by Naomi West
“Oh, I couldn’t.” Bri waved off the idea as she reached in the fridge for a jug of milk. “I knew as soon as I had Ava that my commitments were elsewhere. I’ve gotten in a few tats here and there when my mom is off work and wants to watch her, but other than that there just isn’t time.”
Blue didn’t like to hear that. She really did feel bad when she left Violet, but she came back to her child with a renewed energy when she had spent a little time at the shop. The late nights and the numerous loads of laundry were a pleasant duty instead of an annoyance. “Why don’t you start going in a couple times a week? I can watch the girls.”
“Really?” Bri paused in her task of fastening a lid on a sippy cup, her face tipped up toward the ceiling as she thought about it. “No, I couldn’t. I don’t want to shortchange you on your time at the shop.”
“You wouldn’t be. Not at all. We can just swap back and forth on days, or even on solid weeks if you’d like. I’m sure we can find a schedule that works well for both of us.” It was so simple, but it seemed like the perfect solution.
“Well … maybe. But I don’t really have a following anymore, you know? I’ve been off work for so long that people don’t know me as an artist. If they know me at all, I’m just Spencer’s wife.” She turned away to give Ava her drink.
“That’s not true,” Blue argued. “I had someone come in just last week who wanted to know if you were still working there, and she didn’t even know that you and Spencer were married. She loved the piece you had done on her a few years ago and wanted to get more. As a matter of fact, she’s coming in for her next piece in a couple weeks, and I’m giving the appointment to you.”
Bri shoved her hands in her pockets, as though she didn’t know what to do with them anymore. “No, Blue, really. You need your time to work. And it’s been so long since I did any tattooing. What if I’m not good anymore?”
Blue shook her head. “It’s not fair if you’re always at home with the kids instead of spending any time in the shop. I insist. I think it’ll make the client happy.” She knew she wasn’t going to get Bri to agree for her own sake, but she might for the sake of the shop and the customers.
Bri nodded slowly. “Well, okay. If you really think so.”
“I do. I’d better get going, or I’ll be late for my appointment.”
Bri followed her to the door and stopped her before she opened it, wrapping her in a big hug. “Thanks for everything, Blue.”
She hugged her back. “What did I do?”
“What haven’t you done? You’re helping me get back to work. You’re an amazing worker for Spencer, and your art pulls people in from all over the county. You even sacrificed yourself to make sure those nasty bikers didn’t get me or my precious Ava. I don’t think I ever really thanked you properly for that. I felt so bad to know that you were out there with them, but I admit I was so relieved to come back in and find Ava hiding under the bed, giggling away.”
“Hey, it’s what you do for the people you love,” Blue replied. “I’ll see you this afternoon.”
* * *
As much as she had been enjoying her work after the baby, Blue found that she couldn’t quite concentrate today. The brilliant colors blurred together a little as she loaded them onto her needles. Her breath came in staggered gasps or she forgot to breathe at all. She blinked and leaned back, rolling her shoulders and trying to get her head wrapped around her work.
“You doing all right?” her client asked. “We can take a break if you need to.”
She smiled down at him. His handsome eyes watched her, making her feel even more self-conscious. Blue knew she shouldn’t. She was a professional, and there was no reason she shouldn’t be able to do this. She had done so many tattoos along these lines in her career, and she would do many more. The shop had been rebuilt since the fire, and it was now better than ever. “No, that’s okay. I’m fine.”
“If you’re sure. I don’t want you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with.”
“Trust me,” Blue replied, “I’ve done plenty of things I’m not comfortable with. I like to think it just makes you grow.”
His dark eyes sparkled. “That’s a nice way of thinking about it.”
Spencer stepped in and smiled. “Doing all right?”
Blue wiped the extra ink off with a damp paper towel and scowled at him. “I’d like to know why everyone keeps asking me that.”
“Just making sure,” Spencer said with a shrug. “I know how you get nervous around these biker types.”
“Hey, now,” Torque replied from his position on the table. “I’m pretty sure you’ve met worse ones than me.”
The shop owner bobbled his head as though he was thinking about it. “I’m not sure. You’re pretty scary. And you did leave me lying in the parking lot.” It was a point Spencer enjoyed bringing up.
Both Blue and Torque knew that was only because it was his way of thanking Torque for what he had done and reminding the biker that he owed him a lot.
“I did,” Torque replied, “but I’m pretty sure you deserved it.”
Spencer stepped over to the table and glanced at Blue’s work. “I’m not sure I like it.”
“What?” She glared at him.
He pointed at the dark lines on Torque’s chest where they led to the new tattoo. “It’s just such a different style than everything else.”
Blue bit her lip to keep from smiling. “If I have my way, it’s a style he’s going to come to prefer.”
“I already do,” Torque affirmed.
“All right, now go away.” Blue waved her hands at her boss. He obediently left, shutting the curtain behind him.
Blue frowned at her work. “Do you really think it’s that terrible?”
“He’s just giving you shit. Ignore him. I love it.”
She snorted. “You better.”
Cracking her knuckles, Blue bent back over Torque’s chest and resumed her work. She understood now exactly why she had felt so nervous doing this. She had tattooed Torque before, but she had just been shading in the solid black dragon that Spencer started. It wasn’t her work, and they hadn’t been an item then. A lot of life had happened in between, and his opinion of her meant everything. Not only that, but this piece really was completely different from all the other work Torque had. It was bright and vibrant, a distinct contrast to his blackwork that stood out like a badge on his chest. It was the kind of piece that many customers would have flocked to the shop to get from her, but not the kind a man like him normally would have wanted.
“Just stop worrying about it,” Torque suddenly said. “It’s what I want. And you should know by now that I always get what I want.”
She raised an eyebrow at him. “Is that so?”
“I got you, didn’t I?”
Blue couldn’t help but smile at that one. “Yeah, I guess you did.”
A few minutes later, she gave him a final wipe-down and sat back. She stripped off her gloves, chucked them in a nearby trash can, and handed him a small mirror. “Let me know what you think.”
Torque accepted the mirror, his warm fingers touching hers. He held it over his chest and smiled, then got up off the table to look in the full-length mirror near the curtain. His smile told her everything.
“Good enough?” she asked anyway.
“You know it is.” He raised his fingers and touched them lightly to the skin right next to the handful of purple flowers that now decorated his chest. “My Violet,” he murmured before he turned to Blue and pulled her close. “Thank you.”
Blue looked up at him, still in awe even after all this time of the squareness of his jaw, the dark brilliance in his eyes, and the strength of his arms. Every day that she looked at him, it was like she got a new perspective. Fortunately, it was always one she enjoyed seeing. “You’re more than welcome.” She stood on her toes to kiss him.
He pressed her body against his and deepened the kiss, parting her lips and darting his tongue inside her. His warm breat
h caressed her face, and Blue closed her eyes in ecstasy.
“Mmm. You shouldn’t be doing that,” she said as she pulled away slightly. “I don’t think I’m supposed to fraternize with the clientele.”
“I don’t think your boss will mind,” he replied, “but I’d sure like to do more than fraternize with you.”
Blue ran a hand through her hair and looked up at him coyly. “I don’t know. I’m pretty busy today. See, I’ve only got limited time to work while my sitter is available. And my man is pretty demanding, too …”
Torque kissed her again and gave her a lustful look. “Bandage me up and let’s go.”
Spencer didn’t have any questions for them when they left a few minutes later. Blue hopped onto the back of Torque’s bike and wrapped her arms around him, content to rest her cheek against his back and trust him to guide them safely through the city. They left the parking lot and headed out onto the main road, passing Willow Street and continuing on until he hung a right onto Maple Street. The houses here weren’t huge by comparison to the large subdivisions on the edge of town, but they were clean family homes with landscaped yards. The school bus made a regular route through here, and there was a park nearby that had just been completely redone.
Torque rumbled into the garage of a white house on the corner with a bright blue door. Blue hopped off the back and went to open the door that led into the house from there.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?” Torque asked as he pushed the button on the garage opener, closing off the doorway they had just ridden through. “Come back here.”
She turned to him, confused at the stern look on his face. “What’s wrong? Is your tattoo bothering you? I can put some more ointment on it.”
He smiled and shook his head. “I just don’t want to have to wait for you.” Torque grabbed her by the waist and turned her around, bending her over his bike. He ran his hands down her body, bringing his fingers up between her legs, teasing her.
“What, you don’t think you can make it to the bedroom?” she nudged. It had been hard to find time to be together between work and the baby, and she arched her back so that her ass pressed against him. She could feel the hardness in his pants, and she needed him desperately.
“Definitely not.” Torque unbuttoned her shorts and slid them down her slim hips, taking a moment to appreciate her back side. His thick fingers massaged the curves of her ass before they slipped in the waistband of her panties and pulled them down. He brought one hand around to touch her, the pad of his finger rubbing in slow circles right where it counted.
“Mmm. You spoil me.” Blue threw her head back and closed her eyes.
“Only because you deserve it.” He continued his work until she was thoroughly wet. Blue felt her knees beginning to shiver underneath her. Just as she thought she might come, he grabbed her by the waist and turned her around, lifting her up and setting her on the top of the washing machine.
Blue giggled, unable to fight him off and not willing to try. “What are you doing?” she asked as he spread her legs and pulled her ass toward the edge of the machine.
Torque kissed her again, but more passionately than he had back at the tattoo shop. His lips were soft but demanding. “I want my tongue inside that pussy of yours. I want to taste the sweetness of your body. I want to make you come until you’re dripping down my chin.”
A surge of electricity shot through her body. “You keep talking to me like that and I will be.”
Torque buried his face between her legs, his tongue flicking her very center. Every muscle in her body responded, tightening and relaxing at intervals until it made her dizzy. Blue brought her legs up until she had them wrapped around his neck, and she splayed her fingers out on the cold metal of the washer. One thick finger slid inside her, then two, and she knew she wasn’t long. “Get inside me,” she commanded in a whisper.
But Torque wouldn’t stop. His fingers only worked faster, bringing her body to a frenzy. Blue screamed and tightened her thighs around his head, not caring if any of the neighbors were home to hear them. His tongue was hot and wet, and his fingers knew just what to do.
“I can’t stop,” he finally said when he stood up. He scooped her up and carried her into the house. “I’m not done with you yet.”
Blue batted her eyelashes at him. “Are you taking me up to the bedroom like a gentleman?”
“Hell, no,” he replied as he laid her down on the carpeted stairs. He pulled off her top and threw it over the banister, his hands kneading her breasts as he stared down at them with admiration. “We haven’t been in this house for very long, and I want to make love to you in every single room of it while I have the chance.” His mouth closed on her nipple and he sucked hard, sending another jolt through her body.
Throwing her hands behind her head in surrender, Blue couldn’t remember ever feeling so wanted. Torque helped her take care of the baby, even taking his turn getting up in the middle of the night with her. He made sure there was always food on the table and that the bills were paid. He refused to let her put any of her money from tattooing toward the household bills, insisting instead that she tuck it away in savings for the baby or that she spend it on something nice for herself. Most of all, he never stopped showing her that he wanted her. Sometimes the evidence came in between the sheets and other times it was just a certain look in his eyes, but she always knew.
When Torque had thoroughly kissed every square inch of her breasts, he moved his lips down the plane of her flat stomach and slipped the side of his tongue slowly down her slit. Blue’s body convulsed, her muscles beginning to spasm again immediately. Torque took this as his signal to continue, his tongue and his fingers knowing the way well by now.
“That’s not fair,” she gasped. “I’m going to come again.”
He paused only long enough to reply, “What’s not fair about that? Sounds like exactly what I want.”
“But I want you to come,” she protested.
“Trust me,” Torque growled, “I’ll get mine.” He licked and stroked until she was screaming again, her voice echoing through the stairwell.
The next thing Blue knew, she was in his arms again. “Where to now?”
“Everywhere.” He took her down the hallway to the living room and set her down on the couch, ready to bring her to her peak once again.
But Blue pushed him back and got on her knees in front of him. She looked up at the massive man as she undid his fly. “You’ve had plenty of fun. I think it’s my turn now.” He didn’t argue as she stripped him of his clothing, tossing his jeans over the back of the couch and his shirt somewhere in the corner near the television. Blue had always appreciated his proportions, and she sank his member between her lips.
Torque’s hands caressed her hair as she buried him all the way until his head touched the back of her throat. Blue flicked out her tongue to touch the base of his shaft, and he groaned with pleasure. She sucked hard as she pulled back slowly, wanting to make him feel the same things she had felt in the garage and on the stairs. His clutch on her became more desperate, and she could hear his breath come faster. She liked to know that she turned him on, and his sighs of pleasure just made her drive harder to give him the best damn blowjob in the universe.
Torque’s hands brought her hair into a makeshift ponytail at the back of her head, and he pulled it tight. His hips bumped against her gently as she fondled his balls in her hands and circled his root with her fingertips. Her saliva had coated everything, making him hot, wet, and hard as a rock. He gave another slight thrust with his hips and roared his frustration. “I can’t control myself when you do that. I just … You make me want to … Argh!”
She pulled back and smiled up at him. “Then do.” Blue moved to the wide, cushioned ottoman and lay down on it. As she grabbed his thigh and pulled him close, he understood what she meant. Torque straddled her with his knees and lowered himself into her mouth once again.
He moved up and down slowly at first, and sh
e kept her lips tight around his organ. “Are you sure?” he asked huskily.
Blue couldn’t talk with her mouth full, but her attempt sent a vibration through the biker that drove him wild. He slammed himself into her face, burying his cock and yanking it back out again. She brought her hands up and scratched her fingernails down his ass cheeks. His balls curled up toward his body, ready to shoot out a load, but Torque pulled back. “Jesus, Blue. You feel so good. I don’t know if I’m going to make it through every room in the house.”
“Good. Then that means we’ll just have to keep trying.”
She had teased him, and it only brought out more of the animal inside him. He carried her bodily to the dining room, where he bent her over the dining table. His fingers firmly caressed her ass, just as they had in the garage, but this time he entered her.