Page 153 of Ruthless Legacy

To force my brain to work, I ask about the nose ring. That’s a safe question. It’ll probably earn me a bitchy response and jolt me out of this weird moment of interest I’m feeling. “When’d you do that?” I ask, tapping the side of my nose.

“A few days ago, when we got our latest tats.”

“You all went together?”

It’s Finn who answers, “Yeah, those two wanted new ink and dragged me along.”

Okay, this is more familiar ground. The jokes just write themselves. I turn to him. “Did you get something, too, or were you just there to hold Pax’s hand?”

“I just thumbed through the books. Nothing I saw spoke to me.”

“I understand that. I want another tattoo, but it has to be the right one, and I haven’t seen it or come up with a design yet.”

My eyes find Holden’s. “Can I see yours?”

He pulls his shirt off, one-handed, the way sexy models do, and I step closer to get a look. Him, I’ve seen him shirtless before, so it’s easy to pick out the new ink even if the skin around it wasn’t still inflamed.

It’s computer code, running down the side of his neck, across his collarbone and along the length of the inside of his arm, to his wrist. I study the ones and zeros before lifting my eyes to meet his. I don’t know what the code says, but I understand the reason for its location. “Coding is in your veins.”

His tongue dips out and toys with his lip ring, before he bites down on his bottom lip. A sexy little quirk to his brow.

“Are you thinking about me on my knees while the hand attached to this newly inked arm holds me in place, Pretty Boy?”

“I wasn’t, but I am now.”

He turns me towards Pax. “But first, I wanna see if you can figure out where and what his tattoo is. If you do, I have a prize for you.”

Pax doesn’t stand or shift any closer. Somewhere buried in all that ink is a new tattoo, and Holden has challenged me to find it. I’m not gonna let Pax’s stubbornness or dislike of me prevent me from winning whatever game Holden wants to play.

Walking behind Pax I say, “Shift forward.” I shove his shoulders to get him to lean over. Nothing jumps out at me from the macabre artwork on his back. The ink is set, and a little faded. It’s been there a long time.

I’ve never seen Pax completely shirtless, aside from that first time on the balcony when he was too far away to see much, and I guess the night he gave me his shirt when we were drugged, which I don’t remember. So, I take advantage of the moment, studying all the ink on his chest.

I drop to my knees in front of him.

He teases, “Someone’s looking to answer the age old question about how much of me is tattooed.”

I’m just about to give up, because I don’t want to win bad enough to ask him to drop his pants, when a pattern catches my eye. The lines weave in, out, and around an existing tattoo. But the more I study it, the more it comes into focus. Before I can stop myself, my hand reaches out to touch him. My fingertips trail lightly over the design, over and over as if I’m reading braille.

“Is this a track?”

The end of it disappears into a cloud of smoke that extends below the waistband of his jeans. I’ve been on race tracks similar to this before. I’ve studied the curves and bends, so I could make my bet with a high likelihood of winning.

I haven’t been to this track, but instinctively I know he’s captured every angle and turn. Inside the sharpest curve is a piston, with four numbers shaded into the top compression ring.

“Is this the last four of your Vin?”

* * *

Pax

Thea understood what she was seeing, but what really got to me was that she spotted the piston and Vin number underneath all that smoke. I had to force myself to focus on what she was saying instead of her hands on my body. Had to remind myself that my assigned companion is just a job, and her hunting for my newest tattoo is a game Holden made up for her to play.

Now, she’s on the couch between Finn and Holden and he’s telling the story behind all of his tattoos. I have stories too. We’d be here for days, because there are very few places on my body that remain untouched. Including my dick. Of course, she wouldn’t know that. The times we’ve had sex, I wore a condom and never gave her enough time to look. Then, with her in-chamber challenge, it wasn’t bright enough to see anything.

“Ask him.”

The whispering from Finn draws me from my thoughts. “Ask me what?”

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