Page 19 of The Devil's Pair

“Almost done!” Elle said happily, seeing that Zoe had a glazed look on her face; Elle suspected that it was the exact same look that had prompted Viking to ask her if she was feeling dizzy.God knows that Zoe looked as though she’d been hit over the head with a heavy object. “Twenty minutes!”

Vic ‘Scars’ Innis nodded, walked over to the group, looking at Zoe the whole way. He was a man of few words at the best of times, but he didn’t need to use them to speak to Zoe on any and every level. She watched him approach, and as always, his strength just rolled on off him like a tidal wave, and Zoe wasn’t just thinking about his large, tight muscles.

From the first time that Zoe had met him in Satan’s Bar, she’d been taken aback and overwhelmed by the way that he moved with grace and power, but much more so by thatsomething elsethat he had. It was something that she’d never encountered in the whole of her life, and which shestillcouldn’t give an actual name to: it was a strength of character, of personality, and it was as tangible as his hard, chiseled body. It wassoreal, that warrior strength and dignity that he possessed, and she wanted to be washed away by it and by him.

Always and forever washed away. No regrets and no second thoughts.

Scars was next to her now, and he lowered those wicked lips – lips that had been all over her body just a few hours earlier – and kissed her. Helplessly, Zoe responded. She was a tall woman, but she still got up on her toes to kiss her fiancé, feeling small and impossibly feminine next to him.

“Doing OK, honey?” Scars muttered against her lips. “Good day so far?”

Zoe nodded, her emerald-green eyes hot with the memory of how her day had started. Scars knew exactly what she was thinking, and he grinned down at her. His face was so gorgeous to her, all the time and everywhere, but she wasstilldazzled when he smiled. She barely saw his large, long scars at all anymore, but when he gave her that dazzling smile, they disappeared for her completely.

The scars on his face had been sustained when he’d tried to save his parents from a car accident that had killed them when Scars was nineteen. He’d managed to get his twelve-year-old brother Sam out of the car, and then had gone back to try to get his Mom and Dad – and he’d caught fire as he’d struggled to release them from their seatbelts. It had taken five grown men to drag Scars out of that car – seconds before it had exploded.

His whole body was covered in burns, she knew that intimately. The most recent ones were from him running into the old Blue Dragon Ink tattoo parlour to rescue Zoe’s daughter Keira from an explosion and a fire. Scars had saved Keira’s life – but he’d done so at a huge physical and emotional cost to himself. Not that he regretted it, not for one second, but it had been one hell of a road to recovery.

He washere, though. Here in one piece, so strong and loving. Her heart and her blood, her breath and soul. Her future husband. Her whole life.

“Mmm-hmmm,” she said now, not even caring that she was blushing in front of him. She grinned over at Viking and Elle, seeing that they were as enraptured by her and Scars as she’d been by them just a minute before. “Great day, actually. These two just declared their love for each other for the first time, and I got to see it.”

“You don’t say,” Scars said, swinging his gaze over to the other couple. “About time, Callahan. Jesus, man, like you’deverdo better than our girl Elle here.”

“Speaking of which,” Viking said brightly, seeing a chance to needle his club Vice-President just a little bit. “When are you two going to get married? Me and the boys are planing the post-wedding party of the century, but we need a date, man.”

“Ooooh, yes,” Elle piped up. “I’mdyingto help with the dress shopping, Zoe. Ilovewedding dresses.”

“Yeah,” Zoe said to Scars, cheerfully joining in. “Whenarewe getting married, babe? I need to make sure I’m not working that day.”

“Sassy,” Scars growled and gave her a smack on her pert ass. “So I’m choosing the date, am I?”

“Well,” Zoe said. “Ididpropose to you, so I figure I’ve done the heavy lifting… the rest is up to you, handsome.”

“OK,” Scars said. “So – tomorrow?”

“Wh –what?” Zoe stared up at him, completely shocked. “Tomorrow?”

“Yep. Tomorrow.” Scars narrowed those incredible eyes at her. “You busy?”

“I – I –” Zoe floundered madly. “But I haven’t – I’m not – I don’t have –”

“Just kidding, baby,” Scars said, taking pity on her. “But I have an idea for a wedding date, and I want to talk to you about it after you guys finish, OK?”

Zoe nodded, weirdly disappointed that she wasn’t marrying him tomorrow after all. She wasn’t a very traditional woman, after all, so she’d have been totally fine with an impromptu, quick-as-a-flash City Hall wedding, with her wearing jeans and holding a bouquet of wildflowers.

But she was actually surprised at how much shewantedher daughter to be her adorable little flower girl, and for Wolf to walk her down the aisle and give her away, and for Jo and Elle and Willa to be her bridesmaids and fuss over her dress and hair. Shewantedto say her vows in front of The Road Devils MC, and for those rough men to witness her make a commitment to a whole life with their brother.

“OK, so!” Elle said brightly, delighted at the conversational turn that had taken place. “Let’s finish this tattoo, Zee, because I amdyingto see it. I’ve had to fight to not look in the bathroom mirror every time I’ve gotten out ofthe shower for weeks now, and it’s starting to border on the impossible.”

“You got it.” Zoe settled back into her chair, nodded at Elle. “Let’s do this. God knows, you’ve waited long enough.”

Elle returned to her seat, sitting backwards on a chair with her arms crossed on its back, her chin on her delicate forearms. Viking was in his own chair facing her, his legs spread, his large thighs on either side of her. He’d been sitting like this for every session, his blue eyes trained on Elle’s face the whole time, cradling her with his body. He’d been there for every second of this experience, and he had noticed every wince of pain, every wrinkle of fatigue. He was relieved that this was almost over, he had to admit.

After all, he was a tattoo artist at Blue Dragon Ink too, and he knew that tattoos were open wounds on the body. God knows that Elle had had enough wounds to last her two lifetimes, so whilethismight be a good wound, in that the end result was going to be empowering and beautiful, Viking hoped that it was the last one that she’d ever have to suffer. He’d make it hispersonal missionto make sure it was the last.

The twenty minutes passed quickly and in near-total silence, as Zoe concentrated on her work, so absorbed that she almost disappeared into it. Scars sat quietly several feet away, watching her work, and Viking murmured to Elle a few times, telling her that she was doing great and it was minutes from being over. She smiled and nodded, and took a few deep breaths against the stinging pain of the needle.

Finally,finally, Zoe switched off the gun. In the silence, she cocked her blonde head left and right, wiped the area she’d just been working on, bit her plump lip. Then she said:

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