Chapter 34 Last Chance to Back Out #2
“All set there, Van Gogh?” Jesse teased, his lips twitching to a smirk. “Or do you need another interview?”
“Jealous of my amazing talent again, Jess? It's okay, you'll catch up some day.”
“It's good that you did this for Lyra,” Benji added, nudging his head to the mural. “She'd love this.”
“I hope so.” I grinned.
He reached across to clap my shoulder. “You know she would.”
Humming, I glanced back at the mural with pride. Yeah, she would love this. Losing her wasn't easy, but having her vision there made all of the long nights and endless sessions worth it.
“Time for celebrating!” Ari exclaimed. “Drinks all around.”
“Ariyo, it's 11:00 a.m.”
Ari just waved off Benji's protest. “It's five o'clock somewhere.”
“Well, it's not five here.”
“Unless you want you to use your rich boy jet and fly us to somewhere that is five o'clock.”
I rolled my eyes as they strolled away, still going back and forth, before leaning to whisper in Savannah’s ear.
“Hi, trouble.”
She spun around and snaked her arms around my neck. But the smile I was looking for wasn't on her face.
“Interview went okay?”
I raised a brow at her tone and smirked down at her. “Jealous, trouble?”
“What? No.”
“Uh-huh.” My smirk widened when she looked away, and I tipped her chin to pull her gaze back to mine. “Nothing to be jealous of, love . You own me—inked right into my soul.”
Her hard gaze softened and a slow smile stretched across her lips.
“Why are you so good with words?”
I pulled her flush against me. “My woman's a lawyer, so I kind of have to be.”
She huffed a laugh and pressed her lips against mine. My fingers extended to the column of her neck, giving her a nice little necklace as I deepened the kiss. She tasted like cinnamon and the future, a lethal combination that I was more than ready for.
When I withdrew, my forehead was pressed to hers, and I watched her slowly open those gorgeous eyes.
“Speaking of ink,” she started, tightening her arms around my neck. “Someone's been drawing me.”
I froze.
“Sketch after sketch after sketch.”
My eyes were locked on hers, and for a while, I didn't say anything, because what could I say that didn't make me sound like an obsessive stalker?
“How did you—” I cursed, looking behind me. “I'm going to kill Benji.”
She giggled and grabbed my chin, turning my gaze back to her.
“It wasn't Benji. I found your sketchbook.”
“What? When?”
“The morning after the I love yous. We were so caught up with the Lori situation that I didn't get to mention it. I wanted to talk about one particular one, because I don't remember getting a tattoo.”
I smiled sheepishly at her. “Ah, well…”
She looked at me expectantly, but the look in her eyes told me she was more than enjoying this.
“I started drawing the tattoo. It was just something I was thinking about for a while, but then when I was done, I drew you around it.”
“So you didn't intend on giving me a tattoo?”
“What? No, I—”
“Because I really liked that one.” Her nails trailed along the base of my neck. “And I thought of getting it.”
Words failed me.
Whatever sputtering came from my lips didn't even sound like English.
“I… uh. What?” My hands gripped her hips tighter. “You want a tattoo?”
She shrugged. “I just really loved that one, especially after seeing it on the drawing. I started imagining it in the exact place you drew it.”
“You've never talked about getting a tattoo.”
“Well, I've never done a lot of things,” she countered with a smirk. “I thought about it all week, and I talked to Nerissa about it. I want it, and I want you to do it.”
My eyes searched hers, waiting for the ha-ha moment, but it never came.
“You want me to ink you?” I breathed out, and when she nodded, biting her lip, I groaned and pressed her into the wall. “Trouble, you have no idea how turned on I am.”
“I haven't even done anything.”
“Trust me, that's enough.”
She shook her head at me and pushed at my chest. “Quit it, we're in front of a hospital wing. Had I known, I would've mentioned this at your place.”
“A quickie in the car doesn't sound like a bad idea, though.”
“Jaxon,” she scolded.
“You started it, trouble.” I chuckled, taking hold of her hand and interlacing our fingers. “Alright, I'll behave.”
“Good…” She trailed off at my heated gaze. “You know what, never mind.”
I threw my head back in laughter.
“I do have one alteration to the design, though,” she said as we got in the elevator.
“Anything you want, trouble.”
“I wanted to add something to do with law into it. Maybe the scales, I don't know.”
I leaned against the elevator walls and dragged her to me, planting a kiss on her cheek. “I'm sure we can think of something.”
The studio felt different when we walked in. The usual buzz of machines and conversation was gone, replaced by low music and the soft hum of the overhead lights. It was just us.
Just her.
We hung our coats before Savannah followed me into the private room. She stood near my station, and I set my keys down on the desk, watching her for a second before moving closer.
“You sure about this?” I asked, voice lower now. “No backing out halfway through.”
Her gaze lifted to mine, steady.
“Do I strike you as someone who backs out halfway?”
A smirk tugged at my mouth. “Depends what we’re talking about.”
She rolled her eyes, but there was a hint of a smile there. “Jaxon.”
I rounded the desk and moved closer. My hand came up to cup her neck, my thumb brushing against her cheek. “I’m serious, trouble. Tattoos are permanent.”
Her breath hitched slightly when my hand dropped to her shoulder, going down her back to trace the area she wanted it. Her shoulder blade flexed under my touch, but she didn't move away.
“I know,” she said softly. “That’s kind of the point. I want it to be a permanent reminder that I've grown—that I'm looking forward.”
Something in my chest tightened at that. I held her gaze for a second longer—making sure.
Then I nodded once. “Alright.”
I angled her hips to the tattoo chair, kissing her softly before stretching around her so I could drop the chair lower into a bed.
When it was flat, I framed her face and kissed her again, loving how she sunk into me.
My hands ran down her body, stopping at the hem of her sweater before I tugged it over her head.
“You do this with all your clients?” Savannah asked breathlessly.
Smirking, I pecked her lips again as I took off her bra. “Just the ones that have me under a fake dating contact.”
That earned me a laugh. She sat on the chair and my eyes dipped to the swell of her breasts.
“Focus,” she said, catching the way my eyes lingered.
“I am focused,” I muttered.
She huffed a quiet laugh and slapped my abdomen. “On the tattoo.”
“Mm,” I hummed, shaking my head to clear it. “Alright, fuck, lay on your stomach for me.”
Reaching for the chair and the stencil, I positioned myself behind her, carefully placing the design against her skin.
Her addition—the scales of law—flowed perfectly into it. I made it so the branch curved naturally into the structure, the balance sitting right in the center like it had always belonged there.
“Check it,” I said, handing her the mirror and adjusting the one overhead.
She twisted the mirror slightly, studying the design. “I love it.”
“Good,” I said. “Because it’s about to hurt.”
She shot me a look over her shoulder. “Well, that's comforting. Amazing bedside manner you have there.”
“Smart ass.”
She yelped when I slapped her ass. I leaned in, pressing a quick kiss just beneath her ear.
“You’ll be fine,” I murmured.
The machine buzzed to life in my hand, and I hovered just above her skin. “Last chance to back out.”
“I'm all in, Jax.”
All in.
The double meaning in that wasn't lost on me, and I was grinning like the damn Cheshire cat.
“It'll take a couple hours, but if you need me to stop, just let me know, okay? We don't have to do it all tonight.”
She nodded, and I spread my hand across the stencil before locking in. The first touch of the needle made her inhale sharply, her fingers tightening slightly against the armrest.
“Okay,” she breathed. “Okay—yeah, that’s—wow.”
I chuckled softly. “That bad?”
“It’s not bad,” she said quickly. “It’s just…very present.”
“Very present?” I echoed, amused.
She huffed a laugh and relaxed just a little. “Words aren't exactly coming to mind right now.”
I worked slowly, tracing every detail with intention. And yeah, I’d tattooed a lot of people before, but this? This felt different. My free hand rested lightly against her back to steady her, thumb brushing small, absent circles whenever she tensed.
“You're doing so good, trouble,” I murmured after a while, leaning in to press a kiss to her neck.
“Now is not the time to turn me on, Jax.”
I smirked against her skin before pulling back to keep working.
Time blurred after that.
Her soft breathing gave me comfort to keep going, knowing that she was okay, and every time I'd pause to give her a kiss somewhere.
“Your bedside manner is improving,” she murmured after the fifth kiss, scaring me a little. She'd been so quiet I thought she dozed off.
“We aim to please.” I shifted in the wheeled stool to give her a kiss on the lips. “Relax, I'm almost done.”
She shook her head but relaxed again. The lines were the easy part—it was just the shading that was taking so long. Seeing my design on her skin was the sexiest thing I'd ever seen. There was no denying her now. Anything she wanted, she would get.
And when the final minutes passed, I pressed another gentle kiss to her neck before I leaned back to admire my handiwork.
Fuck, that looked good on her.
“All done.”
The word hung in the air, and she let out a slow breath. “Already?”
She leaned up and stretched. The sight of her bare back had my dick straining against my jeans.
“Careful,” I mumbled when she winced. I got on my feet, nearing her as I cleaned the area carefully. When I wiped away all the excess ink, I trailed her shoulder with kisses. “So beautiful.”
She sat up, maneuvering so her legs were on either side of mine. Her breasts pressed my chest when I leaned forward to capture her lips with mine.
“Mhm, wait, Jax… let me see,” she mumbled against my lips.
Reluctantly, I pulled away and reached for the mirror, angling it down then I handed her the small one. She inspected it with her lip bitten and I studied her expression.
“What, you don't like it?”
“No, that's not… Jaxon, it's stunning,” she breathed out, and I felt some relief.
“Good.” My hand trailed up her thigh, and a smirk found my lips again. “Now, how about I give you the special post-session services?”
“Special service, huh?” She laid down the mirror and tugged at my shirt. “Must be expensive.”
“Trust me, you and that smart mouth of yours can pay for it.”
Those were the last words I said before we spent the rest of the night paying debts.