Seth stroked the juncture between her mound and her inner thigh. “If this is what being married to you will be like, bring on the ball and chain, baby.”
She giggled, which made her clench, which made Seth groan. He stroked her abdomen and she giggled again. They alternated between laughing and groaning as she reveled in the lighthearted aftermath of the most intense sexual experience of her life. She hoped for many more.
Placing his hand over what she instinctively knew was the spot darkened slightly by her radiation treatment, Seth said, “I think you’re the best risk I’ve ever taken, Jayne. I want as many years as I can have with you and as many moments like this as we have time for. Not moving forward because there’s a chance your cancer could return is not an option. I want all of you, your pleasure and your hurts. I’ll love you through whatever the future holds.” He kissed the tears that rolled across her temples as she lay there, luxuriating in his care.
Chapter Twenty-One
Jayne giggled as her cell phone chimed in her pocket. Wiping her hands to get any stray wet paint off of them, she glanced over to Toby, who had been alternating between watching her in fascination and gumming his stuffed bunny and his other toys. He had more teeth coming in but wasn’t one to complain much. He just drooled nonstop.
A few minutes before, she’d surreptitiously shot a picture of herself dressed in one of Seth’s old shirts, with the buttons undone and her posed so that he could see lots and lots of cleavage.
Seth’s reply had been immediate. “You’re killin’ me, woman. I want to kiss them both but I have to work. I like you in my shirt though. I love you.”
Feeling naughty for distracting him, she slipped into the bathroom and unbuttoned the shirt so he could see her breasts more fully, gave him a come-hither stare and crooked her finger. She was thankful her bra was ivory lace. The effect wouldn’t have been as good if she’d been wearing her plain white bra. She checked the picture before sending it, satisfied that nipples and cleavage were looking good, and then giggled as she clicked Send.
The next reply came even quicker. “Not only do I want to kiss them, I want to take a bite of them, and then spank your luscious butt for teasing me. I love you.” She peeked around the bathroom door to check on Toby and make sure he was fine.
Feeling positively wicked, she unhooked the front closure of the bra and peeled the cups back and took a picture blowing a kiss. The lightning-fast reply was four words. “*thud* I love you.”
Knowing she might very well get a spanking for it, and relishing the thought as her panties grew damp, she slid Toby’s playpen into the living room, from where it had been in the hallway, and popped in a Yo Gabba Gabba! DVD. Toby clapped and chortled as the music started.
Jayne slipped back into the bathroom and stripped, posed quickly, snapped the picture, and reminded herself to delete all those salacious images from her phone as she hurriedly sent it to him with the message, “Mr. Carter, I’ve been a very, very naughty girl.” She dressed quickly, checked on Toby, and then went back to painting.
Seth’s reply was just as quick. “I am marrying a goddess.”
With red-hot cheeks, she perched on the ladder, turned the camera, and took one more picture, wondering if he’d see the love that vibrated in her soul for him in her eyes. She hit Send and put the phone on the top of the ladder for easy access. She almost felt bad for keeping him from his work.
A deep, unfamiliar, accented voice echoed in the empty room. “Well, well, well. What have we here?”
Jayne’s heart stopped in her chest. Seth had locked and bolted the door himself before he’d left for the studio that morning. Lucy had the only extra key on her key ring now. The only way in the front door was breaking in.
* * * *
Seth smiled as another message came through. Did she have any idea how much she was torturing him? Did she have any idea how much he adored her right now—how much of a sap he was for her? He opened the picture and smiled. Her emotions were written all over her face. More than anything, he wanted to hold her and kiss her, but he had a client walking in the door. He turned to the light to get a better look at the picture and paused. In the background, which was a little fuzzy, were two other people. One was holding Toby above his playpen in the living room, and the other one was in the hall, his back to Jayne.
No one was scheduled to be at his house today. And dressed in black business suits, they didn’t resemble any of their friends. A cold chill swept over him, and a sense of something urgent that he couldn’t pinpoint made him plead a family emergency with his client. He started to dial Jayne’s number after locking the front door on the studio, but then stopped himself. If she had her phone with her, there was no point in giving that fact away by calling her. If it was just people from her work or her family who had come by, then he’d find that out in a few minutes. If something bad was happening, and he had a bad, stone-cold feeling it was, then the better course of action was to call Hank Stinson. Second-guessing himself, he halted that call and drove to the house as quickly as he could.