Chapter 13
Tiny
A fter a meeting that lasted way too fucking long, I’m finally pulling my bike against the curb outside of Desert Ink. It’s time for Brenna to finish my Medusa and possibly move on to the next piece.
“Hi!” Brenna says excitedly from behind the front desk. Her brows drop as her face morphs into confusion as she turns back to look toward the back hallway.
“Hey, babe. Ready to destroy my arm again?”
Brenna’s face turns up as if nothing happened, and she smiles again. “Absolutely! I already have everything ready, so just go hop up.”
Brenna preps my arm and is pressing the stencil against my skin when a very familiar voice that I’m starting to develop a Pavlov’s response to floats out from the hallway. I watch as the woman of my fucking dreams struts on her sexy-as-fuck heels out to the main room, followed closely by Flame. If said brother’s girl wasn’t currently pressing her needle to my skin, I would come out of my chair and go after him over how close he walks behind her.
I don’t want any man near her, and that thought confuses the fuck out of me. Since when did I become possessive of women? Well, not women, just one woman. The specific woman in question is currently laughing at something Flame says. They are far enough away that I didn’t hear what was said, and by some chance, she still hasn’t noticed me sitting across the room. That also fucking pisses me off. I want all of her attention. All the time.
“What’s she doing here?” I mutter to Brenna. She smiles and points the end of her tattoo pen toward her nose.
“She got her nose pierced.” She wiggles her eyebrows at my widened eyes.
Shit. I don’t think I’ve ever thought of a nose piercing as being sexy. But picturing her with one? Damn .
I feel it the minute Flame and Kourtney both realize I’m here. I look up into her intoxicating gaze and smirk as she smiles shyly, her eyes darkening.
Flame jogs over, presses a kiss to the top of Brenna’s head, and hops up onto her counter.
Kourtney is slower in her pursuit across the shop and stops tentatively next to me. When she stretches her neck to get a look at what Brenna is doing, I notice the bright purple bruise forming at the base of her neck, and a smirk hits my lips.
Reaching forward, I turn her face towards mine. Yep. I was right. Fuck. The cute little diamond now adorning her nose is fucking sweet.
“Beautiful.”
The compliment earns a bright smile from her. She squeezes my arm before I snake it around her waist and pull her in closer. “What made you come get your nose pierced?” I ask, running my thumb along her hip.
She shrugs, her eyes following Brenna’s hand now that she has a better view. “I was driving around last week, one thing led to another, and I remembered Brenna saying she worked here, so I stopped in but Flame wasn’t here. I had some free time today and came back.”
I don’t know why the thought of her coming here out of the blue makes me smile, but shit, it does. I want this woman around my friends. I want her to go places that I go to. I want her in my life.
“I was going to get a tattoo spur of the moment, but then remembered that was probably a bad idea. So I figured a piercing was a little less permanent.”
Flame chuckles and wags his eyebrows at his ol’ lady. “Told you, baby. They aren’t permanent. If you don’t like your nipples, we can take them out.”
Brenna shakes her head. “I saw Pebbles when she was trying to breastfeed the twins. No thanks.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“She was feeding Cole when I was over there. He pulled off, and milk went everywhere.” Brenna pauses, looking each of us directly in the eyes. “Every. Where.”
Kourtney laughs and shrugs. “Extra holes means extra places for milk to come out of, I guess.”
Flame looks like he just smelled a nasty pair of socks, and I could’ve gone my whole life without the visual of Trigger’s ol’ lady in that predicament.
Brenna rolls her eyes while laughing. “So, like I’ve been telling you, Jace, talk to me after we have kids.”
I chuckle as the speakers crack, and then a Sleep Token song blares through the shop.
Flame shakes his head and shouts over the music at Carlos. He ignores him and goes back to working on the topless girl’s back, who’s shamelessly lying on his table.
Kourtney leans down and presses her lips against my ear to talk over the music. Her warm breath against my ear has my dick threatening to wake up. “I’m going to head out. I’ll see you around?”
I nod, squeezing her hip one last time before she darts out the door.
I meet Flame’s calculating stare and knowing smile and flip him off. “Fuck off.”
Brenna and Flame chat over the music while I lean my head back and do everything I can not to pop a stiffy as the events of last night play through my head like a fucking pornographic movie.
Sometime later, Brenna cleans off my arm for the hundredth time today. I can’t get a good visual of our progress from this angle, but what I can see is fucking sick.
“This is coming out so much better than I ever thought it would,” Brenna squeaks excitedly.
“I can’t wait to see it all done. You’re doing fucking great, babe.”
“Thanks, Tiny. You have no idea what it means to me that you have enough faith in my art to put it on you, let alone cover your entire arm.”
“One day, I hope you realize how talented you are.”
Brenna blushes while looking over towards Flame wistfully, who now has his own client laid out on his table. “If not for him, I would never even have considered this a possibility in my lifetime. I’m so thankful I met him.”
“Even without his guidance, though, Brenna, the art is yours. The talent is yours.”
“Maybe one day I’ll believe you. Until then, I will forever suffer from imposter syndrome.” A small, sad smile lifts the side of her lips.
Her confession tugs at my heart. I’m not afraid to admit it. I have a soft spot for women who think they aren’t good enough or don’t deserve the praise they so clearly do.
I blame it on my mom. After my pops ran off when I was a kid, it was just me and her. She blamed herself for years that she wasn’t good enough of a woman to keep a man around, so she never tried.
What she will never accept is that, to me, she is the best woman there is. She is an angel in my eyes, and no fucker on Earth deserves her love. I also miss the fuck out of her. After I left for the Marines at 18, the age she was when she had me, she moved to Phoenix to be near her sister, and I don’t get to see her nearly enough.
“I like her,” Brenna admits after a lull in conversation.
“Who?”
After rolling her eyes, Brenna stares at me like I’m an idiot. “Who do you think?”
“Well, considering my mom was just on my mind, and you’ve never met my mom, I have no clue.”
“Kourtney.”
“Ahh.” The corner of my mouth turns up in a grin at the thought of her.
“She’s really nice. Gorgeous, too.”
I chuckle. “You can say that again.”
“Do you like her?”
I search Brenna’s face and find curiosity, as well as hopefulness, in her eyes. I nod. “I do.”
“Like, like her like her? Or do you just like her enough to get in her pants?”
I let out a loud laugh at that. Brenna has definitely come a long fucking way out of her shell. The Brenna from a year ago would never ask anyone something like that. This new Brenna? Her newfound curiosity is going to get her into trouble one of these days.
“Wanna know a secret about me, Bren?”
Her voice lowers into a whisper that makes me smile. “I’m learning I love secrets.”
“I don’t usually care to be around any woman more than once, and if I do, it’s more of a means to an end. A need if you will.”
Brenna’s brows furrow now, not catching what I’m throwing at her. “Okay? What does that have to do with Kourtney?”
I lick my lips and run my hand along my beard. “I want to be around her all the time.”
“You mean until you sleep with her? Then you get tired of them and don't want her around anymore?”
Her innocence is killing me. So, instead of making her play the guessing game, I flat-out tell her, “I’ve already slept with her a few times, and I still want her around.”
Her eyes widen, and a triumphant smile breaks across her lips. “I love secrets,” she whispers, causing me to break out in laughter again.
“You guys sound like you’re having too much fun over here,” Flame calls as he moseys over, finished with his client.
Brenna smiles slyly at me like what we just discussed was on par with Homeland Security.
“Damn, baby. That is gonna be so sick,” says Flame as he squeezes her shoulders, eyeing up her progress on my arm.
“Thanks.” She blushes.
After another hour on my arm, we call it a night, and after cleaning and bandaging my arm, I wait around for them to clean up before we all head over to The Castle. Two nights in a row isn’t all too normal for me nowadays, but I’m not going to turn down a beer with Flame while Brenna works the bar.
It’s still early enough by the time we get to the club that Flame and I snag two stools in the center of the bar.
Pulling my phone out, I have to force myself to not click open the app on my phone that solely contains the system I installed at Kourtney’s.
Call me a fucking psycho, caveman, stalker, whatever you want.
Is it wrong in theory? Probably.
Should I only have access to this through the company? Probably.
Should I tell her that I have cameras in her room and every single part of her house accessible to view at any time I want right at my fingertips? Probably.
Should I tell her that, for the past week since I put them up, I have been watching her anytime she crosses my mind, which is a fuck ton? Probably.
Am I going to? Absolutely fucking not.
I can chalk it up to delusion and possession that I have the right to this because she’s the one who asked for the system, but that would be lying to myself. I’m not a liar.
I know damn well this is an invasion of her privacy. Fuck, she’s a goddamn lawyer. She could probably put my ass behind bars for this shit. Do I give a flying fuck?
Nope.
When Flame goes to the bathroom and Brenna is busy with a customer at the end of the bar, I find myself clicking on the red icon on my home screen.
Within seconds, Kourtney’s house fills my screen with all different views in small thumbnails. The room with current motion in it is highlighted, and I find myself clicking on it immediately.
I’m disappointed to find that the motion was just her big ass cat strolling into her room.
I smile at the big fucker. I never would’ve considered myself a cat guy, but dude’s pretty cool. Has huge balls on him too. Not just figuratively; his testicles are actually huge. Riley got a kick out of it that morning when the feline teabagged my arm.
My eyes nearly pop out of my head, and my jeans go tight as Kourtney strolls out of the bathroom at the corner of my screen, butt-ass naked as she saunters out of the room. Hurriedly, I click back to all the views of her house and follow along as she goes from room to room. Flipping through the different camera angles effortlessly, I’m blessed with multiple views of her delicious-as-fuck body. I’m patting myself on the back for going with the more expensive camera options, as the view of her is fucking incredible. There is not one shitty pixelated grain on my screen.
It’s truly chef’s kiss perfection.
I fumble my phone and quickly click out of the app just as Flame claps his hand on my back as he takes his seat again. Hopefully, he didn’t see my screen. Not for the fact that he would know I’m watching her like that, but if he would’ve seen her naked...
The thought of any other man seeing her naked makes my vision blur. My blood pressure rises, and I see red just from the thought of it.
I need to slow the fuck down. These feelings this woman is rising inside of me confuse the fuck out of me. I don’t know where they all come from, and it’s no secret that this shit is new to me. But fuck if I’m going to fight it.
“Hello?”
“Nathan Hayes,” my mom’s singsong voice breaks through the fogginess of sleep. Cracking one eyelid open, I turn to the alarm clock on my bedside and see it’s barely seven A.M. I huff out a tired breath and close my eyes again while greeting her.
“Morning, Mama.”
Am I a Mama’s boy? You could say that. Do I give a shit what anyone thinks about that? Nope.
“Why haven’t I heard from you in over a week, Nathan?”
I chuckle. “Well, considering I’ve been busy, and you’ve been home every day this week, I knew you were good.”
“So you’ve had time to check my cameras but no time to call me?”
So yeah, I’ve also got cameras at my mom’s. No, I don’t have cameras in her bedroom. That’s disturbing. But I do keep an eye on her, too, maybe too close an eye.
“Sorry, Ma.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Listen, I was talking with your Aunt Evie, and we thought it would be fun to come visit.”
“Not that I wouldn’t love to see you, Mama, but what’s the occasion?”
“Evie’s getting a divorce,” she says without beating around the bush. She has always been a no-bullshit kinda woman.
That has my eyes prying open and my gaze settling on the ceiling. “What?”
“I know. It’s unfortunate. She found out he’d been cheating with some women at work.”
“Women? Like multiple?” I growl.
“Multiple,” Mom confirms.
“Fuck,” I growl. “What does she need me to do?”
My mom sniffles through the phone. Whether it be her insane allergies or she’s upset for her baby sister’s sake is unclear. “Nothing, sweet boy. She’s upset, but more because she wasted so many years on him. She’ll be okay. She wants to take a break from the city and come back home.”
Even though Mama and Evie were born and raised in the city Desert Rose borders, it is nowhere near the size of Phoenix. So even though it’s a big city to us, considering where they’ve been living for the past fifteen years, our city is small.
I moved to Desert Rose after the Marines because it’s much quieter than the city I grew up in, and after my romp in the military, I needed quiet. I played football in high school with Tex, and that’s how I met the guys of Desert Outlaw eight years ago when I got out.
“Just have your guest rooms open and ready for us tomorrow.”
I fly up to a sitting position, scrubbing my hand over my scruffy face. “Tomorrow?”
“We’re leaving around nine, so we should be by you around lunchtime.”
“Jesus, Ma. You couldn’t give me more notice?”
“Pshh. Why would I need to do that?”
For such a smart woman, sometimes I question her. Once the surprise wears off, I let the excitement settle in. Mom coming to town means home-cooked food. Her cooking is the fucking best.
Shit.
My mom coming to town doesn’t really give me all that much time to woo Kourtney into wanting me back. I’m determined as fuck to make that happen, but this has thrown a wrench in my plans.
Shit, maybe I can have my mom work her charm on her. Everyone likes my mom, and for that matter, my mom likes everyone. Like I said, she’s an angel. There aren’t many people on this Earth that Emily Hayes does not like.
After promising my mom that both guest rooms would be ready for her and Aunt Evie, I hang up and force myself out of bed to start my day.
The day at the office drags on as I sit through two brainstorming sessions and another mission assignment meeting with our team of mercenaries.
I need a damn nap.
The next day, once lunchtime rolls around, I take the liberty of grabbing some food from the diner and head towards Kourtney’s office.
Am I being presumptuous just showing up with food for her and assuming she hasn’t eaten yet? You’d think so. But the view of her sitting in her office on my computer screen with no food in sight tells me I’m good to go. I’ve brought her lunch a few times over the past couple of weeks, and she always seems shocked. Who knows what she would think if she realized every time I’ve seen her sitting at her desk without a crumb of food in front of her and took it upon myself to feed her.
A smile touches my lips at the sound of the dinging alarm as I push through the front door. A petite brunette greets me from a desk that wasn’t there a few days ago.
“Afternoon, sir. Can I help you?”
“I’m here to see Kourtney.”
“Do you have an appointment?” She eyes my cut warily.
I grin and shake my head. “Can you let her know Tiny’s here?”
Having her announce my arrival kind of pisses me off. I wanted to catch her bent over her desk and focused on her work again. I don’t want some random woman having to go tell her I’m here. But based on the suspicious expression on the woman’s face, she’d give me problems for stomping my way back to Kourtney’s office.
Heels clacking against hardwood pull me from my thoughts as Kourtney comes down the hall. When she sees me, her face transforms into a bright smile, and if possible, it gets even wider when she sees the white to-go bag in my hand.
“Thanks, Kara,” Kourtney tells the woman.
I don’t give her a second to react before I meet her at the base of the hall and press my lips to hers. Satisfaction runs through me as I feel her body sag against mine. Using my free hand to wrap around her waist, I hold her against me. I don’t know how into PDA she is, and I’m man enough to respect that this is her workplace, so I don’t deepen the kiss. Even though I really fucking want to.
“Hey, honey,” I rasp, pressing another kiss to her forehead.
She looks up at me sheepishly through her lashes. “Hi.”
I hold the food up. “Lunch?”
Laughing, she claps her hands together in front of her chest. “Thank God. I think I was starting to wither away.”
Dragging my hand down to grab ahold of her delicious ass, I add, “Not on my watch.”
Before following her down the hall toward her office, I turn and nod at the brunette, who watches us with pure shock painted across her face.
Once in Kourtney’s office, I drop the food onto her desk and clip her around the waist, dragging her back into me. Now that we’re behind closed doors, I kiss her again, this time deepening it the way I really wanted to before. She nibbles on my bottom lip and then moans when I tangle my fingers through her hair and pull at the base of her skull.
“Fuck, you’re perfect,” I say against her lips, causing her to smile against me.
Dipping my tongue between her lips, I groan as she sucks on the tip before tangling hers with mine. She tastes delicious, and I detect the faintest hint of butter pecan, which I now know is how she also takes her coffee. Walking her backward until her ass is pressed against the edge of her desk, I take control of the kiss until I’m fucking dizzy and painfully hard, pressing against her stomach.
A surprised yelp slips from her mouth when I lift her onto her desk and step between her legs. “What are you doing?” she asks breathlessly.
“Greeting you properly.”
“Oh,” her giggle turns into a moan, and her head drops back as I kiss down her neck and press my lips firmly against the spot at the base of her throat I know is still marked from the other night. Before she can stop me, I suck her delicate skin between my lips to make damn sure my mark doesn’t fade.
Wrapping her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist at the same time, she hangs on to me like a koala. Call me a pussy if you want, but it makes my fucking heart skip. I’m falling for this fucking woman and what she’s doing to me. The feeling she’s quickly digging out of me is something completely foreign.
Running my hands down her silky shirt, I settle them on her waist before sliding them down the outsides of her thighs, thankful she’s wearing a loose skirt so I’m able to stand comfortably between her legs.
Her body shivers against mine when my fingertips draw a pattern on the exposed skin where her skirt ends. Arching her body against mine, she pulls me in deeper with an intense kiss, almost as if she’s afraid if she lets go or lets our lips part, I’ll disappear. And fuck what that does to me.
I slide my fingers under the edge of her skirt and grasp at her thighs.
Pulling away from her lips so I can look into her eyes, satisfaction at her glazed appearance has me smiling. “Are you wet for me, honey?”
A beautiful, rosy blush marks her cheeks. She nods while pulling that juicy lower lip between her teeth. Reaching up with one hand while the other stays beneath her skirt, I tug her lip free with my thumb. Replacing her teeth with my own, she lets out an exquisite moan that’s music to my ears.
My fingertips graze across the flimsy lace covering her pussy. Ripping her lips from mine, she lets her head fall back onto her shoulders. “Please?”
I grin and press my lips softly to her exposed neck. “Please, what, baby?”
“Touch me,” she rasps.
“Here?” I ask, kissing her throat again.
“No, Tiny.”
I growl, nipping the skin this time. “Who?”
“Ugh!” she huffs. “Don’t make me beg, Nathan.”
“But you’re so pretty when you beg.”
Letting out a whimper, she tightens her thighs around my waist. “Touch my pussy,” she demands.
I release a chuckle at her forwardness. “Yes, ma’am.”
Pushing her panties to the side, she gasps as my fingers slip easily through her folds. “I knew you’d be wet for me.”
“Shut up and touch me.”
I tisk at her and slide my fingers through her wetness, avoiding where she really wants me to touch her.
Groaning in frustration, she tries wiggling her hips to create friction where my groin is pressed against her. Not only do I pull my hips away, but I spank her pussy, not hard enough to hurt or to punish her, but enough to make her yelp. I grin as goosebumps begin to cover her entire body.
Grasping her throat gently, I guide her eyes to mine. “Are you going to behave?”
Her eyes widen before drooping when she feels my length grind into her. Nodding, she whispers, “Yes, sir.”
I’ve never been into the ‘yes sir’ kind of shit, but those two words coming from her sweet lips do something to me. They turn me manic for her. I would drop to my knees and worship the ground she fucking walks on just to hear her whisper them.