Chapter 20 #3
“Hey,” I said with a small smile, reaching a hand out for him to come closer.
He hesitated but kicked his shoes off and placed his jacket on the chair before moving to lie down beside me.
His arms wrapped around me and I snuggled into his chest, grateful to not have a guard yelling at us to step back.
“You got prison ink? It looks really good,” he stated, his finger brushing the healing ink on one of my arms.
“Lexi has proper equipment and convinced me to let her do one sleeve. It turned into both,” I said dryly.
“Lexi’s always been pretty talented with a tattoo gun. She does a lot of the Reapers’ ink. Do you have ointment for it?”
“Not here. Lexi had some in prison, but I’ll need to buy some now I’m out.”
“I’ll bring you some from home, I have loads,” he promised, tightening his hold on me.
“I didn’t expect to see you today,” I mumbled after a few minutes of silence, hearing him sigh.
“Me either, to be honest. Shit’s been hectic. Skeet’s in a mood and sent everyone home.”
“What about?” I asked then winced, peering up at him. “You don’t have to tell me. Forget I asked.”
“He’s brooding about some shit with Matteo, that’s all. We need to bring it to the table to handle, and it’s going to blow up. He wants to get current meetings and deals out of the way first so we have time to handle it. Is Marco here? His bike’s out front.”
“No. I was at Hunter’s talking things over that we hadn’t been able to bring up at the prison, and it went to shit. To stop them from dying, Marco gave me his keys so I could leave,” I scoffed, making him frown.
“You rode it? What happened?”
“I can ride, I’ve just never ridden something that powerful or expensive before. It was a slow trip home,” I assured him. “Apparently, they put a fucking tracker in my neck when they first rolled into town. That’s how they kept finding me.”
“They put a tracker in you?” he growled, leaning back to look at me. “How did you not know?”
I blew out a breath, rolling onto my back. “You remember the day you brought me home and we searched the house because we thought someone was here?”
His eyes narrowed, his voice flat. “Yes. They were here?”
“Marco was. He kind of drugged me, and I woke up in bed hours later,” I admitted, his expression hardening.
“You were drugged and didn’t fucking tell us?”
“When I woke up, I figured he hadn’t poisoned or touched me, so no, I didn’t say anything. He claimed to have knocked me out just to snoop and see what I’d do, and I didn’t think more of it. He put the tracker in while I was passed out.”
“Where is it?”
“It was in the back of my neck. Marco cut it out before I left today,” I answered, his hand moving to the bottom of my shirt and sliding up just enough to brush the scars on my stomach from being shivved.
“Want me to kill them?” he offered, lifting the shirt slightly to check, probably trying to distract himself from the Devils’ bullshit.
“Hey, if I’m not allowed to, then neither are you,” I grumbled. “Hunter told me you guys changed the locks at Slash’s.”
He winced, my scars forgotten about as he held my gaze. “I had no say in that. I didn’t want to tell you in there and freak you out.”
“I’m not blaming you,” I promised, raking my fingers through his hair. “I can’t use the Mustang now though, so I don’t have a car. Don’t think Marco will let me keep the Ducati either.”
“Jensen’s going to lend you the Lambo. We were talking about it the other day,” he replied, tilting his head to kiss my arm. “I’m really glad you’re home.”
“Me too. Can I kiss you now? Or do we need to talk more first?” I asked carefully, not wanting to push him but really wanting to jump on him too.
I was dick deprived and had to keep myself under control or I’d scare him off.
His mouth curved into a small smile as he tucked my hair behind my ear.
“You don’t have to ask.”
“I do. I know you’re not wanting to rush into something explosive, so I like to make sure you’re good with it.”
“I’ll tell you if I need to slow it down. Promise. I’m not ready for sex, but—”
“I’m fine with that,” I murmured, encouraging him to lean down to kiss me.
His hand stayed under my shirt on my stomach as he kissed me, his tongue encouraging me to open my mouth for him and making him groan. It was nice to just lie in bed like this, not worrying about a guard walking in or another inmate sneaking up on me.
My hand slipped under his shirt and slid around to his back, goosebumps breaking out across his skin from the simple touch. Knowing no one had touched him in years gave me a bit of an ego boost, and I loved that the small touches I gave him made him react like that.
I hesitated before sliding my hand around to his front, and he literally shuddered as I explored his chest.
“Is this okay?” I asked softly when he pulled back to watch me, not wanting to make him uncomfortable.
“I like this,” he answered, rolling onto his back and pulling me with him so that I was straddling him.
“You have so much ink,” I stated as I pushed his shirt up out of the way to get a better look, and he tucked an arm behind his head to get comfortable.
His stomach was covered in the face of a skull, snakes and sparrows moving across his chest and shoulders.
There was a small set of angel wings above his heart with Sasha’s name, my finger brushing it softly.
“It started as punishment for myself. I felt like I deserved the pain, but then it became a weird kind of comfort until I ran out of skin,” he chuckled, sucking in a breath as I leaned down to kiss his abs, moving higher to kiss his pec. “The Sasha tattoo—”
“You never deserved the pain,” I whispered, cupping his cheek. “No matter how pretty you made it with ink. I think the tattoo for her is sweet.”
He swallowed, not seeming to look convinced. “How can you lie in bed with me while knowing I’m thinking of her?”
“She deserves to be remembered, D. Like Slash does. You can always bring her up in conversation or let me know you’re struggling.
That doesn’t mean you can’t like me too,” I assured him, sliding off him to curl into his side again and burying my face in his neck, pressing a kiss there.
I’d investigate the rest of his tattoos later.
“You can always talk about him too, you know?”
“I know,” I answered, feeling him pull me a little closer if that were possible. “Are you staying tonight?”
He blew out a breath, speaking carefully like he was worried of upsetting me.
“I don’t think so. I need more time before doing things like that.
Not because I don’t want to sleep beside you, I really do, but I know the others will be glued to you, and I’m still trying to figure out how to be okay with it.
I’m not used to sharing, and they’ll probably want to spend the night having a big orgy.
I’m not okay with watching it. We’re not there yet. ”
“I understand. At least stay for dinner.”
“I can do that,” he replied, giving me a kiss on the forehead before lifting my leg over his thighs and holding it there.
It was really nice to just snuggle and kiss, but I knew he’d pull away more once the guys got home from school.