by West, Dahlia
Ava grinned. “Because normally you don’t let me wear anything.”
“Oh!” Jonah bellowed, throwing a pillow from the couch at them. “TMI. TM fucking I. That is my sister!”
The microwave dinged, but Ava was pushing Emilio toward the door. “Hey, my food’s ready!” He ducked under her arm and grabbed it, juggling it between his palms and wincing.
Ava rolled her eyes as Sienna simply shook her head. She gathered up the burritos and chucked them unceremoniously into the garbage.
“Hey!” Jonah protested.
“That is not food,” she snapped.
He frowned but didn’t argue.
Emilio and Ava headed out of the apartment with promises to see them later. Jonah got up off the couch and closed the door behind them. When he turned, he found Sienna staring intently at her phone. Since Ava had just left, it wasn’t hard to guess who she’d gotten a message from. He waited for her to type a reply, then asked, “How’s your mom?”
Sienna looked up at him. “She’s good. I mean, she seems okay.” She waved the phone at him. “She’s says we can visit next week.”
“Awesome. We’ll be there.”
Her face transformed into a look of concern. “Jonah, Daybreak is so expensive.”
Jonah crossed the room, took her in his arms, and kissed her on the top of her head. “Doesn’t matter. That’s what the fighting was for. To take care of you, to do what needs to be done. Dalton got sober at Daybreak and so will your mom.”
She sighed against him and wrapped her arms around him. They swayed over the plank wooden floor of their now shared apartment, dancing to a song that only they could hear. “Can you give me a tattoo?” she asked him suddenly.
Jonah shook his head. “Can I? No. Daisy can. What do you want?”
She smirked up at him, lips twisting with sarcasm. “Oh, gee, I don’t know. I was thinking maybe ‘Ryan’?”
“Ryan?!”
“Yeah. Ryan. Right across my ass. In big old black letters.”
“Oh, those are fighting words!” Jonah cried. He picked her up off the floor and marched to the bed with her.
Sienna squealed, kicking her feet. She laughed as he threw her onto the mattress.
Jonah pushed her down and crawled on top of her. Playful wrestling devolved quickly into hot, open-mouthed kisses.
“Seriously, though,” she gasped. “I want a tattoo. It won’t do any good today but…”
Jonah pulled his lips back but kept her pinned beneath him. “Today? What’s today?”
“We’re going to the lake with Emilio and Ava.”
Jonah’s brow furrowed but just for a second, then he groaned loudly. “You didn’t.”
Sienna giggled. “I did.”
“What color is it?” As if he couldn’t guess.
“Green,” she said, smiling. “With cute little bow ties at the hips, and a teeny, tiny little section that—”
“Go put it on,” he ordered.
She froze. “But… we’re leaving in just—”
“Sienna, once I see you in this bikini, I’m going to want to fuck you in it. So, you can either model it for me now and then get back on this bed and let me have my way with you, or I can drag you into the water at the lake and let Ava and Emilio take a wild guess at what we’re doing.”
She gasped. “You—”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “Little tiny bow ties? Right at the hips? Yeah, I am. Here and at the lake. That thing’s coming off in the water no matter what. Go put it on,” he repeated. “We’re doing it twice.”
She finally surrendered and he rolled enough to let her up off the bed. She dragged her hand along his crotch, though, to torture him. She disappeared into the bathroom and then emerged in a—as described—teeny, tiny barely there green bikini that did not quite match her eyes, but that seemed to be its only shortcoming.
She stood in the streaming sunlight of the window, hand on her hip, loose hair brushing her shoulders.
Jonah smiled and sighed. “How did I end up with the most beautiful girl in the world?”
“Just lucky, I guess.”
She shifted her weight to the balls of her feet and Jonah prepared himself even though she thought she was being sneaky. She pounced, again, and he caught her, again, dragging her across the sheets and nibbling at her throat.
“Wish for something, baby,” he whispered. “I’ll make sure you get it.”
She blushed and bit her lip. “I can’t. I’m too shy.”
“Too shy? No. My baby’s not going to be shy. Not with me. Tell me everything you want me to do to you, Sienna.”
She sighed and smiled, then crooked her finger at him. “Come closer. Let me whisper it in your ear.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
“Will you…?” She touched his shoulders, just barely, a hint of a push. He looked up at her to see her flushed cheeks, her shy smile. She let it hang between them, too embarrassed to ask.
“Will I what?” he asked lazily, tugging the straps of her bikini top down and admiring his own handiwork glinting off her nipples. She looked beautiful, like a work of art, like an angel made just for him. His battered hands caressed her soft skin, taking great care with her piercings. Her nipples swelled anyway, though, despite lack of attention from him, and he had to admit he loved to see it. They’d be big, and beautiful, and sensitive to his touch for the rest of their lives, he knew.
She sighed, frustrated. “You know.”
He grinned and extended his tongue, taking a long swipe between her breasts. “Here?” he teased.
She breathed another sigh and pushed his shoulders a bit harder.
“Lower?” he asked her, prompting another blush. He had mercy on her, though, and didn’t make her reply. “I’ll do anything for you, Sienna. Anything you want.” He kissed her belly, praying silently as he did, then moved down to the cleft between her thighs.
He tugged at one tiny little green bow, then the other, and revealed her swollen and no doubt aching pussy. He spread her with his thumbs and took a long, slow lick. She was heat-slicked and delicious. He slid his hands between the mattress and her ass and lifted her hips so he could sink his tongue all the way inside.
She was wild underneath him, begging, pleading, pushing, urging. For a girl who couldn’t ask for what she wanted, she sure enjoyed it. That was okay. They’d work on that. Someday she’d drop her panties and order him to his knees and on that day his heart would skip a beat.
Jonah’s lips found her hood and teased it with his tongue. When her clit swelled and made an appearance, he bit it. Not hard, but she sucked in a sharp breath and cried “Oh, God!” She arched her back and clawed at the sheets.
“Soon,” he told her. “Very, very soon.” Jonah ducked lower to devour her again. He pushed deep, filling her. When he felt her body start to tense, he let her fall back to the mattress and went for his zipper.
Sienna propped herself up on her elbows, eyes flashing, breasts heaving as she struggled for air. “Wh-what? Jonah! I wasn’t done yet!”
“I know,” he growled and yanked down his jeans. His rock-hard cock sprang out as he did so. He pinned her thighs, opening her to him, and shoved into her, burying himself fully.
Sienna threw her head back and screamed.
He covered her mouth with his own, and forced his way inside there, too. Any one thing could have caused her to come—Jonah’s relentless pounding, the fact that he’d brought her so close just moments before, the naughty taste of herself on his tongue.
With a keening cry, she tightened up on him, flooding them with her juices, milking him for his own. His cock responded as though she’d trained it herself, giving her body exactly what it was asking for. He held her to him, held her still, as the last few jets of cum emptied inside her. Then he tumbled to the mattress next to her, out of breath. He pulled her close again, though, needing her near, and wrapped his arm around her.
As he looked down at her, he saw that her dark hair was plastered
to her face. Her cheeks and lips were a dusky pink. Her nipples matched.
Jonah thought she’d never looked more beautiful.
He cupped her breast and scraped his thumb across one of her piercings, already thinking about the other jewelry he had ready for her.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Jonah watched Sienna pace back and forth, stopping occasionally to glance at the back door of her mom’s house. The shared back yard looked good in his opinion. They’d put in a few posts and strung white lights between them. A sheet cake sat untouched on the picnic table. A large banner that Sienna had bought said Welcome Home in huge, festive letters. Slightly off-key for this particular party, but Jonah assumed that there hadn’t been a lot to choose from. Certainly no Hope You Stay Sober! banners existed.
Sienna gnawed on her fingernails relentlessly. Finally, she turned to him. “Why isn’t she coming out?”
Jonah opened his mouth to try and calm her down but it was Dalton’s deep timbre that announced itself instead. “Sienna,” the large man said gently. “It’s going to be okay. The transition back home is hard. Facing up to your family, to the people you’ve let down, is hard. She’s not rejecting you. She’s not rejecting sobriety. We don’t know any of that, okay? Give her a minute.”
Sienna looked up at Jonah’s older brother and nodded. “What…what do I do?”
“Smile. Look her in the eye, okay? Talk to her like you always did. Tell her the truth. Tell her how happy you are that she’s back. There are no real rules, though, Sienna. There’s no formula for one day at a time. Just be genuine.” He smiled at her and squeezed her shoulders. “That shouldn’t be too hard for you.”
Linda finally opened the back door of her house and stepped outside. She looked more than a little nervous, wiping her hands on her jeans and twisting her hair in her fingers.
Jonah had to admit he was secretly glad she hadn’t had a bottle stashed somewhere inside, somewhere they hadn’t thought to look. Earlier in the week, at Sienna’s behest and under Dalton’s supervision, they’d cleared the Rhodes house of every single intoxicant from Vodka to painkillers to mouthwash, even.
Linda was facing her first day out in the real world with nothing to soften the blow.
He hoped like hell she made it.
She hugged Sienna tightly, whispering in her ear, then thanked everyone for coming.
“You didn’t have to go to all this trouble,” Linda told everyone.
Sienna shook her head, smiling widely. “It wasn’t any trouble,” she insisted. “Not at all.”
Calla and Zoey moved in next, offering hugs and words of encouragement. Even Dalton, who normally didn’t like to talk about his own sobriety, told Linda to call him any time, day or night, whenever she needed.
“Time for cake!” Sienna declared and made a beeline for the table.
As she divided it up, Linda approached Pop, smoothing her hair back, looking contrite. “Thank you,” she told him.
He nodded and patted her arm.
She sighed heavily as she watched her daughter. “I’ve apologized. But I don’t think that’s nearly enough. Got any parenting advice?” she asked Pop quietly.
Pop smiled at her and shook his head. “You don’t need any.”
Linda grimaced. “I think it’s pretty obvious I do.”
Pop shrugged. “She’s not a little girl anymore, Linda. And she’s stronger than you think.” He jutted his chin to Sienna who was talking to Calla several feet away. You know how to do the right thing,” the old man assured her. “All that’s left…is to do it.”
Linda tucked her chin to her chest, looking doubtful. “Is that all there is to it? Just do the right thing?”
Pop shrugged again. “Why not? Look at her, Linda, look at this homecoming she’s put together for you. She’s ready to forgive you. I guess now, the only question is, are you ready to forgive you?”
Sienna excitedly passed out pieces of cake to everyone, giving her mother warm smiles every few minutes.
Jonah was proud of her and the effort she’d gone to. He was glad, too, that Linda was taking this seriously. He let her have her moment of support and sympathy; she deserved it if she was being honest about drying out. He hoped she’d be heartened that she had so many people crossing their fingers for her, ready to lend a hand with whatever she needed.
He also hoped that he didn’t put a sour note on it, at the end, by what he was about to do. He believed, though, that everyone here could use a truly happy moment, a reminder of what they were all fighting for.
Pop declined his slice of cake but pulled Sienna into a bear hug. “You’re such a good girl,” he said, squeezing her.
Sienna returned his hug, just as enthusiastically. “You, your family—you’ve always been so good to me.”
The old man smiled down at her. “That’s because you are family.”
“Not quite,” Jonah chimed in and then stood up. “But… maybe we could make it official.” He crossed the lawn to Sienna and leaned in, unable to resist scenting her sandalwood hair before he whispered, “You’re the only girl I’ve ever kissed, the only girl I’ve ever made love to. You’re the only one for me, Sienna, and I never want to let you go.”
Leaning back, he lowered himself to one knee.
Behind him, someone gasped. Maybe Zoey, maybe Calla, maybe even Linda. Jonah paid no attention. “I love you, Sienna,” he said, loudly enough for everyone to hear. “And I am done wasting time.”
He reached into his pocket and drew out a small, green velvet box that fit snugly in the palm of his hand. He carefully opened the lid to reveal a green teardrop stone surrounded by small, round diamonds. “It’s jadeite,” he told her. “I had it made. I couldn’t find anything that matched your eyes.”
Sienna couldn’t speak, so she just stared at him, hands covering her mouth. As she blinked, he could see tears brimming on her lower lids.
“Will you marry me, Sienna? I don’t know if I deserve it. I don’t know if I deserve you, but will you keep me anyway and let me love you forever?”
She was shocked, clearly stunned. She stared at him, tears streaming down her face, hands clasped in front of her, shaking.
“Sienna?” he pressed quietly.
“I…I…” She didn’t reply—not really—but slowly she extended her left hand.
Jonah took it and squeezed it warmly before sliding the ring on. A perfect fit. He knew it would be. He’d measured it while she was sleeping.
When he finally stood up, she’d recovered slightly. Her cute little feet shifted on the grass and she pounced again. Jonah swept her up in a hug, always ready to catch his little fighter. She showered him with kisses and tears. “I love you!” she cried. “I love you, I love you, I love you. I love you!”
Jonah was tempted to simply say it back, because it felt natural, normal, and comfortable to say. Instead, for some reason, his mother’s words flooded back to him. In his mind’s eye, he saw the words on the page. “Thank you,” he whispered into Sienna’s ear instead. “Thank you.”
And his mother was right, the way she was always right, about everything and everyone.
It felt as good to be loved as it was to love.
Maybe a little better, even.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
The hot July sun baked the asphalt as Jonah brought up the rear in a Stark family convoy. Sienna was perched behind him on the Harley, arms wrapped around him, chin on his shoulder. Part of him wanted to just keep riding, out of the city, maybe to the Badlands, maybe to the lake, and get her alone. But they’d all been invited to Tex Marsten’s annual BBQ and it seemed rude to turn it down.
The little neighborhood street was littered with cars on both sides and Jonah slipped in between a Hummer and a large truck. As he killed the engine, Calla and Zoey were already out of their cars, hefting large plates of extra food they’d brought out of the back seats and passing them to Adam, Dalton and Pop.
Not even Emilio or Jonah were spared pack-mule status,
as they lugged a cooler toward Tex’s backyard. They put it down next to a picnic table and quickly abandoned it, leaving the food to the women to sort out.
The men of Burnout gave them warm greetings and the ladies unburdened the Stark men of their wares.
“Let me see! Let me see!” Daisy called out, bulldozing her way through the crowd. She grabbed Jonah’s shirt and lifted it.
Jonah laughed and made no move to stop her. In fact, he often did it himself a couple of times a day. He still wasn’t used to the sight. His piercings flashed in the sunlight as Daisy pushed his shirt up to his neck. She beamed proudly. “Awesome!” she declared to Jonah and Sienna.
On his chest, over his heart, was SIENNA in bold, black script.
Sienna giggled and wrapped her hand around Jonah’s bicep. “I’m next,” she told the tiny blonde.
“I’m ready!” Daisy replied.
Easy came up behind her and grabbed her by the waist. “Leave the boy alone, Mrs. Turnbull. And stop pawing at him.”
She purred and ran her hands along his arms. “Well, if you looked that good, I’d paw you instead.”
“I think it’s been too long since you last saw me,” Easy huffed.
“Oh, yeah? A whole five minutes?” Daisy teased.
“Apparently.” He spun her around, threaded his fingers through the loops of her jeans, and yanked her against his crotch.
Daisy gasped and then sighed dreamily, looking into her man’s eyes. “Oh, you’re right. You are the sexiest man alive!”
Easy bent low and locked lips with his new wife. Seconds passed, and so did tongues, before they finally pulled away from each other. “And don’t you forget it,” Easy warned and sent his woman away with a swat on her ass.
Ava giggled uproariously and Emilio whispered something in her ear that Jonah couldn’t hear.
Probably better that way.
As Abby walked past, she caught sight of Sienna’s engagement ring and cooed over it. “Oh, my God!” said the redhead. “Oh, honey, that’s gorgeous!” Abby excitedly dragged her off to show the other girls.