Page 13 of Two Tricks

Silently, I watched Teo move about the kitchen, then he placed a mug full of pitch-black coffee in front of me. Just how I loved it.

I kept my gaze on him as I sipped my drink since I hadn’t really gotten a good feel for him last night. Now I let my eyes wander over his body at my leisure. Where Enzo was more harsh and meticulous, Teo was disheveled and carefree. His brown hair had flecks of red to it and was tousled like he ran his hands through it often. His beard was thick and gave him that rugged lumberjack look. Thanks to him wearing a tank top, I devoured the black and white artwork covering his right arm.

Boldly placed right on his shoulder was a skull shrouded in shredded fabric with a large cross in the background. I knew from Wes’s research that this was the Phantom Saints’ mark, and I’d seen it on the back of all their cuts. Flowing down from that was smoke that broke into a sketch of a gargoyle, followed by other gothic artwork. To me it looked like the tattoo artist used someone’s rough-drawn pencil sketch as reference. It was beautiful and haunting, making my fingers twitch with the need to trace over them with my own hands.

“See something you like?” Teo asked, snapping me out of my fixation. The smirk on his face gave me all sorts of dirty ideas of what I would like to do to those lips.

What was going on with me? It’s like my brain decided to turn into a horny teenager lusting after anything that was available.

“Your tattoos are amazing,” I said, pausing to clear my throat. “Who did them?”

Teo looked down at his arm as if he had forgotten that he even had tattoos. “Mark Mahoney.”

“Holy shit, you’re kidding me!” I gasped. Mark Mahoney was a legend. “How the hell did you manage that? That man is booked out a year in advance!”

“He used to do a lot of tattooing for bikers back in the day, and when I sent him the artwork I drew for it, he found a spot for me.” Teo grinned as he set a plate of food in front of me.

I snatched his arm to get a closer look before he could pull it back. The combination of Mark’s tattooing skill and Teo’s drawings was a perfect storm of beauty. Giving into my desires, I let my fingers whisper over his skin, causing Teo to take a sharp inhale. I flicked my gaze up at the sound, finding Teo’s eyes filled with a hunger that wouldn’t be fixed with food.

“You are very talented. Is that how you got the name Picasso?” I asked, relishing in his attention.

He shrugged and broke eye contact with me. “Not the most creative, but it fits.”

Letting go of his arm, I looked down at the food he made me. “Um, Teo—sorry, Picasso—what is this, exactly?”

“My specialty—egg in a hole,” he said, puffing out his chest.

I picked up the toast with the fried egg in the middle and took a large bite. Surprisingly, it was the perfect combination of flavors, and I hummed to myself as I gobbled down the rest. Not wanting the meal to end, I licked my fingers, not leaving any trace of it behind. Food was a surefire way to win me over, and Picasso was well on his way to accomplishing that.

Being a talented-as-fuck artist might have also helped some.

“Hated it, didn’t you,” Picasso chuckled.

“It was absolute shit,” I teased, grinning at him. “I think you need to try that again and learn how to improve this disaster.”

Without warning, a hard chest pressed to my back and hands settled on my hips, causing me to stiffen.

Fuck!

“What do we have here?” a silky voice said in my ear. “It’s not every day we get graced with such a lovely sight in our kitchen.”

How could I have let my guard down so easily? Normally I was extremely hard to sneak up on, but somehow Picasso had managed to lull me into relaxing my guard.

Pull your shit together, woman. You’re not here to flirt and have a good time. You’re a prisoner that they are trying to get information out of. LOCK IT UP!

I slid one hand over his, leaning into him and getting him to relax as he started to nuzzle into my neck. “Sounds to me like you need to raise the standard of women you let sleep over.”

His grip tightened, snaking around my waist and causing me to react out of instinct. Swiftly, I grabbed his thumb and yanked it back, using it to twist his whole arm and bring him to his knees for the second time since we met.

“You really need to stop ending up like this with me,” I pouted, looking down at him.

“Dax,” Picasso said, walking slowly around the counter. “Let Cognac go. He’s an idiot, but a harmless one.”

I looked up at him, this time with my reality fresh in my mind, keeping my guard up. “He needs to learn that not every woman welcomes being touched so casually. I’m no hang-about for your club members to use.”

“You didn’t seem to mind so much on the dance floor,” Cognac said, trying to play off the pain my hold had him in.

I frowned, letting him know he wasn’t helping himself. “That was before I knew you were part of a biker gang and kidnapped me. Makes me a little more prickly than usual.”