Chapter Eight

Jacob

“What bought you to town?” I asked after a while. Lia looked more relaxed now, less tense, and it was what I was good at. Talking to customers.

“I needed a change,” she explained vaguely. “I needed a fresh start somewhere far away from home and Anna offered me a place to stay. Then a job came up and everything just seemed to fall into place.”

“So, you plan on staying? Around here?”

“I think so,” she murmured.

I nodded, hating the way that made me feel. Glad. I was glad she was staying and I was glad she wasn’t just passing through.

We chatted some more. She told me about the school and we talked a lot about Ava and Montana. She told me again what a great job I was doing with the girls, which warmed me more than it should have. I shouldn’t care what she thought, but I did.

“You’ve done great,” I said as I finished off.

She looked a bit down. “Is it finished?”

“Uh huh.” I got up and stretched my back. “Just let me wrap it in Glad wrap.”

She sat up and stared down at her stomach, which was now covered in the dark ink of intricate Mandela I’d created just for her. “Oh, wow.”

“What do you think?”

“I love it!”

I smiled. “Glad to hear that, ’cuz you’re going to be looking at it for an awful long time.”

I pressed the wrap around her mid-section, trying not to think how smooth her skin was and how close I was to her. I could smell her, smell her desire, and it was beginning to drive me wild. My hand moved slightly and touched the edge of her panties, which were white and lacy. She shivered.

I stilled, my body taking over and directing me in a way my mind wouldn’t want it to.

I looked up and met her eyes. “Lia…”

She swallowed, but didn’t drag her eyes away. “Jacob…”

She moved, ever so slightly, opening her legs a tiny bit. It was subtle, and if we weren’t so caught up, so oversensitive to everything single thing the other person did, I wouldn’t even have noticed. But I did notice.

My gaze to between her legs and I saw the darkening on her panties. I groaned audibly, knowing.

Without saying a word, I stood up and went around to the foot of the table she sat on. She watched me, wide-eyed, her mouth open slightly, but otherwise she didn’t move. Grabbing her ankles, I bent. I kept my eyes locked on hers as I ran my hands over her legs, not stopping until I reached the top of her panties. Hooking my fingers into them I dragged them down slowly, over her butt, down her thighs and then off, shoving them in my pocket.

Color was all over Lia now. A combination of pink and red mottled on her chest, throat, and cheeks. But she didn’t move. She didn’t resist and she didn’t argue. She wanted this, maybe as much as I wanted it.

Pulling her legs aside, I stared at her for the longest moment. Then I growled, the sound coming from somewhere deep inside me, somewhere primal. “Fuck. You are so beautiful.”

Her mouth fell open and her small pink tongue came out to wet her lips. “Jacob…”

“Shh,” I commanded, and, keeping my eyes locked with hers, I lowered my head between her legs.

The first taste of her, as I slowly ran my tongue the length of her swollen folds, nearly had me coming right then and there. She was fucking incredible. I ran my tongue up again and then, using my hands, parted her to find the pretty little nub that I knew would undo her. The whole time my mouth worked between her legs, I kept my eyes locked on hers. She was embarrassed. I could tell by the spots of color on her face, by her wanton display, by the fact that we could be caught at any second, but she was also highly aroused by it.

At the back of my mind, I knew this was not a good idea. I hadn’t locked the door. Miranda and Gillian would be back at any moment, and not to mention how unethical it was to not only fuck a client in the studio but my daughter’s teacher…

I didn’t want to think too much about it. I wanted to taste her. Besides, I reasoned, I had no intention of fucking her. There was no time for that. But I could at least make sure she left here satisfied.

Delicious little sounds were coming from the back of her throat and her legs were beginning to tremble. She was close. Very close. I slid a finger between her heated folds, reaching deep inside her. I really wanted to slide my cock in her, but for the moment, this would have to do. She cried out and dropped her head back on the table, our eye contact broken as she lost herself.

I kept working her, my tongue flicking over her nub, my fingers pressing deeper and deeper as she rode out her orgasm. My erection was pressed taut against my zipper, but there was nothing I could do about that now. I’d have to deal with it later. Watching Lia come, feeling Lia come, was worth all the discomfort I was presently feeling.

Suddenly, a bell sound intruded into the mood and I froze.

Lia froze.

We both recognized the sound for what it was. Someone had come in. If it was a customer, they would linger in the foyer, but if it were Gillian or Miranda, they would around that corner in a second.

Quickly, I was on my feet. Grabbing Lia’s dress, I thrust it at her. Normally we gave our clients robes to wear. Normally we gave clients privacy to change, but then normally we didn’t bury our heads between their thighs.

Lia nodded, understanding, although her eyes were a little wild still as she yanked the dress over her head. I took a moment to steady my breathing, guessing that it was client since we weren’t interrupted.

Shooting Lia a small smile, I went out to greet them.

Sure enough, a customer lingered in the entrance. A guy in his late twenties. He was dressed in a suit, an expensive-looking suit at that, and he was tall and lean, his light-blond hair cut conservatively around his face. He looked like a preppy college kid, just a little older.

“Can I help you?” I forced a smile on my face and tried not to think about Lia, about what I’d just done. I’d save it. Think about it later when I had time myself.

“Not sure.” He frowned. “I’m looking for my fiancée.”

“Fiancée?”

“Yes. I went to her house and her cousin said she was in here. Getting a tattoo.” He frowned when he said tattoo, his lip curling up in something like disgust.

I shook my head. “Sorry. No one—”

“Declan?”

I looked up to see that Lia had come into the foyer, her hair all messed and face still flushed. She hovered by the door, but she wasn’t looking at me. She was looking at the preppy dude, the one who was looking for his fiancée.

Oh, shit, I realized too late, he was looking for Lia.