41
The following day, Yelena was laid out on a work counter in Valentine's study. They had decided on a mating tattoo design quickly, and Valentine had completed his sitting in front of a mirror with Yelena chatting beside him and in utter awe of his skill.
"I've had a lot of practice tattooing myself over the years," he had reassured her, and neither of them wanted someone else doing it. This was for them alone.
Together, they had also purged the ink from Valentine's old binding sigils, leaving only the scars.
"Look at all this space I now have to work with," he said, smiling at his skin and the light dusting of dark hair over it.
It was a good day when Yelena could look at him without a shirt on. The black, red, and silver ink of his mating tattoo shone under his left pec, right over his heart.
"I'm going to need you to keep that shirt off while you tattoo me," Yelena said, wriggling on the counter. "I want something nice to distract me."
Valentine's eyes shone with magic and lust. "Trust me, you're going to be distracted. I've never felt anything like this before."
"The magic is already working, even though mine isn't done?" she asked, staring at the design.
"Oh, it's working. Now, I'm going to need you to stay still so I can concentrate. Having you all laid out for me like this is distracting enough," he replied, running one hand over her thigh.
He had given her one of his warm, burgundy-red robes to wear, and if it weren't for the need for them to be mated driving them, Yelena was sure he would have pounced on her as soon as she put it on. He liked her not only in his clothes but also in the color of his magic. It was good information to file away.
"I will be perfectly still and well-behaved," she promised and opened the sides of the robe over her pale stomach.
Valentine bent his head to kiss it before getting his pen to sketch the design. It was a shock to find that he had been drawing her dragon for weeks, but when he opened his journal for her, there she was.
Seeing the drawings, being in his tower, and the Greatdrakes house had finally settled the voice of doubt inside of Yelena that said she didn't belong to him. It was the first time she had been somewhere in both worlds where a sense ofhomehad washed over her. She was a Greatdrakes, and now they were going to make it official.
Valentine drew her dragon first, the marker tickling her stomach with every stroke. Their design was a circle, so she wanted it tattooed around her belly button. One side was her dragon, the other side his, with knotwork designs linking them together like an ouroboros. Separate dragons, but whole together, which matched them perfectly.
Valentine hadn't started tattooing yet, and Yelena couldalready feel the soft hum of their magic in their design. He set out his inks in neat rows and picked up his tattooing gun.
"You ready, baby girl?" he asked.
"To be yours forever? Fuck, yes. But kiss me first," she said.
He leaned down, a lock of his dark hair falling in front of his face, and pressed his lips to hers. It was slow and sweet, like they had all been since they had come home. They had been so tired from the battle and magic, being slow and sweet was called for, and it had felt just right. Valentine's tongue teased against hers, and she nipped his bottom lip in warning.
"Stop teasing me. Magic first, sex later," she growled.
Valentine's grin was infectious. "Right you are."
The first prick of the needles made Yelena jump, and then the endorphins hit, and she relaxed with a happy sigh, lost in the pleasure and pain of it. She could understand why he had so many now if they always felt so good. Valentine kept working, his eyes never leaving her skin. The magic began to flow from him into the gun, and Yelena's toes curled.
"Ohhhh," she breathed out. Now she knew what he had meant about his already working. "That feels…"
"Iknow, Yelena. I can barely focus right now," Valentine grumbled. His tattoo was pulsing with the scarlet aura of his power, and Yelena bit the inside of her cheek and closed her eyes. She couldn't look at him while all these feelings pulsed through her. Her inner eye opened, and she could see the magic working. The mating instinct that her dragon side had always insisted on was a living thing between them. Her tattoo was mirroring, amplifying, and combining with his all at the same time.
Yelena tried to slow her breathing as her pussy clenched, arousal burning hot through her.
Valentine's spare hand stroked her thigh. "Keep breathing, Yelena. Don't tense or it will make the tattoo hurt more."
"This… How did you act so calm when you were doing yours?" she demanded, opening her eyes to glare at him.
"Clearly, you weren't paying attention," Valentine said, gesturing to the hard outline of his dick in his pants.
Yelena's mouth watered. "You need to get this tattoo done."
Valentine groaned and shook himself. "I'm halfway. At least we know the bond is working, right?"
