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)
“Shit,” I whisper when I fuck up the mermaid’s tail. I erase it for the tenth time and try again, my heart pounding like it’s been doing all day.
I mess it up again when Adrian finishes his tattoo. I just can’t resist admiring the side profile of his face as he sanitizes his station while the biker checks out his new ink. He looks happy with it.
Those icy blue eyes dart over to me and I quickly drop my gaze, feeling my cheeks getting hot. He’s been doing that all day. As much as I’m checking him out, he’s checking me out even more. I notice that he always keeps checking to make sure I’m still here. Or, maybe it’s all in my head and I’m going crazy with lust.
They walk up to the desk where I’m sitting and I try to focus on my sketch while Adrian tells him how to treat the tattoo.
“Keep the bandage on for the next six hours,” he says as he walks behind the reception desk. There’s enough room to walk around me without touching, but he grazes my leg with his. It sends shivers spiraling down my spine. “No swimming, hot tubs, or soaking in water for at least 2 weeks. And keep it out of the sun until it’s fully healed.”
The guy is looking at him like none of that’s going to happen. He’s a grizzled old biker who doesn’t seem to be too concerned about consequences of his actions.
“Vic, can you ring him up?” Adrian asks.
“Sure,” I say as I slip off the stool and head to the cash.
He hovers behind me, watching what I’m doing, but I can feel him watching me as well. It’s hard to focus with him so close. My bear is pacing around like a cat in heat which isn’t helping things.
“One ninety,” I say, taking his money. The biker gives him a tip, and then slips out, leaving us all alone behind the desk. Julian is tattooing a girl at his workstation, but they’re both wearing headphones and aren’t paying any attention to us.
As soon as the door shuts behind the biker, the room shifts. Or maybe it’s just me. The air seems to be getting thicker. Warmer. My skin feels too tight, like it’s holding back something it doesn’t want to hold back anymore.
Adrian steps a little closer, erasing some of the distance between us.
“You did a nice job with the tattoo,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady.
He leans on the counter with a grin. “Nah. I fucked up the A on his second knuckle.”
“He seemed happy with it.”
“Well, compared to his other shitty prison tattoos, it looked like a work of art.”
I smile shyly as I slip back onto the stool. “Have you been inking a lot since you left?”
He shrugs those big shoulders. “Not as much as you guys, I’m sure. But I do two or three pieces a week, on a good week.”
He looks over my shoulder at my fucked up mermaid. “It’s beautiful.”
“It’s not,” I say, shaking my head. “I… It’s hard to concentrate with you in the room.”
I close my eyes as my cheeks flame with heat. Did I actually just say that out loud?
“I didn’t mean to throw off your mermaid game.” His voice is low and warm, although I think I hear a hint of amusement in it too.
“I mean, because… disruption in the shop and all that,” I say, rambling like a nervous freak. “Not that you’re distracting me with your… I mean, I just wanted to make sure you’re settled in and… stuff.”
I swallow hard as I die a slow cringing death inside. Even my inner grizzly bear is shaking her head in embarrassment.
“I’d let you tattoo her on my skin,” he says as he tilts the paper to get a better look. “Anywhere you want.”
I swallow hard as I imagine where I’d put it if I had the choice. It would mean touching him in that spot for hours. Maybe his chest, or his bicep, or… no, that would never fit. And I’d be so distracted with it in my hand that we’d never get the tattoo completed.
“I wouldn’t put that on you,” I say with a nervous laugh. “She looks like she got her tail caught in a boat propeller.”
“What would you put on me?”
He leans one elbow on the counter beside me, not quite touching, but close enough that I can feel the heat of him.
My lips. My hands. My pussy.
My bear grumbles in agreement.
I look up at him and our eyes meet. He’s so sexy, it’s unfair. It’s all-consuming. It’s intense. Looking at him takes all the breath out of my lungs. It makes my body throb.
“You want me to tattoo you?”
“I want your hands on me, Vic,” he says. “Any way I can get them.”