Hot Ink
Page 20
“Actually, I think I’m moving to Yonkers,” I added once he’d pulled back.
Abby gave me a quizzical look. “Oh, really? What could possibly be there?”
“The woman I love more than my life,” I said and watched her face soften like ice cream melting in the sun. Some of that might’ve been wishful thinking on my part.
“Is that all?” she questioned softly.
“That’s all. Any objections to that plan, Ms. Sinclair?”
She shook her head and flung herself into my arms. “Just one.”
“What’s that?”
Her dazzling grin left me dazed. “That your pesky brother always calls before coming over.”
Slater’s rich laughter eased away some of the knots of tension in my gut. The ones in my chest…well, nothing would improve them but time and effort.
I was good at putting in the work.
“Speaking of pesky brothers, I’m going to leave you two lovebirds alone now that I know things are on the right track. I may not be violent by nature, but, trust me, if you hadn’t gotten your shit straight, I would’ve thrown down.”
“Oh really?” I chuckled and glanced at Slater over Abby’s head. I was pretty sure nothing had ever felt so perfect as having my woman in my arms again.
“Really. There’s just one more thing.” His Adam’s apple jerking up and down was the only warning I got of what he intended to say next. “You wanted to know why I picked Jen and me up and moved clear across the country without leaving a forwarding address?”
Just like that, some of the pleasure and relief inside me dimmed. “No. I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did. I did that so they couldn’t find us if and when you didn’t come back whole. To a dumb frigging kid who’d just lost both his parents and idolized his big brother, that made perfect sense. If the military couldn’t find us, they couldn’t tell us you were gone.”
Warmth wound its way through my chest, loosening the knots I’d been sure were soldered in place. “Slater—”
“I love you, man, and I’ve been proud of you since the day you told us you wanted to become a SEAL. I couldn’t have been more proud. I was just selfish enough to want my best friend back home safe where he belonged.”
Emotion clawed up my throat, snatching away any planned speech I could’ve come up with. So I went with the truth, plain and simple. “I love you, too, man. You and Jen and Abs are my world. I mean that.”
“I get that now.” He was already opening the door. “We’re good, brother. And we’re going to be better. I just wanted you to know where we stand before I grab my soundproof headphones and go back to blasting Yanni. Night, kids.” Smiling, he pulled the door shut behind him.
“Yanni?” Abby asked.
“He’s kidding. I hope.”
She laughed and snuggled against me. “You really want to move to Yonkers with me?”
“I really do. If you have room.”
“I’ll make room. Hey, we made this tiny-assed twin bed work.”
“True that. And I want to make it work again soon.” I waggled my eyebrows then blew out a breath. “I want to get the baby’s dates put on my arm with my parents.”
“Oh, Liam.”
“Birth and death for him or her. We’ll estimate conception date if we aren’t sure.”
Abby bit her lip, her eyes welling up. “Seriously, that’s enough already. I’ve used up my tear allotment for one day.”
Then her gaze landed on my partial sleeve, and, from the way the tears spilled over, I figured she’d seen my new chord tattoo.
“You got this for me?” she whispered, tracing the fresh ink.
“Yes. Because I damn sure don’t know anything about music. You’ll have to teach me.” I glanced at the empty nightstand and frowned. “Uh, there’s one more thing you’ll need to teach me as well.”
“What’s that?”
“How not to lose the keys to the handcuffs. Fucking A.”
Her laughter was the sweetest sound I’d ever heard. “I don’t know. This might work out to my advantage.” She leaned forward and slid her arms around my neck, lining up our mouths until her breath fluttered over my lips. “I love you, Liam Walsh. I never stopped. Not for a minute.”
“That’s good.” I forced myself to exhale. “That’s real good.”
“We made a lot of mistakes.”
“We did. This time, we won’t.” I tucked her fingers into a fist and kissed her knuckles. “I promise you with everything I am that you can count on me. I’m not going anywhere.” I cast a dubious glance at my cuffed wrist. “Literally.”
Giggling, she canted her head, her reddish-gold hair falling over her shoulders in sexily tousled waves. No one was as beautiful as my Abs.
Mine. Thank God.
But there was one more thing I needed to make clear. I stroked my thumb over the back of her hand and cleared my throat until I could speak. “I would’ve wanted our baby, Abs. With all my heart.”
“I know that now.” She gave me a misty smile, and I had to fight not to wrap her in my arms and never let go. “Wanting to put the baby’s dates on your body proved it to me, if I’d had any doubt after I saw the look in your eyes when I told you. I didn’t.” She squeezed my fingers. “I just regret I didn’t tell you years ago.”
“I regret so much, too.” I tipped my head against hers and absorbed the feeling of her breath against my cheek. “We’re lucky enough to get a fresh start, and I’m damn well going to take advantage of it.”
“Speaking of taking advantage, do you think his headphones are really soundproof?”
I laughed and reached for the button of my jeans. “Let’s find out.”
About the Author
USA Today bestselling author CARI QUINN pens sexy romances for a living and routinely counts her lucky stars. When not writing, she’s usually watching men’s college basketball or playing her music too loud. Sign up for her new newsletter at www.cariquinn.com or join the Word Wenches on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/groups/346424552124487/
Dear Reader,
Hello! Thank you so much for picking up Hot Ink, an amazing anthology that includes two of my favorite authors, Carrie Ann Ryan and Sidney Bristol. I hope you enjoyed it! My story, TAKEDOWN, is part of my New Adult MMA series, Tapped Out, that begun with the novel SHADOWBOXER and will continue with SNEAK ATTACK and ON THE ROPES, coming soon.
This is the perfect time of year to snuggle up with a book! If you enjoy edgy New Adult romance, check out my NA rock star series, Lost in Oblivion, co-written with Taryn Elliott. Our latest entry in the series, TWISTED, releases December 2nd and is up for preorder now! It features Jazz, Oblivion’s spunky drummer, and Gray, the band’s co-lead guitarist who is hiding a huge secret.
If you’d like to keep up to date on my upcoming releases, please click HERE to sign up for my newsletter: http://eepurl.com/DCaLb or visit my co-authored reader group with Taryn Elliott on Facebook, the WORD WENCHES: https://www.facebook.com/groups/346424552124487/ We’d love to have you!
Stay warm…or better yet, while reading books like these, stay hot!
XO,
Cari Quinn
www.cariquinn.com
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Rock, Rattle and Roll (with Taryn Elliott)
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Seduced (with Taryn Elliott)
Drawn Deep
Proving His Worth
Guarding His Heart
Protecting His Assets
Shadowboxer
Tempted By His Best Friend
No Romance Required
Nailing His Target
Jingle Ball
Dirty Distractions
Love Bites
Melt
Need Me
Test Shot
No Flowers Required
Cowboy Lust
Virgin Territory
Heart Signs
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Unwrapped
Hot Text
Bad Kitty
Provoke Me
Insatiable
Reveal Me
Personal Research
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Full Disclosure
Bound Memories
By
Sidney Bristol
Bound Memories
Kit Carson is back in his home town to do more than promote his latest reality TV win on Tattoo King. He’s determined to make things right with his estranged family and win over the woman who kinked up his world ten years ago. No one has ever captured his heart like his fellow tattoo apprentice. He’s ready for just about anything—except finding out she hasn’t touched a tattoo machine in years.
Renee LeBlanc is taken by surprise when her old love walks back into her life. She’s no longer the insecure girl who pushed him away. Renee wants a BDSM-filled fling to work him out of her system. At least that’s what she tells herself. Deep down, she knows Kit will leave to follow his dreams and tattoo in big cities, while she remains the bedrock of her family.
As Kit and Renee fall for each other all over again, they embark on a journey, healing the past and carving out new future that just might be the right fit for two.
Chapter One
Renee LeBlanc unhooked her passenger side seatbelt from around the pet carrier, careful to keep her hands far away from the slots, lest sharp, feline claws rake her flesh. Peaches was normally a very sweet natured boy, except when his insulin levels got out of whack and then he might as well be the mini furry incarnation of the Devil himself.
“I know, I know, you don’t feel good,” she whispered to the cat as she hauled the carrier out of her car and bumped the door with her hip. “If you hadn’t bitten me when I tried to give you your last dose, this wouldn’t have happened. I’ve told you over and over and over again, I’m sorry you bit me. It was an accident.”
She was beyond caring if people gave her weird looks for the constant chatter with a cat. If someone had told her at twenty when Peaches was scooped out of a trashcan behind the tattoo parlor where she was apprenticing that she’d be a thirty-something cat lady, she’d have flipped them off and told them to go fuck themselves. She was going to be the greatest female tattoo artist ever.
My, how her aspirations had changed.
These days, she just wanted to give Peaches his insulin on time, keep the pantry stocked with enough food to get her through a few days and never run out of art supplies. To say priorities had shifted was an understatement.
“Here, let me get that.” A man sitting on the bench in front of the little animal clinic stood and reached past her for the door.
That voice was awfully familiar…
“Thanks.” She sighed and glanced at her momentary champion.
And just kept staring.
Six feet tall, wide shoulders, a trucker hat perched at a jaunty angle, hair shorn short, and a thick, reddish-brown beard obscured the lower half of his face; the beard made his bright gray eyes stand out from all that face fuzz. The rest of him she could fill in from hours of watching Tattoo King, a tattoo artist reality show she’d never admit to being hooked on, but this last season had her on pins and needles.
Because he was on it.
Kit Carson.
“Hello, Renee.”
She shivered and her body reacted as if she hadn’t missed a day without him.
Peaches growled, as if to say, I’m here too, dumbass.
Maybe Renee added the dumbass part. Peaches had always seemed to know it was Kit who dug into the garbage to pull him out, though Renee had insisted they find out where the pitiful meowing was coming from. She tamped down on her wayward desire and swallowed hard.
“What are you doing here?” When she’d last seen of him on the show, he’d been given a chintzy gold crown, the prize money of a hundred thousand dollars and he claimed he was on his way to Disneyland. Shouldn’t he be spinning in a teacup instead of here? In Baton Rouge. Holding the door open for her.
“Mick said this was where I’d probably run into you.”
His voice was deeper, more manly. God, it was better in person. She was completely guilty of looping his asides from the show just to close her eyes and listen to him. How pathetic was she?
Right. His Uncle Mick. That was a whole can of worms she wanted no part in.
Peaches hissed at a dog sitting next to the door, reminding her why she was there—the standing appointment every week to get Peaches’ next batch of insulin and a blood sugar test.
“I’ve got to see the vet. I’m out on my lunch hour.” She side-stepped into the clinic, unable to tear her gaze from him. He’d grown up, and damn if he didn’t look better in person than he did on TV.
“Should I wait out here, or can I come in?”
How did she answer that? Her heart squeezed and the years melted away, taking her back to the day she’d come home from a girls’ trip to New Orleans. Her artist, the one she’d apprenticed to at Lucky Tiger Tattoo, had told her in as few words as possible that Kit had a chance to go to L.A., and not just apprentice, he was going to start tattooing. He’d left without even a goodbye.
“Renee, good you’re here. Come on back and we’ll get Peaches taken care of.” Dr. Joe Barnes rested his hand on her shoulder, breaking the spell of Kit’s gaze.
“That’s great.” She’d made this trip so many times she didn’t even have to ask where to go. They always had patient room one waiting and ready.
She shouldered into the room and set the carrier on the table. Her knees gave way and she sat in the chair. Dr. Barnes would be in any second. Her body shook and the trunk of toxic emotions she’d shut away popped open, spewing forth all the bitterness and hurt the tattoo industry had heaped on her. If she could write a letter to her younger self, she’d tell her to get away from that world. Things had changed, but back then, women just weren’t welcome, and without Kit to shield her from the harassment, she’d broken.
“Renee?” Dr. Barnes knelt by her chair, his hand on her knee. It was kind of weird calling him Dr. Barnes when she’d hung out with him and her twin brother all those years ago. Back then he’d just been Joe.
“Sorry.” She rubbed her temple, and mustered a smile.
“It’s okay. Something wrong? How’s Mick?”
“Mick is comfortable, which is about all we can ask for.”
“Who was that outside? He’s been hanging out there for the last hour. I just didn’t have time to go see who he is. Flea season.” Joe rolled his eyes.
“Kit Carson,” she muttered.
Joe’s brows drew down into a line. She wasn’t even sure if he would remember Kit. By the time she’d begun her apprenticeship, Joe had been off to college while her brother did…Lord only knew what. But there’d been vacations and holidays where Joe had been home.
“He’s the one who left without saying goodbye?”
She stared at Joe for a moment.
One side of his mouth hitched up. “You talk a lot.”
“Guilty.” She cringed. There was no denying she’d let herself stay hung up on Kit for many years. The one who got away. Or left in a hurry. Not that they’d ever put a name to what they had, because she’d insisted it needed to be casual. The last thing she needed was to give the artists more ammo to use against her. Had she guarded her heart too well? Or not well enough?
Joe sat in the seat next to her. “What does he want?”
“Not sure, but I doubt he’s here to play doorman.” She had a sinking feeling it had something to do with his Uncle Mick. The old detective had turned over a new leaf, shocking as it was, and then went and got cancer.
“Do you want to see him? I could tell him to leave.”
Renee considered it, but shook her head. Whatever Kit had to say to her, she wanted to hear it out. Maybe finally close that door of regret and move on with her life. She finally had things going in the right direction for herself. Patching things up with Kit would be a good thing. And m
aybe there was still a bit of the goofy boy she’d fallen in love with inside the man. She didn’t expect that love to be rekindled. They were different people now.
“Well, let’s see how Peaches is doing this week.” Joe stood up and approached the carrier sitting on the exam table.
“He’s cranky. I missed this morning’s insulin dose because he bit me.” She lifted her right arm and pointed to the spot. It was hard to make out the teeth marks through all the tattoos encasing her arms, but they were there.
“Oh yeah. He got you good. Will that ruin the tattoo at all?”
“Probably a little.” She shrugged. Once she’d taken pride in her tattoos, who’d done them and what they meant. These days she just wanted to get through the grocery store without some whack-a-doodle grabbing her clothes and rearranging them for a better look.
Joe let the conversation drop. With other patients he’d keep up a running dialogue to ensure they and their pet were comfortable. She was in here so often they didn’t need the pretense. The weekly exam only took a couple of minutes. They had it down to an art, though most weeks Peaches made it easier by sprawling on the exam table, not a care in the world while Joe did his thing. Even aggravated, Peaches merely swished his tail and laid his ears back at the worst of it.
As a kitten, Peaches would swipe at her, then look to Kit for some sort of approval. She’d laughed about it then, while Kit just rolled his eyes. Over time Peaches had worn Kit down until he accepted partial ownership of the cat. Then, Kit had left them both. The same old ache throbbed in her chest. First loves, they never got easier, did they?
“Well, he’s finally at a healthy weight, so that’s good. Is he cleaning up that new food?” Joe asked.
She nodded.
Renee was beyond wanting to be angry with Kit. He’d had a great opportunity to get away from his messed up family and do what he wanted to do. Given the same chance, she’d have made exactly the same choice he had. She relaxed into her seat and watched Joe wrap up the appointment.