Page 40 of Forbidden Harmony

“You sure?” Nolan said.

Preacher nodded. “Just lock up and turnthe sign to close.” He glanced at Addison. “Follow me.”

She followed him across the shop to the roomhe’d disappeared into earlier. It was a small room with a tattoo chair thatwas already in the bed position, a counter with a sink, a rolling stool, anautoclave, bio-hazard and sharps containers bolted to the wall, and a metalrolling cart next to the bed.

She swallowed hard as she stared at thecart. The top of it had a box of disposable gloves, bandages, gauze, somepackages of alcohol wipes, a pen and – her pulse sped up – a pair of clamps. Ona paper towel, there was a small barbell and an unopened needle.

“If you want to rebook because the shop isclosed now, I understand,” she said.

He shook his head. “It’s fine. It won’ttake long.” He paused and gave her an assessing look. “Unless you’ve changedyour mind about having your nipple pierced?”

The look on his face suggested he waspositive she had. She lifted her chin and straightened her back. “I haven’t.”

He studied her a moment longer beforesaying, “All right. Take of your shirt and your bra.”

Her nerves returned in full force, like apunch to the gut by a championship boxer. She smoothed her sweaty hands overher skirt before quickly unbuttoning her shirt.

She’d worn her practical cotton panties -whybreak out the silk thong when no one would see it - but she’d made sure to wearher prettiest bra, a lacy pink thing. It didn’t matter because Preacher hadturned away and was washing his hands at the sink. She unhooked her bra andplaced it neatly on the second shelf of the utility cart with her shirt.

Feeling incredibly self-conscious shecrossed her arms over her breasts as Preacher turned around. Without lookingat her, he pulled on a pair of gloves and tore open an alcohol wipe.

“Um, should I lie on the bed?” she said.

“Not yet.” He sat down on the stool andindicated for her to stand in front of him. “This is an alcohol wipe. First, I’llclean your nipple and then I’ll mark it with a pen. You want a horizontalpiercing, right?”

“Yes,” she said.

“Okay.” He paused and then said, “You needto drop your arms.”

“Right.” Oh awesome, she was blushing again.She dropped her arms, staring at a spot over Preacher’s left shoulder. She’dspent some time this afternoon wondering what would happen if her nipple wasn’thard when he tried to pierce it. Would he touch it to make it hard, maybe suckon it or lick it? The perverted version of Addison had certainly hoped so.

Unfortunately for pervert Addison, it wasn’ta concern. Whether it was nerves, the coldness of the room, or just becausePreacher’s mouth was agonizingly close, her nipples were diamond hard.

“Right or left?”

“S-sorry?” She stared down at the top ofPreacher’s head, wondering what he would do if she threaded her fingers throughthat thick dark hair.

“Which nipple do you want pierced?”

“Oh, um, the right one please.”

She jerked, a soft gasp escaping her mouth whenhe wiped her nipple with the alcohol wipe. “You okay?”

“Yes. Nervous,” she said.

“That’s normal. It’ll hurt but the painfades fast,” he said.

His head moved closer, she could feel hiswarm breath on her nipple, and it took everything in her not to arch her back.He used the pen to draw a mark on either side of her nipple before rolling thestool back.

“Good, lie on the bed.”

She laid on the bed, the paper coveringthat was on it crinkled beneath her.

“I cleaned and sanitized the barbell beforeyou got here. All right?”

She nodded. “Okay.”

“I’ll clamp your nipple first, then pierceit with the needle, and then put the barbell in,” he said as he opened the needlepackage. “Last chance to change your mind.”

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