I deepen the pleasure by sliding my mouth down lower, until he’s pressing against the back of my throat. My eyes water, but I can’t stop, the sounds of him groaning and grunting above me are enough to spur me on. I pull my mouth back, nipping at the end of his cock, and then I slide him in again.

“Goin’ to come, baby, fuck. If you don’t want me to come in your mouth, stop.”

I don’t stop. I don’t care. I want him. All of him. I suck harder until I feel him swell inside my mouth, and then he comes. I feel the first hot spurt of his release hit the back of my throat; I groan and swallow just as the second and third hit. Jackson bellows my name; his fingers are tight in my hair.

When he stops coming, I gently slip him from my mouth and peer up at him through the water. He smiles down at me, his eyes lazy, his body tight. While I’m down here, I run a finger along the tattoo on his cock. It’s an odd tattoo, a range of patterns, all black, running up and around his cock. Like some sort of tribal marking.

“When are you going to tell me about this?” I ask, sliding my finger along it.

“Come here,” he says, leaning down and pulling me up.

I let him, and I stand still as he rubs soap over my body and lathers it up. Then he pulls me out of the shower and wraps a towel around me. He still hasn’t answered the question, but when we get into his room, he finally turns and tells me about it.

“It’s a tribal marking.”

I nod. “I figured as much, why have you got it?”

“Well, my dad was part Cherokee, and I liked the tribal marking. It’s not something I wanted on my body for anyone to see, and so one night when I was young, drunk and stupid, I went and got it put there.”

I raise my brows. Firstly, because Jackson is part Cherokee, though that does explain the olive skin and that thick, long, dark hair. Secondly, because he got the tribal marking put on his penis. Isn’t that...I don’t know...disrespectful?

“Isn’t that kind of rude?” I ask, a little shocked.

He laughs softly. “No darlin’, it’s not. It’s a marking all the same, I was just stupid when I decided I wanted something different. It’s the marking of all the tribal men, so why not put it on what makes me the most manly?”

I giggle. “You have a whacked way of thinking.”

He winks at me. “I know.”

“So, when do you leave for the ride?” I pout.

He leans over, digging through a pile of clean clothes to find a pair of black jeans. He pulls them on, and shrugs at me. “In a few hours.”

“Will you be gone long?”

“Few days at most.”

I nod, and he gives me a cheeky smile. “Why, will you miss my cock?”

I go to laugh and tell him no, because I’ll have my period, when a cold feeling washes over me. My period...I should already have my period. I begin quickly adding up the days in my head.

“Hey, Serenity, you ok?”

I stare at Jackson, but I am barely focusing. Shit. Shit. I am late, I’m sure of it. Maybe only by a few days, but I’m late all the same...and I’m never late.

I begin calculating back to the time Jackson didn’t use a condom. Crap. Crap.

“Serenity?” Jackson says again.

“What?” I whisper, shaking my head.

“You ok?”

“Um, sure, yeah.”

“You’re lyin’ again.”

“Sorry, I was just having a bit of a panic about Janine...it’s ok.”

“You worried someone will come past when I’m not here?”

I nod ,biting my lip. Just add another lie to the pile, Serenity.

“Yeah, that’s all.”

He walks over, gripping my shoulders. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll send a few guys over to watch the house.”

I nod, unable to think.

“You want some breakfast?” he asks.

“Sure,” I whisper. “That would be great.”

He pulls some jeans on, and throws on a shirt before disappearing out the door. I turn and rush into my room, frantically looking for my phone so I can pull up the calendar.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

I turn when I see Janine coming in, her eyes relaxed. I stare over, and realize Ebony is in the bed, thankfully she’s still sound asleep.

“Shit, sorry, I forgot she was in here.”

Janine waves her hand. “It’s ok. What’s wrong?”

I feel my eyes welling with unshed tears. “I...I’m...I’m late.”

Janine’s eyes widen, and she rushes in. “What?” she gasps.

“Late, I don’t have my period. I’m late.”

“How late?”

“Three days, at least.”

“Oh god, Serenity! You haven’t used protection?”

I shake my head, letting those tears slide down my cheeks. “It was just once, he pulled out, but...”

Janine sighs, rubbing her head. “You know that’s not effective.”

“What am I going to do? This changes everything?”

“Ok,” she says, her voice strong. “We’re going to find out first, that’s what we’re going to do. If it is, we’ll work it out from there.”

“I need to find out Hogan’s plans, Janine. I have to know what he’s going to do, and I have to check in. We need a lie, a big one, to put him off the scent for a while so I have time to tell Jackson about all this.”