His Tattooed Virgin(Divine Creek Ranch 12)(25)

And had he just said she was his?

He squeezed her and pressed his warm lips to her shoulder and coaxed her over to her bed. He pulled the covers back and helped her to lie down on her side and then said, “I’m going to get you another glass of water. Stay put.”

Seth returned a couple of minutes later with a full glass of water, and Jayne wondered if she’d even have room for that much more, but she took it from him and drank most of it. He put her bottle of ibuprofen from the kitchen on her bedside table and placed the glass next to it when she handed it back to him. For some reason, he didn’t offer her any of the pain relievers yet.

“Buck and Seth just dropped off your car and your key. I put it and your key ring on the kitchen counter. You look like you feel a little better. But if you drank enough to pass out, you really shouldn’t be alone tonight. I’m staying with you.”

“Okay. I’m sorry. It was an idiotic idea. My mom used to say that once I got a notion in my head I wouldn’t let go, like a bulldog.”

Seth smirked. “Tenacious. I like that about you. But I’m glad Buck called me.”

“He called you! Why that—” Ratfink! Seth smirked at her again and raised an eyebrow. “Sweetheart of a guy.”

“He may have foiled your plan, baby, but he was looking out for your safety and your best interests. Turns out the cowboy you were dancing with…”

“Julián?”

“Yes. Turns out he’s a decent guy. He asked Buck to make sure you were okay. I told him you were fine.”

Heat filled her cheeks as she thought back to what had happened just a few minutes before. She gave him a crooked grin and giggled. “Yup. I was doing just fine.”

Seth chuckled as he tucked the covers around her. “Feel better?”

“Not so loopy. Those margaritas packed a punch.”

She reclined against the pillows and closed her eyes as her body throbbed and quivered with remembrance of all the sensations she’d experienced. She felt floaty and smiled when the room spun just a bit. “Will you stay with me, in my bed, tonight?”

“You don’t make it easy, do you?”

She sat up and looked at him. “I didn’t do anything for you. I can, if you’d—”

Seth laid his hand on her shoulder and directed her back down onto her side on the mattress. “Not on your life, baby. I’d love it, but I don’t take advantage of women under the influence. It’s against my rules.”

“Rules?”

“Yes, rules. It’s a long story. I’ll tell it to you when you’re sober.”

“But I know it hurts if you don’t get relief.”

“It does. But not near as much as guilt for taking advantage of an inebriated woman. Lie down and we’ll iron all this out later.”

She smiled when she felt him press a kiss against her spine, between her shoulder blades.

“You scared me tonight, Jayne.”

“Why?”

“When I think of how things could’ve turned out if Buck hadn’t called me. I’ve seen things while traveling that would curl your hair.”

She lay there with her eyes closed and was about to ask him what he meant when the room began to spin above her and around her. She opened her eyes to steady herself, but it did no good. She took a deep breath, hoping the spinning would slow down, but it only got worse. She wasn’t even sure she could stand on her own.

“Um, Seth?”

“Yeah?”

She reached out and gripped the edge of the bed, willing her brain to stop spinning. “Seth?” The bed jostled, and her stomach lurched wildly. “I don’t feel so good.”

Seth grabbed her and practically carried her into the bathroom as nausea sank its claws deep in her gut. She’d thought that she’d already lived through her most embarrassing moment with Seth when that sex toy purchase receipt had fallen from her notebook and she’d realized that he knew what was in her “toy box.”

This moment far surpassed that one as he gathered her long hair back from her face and directed her so that she could throw up in the toilet. She kneeled there naked as wave after wave of nausea had its wicked way with her, and all he did was whisper encouragement and comfort to her as she wept and apologized.

Just when she thought there was no way it could continue, the nausea renewed itself and her body purged so violently she felt sure that she’d suffer permanent injury because of it. He stroked her hair and held her steady as weakness overcame her and even wiped her face with a cool washcloth when it was over.

She rested her forehead against a solid, warm surface as the toilet flushed and realized when muscles flexed under her cheek that it was Seth’s chest.