Jay (Castle Ink Book 2)

by Amy Davies

  “He’s fine, Mrs. Jones. Is it just a wash and trim?” I say, still kneeling on the floor.

  “Yes, please, Cassie. We have family coming down this weekend and I want him looking and smelling his best.” She hands me the lead and walks out.

  “I’ll text when he’s ready for pick up,” I yell after her. I shrug my shoulders and climb to my feet, pulling Dougie along with me to the bathing area. It’s like one big wet room. My father designed it for me. I start the shower and hook Dougie up, so that he doesn't run off. He’s a very temperamental boy. I pick up the shower head and start to wet his fur down, and lucky for me, he just sits there. For now. I add some shampoo to his fur and lather him up until bubbles are covering his fur and he looks like a giant fluffball. A bark comes from the front of the salon, and Dougie goes mental. He starts barking and jumping around in the tub.

  “STOP, Dougie. Quiet down.” I try to calm him down but it doesn’t work. A bark comes again, and I know that bark. My heart starts to race because I know who is out in the reception area. Well, I thought I did.

  “Hello? Cassie?” comes a familiar voice. A deep voice I never thought I would hear today. The type of voice that makes women go weak at the knees. I bet knickers get wet listening to him speak. Holy heaven of Thor. Jay has brought in Deuce for his appointment, not Dex or Addy. Why me? I try to control Dougie, but he’s having none of it. He starts shaking his body and water and bubbles fly everywhere, soaking my clothes. I unhook his leash and try to grip him to calm him down. Dougie likes big hugs, so I’m praying this works. But nope. He shakes, and his fur ripples with the movement. Dougie jumps from the bath and I manage to catch him, but my foot slips on the water and we both tumble to the floor. I rise to a seated position and pull Dougie to me by his collar. I scruff up his face and pull his nose close to mine.

  “I knew you were going to be trouble today, boyo,” I say to the soggy dog. He licks my face in response. “Yeah, kisses won’t work on me, bud.” I don’t move until I hear a throat being cleared from the door. My head snaps in the direction of the noise, and at the sight of Jay leaning against the door frame, my breath catches. Deuce is at his side, looking like the bad-arse dog he is. Gently pushing Dougie away, I go to stand, but me being the clumsy self that I am, I manage to slip and fall back onto my bum. Jay bursts out laughing but comes to my rescue.

  His feet come into my view and I drag my gaze up his body. He’s wearing tanned boots that are halfway laced up, dark blue jeans and a black t-shirt, under a black leather bomber style jacket. Damn, he looks good. My lady bits tingle at the sight before me. This man really should be on the front cover of a men's fashion magazine. Women would swoon over him and then beg at his feet for him to take them to bed and ravish them. Hell, I want that. And yes, I am willing to beg.

  I squeeze my thighs together and my face heats up at my thoughts. My gaze lands on Jay’s face and I notice his crooked smile. Damn it, does he know the thoughts running through my head?

  “Thoughts… No. But I saw the way your thighs just clenched. I have an idea.” He winks at me and I pray to the Gods of Asgard that they open up the ground for it to swallow me up. I need to learn to not speak my thoughts out loud. I close my eyes and bury my head in my hands, taking deep breaths, trying to calm my erratic heartbeat. I feel a wet nose touch my bare arm, and I keep my head bent and covered from Jay, but twist to see big brown eyes staring at me. Yeah, Dougie has the whole puppy-dog eyes down to a T. I chuckle at him and a give him a quick hug.

  “Cass.” Hearing my name come from his lips causes my body to rack with shivers, and my nipples to tighten beneath my t-shirt. I’m wearing my white – yes, white - Star Wars t-shirt. It has an Ewok on it with the caption ‘Ewoks are my spirit animal’. My mum bought it for me. I look up at Jay again and see that he has his hand held out for me, ready to help me up. I take his outstretched hand and climb to my feet. Our eyes lock, and I feel like the breath has been stolen from my lungs. How can he affect me like this?

  “Thank you,” I manage to force out.

  “You’re welcome. Nice shirt.” He nods at my t-shirt. I smile at the thought that he likes Star Wars, but as my gaze drops to my chest, I see there is another reason for his appreciation. A gasp leaves my throat as I bring my hands up to cover my boobs. Thanks to Dougie, my white t-shirt is now see-through. Wet t-shirt competition anyone? My black lace bra shines like a beacon through the material. Bugger. I drop my gaze to Dougie, who’s just sitting there with a ‘butter-wouldn’t-melt’ look on his furry face.

  “You planned this, didn’t you, Dougie?” I say to the dog. Of course, he didn’t, but I never tell a dog ‘bad dog’ or ‘naughty dog’. Jay chuckles again, and it’s like melted chocolate. Mmmm, Creme Egg.

  “We were in cahoots, weren’t we, Dougie?” Jay mused, while crouching down to scratch behind Dougie’s ears. The dog laps up the attention. Deuce is a mummy’s boy — Addy spoils him rotten — and he doesn't like to be ignored. He barks and I walk over to him, giving him the attention he craves.

  “I know you boys stick together, but this is crazy. I need more women in my life,” I joke. Jay’s smile slips from his face and his eyes darken — in lust not anger. Oh shit. I bet he’s picturing me and other women together in bed. Typical man.

  “Damn, babe, you really shouldn’t say shit like that.”

  “Say what?” I tease, acting innocent. I’m no virgin, but I know nothing about flirting, I tend to be me. If they don’t like it, then they can take a hike.

  “Kitten,” he growls out. Damn, that’s hot. My thighs clench on their own accord and Jay groans under his breath. Goosebumps cover my cooling skin, and I’m pretty sure it’s because of this man standing in front me. Jay Castle. The sexy man, that is built like a God and is covered in tattoos. Our gazes remain locked, both of us breathing pretty heavy. I know my boobs are rising and falling, but Jay keeps his eyes locked on mine. Brownie points for him. Dougie barks once, breaking our lustful stares. I look down at him and laugh out loud. His still has shampoo in his fur. I shake my head and grip his collar before pulling him back over to the bath. I lift him in and start the water back up. Once I’ve rinsed him off, I turn to look at Jay and Deuce.

  “Are you leaving him here?” I nod to the dog at his feet.

  “Well, I was going to, but after seeing what Dougie has just done to you, I’m gonna stay.” He winks at me and my face heats up again. Bollocks. I try to ignore the fact that Jay is still standing in the room while I finish up Dougie. I pull down the ramp and tap the top so Dougie knows to walk up onto the table. I brush him down and start to trim his curly fur. He wasn’t that bushy coming in, but I know Mrs. Jones likes him to be perfect. I lose myself in the treatment; I always do. Suddenly, Dougie lets out a bark, startling me. My head snaps up and I see Mrs. Jones standing next to Jay. Her big, fake boobs are practically reaching out and rubbing themselves all over his face.

  “Mrs. Jones?”

  “Hi, Cassie. I was driving past and thought I would come in and see if my baby boy was ready. I know his fur didn’t need that much of a trim,” she says, while turning to face Jay, offering him a smile.

  “Umm, he’ll be ready soon. I just need to give him a blow dry. Give me twenty-thirty minutes and he’ll be good to go.” Her face lights up, and she turns to Jay. He gives her a polite smile in return.

  “That’s perfect, this hottie can keep me company in the waiting room. Come on.” She doesn’t wait for him to reply as she tugs on his arm and pulls him from the room. Jay twists his body to look at me while being dragged through the door. He mouths ‘help me’ as his head passes the door frame. I stifle my giggle and turn back to Dougie.

  Nearly thirty minutes later, and Dougie is finished. He’s looking rather spiffy, if I do say so myself. I help him down off the table and we walk into the waiting area where Mrs. Jones is entertaining Jay by showing her photos on her phone. I dread to think what photos they are by the look on his face. Poor bloke. I need to save him. Or do I? I
chuckle and his head snaps up, a clear look of relief passing over his face.

  “Here you go, Mrs. Jones. The boy is looking dapper and ready for the family this weekend.” I walk closer and hand over the lead.

  “Oh, my baby, you look fabulous. Thank you, Cassie. And Jay, thank you for keeping me company. I’ll most definitely pop into Castle Ink to get some work done.” She winks at Jay and walks out the door. I turn back to Jay who’s standing with his legs parted and his arms crossed over his chest. His leather jacket straining against his biceps. Damn it.

  “Hi,” I say.

  “You already said that.”

  “So, how bad was it?”

  “Let’s just say that you, Cassie Dawson, now owe me date. Like a full-fledged date. I’m talking dinner, and a movie, and a long walk somewhere. The whole romantic nine yards. The word ‘no’ is not allowed to come out of that pretty mouth of yours. Or anything remotely in the region of the word ‘no’, so no smartass answers.” I nod my head, as my heart races.

  “Good girl. Now get this boy cleaned up, even though I know he needs bugger all done. My brother used him as an excuse for me to come and see you. You bolted for no reason, Kitten. I would have said yes.” He smirks at me. I take Deuce’s lead from his hand and turn to leave. But Jay calls my name.

  “Cass.” I turn to face him. “Call me when you’re bathing him, I want wanna see you wet again before our date.” He winks at me. Bloody hell, Jay Castle is going to make my lady parts Hulk out if he keeps up with these words.

  jay

  I chuckle and turn to walk back into the waiting area. Cassie got my dick hard when I saw her tee was soaked through. I wanted to go out and buy Dougie the biggest motherfucking bone I could for getting her soaked. The tee stuck to her like a second skin, showing me the outline of her perfect tits. I reach down and push down on my dick, forcing him to be a little patient with me. I don’t want to jump straight into things with Cassie. My head is still a little fucked since Rachel, even though she doesn’t deserve a second of my thoughts. I want to take it slow with Cass, get to know her. Find out what makes her tick. See what films she likes to watch. Maybe what sounds she makes when she comes. Fuck, where the hell did that come from?

  I shake my head and pull out my phone. I shoot a text off to Dex to tell him that I’m staying here while Cassie deals with Deuce. Once I’ve done that, I open up Facebook and have a quick look, but there’s nothing new. I click on Castle Ink’s page and see if we’ve had any new traffic on there. We recently hit twenty thousand likes. We always post new designs on there - well, Addy does, anyway. She’s our media manager - her chosen title, not ours. Dex lets her have what she wants because she’ll withhold sex from him otherwise, and he hates having blue balls when he has a perfectly good woman at home. I reply to a few comments before closing the app down and opening up a game app that Connie got me addicted to. Some colour jump game. I get totally lost in the game all the time.

  “Fucking hell, mutt, get off me. Damn Addy for spoiling you.” Cassie chuckles from the door, and the sound goes straight to my dick. I push the big-arse dog off and stand up. Cassie is smiling at me, and I swear a blush creeps up over her cheeks when our gaze meets. I wink at her and walk in her direction. Stopping in front of her, I lift my hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her small ear. Girls like that, right? A shiver rips through Cassie’s body and her nipples poke through her now semi-dry t-shirt. A groan escapes my throat at the sight. Fucking hell. I know I should take a step back but my feet don’t seem to want to work, they must be teaming up with my dick. Fuckers.

  “Jay.” Her voice sounds breathy, and her chest is heaving, making her breasts go up and down. I lift my gaze to hers and see the lust in her eyes, but also uncertainty.

  “Yeah,” I answer.

  “Umm, Deuce is finished. Not that he needed a lot of work done, as you know, but he’s finished anyway. But… yeah, he’s looking rather dapper like usual. Aren’t you, big boy, huh?” Cassie drops to her knees and makes a fuss of Deuce.

  FUCK. ME.

  What a sight. Cassie Dawson on her knees at my feet. My dick pulses behind the zip on my jeans, he’ll have zip teeth marks on him, I’m sure of it. She moves her head closer to his and gives him a little hug, which effectively moves her head closer to me. I groan from the closeness and Cassie’s head snaps up. Her cheeks burn bright red when she drops her gaze to my dick bulging in my jeans. She licks her lips and jumps to her feet. Her eyes are wide with shock at what she just saw, but there’s lust there that tells me she also liked it.

  “Damn, Cass,” I moan out. Our gaze locks, and I swear I can hear her heartbeat, even though I know it’s impossible, but fuck, I swear by it. Cassie bites her bottom lip and I snap. There’s only so much a man like me can take when a sexy as fuck woman is standing in front of him. I move in and take her mouth. I kiss her hard, expecting her to push me away, but she pulls me to her, kissing me back with just as much need. Our tongues meet and tease each other. My hands move to her arse, holding her tight to me, scared she’ll step back and end our first kiss. Cassie wraps her arms around my back and up under my arms, coming to rest on my shoulder blades.

  I tighten my grip on her firm arse, her running has done her body good. She moans into my mouth and my dick reacts to the sound. I have no fucking doubt that she can feel my erection against her stomach. I slide one hand up her back, leaning into the kiss, making her bend backwards. Her hands dig into my shoulder blades, leaving her mark. That thought makes me kiss her harder, bruising her lips. Making sure she knows damn well who has kissed her.

  “Go out with me,” I say when I end the kiss. Not that I wanted to, but we kinda needed to breathe. “Go. Out. With. Me, Kitten,” I repeat. Cassie frowns at first, like she’s thinking over her decision. Clearly this girl likes to think things through, she’s a planner.

  “Okay,” comes a whisper from her delectable mouth.

  “We’ll go slow. The last girl I was with fucked my head up a little because we rushed into everything. I’ll tell you everything, soon. But one day at a time, yeah?” She looks shocked that I just told her a little about Rachel.

  “Most guys don’t talk about their feelings, Jay.”

  “I am not most blokes, Kitten.” I wink at her and she chuckles.

  “Why do you call me ‘Kitten’?” I smile wide at her and clasp her hand in mind. I turn over her hand and show her the paw print tattoos that she has on the inside of her right wrist. She laughs and nods her head.

  “Fair enough. Maybe I should think of a nickname for you.” I laugh and explain my nickname.

  “Addy calls me ‘Captain Awesome’, I have the mug and all. I’m proper legit.” I wink at her. Cassie pulls out of my arms and walks into the back room without another word. What the fuck? What did I say that would piss her off? I look down at Deuce and he just tilts his head in confusion. Yeah, I am right there with you, bud. A few seconds later, Cassie comes back into the room with her iPhone in hand. I offer her a smile, but I know it looks forced, she frowns at my attempt and takes the look the wrong way.

  “What's wrong? Are you regretting asking me out? That's fine, Jay. I get it, you are hot and you just realised that you don't want to go out with the nerdy dog groomer. I am a big girl. I don’t need a man. I had better go and get things ready out back before the next appoint-”

  “Shut up, Kitten.” I growl out. “Did I fucking say I wanted to back out? Bloody hell, woman, stop the yammering.” I chuckle. She is one nervous nelly.

  “Sorry,” she mutters. "I'm overthinking, sorry I walked out. I let my mind run away with me sometimes." I step closer and take her face in my hands. Her breath catches as I kiss her again, taking her moans into my mouth. I tilt my head and deepen the kiss, savouring her taste. This kiss will stay with me until I can get more of her, taste more of her.

  “Oh, wow,” comes a male voice from behind me. Cassie tries to pull away but I keep her against my body. She leans to the side to see who just came in. A bas
hful smile covers her face and she looks back at me. I turn my head to see the person, and there stands a fairly good-looking bloke. His smile fills his face as he steps forward.

  “So, what’s going on here, then?” He folds his arms and leans on the reception desk, right beside Cassie and me.

  “Well, mate, if you have no clue what we’re doing, then the girls you’ve been kissing over the years have taught you shit all,” I answer him. He laughs and shakes his head at me, and I frown. Cassie steps away from me, and I let her this time. She steps to the lad and smiles at him.

  “How’s Steph? Did you sort her car out?” The guy looks from me to Kitten and smiles.

  “She’s fine, aching, but that’s to be expected with the baby. The car is now in the garage. They think it’s an easy fix.”

  “Oh, that’s good. It’s one less thing for her to worry over.”

  “Exactly. The man at the garage was really sweet to her, plus, he was dishy.” He winks at her.

  “Added bonus then,” Cassie remarks.

  “Yep. And who is this?” He points at me. Cassie finally looks at me and her eyes go wide, like she’s just remembered that I’m here. That pisses me off. Anger starts to boil and I know that I need to leave before I say some shit that will hurt her feelings. Our gazes stay locked, so she knows how pissed I am.

  “I’m Jay Castle. And I am just leaving.” I step around them and pick up Deuce’s lead from the floor. Dex has him trained so well that he stays when he’s told to. “Come on, boy,” I say, and walk through the main door. I march over to my car, pissed that I told Cassie I wanted to go slow, and then ended up kissing her the way I did. Fucking woman, looking all fine and crazy beautiful; even soaked to the bone. I know I shouldn’t be pissed over the scene in there, but fuck me, I have never been ignored before. I click the fob to unlock my car, and the boot pops open. I tap the floor of the boot, telling Deuce to jump in, which he does. I make sure he’s secure and then close the boot.