Page 63 of Covert
Before she puts the second glove on, Nikki's hand raises and she traces her fingers down my abs gently, causing them to jump and flex. I have a patchwork of random tattoos on my chest and abs - a snake here, a watch there, a lion on my ribs. Her eyes trail down my legs, too. They're not completely covered in ink, but pretty damn close.
"Unless you want me to ink between your toes..." She laughs.
I have a thought. I wiggle out of my boxers, causing Nikki's eyes to go wide. I cover my junk with my loose boxers and point to my groin. There's an empty few inches of skin just to the side of my cock on top of my hip flexor and pelvis. She runs her thumb across the area.
"Here?" she asks, looking up at me with her large, brown eyes. Beckett wraps his arms around her and nuzzles the side of her neck, causing her eyes to close and a low groan to escape. I nod as my cock gets harder. I love it when she makes that sound.
"What do you want me to draw?"
"Whatever you want, baby. Something to remind me of you the rest of my life." Her face falls and her eyes shutters just like it does every time we talk about the future, but she nods. She bites her lower lip, thinking. Beckett sets up the tray just to her right with all of the colorsshe could ever want. She smiles when she settles on a design, and Beckett helps her to begin to shave the soft hairs on my hip.
The area we decided on has thin skin, and bone and tendons to work around, but I love her staking a claim here. It's a message to anyone else that I would sleep with that she owns me.
She kicks on the machine, and I rest my head back against the table, ready to succumb to the endorphin high that the pain of a new tattoo always brings.
Beckett's large hand covers hers over the gun, and he guides to show her just where to put the heel of her hand and how much pressure to apply. He murmurs encouragement and praise in her ear the entire time. About twenty minutes of the sweet bite of the needle later, she sprays the area, wipes it clean, then sprays and wipes again.
I look up to see a proud gleam in her eye. Beckett's also smiling, so at least I know it's not a penis. Maybe?
"It's not a penis, is it?" I ask, suddenly nervous.
Nikki and Beckett burst out laughing. "Why would I draw a penis right next to yours?" I look down to see the outline of a pair of lips in red. Nikki's mark. Nikki is staking her claim, marking her territory. And I fucking love it.
"Do you like it?"
"I love it," I say, grabbing her chin in my hand and pulling her close enough to kiss. She pulls off her gloves and gives me such a look of adoration that it makes my heart ache. Beckett pushes her to her feet before saying, "My turn."
"What?"
He gently slides out from under her while I pull my boxers and clothes back on. I take his place on the stool and guide her hips backdown to my thigh. Fuck, I'll never get over how good she feels pressed against me.
When I look up, though, Britney's got her arms crossed and a petulant look on her face while Axel works on a design on her ankle. If that doesn't get the message across, I don't mind fucking Nikki in front of Britney.
"Would you guys do one for me?" Nikki asks as I help her into another pair of gloves. I look at Beckett in surprise. She's always been cagey about the future, and about us, our relationships, but she wants something to carry with her forever? To remember us forever?
I nod eagerly. "Yeah, let's put something together that's a bit of all of us, and we'll let you choose?" I'm already getting ideas for designs that blend my black lines, Beckett's geometrics, and Axel's watercolors.
"Could we add something for Diesel, too? Like... maybe an element from his patch?" she asks, shyly. I'm not about to press her on it, but the fact that she's asking is good. Beckett nods, and I know we'll do anything to make that happen.
Chapter thirty-seven
Axel
Beckett, Maddox, and I spend hours the next morning drafting ideas. She said she wanted it over her sternum. We tried to convince her to do it somewhere else. The skin over the bone of your sternum is very sensitive and thin, but she insisted, wanting it close to her heart. So, we made three variations that would look good between her breasts. The one she chose was my favorite. It's a dotted line down the center with a geometric sun with flares that will just caress her breasts, watercolor sun flares, and stars that mimic Diesel's MC patch.
We drive to the shop an hour before we open, lay her flat on one of the benches, and set up. She pulls off her shirt and bra, and each of us groans.
"Boys," she warns. "We're here for work, not play," she chastises. "You're going to have to go easy on the girls, too, while this heals."
Beckett is first, and Nikki closes her eyes as he begins. She winces slightly at the first bite of the needle, but we watch in partial horror as she falls asleep. We exchange worried looks, but finish the tattoo in silence, swapping out as our parts are needed.
When we finally kick the machine off, she stirs, waking a little and yawning. She slept with me again last night, finally abandoning the couch, so I know she's not tired. But she blinks rapidly as her eyes open and looks at each of us.
"What?"
It's an understanding in the tattoo world that people who become addicted to the pain of tattoos can use them as a coping mechanismfor trauma. Those who fall asleep to the pain? Have probably experienced a much worse pain and know that they're safe enough to fall asleep. The pain is therapeutic to them.
Maddox is the first to lose his patience. "Alright, what the fuck, Princess?"
