Surreal (Divine Trilogy #3) (27 page)

By the time Erin and Jayden got back to the room after their busy day of sightseeing, she was too tired for much else. She hadn't wanted to get dressed up and go back out again as they’d done every night of their stay thus far. Instead, she puppy-dog-eyed Jayden into running down to the local pub to pick up some dinner for them. After all, wasn't that what a honeymoon was all about? Getting to set their own schedule. Choosing what they wanted to do, not based on whether it was the correct time of day for the activity, but because their hearts—or stomachs—said it was.

Eating and relaxing in the room had been just what she needed, and she thought that, after she grabbed a shower, maybe they’d get a little frisky. The average daily temperatures weren’t reaching seventy degrees, but the day’s vigorous activity had kept her extra warm and sweaty. Even with the nice breeze they’d had while hiking around Bunratty Castle, the constant movement had worn her out, and now she had to peel out of her damp clothes. Humming to herself, Erin got the shower going while her thoughts drifted.

Despite the physical strains of the day’s adventure, the trip overall had been surreal. Visiting her
maimeo's
grave a few days ago and introducing Jayden—in spirit—to the special woman, the local cuisine, the rounds of marathon sex, being old enough to do some of the touristy things she’d never been allowed to do on her visit as a child . . . all of it had been just amazing. Never in a million years had she expected these things to happen, but once again, Jayden was making her dreams come true.

In a bedraggled trance, Erin puttered around, getting ready for bed with a sense that something special was going to happen—an unseen force trickled through her veins, while hope for a drama-free future bloomed. She leaned down to spit her toothpaste into the sink, and when she stood up, she jumped. Jayden had snuck in, so his reflection from behind her was startling.

She let out a half-laugh when he stepped into the small bathroom and pressed his chest to her back. His arms found their way around her, nice and snug and comforting. “Hello, beautiful. Are you going to hide in here all night, or can I get my wife fed and then tucked in all nice and cozy?”

“Mm.” Erin closed her eyes and reclined into his warmth. “I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be. Just let me finish up, and I’ll be right there, baby.”

Giving her a final squeeze, he moved away. “Don’t take too long, Missus. This old man needs his beauty sleep after chasing your young ass around today. That castle terrain was killer. Even you slipped.” He lifted her hand to kiss the jagged cut on her palm.

“Aw, poor baby,” Erin cooed back. “Thank you for humoring me and hiking all over the place. I thought the fertility stone would’ve been, I don’t know, something more than it was after all the buildup from the tour guides. I really expected something like the Blarney Stone, not a small chunk of rock in an alcove. And I don’t know what I tripped on. I was a step away and just wanted to take a closer look, but when I leaned over, it was almost like I got pushed. Guess I just lost my balance.” She shrugged.

“The scenery was almost as pretty as the company. Trust me, the pleasure was all mine,
A rúnsearc
.”

Tears welled in her eyes while she made a sound between a laugh and a cough. “Sorry.” Erin wiped at the wetness then cringed when the salty liquid burned the wound on her hand. “Silly hormones.”

“Shh, sweet girl. You don’t have to apologize. Holly warned us you might be . . . unstable, while the Depo works out of your system. Another month or two, and your cycles should be smoother.”

Cocking her head to the side, Erin was amazed at how lucky she was. “I know it shouldn’t anymore, but it still surprises me at how cool you are with . . . girl things. It squicks most guys out, yet you take it in stride.”

He chuckled. “I wouldn’t be much of a kinky freak if a little bit of menstrual blood got to me, now would I?”

Scrunching her nose in playful disgust, she pushed at his chest. “Go on with your freaky self, then. Golden showers are still a hard limit for me.”

With a boisterous laugh, Jayden raised his hands in surrender. “I’m going. Just hurry up because I don’t know how much longer I can keep the big guy awake.” He popped his hips forward, and her stomach clenched at the prominent bulge that now defined his crotch.

“Aye, sir, now get out of here before I wee myself.”

“You sure I can’t stay and watch?”

Erin laughed. “Jayden!”

“Okay, okay, I’m going. I’ll find us a movie to watch while we eat our apple chicken and tomato tartlets, but then I’m eating you.”

Christ on a cracker, the way he manipulated her when she least expected it. She was a lucky girl, indeed.

*~*~*

“Goodness, but I’m stuffed.”

“Not yet, but you will be,” Jayden retorted without missing a beat.

He was in quite the amorous mood tonight, she’d noticed. Everything out of his mouth was suggestive, and he was managing to take anything she said as an innuendo. While her cheeks hurt from laughing so much, despite having just watched
Braveheart
, Erin was having trouble keeping her eyes open now that her belly was full.

Jayden leapt from the bed in an exaggerated movement and puffed his bare chest out. “You can’t take my freedom to be horny!”

“Oh, my god, will you stop?” She tried not to grin at him, but as usual, failed.

He jumped back up on the bed, landing so that he had her pinned beneath him. “Never, my jewel,” he whispered and lowered his head to nuzzle at her neck.

It felt wonderful, so she didn’t fight the moan that crawled up her throat when he began suckling the skin below her ear, but turned her head to give him access. His hand moved up her thigh, gathering the edge of her cotton shift to drag it up with the motion. Large and warm, his hand found her breast and took up a gentle kneading that she felt throughout her whole body.

“Mm, Jayden, feels good . . .” she murmured, hoping to encourage him.

“Yes, you do.” Jayden’s lips had moved from her neck to tease her mouth, his breath hot and humid on her tongue.

Over the next several minutes, they worked to divest each other of the few clothes they’d worn to bed on the pretense of behaving. With each bit of skin he uncovered, he pressed his lips to the spot and kissed or bit gently, until she was naked and covered in goose bumps.

Sitting back on his heels, Jayden stared down at her lying below him. The look of pure wonder on his face made her feel like she was the most beautiful thing in his world. Under his intense look, all playfulness vanished from the atmosphere.

“Thank you, Erin.”

“Why are you thanking me?”

“I don’t know that I can put into words what having you come into my life has meant. Before meeting you, I never would’ve opened my home to a homeless pregnant woman. Written a check to set her up, yes, but invited her into my personal space? I don’t think so. I never would have thought myself capable of caring about someone other than, well, me. Not on that level.”

Erin scoffed, stunned.
Did he not realize what an amazing, caring, gracious man he was?

“
A rúnsearc
, you are anything but selfish. I’m here today because of you, Jayden. You helped me find myself again. You brought my da back into my life and made his life better, too, by doing so. For the first time since
maimeo
Caroline died, I have a real family again because yours accepted me, no questions asked. And that’s just the surface, baby. You are a good man, Jayden Masterson, and I’m the most fortunate woman alive to be able to call you mine.”

When he lowered his body to wedge himself between her parted legs, she welcomed him. Tears of pure joy trickled from the corners of her eyes while he drove forward, filling her, showing her, in the best way he knew, how much she meant to him. She could feel the totality of their union in the tense line of his back, the tight press of his cock stretching her and hitting deep within. His arms shook with the effort to hold his weight off her, but she reached up and pulled him down, whispering encouragement through words of love and devotion in the meager space between them. Lips biting, licking, kissing. Hands roaming, gripping, and squeezing. Hips grinding. Lost in ecstasy, the couple reached the pinnacle together, then jumped over into the abyss one after the other.

Trembling, he stopped the luscious roll of his pelvis against hers. Muscles rigid and tendons protruding, Jayden barely held his body off hers while the unmistakable heat of his come spilling inside drew a gasp from her as Erin cried out his name in blissful abandon. 

“I love you, Erin.”

“Lucky me.”

“Erin, wake up, sweet girl. We’ll be landing soon.” Jayden kissed her nose and inhaled her scent, a feeling of contentment swelling inside. He was relaxed, refreshed, and on cloud nine. His life was damn near perfect.

She blinked, and the green of her eyes still took his breath away when they were turned on him.

“Want to share what you’re thinking, baby?” Her voice was soft and sleepy, and her smile warm.

“That I can’t wait to get home with my wife by my side to start the rest of our forever.”

“Home.” Erin’s lips brushed his. “I like the sound of that. I’ll never forget this trip, Jayden. It was more than anything I could’ve dreamed, but I’m ready for our own bed.”

Jayden laughed. She had him there. “You, naked in our bed, does sound good.”

Erin rolled her eyes but laughed while she straightened and stretched as best she could. “I also miss Matthew and Natalie, of course. How big do you think he’s gotten in the three weeks we’ve been gone?”

He shrugged, not having a clue. “It’ll be good to see the little guy.”

Overhead, the pilot’s voice crackled out the usual spiel, welcoming them to Dallas, where the weather was sunny and mild with a chance of showers later that night. Jayden had sent the company jet back, so they were flying commercial home.

The next hour passed without event. They landed, got their luggage, and made their way out to the curb. Jayden had arranged for a hired car since they were returning on Micah’s day off, so when they found Landon and Paige waiting for them, he went on high alert. Erin didn’t seem alarmed, just excited as she rushed forward to hug her friend.

“Landon.” Jayden reached out to accept his friend’s extended hand. “What’s up?”

His friend chuckled. “Why would anything be up?”

Checking that Erin was wrapped up in eager chatter with Paige, he led Landon around the back end of the car to the trunk. In a lowered voice, he laid it out. “I know we’re close and all, but I doubt you missed us so much you had to see us the second we were back on Texas soil. So spill. What’s going on?”

“You always were too smart for your own good. Alright,” Landon drew in a breath, “Natalie—”

“Is Matthew okay?” A sensation like he’d been punched in the gut surged through Jayden. He recognized it, because it was always present where Erin was concerned: worry . . . and love.

Landon’s hands came up in a time-out gesture. “Matthew is fine. Jillian’s with him.”

“My mom? She was supposed to go home two weeks ago. Where’s Natalie?”

Now Landon’s gaze shifted down to where he toed at the asphalt with the point of his worn cowboy boot.

“Dammit, Landon. You’re freaking me out. What the fuck, dude?” Jayden’s stomach lurched up into his throat when his friend’s melancholy blue eyes looked up.

“She left, Jay.”

~*~

“What’s the matter, Mom? Out of practice?” Jayden teased. He couldn’t remember having ever seen her so frazzled. Usually she was the perfect Southern lady, coiffed and ready to host.

“Shut it, son. Keeping up with a baby is a lot harder at sixty-three than it was in my twenties. You should be thanking me for not interrupting y’all’s honeymoon.”

Matthew squawked then began fussing, gaining volume with each second.

“Here, Jillian, let me.” Erin took the little boy and brought his tiny body in against her chest. The crying stopped the moment he’d nuzzled into her.

An involuntary grin tugged at Jayden’s lips seeing Matthew’s chubby hand splayed possessively over Erin’s round breast. He could relate—her boobs were a very happy place. A few minutes later, the baby was asleep, and Erin took him upstairs to put him down in the bassinet.

Sparing a thought for it, he realized they would need to get a nursery set up pronto.
Maybe if they’d done that earlier, Natalie wouldn’t have left.
He didn’t know what to think of the situation. He’d thought that they’d made it clear over the past months that she and the baby were welcome to stay on at the Villa.

When Erin returned, baby monitor in hand, the small group moved to the living room. Paige joined them moments later with the tea and coffee service she’d prepared while Erin was seeing to Matthew.

“Okay, Mom. Start at the beginning. We left for Ireland, then what?”

“Everything seemed normal—for the first few days. Natalie came across as tired but attentive, like most new moms.”

“That’s understandable. Her delivery was more than she’d expected, even with the birth classes,” Erin said.

Jillian nodded. “So I did what any grandmother worth her salt would do. I told her I’d stay and help until you guys returned. Call it a gut feeling, but I sensed she shouldn’t be left alone, even though Dr. Ellison had given her the all-clear to resume regular physical activity. The look of relief on her face told me I’d done the right thing.” She paused to sip her coffee. “Over the next few days she withdrew, almost like—”

“She was distancing herself,” Landon interjected.

Erin shook her head and huffed. “I get being tired, but how could she abandon her son? Matthew is innocent!”

She’d slid to the edge of the couch, her body language suggesting she would be up and pacing next. Jayden laid his palm on her thigh to calm her. Of course this was unfathomable to his jewel. “Let’s hear them out, sweet girl.”

“That’s just it, Erin. Matthew is innocent in all of this, and Natalie understood that. I really believe it was her good heart that made her leave,” Jillian consoled in a soft, motherly tone. “Like I said, she pulled back once she knew I was staying. She went from keeping us company during bath time or feeding time to not showing up. If I went looking for her, I found her asleep in her room or just staring out the window. After two days of her refusing to use Matthew’s name, I called Landon. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“You did well, Mom. While I’m sorry you had to step up and handle this, I’m so very grateful that you were here to do so.”

“Of course, son. You know how much I love babies.” Jillian smiled. “Paige has been a godsend, too, helping me with Matthew while Landon sorted Natalie out.” She paused then grimaced. “Gosh, that sounds awful.”

A collective chuckle traveled the room.

“We get what you’re saying, Jillian. No worries.” Erin settled back into the couch, leaning against Jayden’s side. “Were you able to learn anything from her?”

“Short answer?” Landon looked around the room.

“For starters,” Jayden replied.

“Even though it kills her inside, she can’t bring herself to love that little boy.”

Erin’s hand went to her mouth, and she made a small choking noise. Jayden squeezed her thigh, a silent
I’ve got you
. “Okay, Landon, maybe a little more than the short answer.”

Landon stood, his hand rubbing his chin while he prepared to speak. “I’ll try to sum up what she shared in combination with what I determined from my visits with her.”

“Sounds good.”

“Natalie’s young. Who knows where she’d be right now if you hadn’t helped her that day outside the club,” Landon started.

Jillian shot him an inquisitive look, and Jayden explained. “It’s a place downtown where we sometimes go for an evening out, Mom. I happened to notice her hiding in the shade of the awning one day, looking rather distraught. Since I know the club owner, I brought Natalie inside. Ended up getting her a job.”

“Oh, Jayden. You make your momma proud.”

“He is pretty great,” Erin piped up.

“Enough, you two. Let Landon speak.” Jayden didn’t like all this attention on him. He’d just done what anyone would have if they’d been able.
What was the big deal?

“Anyway,” Landon resumed, “Her life wasn’t exactly stable. Meeting Poles was unfortunate for her but not anyone’s fault. We went over all this last year when we found out. Yes, he was a pig and an ass, but other than what you walked in on, he never broke any rules. All protocol was followed. That being said, Natalie still felt responsible. In her mind, she led him on and asked for what happened. She resents him, has nightmares about what he did to her, and deep down she believes she’ll always hold that against Matthew, in particular if he ends up looking anything like Dominick, which that red hair is suggesting he will.”

In a small whisper, Erin interrupted. “But he’s half of her, too.”

Jayden spoke up next. “And that’s why she left. I get it.”

“I guess. I just can’t imagine leaving a child of mine if I were able to have one someday.”

The room grew quiet while Jayden pulled Erin in for a hug.

“About that . . .” Landon cleared his throat. “Natalie didn’t just vanish in the night. She asked for my help in getting some things put in place before she left.”

Jayden glanced up. “Oh?”

“Everything is set for you guys to adopt Matthew. The paperwork just needs your signatures.”