‘Jason!’ exclaimed both women.
He shrugged, his face dark and haunted for a moment, then he waved a hand.
‘OK. Sorry. This is meant to be a party, I get it. No home truths. All happy and smiley.’ He bared his teeth in a savage grin. ‘Will this do you?’
‘We just want to celebrate thirty years of your life,’ said Jenna gently. ‘Because we love you.’
‘Thirty wasted years,’ he muttered, then he softened, turning to Jenna. ‘Here’s to being reborn at the age of thirty. New beginnings.’ He raised his glass.
The women echoed his toast, although Linda looked uncomfortable, her eyes lowered to the table.
‘Are we sitting comfortably?’ said Jason, with a devilish grin in Jenna’s direction. ‘Then let’s begin.’
The ‘sitting comfortably’ phrase brought a consciousness of something other than Jason’s neglected childhood and possible parentage back into Jenna’s mind.
She squirmed without thinking, feeling her silk-clad bottom shift against the velvet upholstery of her chair. Something moved inside her. She flooded with the knowledge, and the giddy shame that brought with it.
Earlier, when dressing for dinner, Jason had insisted on inspecting the contents of the paper bag on the bed.
‘Not bad,’ he said, turning it over in his hand. ‘Nice little one. Should do the job. You’ll know it’s there, but it won’t be too uncomfortable.’ He put it down. ‘So tell me, how did the shopping trip go?’
Jenna continued to straighten her hair at the dressing table, staring fixedly at her reflection.
‘Embarrassingly,’ she said, searching her mind for a quick change of subject. ‘I spoke to Kayley earlier. Said she’d heard the talent show was still on, and Deano had taken over.’
This was enough to divert Jason’s mind from its filthy course.
‘Let him get on with it,’ he growled. ‘You’re better off out of that one, love.’
‘I know. Especially as Harville is still involved.’
‘Just rise above it. We don’t need to have anything to do with any of it.’
‘I know. Are you going to shower? You’ve been in that garden all afternoon.’
‘Yeah, just …’
Jason, successfully distracted, headed off in the direction of the en suite.
Jenna put down her straighteners and went over to the bed.
If she was going to do this, it needed to be now, before Jason was around. She wasn’t having him watching – or worse, offering to help.
She waited until she could hear the water splashing on to the cubicle tiles, then took her purchase in hand. Yes, it was blessedly small and nicely tapered, with a flange at the end to keep it in position. She would still need lubricant, though.
She took a bottle from Jason’s bedside drawer, then went to the long pier glass, considering how this was to be done. She tried to reach a pose that would allow her to see her bottom as she worked, but it
just wasn’t possible. She wouldn’t be able to see what she was doing, and would have to rely on its feeling right.
She got on to the carpet on all fours and flipped the lower portion of her short kimono robe up, baring her bottom. Instantly, she felt vulnerable and tense. Although she knew she could accommodate the plug – because Jason had showed her enough times how easy it was to slide a finger or two inside – her brain still insisted the space was too small, too tight.
But she slathered the little rubber toy in clear lubricant until it shone, then held it up to her face.
‘OK, friend,’ she said to it. ‘Here we go. Take it easy on me. Sorry if it’s a bit dark.’
She giggled at her personification of the thing, then reached around to push it between her cheeks. It glided in, encouragingly frictionless, and she moved it around until she found the target area.
She breathed in and out a few times, concentrating on relaxing her muscles, then pushed. She couldn’t do it.