Page 5 of Tess, Property of Blaze

“Cut it out, man. I’ve already tried,” I hear yelled out from behind us. I look over my shoulder and see Gunner smiling at us, but when I turn back to Blaze, the sexy smirk has been wiped off his face. Now he looks seriously pissed, furious even, his eyes narrowing at Gunner as his muscles pop and flex in his forearms.

“You’ve already tried what?” he growls out.

Oh shit, what just happened here?

Gunner doesn’t respond, though, he just laughs. “Whatever, man.”

I turn back to Blaze, who for some reason is doing all kind of things to me, things I don’t necessary want right now. “Come through,” I say, breaking the silence and walking toward my station, my appetite—for food that is—all but forgotten. I take a seat and gesture for him to sit opposite me. He does, and I don’t miss how his thigh slides up against mine underneath the table. “Ahem.” I clear my throat again, then say, “So, what have you got in mind?”

His gaze turns heated at my question. “Hmm, what do you have in mind?”

I smile and shake my head, barely holding back an eye roll. “I mean, what image do you have in mind?”

He straightens, the heat coming from him toning down a fraction. “Oh, yeah….” Reaching behind with one hand, he pulls a piece of paper out from his back pocket. Unfolding it, he places it on the table in front of us and smooths the wrinkles out. “I want something like this.”

Lifting it up close to the light so I can get a better look at it, I take in the beauty of the image. It’s the United States Marine Corps logo—an eagle sitting atop a globe of the world with America at the front, an anchor running through the center of it—on a US flag background. But what’s also added is that one tip of the anchor is cutting into the palm of a hand, the words Blood Brothers in beautiful script written underneath it. A reaper’s serves as the background to the words. I recognize the image from his and Gunner’s cuts—it’s their MC’s logo.

“This is beautiful,” I say, sitting the paper back down on the table. “Did you draw it?”

“That I did,” he says, sitting back in his chair with his hands linked behind his head, his sleeves straining against his biceps. His brown eyes lock on to mine and I swallow hard, feeling the crackle of sexual tension between us.

What is it with this guy? Why do I feel so drawn to him? Maybe it’s because I haven’t felt anything like this before—a connection with another male. Viper has nothing on this guy. Actually, none of the Forseekers members do.

His eyes watch me intently as I explain, “This may take a couple of sessions, is that okay with you?” I bite down on my bottom lip as his gaze travels over every inch of me that he can see, and tingles run through my body.

“That’s fine with me, babe.”

I make myself look away from his dreamy eyes and stand. “Follow me.”

“I intend to.”

“What’s that?” I ask, not quite hearing what he said under his breath. I thought he said he intends to, but I can’t be sure.

“Nothing, just following.”

It’s as if I can feel intense stare burn into my ass as I lead him only a couple of steps away to my workstation. Once I’m there, I grab a pair of gloves and slip them on, then focus on getting everything prepared.

Laying out his drawing again, I take another look. He really did do an amazing job. It’s only then that I realize he’s still standing behind me, so I look over my shoulder at him and smile. “Please get yourself comfy there,” I say, pointing to the leather chair. I turn and face him front on, noticing his eyes lift to meet mine. Oh yeah, he was just checking out my ass.

He takes a seat and I hold the picture up to him. “So, where are we putting this on you?”

Slowly and very provocatively, he unbuttons his black shirt, and I take in a shaky breath when I see the body hiding beneath it—muscled, toned, lick-worthy abs, covered with golden skin. A silver chain hangs around his neck, with a set of dog tags resting between his pecs. I can’t breathe for a minute as I take him in. Part of me doesn’t want to touch his beautiful skin with a needle, but the artist in me sees it as a blank canvas, ready to be marked with my own version of art. My brand.

“Right here,” he says, pointing to the left side of his chest just above his heart. Looking down at the spot, he continues, “I’d like the top of the eagle to start here and the bottom of the image with the Blood Brothers to end here.” He traces the area with his finger, and I hold in a moan as his nipple puckers. He looks back up at me, his expression asking if I understand what he wants.

I nod my head. “Sure, we can do that.”

“I’ve been wanting to get this done for a while now. My brother here”— he nods toward Gunner—"thought it would be a great present for me.”

Shoot, that’s right. It’s his birthday.“Oh, ah… happy birthday,” I say, heat hitting my cheeks.

He smiles and drops me a wink. “Thanks.”

Feeling the air thicken between us, I take off my gloves and grab some transfer paper. I sketch his image with my back toward him, trying my hardest to ignore the delicious scent of his aftershave.

“So, this your place?”

Continuing to draw, I reply, “Yeah, it is… well, I don’t actually own it. I’m leasing the building. Luckily the guy who owned it before me was in the same field, so everything was already where it needed to be. I just had to move my own stuff in.”

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