She smiled. She’d thought those drawings were a tribute to the Transformers movies, but no way was she going to say a word and look stupid in the process. “You have some other stuff too.”
“I call that my ethereal stuff. Believe it or not, in the midst of all the dark shit I draw, I have a lighter side, and the girls who get tattooed are often more drawn to that than my hell imagery.”
“I saw a beautiful one—one where the girl looked like she was standing in a field and turned around, and the wind was blowing through her hair. What inspired that?”
He grinned. “If I tell you, you have to swear to never tell another soul. And if you do, I’ll deny that shit.”
She laughed and picked up a chip. “Fair enough.”
“It was from a book I read when I was a kid. I hardly remember the damn thing, but I just remembered this scene. It’s this young woman who’s found out something bad and she’s running away to be by herself. Her dad calls to her and she turns around, and he realizes she’s not the little girl he once thought. She’s all grown up and beautiful…and sad. For some reason, that image stuck with me. It was a pioneer story, so you can tell the clothes she’s wearing in my drawing don’t really fit the story, but that was the picture in my head.”
“It’s beautiful. Who got that tattoo?”
“This guy came in and said it looked like his wife, so I inked it on his back. It turned out great.”
“You do a lot of angels and stuff too.”
“Yeah. Sometimes. Like I said, sometimes I need some light. I dwell in the dark shit too much sometimes.”
That struck a chord with her, but she tried to keep her voice steady. “Don’t we all?” She kept her gaze focused on another chip that she was going to dip, hoping not to give herself away.
But either it was too late or he was—as he’d continually proven himself to be—too perceptive. “Speaking of dwelling in dark shit, can I ask you something?” She couldn’t help but look in his eyes. His voice was too sincere to resist. “What happened last week when I was tattooing you?”
Oh, no. Stay calm. “What do you mean?”
“I know you said you have a fear of needles, but you seemed to have a hell of a time.”
“Yeah, I did. I’m okay now, though. I powered through it, right?” No way in hell was she going to tell him that they’d opened up an old wound. Well, wound was an understatement if she’d ever heard one, but they’d opened up something huge, something she was going to have to deal with. She wasn’t ready to talk to Stone about it, though, and she felt relieved when the waiter brought their food, effectively derailing any more talk of her issues, allowing their date to get back on track and stay on the light side.
That was what Kory needed desperately.
Chapter Nine
WHEN THEY LEFT the restaurant, Kory asked what they were doing next, and Stone grinned, refusing to tell her. “You wanted a surprise, and I’m not one to disappoint.”
She muttered, “Damn you,” but smiled, figuring she’d know soon enough.
The direction they were heading told her right off the bat that they weren’t going to the movies. They were going in the opposite direction, so she figured they were heading to the bowling alley. That was okay, because she liked bowling all right. She just wasn’t very good at it.
But they drove right past the bowling alley, and Kory was curious as hell where they were heading. She couldn’t figure it out.
Stone turned off the road onto one of the bigger streets in town, but that gave Kory no idea. They were going to wind up in a residential neighborhood. Were they maybe heading to his place?
In a couple of minutes, her wait was over when she realized Stone was pulling into the large gravel parking lot that signaled the main entrance to the river walk. There was only one street light, and that was near the entrance. Kory figured that was because people didn’t typically use the river walk at night. It was used all day long by walkers, joggers, and bicyclists, from dawn till dusk, but people often avoided it at nighttime. There had been too many stories about the occasional bear and she’d even heard a whisper about a mountain lion. She wasn’t familiar with the way wild animals worked—if the predators hunted at night—but that would have been enough to scare her off had she been into nature and exercising.
She wasn’t.
Stone parked the truck and said, “I’d joked about hiking and then thought maybe this would be the next best thing. It’s not too hot tonight. Want to take a walk along the river?”
Oh, how could she say no when he asked like that? “What about mosquitoes?”
“They should be off to bed by now. We should be fine.”
“If you’re sure…”
“You’re not much of an outdoors girl, are you?”
Her voice was dry. “Oh, is it that obvious?”
He chuckled and got out of the truck, walking over to her side. She jumped out of the truck and realized he was right. The weather was beautiful. In spite of the oppressive heat she’d felt earlier in the day, the evening was cool and there was a slight breeze she could feel on her arms. It was nice. “Why do you always do that?” he asked.
“Do what?”
“Get out before I can open the door for you?”
Kory snorted. “Do I look like the kind of girl you have to open doors for?”
She couldn’t quite make out his face in the dark, but she could hear him just fine. “No, but you’re the kind of girl I’d like to do it for once in a while.”
She wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. She wanted to throw off a snappy retort but nothing came to mind. That, and she thought it was a sweet sentiment, and she was afraid her tendency to be snarky could ruin a lovely moment. So she forced her head to nod and said, “I can hear the river from here.”
“Yep. Nothing like it.” Stone grabbed her hand and they began walking toward the river where they would find the trail.
Kory had never been on the river walk before, so this was going to be a treat for her. She was aware of the cool air, of the sound of chirping crickets in the background and the roar of the river in the foreground, of seeing dark leaves rustling in the tall trees near the river. But she was most aware of Stone’s hand holding hers. His hand felt like something sure—it was strong and as confident feeling as he was. It was the hand of an artist, the one that had permanently drawn on her arm less than a week earlier, the same one that had held her face while he’d kissed her. This was a hand she thought she’d want to hold forever, because of the man attached to it.
When they got closer to the river, Kory noticed a gravelly path beside it, up and away from it but close. She imagined that if the river ever flooded, parts of the path would wash away, but most of it was far enough away that it seemed safe. Of course, a huge flood—one that had the potential to damage houses—would wreck it all. She didn’t remember the river ever flooding Winchester, and she’d lived there her whole life. Surely, it had flooded at some time. All rivers did.
The rushing noise created by the water sounded somewhat violent to her, but it felt peaceful at the same time. Maybe it was because the water here would always flow, whether someone was here or not. It would continue bringing water from wherever it came from high up in the mountains and keep going down until it joined with another river and then another, so this very water right here would eventually wind up in the Mississippi and then the Gulf of Mexico. The enormity of it humbled her, and she suddenly understood the draw of nature.
Stone must have sensed her feelings because he said, “Really cool, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
They continued walking along the path, taking their time, breathing in the air cooled even further by the rushing water, absorbing the secrets of the night. Suddenly, Kory thought Stone was a genius. This truly was the perfect date, and for the first time in a long time, she felt her soul grow quiet and full of awe.
He paused and Kory stopped beside him. They’d walked far enough that houses and high
ways were behind them. It was truly dark and solitary. “Look at the stars. They’re bright tonight.”
She looked up. She felt so silly, because she’d been so engrossed in the earth that she hadn’t even stopped to consider the sky above her. God, it was incredible and just contributed to her sense of overwhelming humility and wonder at what surrounded her. She breathed, “Amazing.”
“Yeah,” he agreed and touched her face. It was the perfect time for a kiss, really, because she wanted to share this feeling with someone else and needed to be distracted from the beauty of the moment, because she wasn’t sure how to handle it. She was brimming with emotion and needed to expend it.
She didn’t know if Stone was feeling the same way or if he could simply sense what had been brewing inside her, but their kiss was passionate. Hot. Unbelievably so. And Kory realized she’d never wanted anyone as badly as she did Stone in that moment. Her fingers were in his hair and he pressed her into him, his hands firm on her lower back. One kiss led to another and another and another, and suddenly the night didn’t feel so cool anymore. She didn’t just want Stone; she felt like her body needed him, just like the earth needed the water rushing behind her.
When he broke off the last kiss, Kory noticed her breathing was a little heavier than it should have been, but she knew it was because she was feeling desperate. She also felt alive, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes, and she wanted the humming feeling in her body to be quieted, sated, and she only knew of one way to do that.
The problem was she didn’t know if Stone felt the same way. Maybe he had no idea what his kisses were doing to her. His eyes searched hers in the dark and his voice was quiet, but she heard him as though he were the only sound out there. “I want you, Kory.”
Her breathing quickened again, because it was exactly what she’d wanted to hear. “I want you too, Stone. Desperately.” Oh, God, she’d admitted that?
His voice was firm and commanding. “Let’s go.” She let him lead the way back, and it seemed farther than they’d come. How long had they been out there walking? Everything seemed familiar on the way back, so she knew it was her desperation that made it seem like it was taking longer to get back.
She knew it wasn’t true, though, because they were walking faster back to the truck than they had when they’d been sauntering along earlier.
They got to his truck and he kissed her again. “You sure you’re up for this?”
“Yeah.” She was primed, her entire body on pins and needles, wanting to feel his naked body up against hers. She was more than ready.
“Okay. Let’s go to my place.” He opened the door and helped her in the truck, even though she didn’t need it. Once she was in, he closed the door and got in his side, revving the engine and turning the truck around and out of the parking lot.
When they got to the road, Stone didn’t head back toward the heart of town. He instead went the other way, and Kory wondered where he lived. She didn’t know why she would have assumed he lived in town, but she had. Maybe it was because tattooing felt like such an urban activity that someone like Stone seemed like he belonged in the middle of it all. But they drove out to where there were no more street signs, no street lamps, and few houses. They were in the rural part of Winchester, where there was a little farming and a lot of camping. It made the river walk seem tame.
She turned down the blaring music. Somehow, out there, away from town, it seemed disrespectful. “You live out here?”
“Yeah.” He turned down a small dirt road and after another mile turned up a winding driveway. There were a few houses that they passed, but there was plenty of room between them. They were almost in the forest, and Kory could tell from the outlines of trees that some of them were evergreens. His speed slowed as he climbed the drive, and she could see the outline of a house and then the headlights washed over it. It had a rustic look to it, but the house was fucking huge. As he maneuvered the truck up the curved slope of the driveway, she noticed the place was three stories high. The second level had a deck that scaled the house from one side to the other. The front drifted out of view as Stone continued driving toward the back where there was a garage, but he didn’t park in it.
She was left with one question: How much fucking money did a tattoo artist make anyway?
She knew Stone was good and knew his work was in demand. She knew he was a co-owner of the business, but her mind couldn’t wrap around how much a place like this must cost. Well, she didn’t know that he’d bought it anyway. Maybe he’d inherited it. She’d been quieted more than once tonight by feeling overwhelmed, and this time, she’d been so taken aback that Stone was opening the door to her side before she’d even registered it.
He grabbed her around the waist to pull her off the seat. “Thanks.”
“For what?”
“Letting me get the damn door for once.”
She giggled until he kissed her again, fanning the flames inside. Part of her wanted him to take her right there, but she didn’t know that she wanted her first time with Stone to be sloppy, sordid, and cheap feeling. They’d come this far, so she wanted to at least be inside. Maybe they could be outside sometime, but the timing now wasn’t right.
He led her toward the back door, and she asked, “How come you don’t have a porch light on? It’d make it easier to find the keyhole, don’t you think?”
They got closer and then a light turned on. “Sensory lights. They turn on when there’s movement.” She nodded. “And then I don’t have a shit load of bugs swarming over my head when I get home at night.” He punched in a code on a panel next to the door—some kind of security code that Kory figured disarmed what was a burglar alarm.
“Good thinking.”
“I know.”
She rolled her eyes as he pushed the door open and let her walk in first. The first thing she noticed was the vaulted ceilings. The place was fucking huge. They were in a kitchen that was massive, modern, and sparkling clean. It had a rustic feel just like the outside had, but it also felt as though a television chef like Gordon Ramsay would feel completely at home working in it. There was a huge island in the center surrounded by tall cabinets hovering over a sink, stove, and refrigerator. Next to where they stood was a huge stone fireplace that Kory found quaint. She’d never seen a fireplace in a kitchen, and she wondered if he ever used it.
“You okay if I give you the tour later?”
“Yeah, sure.” She hadn’t expected a tour, but she wouldn’t turn one down. The kitchen alone was half the size of the three-bedroom apartment she shared with her girlfriends. She looked forward to seeing the remainder.
She heard a click-click-click sound on the tile before she saw the dog running around the island toward Stone. It was a toy collie and it yapped as it bounded toward them. Stone squatted down. “Kory, this is Lady.”
“Aw. She’s cute.” She bent over too and held out her hand so the dog could sniff it. She seemed wary of Kory. Maybe she sensed that Kory wasn’t much of a dog person, but a cute dog like this, she could get used to.
“Don’t worry. I don’t need to let her out. She has a dog door downstairs so she can come and go as she pleases. But it leads into a fenced yard. There are too many things out here that could hurt her if she wandered around all the time. I take her for plenty of walks, but when I’m not home, I prefer her close and safe.”
“Makes sense.” The dog licked Kory’s hand, and then Kory knew she was at least halfway accepted. She patted the dog on the head.
“One sec,” Stone said and walked to a long tall cabinet next to the stainless steel fridge and pulled out a small bag. He opened the seal and, based on Lady’s reaction of excitement, dashing toward Stone and sitting faithfully at his feet, Kory figured out he had a doggy treat of some kind he was offering her.
He didn’t give it to her, though. He said, “Come on, girl,” and walked out of the room. Kory had heard music playing in the other room, but she heard it shut off and then heard a television changing
channels. “Why don’t you watch this for now? I promise I’ll spend more time with you later.”
Oh. That was so cute. He was worried about making his poor dog lonely, and Kory almost felt guilty that she was going to be stealing him away from her for a while.
He walked back in the kitchen. “And you. God, I don’t know that I’ll be able to control myself enough to not scare the shit out of you. But I’m gonna try.”
Kory knew he was just exaggerating…but why did her throat constrict anyway?
Chapter Ten
KORY RAN HER fingers through her hair, staring at Stone’s ceiling, trying to relax but feeling the fear—utterly irrational—burgeon in her chest. She was trying to calm herself to no avail.
It wasn’t that Stone wasn’t the ideal lover. After all, she’d already established that she was attracted to the guy on so many levels, it wasn’t even funny. And he was obviously the kind of guy who could take good care of himself. As he’d led her from the kitchen to his bedroom, Kory had to fight to keep her mouth closed. He’d kissed her hard before leaving the kitchen, taking her by the hand out of the room. The doorway near the other side, on the wall next to the refrigerator, led into a large living room, and here the vaulted ceilings were even more impressive. There was a wall toward the right that was open at the top, and Kory could see flashing colors from what she assumed was a TV and probably where Lady was. A family room, maybe? The living room had warm furniture and another fireplace. Stone was leading her toward the stairwell, though, and it led up and down from where they were. She was again struck by the enormity of the place and left wondering just how much money this place cost.
Up the stairs and they were in a huge bedroom. There was just one door up there, and that was likely to a bathroom. The ceiling here wasn’t high like it had been downstairs, but it was a huge room. There was a large window on one side of the room that she noticed even before he switched the light on. When he did, she was amazed. It was a beautiful, warm room in earthy tones. It felt like a cabin inside, but she could imagine Stone there. She was impressed that the bed was made, because hers hadn’t been when she’d left her apartment. In spite of the heat, his bed was covered with a large white comforter, and she knew why. His house was chilled to at least seventy degrees, if not less, so he might use it while he was sleeping. He wrapped a hand around her waist while grabbing a remote control off the dresser and pressing a button. Kory noticed that small beige blinds began rolling down the window, covering it and affording them a little privacy.
Punctured, Bruised, and Barely Tattooed Page 6