Chapter 14
Rhys
It’s Tuesday, and I’m on Finn’s pickup duty. It’s the first time I’m going to be doing it since our conversation. I’m determined not to fuck it up.
Except Baltimore traffic doesn’t care about good intentions.
I text Finn: Might be five minutes late.
At 5:10, my phone buzzes with a text from Finn: Where are you?
I told him to call only me, text only me, and I promised I’d respond right away. I explicitly told him not to contact Jayne, who is picking up Mikaela from gymnastics.
I type: Two minutes away, even though it’s more like ten.
When I finally pull into the parking lot, he’s the last kid standing there, cleats slung over one shoulder, phone in hand, expression pure teenage exasperation.
He opens the car door and slides in, all dramatic sighs and silence.
“Sorry, bud. Traffic was a nightmare.”
He doesn’t look at me. “You left work too late.”
He’s right. I did. I squeezed in one more consult, thinking five minutes wouldn’t matter. Five minutes always matter.
“I’ll do better next time,” I promise, and he gives a half-nod that probably means “we’ll see.”
We drive in silence for a few blocks. Then he mutters, “You don’t have snacks.”
“Ah….”
“You’re supposed to bring snacks. Mom does.”
Damn it. Jayne definitely said something about having food and water ready, because Finn comes out of practice starving and dehydrated like he’s crossed the Sahara.
“Right.” I scan the car for anything edible. There’s an old pack of gum in the console. Not helpful. “Want to stop for something?”
He shrugs. “Can we go to Smoothie King?”
I smile despite myself. “You read my mind.”
By the time we’re halfway through our drinks, Finn starts talking—about a teammate who made a great goal, about his math test, about how the new Marvel movie looks “mid.”
Whew! I feel like I dodged about fifteen bullets.
When we get home, he grabs his bag and says, “Thanks, Dad.”
I watch him jog up the steps and realize how many little things I take for granted.
Jayne doesn’t show up late. She remembers snacks. Knows which smoothie he likes. Has spare napkins in the glove compartment. She does all that while thinking three steps ahead about dinner, homework, and laundry.
It’s…a lot.
And it’s not as if I hadn’t known it. I just hadn’t realized it until now.
I drop my keys and jacket by the door and find her in the kitchen, talking with Mikaela, who’s working on her homework. The sight hits me with the kind of warmth I don’t expect.
“I picked him up,” I announce.
She looks up, eyes flicking over my face, searching.
“And we survived.”
She laughs, and damn, it’s a sound I’ve missed. I step closer, drop a kiss on her lips. She hugs me, and I soak up her warmth.
So easy, Prescott. You just have to show up, and she’ll hold you through all the storms.
I pull back and cup her face, kiss her nose. “You make this look easy, you know that?”
Her brows go up. “What do I make look easy?”
“All of it. The schedules. The remembering. The constant motion.”
Her gaze softens with understanding. “I’ve had practice.”
“I’m trying to catch up.” It’s a statement. A promise.
“You’re a smart man, Dr. Prescott; there’s nothing you can’t do.” She brushes her lips against my jaw and goes back to Mikaela’s project.
“You need help with dinner?” I ask. It felt damn good to pick up Finn, and I want to do more for her.
“I have stew in the oven,” she says over her shoulder. “Grab a beer and come hang out. Mikaela’s teaching me about saving the oceans.”
“Daddy, I’m making a collage. The topic is ‘preserving the oceans’.” Mikaela holds up her project proudly. A whale cut from glossy paper swims across a sea of blue construction paper.
I grin. “That’s amazing, Peanut. I think you just saved the Chesapeake Bay.”
That night I make love to my wife, and it’s like the old times. It’s tender and loving.
Amazing. It’s always amazing because it’s a connection, it’s intimacy, it’s being with Jayne in a way that makes me whole.
I’ve worshiped this body a thousand times, but tonight it feels like the first time all over again. Her scent is a musky, intoxicating blend of perfume and Jayne's essence.
I bury my face in the curve of her neck, sucking and biting as she arches into me. She is wet, and I can feel it through the thin fabric of her panties.
“Rhys,” she whispers, her voice shaky with need.
How can she think I can look at another woman when I have her?
I grind against her thigh, the friction sending sparks up my spine. She’s trembling, her breath coming in short, ragged gasps. I pull her panties to the side, fingers sliding through her slick folds.
I crawl to the edge of the bed and take her panties off. I spread her legs wide and cup her, stroke her, play with her. I lean down and lap at her clit, slow and deliberate, savoring every drop.
She tastes like heaven.
I can’t get enough.
Her thighs clamp around my head, trapping me in the sweetest prison.
She moans when I slide two fingers inside her. I curl them, hitting that spot that makes her cry out. Her hips buck against my face, riding my tongue and fingers.
She’s desperate for release.
Right before I know she’s going to come, I pull back, my mouth and fingers soaked with her juices. She whimpers, her brown eyes heavy with lust.
“I want you to come when I’m inside you,” I tell her.
Her eyes soften with love.
Yes, she loves me.
She’s the love of my life. Always. Always. And forever.
I’m hard and aching for her. I grab her by the hips, flipping her onto her stomach. She gasps as I yank her up, leaving her ass exposed. I smack her cheek hard, and she laughs, breathless.
I line myself up, teasing her with the tip of my erection.
I bury myself to the hilt in one thrust. Her walls clench around me and she curves up, purring softly.
The sound, how she moves, it spurs me on, and I fuck her hard and fast, my balls slapping against her ass.
She is tight, wet, and perfect. I grab her hair, pulling her head back as I pound into her.
“You feel so good,” I growl, my voice rough with lust.
She comes hard, then, her body shaking as she calls out my name. I’m not far behind. I collapse on top of her, both of us breathing hard.
“I love you, Jayne,” I whisper, my lips close to her ear.
She turns, and I kiss her lips.
“Well, that was fun,” she says, her voice filled with that good kind of tired.
“Yeah.”
“We should do it again…soon.”
“Give me ten minutes,” I joke.
“Right, old man!”
I roll onto my back and take her with me.
“Remember the days when we used to go at it for all hours of the night?”
She kisses my chest. “I do.”
I nuzzle my chin against her hair. “I want a night like that again, Jayne.”
“Well, you are a doctor, I guess you can prescribe yourself some Viagra.”
I burst out laughing, and she joins me.