“You don’t have any ink,” Kyrone said. Nothing that was immediately visible anyway. While he waited for Jared to correct him, he absently handed the completed form to Faye.
Jared gave him a lop-sided smile. “I wasn’t aware it was a requirement for the job?”
Kyrone’s voice stuck in his throat for a second as he tried to come up with a witty comeback. He failed. “I’ve just never met a tattoo artist who wasn’t covered in ink before.” He glanced across at Faye, who was a perfect example.
“Maybe there’s a first time for everything.” Jared began to prepare the workspace, leaving Kyrone to gape at him.
The young man put a pot of petroleum jelly onto the desk, along with a bottle of black ink, needles in sterile packets, the tattoo machine, ink caps, and some antibacterial soap. He poured some of the ink into a couple of the ink caps.
“Lie back,” he said as he pulled on a pair of gloves.
Kyrone did so, trying hard not to let his body react as the young man cleaned his chest with soap and water before drying it with paper towel. His touch was gentle but thorough.
“Here?” Jared ran his fingers over the spot Kyrone had indicated earlier.
“Yes.” Kyrone couldn’t contain the shiver of delight that ran through him at Jared’s light touch.
Jared covered the area in petroleum jelly and then put the design onto some carbon copy paper, creating a stencil. He laid it over Kyrone’s chest, nudging it until he was happy with the placement. Then he glanced at Faye, waiting for her nod of approval, before applying the transfer to Kyrone’s skin.
“Is this right?” he asked, holding up a mirror so Kyrone could see the word on his chest.
Kyrone grinned. “Looks great.” It would be even more perfect when it was properly inked
Jared switched places with Faye, who put gloves on and then opened the sterile needle and placed it into the tattoo machine. She applied a fresh layer of petroleum jelly to Kyrone’s skin and then poised the needle over the design.
“Ready?”
“I’ve done this before.”
“It will probably be more sensitive across your breast bone than most of your other tattoos were,” Faye advised.
“I’ve got something to distract me,” Kyrone said, winking as he stared at Jared, who was obviously checking out his ink.
Jared’s stare was currently fixed on the half-sleeve tattoo on Kyrone’s arm. He smiled at Kyrone’s comment but didn’t rise to it, as his gaze travelled slowly down Kyrone’s torso to the skin just above his waistband on the left-hand side.
Kyrone smirked as Jared looked at the ‘Sweet and Sexy’ tattoo that ran over his hip. “I am, you know.”
Jared’s eyebrows raised as he made eye contact with Kyrone. “Sweet, sexy,andan Adonis? That sounds too good to be true.”
“And now you’re both at it,” Faye said with a sigh. “Cut it out, or I’ll send you back upstairs,” she warned Jared as she dipped the needle into one of the ink caps and then turned the tattoo machine on. “Breathe normally,” she told Kyrone.
At first, the needle felt like an uncomfortable tickle across Kyrone’s skin as Faye began to trace the outline of the lettering. She had been right. As the needle travelled over Kyrone’s breast bone, the tickle turned into a painful lance. He kept breathing normally, though he did grip the arms of the chair.
“You said you were a pole dancer?” Jared’s curious tone cut through the pain.
He wasn’t sure if Jared was genuinely interested or if he was making conversation to distract him from the pain. Either option was fine.
“Yeah, at Heaven and Hell.”
The expression on Jared’s face was blank.
“It’s a gay club on the edge of the city centre. We do pole dancing and private stripteases.” He sucked in a breath as Faye inked over a particularly tender area of his chest. “You’ve not heard of it?”
Jared shook his head. “I’ve not lived here long, so I don’t really know anywhere.” He handed Faye a clean tissue so she could wipe away the excess ink.
“You haven’t heard of The Vibe either?” Kyrone asked.
“No.”
