busied herself tidying up. She’d return in the morning and scrub the surfaces and douse them with boiling water, but she was too tired to deal with it tonight. When she turned around, Ruby was studying her.
“You’re free to go. Keep the wound clean and Doc will want to remove the stitches in ten days.”
“Thank you. Truly.”
“You’re welcome.”
“If there’s anything I can do for you…”
There is. I have questions. Specific questions.
No. She couldn’t.
Yes. Just ask her. She offered. And when will you ever get another chance to get firsthand carnal knowledge from an expert willing to share?
Still…Dinah, hesitated, keeping her focus on the same spot she’d been scrubbing for a very long minute.
Then Ruby’s throaty laugh echoed through the small space. “Go ahead and ask me, Dinah.”
“Ask you what?”
“You know. ‘The’ question. Don’t be shy.”
Dinah folded her arms over her chest and met Ruby’s curious gaze. “All right. I’m a virgin. Silas and I have kissed and touched and…stuff. Doc has some detailed human anatomy books as well as a few explicit novels I’ve read. I have a grasp of the mechanics of what goes on between a man and a woman, but how do I keep Silas happy enough in our bed beyond the first year or so that we’re married that he won’t want to visit a whorehouse?”
Ruby laughed. “That’s a much better question than the one I usually get.”
“Which is what?”
“If my husband shows up at your whorehouse will you please refuse to take his money?” She made a face. “It’s not my job to monitor someone’s husband. And some men desperately love their wives, but they also want sexual acts their wives won’t do.” She shrugged. “I don’t judge. I definitely don’t turn away customers. I run a business. Selling pleasure is no different than selling anything else. So my first question for you is…do you like how you feel when you and Silas have kissed and touched?”
“Yes. Very much.”
“You’re what…nineteen? Twenty?”
“Twenty.”
“Since you’re on your own here, I’m guessing it’s not the worry of parental disapproval holding you back from dispensing with your maidenhead. Maybe you’re religious, I don’t know. What I do know is it’s solely your decision whether you decide to fuck Silas before marriage or after your vows. But once you’re in that intimate partnership with him, talk to him. If he does something you don’t like, don’t immediately freeze up and say no. Suggest trying something different that you do like. Becoming sexually compatible is work, but sex is not a chore. It is a lovely intimacy like no other. It’s supposed to be fun and raunchy and passionate and sweet…but it doesn’t have to be all of that at the same time.”
Dinah expelled a nervous burst of laughter. “Thank you. Since Silas and I started this…lovely intimacy…I don’t have anyone to talk about this.”
Ruby gave her a soft smile. “I’m glad you asked for advice. Nothing that happens in private between a man and a woman is dirty if they both want to do it.”
“So noted.”
“The last thing I’ll tell you is to know your own body. Because if you aren’t familiar with what gives you pleasure, how can you tell Silas what you need?”
She nodded because that did make perfect sense.
“It’s late. I appreciate you stitching me up with such care.”
“You’re welcome. And don’t worry that I’ll blab far and wide about this incident. I’m the epitome of discreet.”
“Says the woman who had a screaming match with Silas McKay on Main Street in Sundance, on a Friday night,” Ruby said dryly.
Dinah rolled her eyes. “A different situation that called for zero discretion on my part since the man had already turned me into a public spectacle.”
“Don’t let him smother that fire inside you, Dinah.”
“He won’t. I think he appreciates that his charm doesn’t always work on me.” She paused in the doorway. “I’ll send Jimmy out to escort you. Take care, Miss Ruby.”
Chapter Fifteen
Late Sunday morning Jonas stormed into Sackett’s Saloon.
The place wouldn’t get busy until later, so no one stopped him from hoofing it up the stairs to the second floor. No one manned the door between the saloon and the whorehouse, so he just waltzed right into Ruby Red’s social parlor.
Mrs. Mavis glanced up from the book she was reading as she lounged on a red and gold chaise. “Is there a reason you’re bustin’ in here when we ain’t open for business yet, Deputy?”