“This might not be the time or the place, but—”
“I want you.” He scrambled her blouse open, one button popping loose, and teased her through her bra. Each brush of his lips, each flick of his tongue, stoked her fire. She felt everything at once, the breeze in her hair and his hand between her legs, his thumb working her clit through her pants. She felt the dry grass on her back and the calluses on his palm, the heat of the sun and the heat of his body. She unhooked his belt and tossed it to one side. He reached for his water bottle and drizzled the cool liquid down her front, licking the droplets from her skin.
“Danny...”
He came to the stretchmarks Noah had left her, and he traced them with his fingertips, sighing as he did. Jayne turned away, suddenly self-conscious.
“Nobody’s perfect,” she said, but Danny shook his head.
“No. Life leaves marks.” He lifted her hand to his own scar. “See, like mine. It’s no good, being perfect. It means you haven’t lived.”
“I’d say you’re buttering me up, but the way you’re looking at me right now...” Jayne shivered. Danny’s gaze was intense, full of hunger, the same hunger she felt. She unbuttoned his shirt, and he closed his eyes; she ran her nails down his torso, and he moaned aloud. He took her hands and pinned them above her head, the cords standing out on his forearm as he held her still.
“Caught you.”
“And what are you going to do with me?”
“This.” He rolled his hips against hers, hard cock grazing her clit. “And this.” He nipped at her lip, then kissed her deeply. “Whatever I want. How does that sound?”
“Just don’t tease me too long.”
“No?” Danny seemed to take that as a challenge. He took his time undressing her, kissing every inch of exposed skin as he went. Sometimes he was rough, sometimes he was gentle, and Jayne couldn’t help herself. She tried to hide her reactions, but he picked up on every twitch, every barely-suppressed gasp, and he mapped her most sensitive spots one by one.
“I can’t—”
“Mm?” He looked up, brow raised, a wicked smile tugging at his lips.
“I can’t take it any longer.”
“So I should stop?” He sat up, and she could’ve smacked him, but she pulled him back instead.
“Don’t make me say it.”
“Now I have to make you say it.” He nipped at her earlobe. “Tell me what to do.”
Jayne felt her cheeks go red. She’d never been one for dirty talk, but for Danny, for this—
“Fuck me,” she said. “Get your pants off and fuck me. Make me scream.”
Danny did, and this time, it felt like a dam had broken inside of him. He fucked like a whirlwind, and he carried her with him, each powerful thrust driving her to new heights. He was loud, growling deep in his chest, and all Jayne’s inhibitions fell away. She moaned, then she screamed, and she couldn’t hold back. She felt herself move in ways she never had before, bucking up under him and pulling his hair, needing him closer, deeper, more.
“Now ride me.” He flipped them over, and she rode him with the sun on her back. It felt primal, somehow, and she grabbed his hand, holding him down as he’d done to her. He let her do it with a smile.
“Mine,” she whispered, and he nodded his agreement. His eyes were closed, his mouth open, and Jayne’s body shook as her climax overtook her. Her head spun and she felt herself falling, but this time, she wasn’t afraid. She held Danny’s hands, and his fingers twined with hers, and she knew he had her. She was safe.
She snuggled down beside him when they were done and pulled his shirt over them both. All too soon, Danny sat up and glanced back the way they’d come.
“I could do this all day, but that might raise some questions.”
“I suppose it might.” Jayne reached for her own blouse and shrugged it on. “Back to reality, then?”
“Back home, at least. As for the fantasy, who knows where that ends?”
11
“Oh, this is incredible.” Jayne laughed with delight as the walls billowed around them, mimicking the expansion and contraction of human lungs. She held Noah aloft, letting him trace a silken vein. “Walking through the human body, seeing how it works—every kid should get this chance.”
Danny followed more slowly as she made her way past clusters of raspberry-shaped alveoli. The science museum was fun, but Jayne’s enthusiasm was even better, the way she stopped to admire every exhibit. And Noah was hilarious, eyes popping out of his head as he tried to take it all in at once.
“Oh, look at this! You poke it, and the soundtrack changes.” She stabbed the wall with her finger, and it gasped.
“I never noticed that before.” He reached up to touch the bronchioles, and a whistling sound came forth, accompanied by a warm gust of air. “They hit all five senses, don’t they?”
“Aw five,” said Noah, but Jayne frowned.
“They could’ve gone further,” she said. She stopped in front of one of the monitors, swiping through the colorful diagrams. “I mean, it’s great to hear the heart and lungs, what it sounds like from inside, but most kids won’t read these. You should be able to touch something and hear what it does. Or scan a QR code, like at the gardens.”
Danny peered over her shoulder. Jayne was right. The diagrams seemed complex, text boxes blinking in and out as Jayne tapped the screen. Noah didn’t seem interested at all, preferring to reach for everything within his grasp.
“It does feel like a lot of reading,” said Danny. “I like the weather exhibit upstairs. You can drag clouds in, or cold fronts, and it’ll show you on the screen, a thunderstorm, a hurricane, whatever you made.” He frowned. “You still have to read, though, if you want the why of it all.”
Jayne nodded. “I guess it’s for kids and their parents. The kids play, the parents read aloud. But that only works in theory. Kids in a place like this, they don’t want to stand and listen. They want to explore.” She set Noah down, and he did just that, running out of the lungs and into the stomach. Jayne watched him fondly, a smile on her lips.
“That’s what I want to do, what I went to school for.” She caught up to Noah and wiped a schmutz off his face. “I want to come up with lesson plans every kid can digest. Some kids need to read, but Noah needs a demonstration. And other kids have to hear it, or do it, or all of the above. I want to develop early education plans that offer a little of everything. That way, teachers can identify special-needs kids and start them out right. Build custom lesson plans from day one.”
“I’d have been up for that.” Danny grimaced. “For me, school was...the teacher would write something, and we’d all copy it down.” He closed his eyes for a moment, picturing his old classroom, the drab green walls, the dusty windows. He’d spent most of his time staring out at the playground, counting the minutes till the bell. “Me, I liked group stuff. Everyone always groaned when we got put into groups, but talking it through, that brought everything into focus.” He grinned. “Plus, if you said something wrong, you just got laughed at. You didn’t get an F. I know you teachers hate talking, but I say, more of that.”
“Noted.” Jayne chuckled. “Actually—”
“Your Highness!” A camera flashed, and a reporter dashed forward, heels clacking on the floor. She squeezed between a mother and her child, nearly bowling them over, and Danny reacted instinctively, moving to shield Jayne and Noah.
“Excuse me. I’m with friends. If you’d like to—”
The reporter dodged past him, making a beeline for Jayne. “Jayne! How would you describe your relationship with the prince? Are you planning your wedding yet?”
“Uh, no comment?” Jayne swept Noah into her arms, covering his ears. Danny cast about for his security detail, but they’d stayed outside on his orders. He’d thought they might get in the way, clog up the tight space, but this was far worse.
“What about that website? Did you know you were picking a prince, or would anyone have done?”
�
��Huh?” Jayne frowned. “Look, if you have questions, you should—”
“—ask them some other time.” Danny pushed the microphone aside, a little more roughly than he’d intended. “This place is for kids, and you’re scaring them. Now, you can come to a press conference, or my secretary will—”
“I paid for my ticket, same as you.” She shoved the mic in his face. “What are you hiding? A prince of Al-Mifadhir dating online—how does that happen? What’s your rush?”
“We should go.” Jayne took his arm. Danny wanted to object—he could hear hurried footsteps, security closing in—but she was trembling. Noah was staring at the reporter, eyes like saucers, and if Jayne said it was time, it was time. He wouldn’t set the boy up for another meltdown.
“This way,” he said. He draped his arm around her shoulders, and they ran through red loops of intestine, bumping up against the walls. Noah giggled as a forest of tiny hairs swept his arm, shouted happily as they squeezed through the exit. Security swarmed around them, and Danny raced for the doors. “Almost there. Our car should be—”
“Wait! Jayne! Do you know what he did? Do you know about his cheating?”
Danny stumbled and caught himself, his blood running cold. She knew? It was out? His worst shame, his deepest regret, aired for the world to see?
He felt Jayne stiffen next to him, but there was nothing to say. This was it, his unmasking. He’d been waiting to do it on his own terms, holding out for the right moment, but maybe that moment didn’t exist. Maybe—
“I don’t want to know.” Jayne paused at the curb, one hand on the car. She didn’t turn around. “Whatever you did, just...forget it. It’s in the past.”
“Wait.” Danny reached for her, but Jayne slammed the door in his face. He circled the car and slid in, with Noah in his car seat between them. Jayne avoided his eye, first fussing with Noah, then staring out the window. His head spun with fragments of explanations—it’s not what you think. I panicked. I was stupid—but even to him, the words rang hollow. Jayne deserved the truth, but maybe she didn’t want it. Maybe this was all just a fantasy to her, and she wanted it pristine, something perfect to look back on.
The car rolled to a stop at the palace. Danny turned to Jayne, but she lowered her head. She unbuckled Noah and lifted him from his car seat.
“We should talk later,” he said. “I have to discuss this with my brothers, but maybe after—”
“Yeah. Maybe.” Jayne shot him a tight smile and was gone. Danny gripped the seat, nerves jangling. His thoughts lay scattered. His muscles felt tight. He needed to move, stretch himself to the limit. Work off his tension, then maybe he could think straight.
“Driver?”
“Your Highness?”
“Take me to—” Danny bit his lip. He wanted to hit up the old quarry, that construction site near the gardens, anywhere he could run and climb and fling himself through the air, but the sun was still up. He’d be seen, maybe photographed. Bas would kill him. He’d be cut off for sure, and worse, he’d cause a stir, one more screwed-up chapter in the chronicles of Danny.
“Sir?”
“Never mind.” He got out of the car and trotted up the steps. Chadil needed to know his scandal was about to break, but a voicemail would cover that. He left one and kept going, picking up speed as he made his way to the garden. He jogged through the roses and raced past the stables. His sleek Oxford shoes chafed and pinched, slipped on the uncertain footing, but he broke into a sprint as he headed for the trails. It felt good to stretch his legs, and he pushed till his lungs hurt and his shirt clung to his back. He ran till his legs went numb, and he collapsed under a tree.
For a moment, he sat there, mind blissfully blank. He gulped air and thought of nothing, focused only on his breath. But soon, the aches subsided and the memories flooded back—getting kicked out of college, that line of disapproving faces. The dean shaking his head, starting to say something and giving up, like he wasn’t worth the breath. And his brothers—
He closed his eyes. He didn’t want to remember Bas’s anger, Chadil’s disgust. He’d seen it everywhere for a while, his brothers’ rejection in every face. Chadil had kept it quiet, but it felt like everyone knew, and now he guessed they would. And Jayne would know, too.
She should hear it from me.
He shook his head, but he knew it was true. She’d find out soon enough, and the papers wouldn’t be kind.
Jayne deserved to be prepared for the storm.
* * *
He found her by the fountain, playing with Noah. She didn’t see him at first, so he hung back and watched them.
“I wish?” Noah had a coin, and he was turning it over in his hands. He held it up to the light and giggled.
“That’s right. You make a wish. Anything you want, but don’t tell anyone, or it won’t come true.”
Danny held his breath. He still had his wish from the shooting star. If ever he’d needed one, this was the time. Forgiveness, a reprieve, a time machine—just make it right. But that was for him to do, not some shooting star.
Noah tossed his coin, sending it spinning through the air. It splashed into the fountain and was gone. Danny steeled himself and stepped forward, clearing his throat.
“Oh. There you are.” Jayne shifted to make room, and Danny felt relieved. He’d half expected her to get up and leave, or to greet him with some cutting remark. Instead, she sat quietly, smiling as Noah toddled around the fountain. He’d brought his stuffed parrot, and he kept stopping to make it drink.
“He’s a happy kid,” said Danny.
“Always has been.” Jayne watched as he stopped to sniff the roses. “He asked me today if flowers can hear. I told him some people talk to plants, and they say they grow better, so he’s been making friends.”
“Mother used to do that.” He took a deep breath. The heavy scent of roses filled his head. It was relaxing, somehow, and nostalgic, and it was time. “So, about the cheating thing—”
“You don’t have to tell me. Everyone has a past, and I—”
“Remember what I said about college? How it wasn’t for me, and I wanted to be out where life happens?”
“College?” Jayne’s expression turned quizzical. “Yeah. I remember.”
“Well, that wasn’t exactly...true.” He looked down at his shoes, dusty from his run. “I wanted to finish.” His mouth went dry, and he swallowed. “But it was harder than I thought. I couldn’t keep up. I, uh...I went online. I bought term papers. I got caught.”
“You cheated? On your term papers?”
Danny nodded. “I knew it was wrong, but I was failing, and I kept picturing my brothers, what they’d say when they found out.” He laughed. “Of course, they did anyway. The dean said I could withdraw, and they wouldn’t say anything, but I guess it’s coming out. If you—if you’d rather not stick around—”
The breath caught in his throat as Jayne’s hand settled on his arm. He looked up, and where he’d expected disgust, he saw only concern, and maybe a hint of relief.
She shifted closer, eyes shining. “When that reporter said cheating, I didn’t think she meant school. I thought, well...Noah’s father left me for another woman. I thought you’d done something like that, something cruel, but what you’re talking about is a mistake. You didn’t hurt anyone.” Jayne’s smile was warm and open, a ray of sun on a cloudy day. “And if this does get out, if that reporter makes a stink, I’ll stand by you.”
“Thank you.”
“Besides, it’s not too late.” Jayne straightened up. “College isn’t for everyone, but there are other ways to learn, or accommodations can be made. This isn’t the end of the road.”
Danny stiffened. Accommodations? He searched her face for any hint of pity, but she was gazing into the fountain. He frowned and shook his head. “I’ve found my role. I don’t need college to make my people feel valued. I—”
“Fetti!”
Danny yelped as a shower of petals rained down on him and Jayne, white
and red and purple settling on their shoulders. Noah flung another handful, and Jayne covered her mouth.
“Noah! Did you tear up those flowers?”
“Nuh-uh. They fall down.”
“Well, that’s all right, then.” She chuckled, and Danny laughed too. He found a whole rose among the petals and dusted it off.
“Here. For you.” He tucked it behind Jayne’s ear, and he wasn’t sure if she reached for him first, or he reached for her, but then their lips met, and it didn’t matter.
12
Jayne stood up slowly, afraid to make a sound. Noah had just reached that age where he didn’t need naps, because babies took naps, and he wasn’t a baby. Getting him down was a nightmare; keeping him down was worse. He turned over, and she froze, holding her breath till he sniffed and settled down.
She flipped on the baby monitor and fled on tiptoe, gritting her teeth as she closed the door. The lock clicked, and she braced herself for Noah’s call, but none came. He was down for an hour, at least, and she was free.
Jayne made her way to the dayroom and was pleased to find Fiona having tea with Raina and Edlyn. She waved, and they beckoned her over.
“He went down?”
“Knock on wood.” She tapped on the table as she took her seat.
“That’s glass,” said Edlyn, and everyone laughed. Fiona poured her some tea and Raina offered her pastries, and Jayne breathed a sigh of relief.
“I swear, they grow up overnight. One minute, he’s this sweet little thing who just wants to sleep in Mommy’s arms, the next minute I’m wondering who’s been sneaking him caffeine.”
“Halima’s been climbing out of her cot,” said Raina. “She takes her pink blanket and makes a nest under my bed. Where she got that idea, I can’t think.”
The Sheikh’s Mail-Order Bride: Halabi Sheikhs Book Three Page 7