A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers. The song used in this chapter is Guinevere by Eli Young Band.
Chapter 36
Rayna sat at her vanity going through her nightly ritual. She extended each of her long legs to put lotion on them. She kept hearing a tapping noise against the glass of the door that led to the balcony that was off the room. She got up to investigate the noise. Deacon of course was nowhere to be found. He normally took care of things in the strange noise department.
She opened up the door and saw her husband standing underneath the balcony with a handful of pebbles. "Deacon, what are you doin' down there?"
"I couldn't help myself I just had to see you, Ray. You have to be quiet if you don't want your daddy to catch us." Deacon had decided to spice things up a little bit since he really hadn't been in the mood for sex lately.
"Just how did you plan on gettin' up here?" She tried her best not to laugh at him.
He grabbed a ladder and put it up against the balcony. He very carefully climbed up the ladder. "The balcony was a little high for me to jump up and scale it the way I used to get into your old bedroom, but this was the next best thing." He pulled her to him and kissed her deeply.
"It did the trick just fine." She giggled when he stared to walk her backwards into their room.
"I'm glad to hear it." He started to kiss on her neck.
"What in the world has gotten into you?" She got her words out around a moan.
"I was hopin' to get into you." He pressed up against her.
Her eyes went wide and a smile came to her face. "Is that what I think it is?"
"Yeah it's definitely what you think it is." He nodded his head.
"Babe, you're back to normal." She kissed him heatedly.
"I sure am." He broke their kiss and pulled her shirt over her head.
"Oh, thank God." She fused her lips to his and started undoing the buttons on his shirt.
He shrugged out of his shirt and started to work on getting her pajama shorts off.
Her hands went to his belt and she unbuckled it. "Get your boots off now." She popped open the button on his pants.
He kicked his boots off and his pants followed. "Your panties have got to go." He worked them down her hips.
She took his boxers off. "Bed, now."
He walked her backwards toward the bed and laid her down. "You sure you're ready for this, baby?" He mumbled against her lips.
She smiled against his lips. "I'm so ready for you. You have no idea how ready I am."
Deacon used his knee to spread her legs and he sank into her in one fluid motion.
Rayna wrapped her legs around his waist and moaned loudly.
He wasted no time in getting into a rhythm. He started to pound her right away.
She dug her nails into his back and held on for dear life. She had missed this so much.
"Damn, baby, you feel so damn good." He bit and sucked on her neck.
"Oh my God! Babe, you feel wonderful." She panted heavily. She pushed her hips against his and arched her back a little.
He put his hand under the small of her back and kept her in that arched position. He trailed his lips down her neck and he paid special attention to her nipples.
She tangled her fingers up in his hair and pulled it. She was so lost in ecstasy that she didn't care how rough they got with each other.
He moaned against her skin he took her nipple gently between his teeth.
She dug her heels into his muscular ass and ground her clit against his pubic bone.
He stayed still and let her work herself on his shaft for a minute before he started thrusting again.
"Roll over, babe, I wanna ride you." She moaned.
"No way, baby. You let me do the work." He picked her up and put her back against the wall.
"Mmm, Deacon, don't stop. I'm so close." Rayna put her hands on his shoulders to balance herself.
"I know I can feel it, I'm almost there too." Deacon put one hand on the wall to brace himself.
She threw her head back and let out one long continuous moan. Without any warning her orgasm ripped through her with the force of a hurricane. All the muscles in her body went rigid and her toes curled.
The pressure from her internal muscles squeezing around his shaft sent him over the edge a moment later. He collapsed back on the bed panting with her on top of him.
"Mmm, oh, babe." She kissed down his neck and then she peppered kisses all over his chest. She paid special attention to the faint pink line that ran the length of his breastbone. That was the only evidence left over that there had ever been anything wrong with him. As soon as that faded there would be no more reminders of just how close she'd come to losing him.
He chuckled deep in his chest and laced his fingers together behind his head.
She gazed up at him with her big blue green eyes. "What's so funny?"
"I'm back, baby. And I'm better than ever." He grinned showing off his pearly white teeth.
"I can't argue with that." She folded her hands and rested her chin on top of them.
"I'm sorry I was such a damn mess for so long." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Sugar, you don't have a damn thing to apologize for. You've taken care of me before. I wasn't doin' anythin' more than returning the favor." She traced her finger up and down the line on his chest.
"It's pretty ugly isn't it?" He referred to his scar.
"It's just another reminder that you're a survivor. I think it's sexy." She kissed his scar again.
"I think you're sexy." He ran his hand up and down her back.
"You're even sexier when you write songs for me." She put both her hands on his cheeks and kissed him deeply.
"With you as my muse the songs write themselves." He kissed her over and over. "Did you lock the door?"
Rayna turned her head and squinted at the bedroom door. "You stay right here and hold that thought." She climbed off of him and went to lock the door quickly.
"We just got extremely lucky. Those four little people have a habit of comin' in whenever they feel like it." Deacon laughed and propped himself up on his elbows.
"Jack is really the only one that we have to worry about walkin' in here anymore. The other three finally mercifully sleep through the night and they don't come in here unless they have a really bad dream or they're sick." Rayna laid down beside him and pout came to her face.
"What's wrong, baby?" Deacon nibbled on her bottom lip teasingly.
"Our babies are growing up. They don't need us as much anymore." Rayna knitted her eyebrows together.
Deacon pulled her into his arms. "Come here. All of 'em are always gonna need us from the oldest to the youngest. They are just gonna need us in a different way that's all."
"You're a pretty smart guy when you want to be." Rayna buried her face in his neck.
"I have my moments." Deacon kissed the top of her head.
Rayna rubbed his chest and then traced her finger around one of his nipples. "Your chest doesn't still hurt does it?"
"It's more of a dull ache now. It's gets a little better every day. It doesn't hurt at all when you're touchin' it though." Deacon took her hand and kissed it.
"What about when I do this?" Rayna kissed the length of his scar.
"That feels good." Deacon replied.
Rayna ran her tongue up and down his chest. "That?"
Deacon moaned lowly. "Feels damn good. Woman, what are you doin' to me?"
"I'm am having my way with you. You just need to lay there and enjoy it." Rayna pushed him back on the bed.
"Babe! You better be ready to go for a change. We need to get to the airport soon." Tandy let herself into Rayna and Deacon's house. She rolled her eyes when she didn't see or hear her sister right away. "Of course she's not ready yet. She's gonna be late for her own funeral." She grumbled to herself.
She made her way into the kitchen with the thought of just helping herself to a cup of coffee. Instead she found her three nephews and her niece sitting around the table eating breakfast. "Hey, there are all of my favorite nephews and one of my favorite nieces." She kissed them all on the head.
"Hi, Aunt Tandy." Jayme smiled up at her.
"Where are your parents?" Tandy asked them.
"Daddy is upstairs helpin' momma pack. He said that she might actually make it out on the door on time if went up there and made sure she was gettin' ready." Deac answered.
"That's what I was afraid of." Tandy groaned. She poured herself a cup of coffee. "Rayna! You better hurry up and say your goodbyes to him. In another five minutes I'm coming up there after you."
Jack giggled. "Momma's in trouble."
"Shockingly that doesn't bother her as much as you'd think it would. She spends the vast majority of her life in trouble." Tandy mumbled.
"Ok, the last thing that they need is a history lesson from Aunt Tandy to start the day. We need to get going. Plus, what you think was going on upstairs wasn't happening. He was zipping up my suitcase for me." Rayna came into the kitchen pulling her rolling suitcase behind her.
"That's what you're calling it now?" Tandy smirked at her.
"I think it's time for you two to get on the road before these kids get an education on things that they are too young to know 'bout." Deacon cleared his throat.
"You're right I have absolutely got to get goin'." Rayna went around the table and kissed all the kids. "Momma loves ya'll to the moon, the stars, and back. Be good for your daddy. Don't mutiny on him while I'm gone."
"We love you, momma." They chorused.
Rayna put both her hands on Deacon's cheeks and kissed him deeply. "I love you, I've gotta go."
"I love you too, I'll see you when you get back on Sunday." Deacon stole another quick kiss from her.
"Do whatever you gonna do with them just make sure that you get their homework from school if you're gonna keep them home." Rayna advised him.
"I've got it under control. You just go take care of business. I hope this trip is everythin' that you need it to be." Deacon smiled at her.
"I hope so too. Let's just keep our fingers crossed." Rayna smiled back.
"We have to go. Bucky is waiting out in the car. He's got the private jet waiting, but I really don't want to be pressed for time once we get there." Tandy consulted her watch.
"One last thing. You're in charge here while we're gone. Anything comes up throw a band aid on it if you can't handle it. I don't have to tell you what to do you know how to handle yourself." Rayna added one more thing to his list.
"I've got this handled, babe." Deacon assured her.
"I'll see you on Sunday then. You're gonna do great with everythin'." Rayna waved before she left.
Deacon had a conversation with himself and nodded his head before he turned to face his kids. "Who wants to go to school and who wants to come to the office with daddy?"
It was no surprise at all when they all opted to spend time with him.
"You with us, Babe?" Tandy looked over to where her sister sat on the plane.
Rayna was staring out the window with her chin resting on the back of her hand.
"Rayna!" Tandy called out to get her attention.
Rayna turned to look at her. "What can I do for you, Tandy?"
"We are trying to talk business. Since you're the CEO I thought you might like to be a part of that process." Tandy scrunched up her face.
"Talk away. I was just thinkin' intensely." Rayna waved her hand around.
"Ray, you know as well as I do that Voodoo Harris is the biggest DJ in New Orleans. If we can get this distribution deal done with him our little temporary speed bump will be taken care of. We will be reaching a wider audience and that's gonna bring revenue up. It also wouldn't hurt to set up a tour date through New Orleans for the next one of our artists that go out on tour." Bucky laid out for her.
"Are we in a deeper hole than either of you are makin' it out to be?" Rayna felt a little panic well up.
"We are in the kinda hole that you can't dig out of, but you can wheel and deal your way out of it. That's why you're here. You're gonna make nice with Voodoo and get him to agree to play your artists. I'm gonna work my magic with the owner of his radio station. He used to do a little bit of business with daddy and I've dealt with him before. Bucky is here just to give you a hand. You've still got a lot to learn about business acumen." Tandy explained to her.
"I get it I'm an artist I still don't know that much about running a label." Rayna rolled her eyes.
"Can either of you explain to me why this is a four-day trip then?" Bucky still wasn't really clear on that.
"One afternoon for business the rest of the time we are gonna spend in bars looking at artists." Rayna answered him.
"And drinking a lot. You promised me that there would be a lot of drinking." Tandy reminded her.
"There will be a lot of drinking. There will be so much drinking that we will have to change our names to Deacon and Vince. We just have to listen to a few acts that I want to hear first." Rayna assured her.
"This sounds more like it should be a me and Deacon trip instead of you two." Bucky knitted his brows together.
"Typically it would be. I love my husband, but I really, really needed a break from him. I can handle this one on my own. I know that this is your job and Deacon's job, but I need this. I just took care of that man for weeks. I need to be me without him right now." Rayna sighed.
"What am I supposed to do while you two are drinking?" Bucky asked.
"Honey, this is the part where I tell you that you're not staying all weekend. You're gonna go home tonight or early tomorrow morning." Tandy informed him.
"It's probably for the best anyway. Deacon is gonna need help running the label." Bucky opened up his portfolio. "We want to get Voodoo to play our whole stable of artists if at all possible. If not then we push for Juliette, The Exes, Maddie, Casey, Jimmy, Daphne, Will, and Avery. Gun to our heads we have to pick three it's Maddie, Casey, and Jimmy. They are young, relevant, and they are our money makers."
"I know where our bread is buttered. Ya'll really don't have to keep reminding me what I need to do." Rayna rubbed her temples.
"Daddy, I thought you said that we were goin' to the office." Deac looked around the recording studio that they were in.
"I think this is gonna be a little more fun and a little more educational for you than goin' to the office like always." Deacon had his guitar case in his hand.
"What are we doin' here?" Charlie asked.
"Daddy, this looks like a picture out of one of those history books that Deac likes so much." Jayme commented.
"This place is awesome." Jack added.
"I promise you that this is gonna be a lot of fun. It's gonna be somethin' for you to tell stories 'bout one day. You just can't tell your momma 'bout this 'til I give you the go ahead." Deacon told them. He ushered them into a room where the rest of his band was waiting.
"There you are, boss man, we've only been waitin' on ya for a half hour." Max greeted him.
"Max, I'm not in the mood for your bullshit today. I had four other people to get out of that house other than myself. My wife just went away on a business trip. They are gonna be really good for us today and they are gonna watch the magic happen." Deacon replied.
"We're gonna be so good you won't even know we're here." Deac backed his father up.
"Well, look at this. Then you wonder why all your children have the music bug." Watty walked into the room.
"Uncle Watty!" Charlie threw her arms around him.
"Hi, Charlie," Watty patted her back. "We ready to get started?"
"Yeah, I'm ready to get to work." Deacon nodded his head. He turned to his children. "Ya'll are gonna be on your best behavior today and maybe you'll learn somethin'. And I won't make you go to school tomorrow either."
"I promise we will be good." Jayme said hurriedly. He'd promise anything if it got him out of going to school.
"She's got a bumper like a billboard covered in stickers of her favorite bands. She's got a handful of records that she turns to when she needs to land. She's a Saturday night parade through the street that all eyes come to see includin' me." Deacon started recording a new song as soon as they got set up. He wanted to get as many songs down as he could before the kids started getting restless.
"She carries memories around like souvenirs down in her pockets. She should have let some go by now, but can't seem to drop it. Says forgiveness ain't nothin' but a lifeless tire on the shoulder of her soul that never rolls." This was a song about Rayna, but it was about her when she was younger. He'd wrote it sitting in the recliner while he watched her sleep one night.
"You kids pay attention to this now. Your daddy is putting on a clinic in there. You can learn a lot from him." Watty turned to the four kids that were standing in the sound booth with him.
"For as much as she stumbled she's runnin' for as much as she runs she's still here. Always hopin' to find somethin' quicker than heaven. To make the damage of her days disappear just like Guinevere. Just like Guinevere."
"He's really good at this." Deac replied.
"He's been at this for a really long time." Watty ruffled his hair. This was as close as he'd come to having grandchildren of his own.
"I guess he's pretty old so that makes sense." Jayme shrugged his shoulders.
"If you think he's old you must think that I'm ancient." Watty laughed.
"I don't think you're old, Uncle Watty." Charlie smiled up at him.
"I'm still trying to figure out how you're so damn sweet when you want to be. You certainly didn't get that from either of your parents." Watty winked at her.
"She don't hold on to nothin' new for very long. Yeah she writes you in as just one more tale and then you're gone. Cause she once fell hard cause she dropped her guard. And no one gets to stay. It's just too late." Deacon liked the freedom of recording live with the band. It added a little something extra that he didn't get when the tracks were already laid down.
"For as much as she stumbled she's runnin' for as much as she runs she's still here. Always hopin' to find somethin' quicker than heaven. To make the damage of her days disappear just like Guinevere. Just like Guinevere."
Deacon made a wind it up motion with his finger in Max's direction in a signal that he wanted him to play a little louder.
"For as much as she stumbled she's runnin'. For as much as she runs she's still here. "For as much as she stumbled she's runnin' for as much as she runs she's still here. Always hopin' to find somethin' quicker than heaven. To make the damage of her days disappear just like Guinevere. Just like Guinevere. Lean into me Guinevere. Be mine tonight Guinevere." Deacon high fived Max when they finished.
"Damn, Freakin' Deacon, we killed it on that one, son." Max whooped.
"What'd ya'll think?" Deacon looked over his shoulder to where his kids stood watching him.
"It was really good, daddy." Jack's cute little voice came over the intercom. Watty had pressed the button for him so he could talk to his father.
"I think that means that was a good take and we should go with it." Deacon grinned.
"We gotta go with it if it's got Hank's stamp of approval." Max laughed.
"Don't call him that his momma will have a fit if she hears it." Deacon chuckled.
"And that's why that's the only thing I ever call him." Max pointed out to him.
"Let's just get set up for the next song. I don't know how long those four are gonna behave this well." Deacon flipped the sheet music on his stand to the next song. "Just so we're clear this is why your wife is always on your case."
"I know why my wife is always on my case. I don't need you to point that out to me." Max flipped over to the next song.
"You're a pain in the ass and I'm worse off for havin' known you." Deacon quipped.
"When you say things like that to me you make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside." Max retorted.
"Yeah, it's time to go to the next song." Deacon shook his head at him.
Hailey held her finger up in a signal for whoever had just walked into her office to wait a minute. "Ok, I will call you back later. I have a matter to deal with." She hung the phone up. "Come on in and sit down."
Maddie sat down in the chair across the desk from her future sister-in-law and JC stood up against the wall with his arms crossed.
"Why did you call us down here, Hailey?" JC asked.
"I didn't call you down here. I see you even when I don't want to see you. I called Maddie down here because I needed to discuss business with her." Hailey retorted.
"Am I gonna like this business or not?" Maddie asked.
"That little problem you had. It's taken care of. I told your mom I'd take care of it. It took some doin', but I handled it." Hailey informed her.
"How? What? Hailey, that's great." Maddie got excited.
"Let's just say that MJ's talents don't just lie behind the camera and leave it at that." Hailey replied.
"What does that even mean?" JC asked her.
"The only thing you need to know is that I have Cash on video saying that she had nothing to do with writing that song. I've presented it to her lawyer and he has wisely agreed to drop the suit." Hailey leaned back in her chair.
"I don't know what you did to make this happen, but I'm so grateful that you did. You have no idea what a huge weight off my shoulders this is." Maddie sighed in relief.
"You don't want to know what I did, so I will spare you the borin' details. All you need to know is that I took care of it. Consider it an early weddin' present. The fact that I got to wipe the smug smirk off that bitch's face was an added bonus. I will relish that for a long time to come. As a lawyer this is the kind of stuff that makes my day." Hailey smiled at her.
"Thanks, sis, you have no idea how much we both appreciate this." JC walked around her desk and hugged her.
"You don't have to thank me. Her mother is one of my oldest friends and she makes my baby brother incredibly happy." Hailey hugged him back.
"And she is sitting right here." Maddie quipped.
"Come on. I need to get out of this office. I'm gonna take you two to lunch." Hailey grabbed her purse from out of her desk drawer.
"That sounds good to me. I can always eat." JC perked up when he heard that.
"Babe, I know. You love food more than you love me." Maddie gave him a look and shook her head.
A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'm gonna start putting the name of the songs I use in the chapters again. Sorry it slips my mind sometimes. Until next time please review.