Chapter Six
“Are you sure about this?”
Fenris cast a worried glance over at Juliet who was sitting on the other side of his desk in his private office. He really wanted to make sure she was ready for the tattoo she’d asked for but got distracted as he continued to stare at her.
By the gods, she really was gorgeous.
When she had strolled through the doorway of his office, she had literally taken his breath away. She was wearing a pretty pink sleeveless sundress with a halter-style neckline that left her arms and shoulders bare. There were a few sparkly silver flowers on the knee-length skirt that matched the silver ballet flats she had on her feet.
Her outfit had a vintage aesthetic that suited her delicate beauty. She’d styled her long blonde hair into soft waves that cascaded down her back, and her face had been enhanced with light touches of makeup.
She had gone to lunch earlier with her group of friends, so it made sense that she’d dressed up. Fenris still felt a little jealous knowing that other people had seen her looking so beautiful. Those were dangerous thoughts, so he didn’t admit it out loud. He knew his brother was just as possessive about Juliet as he was, but they had both made vows not to constrain her freedom or to use their love as a cage to restrict her.
Damn, she even looked adorable when she frowned at him. He blinked when she leaned forward and waved a hand in front of his face. She had been speaking but he hadn’t heard a word while he had been busy mooning over her.
“Fen, are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. How are you?”
For fuck’s sake, what was wrong with him? He needed to smack himself in the head to get his brain working again.
“I’m sorry. What did you say?”
She smiled. “You asked me if I was sure. And I am, sure I want a tattoo. But I need your help deciding what it should look like. You’re the expert, after all.”
That was true enough.
While his first priority was helping Raek and Charm run Wonderland, he still took time to create artwork for those who sought him out. Most of the time, he sent his drawings to other tattoo artists he trusted to complete the work. But if a client wanted him to do the tattoo personally, they had to come to Evo. He had a waiting list a mile long, so it allowed him to be extra selective about his clientele.
But he never expected to have Juliet in his chair.
Sure, he’d imagined it. Fantasized about marking her with one of the designs he’d created specifically for her. However, it was frowned upon for ballerinas to have tattoos since it would ruin their classical looks. Because of that, he had never pushed the issue. He’d made countless drawings for her over the years and kept all of them locked away like private journals.
“I don’t think I want a lot of color, so maybe something simple?” Her brows furrowed “But it has to be meaningful, right?”
“Where do you want it?” He cleared his throat. “I mean, I need to know what size you want the design to be or where you want to put it to get a better idea of what I should create for you.”
Grinning, she lifted her left arm and waved it in the air. “That’s the one thing I am sure of. I want it on my arm.”
“Which part? Upper, lower? Maybe on your wrist?”
“The whole thing.”
He almost choked in surprise. “But I thought you said ballerinas can’t have visible tattoos. Once you get back to dancing—”
She lifted her chin stubbornly. “I don’t care. I want it to be visible on my arm. It doesn’t have to cover the entire thing, but I would like something that sort of winds down my arm from shoulder to wrist. Can we do something like that?”
“Of course.”
If she wanted a tattoo as part of reclaiming her independence, he would create something she would love.
He couldn’t help worrying a little because she didn’t like needles. He used a new marking device the Artanes had created that would make the whole process easier, but she would still feel a sting as the ink was injected into her skin. People normally started with something smaller for their first tattoo, but she seemed pretty adamant about the placement.
“Give me a few minutes to work something up.”
“Take your time.”
Juliet smiled as she got to her feet and slowly began walking around the room. She would use the time he was drawing to explore his space. She was nervous so she could use a distraction.
Since Fenris’ office was located in one of the castle’s turrets, there was a good view of the grounds from the open window. If she was more adventurous, she could have gone out to the balcony, but she wasn’t particularly fond of heights.
One side of the large room was his office space, with a long desk and shelves that held a variety of objects. The other side of the room was his tattoo parlor. There was a large reclining chair his clients would sit on while he worked on them. Metal canisters and jars of ink were lined up on the counter next to several devices she didn’t recognize.
Quickly glancing away, she focused on the framed images on the wall. Each frame was a picture of a tattoo Fenris had created for a client. From mythical creatures to abstract designs, his talent was obvious in every image. There were dozens of frames on the wall, but she knew those were only a fraction of the tattoos he’d done over the years.
As she turned, another image caught her eye. There was a painting hanging over a plush leather sofa that was pushed up against the wall between two of the open windows. Surprise flickered through her when she recognized herself in the large painting. She was posed in the purple costume she’d worn during her first performance as a principal dancer.
She was raised up on her toes en pointe with her hands over her head, a crown on her hair, and sparkly wings spread out wide behind her. She knew without asking that it was Fenris’ work. He didn’t paint much, but when he did, his skills could rival a master’s.
“When did you paint this?”
“I started it the day after I saw that performance.”
Spinning around, she jerked back a step when she found him standing right behind her. Despite the cool breeze blowing in through the window, he was only wearing a white tank and jeans with a pair of scarred and battered combat boots. A male his size shouldn’t have been able to move so silently.
“I need to put a bell on you or something,” she said with a nervous laugh.
“I’ll try to stomp around more.”
She gasped when he held up a drawing for her to see. The tattoo he’d created was beautiful. It was a combination of different flowers all done in black and gray. Some were familiar while others she had never seen before. Rather than dark and depressive, he had somehow made the blooms look light and fanciful. The flowers were attached to braided vines that had clusters of different leaves. He’d also added tiny pink, blue, and purple butterflies here and there for vibrant pops of color.
Fenris knew she loved butterflies. As a young girl, she’d hung crystal butterflies all over her small room at the group home. When her first role as principal dancer with the company had been that of the butterfly queen from a classic ballet, she’d thought it had been fate. That was the same role from the painting Fenris had done. Butterflies had always symbolized her hopes and dreams, and now, they also represented freedom.
“Fenris,” she breathed out. “It’s so beautiful. I love it.”
“I have to confess, I didn’t draw all of it right now. I made several of these drawings of the different flowers with butterflies for you over the years. I just merged some of them together and added a few final touches to it now.”
Hearing that he had been making drawings for her for years touched her heart. “I really love it.”
“If you approve, we can put the stencil on and see how it will look.”
“I approve.” Grinning, she held her arm out to him.
Once the design was on her arm, he made several adjustments so it twisted around her arm instead of lying flat. When he was satisfied with it, he moved her in front of the full-length mirror on the wall. She studied her arm from several angles, then nodded.
“This is it. It’s absolutely perfect.”
“Okay. Have a seat in the chair, and we’ll get started.”
She took a seat, and he tilted the chair back a little to make her more comfortable. She’d been a little chilled earlier, but was glad the windows were open since she felt a little flushed now.
She glanced over at his back and swallowed hard. “You locked the door, right? I don’t want someone walking in and surprising you when you are in the middle of—”
“The door is locked. No one is coming in. And there is a blue light that turns on in the hallway outside that tells people I am busy with a client.”
“Good. That’s good.”
She watched as he slid a pair of gloves on, then he sat down on a sliding seat and scooted closer. After he adjusted the armrest, he positioned her arm on it and started rubbing something on her skin. He frowned when she flinched.
“Wait! Do you think I should change before we begin?”
He rested his hand on hers and gave it a little, comforting squeeze. “You’re fine as you are. If you want a distraction, we can use VR glasses to—”
“No, I think it would be worse if I felt it but wasn’t able to see what you are doing. I’m just a little nervous, but that’s normal, right?”
“Everything will be okay. I promise. The Artanes created a new device that will make this go a lot faster. Brielle doesn’t like needles either, so they tried to make it as easy as possible for her to get the nanotech tattoos necessary to connect to Evo.”
“I don’t have to get a nanotech tattoo, do I? Because I really don’t want to be connected to the computer system.”
Chuckling, he shook his head. “Nope. Just an ink tat for you.”
“That’s good.”
“But we can add some sparkles to the butterflies if you want.”
She absolutely adored that idea. “We can really do that?”
Grinning, he nodded. “We can. Are you ready?”
“I guess so.” She took a deep breath, then nodded. “Yes, I’m ready.”
When he turned on the machine, she braced herself for the pain as he slid the device over her skin. She felt a slight sting, but it was nowhere near as bad as she thought it would be. Perhaps her tolerance for pain had increased during the time she’d been held captive by James.
No, she didn’t want to think about that. Thoughts like that would take her down a dark and dangerous path, and she was determined to stay in the light. Besides, she didn’t think that was the reason the tattoo didn’t hurt.
“I can barely feel it.”
“Good,” he murmured. “I put some numbing cream on you so it shouldn’t be bad.”
The soft hum of the machine was hypnotic, and she closed her eyes as she listened to him work. She sensed him moving until he was close enough for her to feel his warm breath against her skin. Goosebumps covered her flesh, and she tried to hide the shiver of desire that swept through her.
“Almost done,” he said softly.
He obviously noticed her reaction to him, and she opened her eyes to watch as he completed her tattoo. She didn’t look down at her arm, though. Instead, her eyes widened when she realized there was a mirror on the ceiling that allowed her to see everything. She watched the progress in the mirror for a while but realized it wasn’t as good as looking at the real thing. Turning her head, she focused on him again.
Fenris Barra was a ruggedly handsome male with a raw sex appeal. He had been blessed by the gods with masculine features, golden skin, and deep dimples that flashed every time he smiled. His black hair had a natural wave to it as was evident by the few strands that had escaped from his short ponytail.
While he wasn’t as big as Raek, he was still muscular and strong. She loved watching his tattoo-covered arms flex every time he moved. She longed to reach out and trace her fingers over the colorful images decorating his arms but held back since she didn’t want to startle him.
“Done,” he announced as he sat up and rolled the stool back.
“What? Already? That was fast.”
He chuckled. “You zoned out for a little bit.”
She glanced down at her arm, then switched to looking at it in the mirror on the ceiling. The tattoo was a little higher than the stencil had been since he’d added a few swirling vine embellishments that curled around her shoulder. There was also another sparkly purple butterfly that looked like it was perched on top of her shoulder.
“Come on. Check it out in the mirror.”
He helped her stand, then she walked over to stand in front of the mirror on the wall. The tattoo looked even better up close, and she spent several seconds simply admiring it.
“Thank you. I love it.”
“I’m glad.”
He towered over her as he stood behind her, making her feel ultra feminine. She loved the contrast they made and turned around so she was facing him. He started to move away, but she reached out and grabbed hold of his hand.
“Fenris, will you do something for me?”
“Anything.”
She smiled and batted her eyelashes at him in a flirty gesture. At least, she hoped it looked flirty and didn’t just seem like she had something stuck in her eye.
“And if I ask for something outrageous?”
“Doesn’t matter. I would do anything for you, Juliet.”
Her smile faltered, and she had to take a steadying breath to calm her racing heart. Courage, she told herself. She had to have courage to go after what she wanted. She had done it before. Had proven that she could. Now, she had the opportunity to finally have what she really wanted.
And what she wanted was him.