Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 130(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 130(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Towering. Tattooed. With eyes that burn hotter than his tattoo gun.
He’s my brother’s best friend. A polar bear shifter. My lifelong crush.
And the new artist filling in at our shop while Magnus is out.
He says I’m his fated mate. That he’s known since we were kids.
He says that he’s waited long enough and he’s done pretending.
Now, he’s all grown up, and he’s not just putting tattoos on skin.
He’s leaving something deeper. Something permanent.
Because tattoos aren’t the only mark he’s making.
He’s claiming me.
Body, heart, soul, and every filthy thought in between.
Welcome to Heat & Ink where hot possessive tattoo artists leave their mark in more ways than one.
The Heat & Ink series mixes Contemporary, Sci Fi Romance, and Paranormal in three standalone stories by best-selling STEAMY authors, Hope Ford, Michele Mills, and Olivia T. Turner
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
CHAPTER ONE
Victoria
“What’s that sound?” my client asks as he looks around the shop with a worried look on his face.
“The air conditioner is on the fritz again,” I say with a nervous laugh. “It should stop in a minute.”
Hopefully.
I glance away from the intricate compass I’m tattooing on this guy’s forearm to sneak a peek at my oldest brother.
He’s doing it again. Magnus is drawing a tattoo at the front desk and growling to himself. It’s been getting worse lately.
“I don’t think that’s the air conditioner,” the guy says, eying my brother wearily.
“Is that guy okay?” his girlfriend whispers.
“Yeah, he’s just umm…” I’m trying to keep my voice bubbly and worry-free, but Magnus is looking like his grizzly bear is about to explode out of him in a vicious rage.
Shit. His shoulders look like they’re getting larger as he takes deep, violent breaths. He accidentally snaps a pencil and throws it on the floor in frustration. He’s gone through dozens of pencils this week alone.
“I’ll just go check on him,” I say as I put down my tattoo gun and hurry over. My heart is pounding as I slip behind the counter where Magnus is bent over, teeth gritted, fists clenched, and inhaling every breath like he’s at war with the air.
“We have customers,” I say, trying to keep my voice cheery as I bend down beside him. “Maybe a walk outside would do you—Whoa! Okay!”
His eyes are glowing golden as he whips his head around to face me with a low snarl.
This is not good. Where the fuck is Julian? He slipped out for coffee about twenty minutes ago, and I could really use him at the moment.
“Take a deep breath,” I say as I rub Magnus’ massive back. He’s borderline right now. One little push and his grizzly bear is going to burst out in the middle of our tattoo shop. I’d really prefer that didn’t happen.
But in case it does… I should really get this innocent couple out of here.
I pop back up and hurry over to the confused couple at my workstation.
“I think we should stop here for the day,” I say with a tight smile.
“Aren’t we almost finished?” he asks, looking at his freshly inked forearm.
“No, we’re finished,” I say as I grab his girlfriend’s purse and practically shove it into her chest. “I’ll call you to schedule the next appointment.”
I only have the chain on the compass left to ink, which would have taken me about fifteen minutes, but it will be a little hard to focus with my brother’s grizzly bear rampaging through the shop behind me.
Magnus lets out a deep, violent growl, not even trying to hide it anymore.
I can feel it vibrating through my body. My own inner grizzly bear perks up.
My clients must feel it too, because they skeddadle pretty quickly after that.
I show them to the door and am about to lock it behind them when our middle brother Julian returns with a cardboard tray holding three coffees.
“It’s happening again,” I shout, frantically waving him over.
“Shit,” he mutters as he rushes across the parking lot. He bursts into the shop and I close the door, lock it, and flip the sign to CLOSED.
Magnus rises from behind the counter like a possessed monster. His shoulders and arms are twice their normal size and his eyes are glowing like he’s some kind of golden demon. He’s huffing out violent breaths as his canine teeth extend into sharp points.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Julian says, his eyes wide with shock. The poor guy was expecting a coffee break and came back to this instead. “Magnus. Outside.”
Magnus turns and prowls around the counter, glaring at us with violent intent.
I swallow hard as I step a little closer to Julian. My inner grizzly is on full alert. She springs close to the surface, ready to burst out if I need her.
Don’t go far, I whisper to her.
This is bad. This is so bad.
Magnus has always been the cool, calm, completely in control brother. He’s always been the anchor in my life. Always steady. Always dependable.
I’ve always known I could count on him. I could go to him whenever I was in trouble and he would fix everything. He always had his protective eye watching out for me, making sure I was safe and secure.
But right now, he looks like he’s about to tear me to pieces.
“Magnus,” Julian snaps. “Get your bear outside before he ruins everything we worked so hard for.”
But Magnus looks like he’s too far gone as he steps up to us, snarling viciously. Thick brown fur slides out of his skin, but he’s still in his human form, hovering between monster and man. His long black claws are already out and they look deadly sharp.
He’s been slipping ever since Julian found his mate.