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“It’s something.”
I smirk, enjoying the sassiness in her voice. “It’s not right to say. I loved my brother. I still love him. But the truth is….”
“You can tell me,” she says, turning slightly, her eyes gentle. “But you don’t have to.”
I swallow. “You know about his debts. He had a wild streak. It was like tomorrow didn’t exist for him. It wasn’t what dad taught us. It wasn’t what he showed us in his approach to life. Matt was an amazing person, but he could be mean, meaner than he had to. He brought me into this life.”
I trail off, shaking my head, removing the tattoo gun for a second. “It’s not right, saying it that way. He didn’t force me to do anything. He couldn’t. It was a choice I made.”
“To help him,” she says softly.
“Yeah, to help him,” I repeat with a sigh. “But it was still my decision. A person has to stand by their decisions, Jennifer, and a man most of all.”
“Why a man most of all?” she says.
I grin, not even shocked she can make me do that even now. It’s like this magic she has, better than any drug, and I’m addicted to her. I was the moment I saw her, but I tried to fight it, to ignore it.
But when she’s here, I know the truth. She’s mine.
“Am I being too much of an old man for you, eh?”
“No,” she says, smiling.
“I’m the one who’s going to need to protect my family if something bad happens. I’m the one who’ll tear any bastard apart if he tries to take what’s mine.”
I trail off, attempting to laugh this away, but I’m flooded with her.
“Your family,” she says gently, and I could tell her, right here.
Instead, I go on with the tattoo. I expect her to ask me what I was talking about. Matt’s gone. So are our parents.
As far as she knows, it’s just me. Peggy, Patrick, and a few old buddies from the service, but that’s not what I mean.
And I think she knows it.
But she doesn’t ask.
“I’d never expect you to be an artist, Jamie,” she says after a long pause. “I mean….”
I chuckle, wondering if she let the family comment go. Wondering if part of me wanted her to ask, so I could tell her the carnal truth, the unavoidable fact of us.
“I know,” I say. “It was just something I picked up as a kid. My dad used to go bird watching, and I found I liked drawing. He encouraged me, and…at that age when your dad gives you just a shred of encouragement, it goes a long way.”
“You fell in love with it,” she whispers.
I smile. “Yeah, I guess I did. Then I started working at a tattoo parlor as a summer job. That was when I gave Matt his first tattoo, actually. A dagger on his forearm. It was an easy fit from there. Nothing can replace the teams, the SEALs…but this is a close second.”
“That’s so nice, what you said about your dad,” she murmurs.
“Yeah.”
I know it’s a lame response, but I’m still lingering on that family comment. I feel like my woman is moving closer and closer to it.
Even Benny seems to sense it. He looks up from his place in the corner, causing Lucifer to slide down his golden fur from where he was resting.
The tattoo gets closer and closer to completion.
It’s a simple piece compared to some of my work. But beautiful, I hope. Not tacky like some can be.
This sits gorgeously on her shoulder, making me think of when it’s healed, and I can bite her as I take her from behind, as I fuck our children into her…
I remove the gun, compose myself, and go on with my work.
It’s the final touches now.
“Jamie,” Jennifer says.
There’s this new quality in her voice like she’s been building up to something.
“Earlier, when you talked about family, about protecting them….”
I remain silent, knowing I’m going to have to tell her.
About my true need for her. About this hunger gnawing endlessly inside of me.
And about Kelly, the truth there too.
“Who did you mean?” Jennifer asks.
I wipe at her skin, leaning down, then softly kiss her on the cheek. She turns her head, meeting my lips. She moans gorgeously as our lips fuse.
I’m careful not to brush up against her fresh tattoo as my hand slides up the back of her leg toward her juicy ass.
“I meant….”
Us.
But then footsteps are pounding down the stairs.
Lucifer leaps up, barking, deep and low. Benny tilts his head.
I turn to find Peggy on the bottom step, panting.
“I’ve got it,” she says. “The address.”
I nod, pushing all my emotions down, making myself cold. It’s a hundred times more difficult now I’ve got Jennifer in my life, and considering how close I was to telling her the truth…
