Page 57 of Ink & Desire

I bite my lip, trying to decide how much to tell her right now. Not that I’m not going to tell her every detail later. We’ve never kept secrets when it comes to our sex lives. Why start now?

“Like, hand on my throat while he fucked me against a wall. That kind of control.”

“Holy fuck, that’s hot,” she says, fanning herself with her hand.

“Oh, it was,” I say, remembering the way I’d been at his mercy last night. “And he’s pierced.” My gaze strays down to my lap meaningfully before coming back up to look at Cass.

Her eyes light up with excitement. “Oh, shit. How was that?”

I sigh. “So good. I can’t explain it. Different, but once I got used to the feeling, it was incredible. I don’t think I can go back.”

“How’s that going to work with your apprenticeship?” Cass asks, pulling me out of my memories of the best sex of my life.

I frown at her. “It’s not.”

“What do you mean?”

I shrug, reaching for my drink.

“He took off while I was cleaning up in the bathroom and when I went back to work today, he acted like nothing ever happened. So, I did the same thing.”

Her mouth drops open in surprise before she narrows her eyes in an angry glare. “That fucker. Who does he think he is?”

I don’t have an answer for her since I’ve had the same thought since I walked out of the bathroom last night and realized Corbin was gone.

“Did he say anything afterward?” Cass asks. “Before he left, I mean?”

I shake my head. “Just that the situation is ‘messy’ now.” I use my fingers to make air quotes. “Whatever that means. Like I’m too stupid to realize that sex complicates things?”

“Did you say anything?” she asks.

I sigh. “No. I thought we’d talk after I came out of the bathroom. But he was gone already.”

“What about when you came to work this morning?” Cass asks. “Any reaction?”

“Nope,” I say, my lips making a popping sound. “He treated me the same way he’s treated me since the day I started working at the shop. Completely indifferent.”

Cass’s brows lower in confusion. “What the fuck is wrong with him?”

I huff out a laugh and shrug. “Who knows?”

I pick at my food for a moment while Cass seems to think over my situation. After a minute, she leans forward and touches my hand. Surprised, I look up to meet her gaze.

“What?”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, A,” she says, her voice gentler than before. “But are you sure he had as good a time as you did? Not that I’m saying you’re bad at sex. Just that the first time with a new partner can be awkward sometimes. I’ve had plenty of people who just weren’t that great the first time. There’s nothing wrong with it. You’re learning each other’s bodies, their likes,and dislikes. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out the first go around.”

I nearly laugh at her obvious concern and her attempt to be tactful.

“Trust me,” I say. “He enjoyed it.”

“How do you know?”

I lean forward across the table, annoyance evident in my hissing whisper. “Because the evidence was dripping down my thighs, if you must know.”

Her mouth drops open, and she blinks at me. “You let him come in you?” she hisses back, shocked.

“I was caught up in the moment! Aren’t you the one who told me to fuck him?

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