Page 131 of Leave a Mark
“Would that… be all right?” Lee watched her closely, his eyes cautious, but so hopeful they nearly made her heart spread out of her chest.
Kids. Wren never thought she’d be able to handle kids. Not that she didn’t want them. Just that she wouldn’t be fit for them. But she’d also believed that she wouldn’t be fit for love, and she was now realizing she was made to love Lee Hawthorne. No question about it.
So could she have his kids?
Of course she could. She could do anything with him. When the time was right.
“Yeah… you can teach the kids how to swim.”
Lee flipped her over again and kissed her with everything he had. The happiness coming off him only rivaled her own. They kissed until tears came to her eyes, and she laughed them away.
“I am very much looking forward to that,” Lee said, beaming. “In fact, I’m looking forward to every single day ahead, Wren Blanchard.”
She ran her fingers down his beautiful, soulful, loving face. “Thanks to you, Lee Hawthorne, so am I.”
EPILOGUE
One year later
“BE STILL,” WRENscolded, pulling her needle away and dabbing at his shoulder.
But how could he be still when she looked so amazing in that sleeveless dress? She was even more beautiful than yesterday. How was that possible? Lee tried to keep his left arm down and only graze her waist with his pinky when she got close enough. But her sexy new haircut drove him crazy. He couldn’t resist reaching up to touch her face as she leaned over him.
Lee dropped his right hand to his side. “Sorry.”
“Liar.” Wren rolled her eyes as she worked. “Can you go ten more minutes without moving? I’m almost done.”
“What are you doing, anyway? I can’t even see.” Lee craned his head, but she held up a gloved hand in front of his face.
“Nuh-uh. Not yet. No peeking.” She sprayed him with green soap, dabbed his skin again, and leaned forward.
He sighed. In the last year, he’d given her his body to do with as she pleased. Literally. He would have thought that the moment of transcendence he’d felt with the key could never be duplicated, but, in reality, every time she inked him, it was like a religious experience. Lee couldn’t get enough, and now he had a sleeve to prove it.
But he wanted the marks she left on him to be entirely her vision. How she chose to adorn him never failed to make him smile. From shoulder to wrist, he bore the gray-brown branches of a hawthorn tree, with its knotted bark, thorny twigs, and lobed leaves. But each twig and leaf — even each thorn — was individual. A lone ant marched along a twig. A pair of owl eyes glowed out of a hollow, and a caterpillar munched on one of the leaves.
And, of course, there were birds.
A pair of wrens perched high on his shoulder, side by side. Lee fucking loved them. He loved them so much that he’d changed half his wardrobe. If he wasn’t at the hospital — and it wasn’t outright freezing — he wore sleeveless tees.
The first time he’d done so at his parents’ house had been a surprise for them, but they’d handled it well. Once Barbara spotted the two birds, she’d grinned all afternoon. Neither Tom nor Barbara had been surprised a week later when Wren came over wearing his ring.
Lee looked down and could make out the outline of the engagement ring under her glove. It had taken some time, but in January he’d found the perfect one at an antique dealer’s on Royal Street in New Orleans.
His criteria? It had to be Edwardian. The cut had to be round, and he wanted a blue stone. Not an impossible mission, given the style of the period, but it still took him a couple of months to find the right one.
The white gold filigree, the engravings, and the accent stones along the crown were just as intricate and detailed as Wren’s own skin. The round-cut sapphire just as striking. Blue, because she’d told him it was her favorite color.
Of course, she hadn’t told him why until after he’d proposed.
“Because of your eyes,” she’d said, tearing up and clutching her newly ringed finger to her heart. “They’re the color of safety.”
She could always bring him to his knees, which, given how sweet she tasted, was fine with him.
Lee lifted a hand again to touch her, and his beloved fiancée shot him an evil look. “Don’t even think about it.”
He sighed again and tried to distract himself. “How was SafePlay?”
At his question, her mouth twitched with a smile. “It was cool. That little boy I told you about? Ashton? He let me draw with him today.”
