Priceless Ink: A Small Town Romance

by Lagomarsino, Giulia

  My mouth opened and then closed. “But I’m just in a corset!”

  “And you look good enough to eat.”

  I glared at him, refusing to give in to his torment. I had just had the most indecent thoughts in the world about him, and he was using that against me. I did my best to stomp past him, refusing to acknowledge him any further. He was an ass.

  “Do you want some help?” he asked.

  “I don’t need your help,” I snapped, walking off without him.

  “You might want to head west,” he shouted.

  I stopped and looked all around me, trying to find some way to tell which way was west. “Would you care to point me in the correct direction?”

  He pointed to the right of me and I took off in that direction, determined not to need him. I didn’t need a man. Well, I technically did. I needed to marry someone that could provide for me, but I didn’t need this man.

  I felt him beside me as I hobbled along toward the trees in the distance. I could do this. I would not cry. I would not let this man see me weak. I’d already lost it several times today, breaking down in front of him and all that did was make me more vulnerable. He laughed at me, mocked me for being a princess. And maybe I was. I was definitely too good to be walking around in my corset and underwear like this, tromping through the mud and the muck.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to piggy back?”

  I laughed humorlessly. “So you can have me pressed up against you again? No thanks.”

  “That ankle is going to keep swelling if you keep walking on it.”

  “Wouldn’t you like that,” I grumbled. “It wouldn’t have happened if you had helped me in the first place.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. I guess we’ll never know.”

  I wanted to smack him, but instead, I just kept hobbling along, ignoring the pain in my foot. I refused to give in.

  * * *

  My pace had slowed considerably the darker it got. I was dying of thirst and my ankle hurt so bad. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could go on like this. Joe was keeping pace with me, not walking ahead of me. In fact, there were several times that I almost tripped and he caught me. I was so thrown by him trying to help me that I snapped at him to back off. But now, I would give anything to just be carried the rest of the way. But my pride wouldn’t allow it. I had complained, bitched, and begged for help and he never gave it. I wouldn’t ask for help again.

  So, when he reached out and grabbed my elbow, I was shocked. “What are you doing?”

  “We need to stop,” he sighed. “You can barely walk.”

  “You…you want me to stay out here? For the night?”

  “You’ll be fine. I’ve been camping plenty of times before. The worst you have to worry about around here are snakes, and none of them are deadly.”

  “How reassuring,” I grumbled, gently lowering myself to the ground.

  He unzipped his jacket and I sighed in relief. He was finally going to give it back to me and I wouldn’t feel so exposed. But when he pulled it off his shoulders, he didn’t hand it over. He wadded it up and placed it behind his head as he laid down on the ground.

  I stared at him in shock. Could he be any more rude? “What am I supposed to sleep on?”

  He looked over at me and shrugged. “Well, you can always cozy up to me. I don’t bite.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him, though I wasn’t sure he could see me in the dark. “The only way I would cozy up to you is if I had no other choice.”

  He shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

  I sat down and leaned against a tree. The bark dug into my back and I kept feeling bugs crawling all over me. I slapped at my skin when I felt something bite me.

  “Ow! What the hell was that?”

  “Mosquitos.”

  “Mosquitos?”

  “Yeah, you know those bugs that suck your blood?”

  “Great,” I grumbled. “Just what I need. By the time I get out of here, I’ll be covered in welts.”

  “Don’t be so dramatic.”

  I slapped my arm as I felt another bite. “You know, if you were a gentleman, you would give me back your jacket.”

  “I think we’ve already established that I’m not a gentleman.” His low voice carried through the night and sent tingles down my spine. I shivered as I remembered what it felt like to have his hands on me and his warm breath on my face. I never thought I would want a man’s touch the way I wanted his, but it was wrong. He was wrong.

  I shook off those thoughts and leaned my head back against the tree. I just wanted this night to be over. I ran through all that had happened today and wondered what Graham was thinking right now. What would my father do when he found me? Would I be kicked out of the house as the embarrassment of the family? I’d seen it happen to other people in our circle of friends when they didn’t do as they were told. Maybe I’d made a huge mistake. Graham wouldn’t have loved me, but at least I wouldn’t be sitting under a tree at night, contemplating what my future would look like.

  “You’re thinking too hard over there,” he grumbled.

  I glanced down at him. He looked perfectly comfortable, one arm behind his head as he laid with closed eyes on the ground. “You don’t know what I’m thinking.”

  “I bet I can guess.”

  “Then do tell me what is going through my mind right now,” I snapped.

  He leaned on one elbow and stared me down. “You’re thinking that you made a terrible mistake running away from your wedding. You’re wondering if it would really be so bad to be married to a man that doesn’t love you.” He shrugged and then laid back down, closing his eyes again. “Either that or you’re thinking about how much you want to fuck me.”

  I snorted, rolling my eyes, but the corner of my lips tipped up at his arrogance. At least he couldn’t see my smile in the dark. I didn’t bother to respond to his assessment. That would only give him leverage against me. I sighed and stared up at the sky through the trees. I had never seen the stars like this. In the city, it was rare to get to see the sky, not that I ever bothered to look. I think this was the first time I had ever been outside just sitting in the dark.

  I slapped another mosquito, disgusted that I had to deal with this. At home, there were always citronella candles and the yard was always sprayed for bugs every two weeks. Now I was sitting in the middle of their dwellings, getting eaten alive like the tastiest treat on the menu. I wanted to cry. I was in the dark and my life was in shambles, but I wouldn’t allow Joe to see me cry again. I already knew he didn’t care. The sounds of chirping nearby had me sitting up straighter. What the hell was that? My head snapped in the other direction when I heard it again.

  “Joe, I think there’s something out there.”

  But all I got in response was a soft snore. The bastard was already asleep. Swallowing hard, I leaned back against the tree, determined not to fall asleep while there was danger out there. Obviously Joe wasn’t going to protect me. But as the night wore on, the chirping lulled me to sleep. I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I just prayed that I would still be alive when I woke up in the morning.

  Joe

  God, I loved dreams like this. There was nothing better than a wet dream with a sexy as fuck woman rubbing up against me. I was uncomfortably hard and I was hoping that at some point, this dream would move into a very fulfilling orgasm.

  But that moan, so familiar, snapped me out of my supposed dream. My eyes flew open as I felt her warmth wrapped around me. I turned my head to look down at Sofia, her face resting against my chest. Her arm was thrown over my body and her leg was entwined with mine. And she was fucking moaning as she rubbed her body against mine.

  “Holy hell,” I grumbled, staring up at the morning sky. Her knee moved, rubbing up against my hard on. It was like she was humping my hip in her sleep, and it was damn sexy. I should probably wake her up. She would be mortified if she knew what she was doing right now. On the other hand, I liked seeing her like this, her walls down as she slept next
to me. She looked different, more human this way. Not the spoiled princess that complained about breaking a nail yesterday.

  Even now, looking at her face streaked with mascara and dirt, I still thought she was beautiful. Her hair was a ratted mess, and if she had a mirror, I’m sure she would be horrified. I almost laughed at how ridiculous she looked.

  She moaned again, this time almost kneeing me in the crotch. I sucked in a breath at the close call and decided it was time to wake her up. I slid my hand up her leg, groaning at how soft her skin was. This was insane. I shouldn’t be touching her, not when I was trying to stop this. But her skin was so soft and her moans were trying my patience. When my hand got to her ass, I squeezed it gently. She rubbed against me harder, her breaths coming out hot and fast against my chest. Christ, she was sexy.

  “Sofia, wake up.”

  “Joe,” she panted, her body moving faster against mine.

  I bit my lip as my hand slipped beneath her panties. I could feel the crease of her ass, wishing I could just slip my hand down a little further and feel how wet she was right now, and I knew she was soaked. I could feel it against my hip. I gave her ass another squeeze, about to pull back from her when her eyes suddenly flew open.

  She stared at me for a moment and then she flung herself away from me, pulling at her underwear. “What the hell were you doing?” she shrieked.

  “This is not what it looks like.”

  “Really? Because it sure looked and felt like you were trying to feel me up while I was sleeping.”

  “Now, in my defense, you were humping my leg and moaning my name.”

  Her mouth dropped open and her face blushed bright red. “I would never do something like that.”

  “Tell that to the wet spot you left on my jeans,” I muttered.

  “I can’t believe you. How dare you touch me when I’m sleeping!”

  “Hey, I could say the same thing, lady. Your knee was doing a pretty good job of rubbing one out for me.”

  She screamed and picked up some dirt, throwing it at me. It scattered before it even hit me, which only infuriated her more. She picked up more and made sure she threw it harder this time. Specks of dirt hit my face and I brushed them off casually, not caring at all that I was getting dirty.

  “I hate you!” she shouted.

  “I’m sure you do, Princess.”

  “Don’t call me that.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, your highness.”

  She glared at me and picked up some more dirt.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

  “Yeah? What are you going to do about it?”

  “Why don’t you throw it and find out?”

  She gave me a satisfied smirk and picked up some more dirt, this time mixing in a little mud and crawled on her knees to me, smothering it right in my face. She threw her head back and laughed as she watched me wipe the mud from my face with my arm. Deciding I’d had enough, I stood, pulling on my jacket, and then quickly bent over, scooping her up and throwing her over my shoulder.

  She shrieked and started banging her fists on my back. I held her legs down with one arm and gave her a smack on the ass with the other hand.

  She screamed again. “Don’t you dare touch me!”

  I slapped her again and grinned as I started walking toward my place. “Careful, Princess. I know you didn’t come in your dream. I might make that happen.”

  “You wouldn’t dare,” she seethed.

  “Oh, I would most definitely dare,” I laughed.

  I slid my hand up the back of her thigh, stopping just at the top of her leg. I could still feel the heat coming off her, smell her arousal dripping from her. I slid my hand gently over her ass and took a deep breath.

  “You smell fucking amazing. Do you want me to take care of you?”

  Her breath hitched and she didn’t answer right away. “Don’t,” she whispered.

  “Are you sure about that? We’re out here all alone, nobody watching. I could slide my hand inside your panties and make you come hard with just my fingers.”

  When she didn’t answer, I slid my hand back up to the edge of her panties, waiting for her to tell me to stop. I kept walking as I slowly slid my fingers inside her underwear and down her pussy. I groaned as I felt how wet she was.

  “Has a man ever touched you like this?” I asked, sure I was right when I considered that she might be a virgin.

  Her response was a moan so indecent that I thought I was going to have to stop and jack off right then. I slid my finger down through her soaking pussy until I found her clit. She gasped and jerked in my arms. I slowly circle her little bud, rubbing faster and faster as she bucked in my arms, moaning and crying out. And just when she was about to come, I pulled my hand out of her panties and laughed.

  She gasped and slapped me on the back. “You bastard! I hate you.”

  “Don’t I know it, Princess.”

  “Put me down!”

  “Not a chance in hell. I like knowing you’re wet and pressed up against me.”

  “You’re sick! When I get home, I’m reporting you!”

  “For what? Teasing you and then not making you come? Sure, go report that to the police.”

  She growled and then her balled up fists were hitting me in the back. I grinned and continued on my way, letting her work out her frustrations on me. After all, I couldn’t blame her. If she had been sucking me off and then stopped right before the happy ending, I’d be pissed too. But it served her right for all the shit she said to me over the past day. And I was going to enjoy watching her squirm.

  A half hour later, we were just outside of town. It would only take another ten minutes to get to my place.

  “Are we here?” she asked.

  “Yep, my place is just down the road.”

  She pushed herself up off my back and I could feel her glaring at me. “You mean we were only a half hour away last night and you let me sleep outside?”

  “Well, your ankle was hurting.”

  “You could have carried me!”

  “I could have, but then I wouldn’t have woken up with you humping my leg. I gotta say, carrying you home this morning has been totally worth it.”

  “I hate you!”

  “You’ve already said that.”

  “What kind of…of neanderthal are you? I’m a lady and you let me sleep in the dirt with mud all around me. I was freezing and you couldn’t even offer me your jacket.”

  “You found warmth just fine,” I said, nodding to a guy that I passed on the street. He grinned at me, his eyes glued to her ass.

  “Oh my gosh. People are staring at me!”

  “Maybe you should have worn more clothes.”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t have taken away my jacket!”

  “It’s actually my jacket.”

  “Will you please put me down,” she whined.

  Sighing, I stopped and plopped her down on the ground, right on her ass. She glared at me and I could tell she really wanted to hit me right now, but then she realized that people were looking at her.

  “My place is just down the street. You can either join me or you can stay out here in that getup.”

  She screamed under her breath and got to her feet, flipping her nose up at me as she turned and headed down the street with her head held high. I chuckled as I watched her walk away. Corduroy stepped up beside me, watching her.

  “New woman?”

  “Nah. She ran out of her wedding yesterday. I was driving her here, but my bike broke down. I called Josh to pick it up.”

  “Why didn’t you just wait and catch a ride with him?”

  I laughed as Sofia stubbed her toe on the ground and started hopping around, holding her foot, all the while exposing herself because of how she stood.

  “Now, where would be the fun in that?” I asked, slapping Corduroy on the shoulder as I headed off in the direction of my damsel in distress.

  I heard his throaty chuckle behind me and caught up to Sofia. She was
just outside my shop, though she didn’t realize it. I pulled out my keys and unlocked the door to the stairs that led up to my apartment.

  “You live here?” she asked in disgust. “Next to a tattoo shop?”

  “I own that tattoo shop.”

  She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “Figures.”

  “Would you prefer I be homeless with no job?”

  She rolled her eyes and followed me up the stairs. “Ugh, this is so disgusting. When was the last time anyone cleaned around here? I’m probably getting hepatitis just from touching the stairs. You know, if you put a little money toward this place, it wouldn’t be such a rat hole.”

  “You’re welcome to share any money you have to clean it up.”

  “Why would I put any money into this dump? And besides, you know I don’t have any money.”

  “Then I would stop bitching when I’m the only person offering to help you.”

  “Why are you helping me?” she asked as we stood outside my door.

  “I don’t know. You’ve been such a peach the whole time.”

  “Look, maybe you should just take me home.”

  “You know, I would, but I have to wait for my bike to get fixed.”

  “Can’t you just borrow someone’s car or something?”

  I slid the key in the lock and opened the door. “I have to work today. Besides, I’m sure I’ll have my bike back by tomorrow. I can take you home then.”

  I could hear the moans inside, but I was pretty sure she hadn’t heard them yet. Andrew had company. I waved her inside and watched the horrified expression on her face as she took in my apartment. “You want me to stay here?”

  “Well, you can always find a hotel to stay at. Oh, that’s right,” I snapped my fingers. “You don’t have any money.”

  Andrew shouted and a woman moaned on the other side of the door. Sofia’s gaze shot to the door and she took a step back, right into me.

  “Ignore that. It’s just my brother having some fun.”

  “He’s…having sex in there?”

  “I sure hope that’s what those noises are,” I grunted, moving past her to the kitchen. Pulling off my jacket, I tossed it on the back of a chair and sat down. I really needed some coffee and something good to eat. I could always head to Mary Anne’s, but I was tired. Camping hadn’t been quite as relaxing as I had remembered and my back was sore now. Not to mention that I was filthy and needed a shower.