being. He knew it had nothing to do with the tattoo and everything to do with the artist.
For hours, he lay there, watching his mate, his lover, mark their future, the figures taking shape under her skillful hands. Every now and then, he’d smile, visions of what they both needed dancing in his head. He could picture the house he wanted for them, the way he’d come home after a long day and find his mate, all green hair and big sparkling eyes, waiting for him. A warm, loving smile would be on those full pink lips. Maybe they’d both get more ink, maybe they wouldn’t.
And sometimes he’d be the one standing at the door, waiting for his love, their cubs safely tucked in bed.
It was after midnight by the time she was done. She sat up, set the gun down and stretched. He heard popping noises. She’d been bent over so long her back crackled. “Take a look.”
He sat up and stared at himself in the big mirror over her counter. He kept his hands away, knowing he couldn’t touch, but damn if he didn’t want to. Her Wolf’s eyes practically jumped off his chest. “It’s perfect.”
He heard her snap off her gloves. “Let’s get you covered so we can get out of here.”
He turned, smiling when her gaze drifted down to his cock. “See something you want?”
She rolled her eyes but he could see the flush working its way into her cheeks.
“You’re going to have to be careful with your tattoo. You can’t really work up too much of a sweat for at least a few hours. You need to give it time to heal.” She frowned. “Wait. Can you heal it?”
He shook his head. “Nope. If I’m not careful, I could cause scarring. I have to let it heal naturally.”
“Oh.”
He reached down and stroked his erection, loving the way her eyes locked on his hand. “You know, we could always turn up the air conditioning.”
“Lie down so I can bandage you, horn dog.”
He chuckled and got back into the chair. His erection bobbed against his stomach. “Like this?” He raised his hands up until they clasped the headrest. He spread his thighs and waited to see what she’d do.
“I should have had you put your clothes back on first.” She rubbed the ointment into the tattoo with gentle hands, bandaging him up carefully. “You know the drill. You’ve gotten ink before. No soaking the bandages, mild antibacterial soap for washing, use A&D ointment. No Neosporin or it’ll scar.”
He nodded. He knew what to do, and if he fouled up, his own little artist would kick his ass to remind him.
“Are you just going to leave me like this?” He waved at his erection.
She folded her arms over her chest. “What will I get out of it?”
He grinned. “Orgasms. Lots of them.”
She bit her lip, looking like a naughty little girl. “If Cyn finds out about this, I’m in so much trouble.”
His hips jerked. “We’ll clean the place up when we’re done.” He hadn’t actually thought she’d go for it. He figured she’d argue, he’d get dressed and he’d take her back to the hotel room. Having sex in her chair? Talk about a fantasy come true!
Her smile was slow and languid, her eyes heavy with passion. She leaned down and took the head of his cock into her hot, wet mouth. “Oh, fuck.” He reached for her head, eager to guide her rhythm just the way they both liked.
“Nuh-uh. Keep those hands up, mister, or this stops.”
His hands latched onto the headrest. As far as he was concerned, they were chained there.
“Good boy.” She patted his hip and swallowed him down, taking him to the root.
“Oh, shit.” He fought to keep still. He didn’t want to choke her, but damn that felt incredible. He’d never had anyone take him the way she did.
Her head began to bob, her tongue playing his cock like a fucking virtuoso. He lost himself in the sensation of his mate pleasuring him. God, he’d never felt anything quite so good. The cool air of the tattoo parlor blew over him, the pictures on the wall reminding him of the art she’d done on other people. He’d have to get her to take a picture of his new work, add it to the gallery on the wall of her station.
Oh. Oh hell. That tongue of hers was a lethal weapon. She lapped at the head of his cock, long, languid strokes, tasting the drops of precome that dripped from him. He clamped down on the headrest, desperate to grab hold of her head and force her to take him all in.
This time it was her space, her show, and he’d be damned if he didn’t let her have that.
Tabby sucked him down again, watching his face through the fall of her bangs.
He looked so gorgeous with his head thrown back. He was staring at the ceiling, his lips pursed. She wondered if he was doing something to hold himself back, prolong the pleasure. Counting ceiling tiles, maybe?
She wasn’t sure if she wanted him to come now or if she wanted him to fuck her.
Her hands ran along the insides of his thighs, came to rest at the juncture of his groin. Her fingertips grazed over her mating mark.
She did her best not to give away what she was about to do. He looked so ready to blow. And he was being such a good boy.
She lifted her head and, before he could react, bit down on the mating mark.
He roared and practically levitated off the tattoo chair. Startled, she pulled back.
Bear looked out of Alex’s eyes. “Uh-oh.” The last time she’d seen that look, he’d bent her over the bed and claimed her most thoroughly. Her pussy clenched in anticipation.
This was going to be fun.
She found herself off the floor and screeched. Alex had her on the counter so fast it was dizzying. Her head hit the mirror, her legs were spread wide and he was ripping at her jeans.
“No! No shredding!” He paused. She had maybe two seconds to come up with something to save her jeans. “You want everyone seeing me bare-assed?”
He growled, the sound low and threatening. She hadn’t known it was possible to get even more turned on, but fuck that possessiveness of his was hot.
He undid her jeans and slid them down her legs. When he reached her boots he paused, the heat in his expression intensifying. “I love these boots.”
Before she could ask what he meant, he was lifting her again. She found herself on her feet, her back to him, her hands clenching the edge of the countertop. Her panties were pulled down, exposing exactly how wet she was. He nipped her ass cheek with sharp teeth before licking a long line between her cheeks. “No lube, so this will have to wait.”
She thought about the A&D ointment, but decided against it. She didn’t know if it would work or not, and the way he was acting, she’d rather be lubed for the pounding she expected to get.
“God, I love your ass.” His hands kneaded the globes. Little nibbling kisses peppered her cheeks. “So beautiful.” He gave it one last lick before reaching under the edge of her shirt. “Your back is gorgeous too.”
My back? She giggled. No one had ever called her back gorgeous.
He slapped one of her ass cheeks.
“Ow! What was that for?” She scowled at him over her shoulder.
“When I say you’re gorgeous, you don’t laugh.”
He looked dead serious. “Why not?”
He leaned over her, caging her against the countertop, one arm on either side of her. “Because you are.”
She shrugged. She knew she was cute on her good days, but gorgeous?
“Are you calling me a liar?”
She blinked. He sounded almost pissed. “Um. No?”
“Good.” He yanked her shirt off, his fingers going to her bra clasp before she could take a breath. “Your back is lean and strong, capable of carrying any burden. Just like you.” He undid the clasp and stroked the bra away, his hands hot on her skin. “Your arms can wrap themselves around a Bear most find terrifying and love him until he can’t breathe without filling himself with you.”
She met his gaze in the mirror. His eyes dared her to lie to him, to tell him it wasn’t love.
She nodded. She wo
uldn’t lie to him. Not ever to him.
Some of the anger leached away, warming the dark brown eyes of his Bear. He rested his palm against her chest, nestling it between her breasts. “You’ve got the most loving heart I’ve ever been privileged to know. So don’t tell me you aren’t gorgeous. Everything about you is beautiful.”
Damn. He was going to make her cry. “I’m not perfect.” She’d screw up, she always did, and if he put her on a pedestal, she’d destroy them both when she fell off of it.
He smiled. “I never said you were. I said you were beautiful. I know the difference.” He slid his cock between the folds of her pussy, getting the tip nice and damp. “You’re stubborn, but you’ve had to be to survive. You’ve got a smart mouth. Sometimes I don’t know whether to laugh or fill it full so you’ll shut up.”
“Hey!”
He laughed softly and began to slide into her, filling her up. His scent surrounded her, making her feel safe and loved. “And I’ve told you not to wear these boots to work. They scream ‘Fuck me’.”
“You did not, and they do not.” He was all the way inside her now. She bit her lip and moaned at the fullness.
“I want to bend you over every time I see you in them.”
She shot him a sultry look in the mirror. He brushed her hair way from her neck and nibbled, his gaze locked on hers. His tongue snaked out and stroked the mating mark.
“I thought I had everything necessary to make me happy. I had a good job, a family who loved me and accepted me. I could go out on my Harley and see the world, and they’d be waiting for me with open arms.”
She raised a brow. She had a pretty good idea what he was leaving out. “And all the action you could handle?”
He shrugged. “What do you want me to say?” He thrust, jarring her forward.
“Once I saw you, none of it mattered.” He thrust again, driving his point home.
“Without you, I have nothing.”
She reached back and stroked his cheek, smiling when he kissed her palm. “Not true. You have everything I lost.”
He began to finger her clit, driving her toward the edge. “Remember explaining red to a blind man? Explain what a mate means to someone who has never had one. Then explain to your mate why you cherish every breath she takes.” He licked his mating mark again. “Now explain to your very stubborn mate that she is your necessity. Nothing else is worth shit without her.”
“Alex.” She sighed. She knew what he meant. He was her home, her heart. Her necessity. “I know. Believe me, I know.”
He smiled. He understood what she was, and wasn’t, saying. He bit down, throwing her over the edge into orgasm.
Her head flew back, her hands clenched the countertop. She groaned, long and low, the orgasm rippling through her. If he hadn’t clamped his hands on her hips at the last moment, she would have hit the floor.
He used that grip to begin truly pounding into her, his point finally made. He hammered her relentlessly, driving her through the orgasm and to the brink of another one.
Holy shit. The man was a machine. How did he keep doing this to her? She’d just had an orgasm so intense she thought her brain might explode, and here he was, pushing her toward another one that felt like it would shatter her world. He kept her pinned in place, his teeth sunk into her neck, his hands dug into her flesh.
One of his hands lifted from her hips to tangle in her hair, keeping her head up.
She could read what she could see of his face. He wanted her to watch what they did to each other, even if she could only see it from the stomach up.
She didn’t need to see much more than that, she could feel it. And oh, how good it felt. She reached down and began to strum her clit, chasing after the orgasm his body promised her. He moaned against her neck, his face grimacing. His fangs sank even deeper into her. She felt the tug on her hair, the pleasure/pain at her throat and exploded around him. It robbed her of breath, her mouth opening on a silent scream, the sensation so intense she almost blacked out.
He lifted his head and groaned. “More.”
Oh fuck no. More might kill her.
He licked the blood dripping from her mark. His power filled her, healing the puncture wounds instantly. “Hold on tight.”
Hold on? “Whoa!” He lifted her again, keeping her seated on his cock. He managed to get them to her tattoo chair, draping her over it. His hands landed on the padded armrests, using them for leverage.
Gonna have to disinfect the cha-air… He began to fuck her hard, groaning behind her. Her flesh slid on the slick vinyl.
“Come for me.”
Nuh-uh. No way. Too much more and she’d pass out for real.
“C’mon, baby. I know you’ve got it in you.” Flesh slapped against flesh, the sound so erotic she could feel her body beginning to respond. “God, I love fucking you.
So hot and wet, so tight. Gonna make me come, baby.”
Good idea. Tabby hid her face in the chair clenched her muscles, squeezing his cock as hard as she could.
“Oh, shit!” Bunny slammed into her and came. His arms strained against the chair. She thought she could hear the sound of metal bending and hoped they weren’t about to break anything.
He damn near sobbed as his orgasm drew to an end. “God. Love you, baby.”
She smiled. “I know.”
He kissed the spot between her shoulder blades. “And?”
“You’re not so bad yourself.”
“Tabby?”
She could hear the uncertainty in his voice. Even after everything they’d shared tonight, he still doubted? “Love you too.”
He sighed. “Thank you. Stubborn woman.”
She peeked through the small space where the armrest joined the rest of the chair. “We still need to clean up.”
He moved his hips, his cock flexing inside her. “One more for the road?”
She turned her head as much as her position would allow her and glared up at him.
He lifted off of her. “Fine. But your ass is mine when we get home.”
She couldn’t stop the stupid, silly grin that crossed her face.
Home. She loved the sound of that, even if home right now was a hotel room. And she loved the man who’d given it back to her.
The phone rang at four in the morning. Bunny opened one bleary eye and glared at the nightstand where he’d dropped his cell before collapsing into bed.
“Alex?”
“Shh.” He rubbed Tabby’s back with one hand and snagged his phone with the other. “Go back to sleep, baby.”
“’Kay.” She squirmed, settling back down.
He didn’t even check the caller ID before answering. “’Lo?”
“Alex? It’s Dad.”
“Mm-hmm.” Wait. Wasn’t he supposed to be with Chloe tonight? Heart pounding, Bunny sat up. “Chloe?”
“She’s awake, son.”
Yes! “Then it worked?”
“Yup. We owe Julian more than ever.” William chuckled. “Your uncle is considering adoption. Your aunt says it’s a done deal.”
Bunny chuckled. “I wonder how Julian will feel about that.”
“Speaking of which, we tried calling him to make sure he was all right and didn’t get an answer. You mind going to his place and checking on him?”
How the hell had they gotten Julian’s number? Bunny shook his head. His family had ways of finding things out he still didn’t get. “Yeah, no problem. And let Chloe know I’ll be there first thing in the morning.”
“Will do. Thanks, son.”
“Night, dad.” Bunny hung up and rubbed his eyes. He’d gotten maybe three hours of sleep, but getting up now would be worth it. Julian had just become a Bunsun-Williams, whether he knew it or not, and the family took care of its own.
He got out of bed and reached for his jeans, wincing slightly at the pull of his tattoo.
“Alex?”
Damn. He hadn’t meant to wake Tabby. “Go back to sleep, baby.”
“Every
thing okay?”
“Chloe woke up.”
Tabby sat halfway up, propping herself on her arms. “Really?”
He nodded and pulled on his pants. “I’m heading out for a little bit. If I’m not back in time for you to head to work, I’ll see you at lunch, okay?”
“Will the hospital let you in at this time of night?”
He thought for all of a second about lying to her. “I’m not going to the hospital.
The family wants me to check on Julian, make sure he’s okay.”
She sat up fully. “I’ll go with you.”
He shook his head. “You have work tomorrow. Besides, if something is wrong I’m a Bear. I can try to heal anything that might be wrong with him.”
“He’s my friend, I need to be there.”
He put his hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back down. “He’s family, and I’ll take care of it. If I’m out later than planned, I can always sleep. You have to turn people into living art, remember? You can’t do that if you’re exhausted.”
She blew her bangs out of her eyes. “You’ll call me if anything’s wrong.”
It wasn’t a question, but a demand. He nodded. She’d want to know if Julian was all right. “I promise I’ll call if I find anything more than Julian sleeping.”
She bit her lip and nodded reluctantly. “Okay. Be careful. Whoever attacked Chloe is still out there.”
He raised one brow at her.
“I don’t care if you are a fucking grizzly. Even you can be taken down with the right hit to the head.”
“Yes, Mama.” He wondered if she knew that small-caliber bullets would literally bounce off his skull when he was in Bear form?
She shook her head and settled back down. “Please. Take care. For all we know, whoever attacked her is going after your family.”
He paused. That thought hadn’t occurred to him. He figured it had something to do with Chloe being alone, or being a Fox. Why would anyone go after her for being a Williams? “That makes no sense.”
“Your family is well-off. It could have been a kidnapping plot gone wrong.”
He shook his head. “No. She was beaten, remember? That speaks of anger.” He sat on the edge of the bed.
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