Page 22 of Redeemed

"Yeah," he admitted, chagrined. "I got that when Woody died. You remember that big old black lab we had." She nodded. "I loved that stupid ole dog. He was my best friend. I wanted to remember him."

He blew out a deep breath before continuing. "The rest of them are tribals I liked that brought together some of the others. They mostly represent things like strength and wisdom. Things I aspire to," he said, taking her roaming hand and placing a kiss to her palm.

"What about you?" he asked. "I didn't see any ink in my quick search. Do I need to be more thorough?" he asked as he raised the covers and ran his eyes up and down her body.

Sofia snatched the covers back down and blushed. "I have one, but it's tiny and you weren't in a position to see it," she admitted.

"Oh, yeah?" JT asked enthusiastically. "Now I have to see. Where is it?"

"It's nothing," Sofia insisted. "It was dumb. We got drunk at an end of year party in high school and got them."

"Who? Do they match? Now you have to show me," he said, trying to tickle her to get her to roll over. He knew it had to be on her hip or back. Maybe she got a tramp stamp and was embarrassed. They weren't usually his favorite but, suddenly, the thought of one on Sofia was hot.

Sofia bit her lip. She didn't want to ruin this moment and, based on his previous reaction, she was scared her answer would. Maybe if she showed it to him without making a big deal about it, he'd forget that she got it with someone else.

JT caught the look on her face. Something was definitely wrong. "I'm sure it's fine, baby. See this one?" He pointed to a thick band on the back of his shoulder. That's covering up a lapse in judgment," he said with a grin. "You show me yours and I'll tell you what I've got hidden under there. It'll be our secret."

Sofia let go of her lip and looked up at him in defeat. "Fine," she said, rolling over to her side. There on her right hip was Tweety Bird swinging in his cage.

He grinned and traced a finger over the yellow canary. "It's cute," he laughed. "Did your friend get the same thing?"

Damn! Now he'd find out who the 'friend' was. "Um, no," she admitted. "He got Sylvester the cat."

JT's finger froze on her hip. "He? He who?" he asked, all humor quickly leaving his voice.

Sofia hid her face in the pillow. "Jesse. He got Sylvester," she mumbled. "Like I said, it was stupid. We broke up the next week. It meant nothing."

He didn't speak but she felt his finger start tracing the lines of the cartoon again. Then she felt his lips on her hip. Her breath caught. "I've learned ink should always mean something, Sofia. Someday, we'll have to get this one fixed, so it means something, tous."

She looked over her shoulder in shock. She'd expected a blow up, or at least a really snarky comment but, nothing even close. When his mouth left her tattoo, he turned her over on her belly and his lips moved to the small of her back. Her gaze locked with his over her shoulder. His eyes more intense than she'd ever seen them. She wasn't sure how to react. All she knew was that he was leaving a trail of fire with licks, nips and slow kisses up her spine. His body loomed over hers until he reached her shoulders. Her breath started coming in pants when he drew her hair to the side and sucked the spot where her neck and shoulder met. She didn't know where the oxygen had suddenly gone.

He raised up on his knees behind her and fisted her hair in his hand. "I think I'm going to have to do something to remove all traces of that man from your mind. What do you think, Sofia?" he growled in her ear.

Sofia swallowed hard. "Yes, please," she whispered.

An almost feral smile grew across JT's face. His hand smacked one round globe of her ass. She jumped. "On your knees, darlin'," he commanded, that new, seductive smile never leaving his lips as he caressed the red print already showing on her skin. Sofia's lips twitched up and she did as he demanded.

Chapter twenty

Delicioso

Sofiawokeearlythenext morning with thin grey light peeking through the venetian blinds. She blinked and stretched, her deliciously sore muscles quickly bringing back memories of last night's activities. She smiled and reached across the bed to find…nothing. The sheets were cold and there was no sign of JT. Then, she used her nose. Bacon. He was in the kitchen. She should have known. He was used to getting up before the crack of dawn to get to the café for work. She padded to the bathroom and quickly brushed her hair and scrubbed her teeth with a finger and borrowed toothpaste. It wasn't ideal but would have to do. She found JT's t-shirt from the night before and slid it over her head. He was so much bigger than her that it fell to the middle of her thighs. She followed her nose to the kitchen.

Once she got to the doorway of the kitchen, she leaned on the door frame and thanked the universe for whoever had invented grey sweatpants. JT was standing at the stove with his back to her cooking. He wasn't naked as she'd teasingly wished for the night before, but he was close. His impressive back muscles that narrowed into a slim waist were on display over the thin sweatpants. She watched his hands as they turned bacon and flipped pancakes. Such benign domestic chores had now become a sensual temptation as she remembered what those same hands did to her body last night. She bit her lip and let out a shuddering sigh as she watched him. She must have been louder than she thought as he looked over his shoulder at the sound and met her eyes. His lips pulled into that wicked grin that she was coming to crave.

"Good mornin', darlin'," JT drawled when he saw her. "You hungry?"

"Uh, huh. Definitely," Sofia answered, looking him up and down.

He chuckled at her perusal. "I have to admit, I like that look you're giving me there, Sofia, but I think we should fuel up a little first."

Sofia tore her gaze away and laughed nervously. This man made her brazen. She was almost embarrassed at herself. Almost. "Probably a good idea," she agreed, taking a seat at the kitchen table, tucking the t-shirt under her thighs.

JT sat a plate of pancakes and bacon in front of her and nudged the maple syrup and butter her way. "At least Maggie left me a table and dishes," he said, putting his own plate in front of himself and taking the seat across from her. Sofia avoided his steady gaze and concentrated on putting butter and syrup on her pancakes. When she brought the first bite of the sweet dough to her lips, she looked up to find JT still staring at her. She tried to smile and chew at the same time.

"What?" she asked around the fluffy goodness.

"You're always so messy," he said, his lips curling up in a delectably seductive grin. His thumb reached out to swipe maple syrup off her full bottom lip. He brought his thumb to his mouth and his tongue swept the sweet liquid away. Sofia tried to swallow the pancake in her mouth. She reached blindly for her juice to help it down. She couldn't take her eyes off of him.Dios Mio. El es delicioso!