I open my mouth to argue, but I’m far too replete. “Fair.”
He pulls a strand of my hair over his top lip like a moustache, pouting exaggeratedly, to make me laugh. “Quick question, though. I can’t help but realise that we didn’t use a condom either time…” He winces. “My bad, angel, I’m sorry.”
I shake my head. “Hey, I pounced on you. And no problem, I have the implant.”
He nods. “OK. And I’ve never slept with anyone without one before, and I tested negative last time I was checked.”
“Same. When I found out Shitbag had cheated, I had a full screen done just in case, and I was given the all clear.”
“In that case, we’re good, then. And lucky me, I get to feel all of you…” He takes another lock of my hair, wrapping it around and around his fingers. “I’ve always loved your hair,” he says, his voice dreamy. “Such a beautiful colour, and so much of it.” He must read something in my face, because his smile fades and he goes still. “What?”
I roll on top of him, sorry to have made him feel like there was something wrong. Looking down on him now, I can’t resist running my fingertip over the planes of his gorgeous, worried face. “It’s alright. It’s just…you talk about it so freely. And I can’t get past feeling a little stupid that I didn’t know how you felt from the word go. I don’t like feeling stupid.”
He thinks on my words. “You’re not stupid. I was just that good at hiding it.” He smirks at me. “And now you know, so why piss about with all that?”
I give him a wry smile. I suppose this feeling of idiocy is something I’m just going to have to come to terms with. What matters is now, and where we go from here.
“All that remains is…what happens now?” He’s psychic, I swear. He runs his thumb over my lips, touching my face like he just can’t not. “I mean…last night was a pretty clear signal that you’re…on board?” I see a flicker of hope in the way he looks at me, and it squeezes at my heart.
“That’s another thing that bothers me,” I say, letting myself be honest. “I’ve been hurting you all this time, and I never noticed.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” he insists. “You were involved with someone else, and your focus was there.” He grins again. “You made a mistake. You’re only human. Took your sweet fucking time to see the light, sure. But now, you know better than to choose someone else when you could have me - UFF!” he grunts, laughing as I smack him around the face with a pillow. He batsit to one side before sitting up and kissing me, cupping my face with his warm hands. “So… It’s on?”
“You and me?” He nods. “Yeah, if you can keep up with me as well as last night…”
“Count on it.”
And, off and on throughout the rest of the next two days, he gives me proof that I can indeed.
CHAPTER TEN
Leo
I’m trying, lord, I amtryingto act normal, like I haven’t spent the past two days in bed having epic, dick tingling sex with the woman I’ve been in love with for years. Learning her, and having her learn me. Having total, unfettered access to every inch of her, the taste and feel of her imprinting indelibly on my mind and heart and soul like the tattoo I’m drawing on my latest client.
But I can’t help zoning out, my mind wandering over the curve of her breasts, the glint of her silver nipple rings and how they looked in both the moonlight and the daylight, the line of her collarbone that I’ve now run countless kisses across. And I’ve never been in a better mood in my life, smiling at everything over and over.
I’m nothing if not a professional, so I’m making sure I ink this anime octopus right, taking extra care to follow the outlines on her thigh perfectly. But I can hear Sadie talking to her own client in the hallway as she brings him through to her studio, and god damn it if my dick doesn’t twitch at just the sound ofher voice, saying nothing dirty, not even talking to me. I grin to myself. If I thought I was gone for that fucking vixen before…
…now, I’m just plainruined.
“Do you do many anime and manga tattoos?” My client’s voice is soft, almost timid. Her name is Daniella, and she’s cute as fuck, blonde with a tiny pleated skirt and a purple crop top with skulls on. Her smile actually reminds me a lot of Sadie’s, bright and sweet.
“I do,” I reply, feeling bad that I’ve been daydreaming while I ink her. “A lot of Studio Ghibli, of course, but I did a great one last month based onKomi Can’t Communicate.”
Her smile widens. “That’s one of the best! Have you seen it?”
“I actually haven’t,” I reply, “but if you say it’s one of the best, I’ll definitely add it to my watch list.”
“You should. It’s on Netflix.” She squirms slightly, and her face goes slightly pink. “If you want…you could…I dunno, come over to my place and…we could watch it together?” She presses her lips together, and my heart melts. She strikes me as the shy type. That probably took a lot of guts.
“Ordinarily, I’d sayhellyes,” I say to her honestly. It’s more than that she’s cute. It’s that she seems really, really nice. She has that ‘good people’ aura that’s getting rarer in this day and age, like she’d pick you up from the airport and bring you snacks for the journey home. “Unfortunately, I’m spoken for. But thank you very much for the invitation, that was kind of you.” I take her hand and squeeze it, hoping she isn’t embarrassed.
“Oh…well, no problem, the invitation is open. As friends, I mean.” She goes a bit redder, looking around the room to avoid my gaze. Eventually, she gives up with a shrug. “Can’t blame a girl for asking,” she chuckles.
“Always worth asking,” I agree. “And listen, Daniella…whoever gets to say yes to you is a lucky bastard, and no mistake. Never let that slip your mind.” I mean what I say, and I thinkI managed to get that across, because her smile brightens even more, and she squeezes my hand back.
Sadie looks pale.She’s still smiling and giving me secret hot looks when no-one’s looking, but I can’t help but notice she’s massaging her left temple off and on, and rubbing her lower abdomen as well, grimacing every now and again during lunch. She’s hardly touched the chicken salad sandwich Em picked up for her, either.
