“Is this your first tattoo?” Jace asks.
She nods and he, too, gives her another out. “Tattoos are forever,” he says seriously. “No one’ll blame you if you don’t go through with it.” He points to me. “I’ll even kick his arse for ya.” He winks and Rose laughs. The sweet melodic sound drowns out everything else. I want to hear it again.
“No,” she pauses, her brow furrowing before she replaces it with a small smile. “No, I want to. Let’s do it.” Her words bring a smile back to Jace’s face.
“Alright, I ain’t gonna argue with that. So what’ll it be?”
I clear my throat. “That,” I say, “would be up to me.” I pull out my phone, typing out a quick text addressed to him before holding up the device and giving it a little shake.
Jace’s phone chimes and he gives it a look, earning a shake of his head before he looks back to Rose. “You sure you want to give him this kind of power, lass? It’ll only go to his head.”
She looks between the two of us, and I raise a single brow, awaiting her answer.
“What the hell?” she breathes out finally, settling deeper into the chair, gripping tightly to the arm rests. “Let’s do it.”
Jace looks my way and I nod. He picks up his tattoo gun, rolling his chair closer. “Alright, where’s it going?”
Rose’s eyes slide to mine and she slowly hooks a thumb into the waistband of her skirt, dragging it down and pointing to the soft swatch of skin just south of her hip bone.
Jace sets about prepping the area, lowering the chair back so she’s more comfortable.
Her eyes never leave mine.
I need to take a walk. I need to dosomething, but instead, I stay, holding her gaze, watching her hold mine. Another challenge, the thrill of it awakening something primal in me, begging to be let out to play.
“Ready?” Jace’s voice breaks the tether between us, reminding us where we are, and Rose nods once, swallowing a lump in her throat, “Ready.”
I lower myself into one of the chairs, sitting on it the wrong way so I can lean my arms over the chair back while I watch.
Jace lowers his gun to her skin, and I can see the instant he makes contact. Pain flashes through her beautiful face and her grip tightens on the arm rest, eyes squeezing shut for all but a second before they fly open again, seeking me out.
Breathe, I mouth to her, and she does, slowly getting used to the annoying scratching of the tattoo needle.
She doesn’t look down to check Jace’s work. Doesn’t try to peek and see what it is I’ve chosen for her. Instead she watches me, letting me be her anchor through the pain, trusting me, in blind faith, that I haven’t decided to mar her with an infinity symbol, an anchor, or some other stereotypical generic tattoo.
The tattoo I’ve chosen for her is simple and small. Jace makes quick work of it and it’s over before she even realizes.
“All done,” Jace confirms, wiping the last of the blood away before she sees. “What do you think?”
There’s a nervous rhythm to my heart as her gaze falls, skimming over the new and permanent dark mark upon her skin. Her attention drawn to the black club, like that on a playing card, and the letter “K” that sits just above it and just under a small crown.
“It’s actually cute.” She lifts her head, approval glinting in her eyes, and Jace has to walk away to hide his face.
I smile too—because she doesn’t realize… I’ve just branded her asmine.
That smile falters, however, when I catch the shift in her expression. A wicked spark flickers there and her smile turns sinister.
“Your turn.”
36
DEATH SENTENCE
BRIAR
Now
Koen.
