I wake before Jackson in the morning, and I carefully slip out of bed. I tiptoe downstairs, scared about waking Janine, but stop when I see her sitting on the couch beside Muff, hot coffee in hand, deep in conversation. I stop, curious. Janine rarely speaks to other people, but she’s having a very in depth conversation with Muff. He reaches across gently, and takes her hand. The look on his face is that of gentle sympathy.
I clear my throat, and both of them turn to stare at me. Janine stands quickly, smiling over at me. “Hey there, how did you sleep?”
I return her smile. “Well, you?”
“Best in years.”
“Muff been entertaining you?”
She flushes. “Oh, I got up early and we got chatting.”
“That’s good, morning Muff.”
“Princess,” he grins, standing.
I walk into the kitchen and pour myself a coffee. “Is Eb’s still asleep?”
“Yeah,” Janine says. “It was a late night for her.”
I take a sip of the coffee, and groan with delight. “God, remind me never to...” I cut myself off, realizing what I was about to say really isn’t appropriate.
Muff chuckles. “What?”
I give him a look. “Shut it, Muff.”
Janine stares between the two of us. “What am I missing here?”
Now I flush. “Nothing, he’s just being a pain in the ass.”
Muff laughs, and walks into the kitchen, swinging open the fridge. “What does this man have to eat that isn’t healthy?”
I cross my arms. “Hey, that food is good for you mister.”
He groans. “Might be good, but it tastes like cardboard.”
Janine giggles. “I agree, there has to be something bad in there.”
Muff flashes her a charming grin. “A woman after my own heart.”
Janine flushes again.
Sigh.
“You two find something unhealthy then,” I say, walking out. “I’m going to shower.”
They don’t answer me, because they’re both in the fridge talking frantically about foods they can whip together. Rolling my eyes, I walk up the stairs. I get into the room and hear the shower running right away. Brilliant. I drop my clothes and walk in. Jackson is standing, head back, eyes closed, and oh, so beautifully naked. His body is divine, so god damned yummy. I open the glass, and a small smile plays around his lips.
“Couldn’t miss the chance for a morning fuck, darlin’?”
“Too bad if I was Muff,” I giggle.
He drops his head and pins me with his gaze. “I know when it’s my girl, or when it ain’t.”
His girl.
Oh my.
I grin, and step forward, wrapping my arms around his waist and leaning up to press my lips to his. He tangles his fingers into my hair, and kisses me so deeply my knees buckle. He slides a hand down my back, and grips my backside, using it to force me against his erection. I whimper and cling to him, rubbing myself over his cock until I’m throbbing with need.
“You keen for that fuck?” he murmurs.
I want that fuck. But I want something else more. I begin slowly lowering to my knees. Jackson’s eyes widen, and he watches with want as I take his cock into my hand, and begin gently stroking it.
“I didn’t get to finish you like this last night, today I want to.”
“Baby,” he groans. “Fuck yeah.”
I lean forward, wrapping my lips around his cock. He jerks and a throaty growl fills the small shower stall. I use one hand to stroke the base of his cock up and down, while my tongue and mouth swirl around the tip, sucking and licking until he’s panting my name.
I deepen the pleasure by sliding my mouth down lower, until he’s pressing against the back of my throat. My eyes water, but I can’t stop, the sounds of him groaning and grunting above me are enough to spur me on. I pull my mouth back, nipping at the end of his cock, and then I slide him in again.
“Goin’ to come, baby, fuck. If you don’t want me to come in your mouth, stop.”
I don’t stop. I don’t care. I want him. All of him. I suck harder until I feel him swell inside my mouth, and then he comes. I feel the first hot spurt of his release hit the back of my throat; I groan and swallow just as the second and third hit. Jackson bellows my name; his fingers are tight in my hair.
When he stops coming, I gently slip him from my mouth and peer up at him through the water. He smiles down at me, his eyes lazy, his body tight. While I’m down here, I run a finger along the tattoo on his cock. It’s an odd tattoo, a range of patterns, all black, running up and around his cock. Like some sort of tribal marking.
“When are you going to tell me about this?” I ask, sliding my finger along it.
“Come here,” he says, leaning down and pulling me up.
I let him, and I stand still as he rubs soap over my body and lathers it up. Then he pulls me out of the shower and wraps a towel around me. He still hasn’t answered the question, but when we get into his room, he finally turns and tells me about it.
“It’s a tribal marking.”
I nod. “I figured as much, why have you got it?”
“Well, my dad was part Cherokee, and I liked the tribal marking. It’s not something I wanted on my body for anyone to see, and so one night when I was young, drunk and stupid, I went and got it put there.”
I raise my brows. Firstly, because Jackson is part Cherokee, though that does explain the olive skin and that thick, long, dark hair. Secondly, because he got the tribal marking put on his penis. Isn’t that...I don’t know...disrespectful?
“Isn’t that kind of rude?” I ask, a little shocked.
He laughs softly. “No darlin’, it’s not. It’s a marking all the same, I was just stupid when I decided I wanted something different. It’s the marking of all the tribal men, so why not put it on what makes me the most manly?”
I giggle. “You have a whacked way of thinking.”
He winks at me. “I know.”
“So, when do you leave for the ride?” I pout.
He leans over, digging through a pile of clean clothes to find a pair of black jeans. He pulls them on, and shrugs at me. “In a few hours.”
“Will you be gone long?”
“Few days at most.”
I nod, and he gives me a cheeky smile. “Why, will you miss my cock?”
I go to laugh and tell him no, because I’ll have my period, when a cold feeling washes over me. My period...I should already have my period. I begin quickly adding up the days in my head.
“Hey, Serenity, you ok?”
I stare at Jackson, but I am barely focusing. Shit. Shit. I am late, I’m sure of it. Maybe only by a few days, but I’m late all the same...and I’m never late.
I begin calculating back to the time Jackson didn’t use a condom. Crap. Crap.
“Serenity?” Jackson says again.
“What?” I whisper, shaking my head.
“You ok?”
“Um, sure, yeah.”
“You’re lyin’ again.”
“Sorry, I was just having a bit of a panic about Janine...it’s ok.”
“You worried someone will come past when I’m not here?”
I nod ,biting my lip. Just add another lie to the pile, Serenity.
“Yeah, that’s all.”
He walks over, gripping my shoulders. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll send a few guys over to watch the house.”
I nod, unable to think.
“You want some breakfast?” he asks.
“Sure,” I whisper. “That would be great.”
He pulls some jeans on, and throws on a shirt before disappearing out the door. I turn and rush into my room, frantically looking for my phone so I can pull up the calendar.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
I turn when I see Janine coming in, her eyes relaxed. I stare over, and realize Ebony is in the bed, thankfully she’s still sound asleep.
“Shit, sorry, I forgot she was in here.”
Janine waves her hand. “It’s ok. What’s wrong?”
I feel my eyes welling with unshed tears. “I...I’m...I’m late.”
Janine’s eyes widen, and she rushes in. “What?” she gasps.
“Late, I don’t have my period. I’m late.”
“How late?”
“Three days, at least.”
“Oh god, Serenity! You haven’t used protection?”
I shake my head, letting those tears slide down my cheeks. “It was just once, he pulled out, but...”
Janine sighs, rubbing her head. “You know that’s not effective.”
“What am I going to do? This changes everything?”
“Ok,” she says, her voice strong. “We’re going to find out first, that’s what we’re going to do. If it is, we’ll work it out from there.”
“I need to find out Hogan’s plans, Janine. I have to know what he’s going to do, and I have to check in. We need a lie, a big one, to put him off the scent for a while so I have time to tell Jackson about all this.”
“If Hogan finds out I’m with you, he’s going to get suspicious.”
“What do we do?”
“I text Derek this morning and told him I’ve gone to visit my mom a few weeks. He didn’t even care. They’re not suspicious for now.”
“We have a few weeks, that’s it?”
“It has to be done honey, you know it does.”
“He’ll hate me. If I’m pregnant, it’s going to be so much worse.”
“Hey,” she says, wrapping an arm around me. “One thing at a time, ok?”
I nod.
“Now come on, let’s get downstairs and eat. Then we’ll go to the shop and get a test. Breathe, honey.”
I take a deep breath and stand, walking down the stairs with her. Maybe I’m just late? That would make sense right? I mean, I am stressed and things have been crazy...right?
God. What am I going to do?