by Leia Shaw
***
After Reece stopped home to apply make-up and put on real clothes, she headed to Ink Haven. She’d driven by the growing shop on Beach Street many times and had never given it a second look. Tattoos didn’t interest her. Though she’d like to take a closer look at Malachi’s inked-up body. She hadn’t paid attention to the designs covering his arms before. Tattoos seemed to give insight into a person’s life – their history, their values, their personality. She wondered what Malachi’s said about him.
Early afternoon on a Sunday, the shop was closed, as expected, but a figure moved behind the slightly tinted glass. When she went up close and peered inside, she recognized Malachi behind the counter. She knocked on the window.
A moment later, he opened the door and welcomed her inside with a smile. “Can’t say I thought you were the type for a tattoo, princess, but I’d love to give you one.”
She was too in awe with the shop to answer him. Red walls with beautiful framed art hung in a line across one side. Black-and-white tile floors gave it a funky appeal. The large fish tank lining the other wall made it feel a little zen.
Pointing toward it, she asked, “Is this to keep people relaxed during the pain?”
“No. I just like fish.”
She gazed at the colorful tropical fish. “Pretty.”
“Thanks.” He grinned. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
“I was talking about the fish!”
They both chuckled then stood awkwardly for a moment. “So what kind of tattoo are you looking for?” he finally asked.
“What? No.” She took a few steps back. “No tattoos for me.”
“No? You’d look sexy with one.”
“No. I don’t do...pain very well.”
His brows shot up like he didn’t believe her. “Really?”
Gathering her courage, she straightened her shoulders and said, “I’m here to talk about Scarlet.”
Curiosity showed on his face. “Okay. Have a seat.” He walked toward one of the tattoo stations and gestured to a big leather chair – a cross between a dentist seat and a lounge chair.
She stared at it a moment before hopping on. Being this close to needles and tattoo guns and...other stuff was a little unsettling. She shuddered. “If you start polishing your gun or whatever, I’m outta here.”
He laughed then sat down in a rolling seat a few feet away. “It’s not a gun. We don’t shoot people. It’s called a tattoo machine. And I never tattoo on the first date.” He winked.
“This isn’t a date,” she snapped then shifted on the chair and leaned back. Except the back disappeared, the front popped up, and the whole chair tipped backward. She yelped as she tried to fight gravity and stay upright in the middle. With her legs thrown out to the side, straddling the seat, she finally got herself under control. The chair had reclined itself entirely and morphed into a table.
She looked at Malachi, who seemed to be biting back a smile. His gaze dipped down and he smirked. “Nice underwear.”
With a gasp, she stretched her skirt between her legs. Jerk! He probably pressed some remote control and made the whole thing happen. What underwear had she put on that morning? She squeezed her eyes shut and thought back. Purple lace. She sighed a breath of relief. Last thing she needed was Malachi Johansson seeing the granny panties she wore on period days or when she felt fat.
“Lie back,” he told her. “I’ll get my notebook and you can tell me all your problems.”
“No.” She scowled fiercely. “I came to ask for a favor but if you’re going to make this difficult, I’m just gonna go.”
Immediately he stood and approached the chair. “No. Don’t leave.” The chair clicked then he pushed the back forward so it turned back into a chair. “Please stay. I’m sorry.” He looked down at her sincerely then placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed her gently back.
She settled against the chair then crossed her legs modestly at the ankle.
“Now what’s this favor?”
“Um.” Crap. How did one go about asking for sexual favors without sounding like a slut? Or a desperate girlfriend. “Scarlet’s birthday is coming up and...”
Malachi waited patiently while she gathered the words.
“I’m wondering if you’d maybe be interested in topping her? Just once. No sex.” She paused for a moment then jumped in before he could. “You can totally say no. There’s no pressure. I won’t take it personally. I know it’s asking –”
“Why?”
“Why? Well,” she stared at the floor unable to look him in the eye, “I want someone to do it right for her. Just once, so she knows...” This felt too personal. Too raw to be telling a near stranger. Especially after she’d already broken down in front of him once. He’d seen her fail. He knew what Scarlet was missing out on. For all she knew, he hated her for it. Maybe as much as she hated herself.
“So she knows what?”
Could she say it? She was feeing choked up already. Maybe if she ignored the question, he’d move on.
“Knows what?” he pressed.
She swallowed hard. “What she’s missing by being with me. So she could make an informed decision about us.” Her voice cracked at the end.
God! So embarrassing!
He didn’t say anything for a minute. She dared a glance at his face. His brow furrowed then he shot up in his seat. “Wait a minute. You don’t think she’s going to break up with you because of this, do you?”
That would be the worst-case scenario. Her nightmare. She dropped her gaze to her hands, trembling slightly on her lap. “I can’t give her what she needs,” she half-whispered.
He waited a moment then she heard the chair creak as he stood. “What she needs from you, princess,” a hand came under her chin, “is your submission.”
Malachi tilted her head up so she was forced to look at him. His expression warmed. She yanked out of his grip and blinked back the tears.
“I know,” she said. “I need to be better when it’s my turn.”
“No.” He returned to his seat. “You need to stop thinking about turns. You wanna give her a gift? Don’t act like a switch for a while. I think you’ll like what happens.”
“I’m trying.” A hint of frustration tainted her voice. “But we’re just not like that.”
“Don’t give me that bullshit, girl.”
She flinched.
“I watched you. You can try harder. You can argue less, obey faster. Right?”
His stern tone seemed to have flipped on her sub switch. Instinctively, she bowed her head and mumbled, “Yes.” Sabrina had been right. He really was a Dom.
“So if I do this for you, what are you gonna do for me?”
“Um.” She glanced up at him. Reading his challenging expression, she answered, “Free prom dress?”
One brow arched.
With a defeated sigh, she gave him what he wanted to hear. “Try harder for Scarlet.”
He nodded. “Good girl.”
Chapter 8
“Eat it, bitch!”
Malachi’s booming laugh filled the condo. Without looking at him directly, Scarlet could still see his arms jerking. He sat on the edge of his seat.
“Only Cross gets to call me bitch, Scarlet. Be nice or I’ll take my X-box and go home.”
“Awww. Sorry. Next time I’ll be more creative. If we play a few more rounds maybe I’ll let you win one or two.”
“Let me? Yeah, it’s on.”
Across the room, Reece looked up from her sketch and laughed. “This is the third time this week that you two play video games for hours. Scarlet’s been dragging her ass out of bed in the morning. Jude hasn’t complained about her falling asleep at work yet, though, or Sabrina would have told me. I think I should pitch this as its own sitcom. You’re too funny.”
Malachi quirked a brow, his dark eyes serious. “I think your kitten needs petting, Scarlet. She’s sounding neglected.”
“What? I’m fine. You two have fun. I have work
to do. I’m just glad that Scarlet has found a little friend to play with.” Reece snickered and leaned over her sketchpad.
Scarlet cleared her throat. “Come here.” She snapped her fingers and pointed at the spot between her and Mal on the couch. As expected, Reece’s glare was tempestuous and foreboding. She didn’t take shit from anyone.
“Come on,” Scarlet coaxed. She patted her lap. “Come here. You know you don’t want to sit all the way over there if you can be curled up over here.”
“I’m not actually a cat, you know. Offering to give me catnip and pet me won’t work all the time.”
From the corner of her eye, Scarlet saw Malachi shake his head slightly as he frowned at Reece. She sighed and walked over. What was that about? Because it was her birthday?
Reece eased herself gently down between them as though she was afraid to touch anyone. Scarlet pulled her sideways until her head was in her lap. She ran her fingers through Reece’s hair, combing out little knots and running her short nails along her scalp. Reece sighed and shivered, snuggling in.
“Put your legs up on Malachi. I’m sure he won’t mind.” Scarlet’s gaze slid to him. He looked pained.
“But I’m wearing a dress.”
“Now, Reece,” Scarlet growled sternly. “Are you afraid he’s going to see your sexy blue panties?”
She gasped then blushed.
Malachi smirked. “Did she tell you she showed me her panties the other day?”
“Oh, did she?” Scarlet wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
“I almost fell out of the chair. It wasn’t intentional,” Reece grumbled. She put her legs up on his lap then shoved her skirt down tightly so he wouldn’t see anything. “Leave it to the pirate captain, here, to take advantage of an innocent damsel in distress.”
“If I really was a pirate captain I’d keep you tied to the mast where I could play with you for hours. Can you blame me? Have you looked in a mirror lately? Besides, I only looked. I didn’t touch. That’s not against the rules, is it?”
It was obvious to Scarlet, at least, that Malachi wasn’t joking. He wanted Reece in a bad way, but was doing his best to be polite and hide it most of the time. His gaze strayed to the girl’s bare calves, and Scarlet saw his hand twitch. The heat in his eyes should have melted off her clothes.
“No,” Scarlet answered. “Especially not if she’s deliberately flashing you her cute underthings. You’re only human.”
His big hand came down on Reece’s ankle, swallowing it. How did a man with such big hands make such beautiful art? He’d shown them some of his sketches the other day and they were so colorful and expressive that Scarlet was sincerely moved.
The muscles in his arm played under his sleeve of tattoos as Reece tried to wriggle her ankle to freedom. “Let go!”
“Do you really want me to? I’m not hurting anything,” he said quietly. Reece looked up at Scarlet and she smiled back reassuringly.
“It’s only your ankle, beautiful. We aren’t Puritans. If you don’t like it tell him. I don’t mind his hand being there if you don’t.”
Reece gave a one-shouldered shrug and relaxed back onto Scarlet’s lap. She drew her fingertip from Reece’s chin, down her neck then wrapped it lightly around the base of her throat. The girl shuddered and squirmed almost imperceptibly. She loved this.
What if he went further? Scarlet envisioned him sliding Reece’s skirt up her thighs to run his finger along the lace border of the blue panties that Scarlet had bought her a few weeks ago. Reece loved being touched. If there were two of them touching her, instead of just one, it would blow Reece’s mind. The screaming orgasm she imagined they could give her had Scarlet ready for almost anything. Being horny made her way too open-minded some days.
She stroked along Reece’s throat as Malachi drew little circles along her anklebone and foot. Reece sighed contentedly and her body went limp. She looked relaxed, but Scarlet could tell otherwise. Her breathing was unsteady and the bump of her nipples stood out clearly on her shirt.
Scarlet slid her arm under Reece’s shoulders and pulled her up for a kiss. Reece grabbed onto her and their tongues met. Her hand went to the hem of Reece’s dress. The garment had crept partway up her thighs and Scarlet let her work-roughened fingers slide along just under the edge before snaking upwards. A moment later, Reece gasped and slapped her hand away.
“What?”
Reece’s face was flushed and her eyes motioned to Malachi.
“He’s seen you come before, baby. I don’t think he minds.”
“Not at all. Feel free to forget I’m here.”
Scarlet almost snorted. As if Reece could forget. As if she could, herself.
“Malachi, this isn’t what we talked about.” She squirmed in their grips and Scarlet watched in fascination as Malachi’s good-natured features sharpened. Something about this had just thrown his Dom switch. He looked sexy mean, not that she was into guys...much.
She didn’t talk about it often, but Scarlet had gone through two crushes on guys in her entire life. One was an A-list actor who was hotter than any man had a right to be. The other was a guy she’d hung out with for years in high school. They had friend-zoned each other early on, but she’d loved his brain so much that his gender had become inconsequential. Mal actually reminded her of him, except that Mal was both funnier and had more of an edge to him – like there was something dangerous lurking behind the dazzling smiles and sexy tattoos. It was a miracle he was single.
No, it was easier to pass for a lesbian, rather than explaining she was bi but wasn’t attracted to ninety-nine point nine percent of men. Her experience with guys showed her that if they thought they had even a small chance of bedding her, they’d mess up a perfectly good friendship. Except for her buddy Caleb, who’d never looked at her that way after the first week or so.
But that didn’t mean she couldn’t throw Reece under the bus. She knew Reece liked him, and the idea of watching Reece and Malachi together was fucking hot.
Wait a minute. Had Reece just said she’d talked to Malachi without her?
“What are you talking about, Reece? Have you two been hanging out and not telling me?”
Reece looked contrite. “Don’t be mad. You’re making it sound so clandestine. I went to his shop and talked to him about your birthday present. That’s all.”
“What does my birthday present have to do with your current predicament?” Scarlet tightened a fist in Reece’s decadent tresses. The girl’s eyes hazed over and her mouth softened, begging to be kissed.
“I asked him to top you,” Reece whispered. “Just to see how much you like it with someone who knows what they’re doing.”
“He used the crop on me the other day. You do a fine job, Reece. You just need practice.”
Fuck. No, no, no. If they used him for anything, it would be as a teacher. And maybe to fuck Reece once in awhile, while Scarlet watched. Not that Reece was ready to hear that idea yet. Could she domme Reece into letting him fuck her? The idea turned her on so much that she berated herself for being a pervert.
Reece watched her, looking a little disappointed. “Just for pain, not sex. You and I can have sex afterward, if you want. But never mind. I can see your answer is no. I just thought it would be fun for you, and interesting.”
Fuck. Reece had gone out of her way to set this up, and here Scarlet was dismissing the idea out of hand. This was supposed to be part of her birthday present? Could you even say no to a present without looking like an ass? And Mal had said yes, even knowing there’d be no sexual payoff?
She looked from Reece to Malachi. He had leaned back against the couch and was smirking at her – daring her.
“You think I can’t handle it?” She arched a brow at him.
His shoulder moved in a vague shrug. “I understand why you’d be scared. I’m pretty irresistible.”
“Malachi Johansson, you are such a cocky bastard.” Reece slapped his arm.
In a heartbeat Reece was over his
lap, her sexy ass in the air and looking very vulnerable. How did he move so fast, and how did he flip her over like she was a doll? Awareness suddenly lit his eyes and he deposited her back between them on the couch. “Sorry, Reece. You’re not mine to manhandle like that.”
Reece looked thunderstruck. She smoothed her skirt down over her bare thighs then ducked her head to hide her red cheeks.
“You wouldn’t allow that from her if she was yours?” Scarlet asked. Lord knew she’d wanted to do precisely that to Reece about a million times over the past year.
“No. Not when I’m in this kind of mood anyway.”
“What would you do?” Scarlet asked.
“Probably spank her then make her kneel at my feet. If she didn’t have a good apology ready, she’d get the clothespin.”
“Clothespin?” Reece asked. “Where? We’ve tried those and I don’t like them.”
“Go get one.” Scarlet growled.
Miraculously, Reece shot to her feet and moved down the hall without a word.
She was back again before they said anything more. When she tried to hand the clothespin to Malachi, he shook his head and pointed at the floor in front of Scarlet. “Give it to your Domme, kitten.”
“She’s not...” Her words trailed off as she took in Malachi’s expression then sighed and knelt at Scarlet’s feet.
Scarlet grabbed Reece’s chin and tipped her face up until their eyes met. The girl shrank back but didn’t pull away from Scarlet’s grasp.
After a few moments, Reece averted her gaze. “You look mean.”
“You insulted our guest, even if it’s true that he’s a cocky bastard.” Scarlet chuckled, basking in the feeling of having Reece in this position.
“What do you want me to do? Apologize?”
“You’re going to kneel here, hold that clothespin, and think about what I might do with it.” She grabbed a couch pillow and threw it on the floor beside Reece. “Kneel on that. Right now I’m going to talk to the nice man about what you were sneaking around to talk to him about. Doms don’t keep secrets for other Dommes’ subs, right Mal?”
He smiled blandly. “It’s bad form. Besides, nothing she said was really a secret, per se, other than her wanting to surprise you for your birthday.”