Wilde Ink (Wilde Brothers Book 3)

by Susan Hayes

  There was a sadness in her eyes that Lia never showed to anyone. At least, she didn’t think she had, but there it was, on the page. They’d barely spoken, hardly knew each other. How the hell had Nick managed to see what no one else could? She was so focused on the sketches she never heard Nick come back upstairs. It wasn’t until he spoke that she knew she wasn’t alone.

  “I did mention you’d been haunting me these last few weeks.”

  “I’m not sure whether to be flattered, or frightened.” She turned around to find him standing only a few feet away, arms crossed over his enticingly bare chest.

  “Most of these I did when I didn’t expect to see you again. That one, I did last night.” He nodded to the sketch she was still holding.

  “You’re very talented.”

  “You’re very beautiful. I was inspired.”

  Lia glanced at the picture again. “Why did you make me look sad?”

  “Is that what you see?” he asked, crossing the space between them in a heartbeat. He tugged her into his arms so that her back was to his chest and he was peering over her shoulder at the sketch.

  “It’s obvious,” she said.

  “To you, maybe. Not to anyone else though. You keep yourself so buttoned up you could be a professional poker player. I just drew the woman I’ve been dreaming off.”

  “I still think I look a little sad.”

  Nick nuzzled her hair and tightened his arms around her. “If you pose for me later on, I promise to draw you smiling.”

  “Do I get my clothes back first?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

  “Nope.”

  “Then it better be a really big smile. And if anyone ever sees a drawing of me naked, I will shoot you.”

  Nick’s voice dropped to a low growl. “No one is seeing you naked but me. Not on paper, not in person.”

  “Then I will pose for you later tonight. You really are incredibly talented. I have to ask, why don’t you do this for a living instead of tattooing people?”

  “Because tattoo artists are the exception to the rule that all artists have to starve. This way I get to make beautiful art, meet some pretty amazing people, and I can order a pizza whenever I want. You seemed to like my ink just fine earlier, so why can’t I create living art like that for a living?”

  “When you put it like that, I guess there’s no reason why not. And I do like your tattoos. I’d like to see them properly. Will you…let me look at them?”

  “Did you just ask me if I’m okay with you getting up close with my naked self? Lia, baby, I’m extremely okay with that idea. You can take a look at any part of me you like, for as long as you need.”

  “Then go sit down. I want to look at those wings.”

  “Anyone tell you that you’re really sexy when you get bossy?”

  She craned her head to give him an incredulous look. “No.”

  “Well you are. And don’t give me that look. I think it’s sexy as hell.” He planted a kiss to her temple and released her to go stretch out on the daybed, face down and with his head pillowed on his crossed arms. “Pizza will be here in twenty minutes, until then, I’m all yours.”

  Lia looked at his sculpted body and briefly wondered if they had time for another tumble before their food arrived. She had always kept a tight leash on her libido, but tonight she was revved up, and not even the three incredible orgasms he’d already given her had put a dent in her drive. Nick Wilde was bad for her self-control, that much was clear. When he was around, she lost the ability to say no.

  Nick shifted over, giving her space to climb onto the bed, and she let the quilt drape over them both as she curled up near his hip. When her fingers touched the wingtips at the base of his spine he groaned softly and closed his eyes. “Have I mentioned how much I like having your hands on me?”

  “You did. I think that’s a good thing, because I haven’t had much luck keeping them off of you since the day we met.” His laughter vibrated through her hands and up her arms as she kept up her tactile exploration of his artwork. “Did it hurt?”

  “In places. It’s not the pain that bothers me. It’s the itching a few days later.”

  “Tattoos itch?”

  “Like a healing sunburn, and you can’t scratch. It nearly drove me out of my mind.”

  “You designed this tattoo, didn’t you? It looks like the rest of your work.”

  “I designed it, and the man who would become my mentor did the tattoo. The process fascinated me, Tor liked my work, and by the time my back was done I knew I wanted to learn the craft. These wings got me started on this whole crazy adventure.”

  “This is incredibly detailed work. It must have taken hours.”

  “It did.”

  She traced the outline of one wing up to his shoulder and then followed the criss-cross pattern down his spine, back to the small of his back. “Tor doesn’t mind that you have your own shop now? Doesn’t that make you his competition?”

  “Tor never had a shop in Chicago. He’s in Florida.”

  “Florida? You moved to Florida to learn to tattoo? That seems a bit extreme, aren’t there plenty of shops here in Chicago?”

  “I was already in Florida. I went to an art school down there. I wanted to see what it felt like to wear beachwear in January instead of a parka.”

  Lia wanted to know what that was like someday, too. “So, what is it like?”

  He cracked an eye open to look at her. “You don’t know?”

  “I’ve always wanted to do a winter getaway, but I’ve never managed it. My parents need me.”

  “Florida was great, but I missed Chicago eventually. Hurricanes really aren’t a lot of fun, and neither are fire ants. I left because I needed to get away from my family for a while, but it was never going to be a forever thing. You know, I’ve never asked about your family. Siblings? Crazy aunts I should be warned about? Your folks run the corner store I dropped you off in front of the other night, right?”

  “They do.” Lia took a steadying breath. “No crazy aunts, and no siblings, at least…not anymore.”

  Nick swore under his breath. “Sorry. Did I just put my foot in my mouth?”

  “No, it’s okay. We lost Alex a long time ago. He was my older brother, the responsible one, you know? He got killed in a robbery at the store. He shouldn’t have been there. He was covering for me because I bailed and took off with friends for the night.”

  “That’s a pretty shitty thing to have to deal with.” Nick said, turning over and pulling her down into his arms. She didn’t even try to resist. Instead, she just buried her face against the warm bulk of Nick’s chest and let him offer what comfort he could.

  It felt better than she could have imagined.

  ****

  His brothers were a pain in his ass, but Nick couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose one of them forever. That kind of loss never really healed, and he’d caught the guilt in Lia’s voice when she’d said he was covering for her. Guilt and loss would explain the walls she’d built around herself, not to mention why she’d chosen such a challenging profession. He was willing to bet that it was no accident that she was a robbery detective, chasing down criminals like the ones who had killed her brother.

  “You know, I think you’re the first person who didn’t say “I’m sorry” when I told them about Alex.”

  “Is that good thing?”

  “It is. But I think you already knew that. You always seem to know the right thing to say to me.”

  He burst out laughing. “That’s not true. If it were, I wouldn’t have blown the moment I let it slip that you were making out with your boss’ brother.”

  “You didn’t know either.”

  “It wouldn’t have stopped me if I had known. I went out on that balcony looking for you.”

  She jerked her head up to stare at him. “You didn’t.”

  “I sure as hell did. You were the hottest woman there, and once I figured out that lame duck you were with wasn’t actually
your boyfriend, I was on a mission.”

  “He’s not a lame duck! Danny’s seeing your sister-in-law’s sister, so you better quit thinking of him that way. I’ve got a feeling he’s going to end up being part of your family.”

  “Fuck, no. The last thing the Wilde family needs is more cops filling the ranks.”

  She arched a brow at him, and he knew he was in trouble. The walls he’d worked so hard to tear down were being rebuilt as he watched.

  “I see.”

  Fuck. Shit. Goddamn. Double fuck. Way to go, asshole.

  “That came out wrong. See? I told you I don’t always know the right thing to say.”

  “Uh huh. What I’m seeing is that you really don’t think much of my profession.” She started to pull away from him and he locked his arms around her, aware that he had to make her understand before she got up or she’d be out the door and gone.

  “That’s not it. I have nothing but respect for what you do. You have to understand, I grew up in a blue household. Dad, Dave, Ben, Tag, all of them wore the badge, two of them still do. Dave’s ten years older than me. He was in uniform before I was out of high school. Then Dad retired and instead of relaxing, he opened a fucking cop bar. I have been surrounded by law enforcement my whole life, and as you may have noticed, I am not cut from the same cloth. Blue is not my color.”

  “Then why the hell am I here?” Lia demanded, fighting harder to pull away from him.

  “Because I don’t care what you do for a living. That’s part of who you are, but it’s not all there is. I want to know all of you. And before you get too hot under the collar, let me point out that it’s pretty clear you don’t think much of my chosen profession either.”

  She huffed out a breath and stopped trying to get up. “I…uh. Well, damn. You’ve got a point there.”

  ‘Uh huh. You need to stop looking for reasons to run away from me. I meant what I said, I’m just going to come after you anyway. You may not think you deserve to be happy, but I do.”

  “I wasn’t going to run away,” she said, her voice softer now.

  “Good. Because I still need to feed you, and then I want to sketch you.” An idea popped into his head. “Or, if you like, I can show you what it’s like to get a tattoo. Nothing permanent, but maybe if you got to experience it, you’d understand better why people get ink, and why I love what I do.”

  Lia’s eyes narrowed slightly. “What would that entail, exactly?”

  “Well, feeding you involves pizza, and hopefully beer. I did mention there’s beer in the fridge, didn’t I? Sketching involves you, naked and stretched out on this comfy day bed while I indulge in two of my favorite things. Drawing, and you.”

  “Smart ass. I meant the tattoo part, though I like the idea of being one of your favorite things.”

  “You rank even higher on the list than whiskers on kittens.” Nick had meant it as a joke, but his words rang true. Despite the fact they were still getting to know each other, she was already important to him. He hadn’t been totally honest with her about the way she’d looked in the sketch she’d seen earlier. He had drawn her sad, because it was there in her eyes every time they’d met. More than anything else, he wanted to banish those haunting shadows from her eyes and bring a smile to her lips.

  Lia laid her hand on his cheek and gifted him with one of her rare smiles. “I’m honored.”

  He winked at her. “You should be. Kittens are damned cute. As for the tattoo idea, I was thinking of using henna. Janie does henna tattooing. It’s temporary, all natural, and it just dyes the skin. No needles. I could draw up a design, transfer it to your skin and then give you a simple henna design that would last a few weeks.”

  “What would you draw?” she asked, and he knew she was interested.

  “We’d figure that out together, just as if you were a client coming in. It’ll be fun.”

  “And no one would be able to see it?”

  “I promise, we’ll put it somewhere no one else will see it but you and me.” Damn straight no one else was going to see it. Nick planned on putting the design above Lia’s breast, over her heart. The only one who was allowed to get that personal with Lia was him. Period. End of discussion.

  “Okay. If you swear it’ll come off, then I’m game.”

  “That’s my girl. Okay, you start thinking about what you might like, and I’ll throw on some jeans and go downstairs to wait for dinner. It should be here any moment.”

  “How come you get to be dressed and I don’t?”

  “Because if I meet the delivery guy naked, I’m going to need to give him a really big tip to cover the therapy he’ll need.” Her smile was almost enough to tempt him to forgo dinner and make love to her again. The only thing that stopped him was the knowledge that they were both going to need to eat to keep up their strength for what he had planned. It was going to be a long, glorious night.

  “Okay, you can get dressed. Did you bring my clothes up with you?” she asked, sitting up.

  “I did. They’re over there, with your purse. I know better than to part a woman from her purse for long. I’ll be back soon, with sustenance. You’re in charge of finding something to drink in the fridge. Oh, and if anything moves in there, assume it’s dangerous and move out of striking range.”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Mostly. So far none of the life forms growing in there have become self-aware. I just thought I’d give you fair warning.”

  “If anything moves, I’m going to shoot it.”

  “Fair enough. Your gun’s with your purse. God, there’s a line I never expected to come out of my mouth.”

  She smirked at him. “If you’re planning on spending time with me, then you better get used to it.”

  “Believe me, I plan on spending a lot of time with you, Cin. You’re not getting rid of me anytime soon.”

  She looked at him for a moment, then nodded. “Good to know.”

  He still had a long way to go, but for now, Nick would call that progress.

  Chapter Eight

  Lia couldn’t help but wonder at the strangeness of eating and laughing with Nick while they were both naked. She’d never spent time with someone like this, talking and flirting, both of them tangled up with each other as they ate. It was intimate and messy and even as they were in the midst of it, she knew that this would be one of the memories she would cherish forever. Moments like this were rare, especially in her life. Nick’s words of earlier echoed in the back of her mind. She’d been angry at the time for saying it, but now she was willing to admit he might be right, at least in part. She didn’t let herself be happy very often. Not like this.

  It felt damned good.

  Nick reached over and smoothed his index finger from the tip of her nose to her hairline. “You’re thinking again. Stop it. Every time I see that little crease appear between your brows I know you’re overthinking things, and then you start coming up with reasons why this is a bad idea and you need to leave.”

  “I wasn’t—well, okay, I was thinking, but not about what you think I was thinking about,” she said and then had to stop and mentally repeat what had just come out of her mouth to make sure it made sense. It did.

  “So, what were you thinking?”

  Lia’s cheeks heated and she found herself dropping her gaze to a point between their two bodies. “I was thinking that tonight might have been the most fun I’ve allowed myself to have in a very long time.”

  Nick kicked the empty pizza box to the floor and had his arms around her seconds after she’d spoken. “I’m glad. If I have my way, then we’re going to have a lot more nights like this. Maybe next time we’ll do it at my place, where I have a real bed and a bit more furniture. Not a lot more, mind you. Keep your expectations low.”

  “After braving the fridge over there, I have no illusions. You’re a bachelor to the core and I’ll try to keep my expectations in line with that.”

  He laughed and kissed her, making it impossible for her to think
of anything at all for the next few minutes. Every time he touched her she felt like she might combust at any moment. Enough men had called her frigid in her time that she’d started to believe it, but not anymore. With Nick, everything was fire and flames.

  Somehow they wound up with Nick beneath her, her thighs spanning his waist and her hands planted on either side of his head as she stared down into his face. She intended to kiss him, but then she found herself speaking instead. “You could come to my place, sometime. If you wanted to, that is.”

  He gave her a charming, lopsided grin. “I’d like that.”

  “I would too. Mister Darcy may never forgive me for bringing home a strange man, but if I have to expand my horizons, then so will he.” Lia knew she was babbling, but she couldn’t help it. She’d never made that offer to anyone before. But Nick had invited her into his personal space, sharing a bit himself with her in the process. She wanted to return the favor. She’d already broken damned near every rule she had when it came to Nick, why not break all of them?

  “Who or what is a Mister Darcy?”

  “He’s my cat.”

  “Then we’re set. You just tell him those catnip mice I gave you today are a gift from me to him, and if he wants more of the same, all he has to do is not pee in my shoes. I’m not above bribery.”

  “You know, that might just work. He’s a catnip addict. We’ve done therapy, counseling, but nothing works. He’d sell one of his nine lives for a hit. He says he can quit any time he wants, but I don’t believe him. If you’re willing to enable his addiction, he’ll probably decide he likes you better than me.”

  Nick’s face split into a grin and he laughed out loud. “You just cracked a joke! My god, the world might end.”

  “I happen to be a very funny person when I want to be. Most people just don’t get my sense of humor. It’s too dark. I guess it’s a side effect of what I do for a living.”