9781618858368ForbiddenDeceptionlLeveyNC (20 page)

“Okay,
babe, have fun downstairs.” The sound of the doorbell cut off her response.
“I’ll go let Mia and Dire in.” She pushed back from the table and left to
answer the door.

A
few minutes later Ailyn returned with two medium size packages. “The mailman is
running early today.” She handed the parcels to Seth. “These are for you.”

“Actually,
they are for you. I bought you some things, your sister helped me find the
right place you use and showed me how to check your wish list a few days ago. I
put a rush on them.”

Seth
took out his pocket knife to slice through the packaging tape on both boxes.
“Here you go.”

“What
did you get me?” She perched her butt on his lap and lifted the flaps to see
inside and gasped. “You sure know how to make a girl smile.” Ailyn pulled out a
set of bow accented back seamed thigh highs with red bows, another with black
bows, purple lace, zebra brand opaque, leopard and tiger printed thigh highs.
Three bicolor pairs, two checkerboard pairs, a multicolored splash pair
resembling tie dye, white with orange stripes, red and black stripes, and
glitter fishnet thigh highs.

She
planted a hot and heavy kiss on his lips. “You are so fantastic. I’ve wanted
some of these for months but they weren’t in the budget.”

“Open
your other box, darlin’.” He wrapped his arm around her midriff while she dug
in the other box and pulled out matching bras, panties and a few garter belts.”

She
sniffled and he tilted her face to his. “No crying, these are supposed to make
you happy not cry.”

“I’m
crying because I am happy. These make me feel beautiful. I guess I was late on
liking purses or makeup, or even shoes. But wearing thigh highs do it for me.
This is a personal and private way of feeling good no one else has the
privilege of knowing unless I desire it. I sometimes feel nerdy.”

“You
are a sexy book smart woman. I love the nerd in you, and I love you just the
way you are.”

“That’s
a song.” Ailyn laughed and wiped her tears. “Thank you for these. A girl can
never have too many pairs.” He watched her put the pieces back in the boxes.
“I’ll run these up and check on Rylan and Ashland.” She stood and walked out of
the room in her tiny T-shirt and short shorts, giving him a full view of her
curves and long legs.

“I’ll
clean up.” Seth rose from the table after her and cleared the table.

He
heard a knock on the door and jogged over to let Dire and Mia in. Mia removed
her sunglasses. Seth shook his head at her pasty pallor. “You look like hell,
Mia.”

“Gee,
thanks, that’s so kind of you to remark on. A girl has to let loose sometimes,
just remind me to never let Sinclaire choose my limit. I hope she looks twice
as bad. Where’s Ash?”

“Upstairs eating.
We have to have a small chat. Rylan snuck in last night
into the room she was sleeping in. He happened to crash over the table in front
of the window alerting us. I think I scared him bad enough with my gun when we
came running.”

“Those
two,” Mia groused. “She just got off punishment. What was she thinking?”

“I
don’t know. He said he got locked out of his house after leaving here, as we
saw on the security feed at the pool hall. Ailyn slept in bed with her and I
slept by him down here.”

Dire
chuckled. “Thanks. We knew it was a matter of time before the
Mom, Dad we’re nothing…we’ve been friends
forever
dynamic would change. Kinda figured after Rylan laid Rex out, he’d
have to decide what he wanted.”

“I
don’t like the sneaking.” Mia shook her head. “Where is Ash?”

“Upstairs eating with Rylan.
She’s pretty embarrassed and
ashamed at being caught right now.”

“As
well she should be. She promised Ailyn and us she wouldn’t break the rules
again. We’ll deal with her after practice. Let her stew on what’s going to
happen for her disobedience.”

“You
cool, Dire?”

“Yeah,
when Eva goes through this stage, then you’ll have your answer.” Dire headed up
the stairs to retrieve his daughter with Mia trailing behind him.

Five
minutes later, a contrite teenager came down the stairs with her bag slung over
her shoulder. Rylan followed behind her, his hand tucked in hers. The two
parents followed all spilling out into the foyer.

“See
you later, Ash.” Seth dug in his wallet and pulled out two twenty dollar bills.

“Thanks,
Mr. Mahone and I’m sorry for not minding.” She sighed as her parents ushered
them all out.

Seth
waved at his friends and trudged downstairs to his daughter.

The
sound of jazz and blues trickled up the stairwell. He jogged down and sat on
the bottom stair to see Eva perform a series of jumps and turns to the music
mixed with acrobatics and tumbling. While she watched herself in the mirror, he
could see her mouth counting steps as she concentrated, stopped and started
over to get her moves right. He admired her dedication and how pretty she
looked spinning without becoming dizzy and losing her balance. The steps
creaked.
Seth,
turned to see Ailyn coming toward him and
moved so she could sit beside him.

“She’s
pretty terrific. It’s no
surprise
that you raised such a great kid. I
always knew you’d make a phenomenal parent. You’re a great mother, Ailyn.” He
squeezed her thigh and continued to watch their daughter lost in her own world.

Epilogue

7
Months Later- The Bahamas

“You
got this, firecracker. Show me why we came all this way so you could snorkel. You
can’t do that from the back of the boat.”

“Can’t
we snorkel in the swimming pool at home? I don’t think I can swim in the ocean.
What if a shark or a fish bites me?”

“
Aw
, love, c’mon. I’m out here and
nothing is biting me. We’ve been practicing for months at home. Swimming in the
ocean is just like swimming in the pool.”

“No
it’s not. I can’t see the bottom, which means there might not be one and I’ll drown.”
Eva held onto the boat edge, peering down at her father.

“I
won’t let anything bad happen to you, lil darlin’.” He called out the big guns
with that soft nickname. Their daughter became mush when he dropped his voice
to his smooth whiskey tone. Ailyn smiled at them from her perch on the deck
chair. “Go on, peanut.”

Eva
tightened her glittery lifejacket and lowered herself into the cerulean waters.

“It’s
cold
.” She gripped the boat ladder.

Seth
laughed from two feet away from her crooking his finger for her to swim to him.
She adamantly shook her head no, and crooked her finger for him to come to her.

“You
two are silly.” Ailyn rose and walked over to the edge of the boat. So she earned
a big fat F in parenting as she never taught Eva how to swim. Cord couldn’t
talk Eva into trying no matter how many times he came down and offered. Ailyn
signed her up one year, after day one, she screamed bloody murder each time
they went by the pool. To this day she wondered what the instructor did to
terrify her daughter.

“Mama,
I don’t see you in here.” Her daughter glared at her, sticking up her stubborn
chin in the process, although snorkeling equipment covered most of her face.

“The
baby doesn’t want to swim.” Ailyn smoothed her hand over her rounded belly and
sat on the deck chair next to the ladder and spun her wedding band and
engagement ring on her finger. Why put the baby and herself in a stressful
situation if she didn’t have to, she was perfectly happy catching sun on the
yacht deck and avoiding waters with sharks and other fish that might bite.

“Firecracker,
you come on out here to me and show your sissy mommy how this is done, and
maybe after you snorkel, we can get your pretty mama out here in the water with
us.”

“Mama
is happy right where she is, watching her two favorite people in the world. Go
on, peanut, swim to your
papi
.” As the
blinding sun beat down on her, she reached over and picked up her floppy
sunhat,
giving her some shade and helping her see them
better.

Eva
let out a ragged sigh and let go of the boat with one hand, and then the other.
Seth and Eva bonded
quick
, though not as quick as he’d
have liked. The transition was near seamless, with some testing and arguing on
all sides.

Watching
her daughter take her first swim in a large body of water excited Ailyn. Seth
proved he excelled in everything he gave his all to. He’d proved to be such a
patient father, as he treaded water until she reached him, without giving in to
her motioning to meet her halfway.

To
Eva, the two feet must’ve felt like miles and Seth treated those few feet as if
she’d swum across the English Channel. He swept her into his arms and kissed
the top of her head. He showed her how to put the snorkel in her mouth, as
practiced in the indoor pool at the gym. Then hand in hand, they both went face
forward into the water and floated on their bellies.

Ailyn
captured their adventure on her video recorder on zoom. Of course deep down she
wanted to be out there with them, and would soon join their party, but first
she wanted Seth to have his time with Eva, knowing these special few moments
built lasting memories.

Eva
came up and took the snorkel out of her mouth. “Mama, you have to see the fish
down here. I think I saw a stingray. Did you know the mama sting ray can hold
the male sting ray’s sperm and get pregnant when she wants to? We learned that
in biology this year. I think it’s really gross, but my teacher thought it was
cool. And there’s a red sea horse here. Did you know the male sea horse is the
one that gets pregnant? I think that’s weird, but cool too. Wow, I even saw a
tiny
shark,
they’re just swimming down there minding
their business. Maybe we’ll see some more cool fish.”

Sneaky
Seth took the opportunity to dive down a litter deeper in the water. Eva looked
at her and at where her
papi
was in
the clear water and followed him. The two disappeared from her direct sight.
She stood up to get a better view.

They
came up a few seconds later and swam back in her direction. Seth doing the side
stroke to watch over Eva and assist her if she needed help due to her bulky
life jacket. When they reached the edge of the boat, he lifted Eva on the
ladder and helped her up. “Take a break, firecracker, you did great.
Now for your mama.”

“I’m
sunbathing.” Ailyn slapped at his cool wet hands dripping water over her feet.
She helped Eva get the snorkeling gear off and sat her in the deck chair. Seth
climbed the ladder and wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her down into
the water with him. The cold water paralyzed her—much as he had when he walked
back into her life. After her body acclimated to the cold, she found the water
a refreshing respite from the heat baking her on the yacht.

Ailyn
splashed him with water. “I’m so glad I have on a bathing suit this time.” She
chuckled and
unwrapped
her arm from his. “I’m good.”
She put her snorkel on and dipped her head into the water. Multicolored fish
swam underneath them, darting in every direction. She saw nurse sharks swimming
below them, along with a blue and neon yellow Angelfish, a really ugly orange
bumpy fish and a black fish with white polka dots.

“Come
swim with me, darlin’. You know, I didn’t let you get bit by snakes in the
lake. You can trust me to take care of you.”

“Just for a few minutes.”

“Baby
girl,
Tio
Cord is making lunch, why
don’t you go down into the galley and help him. Your beautiful mama and I’ll be
up there in a few minutes.”

“Okay.”
Eva jumped up from the chair and dashed down the stairs to her
tio
. Ailyn leaned back against her
husband, whose hand cradled her baby bump.

“I
have you all to myself now.” He kissed the shell of her ear as he murmured the
things he wanted to do to her. Ailyn wrapped her legs around him, holding to
him as he caged her between the boat ladder and his body.

“We
don’t have time. Lunch is almost ready.” She kissed the corded muscle of his
broad shoulders. Seth didn’t
listen,
he’d already moved
her bikini bottoms, giving him enough room to slip inside her body, before she
could object. The water lapped around them as he moved within her. In the most romantic
setting of her life, the beautiful cove they’d dropped anchor at, the smell of
ocean water surrounding them, Ailyn locked her ankles around him and rode him.

“I
love how full your breasts are, how sensitive they’ve become, especially when I
do this...” He bit her sensitive nipple through her top, causing her body to
ripple in waves of pleasure. In the last leg of her second trimester, her
enlarged sensitive breasts couldn’t take much torture. Seth flexed in her as
she trailed her fingers down his arms, her fingers brushing over his wedding
band, down his rib cage, to grip him. The slow and steady pumps worked her body
into a tizzy, she fisted her hands in his hair and threw her head back as she
came, careful not to scream and alert an audience. Seth’s cock jerked,
spreading jets of warmth in her body. He slipped her bottoms back in place and
brushed a thumb across her slit, eliciting a soft moan just loud enough for his
ears.

“You’re
the sexiest woman alive.” He rounded his hands over her body and nuzzled her
cleavage. “I’ve had my lunch but you need yours.”

Ailyn
climbed the ladder and grabbed her towel. She turned to see her golden Adonis
hoist himself up all tan and thick sinew, dripping water all over the deck.
When he raked his hands over his hair, his muscles flexed giving her a
delicious view of his six pack abs and the V disappearing under his black board-trunks.

“Careful
or we may end back in the water for another round.” Seth smacked her lightly on
the butt, propelling her to move toward the galley.

“Behave,
you.” She grinned as the baby began to kick and snatched his hand, placing it
over the moving bump. “You woke Dylan.”

“I
can rock you and him back to sleep if you like. I’m sure Cord will keep Eva
entertained while we sneak away.” Mischief sparkled in his gaze.

“No.
He needs to stay awake so he sleeps when we sleep.
Bad
Papi.
”
She slapped his grabby
hands.
“Enough, Lieutenant Mahone.
I also want to
check on my brother’s injuries. He took a good beating in the last fight. I
thought he was going to lose.” Seth held onto her as she navigated the narrow
steps into the eating and sleeping quarters.

“I
smell something wonderful.”

“This
delicious smell is my special dish, chicken in a creamy Queso sauce with spinach
and black beans and rice.”

“How
are you feeling?” Ailyn walked over to her brother and fussed over his healing
face, brushing a finger over the butterfly bandage adorning the corner of his
eye.

“Stop
mother henning me. I’m a fighter, we get hurt sometimes.
What’s
a split brow and a few cracked ribs in comparison to winning the title? Worth
every painful reminder, that’s what.” Cordero kissed her.

“Alpha still giving you the silent treatment?”
Now that he’d found a great woman,
she worried his job would ruin the relationship. He’d tried once before to have
a relationship while traveling and fighting, his ex couldn’t handle the life,
or the women who came with it, no matter that he didn’t take up any of those
offers.

“She
will either get over it or she won’t. This was my second fight since I began
dating her. I’m not ready to retire and I don’t bitch, I mean complain about
the areas her job takes her into or the risk. She has to learn to deal. I think
this week apart will be good for us. I needed a vacation, thanks for allowing
me to be your honeymoon nanny. Now sit and let me serve you.”

“We’re
not on a honeymoon we’re on a family-moon. How could we leave Eva behind? I am
enjoying having him to myself though, I have to admit, having two siblings was
hard enough growing up, I didn’t expect to be thrust into another family with
so much testosterone.”

“Hey,
I’m in the room here while you’re trash talkin’ my team.” Seth swatted her
behind and parked it in a seat next to Eva. “Your mama just can’t handle having
so many people watching out for her.”

Ailyn
planted a hand and cocked her hip out. “This,” she pointed to her baby bump,
“doesn’t make me fragile. I can still rock it in my heels and thigh highs,
thank you very much.”

“I’m
just excited that we’re having a baby brother. So are
Abuela
Genoveva and
Abuelo
Salvador, and
Abuela
Meara and
Abuelo
Sean. Can we chat with them
tonight? It’s been a whole week already.”

“Peanut,
we discussed this already, not while we’re on vacation. You can tell them all
about vacation when we return home. Okay? I’m sure
Tia
Rianna will be excited to hear all you have to say too.”

“I
say let’s eat and take a nap after we’re done.” Ailyn picked up her fork and
dug into Cordero’s delicious meal, dining in comfortable silence. She watched
the secret glances passing between uncle and niece, wondering what the two
conspirators were up to.

She
didn’t have a chance to ask. Cordero tossed the paper plate and plastic cutlery
into the trash, Eva followed suit, and the two disappeared.

“No
swimming for an hour.”

“We’re
not going swimming,” Eva yelled.

Ailyn
polished off her lunch quickly, then waited impatiently while Seth finished
his.

“I’m
dying to know what they’re doing. Come on.” She tossed her trash and headed up
the stairwell to the shrieking voices outside. Eva’s infectious laughter warmed
her heart.

“
Tio
that was a
perfect ten.
My turn.”

Ailyn
looked for her impulsive brother and equally impulsive daughter only to find
them diving from the boat without life jackets. Eva came hurtling past her and
over the edge in a full front flip.

“Dear
Lord, he’s talked her into flipping off the bow of the yacht and she’s going to
throw up. She just ate.”

“At
least they’ll be in the water when they hurl. Either she’s overcome her fear of
the water or she is a brilliant actress. Cord’s waiting for her darlin’ it’ll
be okay.” He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her.