“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.”