Page 38 of Illicit Illustration

“You’re blushing again, kitten.” Reid’s murmured voice startled me, and my eyes popped open, locking with his. Caught in his gaze, I couldn’t look away. Every part of me was acutely aware ofthe feeling of his hands on me as his fingers traced the raised skin on my leg, burning a path up my calf and behind my knee.

“I’m sorry too,” I whispered, trying to blink away my clouded emotions. Embarrassment and shame enveloped me for months back then, and every time Reid had tried to talk to me after I’d been released from the hospital, I turned around and walked away. I’d run from him at every opportunity, and until Halloween a few months ago, I would have been perfectly content to continue to do it for the rest of my life. “The way I’ve treated you for the last two years wasn’t right, either. Wedidused to be friends, and I just threw that out the window because I was…”

Shaking my head, I looked away from him, but I should have known he wouldn’t let me off that easily. Reid lifted my legs, scooting closer until I was practically sitting on his lap. Gentle fingers traced along the side of my face and caused my lip to shake. I wasn’t even sure why, but I had the sudden urge to cry.

“Come here,” he whispered, wrapping an arm around my back and encouraging me to wrap my arms around him. I tucked my face into his neck and tried to sort through my thoughts. Last week I’d been fine. I’d been minding my own business and working two jobs, taking my courses and keeping to myself.

A little lonely since my best friend had shacked up with my brother, but I had other things to focus on. And now I had Reid pushing his way into my life and my heart while this other man, whose name I didn’t even know, was opening me up in a whole new way.

“Is this where you want to be marked?” Reid asked, his thumb rubbing across the scar, just barely grazing my skin. I nodded and his fingers dug in, massaging the damaged skin. Goosebumps raced up my legs, making him chuckle as he tucked his face next to mine, his breath warm on my lips. “You don’t need to hide this from the world. I think every part of you is beautiful. But if you want it, please let me do the cover up?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, because he knew I’d tell him yes. Urging me to lie down, Reid lifted his hips, pulling a marker outof his shorts pocket, using his teeth to pull off the lid. I watched him from my place against the couch pillows, his brow wrinkled in concentration, and the pen cap still between his teeth while his fingers deftly maneuvered the fine tipped marker against my skin.

“You better not be drawing anything inappropriate with that permanent marker on my leg,” I warned, and he grinned, flashing me a wink before he returned his attention to whatever he was drawing.

“Just give me a minute, woman,” he mumbled around the pen cap, continuing to shift my leg as he worked. Leaning up, I tried to look, but he narrowed his eyes at me, nodding to indicate I needed to lie back down. “No peeking.”

Closing my eyes, I tried to focus on breathing and not how much it turned me on to not only have Reid’s hands tracing all over my leg, but to hold this much of his undivided attention. In moments like this, when he reminded me we did have things in common, like our love for drawing, it was hard to convince myself we were so wildly different.

“You still awake, pretty girl?” he teased, the sound of the cap clicking into place on his marker drawing me back into reality.

“Can I look?” Sitting up, I scooted my hips back so I could study my leg, the intricate black lines wrapping around my skin in stark contrast to the paleness of my calf, and the slightly pinker skin of my scar. But you could barely make it out through the design, a flowing vine that was impressively shaded considering what he’d been drawing with, wrapping around the back of my leg and flowing down the front of my shin to just above my ankle.

“Reid,” I breathed, a little stunned by the design, very similar to the calf wrap that I’d tried to draw, but so much more detailed. “Did Charley tell you about my design?”

He frowned, shaking his head as he casually rested his arms along the back of the couch. Again, looking as if he belonged here. “No, I didn’t even know you had a design.” He paused, tracing the outline of the flower on the side of my calf with his fingertip. “I mean, I know it’s not penises, since you apparently seemto really enjoy looking at those. But I know how much you love peonies. And…”

He nodded to the large painted flowers on my living room walls. When we’d moved into this once boring dark gray apartment, I’d immediately set to work turning it into something not quite so dreary, starting with painting the walls a pale peach. Then I’d spent days hand painting huge reddish pink peony blossoms across the space. My hands had hurt for weeks afterward since I’d spent so many hours detailing the intricate parts of the flowers I easily could have left out. Charley had told me I was hyper fixating, but once it was done, I’d just sat and stared for hours at what I’d created.

The large blooms made me happy, and staring down at the outlines on my skin, a warm feeling blossomed in my chest. Reid’s flowers made me happy, too.

“It’s okay if you don’t like them. This is just a temporary tattoo marker. The lines will fade after a few weeks. I guess I should have asked if I could draw on you before I did it, but ever since Charley mentioned someone else inking you, I haven’t been able to shake the idea. I was trying to be patient and let you come to me, but…”

Reaching up to place my fingertips over his mouth, I shook my head. His hand grasped my wrist, his thumb rubbing across my pulse point while he waited for me to talk.

“It’s beautiful. I’m not sure if I’d ever have the guts to actually let you put a needle to my skin, but you drew exactly what I wanted.”

Reid pulled my fingers away, interlacing his with mine and placing our joined hands in my lap. “This wasn’t to pressure you. I know how much it bothers you. I see how you wear pants most of the year to hide it. Every time I get a glimpse of your scar and know that I was part of what caused it, I feel this intense regret that I made you feel unsafe in your own home. And that my actions damaged this beautiful body. Not that the scars make you any less beautiful, but—”

“Stop.” Pulling my legs up, I scooted away from him, running my fingers across the lines, imagining them being permanent. I knew it’d take hours being in his chair next door to complete. Hours Iwas forced to spend with him, but notwithhim. “I’m not saying no. I’m just saying not right now. But you’d also better take pictures, because when I do finally muster enough courage to let you near me with that tat gun, I want this.”

“You know how I feel about taking pictures of you.” His voice was a low grumble, and I knew I needed to start asking for what I really needed. And I shouldn’t be second guessing his help on my commissions. Things may have been weird between us, but I knew his heart was in a good place. It was just the rest of him that my brain kept taking to a very, very naughty place.

“Well, I hope you brought your camera when you came on this breaking and entering mission, because I need your help.”

“And I am more than willing to give it to you. Whatever you need.”

Raising an eyebrow, I turned the tables on him, intentionally sweeping my gaze over his tight T-shirt and lingering on his shorts. “Oh, really?”

“You sure you wanna go there, kitten? Because if you ask for it, I’m going to deliver. Now that I know how much you like looking atpackages.”

“Well, not all packages are created the same. Not sure yours can help with this project. I need to see it in the pictures to sketch it, and we aren’t the kind of friends that get naked together, so…”

Reid shifted, moving my legs to the side so he could slide out from under them. His biceps flexed on either side of my head as he planted his hands on the arm of the couch behind my back, looming over me.

“I don’t need to get naked for you to see what you need to sketch, Haz.”

Reid

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