.

The scent she wore was delicate, flowery, not the usual charnel dark cloy that caught at the back of my throat. She didn’t taste of smoke, more the berry of the wine. Dark berries, true, but sweet with picking from high summer. Juice would spill from my lips if I bit one, and we’d share it.

“It’s nice, Adam, the way that you hold me. A girl likes to be held.”

Girl? Ruby was never a girl, she’d never called herself that before.

“Lizzie’s a girl, Ruby.” I deliberately pushed the button and brought the taste of summer into the room. “You’re always a woman.”

“Sweet fuck, you’re a bad man, putting that lovely thing inside my head. Jesus. Now I’ll want her, when you want me.”

“I know. The two of you? It makes it oh so very much better.” I echoed Ruby’s words from the café, and my cock began to thicken. I ran my hands over the swell of her ass cheeks.

Ruby scented my neck with a hot kiss, and took my mouth with hers. She sighed, and took a long breath so I’d kiss her longer. I sucked in the smooth taste of the wine from her mouth and the crisp scarlet tang from her lips. My hands held Ruby’s body close to mine.

She looked at me and her eyes were dark.

“Fuck, you’re good for me,” she whispered. “Do me slowly, make me beg. Jesus, fuck.” The crudities cracked in her voice as she gave herself over to me. I tucked an idea into the back of my mind – seeing her white purity made more sense, now.

She began to undo the buttons of my shirt. “Take your clothes off, Adam, let me see you.” She pulled the shirt-tails out from my trousers. “You don’t seem to mind naked. I always seem to be nude.”

She was right. Whenever we’d had sex before, Ruby always kept something on, be it stockings or high heels, or a velvet ribbon around her throat; she always kept some adornment about her, and always her jewellery on her fingers, silver rings; and pearls in her ears. She always kept something on.

“I’ll undress, Ruby, so you can see me. But I’m going to see you too, stripped naked.”

I looked into her eyes and Ruby looked back at me. “No hiding?” she asked.

“No hiding. Like your ass, all exposed.”

“But I’m always hiding.” Ruby smiled. She was beautiful.

“There’s whiskey, Adam, in the cupboard. I could do with a shot.” She wanted something stronger than wine.

Before I went to the kitchen to get the whiskey bottle and a glass, I took the rest of my clothes off. She was right, I’m comfortable naked. Ruby looked at me, looked down at my cock heavy against my thigh, and smiled. I’m a tangible ghost.

“Where’s that shot?”

I got a glass, poured, and handed it to Ruby. She savoured it, then knocked it back quickly to get the burn in her throat. “Tsss,” she hissed, “that’s good.”

She slid her finger into the glass, let me taste the whiskey, hot on my lips. I poured another glass, then set it aside.

I began to undress Ruby. First I undid the buttons down the front of her dress, separating the folds of cloth apart and peeling them back from her arms. Her full breasts were revealed in a white lacy bra that enhanced her deep cleavage. I kissed her neck as the dress fell away to her waist, brushing against my filling cock as it did so.

Then I loosened the buckle of a wide leather belt, eased the cloth from her hips, and the dress puddled into a creamy white circle at her feet. She wore lacy white knickers that matched the bra, and white stockings on her legs. I pulled her towards me, eager to feel her bare flesh against mine.

My cock thickened and Ruby felt it. She eased her legs apart to give it a place to go, and it rose up between her thighs. She clamped me between her legs. Her cunt was hot against my shaft.

“I love seeing that,” she said. “Your arousal. You men are so blatant, there’s no pretending.”

She reached between us, lifting my shaft up to place it hot between my belly and hers. I cupped her ass cheeks in my hands, pulling her hard up against me. We stood like that, pressed together for a minute, gently kissing. Her lips no longer tasted of wine.

I broke the kiss, and reached for the pearl stud in her ear. I undid the clip and released the small drop into my palm. Ruby solemnly undid the other one, tilting her head as she did so, and handed it to me. I placed both into a small bowl on a table.

“Now the chain about your neck, and your rings.”

Ruby looked at me, and for a short moment I thought she would not do it. Then she smiled, and took the rings from her fingers, one by one.

“You really do want me naked, don’t you?”

“Yes, Ruby, no pretending.” My cock pulsed against her belly. “To fuck you, no veils, no jewels, nothing on you but skin. To fuck deep into your naked flesh.” I began a quiet narration, my whisper soft in her ear. She squirmed against me.

As she had done with me, I took her throat lightly between my teeth, and held her still. My cock pulsed against the flesh of her belly. I saw goosebumps rise on her arms.

“What do you want, Ruby?” I needed to hear her say it. She could beg, later.

“Your cock, fucking my ass.”

“It’s not Tuesday, Ruby.” I undid the chain from around her neck and placed it with her jewellery.

“You bastard, you’d deny me?” Her voice cracked, her tone dropping in a threat. Come into my arms, mother wolf.

I took her mouth with mine and gave her my answer with another long kiss, running my hand over her ass cheeks as I did so, easing the firm flesh apart, exposing her dark core to the air. Ruby moaned, shivered, waited. I slipped my hands down inside the cling of her white lacy knickers, my finger sliding down into the tight valley between her cheeks.

“My thick cock, hot in your ass, Ruby.” My voice was a whisper, my pressing finger a promise. “I’ll fuck you, deep.”

“Jesus, fuck.” Her blasphemy again, a slow creep against a forgotten religion.

“Your white virgin’s panties, you won’t need them.” I peeled them down her legs but left her stockings on, a visual treat of contradiction for my eyes.

Ruby’s little slippers were like a dancer’s. There’s something pure about the image of a girl at the barre, that flexibility and at the same time, focus. It helps that my first vision of a naked girl was a dancer, with long dark hair falling like water.

Ruby though, was voluptuous, her curves full and luxurious, not like my first girl at all. Her hair was still pulled up tight and coiled. Tight and locked tight, just as her anus would be against my tongue.

I led Ruby to a couch and made her bend over it, feet apart, arms outstretched along the back. One breast fell, full and heavy, held by the cup of her bra. The other, squashed under her.

I’d pay attention to her breasts later. The bra strap across her back had marked her skin. To undo the strap later would take on some significance. She’d be naked then, but for the stockings and slippers. The idea of lost innocence aroused me, her dark taboo place above lacy white stockings. Jesus fuck, I’d lose religion, too.

I stood behind Ruby and leaned my weight over her, covering her back with my belly and chest, the shaft of my cock pressed down between her thighs. She pushed back against me, impatient.

“Wait, Ruby,” I said. “What’s the hurry?”

“You fuck, Adam, my finger’s not thick enough. I’ve been like a school girl, playing with myself all week.”

I laughed. “I don’t think I can imagine that, not at all.” I could. “Not Ruby!”

Ruby placed two fingers into her mouth, all the time looking back at me. Then, quite deliberately, she reached back between her legs as far as she could and pressed those wet fingers into the dark shadows where her anus lay hidden. She eased the fingers forward, and in the silence I heard the smallest sound as she slid them along the lips of her sex.

“Again, Ruby,” I said, and this time I pulled the firm globes of her cheeks apart to reveal the dark crease of her, the darker band of flesh from her cunt up and around the dark swirl of her anus. I pulled her cheeks wide apart so I could see the next press of her fingers over the tight coil.

“Press harder,” I urged. “Let me see.” I wanted her to know I was looking as she pressed the weight of her finger tip over the dark place. The nail on her finger was long, she couldn’t press into herself. My fingernails were much shorter, she might like my finger. She might like my cock even more.

I kept looking, leaning closer. I inhaled her musky scent, shutting my eyes and breathing in deeply. I could smell her arousal, almost taste it.

“Have you seen yourself, Ruby, how your ass-hole is dark, much darker than the rest of your flesh?”

“Mirrors, I’ve used mirrors.”

“What did you fuck yourself with, when you were younger? Before a man took you the first time?”

“The end of a hairbrush,” she confessed.

“Was it the same brush you used to brush your hair in the morning, before going off to school?”

“How did you know that?”

“I didn’t,” I replied. “I do now.”

“Christ,” she whispered. “No secrets.”

“You want me to know them, losing your innocence all by yourself.”

I moved, reaching my hand for the whiskey glass on the side table. I took a small mouthful, felt the hot burn, and put the glass back down. Reaching for her ass, I pulled her cheeks wide apart and placed my whiskey filled mouth right over the core of her hole. I swallowed and pulled her against me.

“Tsss, fuuck, that’s so good. No-one’s anointed my ass-hole before, not with whiskey.” Her hiss was the same as when she drank the first shot. “Just fucking eat me, I’ve waited too long for it.”

I spread Ruby ‘s cheeks wide for easy access, then descended onto her ass-hole, sucking on it, pulling a moan from deep in her throat. The heat of the whisky sizzled my tongue, and I pierced her rim with it, jabbing the tip into her.

She pushed back against me, taking her own cheeks in her hands to open herself wider to me. Fucking her tight hole with my tongue, I dragged my fingers up the back of her thighs to give her more sensation, then cupped her cunt in the palm of my hand, pulling her body back against my face.

I leaned my weight forward, alternately sucking and licking. She bucked back against me, a slow steady pressure, insistently pushing back against my mouth. I tongued her, savouring her taste, jabbing into her with swift little fucks. I felt the suck of her hole on me like a mouth.

“Fuck yes,” she whispered then, “fuuuck yes, eat my ass, you fuck. Fucckk.” Her mouth clicked around the word with a shudder. Her body quivered with pleasure. My mouth was a wet mess on her. Her ass-hole was wet now, she was ready.

I moved back from her and Ruby gasped as the air cooled around her wet flesh, swollen and puffy. I watched in delight as her anus puckered, almost breathing.

“In the cupboard, there’s butter. Go get it.”

Ruby commanded me. I went to the kitchen, licking my lips to savour the taste of her hole. My cock was thick and hard, aching with the intensity of my pleasure, pleasuring Ruby. I’d not been this rigid thick for a long while, ass being a rare treasure.

I found the dish of butter, softening. She must have taken it from the fridge an hour before I got to her door, preparing a slab of it with a sharp knife. I imagined her precision, cutting it from the block, knowing where it would be later. The edges at first would have been sharp and clear, but they were soft now.

Thoughtful Ruby, the decorative dish sat upon a small towel, so I could grease my shaft then wipe my hands clean, so I could grip her flesh without slipping. A ceremony could not have been better arranged.

“That’s planning ahead, Ruby.”

“When I get fucked in the ass, Adam, I prefer it swift and deep. Butter’s perfect, I’ve found.” She laughed, a low filthy chuckle. “Oil is too messy, and lubes from a tube… I don’t like them.”

Ruby’s hair was still immaculate, tight around her head. She somehow still looked crystalline pure, uncorrupted, even though her back hole was wet and puffy from my tongue and lips. She looked back at me, watching me closely as I scooped a thick layer of butter onto my fingers, then onto my shaft. Her eyes were dark.