Page 49 of Possession

I’d opened my phone about five hundred goddamn times today. I wanted to text her, but every single time Liam, or Kemper, or a client would interrupt me. I could still feel her hands on my body. Every inch of my skin lit with the color of orange under her touch. She was silk, and at first I feared her softness. She could bring me to the brink and I’d forget myself, lose my control. Lose myself in the wake of her kiss; her body. Paige had been curious about my ink, but as she’d innocently traced the lines, she’d ignited the violent need that threaded through my veins. That deep, forgotten blood had boiled and churned with each beat of my pulse, and the apprehension, it’d turned to something else… something primal, and if I hadn’t pulled away, I would’ve fallen victim to her new taste, the scent of her, the feel of her, the memory of what it was like to let go inside of her.

“I’m going to grab the truck, pull it around front. You about ready?” Kieran asked.

My last client had run a little late. It was the third time I’d seen him this week. He was getting an entire mural on his back. “Yeah, just finishing cleaning up. Dorian was late.”

“That back piece is going to look sick though. The decayed trees you did, they’re amazing.”

I laughed as I shut the black tool box full of my equipment. “Says the guy who only has a tattoo of a rosary around his neck.”

He shook his head with a smile. “Hey, it goes all the way down to my chest.”

“You need more ink.” I teased him all the time about this. He was our desk guy and the kid had no visible tattoos. It was bad for business.

“Tell me something I don’t already know, come on, let’s go before Liam realizes we both left.”

“I’ll meet you out front.”

After he left, I pulled my phone from my pocket. The weight in my chest lifted as I opened the lock screen. Paige’s number had changed, and after the first few studio sessions, I’d finally gotten enough nerve to ask her for it. I hadn’t once called her or texted her yet, I hadn’t needed to. She had just been there, every night, ready to paint.

My thumbs moved quickly over the keyboard.

Me:Hey, it’s Declan. Are you still at work?

I did another quick look around my station, everything was in its place, and I headed for the front door.

“You’re off tomorrow?” Kemper asked as I walked past his station.

“Yeah. I’m taking a couple of days, working on a project.”

“Sweet, see you in a few.”

I waved and just as I past Liam’s station I said, “I’m out, I’m headed to pick up the painting.”

Liam shut off his machine and raised his head. His purple gloves were covered in ink. “You framing at our place or Mom’s?”

“Mom’s.”

“Kieran taking you?” he asked.

“Yeah, he’s waiting for me out front. Ronnie said she’s got the desk. I’ll see you later?”

He nodded. “I’ll be around. I might go out to Bellows tonight though, that weird as fuck band I like is playing. Maybe if you finish early you and Kieran can come out.”

“Maybe.” My phone vibrated in my hand, and when I looked down Paige’s name flashed across the lock screen. “See you later.”

He lifted his chin before bringing his attention back to the half-naked customer lying across his table. As I moved to the front door I opened the message.

Paige:When you tell someone you are going to text them later it usually means later that same day… just an FYI.

I laughed.

Me:I’m sorry, did I make you worry?

It wasn’t right, but I liked that she might’ve worried. If she was worried then that meant she had something to lose, and if losing me scared her… I knew we’d be okay, because I wasn’t going anywhere.

Paige:Yes.

Hurt her.

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