Page 150 of Devilish Ink

The effect was staggering. I no longer looked marred. Ilooked whole. The gold lines seemed to weave in between all my tattoos like a thread. Past, present, and future all connected. It looked purposeful. It looked beautiful.

Ilooked beautiful.

“Kintsugi,” Rian replied.

“What?” I fought against the tears gathering in my eyes as I looked from my best friend to my partner in the mirror.

“In Japan they mend broken pots with gold,” Liam explained with a smile.

I nodded, jarring a tear loose. It rolled down my cheek, hot and fast. It proved to be the cracking of the dam. There was no stopping the wave of tears that came from my eyes after that.

“They are not beautiful despite their brokenness…butbecauseof it.”

I grabbed Liam with a speed and strength I hadn’t felt in my body in a long time and drew his face down to mine. I kissed him with a renewed fire, welcoming back that heat that stirred my soul.

As I tasted his tongue, savouring him with deeper breaths, I heard the door click shut.

We pulled away from each other, each blushing a little sheepishly: Rian had left.

We were the only ones here.

Liam glanced over his shoulder at the door, which was now locked, the “Open” sign switched to “Closed”. “I think he thought we were going to…you know, need some alone time.”

Liam looked back at me, hope in his eyes. “But we don’t have to…you know.”

“…tattoo you?” I arched an eyebrow. I hadn’t felt like this since before Balor’s attack. Playful.

Liam laughed. “That’s not quite what I was thinking.”

My lips curled into a mischievous smile as I tapped my chin.

“Oh, then maybe you wanted to…walk me home? To make sure I get there safely?”

Liam drew me back into his arms.

“I’ll take you home,” he said as he kissed along my neck, sending shivers down my spine, “butnotto make sure you get there safely.”

I lunged for his mouth, our tongues meeting as our kiss deepened instantly.

The lines of tattoo stung as he crushed me to him but it added to the pleasure already coursing through my body from his kiss.

He tugged the strings on my bikini and suddenly I was naked. I kept waiting for the flood of panic to hit me but as Liam slipped his hand between my legs, we both discovered how wet I was.

I pushed at his clothes, needing to feel him, needing him to claim me. To make me whollyhisagain.

He stripped down quickly, throwing clothes across the studio until we were both naked. I let out a groan of pain and pleasure as he pulled me against him, backing me up to the tattoo chair until I bumped it with the backs of my thighs.

He picked me up and sat me on the edge, and I wrapped my legs around his waist.

He broke off the kiss and his fingers brushed across my body softly. He kissed my neck but his lips were gentle, cautious. Like I was breakable.

Did he see me differently now? Did he just see Balor’s marks on me? Was I no longer his to claim?

My jaw ached as I tried not to cry.

“Shit. Baby, I’m sorry. Does it hurt?” he asked, his voice hesitant, his fingers coming up to wipe a tear away.

I grabbed his face in my hands and forced him to look at me so he couldseeme.

---