Mine Now (The Phantom Vipers MC)

35. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Blake

Why the hell am I so hot? I feel like I am roasting alive right now.

I open my eyes and stretch my body when I realize another body is wrapped around mine. Huh? I try to look over my shoulder and see Hunter's brown hair laying across his face.

A part of me wants to rush out of bed and get far away from him. He moved the pillows and wrapped me in his arms, even after he said he wouldn’t. But the other part of me wants to turn in his arms and watch him sleep.

“I know you’re awake,” he grumbles against my back and tightens his hold.

My breath hitches in my throat. “How?”

His soft chuckle vibrates against me. “Because your breathing changed.” He’s silent for a moment before saying, “Are you going to turn toward me, or just lie there awkwardly straight?”

I realize what he means. Since finding out that he is awake, my body has become rigid. I relax my muscles and let out a breath. I glance over at Charlie, still asleep in her cot, and decide that turning over might not be the worst thing in the world. We can play pretend, if only for a moment.

I turn in his arms and am met with his striking eyes staring at me and his bare chest. He doesn’t loosen his hold on me even as I turn, and now our bodies are pressed against one another. I do everything in my power not to blow my morning breath into his face. I know it can’t be pleasant. Who’s morning breath is?

He smirks at me and leans in to kiss my forehead. The second his lips touch my skin, I melt against him. Why do I feel so safe with him right now? Like nothing outside of this room could ever hurt me. “How did you sleep?” he asks.

I turn my head upward so that my breath doesn’t hit him in the face and say, “Good, actually.”

He trails soft circles along my hip, just below the hem of my shirt. “I’m glad. Are you mad the pillows are gone?”

I look at him and narrow my eyes. “Yeah, how did that happen exactly? I strategically put them in place so that none of me would touch you.”

He laughs and rolls on his back, pulling me against his side. “I don’t like barriers, Crash. And besides, I couldn’t sleep on my right side, so I had to roll over.”

“I see,” I whisper.

His chest rises and falls in even movements, and I am face to face with the head of his snake tattoo. It is just as beautiful as the rest of the tattoo, and I find myself following each line with my eyes. I reach up to touch it, but Hunter grabs my hand to stop me before I can make contact. He smirks. “You didn’t even ask before you touched her.”

I rip my hand from his grip and then place my palm on the head of the snake. “And you didn’t ask before you spooned me for God knows how long.”

He chuckles. “Fair point.”

He settles his arm on his stomach and lets me explore. I gently trace along the outside of the snake's head and then end where the head meets the rest of the body and trails down his arm. After a while, Hunter swings his legs over the side of the bed and sits up.

His entire back catches my attention, and I can’t help but stare at it. Just like everywhere else around the clubhouse, he has a tattoo of a large phantom and a viper wrapped around it. The only difference is this one is surrounded by more barbed wire.

“Did that tattoo hurt?” I ask as he leans forward and grabs his pants from the floor.

“Yeah, a little bit. But I like the pain tattoos bring me.”

I hesitate, unsure what to say. “Oh.”

I don’t have any tattoos myself, but I can’t imagine liking the feeling of a bunch of needles stabbing into my skin over and over again. Why would someone enjoy pain like that?

Does he like pain in general? Or is it just this kind—the kind you choose?

The thought lingers as I study the ink stretched across his muscles. What else has he endured that makes pain feel like something to welcome instead of avoid?

I bite my lip, keeping my questions to myself. I’m not sure I’m ready for the answers.