Page 571 of Rock Me All Night

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"Oh. That's probably good. We need our strength."

He chuckles. Damn his eyes look even more beautiful in the moonlight. I want to drink them in.

My gaze rakes over his strong shoulders and chest, all the way down his torso and over his hip and thigh. His tattoo is huge—takes up most of his quad and some of his hip.

It's beautiful. Red and grey roses with strong, sweeping lines. Instead of thorns, the flowers are connected with barbed wire.

I trace the curving lines of the design. There's that scar again. I move past it but there's another scar. There are a lot of scars.

His voice is deep and steady. "You're gonna hurt my feelings not asking about my tattoos."

"You have more?"

He points to a tattoo that curves around his left hip and side.

"Nothing on your chest or shoulders?"

"Gotta save some skin."

"In case you feel something else in your soul?"

He nods.

"How many things have you felt in your soul?"

"A few."

"Are they all tattoos?"

"Yeah." His eyes meet mine. "But it's not one thing. There's a lot in this design."

"I wouldn't want anything I've felt that deep on my skin. It's too ugly."

"It helps, reminding yourself that you survived something ugly."

I swallow hard. "Did you get that to cover your scars?"

He takes my hand and brings it to his thigh. "The scars are part of the design."

I look closer. He's right. The scars are woven into the barbed wire.

My eyes meet his. "Why do you have scars on your thighs?"

"You really want to know?"

I nod.

"You sure? It's the kind of thing you can't take back."

"I'm sure."

"My dad hit me."

The words fall from his tongue like he's saying his dad was a mechanic. Like it's natural.

He stares back at me. "Once, he was drunk and miserable. He took the kitchen knife and started threatening to kill himself."

My stomach drops.

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