Heather Rainier (29 page)

Seth chuckled and Jayne felt her cheeks warm up again as she murmured, “Oh, I know a thing or two about those margaritas myself.” Her head even twinged a little in sympathy.

“The last thing I remembered was leaving with Vance. I guess I passed out in his truck. I can’t believe he gave me his number, considering what a lush I am.”

Seth chuckled again and said, “Vance is a pretty good guy. He may have been thinking with his small brain last night, but he wouldn’t take advantage of you. And you’re not a lush. A barfly, maybe”—he dodged when Lucy swatted at him—“but not a lush.”

“So what’s the plan with little Mr. Toby?”

Seth and Jayne exchanged a long look and then Seth replied, “I’ve rearranged my schedule and taken today off. I’ve got to think over my options and make some phone calls.”

Jayne squeezed his hand when he laced their fingers together.

Jayne had no doubt about Seth’s resolve. The emotion in his eyes said it all. “He’s mine. Anyone who says differently will have a hell of a time getting him away from me.”

Late August…

Jayne sat at the conference table in one of the library offices enjoying a little solitude while she ate her lunch. Rowena and Daisy were manning the checkout counter while she ate and relaxed. It had been two weeks since Toby had arrived and she missed Seth and Toby as well. It hadn’t taken her long to grow attached to him but she’d felt it was important that he have time to bond with his father without interference or distraction so she’d tried to give them their space.

She’d planned to write in her journal while she ate lunch but found that she’d spent most of the time just thinking about them. As she flipped the page, rereading what she’d written earlier, two folded sheets slid from the pages of the journal.

“What’s this?” A flush heated her cheeks as she unfolded the first sheet. It was a sketch of her, curled up, sleeping with Toby. Tears clouded her vision as she fumbled to unfold the other paper, only to find that it wasn’t a drawing.

For Jayne

Underneath the clear Divine Sky

You’ve given me a reason to try

A living canvas on the woman to be mine

You listened to the story of my past

To let it go, I guess that it was time

Now with this work of art in your perfect skin

And the gentle love you give, I finally have peace of mind

Life is switching lanes and changing gears

We will go together from here

I’ll spend my days and nights showing you I care

You’ve answered for me

My one and only prayer

We’re adding to each other

Layer by beautiful layer

-Seth

The worries that she’d had over the previous two weeks settled as she reread the poem and looked at the sketch. It was a fine line she’d been walking with Seth and Toby, since he’d arrived. Her cancer physician and Dr. Hawks had confirmed a few years before that she couldn’t have kids. She’d worried that Seth might think she was trying to step into the role of mom to Toby. She pulled out her phone and sent a text message.

“I love you so much.”

She giggled at his reply when it came, even though tears still streamed from her eyes.

“You mean it’s not just the red-hot sex you’re after?”

She snickered as she replied, feeling more relaxed with each word
. “Oh, you’re still my boy toy but I really, really love you. I just found the sketch and poem in my journal. I love them.”

“I love you too. You seemed out of sorts the last few days. Me and Toby getting to you?”

“No! I can’t seem to get enough, actually. I was worried.”

“About what?”

“That I’ve been wearing out my welcome. Getting in your way, maybe?”

“Never. He asks for you when you aren’t here at night.”

She’d helped wherever she could when Seth had a conflict in his work schedule and needed her to watch Toby. She’d made it a priority to give them time alone in the evenings to bond, even though it meant missing Seth…and Toby too. Another text followed on the heels of that one before she could finish typing her message.

“You still coming to the studio tonight? Lucy is picking Toby up from day care for me. He’ll be at home with her until we get done. You could come and have supper with us after I finish working on you.”

Her pussy tingled at the way she wanted him to work on her. Her last tattoo session was scheduled for late that afternoon, after work. Seth had been so busy with Toby that it had left them only the rare moment alone, because she’d felt that Seth needed time with Toby. He’d worked on Jayne’s tattoo in mid-August and had completed the script lettering. When he’d suggested one more session to add a few little details and flourishes, she’d readily agreed.

“Yes, I’ll be there.”

Even though she knew he had to be exhausted from dealing with a little one, and all the changes in his life, he’d still given her all the personal attention she’d craved when they were together. Thankfully, Toby tended to be a heavy sleeper.

“Good. And plan to stay overnight.”
She could almost see the wicked gleam in his eyes.

“Bossy! Are you sure?”

“I have a good idea what’s been bothering you and I know the cure.”

“Oh yeah? Bring it on, Mister Dominator.”

“Grrr. Love you.”

She replied in kind and put her phone away. After checking the time, she wrote for twenty minutes, her muse fueled by the excitement Seth created inside her. Maybe she’d read what she’d written to him later tonight.

* * * *

“Tell me what’s going through that pretty little head of yours, baby,” Seth murmured as he feathered in a shadow behind one of the roses on Jayne’s tattoo. The shading disguised what had remained of the light bronzing which had been one of the lasting signs of the radiation therapy Jayne had undergone. The scars from her lymph node biopsies on her abdomen were hidden as well.

“Lots of stuff. What do you want to know?”

“Well, when you stayed away from my place most nights the last couple of weeks, I could’ve worried that you didn’t want me anymore.”

Jayne scoffed and rolled her eyes. “That’s sounds so ridiculous coming from you.”

“Almost as ridiculous as you thinking that I might feel like you were usurping the role of mother to Toby by spending time with us?”

Her jaw dropped and then she snapped it closed, making him grin.

“Busted. I wanted you to have time to bond.”

“We’re bonding just fine. I’ve missed you at night.”

“I figured you’d be exhausted. Kids are hard work.”

“That’s no lie. But I’ve still missed holding you at night. You know, the boy does sleep pretty soundly, and I’ve always been a night owl.”

“I just didn’t want you to think I was inserting myself into your home in the role of ‘Instant Mommy.’”

“If I was a less secure man, I’d have been worried that you felt threatened.”

“Oh, brother. Now you’re being silly.”

“So we’re done with these silly ideas.”

“Yes.”

“Good.” He held the tattoo machine away from her skin. “We’re done.”

Jayne’s eyebrows shot up. “We are? Really done?” She bit her lip in excitement as he laid the machine aside and helped her sit up. She hopped naked off the table, which he particularly enjoyed, and went to the mirror. She bobbed with excitement until she looked in the mirror. He smiled with great pleasure when she made eye contact with him in the reflection, and with her lips trembling, she said, “I love it. It’s perfect.”

She pulled her long reddish-brown curls over her left shoulder and turned sideways, unknowingly seductive as she raised her elbow and turned in a slow semicircle admiring his work. “You were perfect for it. So no more of you thinking you have to stay away to give me and Toby our space? We both miss you.”

“I want to be with you. And Toby is…he owns a big chunk of my heart too. I want you to be happy. I’ve missed you so much.”

“I want you to be happy too. We’re happy when you’re with us. He asks for you now more than Mimi. Come to my house and stay tonight. Not because I want you to feel obligated but because you want to be there. Be with us. With me.”

“I’d hug you if I could, Seth,” she murmured, indicating the freshly tattooed areas, as she came to him and offered him a kiss. “Wrap me up and take me home.”

At his house later that evening, he was just returning from tucking Toby into his crib, when he walked in the living room and found Jayne lying on her non-tattooed side watching the television. She looked up and smiled. “Lucy said good night. She took off a few minutes ago.”

“I thought I heard her car.”

“Toby sounds better today.”

“He does. Emma said that cold virus is in all the schools and day cares right now.”

Seth had been ambivalent about Toby going into day care, when he was still ironing out his legal status, but with his schedule, it was an unavoidable necessity. Ace Webster and Kemp Whittier were investigating the matter for him but Seth had known that would take some time. He knew Jayne would help as often as she could but he hadn’t wanted her to feel obligated and respected the fact that she had her own job and life to deal with.

So into day care Toby had gone, only to come down with a small cold the first week. Thankfully, all that remained of it was a case of the sniffles.

“How does it feel?” She slowly stroked the tattooed area, which was covered in plastic wrap and gauze tape, through her T-shirt.

“It tingles. I can’t believe it’s done. It’s so beautiful,” she murmured as she sat up and let him scoot in behind her on the couch. “I’m going to enjoy it.”

“Go around the house naked when we’re alone so both of us can enjoy it.”

She looked back at him and a wicked gleam came into Jayne’s eyes. “You’re naughty.” She tilted her head and received his kiss as he slid his fingertips beneath the elastic waistband of her yoga pants, steering clear of the tattoo, and inside her panties. She hissed when he brushed against her outer pussy lips and she rubbed her ass against his rapidly swelling cock. She shuddered as he slid a finger between her lips to stroke her clit and found her slick and hot, ready for him.

“So wet for me already.”

“Ever since we were at the studio.”

“Does it get you hot to be tattooed while you’re completely naked?”

Jayne chuckled softly. “Every time. I don’t know if it’s you, the endorphins, or if I’m a masochist, but I get hot every time I’m on your table.” Seth growled, knowing it was true. Her sweet scent had been intoxicating and distracting at every session. He strummed her clit as she moved against him, trying to take his fingers deeper. She moaned as he finally withdrew and patted her butt.

“Bed, baby. I want you but we’re going to have to be creative,” he said as he stroked her ribs gently over the T-shirt she wore. The plastic wrap needed to stay where it was taped over the tattoo at least another couple of hours.

Her hips swayed hypnotically as she preceded him down the hallway. She pulled the T-shirt over her head, revealing her unbound breasts, and slid her pants and panties down her hips and climbed onto the mattress. She sat back on her heels, waiting for him to undress. She was beautiful, perfect on his bed. He tore his T-shirt over his head and removed his jeans and boxers.

Love shone in her eyes as she released a soft sigh. When she gazed at him like that he felt like the only man in the world. He slid his fingertips down the silky curve of her spine as they came together again.
Mine
. He squeezed one ass cheek and murmured, “On your back, sweet Jayne. I want to lick your pussy.”

She’d just complied, spreading her shapely thighs, and revealing the juicy cunt he planned to eat all up, when Toby began to cry from his crib. Jayne smiled at him as he moaned in frustration. “Duty calls. I’ll be here when you get back, honey.” Teasing him mercilessly, the little vixen stroked her pussy and whispered, “Hurry back.”

He groaned. “Didn’t even get a taste. Be right back. No finishing without me.”

“I promise,” she replied with a giggle that morphed into a sexy sigh.

He slipped into his jeans and eased into Toby’s room, whispering soothingly to him as he lifted him from where he stood at the railing of his crib. “Hey, buddy. You wet already?” He felt the diaper and verified that fact.

Toby murmured, “Bunny,” and reached for his favorite stuffed animal which lay on his changing table. Seth must’ve forgotten it in the move from the table to the crib earlier. He handed him the bunny as he laid him down and made quick, quiet work of the diaper change and then tucked him back into bed with the bunny and his blanket.

“Now where were we?” he whispered to himself as he closed Toby’s bedroom door and slipped back down the hallway and into the master bedroom to find that Jayne had lit candles and turned down the covers on the bed. His cock had softened while caring for his son but the sight that greeted him had it hardening painfully quick. She was nude, kneeling on the bed with her back to him, knees spread wide. She leaned forward, bracing her hands on the bed and waggled her bare ass and pussy at him playfully. Wicked invitation was clear in her eyes as she looked over her shoulder at him.