His Tattooed Virgin(Divine Creek Ranch 12)(64)

“Seth!”

She gripped his ass cheeks as he thrust with each wave of her orgasm until he froze and panted ecstatically and a jubilant, satisfied-sounding groan erupted from his throat. “Holy fuck!” She clung to him with all her strength, and her heart lurched as he did the same, his arms strong and hard all around her, protective.

A loud pounding echoed through the wall, and they both went motionless as Lucy hollered from the other side, “It’s three o’fucking clock in the morning! It was also fucking awesome at one o’fucking clock in the morning. Give it a fucking rest already!”

Jayne thought she might spontaneously combust, her cheeks got so hot. Seth grinned and didn’t seem very repentant as he raised his head from her shoulder and called out, “Sorry!”

Jayne could hear Lucy grumbling through the wall.

“I’m gonna die. I’ll never be able to look your sister in the eye ever again.”

“Nah. She won’t say anything to you. She’ll torture me with delight, but she likes you. She hated Tamar.”

It wasn’t her most mature moment, but Jayne was delighted by that news. If Seth felt for her even a small portion of what she was feeling for him, she could handle whatever came of this out-of-the-blue contact from his ex.

“Was this the reason why you turned me down when I wanted you to take my virginity?” His nod confirmed her suspicion. “I can appreciate why you felt that way a little more now. But the memory I have to look back on is a precious one, I promise. No regrets.”

“The thought of a woman being taken advantage of, whether she’s willing initially or not, doesn’t sit well with me. The woman they used for that video will look back on that night for the rest of her life with pain. She’s not the only reason I feel that way. Lucy was hurt by a guy from her days in high school, humiliated in a way that was hard to come back from. It was hard to know she was hurting and there was little I could do to make it better, beyond paying a visit to the asshole. Your circumstances were different but I still didn’t want you hurt.” Jayne frowned to think of Lucy suffering in any way at the hands of some jerk.

“There’s something I’ve wanted to tell you several times, but the timing didn’t feel right for various reasons. I don’t want to miss another opportunity.” Deep emotions were woven into the husky quality of his baritone voice.

“What’s that?” Her heart sped up at the seriousness of his tone.

The trail of kisses he laid down the column of her throat nearly made her purr as he drew out the moment then whispered, “I love you.”

Tears gathered in her eyes as a burning sensation engulfed her heart. “I love you too. But you need to know…”

“Know what, sweet Jayne?” The feel of his warm lips and breath on the skin over her collarbones threatened to distract her as she tried to gather her thoughts.

“That I’m not the best risk you could take for loving someone.” She hated to say it but he needed the reminder, even though she wanted his love more than she wanted air.

“I don’t care. I love you. My heart knows what it wants.”

Mine wants you too. She was afraid to say the words for fear of making them prophetic. “The cancer could come back—is likely to—in the coming years. My prognosis is—”

“A guess, at best.”

“Yes, but an educated guess.” She hated playing devil’s advocate. She prayed and implored God for a long respite from more years spent in stasis, fearing her life might end. She wanted Seth, wanted his love, and wanted to live.



* * * *



Lucy walked in the studio door with two coffees from Divine Drip and a white paper sack. Cutting off a yawn, Seth thanked her and groaned with delight as he opened the sack and was greeted by the mouthwatering aroma of fresh kolaches. Divine Drip had developed quite a following for their baked goods. Lucy moaned as she bit into one of the savory pastries.

“Oh, man. This right here is reason enough to move to Divine. But I’ve gotta get my own place.” With her mouth stuffed with kolache it’d sounded more like, “Ah gah get moan pace.”

Seth chuckled as he took a huge bite, anticipating the arrival of an important client. “You’re just bummed that you’re not having sex that freaking good right now. Come with us to The Dancing Pony again and I bet I’ll be beating the men off with a stick again.”

Lucy grew quiet and slumped on the stool behind the reception counter. Her demeanor changed right before his eyes. Her lip curled as she finished chewing, and she dropped the rest of the kolache back into the white paper bag with what seemed like regret.