Chapter 14 #2
“You want me to ink you, Drew?” Stinger asked while fiddling with some equipment without even having to look at what he was doing. “I have time.”
“The question is, do I have the money?” Drew muttered back with a grin. “You’re not exactly cheap, Stinger.”
“Nothing worth having for life ever is.” He flashed all his teeth and Drew shook his head, laughing in response.
“I’ve already got the patch where I need it.” His eyes drifted from Stinger to me, a hidden challenge in them as he looked at me with that look only I ever got to see. That cocky assurance of his shouldn’t have made my skin ripple to life the way it did.
“I could always do that snake—”
“Shut the fuck up.” Drew snapped his head back to Stinger and smirked. “I suppose there is one thing I could get.”
“I hope we’re on the same page… Pres,” Jedd interrupted.
Drew looked at him, not giving anything away. “Okay. Maybe two things.”
“Kerching ching,” Stinger sang out. “Take a seat, Tucker.”
Before he sat down, Drew took one last lingering look at me.
I moved before I was aware I’d thought about doing so, cutting through the small group of men who were quietly chatting amongst themselves.
I stopped only when I was at the seat Drew had occupied as I’d received my tattoo.
I knew damn well he didn’t need me there for strength, but I wanted to be there. This suddenly felt very significant.
In one look he’d told me that he was about to do something big, and in turn, I’d responded. Grinning at Stinger, I raised one shoulder in a half shrug. “Maybe Jedd can get that snake instead?”
“He hasn’t got the length for it,” Drew joked, pulling my attention back to him seconds before Jedd reached out to slap Drew up the back of the head.
The whole group laughed, and for the first time in a long time, we were all bathing in a calm that we’d come to crave after everything that had gone on in our lives.
“What am I doing, Drew?” Stinger asked as he switched the needles over.
Clearing his throat once, Drew raised a finger and signaled for Stinger to lean in. He whispered in his ear, not letting me or anyone else hear what he had planned. The moment Stinger leaned away, everyone saw his small smile and nod of approval.
I watched with curiosity, my eyes flickering between the tattooist and Drew.
When Stinger knelt down beside him and Drew leaned back enough to give him access to his chest, I wondered what the hell was going on.
My view was just as cut off as everyone else’s until Stinger leaned back to wipe away the first blotting of black ink, only to reveal an A beneath the hound that occupied the space over Drew’s heart.
He leaned back in to continue as I looked up into Drew’s eyes.
I opened my mouth, closing it again as I felt the sting of tears from the happiness pooling inside of me.
I felt ridiculous about the emotional outburst, so I covered my mouth with my hand, knowing Drew could see the smile that consumed my eyes when I held his gaze.
If it hadn’t been an impossible task, I would have thrown myself at him, but Stinger was still working on the perfectly inked D next to the already inked Y, so I paced myself and gave him an air kiss instead.
Drew offered me a wink, but other than that, he stayed completely still.
Drew knew when to respect the artist, apparently, but I could see the heat in his eyes.
Stinger worked quickly, and the way his wrist moved without effort was awe-inspiring.
After a few more buzzes and wipes of Drew’s skin, he leaned back, resting his ass on the heels of his feet as he tilted his head from side to side.
“Looks good,” Stinger said seriously.
Drew glanced down, his naked chest rising and falling slowly as he studied my name on his skin.
“Looks complete,” Drew added quietly.
I reached out, my fingers brushing over his hand as it hung over the back of the chair. Sliding my fingers between his, I blinked back the tears that were so eager to embarrass me. I was just about to open my mouth and tell him just how much I loved him when I heard my brother enter and groan.
“Why is my sister in her braaaaa—is that a tattoo?” The change of direction in his attention was a typical Tate thing to do, but that didn’t make it any less amusing.
Drew rolled his eyes and smiled as Tate approached, but he stayed still, his eyes locked on me.
“Sit down, Tate. You’re next,” Drew said quietly.
Tate stopped beside the two of us, his eyes flickering from my back to Drew’s chest and back again. “Seriously?” he asked, eyes alight.
“Sure,” Drew answered. “Stinger, you got time to mark Tate’s balls for his initiation, right?”
“I’ve always got time to prep a pup, Drew. You know that,” Stinger said through a smirk.
Tate’s eyes went wide as he stared at the tattooist he’d never seen before.
I tried my level best not to laugh. My teeth were firmly planted into the inside of my cheek, but I knew Drew could see it. I sucked in a breath and looked up at Tate, eyes still watering. “I won’t tell you where I got mine.”
“Shut up!” Tate said, stumbling back. “That’s an image I’m never going to get rid of. It’s hard enough hearing you two—but now… ugh. I’m going to school.”
Someone, and I suspected it was Jedd, did the very same impersonation of me that Drew had done at dawn.
The ‘Oh God’, ‘There’, and ‘Harder’ spread around the room to the immense humor of everyone, while I just lifted two arms and flipped the bird at them all.
“Laugh it up, assholes. Just remember who cooks around here.”
Drew glanced around, his smug smirk confirming that his ego had been well and truly stroked.
“Careful, boys. There’s a fine line, and y’all are about to cross it by disrespecting my—” He didn’t finish.
Stinger was wiping down his right arm as Drew closed his eyes, threw his head back and started panting again.
“God, Jesus, fuck me, Tucker. Right there, baby. Uh. Uh. Uh…”
Tate covered his ears and gave the most teenage eye roll I’d ever seen in my life, which only had me laughing harder.
When he started to head to the door, I wished him a good day, but the sentiment was drowned out by the chorus of climaxes that had joined in with Drew’s.
I could only imagine what a stranger would think if they approached The Hut right then.
Throwing my arms up, I waved them down to quiet the crowd, a smirk pulling at the corners of my lips as I looked around.
“Not that Drew’s ego needs much more stroking, y’all, but at least you know he satisfies me.
I don’t hear much worship when you’re screwing your girls.
” I looked at Drew and winked at him this time.
“Seems like you need a few pointers from my man.”
Drew threw his hands up in the air and closed his eyes, his satisfied smile saying it all. “Fuck her like you’re Tucker, boys.”
I covered my face and rocked back in my chair, laughing as the chorus of bullshits came from the guys.
The laughter was infectious, and the atmosphere was jubilant.
I could imagine this was how it would have been years ago—before Pete had left them and Drew went to jail.
When he was at the epicenter of the club like this, he shone.
He may have been thrown into his role too young, but he owned his place now.
He was where he was always meant to be, and he’d carved out a place for me, too.
I fit with them. I tried to give as good as I got, and even the occasional glare from one of the girls didn’t bother me anymore.
I was where I wanted to be, where I needed to be, and that was something they had to deal with.
“Do you see what you’ve started?” I laughed out, aiming both hands in Drew’s direction.
“Something tells me you love it as much as I do, darlin’.” He dropped his hands down to the back of the chair and tensed his biceps as Stinger dragged his stool beside him.
“You ready?” Stinger asked, his tone serious but his smile still lingering from the contagious laughter.
“Born ready,” Drew answered, staring straight at me. “Pain me up.”
“Wait,” I said, leaping from my chair and bending to kiss Drew hard, long and so deep my stomach twisted in on itself with the promise of that heated, needy fucking we’d gotten so good at these days. “Okay, now you’re ready.”
I dropped back into my chair and smiled up at him with every ounce of hunger I felt. Still curious about what his next tattoo would be as the other men became rowdy and very loud around us.