Chapter 45
Collins
“PER ASPERA AD ASTRA.”
It’s been three days since my brain chemistry was forever altered by witnessing Riley lose the last piece of his virginity to Creed.
I can still feel them everywhere within me.
The sounds they made, the feeling of Riley stretching me to my limits while Creed pushed him to his.
The way I swear my heartbeats synchronized with theirs…
The entire experience unlocked this new, needy, yet confident side of Riley. The man walks around practically glowing, and it’s one hell of a sight to behold. As if what transpired between the three of us finally broke him free of the chains that bound him to the toxicity of his past.
I’ve also been listening to his song on repeat. Because Creed is never one to miss an opportunity, of course, he recorded it.
The whole. Fucking. Thing.
Emphasis on the ‘fucking’.
While I made him cut that part from the version that’s currently playing in my ears, I know he kept every dirty little bit to play back for himself. The man has no shame, but I want Creed in his most chaotic form or nothing at all.
LIES.
Definitely a lie.
I’ve wanted Creed St. James for as long as I can remember, so I’ll take him in any form, please and thank you.
Today, he evidently chose to encourage chaos and be a downright menace.
“You know,” he says, the breath of his words tickling my ear as he pops one of my ear buds out.
He places his warm, steady palm on top of my thigh as we sit waiting in the lobby of the tattoo shop.
Asher still hasn’t let up on security, especially after Riley made off with me in the middle of the night, so the shop is deserted and the place is surrounded.
There’s no longer any threat to them or me, but apparently, it’s going to be hard to break my brother’s overprotective habits.
“You could start a friction fire with the way your leg is bouncing against mine, Stardust.”
“Sorry,” I mutter, sliding my hand under his to weave our fingers together as he pops my earbud into his right ear. The song softly resumes, and Riley’s voice fills our ears once more.
It’s beautiful.
Painful.
Heartbreaking.
Healing.
“Never apologize,” Creed says. Then his soft smile shifts into a smirk. “Apparently, this is a week for a lot of firsts, and our sweet, innocent boy hasn’t quite had his fill of adrenaline rushes yet.”
Thoughts of that night flash through my mind, and it’s got heat flooding my body before settling low in my core.
I pull my knee away from Creed’s in favor of clenching my thighs to fight off the persistent ache as thoughts and fantasies of having either of their cocks inside me take form.
Both of them are inside me at the same time.
Or one of them buried inside of the other…
The thought of getting to sit and touch myself while watching the two of them fuck each other has my blood singing through my veins and my pussy clenching.
Would Creed let Riley top him?
The mental image of Creed topping from the bottom forms and takes root in my mind, setting up camp like it owns the joint.
“What’s got you squirming in your seat, huh?
” Creed croons roughly into my free ear.
He nips at the lobe, then chuckles when his bite pulls this needy sound from between my lips.
“Is it the memory of the three of us fucking?” I’m going to kill him if I don't expire first. “Or is it the thought of Riley getting inked up that’s got you so fucking turned on right now?”
“Two truths can both be spoken,” I whisper, turning my face to stare into his crystalline eyes. “And neither would be wrong.”
“Touché, baby,” Creed hums before bending down to kiss me.
The two of us settle back into our chairs as the song changes to Dreams by Fleetwood Mac. Resting my head on his shoulder, I examine my long, black, and iridescent purple nails.
“Any guesses on what he’s getting?” I ask, genuinely curious if he’s got any idea of what Riley’s having tattooed on his body today.
Creed sighs. “Your guess is as good as mine. Ri’s never shown any interest in getting tattoos, even when he sat with me through some of mine.”
Just then, Riley appears from around the corner, followed by his tattoo artist. She’s pretty, tall and curvy, covered in stunning, colorful tattoos and a thick mess of curly red hair piled on top of her head.
Her bright blue eyes shine behind thick winged liner and cat-eye framed glasses.
She’s not only got her septum pierced like me, but she also has a hoop through each nostril.
She’s beaming as she talks animatedly to Riley, but it’s not flirtatious.
Not that I’m checking.
Seriously, Collins? Again with the lies?
Okay, maybe I am…but it’s not from insecurity.
It’s…
“Are you growling like a little hellcat?” Creed whispers in my ear, before he hums. “My territorial girl, Stardust.” He hides his laughter with a cough when my head snaps to him with a glare for outing me like that.
“Like you’re not? You growl at people all the time for even looking at me.”
He picks up my hand and kisses each of my knuckles while the artist goes over aftercare instructions with Riley.
“Oh, I am, and definitely don’t deny that I do.
It’s just cute but sexy as hell to see you embracing it, too.
Especially in public.” He waggles his eyebrows at me and leans in conspiratorially before whispering, “You get like that for me, too?”
I narrow my eyes, but the thought of other people getting their grubby hands anywhere near Creed has my blood pressure rising. “I will fucking cut somebody if they so much as try anything with you.”
“Noted.” But this time, the teasing tone comes from the tattoo artist. Mara, I think.
My face grows impossibly hot when I realize my words came out entirely too loud, and the whole tattoo studio must have heard my crazy declaration.
Creed chuckles next to me, and I elbow him in his side, which only makes him fight his laughter harder.
Mara, thankfully, doesn’t look the least bit offended by my words as she directs her blinding smile right at me.
“Your boy sat so fucking well.” Her words remind me of what his first physical therapist had said backhandedly, but with the way she’s bright-eyed and literally exploding with excitement, I know she means them sincerely.
Riley finally turns around, his sweet, beautiful face filled to the brim with pride and something else I can’t quite place. His dark eyes bounce back and forth between Creed and me.
“Can we see?” Creed asks, then pushes to stand, and offers me his hand.
I take it and stride across the room until we’re gathered around Riley. I don’t even know where he got tattooed, let alone what, so I scan him over, looking for the ink.
Mara slips away and disappears down the hallway, leaving the three of us alone in the front of the shop.
Down his body and back again, I peruse his skin, wishing I could kiss every freckle along the way. He shifts his arms, and that’s when I see it.
“Oh my fucking God!” Creed’s lips part in shock, and I suck in a surprised breath before they seize in my lungs completely.
His hands.
Riley tattooed…his hands.
“I’ll give you guys a moment to look them over. I’ll be back in a few to go over aftercare,” Mara murmurs, then disappears around the corner.
Your boy sat so fucking well.
It makes total sense now. I will my tears to stay hidden long enough for me to take in the ink that now so beautifully adorns his skin.
On the left hand, in pretty script, are the words Per Aspera Ad Astra. The most delicate swirl of stars surrounds the phrase. They travel from his wrist to the very tip of his ring finger.
Through hardships to the stars.
I cover my mouth with my hand to stifle the sob threatening to burst free.
Creed lifts Riley’s right hand and holds it delicately between us.
There’s another Latin phrase, the angle of the words mirroring his left hand.
On this hand, it says, Amor Vincit Omnia.
Love conquers all. Intricate, fine-lined vines weave around the words, all the way up until they encircle his right ring finger, stopping at the three tiniest tattooed hearts I’ve ever seen.
Each one perfectly spaced, the last one poised under his last knuckle, just above the nail.
“Riley…” I squeak out, feeling completely speechless.
“Do—do you like them?” he asks, his throat bobbing as he stares at his hands and shifts from foot to foot.
Clearing his throat, he stammers, “I just…you know I—I’ve struggled with these assholes from the moment I woke up in that hospital.
” His head bobs, like he’s debating how much he wants to share.
He chuckles, but the sound is wobbly. “They still don’t hold steady at times, but you two pushed me through it. ”
Riley lifts his head and looks at me, then Creed, with a watery smile so big that I get to see those fangs of his.
“I’m not the old Riley. Not anymore. I don’t think I could ever go back to being him.
But—” He shakes his head, then swallows thickly.
“I think I’m exactly who I want to be…with you.
Your love has shown me the stars. Now, no matter what, I’ll have you with me. Always.”
My heart is pounding so hard in my chest, it feels as if it’s fighting for a way out and so that it can make a home in the hands of the man before me.
“These are beautiful, Riley,” Creed says, love and adoration bleeding and infusing into his words as he gently palms Riley’s hand again.
“The tattoos are fucking incredible, but the hands behind them make the tattoos what they are. These hands,” he chokes, eyes fluttering as he looks at Ri, the tips of his fingers fluttering over his overturned hands.
“These hands are soft. Gentle. Just a bit tougher now. Scarred, but no less perfect.”
Riley’s bottom lip wobbles as a tear escapes the corner of his eye. I press up onto my toes and kiss it away.