Augusta’s gaze lingered on John. She appreciated the lines of his body from this angle and the flex of his biceps as he worked on something unseen. He was humming a tune and seemed content in his activity. He always was when working with his hands.
This view of him showed the fine lines that were settling into his face. Too many of them are from time instead of laughter. She vowed to change that. There was more gray in his beard than brown, but there was contentment in his beautiful blue eyes—a contentment and hope she hadn’t noticed before.
Andy’s voice broke into her thought of John, “It can only be turned on if we turn it on over there, so no stressing about accidental viewings. Not that you’d see anything other than the most beautiful baby in the world, but I know how you would feel about invading our privacy. We just want you to be able to make this transition on your own timeline.”
It was unbelievable how amazing these two people were. They really did care about her. She had no biological claim to Cephina, but they treated her as equal as Erika and themselves when it came to the baby. She had never been happier in her decision than she was right now.
“Thank you. You’ve already given me more than I could imagine, for just letting you borrow my womb. But seriously, not that I don’t appreciate it, because I do, more than you can imagine, but no more gifts, okay? Except Christmas and my birthday, I still want stuff then. Good stuff, too.”
Staring at the TV, Gus tried to identify the tune he was humming. “He really is a handsome man, isn’t he?” On the screen, John continued to hum while he folded up the ladder and slid the crib right dead center under the camera. He gave another glance straight at the lens and nodded in satisfaction. She heard, “Augusta’s going to love it,” as he reached out of frame and the screen went black.
Turning from the screen, Gus asked, “What is that song, I can’t figure it out.” She started humming it to herself, but Jan burst out laughing. “What’s so funny?”
Jan was practically doubled over. “He got it from me, I was humming it earlier.”
Gus was at a complete loss about how a song could be funny, and she started to feel a little uneasy. “Jan, why is that funny?” By the time she asked the question, she had a sneaking suspicion she knew. While she wasn’t familiar with KISS, she was familiar with her sister’s twisted sense of humor. “Oh, Jan, it isn’t, is it?”
“Yeppers, it’s ‘Domino.’” Jan barely got the words out before she devolved back into laughter and threw herself on the bed. Gus didn’t think it was funny at all. And once everyone found out about Jan’s job and the connection to the song, they wouldn’t think it’s funny either. But Gus wasn’t about to rat her out.
“Laugh it up all you want, but he’s going to be sticking around for what I hope is forever, and sooner or later, he’ll figure it out. And if you think I have a stick up my ass because I have a problem with it, then watch out, because I guarantee you he has the Redwood National Forest.”
Now, Andy and Marco joined her in their amusement. “I don’t have a clue why Domino is funny, but you just said John has a forest in his ass.” Marco laughed.
“Not just any forest either, Redwood National. You seem to be very specific on the contents—
“Oh, you are all children, I didn’t mean it like that.” But she couldn’t even defend herself, she was laughing too. It was the most ridiculous thing she could have said.
“What’s so funny?” John’s voice resonated in her soul.
As the laughter died down, they made their way to the door.
Andy was the first to exit. “I don’t have a clue, I was just laughing because they were.”
“I was laughing because Redwood is one of the most popular natural attractions.” Marco slid his eyes toward John’s butt as he passed. Gus could barely stifle a giggle while she tried to shoo Marco with a look.
When Jan passed, she tried to appear all innocent. “Smells like the jambalaya’s done. I’m starved.” Once she was in the hall she announced, “Time to get our grub on.”
Thanks to Jan, the baby was now awake. Marco announced, “My turn,” which allowed Gus to relax her there’s-a-baby-crying stance. John looked yummy with his feet crossed at the ankle and leaning casually against the door frame, causing her mouth to go dry.
Down girl, you have to wait until after your check-up before you get horizontal.
Between her desire for him and the bed looming behind them, Gus felt uncomfortable. “I’m starving, so I’m going to, just, um, go. Out there.” John caught her wrist softly when she attempted to pass.
“Give me a minute? I have something I want to show you.” His hand felt molten against her arm, as did his piercing gaze.
For some reason, Gus was flustered around John. It wasn’t just that she couldn’t wait for a repeat of the other night either. Maybe it was their whispered words of love in the heat of labor—words that she longed to hear, and repeat with a clear head. Plus, the fact that she almost lost him before she ever really had him still had her shaken.
“Oh, sorry, they already showed me your surprise. Thank you, by the way, it was extremely thoughtful.” Of course, it didn’t surprise her. John was more thoughtful than he gave himself credit for being. Guess it comes with some of that control, being observant and all. She blushed at the thought.
John’s warm breath kissed her ear, and he leaned in and spoke. “Not this, they didn’t.” The shiver that moved through her was blissful.
He released her wrist and spun her around. Using his body, he guided her back to the TV, wrapped his arms around her from behind, and nodded his head to the large rectangle that hung just above the flat screen. She’d noticed it earlier and assumed it was part of the closed circuit set up. “Watch this.”
John went around her and reached up and started fiddling at the top of the box. It illuminated red and beeped as he continued monkeying with it. Suddenly, the red lights morphed into numbers. John stepped back and the numbers continued to change. He moved in front of her, enveloped her again, and shifted their bodies sideways so she could still see the red.
Intense blue eyes studied her, waiting for her to appreciate the gift. She would, just as soon as she knew what it was. She turned back to the face she loved and raised an eyebrow. With one gentle finger, John directed her face back toward the...clock? No, not exactly. The numbers were counting down, seconds ticking by. Doing some quick estimation, something worth installing a countdown clock, in her bedroom no less, was happening in about a month and a half, give or take.
Searching for clues in the red LED light yielded nothing more, so she returned her attention to John. The sexy man just waggled his eyebrows and looked from the clock to the other side of the room and back again. Gus followed suit, still nothing. The only thing on the other side of the room was the bed and the bathroom.
Finally, John put her out of one misery…and into another. “When that reads all zeros, I plan to take you to heights of bliss you’ve never even dreamed of reaching.” His hand tangled in her short hair, using it to direct her attention. He demanded it solely on him, daring her to look away, to blink. His eyes sparkled with something she had never witnessed, couldn’t identify.
“And you, my dear, you’ll beg me to do so again and again and again.” The husk in his voice took her knees, but he held her upright with one hand at the back of her head and the other at the small of her back. “Then, you’ll thank me for every orgasm I gave you. Once I show you the real me, you’ll no longer command a single second of your pleasure or inch of your body…I will.”
Oh boy.
0960:21.47…and counting.
Those damn flowers finally stopped taunting him by greeting him each time he walked into Augusta’s kitchen. It was like seeing Jesse sitting there, staring at Augusta all moon-eyed while they shared meals.
Seeing them here, in this setting, and seeing Augusta here and happy, made him thankful she didn’t take his suggestion of burning them in the barbeque pit. She accused him o
f being jealous, which he denied wholeheartedly. He didn’t get jealous, but as soon as her back was turned, he had thumped a bud.
It was Erika who suggested they bring them to Melanie when they “introduced’ her to Cephina. John had never visited Melanie’s grave; he never had reason to before. But sitting here on a picnic blanket, surrounded by the people who loved her the most, he felt a twinge of loss for not having had the pleasure.
Erika, Tori, and Gus, with Cephina in her arms, were curled up on a blanket of their own right by her headstone. The men stayed back, not wanting to intrude while the ladies talked to her like she was standing right there—tearfully introducing her to Cephina, updating her on the business, and playing some awful techno song they said she would have loved.
John sat back, eavesdropping but strangely not feeling like an intruder. Melanie was loved in life and death, and Tori and Erika seemed to want Gus to love her, too. That was the unidentifiable look on Gus’ face, acceptance. She was finally accepting being accepted and stepping into her place in the Reid clan, and it was beautiful.
“Oh, my God, remember that time she dragged us to that weird karaoke bar?” Tori asked Erika.
“The one that I swore was a front for human trafficking?”
“Hell yes. I was terrified to have a drink for fear I would end up chained to a bed in some third world shit hole.”
John chuckled.
“Wait, wait, wait. Start at the beginning, Gus, you have got to hear this.” And they proceeded, at top volume, to tell Gus a story that was borderline unbelievable.
“Hahaha, it’s true, you know,” Andy said from his position beside John. “I remember that night. Erika called me in North Dakota, it must have been after midnight. She said she wanted to leave the line open in case something happened so I could call nine-one-one. I stayed up all night listening to them drunkenly belt out the standard karaoke staples, over and over, until four in the morning. Through a shitty cell phone connection, no less. By the time they stumbled to a cab, I wanted to slaughter Steve Perry in his sleep for daring to write ‘Don’t Stop Believin’.’”
“Melanie must have been an exceptional person to earn the love and loyalty of those ladies.”
It was Walker who answered, “Yes, she was. She was the parts of all of us that we didn’t embrace in ourselves.” John not only got a rare glimpse of Augusta today, he got one of Walker as well. “But she couldn’t dance for shit.” That was more like him.
Another hour and a dozen more Melanie stories and it was time to pack it in. Cephina was having none of it. She was done for the day.
“John, do you mind giving Augusta a lift back home? We promised Frank and Francis we’d bring our little angel by for a visit.”
“Of course, I don’t mind.”
Goodbye kisses and hugs were exchanged graveside and carside. Now that Augusta felt accepted, it looked like farewells were going to take forever.
Once he had her in his car, alone, it felt…right. They chatted all the way back to her place. She relayed the stories he had just heard, but he kept his mouth shut and listened like it was the first time. In a way, it was; it was more intimate when she shared with him.
They pulled in the driveway only to be greeted by a car blocking it and a familiar punk standing on the porch talking to January, who pointed to them.
Jesse. Part of him felt sorry for the kid but part of him thought he needed to be taught a lesson. Both parts agreed, he needed to be sent on his merry way with the distinct impression that his attention toward Augusta needed to stop.
This was where John’s newly hatched skill of not always being in the driver’s seat was tested. He had all but bolted out of the car and leveled the kid. Not that he was a violent man or a jealous man, as a rule, but it was a respect thing. This punk had to know they were together by now, yet he kept turning up like a bad penny.
“John,” Augusta stopped him with a touch, “if I didn’t know better, I’d say the green-eyed monster has his claws in you.” She unbuckled herself. “But, since that can’t possibly be the case, allow me to let him down gently.”
Her door had just opened when John pulled her back into the car by her wrist. After bringing his lips to her ear, he inhaled her scent—it never failed to make him hard as steel. “If I told you that was exactly the case, would you let him down not so gently?”
That must have been the right thing to say because Augusta grabbed him by his bearded cheeks and kissed him. They had shared kisses she initiated before, but this was the first time she really kissed him and took charge of it, choreographed the dance of their tongues.
And John let her.
It was a rather unexpected pleasure. She ended the kiss, leaving him drunk on her. “Since that’s the case, I’ll let him down hard, if you want.” John really liked this role reversal. It wasn’t something he ever thought to explore before, but damn if he wasn’t thinking about just that as he watched Augusta bounce up the stairs and sent the young buck packing in under a minute flat.
John relished the look of defeat on the young fellow’s face a little too much. He couldn’t resist a taunting wave to him when he exited his car and Jesse entered his.
At least he felt bad about it, a little. Jesse wasn’t a bad guy. Andy never would have allowed him to take Augusta on a date if he were. Yeah, I’m still salty about it, though.
After more than four decades on this planet and more loss than anyone should ever endure, John could say he was genuinely happy for the first time ever.
That was what he was thinking as he stepped into the now flower-free house. He was happy here, with these people he called family, and with his life in general. He had everything he wanted except Augusta begging for his cock while still reeling from an orgasm.
It won’t be long now.
0000:27.18…and counting.
“Well, don’t you just look as nervous as a long tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs,” Jan noted as she laced up her Chucks. She looked so wholesome in her denim capris and vintage Winger tee, with her hair in a ponytail. No make-up gave her an air of innocence. Then Gus’ eyes drifted to that blasted duffle bag.
“Jan.” That’s as far as Gus got before Jan shut her down this time. After her shoes were secure, Jan wrapped her arms around Gus and lingered for a moment, then she soothed the hair from her big sister’s face and walked away to grab water and a protein bar.
“It’s not open for discussion, Gus. You’re my sister, not our mother. I blindly supported you, and I ask that you do the same. Besides,” she turned with a bottle in one hand and a sparkle in her eye, “don’t you have more pressing matters to be concerned with. That sex clock is almost zeroed out.”
Jan tucked her provision in the side pocket of her bag and shouldered it. “And then it’s, brown chicken brown cow time.”
Burying her face in her hands, Augusta almost perished from embarrassment. “Stop calling it that.”
“What, sex clock? We just started calling it that, you do not even want to know the previous names,” Jan teased.
It was slightly disturbing how much January reminded her of Stacy. If she were to lay money on it, Stacy was probably the ring leader of the whole thing.
Her phone had been blowing up every hour on the hour with Stacy’s meme of choice. Mostly vulgar.
“Whatever, I never thought I’d encourage this, but get out of here and get to work. I need to get ready.” As Augusta walked her sister to the door, her phone went off yet again. I wonder what it is this time.
Jan grabbed her phone from her hand. “Oooo, it’s a sound file.” Jan pushed play and the voice of Marvin Gaye filled the room and Jan bounced around to “Let’s Get It On.” Gus snatched her phone back and shooed Jan off to work.
“Still better than the porn gif she sent me last hour,” Gus spoke to herself. It bothered her because it was inconvenient and embarrassing, but she wasn’t as mad as her reply texts indicated. It helped ease some of the tension.
John had
repeatedly asked her if she needed more time. Even after she had the green light from the doctor, John worried about her comfort. She was more than ready. There was so much sexual tension between them, Tori teased she couldn’t be in the same room or risk getting knocked-up.
Even with their frank discussions about this night, John hadn’t repeated his words of love, so she refrained too. It wasn’t that he didn’t make her feel loved; he certainly did with every lingering touch and fiery gaze. Every little thing he did made her feel cherished, but she still longed to hear the words.
That was the source of her hesitation now. John took her reticence as only partial acceptance of his needs. Try as she might to soothe his troubled mind where sex was concerned, she couldn’t really do that one hundred percent without bringing up the dreaded L word.
The truth was, she felt more comfortable with that line of thinking than dealing with that awkward moment when one person says it and the other looks like a deer in headlights.
However, the drawback was, she was afraid John would still hold back. The way he had when she had been pregnant.
“Well, I just won’t let that happen, now will I?” Confident she could unleash his beast, she went to set up.
Once satisfied everything was in place, she got naked. For the first time since she had the baby, she examined herself in detail in the mirror, trying to get a good idea of what John would see.
With her belly still rounded and hips wider, she had more of a stacked appearance than before. Waif thin by nature, this wasn’t a wholly unattractive change. “Especially these bad mamas.” She grabbed her breasts and shook them at herself. She even squeezed the nipple to ensure she had pumped well enough. If not, the minute John touched her, she’d be leaking breast milk all over the place.
Gus was happy with her new body, and if John’s perma-hard-on was any indication, he was too. Satisfied with that, she turned back to the room. She did a double-check on the table for everything she thought John, and her, could want or need tonight.
Inevitably Yours (Imagine Ink Book 4) Page 20