The Wandering Caravan (3 page)

I kissed her forehead. “You’re welcome. But you don’t have to work at all…”

“We already had this conversation a hundred times. I won’t change my mind. I don’t want to sit at home all day and wait for you to get off work. I’m not housewife material. And I love my job. That’s why I do it.”

When she complained about the long hours or the argument
s she had with her coworkers, I hoped she would just quit and stay home all day. I was learning that was never going to happen. If she wanted to work, I wouldn’t take that away from her. Sometimes I wished she loved being a telephone marketer instead.

“I’m proud of what I do. I just wish you were proud of me too.” I heard the sadness in her voice.

“Baby, that’s not how it is. I am proud of what you do. Really, I am.”

“It doesn’t seem like it…”

I grabbed her face and looked at her. “I just care about your safety. That’s all. I know you risk your life every day so others can live. You could get a disease or your patient could attack you. I’ve worked at the hospital long enough to see this first hand. It just cares me sometimes. But I am proud of what you do, and I know your patients appreciate you.” I rubbed my nose against hers. “I would love to have you as my nurse, especially for my sponge bath.”

She rolled her eyes. “Pervert.”

“Only for you.”

“I just don’t want you to pressure me to quit anymore.”

I sighed. “Okay. I won’t.”

“You promise?”

I hated promising things. There was no turning back. “Unless you’re pregnant. I don’t want you working then.”

“The whole time?” she asked incredulously.

“Yes.”

“I guess I can compromise with you on that.”

“Or if you get hurt.”

“I’m not going to get hurt,” she said firmly.

“Then that exemption shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Fine.”

“Then you have my word,” I said.

“Okay.” She stood up and headed to the bedroom. “I’m going to shower.”

I jumped to my feet and followed her. “We aren’t done yet.”

“What?” she asked when we wer
e in our bedroom.

I moved her to the bed then climbed on top of her. “My girl deserves a treat for working her ass o
ff all day.” I opened her legs then rubbed her clitoris with my tongue.

Her back automatically arched and she writhed on the bed, loving the feel of my tongue against her. “Cortland…”

I loved hearing that. I grabbed her hips and continued to kiss and suck the area she loved so much. Eventually, her legs were shaking for me. I ran my tongue up and down and brought her to the ledge, making her yell my name as she came.

When she was done, I crawled on top of her and kissed her. “I love hearing you come.”

“You just like hearing your name,” she said with a smile.

“Same thing,” I said with a cocky smile. I ran my fingers through her hair while I looked down at her, my whole world. “I love you.”

Her eyes softened. “I love you too.”

3

Ryan

I wasn’t scared to get married. Janice and I already were. We lived together, saw each other every day, and we never got tired of each other. A marriage license wouldn’t make any difference. I just hoped Janice wasn’t making a mistake.

She went to Brown and got a respectable degree. She had an impressive resume and came from a good family. They accepted me, but would they if she married me? Maybe they thought this was a fling and would burn out.

I was afraid I wasn’t good enough for her. I was a tattoo artist. Any time I told anyone what I did for a living, I was automatically judged. Personally, I didn’t give a shit what people thought of me. But I cared what Janice thought. She said it didn’t matter how I made my living. She loved me for me.

But what kind of role model would I be for my kids? Scarlet and Sean were the recipients of a huge corporation. Scarlet was a writer and an editor. My wife would be one too. And I would draw tattoos on people’s bodies. What would they think?

Maybe I was thinking about this too hard. I was scared Janice would realize she settled in her choice of a husband. And if she did, that would make all my fears real.

And my world would end.

Janice went to MegaShake because I was too distracting for her. I sat in the living room and stared at the blank TV. Whenever I was depressed like this, I usually talked to Scarlet. She could talk me down. But she was on her honeymoon. The last thing I wanted to do was bother her.

But
. like she could sense my pain even thousands of miles away, she called me. I smiled then answered it. “What do you want?”

“Hello to you too.”

“Have you guys gone out yet?”

“Yes, finally,” she said with sigh. “We went hiking to the waterfalls then had lunch. It was a long day.”

“I thought you were going to the aquarium?”

“We’re going tomorrow instead. Sean said they had weird hours or something.”

That sounded suspicious to me. I had a feeling Sean was planning a surprise for her. I was a good sport about it and kept the knowledge to myself.

“So, how are you?”

“Fine.” I don’t know why I bothered to lie to her.

“What’s wrong, Ryan?”

Damn, how did she do that? “I’m just…stressed out.”

“I know moving is scary but it’ll work out in the end. Your new shop will be up and running in no time.”

“No, that’s not what I’m worried about.”

“Tell me.”

“I’m going to propose to Janice soon.”

She screamed over the phone. “Oh my god! I’m so excited. When? Where? How?”

“Shut up and calm down.”

“How can I? My brother is getting married
.”

“Hopefully,” I said miserably.

“What are you worried about?”

I took a deep breath before I spoke. “I’m not good enough for her.”

“Ryan…that’s not true. No one thinks that.”

“I do.”

“Well, you need to knock it off. You’re the only who has a problem with the way you make a living. If Janice had a problem with it, she wouldn’t have dated you to begin with. And she certainly wouldn’t have moved all the way to Seattle to be with you.”

“Maybe
it doesn’t bother her now. But what about when we have kids? Will that change?”

“Ryan, it will never change,” she said firmly.

“What will my kids say when people ask them what I do for a living?”

“The truth,” she said quickly. “And what’s wrong with inking for a living? You love it, right?”

“You weren’t always so supportive,” I jabbed.

Scarlet held her silence for a moment. “Only because I thought you didn’t reach your full potential. After I saw how passionate you were, I knew it was the perfect match for you. I’m very proud of you, Ryan.”

“You’re always proud of me,” I said quietly.

“Because you make me, Ryan.”

I didn’t have anything to say so I fell silent.

“You’re the only one who has a problem with this. You need to come to terms with it and move on. If Janice wanted you to change professions, she would have said something.”

“I’ve bought every book if she’s ever edited and have it on my bookshelf at the shop.” I never told Janice that. I didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable. “Because I’m proud of what she does. There are dozens of books in the world that she helped make into perfection. It’s an accomplishment to be proud of.”

“And you mark people’s bodies, and they carry those markings for the rest of their lives. They mean something to them. And that’s a big accomplishment too.”

“In a twisted way,” I said.

“Ryan, I can have this argument with you over and over, but it’s not going to help. You need to talk to Janice and ask how she feels. I’m sure that will make you feel better.”

“Maybe,” I said non-committedly. The front door opened and Janice came inside. She put her bag on the counter then hung her keys on the rack. “Scar, I gotta go. My lady is home.”

“Talk to her.”

“Okay.”

“Bye.”

I hung up and dropped my phone on the couch. “How was work?”

“My coworker
is lazy as hell so I’m picking up her slack,” she said with a smile.

“That bitch.”

She sat on my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck. “I know. I hate her.”

“Me too.”

She laughed. “It was fine. It’s hard not to eat when I’m there. If I did, I’d be obese.”

“We don’t want you to look like my sister.”

She hit my shoulder lightly. “Be nice to her.”

“It’s my sole purpose in life to pick on her.”

“Poor Scarlet.”

I rubbed her back while she sat on me. When she came home, we usually got right down to business but I wasn’t in the mood. Janice picked up on my melancholy.

“Babe, what’s wrong?”

“I’ve just been thinking…”

“That’s a first,” she teased.

I smiled even though I didn’t want to.

“Tell me,” she said with a serious voice.

“Now that we’re moving, it’s made me think of the future…”

“Yeah.”

“Are you sure you want to be with me?”

Her eyes widened while she looked at me. “Where did this come from? Of course I do, Ryan. What did I do to make you question that?”

“I didn’t mean now. I meant in the long term, with marriage and kids.”

“You know how I feel about that. I want you for the rest of my life, Ryan.”

“Even though I ink for a living?”

She gave me a serious look. “You could be a garbage man and I’d love you just the same.”

“Even if we had kids?”

She stared at me for a long time. “The reason I’m so attracted to you is because you’re so confident in yourself. You never care what other people think of you, and you stand up for what you believe in. You’ve never been ashamed of who you were or where you came from. And I loved that. I don’t understand where this hesitation is coming from. I’ve always been supportive of your career. Please stop putting yourself down.”

“I just want to make sure I’m the man you deserve.”

“You’re more than what I deserve.” She kissed me on the cheek and pressed her forehead against mine. “Stop thinking like that, okay?”

“You’re really okay with it?”

“I’m okay with anything you do.”

“Okay.”

“Are we done with that?”

I nodded.

“Because I’m horny and need you to fuck me.”

“Whoa…that was romantic,” I said with a laugh.

“I don’t always feel like being romantic.”

“Apparently not.”

She unbuttoned my jeans then pulled off my shirt. “Now get to work.”

“You’re such a slut.”

“You’re one to talk.” She pulled off her scarf and her shirt. When I saw her tits, I forgot about the conversation we were having. I pulled her jeans off then dragged her hips to me. Too anxious to wait for me, she pulled her thong off then grabbed my hips. She dragged me to her, wanting to feel me inside her.

When it came to sex, she could be bossy. But I liked that. She told me what she wanted and how she wanted it. And I always delivered. As soon as I was inside her, her body molded to mine. It stretched fo
r me, letting me move inside her.

Janice gripped my back and moved underneath me, timing
herself with my pace. She wasn’t kidding. She really wanted to fuck. I moved faster and felt the threshold of my orgasm. I kept it back until she was ready to explode.

“Ryan…” Her head rolled back and her mouth opened. “Ryan.”

I knew she was coming and I pounded into her harder, giving her as much pleasure as possible. When she was finished, she breathed heavily, still gripping me like she never wanted to let go. Unable to hold on a second longer, I crumbled and released myself inside her like I already had a hundred times. Every time I did, it felt right.

When we caught our breath, I looked down at her, seeing the glow of her face. “I think you don’t care what I do for a living because I give you good sex.”

“You caught me,” she said with a smile. “Just keep it up and I’ll never go anywhere.”

“I can live with that.”

4

Sean

“Ryan seems to think inking for a living isn’t respectable,” Scarlet said from her side of the jeep. She thought we were going to dinner but we were going somewhere else. It was a surprise.

“Why does he think that?”

“I have no idea. And I’m certain Janice has never made him feel bad about it. It’s all in his head.”

“I’m sure Janice will tell him it doesn’t matter to her.”

“I hope so.” Her hair was flying in the wind but she didn’t mind. Her hair always looked nice no matter what she did. She was a moving portrait, always looking perfect. “Where are we eating?”

“I can’t remember the name.”

“What do they have there?”

“I didn’t memorize the menu.”

She rolled her eyes. “Smartass…”

I grabbed her hand
and squeezed it. “I’m a smartass because I love you.”

“That makes no sense but I’m not going to fight it.”

“Good. You’re learning.”

She glared at me. “You’re lucky I love you.”

“I couldn’t agree more with that.”

We arrived at the building and pulled into the empty parking lot. There was one other car, a door-less Jeep.

“Sean, what are you doing?”

I got out then came to her door. I opened it and helped her down. “There’s something I want to show you.”

She looked at the building then her eyes flashed open. “The aquarium?”

“I arranged a private tour after hours. Now there will be no crowds.”

Her eyes softened when she looked at me. “You’re so sweet…”

“Now we can have sex at the same time. Works out for both of us.”

She rolled her eyes. “I take that back.”

I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed her forehead. “You know I’m kidding. Come on.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her to the entrance. It was locked so we knocked and waited for a moment. The girl I spoke to on the phone seemed nice. If she said she would be here, I knew she would.

The door opened, and a small brunette came outside. “Hi, you must be Sean.” She extended her hand and shook mine. “I’m Sydney.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said politely. “And thank you for letting us come after hours.”

“Well, when you said you were on your honeymoon I couldn’t say no.” She smiled then looked at Scarlet. “You must be Mrs. Prescott.”

Scarlet shook her hand.
“This is such a sweet surprise.”

“Your husband was very insistent,” Sydney said.

Scarlet looked at me. “I know how that is.”

“Come in,” Sydney said. She opened the doors wider and let us
enter.

When we came further inside, I saw a man standing a few feet behind Sydney. His forearms were covered in tattoos.
His body was thick with muscles like mine, and he looked like someone you didn’t want to mess with.

“This is my husband,” Sydney explained. “Coen.”

Coen shook my hand. “Hey.”

“Hey,” I said. “This is my wife, Scarlet.” I loved saying that word.
Wife
.

Scarlet shook his hand. “Are you two newlyweds too?”

Sydney beamed. “We’ve been married for almost a year.”

“Congratulations,” Scarlet said. “That’s wonderful.”

“When I told him I was going to be alone with two strangers, he was insistent on coming.” She rolled her eyes. “So don’t mind him.”

I looked back at Coen. “He’s a good man.”

“Most of the time,” Sydney said.

Coen hooked his arm around her
waist. “I’m just looking out for my wife. You can’t hate me for that.”

“I could never hate you for anything.”

“I like him,” I said. “He’s more than welcome.” I grabbed Scarlet’s hand and pulled her inside.

“I’ll trail behind you if you need anything,” Sydney said. “But I can’t leave you alone. I’m sorry.”

“That’s fine,” Scarlet said.

I led her to the fish tanks and we looked
at specimens swim through the water. An eel was hidden in the rocks, and I pointed it out to Scarlet. She was fascinated by the life behind the glass. She watched everything, her eyes never blinking.

When we got to the jellyfish exhibit, she was more impressed. “I wish I could electrocute people.”

I eyed her then stepped away. “I don’t.”

She wrapped her arms around me then squeezed me tight. “Why? Would you be scared?”

“Do you want me to be scared?” I asked with a laugh.

“A little,” she said with a smirk.

“I’d be terrified.”

She kissed me gently. “As long as you’re nice to me, I’ll never sting you.”

“I’ll have to always be on my best behavior, then.”

“You should be anyway,” she countered.

We arrived at the seastar exhibit. The tanks were short and you could stick you hand in the water. Scarlet dived right in without thinking twice. She touched the top of the starfish and felt the bumps along the surface. She eyed the stingrays then felt their fins.

“So beautiful.”

I stared at the joy on her face and felt my own grow. I loved seeing how happy she was. I wanted to make her look that way every day. I’d do anything to make it happen.

When we came to the shark tank, she pressed her nose against the glass and watched them glide through the water. Coen and Sydney stayed behind us and gave us our space, but I heard them whisper to one another. When I glanced behind me, I saw Coen rub his nose against hers. Sydney’s hand was tight around his forearm, where a green seahorse was featured.

I turned back and looked Scarlet again. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“It makes me wonder what else lives in the ocean.”

“I think that’s a question that will always be unanswered.”

“Maybe that’s for the best,” she whispered.

Sydney came beside us, Coen’s arm still wrapped around her. “Would you like to meet my friend Rose?”

“Who’s Rose?” I asked.

“She’s a dolphin,” Sydney said. “And she’s pretty cool.”

“I would love to,” Scarlet said with wide eyes.

“Come on,” Sydney said.

She led us to the back of the aquarium where a pool stood. We gathered around the edge and looked into the water. Sydney clapped the water ten times then the dolphin appeared. She was immediately talkative and playful. She rested her chin on Sydney’s thigh and squeaked.

“This is Rose,” Sydney said. “We’ve been friends since I started working here.”

“Wow,” Scarlet said. “That’s so amazing.”

“Tap the water and she’ll come to you,” Sydney said.

Scarlet did as she asked and the dolphin swam to her. Her eyes lit up as she stroked her hand against the dolphin’s head. Scarlet’s dress was getting wet but she didn’t seem to care. I loved watched her pet the dolphin. I could do it all day.

We stayed by the pool for half an hour before Sydney fed the dolphin and stood up. “We should let her rest now.”

I helped Scarlet to her feet then guided her back to the entrance. Scarlet wrapped her arms around my waist and held me tightly. “Thank you so much for taking me here.”

I kissed her forehead. “You’re welcome.”

“It’s nice to be out of the hotel.”

“And I can’t wait to go back,” I whispered.

“Do you think about anything else?”

“No. Have you seen you?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m nothing special.”

“Ha. My cock says otherwise.”

We wa
lked out the door and Sydney locked it behind us.

“Thanks for showing us around,” I said.

“Of course,” she said with a smile. “How long are you here for?”

“A few days,” Scarlet said.

“Would you like to get tacos with us tomorrow?” Sydney asked. “It’ll be fun.”

“Sure,” Scarlet said. “What time?”

“Seven.”

“We’ll be there,” I said.

“Good night,” Coen said as he pulled Sydney to their car.

“Night,” I said.

On the drive to the hotel, Scarlet kept talking about how much she loved the aquarium and how much she loved Sydney and Coen.

“We barely talked to them.”

“But they were so cute. You can tell they are newlyweds.”

“Because they told us,” I said.

“I wish we were cute like that.” She looked out the window.

I grabbed her hand. “We are cute. I’ll show you when we get home.”

“We’ll see…”

“We will,” I said firmly.

When we walked inside, she opened one of my drawers and pulled out a t-shirt. She removed her clothes except her underwear then put it on. She was playing hard to get, but I wasn’t easily swayed. She had no idea wearing my t-shirt was the biggest turn on of all. It was better than sexy lingerie—because it made her mine.

She got into bed then lay under the covers.

“Tired?” I asked as I undressed and came beside her.

“Yeah,” she said with a sigh. “Too much fun for the day.”

When I was naked, I lay beside her, my erection announcing my thoughts. My hand moved to the area between her legs. “You want to take a break? You’re probably sore. We’ve never had sex this much.”

“No, I’m okay.”

“Are you sure?” I asked as I kissed her neck. “We don’t have to do if you don’t want to.”

She pushed me off then moved on top of me. “No. You deserve something special for being such a wonderful husband.”

“I like where this is going…”

She pulled her underwear over then aimed my tip at her entrance. The fact she didn’t even take them off was a turn on. Like she could read my mind, she pulled off her top and revealed her breasts. She knew how much I loved to stare at them. Her brown hair hung around her shoulders, framing her perfect face. Her mouth was slightly open, and I could spot her small teeth. The wedding bands she wore felt cool against my skin when she touched me. I never allowed her to take them off. I put them there for a reason.

I grabbed her hips and waited to slide inside her.

“No. No touching.” She pulled my hands away and placed them on the bed.

I growled.

“Just sit back and enjoy.”

“I love touching you.”

“Pretend you can’t.”

I growled again.

She slid me inside her then moved up and down. She arched her back then rocked into me, taking control. The bed stared to thud against the wall. Since we had a villa, we didn’t have any neighbors. And I liked it that way. I didn’t want some guy beating off while he listened to her sex noises.

Scarlet dug her nails into my stomach while she shoved me deep inside her. She was wet and tight. Every thrust made my cock twitch in preparation for an amazing orgasm. Keeping my hands to myself was an effort. I wanted to touch her everywhere, grab the tits that were bouncing in my face.

“So beautiful,” I whispered.

“Mmm…”

She was enjoying it more than I was. Scarlet was amazing in bed. She was better than all my other partners. She knew when to be aggressive and when to let me fuck her brains out. She was sexy without even trying.

I knew she was going to come soon. It was hard for me to hold myself back. A gorgeous woman was riding me and thoroughly enjoying it. And the fact she was my wife made me want to blow my load. I grabbed my phone from the nightstand then started to record her.

She saw what I was doing but didn’t stop me.
I knew she trusted me. I would never share this with anyone. I wouldn’t want another man to see the sight anyway. It was for my eyes only.

Scarlet started m
oaning loudly, gripping me tightly. Her pussy tightened around my cock, telling me she was having an intense orgasm. She moved harder, her voice being high and loud. I recorded her the entire time, knowing exactly what I would with it later.

My hand shook as my orgasm started in my balls. It exploded through my shaft then burned me on the way out. I filled my wife with my seed, loving every second of it. Scarlet moved faster, making my orgasm last as long as possible.

When I finished, I put the phone down and she pulled me out of her. It suddenly felt cold. She pulled my shirt back on and lay beside me, snuggling against my chest. We took the position we always did when we went to sleep. I couldn’t imagine not having her by my side. I loved her so much, and words could never describe it. I kissed her forehead then held her tightly. I wanted to tell her I loved her but there was no need. She knew.

“What are you going to do with that video?” she asked.

“Beat off to it when I’m at work.”

She shook her head. “You’re taking over a company and that’s what you’re preparing for?”

“When I’m at work all day, I’m going to miss you. At least this way I can still be with you.”