Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Naomi dropped the girls off at Faith’s house to hang out with Deborah while she went to her first tattoo appointment.
Well, her first one where Stone was actually going to be inking her.
She approved his sketch after he’d added the color, but between the commemoration weekend and then her getting volunteered to help at the girls’ camp they’d wanted to attend, she and Stone had hardly spent any time together in the week since the commemoration.
They sat by each other during Beth’s updates on what she’d found from copying files at Jared and her father’s offices and the listening devices they’d planted.
Her father, who looked down on Uncle Locks for having a bail bonds company and being in a motorcycle club, was a freaking money launderer for some of the gangs in Oklahoma.
The fact he had all those extra businesses and, per Beth’s words, piles and piles of money irritated Naomi.
Although they’d attended college, she’d had to apply for scholarships and take out loans that she’d only just finished paying off. In a way, she was okay with that because criminal money hadn’t paid for her education, but how could her father be so stingy with his daughters?
Naomi and her sisters were supposed to be choosing what they wanted to do about their father and Jared—turn them over to the feds or one of the many suggestions from the members of the club.
Naomi wanted them to pay, but she wasn’t sure how yet. Beth had indicated they had a little bit of time to decide because Jared was too busy dealing with other issues to make a trip back to Bluff Creek.
She’d never considered herself to be a violent person, but she wondered if she could take a switch to Jared’s thighs a couple of times to let him feel the pain.
She paused that thought because she was at the tattoo studio.
She sat in the car, wondering how she’d get through Stone touching her and being so close to her.
A knock on her window startled her. She’d been lost in thought and hadn’t seen Stone come outside. She opened her door.
“You don’t have to have me do this,” he tried to reassure her.
Naomi got out of the car, grasped Stone’s hand, and led him toward the door.
“Yes, I do. I want to. I was just thinking about how I was going to handle having your hands on me and you so close to my thighs when you tattoo,” she murmured playfully, walking in the door.
Stone followed behind her. She waved and said hi to everyone, stepping into Stone’s area that already had the privacy screens up and ready to close.
He pressed against her, his hardness sending a shudder through her.
“Way to distract me while I tattoo, gorgeous,” he teased softly.
She giggled and turned around. “Sorry, not sorry.”
“Uh-huh. Let’s get started,” Stone smiled, closing the door. He got his supplies ready. “Did you decide what would make you comfortable while we did this? A towel over you, or do you want to tuck your skirt up?” he asked, adjusting the tattoo machine.
Naomi had debated but then decided he was eventually going to see all of her, so why not have a little fun today?
She’d driven to Dodge City with Chloe and Lilah to get some cute underwear.
Today’s was a purple thong with bows at the hips.
She took her skirt off while Stone’s back was turned and lay face down on the tattoo chair that Stone had opened all the way up so she could lie flat.
She covered her face, or Stone would see the huge smile on her face.
“All right. Let’s get started,” he said, spinning his chair toward her. “Oh, fuck me, you’re going to make this extremely challenging, aren’t you, baby?” he groaned, his jaw tightening.
She giggled, her body shaking on the chair.
“Get it out of your system before I start. I don’t want the design messed up because you were giggling. But I will say, this is a very pretty piece of lace and thread,” Stone admired, his gloved finger running along the top piece of the thong along her hip.
She raised her head to see his face. The heat in his eyes gave her that warm feeling in her tummy. Having him find her attractive thrilled her.
“Okay, I’m good,” she promised.
“I know we talked about how this area could be painful. Don’t be shy about saying you want a break or need to move. This first part is me transferring the image, so no needles yet. I’ll warn you before I start,” he explained, turning his attention to the equipment on his workstation.
Seeing Stone in his element was just another facet of his character. His concentration showed how much he loved his art.
“Starting now. I’m going to start farther down on your thigh because it’s not quite as painful as right under your butt cheeks,” he warned softly.
The buzz of the tattoo machine and the stinging pain weren’t quite as bad as she’d thought they would be. It was painful but she’d lived through pain before. Stone paused for a second.
“Doing okay? Do you want some music on?” he asked.
“I’m good. Whatever you like to listen to is fine,” she said.
He started the music and went back to her thigh. The longer he tattooed, the more the pain became a background feeling to her thoughts.
Stone had said he’d had some clients cry while they were tattooed and others went to sleep, depending on how their bodies absorbed and translated the pain.
He had a rhythm—he’d tattoo, then wipe an area.
He was doing the outlining today, and then once he was done with all of that on both thighs, he’d start the shading and coloring.
It was going to take a lot of time, but it was something she wanted.
Even though the girls had known Jared had hurt her, Naomi didn’t want to see the reminders every time she turned her back toward the mirror.
Stone had texted her earlier this week, asking her if she’d thought about what she wanted to do.
In the fall, the girls would be in school all day.
What she liked about him asking was that he would be happy with any answer she gave.
He wanted her to be happy and was trying to discover what would do that so he could smooth the way.
In a perfect world, she’d oversee a library.
She loved books and had the background, though she’d never been able to put what she’d learned into practice.
If she couldn’t work in a library, maybe she should see if Broken Hearts Brewing needed help with the bookstore part.
She wasn’t really interested in the food side of it.
“Doing okay?” Stone checked, pausing the tattooing.
“Yes,” she assured him.
“Do you need to go to the bathroom or get a drink? We’ve been at it for four hours,” Stone noted.
Naomi turned her head and propped herself on her arms.
“No way. Are you teasing me?” she challenged.
Stone shook his head. “No. I think you may be the perfect tattoo client. You zoned out, and a couple times with your deep breaths, I couldn’t tell if you were asleep or just really relaxed.”
“Oh, I could use a drink,” she realized.
Stone stood up, took his gloves off, and opened the door to get it for her.
She turned her head, trying to see what he’d done, but she wasn’t very successful.
He brought her a soda back, opening the bottle for her.
He helped her up so she could stand and drink.
She hadn’t realized how thirsty she was until Stone brought it up. She finished the drink quickly.
“Do you want another?” Stone offered, his hand brushing her cheek.
“No, I’m good. Did you get everything done you wanted or is there still more?” she asked.
“Another forty minutes and I think we’ll be at a good stopping point,” Stone replied, his eyes tracing her face.
“Okay.” She crawled back onto the tattoo table, exaggerating her movements to highlight her butt and underwear.
“Seriously?” Stone huffed.
She giggled and lay face down.
“Just an FYI, it’s taking everything in me to keep reminding myself that this is a place of business and inappropriate touching or ripping off your underwear is strictly prohibited,” Stone growled.
“Noted. Is that only during open hours?” she purred.
“Naomi, you are killing me here,” Stone muttered.
She didn’t say anything. She loved that Stone was safe to tease. Maybe someday if she didn’t have ten thousand things for the girls and Stone didn’t have appointments, he could do more than kiss her.
She was ready to take that step.