Page 73 of The Devil's Viking

Zoe looked up as Viking and Elle entered the tattoo parlour. “Hi!” she chirped. “You guys doing OK?”

“You know it, sweet thing,” Viking said, waving at Saint and Arrow who were both working on clients. “All good.”

“I’m really excited,” Elle said breathlessly. “I know that I told you what I was thinking, but I havenoclue how on earth it would work with that horrible thing on my back.”

“Yeah, I’m not going to lie, it was a bit of a challenge.” Zoe picked up her sketchbook, flipped the pages, handed Elle the book. “But I think I might have it – or at least, I hope I’m close to what you want.”

Elle looked at the page and froze when she saw the picture that Zoe had drawn.

“What?” Zoe said, alarmed at the look on Elle’s face. “Do you hate it?”

“N – no.” Elle was tearing up; in her hand she held the very image that had only been in her mind’s eye, and to her that seemed like a little miracle. “No, Zoe. I love it. It’s perfect.”

“Oh thank God.” Zoe sighed. “I’m so glad.”

Wordless, Elle held the sketchbook out to Viking who took it with his heart in his mouth. He knew how important this tattoo was to Elle and when he looked down, he knew that once again, Zoe’s staggering artistic ability, and her decency and compassion as a womananda human being had all come through. In spades.

The pink lily was lush and vibrant; Viking could almost catch the scent of its delicate petals as they unfurled. The leaves were a cool, dark green, the pollen was a warm gold. He looked hard, he really searched, but that awful, ugly word that Gideon had inked into Elle’s slim back was hidden, replaced by something breathtakingly lovely. Zoe had so cleverly used the lines and curves of the letters to draw the petals and the leaves, and somehow she had completely covered over, erased, destroyed the word.

Like Gideon, like Elle’s enslavement, like her lack of choice, it was just gone.

“Zee,” he said, stunned. “It’s amazing. It’s the best thing you’ve ever done.”

“You think?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I think.” He took Elle’s hand, turned it over, gently kissed her palm. “When do you want to get started on this, Elle? It’s going to take three sessions, I figure.”

With an effort, Elle tore her eyes away from the lily. “I need to save up some money first.”

“Nah, baby. This is my gift.”

She looked up at him, her purple eyes a clear violet today. “Viking… thank you. But I want – I mean, Ineedto pay for this myself. It’s – it’s important to me that I do this.” She bit her plump lower lip. “Can you understand? Are you mad?”

“Of course I do, and of course I’m not.” He kissed her on that sweet little mouth, loving how she responded to him. “You’re your own woman, baby, and this is your body, your decision. You call the shots.”

“So that’s settled!” Zoe said, delighted. “So should we book the first session for tomorrow after work? I’m happy to stay after hours and get it started for you.”

“Oh, no,” Elle said. “We can’t start tomorrow. It’ll take me a while to get the whole amount put away to pay everything up-front.”

“You sure?” Zoe asked her. “I mean, we can do the tattoo over a few weeks and you can pay in instalments.”

“I can?”

“Of course you can.” Zoe smiled at her. “Let’s get that thing on your back covered up as soon as possible, Elle. You shouldn’t be carrying anything from that old life into this new one that you’re building for yourself… should you?”

“No,” Elle said firmly. “No, I should not.”

Chapter Twenty-three

“So.” Viking ushered her in. “This is my little place, all newly-painted and -renovated.”

Elle looked around and smiled. It was good to see where Viking lived at last, and even better to realize that despite everything, she was trusted by Viking and Wolf and the others to just come and go from Satan’s as she pleased. They knew that she wouldn’t disappear in the middle of the night ever again.

It felt good to be trusted. To be free.

Viking’s apartment was only one bedroom, but it had a huge kitchen with lots of pots and pans and shiny things, and her fingers itched to cook him something delicious. The living room had endless bookshelves, a deep sofa with huge pillows, and a massive leather armchair.

“Did you get that custom made?” she asked. “I’ve never seen such a big chair in a store.”

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