I grin.
"Atticus must hate it."
I purse my lips. "He definitely doesn't like it."
Pushing off the wall, I let her continue to explore while I go to the tall dresser in the corner where I keep my shit from a past life, pulling out the metal box with my piercing equipment. I get out the things I'll need, setting them up in a neat line on the nightstand.
It's like muscle memory, and I remember how much peace I got from poking small holes in people when I was a teenager. Did I know then how much bigger those holes would become as I grew into my darkness?
I think maybe I already did, but I never tried to stop it.
When I'm finished setting up, I leave to use the en suite and quickly wash any remaining dirt from my hands and beneath my nails. I'm drying them as I exit the bathroom to find Aurora already sitting on the edge of my bed, swinging her feet as she considers the tools on my nightstand with her lower lip caught between her teeth.
She perks up when she hears me coming back and turns to watch me with fixated attention as I set my phone in the speaker dock and hit play on my newest playlist. The one she and I have been adding songs to together.
Sleep Token's "Emergence" filters into the room, lending an eerie, haunting quality to the atmosphere as I settle onto my knees in front of Ro and grab the antiseptic, soaking some into a cotton pad.
She unzips the sweater and leans back on her palms, letting it fall open, revealing the delicate white gold necklace settled into the hollow of her throat, the sexy gap between her breasts, and the long, lean line of her stomach.
I take a minute to marvel at the sight of her on my bed. At her still red, still swollen pussy looking like a feast against my black satin sheets.
She grins at me knowingly, and I give her a cheeky look before dabbing and wiping at the area at the top of her navel. She sucks in a breath at the cold antiseptic, and I watch goosebumps erupt on her skin.
Is my baby a little nervous?
She doesn't need to be.
I'll take care of her.
When I'm done, I toss the pad into the trash and show her the two options I have.
"Traditional barbell." I hold up the simple stainless steel floating ball. "Or, something with a little more personality?"
Her eyes lock on the piece with the black diamond set into a white gold fixture on the bottom.
She grabs the traditional piece and throws it over her shoulder, swinging her feet excitedly.
"Good choice."
Her breathing turns shallow as I unscrew the top and set it down in favor of the forceps.
Her lips part as I bend over her, and hover with the forceps inches from her navel.
"It'll hurt," I warn. "But you can take it."
She lies on her back, her hands twisting in my messy sheets. "Do it."
"I'll be quick."
I have the clamp positioned, checked, and locked within seconds. Then comes the 14-gauge needle, expertly positioned a breath from her skin.
"Deep breath, Ro."
She inhales sharply as I slip the bit of sharpened steel through her skin, and she gasps at the sudden pain.
"Almost…"
I lock the top tip of the barbell to the base of the needle and thread it into the new piercing, deftly twisting the second bauble into place.
