Steam and Ink: Two Novels of Ink Plus Two BONUS Short Stories

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  “We all take turns, sugar.” City patted my leg.

  “Oh, sorry. My family, it’s more like a free-for-all. Not used to this, but I’ll learn.”

  It took hours to open gifts. They ranged in all sizes and shapes. I watched the family in front of me with joy. I’d never experienced something as loving as the Gallo family Christmas.

  “I love everything you got me, sugar. I’ll use it all.” He kissed my cheek.

  I smiled at him and whispered in his ear. “Wait until you see your last gift, but it’s at home—for your eyes only.” I bit his earlobe and was rewarded with a deep kiss.

  “Hey, I know I want grandbabies, but not right here on the couch, please. There’s one more gift under the tree, and it’s for Suzy.” His mother beamed as she handed the last present to me.

  The box was small, but not a ring box. City leaned back and stared at me to gauge my reaction. I looked around as I undid the ribbon It’s a horrible feeling to be the one left out—to be the surprised and not the one doing the surprising.

  Tucked inside was a small business card. I read it, but didn’t know what it meant. “You gave me a business card?” I asked, confused.

  “No, sugar. Read it. Turn it over.”

  Mrs. Perkins

  Florida Real Estate Specialist

  I flipped the card over and recognized Joey’s handwriting.

  Something to call “ours”

  Merry Christmas, sugar

  “I don’t understand,” I mumbled as I turned the card over again.

  Joey grabbed my hand as he spoke. “I want to buy a house for us. I want you to pick out your dream home, or we can build on my land.”

  “Joey, we can’t afford that, but it’s a nice thought.” I knew his gesture was sincere, even if it were a fairytale.

  His mother started to giggle, and the entire family laughed. I didn’t get the joke. “Tell her, Joseph,” his mother said as she sat down next to his father.

  “Suzy, we can afford it. I can afford it.”

  “How?” I felt like an idiot.

  “Jesus Christ, son. Suzy, our family owns a vineyard in Italy. We’ve owned it for generations. Joseph doesn’t flaunt his wealth, but he has the ability to buy five homes.”

  I looked from his father to Joey, who sat there with a grin. “Is he telling the truth?”

  “Yes, sugar. We all own a portion of the vineyard. We run the tattoo shop because we don’t want to sit on our ass all day. We wanted something that was entirely ours and separate from what we inherited.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” I felt awkward having this discussion in front of his family, but I figured they knew his reasons.

  He stroked my face. “I like my little farmhouse. It was enough for me. I also don’t like people to know my business. Too many people want things when they know you have money. Sugar, you have to understand. I thought if I ever—and I didn’t think I would—found someone that I loved, I had to know they loved me for me and not my money.”

  “I do love you for you, Joey.” The words came out with ease, and even though I knew he’d lied to me for months, I could understand why. “I’m happy in my home, though. No need to buy another.”

  “Exactly—‘your home,’ sugar, not ours. I want something that we pick out together with room to grow. We’re cramped, but happy. Anything you want is yours. All I ask is for a big garage for my motorcycles and a space for the guys to hang out.”

  His mom clapped her hands. “Get lots of bedrooms too. I want an army of grandbabies.” Even though the idea of a horde of children made my body break out into a blotchy rash, a big house would be wise.

  “Not helping, Ma.”

  Her laughter filled the room. “Sorry, a girl can dream, can’t she?”

  “So what do you say, sugar? Can we buy a home for us? It can be a fresh start, the beginning of an amazing journey. We’ll take our time until we find the perfect place. I love you, Suzy McCarthy, and this is what I want for us.”

  I didn’t really have anything to think about. My last wall had crumbled. Everything I had on my impossible checklist had come true, and Joey was the man I’d always wanted. His family waited for my reply, and the air felt heavy. “Yes, Joey. I’d love to find our home and look to the future. I love you too.”

  His kiss stole my breath, as it always did. I thought back to the words Sophia told me not long ago. Butterflies—I still felt butterflies every time I saw him. The nervous energy never left my body, and I felt the electricity when we touched. When it’s right, you know it.

  He was the one.

  Mine.

  The End…

  Inked Fantasies

  Chapter 1

  “Sugar, stop talking.” I settled between her legs, staring up her beautiful, soft body.

  Suzy curled her fingers into my hair as I leaned forward. “I wonder what…” she started to say, but she grew quiet as I ran my tongue across her clit.

  She didn’t listen, but she never does. The girl was quiet as a church mouse when I met her, but somehow, I turned her into a chatterbox. Even in bed, she wants to yammer on about the kids and shit.

  The only thing I cared about was the sweetness and slice of heaven between my wife’s legs. I could give two fucks right now if the kids are sleeping, how they feel, or what was on their schedule for tomorrow.

  It was our first night without the kids in weeks. The twins had a sleepover birthday party, and Gigi was on a school trip that probably involved zero learning. Freedom. I loved my kids, but damn, I missed my wife and the days we used to have without interruptions and clothing.

  “Maybe we can…”

  I propped myself on my elbows and glared at her. “Let’s try something new.”

  I can’t do this all night, babbling on about the kids when we may not have another weekend alone for God knows how long. So, it was time to pivot and do it big because I didn’t want to spend the entire weekend with her thinking only of the kids.

  “Okay,” she whispered with her eyebrows drawn together.

  I slid off the bed and grabbed my jeans off the floor. I was about to stage an intervention with my wife, and it had to be sexy as fuck to keep her in the right headspace. “Get dressed.” I hadn’t thought this out because my cock wasn’t too cooperative as I tried to jam it back into my pants. “Put on the sexiest dress you have in that closet. We’re going out.”

  “What?” She didn’t move, just gawked at me like I was speaking a foreign language.

  “You have thirty minutes,” I told her as I stalked out of the room, leaving her naked and spread-eagled.

  I heard her feet land on the floor before she scurried across the carpeting to her closet.

  “Whore it up,” I yelled from the stairway as I headed downstairs to set my plan into motion.

  Suzy had shared her fantasies with me. Many of them we’d lived out, but lately, motherhood had become her main focus. It was time to center her again and remind her of who we are...what we used to be.

  Within minutes, I had reservations at a hotel downtown with a swanky bar in the lobby for tonight’s fantasy. I changed quickly in the downstairs spare bathroom and had plenty of time to spare before Suzy started to walk down the grand staircase with her tits spilling out of the top of a very tight and small black dress. To top it off, she had on sky-high red heels that screamed sex and, again, made my dick hard.

  It didn’t matter that we’d been married for fifteen years; the woman did wicked shit to me. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t want to stake my claim and leave my mark on her. She could still steal my breath with a single glance and captivate me with her smile. Her innocence hadn’t been lost, even being married to an asshole like me. Suzy was and always would be Suzy. Sweet, innocent, and loving to a fault, but she was mine forever.

  She’d swept her hair to the side in a partial updo reminiscent of Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, a movie Suzy’d made me watch more times than I could count. She loved a good fairy tale
and bragged to everyone she met that she was living one after I found her on the side of the road and rescued her.

  “You look…” I swallowed, unsure of the words I wanted to use next. There were so many that fit her as she descended the stairs with a gentle sway to her hips, somehow walking gracefully in the heels. “Fuckable.”

  It wasn’t the classiest word, but it was the first thing that came to mind. Leaving the house wasn’t going to be easy. I wanted to grab her hand and march her right back upstairs and rip the dress from her skin, but I needed to stay on course.

  Don’t be an asshole.

  She blushed and tossed her hair over her shoulder before coming to stand in front of me. “Thank you very much.” She placed her hands on my chest and pushed her marvelous tits against me. “So do you.”

  “Ready to go?” I asked, and my voice cracked on the last word. My resistance was on the edge of breaking, and she knew it.

  The corner of her lips turned up as she grazed my cock with her stomach. “Are you sure you want to go out?” Her smirk grew more sinister.

  I didn’t answer in words. Hooking my arm around her waist, I hoisted her over my shoulder and carried her out the door.

  Chapter 2

  “You want me to what?”

  “Just do it, and don’t give me lip.” I pointed toward the bar behind her before I turned her around and gave her ass a little pat, pushing her toward the entrance.

  She glared at me over her shoulder. Her theatrics were strong tonight, but I knew she was secretly loving every minute of this. I knew my wife better than anyone, and I could almost bet my entire fortune on the fact that her panties were already wet.

  I watched from the lobby as she slid onto a stool and placed an order. I told her absolutely no virgin anything. Tonight was a night to let go, and that included alcohol. She wasn’t Suzy Gallo. Nope. She’d decided her name was Vivian Ward, and I was Edward Lewis, giving props to Pretty Woman after I told her about my plan as I drove way too fast to get to our final destination.

  A few men in the bar were staring at her, but I resisted the urge to run inside and turn their heads the other direction. My wife was beautiful and deserved the stares. A woman wanted to feel beautiful, and getting the attention of men, even if they’re not me, had to be flattering.

  I’d grown as a person. Years together will do that. Old me, the one who met her on the side of the road, would’ve already had at least two men on the floor, begging for mercy, but I’m not him… or at least that was the lie I told myself.

  Unable to take another moment of their not-so-casual eye-fucking of my girl, I stalked inside and slid onto the empty stool at her side. I didn’t speak to her and barely glanced in her direction. She stirred her drink, a daiquiri of some sort, but remained silent.

  I ordered a drink, whiskey neat, and let the tension build. I could practically feel her excitement as we sat in silence. It was probably killing her inside not to say something to me. I told her under no circumstance was she to speak to me until I broke the ice first.

  Once the bartender set the drink down in front of me and left us in peace, I lifted my glass and turned to my side. I stared at her profile over the rim as I let the first taste of whiskey slide down my throat.

  Her skin glistened in the overhead lighting, and her eyes danced around nervously as I stared at her. She twirled the little straw against her lips. Man, this was harder than I thought. Sitting here, not talking as I tried to take it slow was pure torture.

  I remembered the night we met. I’d wanted to fuck her so badly. She sat next to me at the Neon Cowboy, looking and talking innocent. I thought it was an act, a cute one, but still an act. Little did I know, Li’l Suzy Sunshine was even more innocent than she let on.

  “Can I get you another?” I asked, motioning toward her glass with mine as I set it on the bar top.

  Not my smoothest line ever. I hadn’t picked up a woman in a bar for so many years I almost forgot how it was done. I had always been suave and had never had a problem, but tonight I felt rusty.

  “I’m fine.” She didn’t look in my direction, but she placed her glass next to mine. “I’m not much of a drinker.”

  “I’m Edward, and you are…” I let my voice trail off and waited for her to say the name I knew was coming next.

  “Vivian,” she said and turned toward me, holding out her hand. “Vivian Ward.”

  She said the name with a slight twang, playing every bit of the part.

  “Vivian, it’s my pleasure.” I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed it gently, maintaining eye contact the entire time.

  She blushed and tipped her head back. “What do you do, Edward?”

  Fuck. I scrambled, running through the movie in my head and trying to recall exactly what he did with the little fuckhead that eventually attacked Julia. Something with companies. Jesus. Only my wife would put me on the spot. “I take over companies.”

  Her eyes brightened, and I knew I was close enough to satisfy her with my answer. “That sounds exciting.”

  “Not really,” I grumbled because I’d slit my wrists if I had to sit in an office every day wearing a suit with a tie wrapped around my neck like a noose. “But it can be at times. Are you sure you wouldn’t like another drink?”

  I wanted her a little buzzed and relaxed because I knew she was way out of her comfort zone.

  “Sure.” She smiled and pushed her almost empty glass forward. “But my company requires more than a drink, Edward.”

  I almost swallowed my tongue. She wasn’t just using the name; she planned to play the entire part. Whorey Vivian was all right by me. “How much?” I turned my head and cocked an eyebrow.

  “I’m not cheap.” She smirked and placed her hand on my knee before giving it a tight squeeze. “But I’m worth every penny.”

  “Money is no object, Vivian.”

  “A thousand an hour.”

  “You must be good.”

  “Oh, honey.” She leaned forward, her breasts almost toppling out of her dress. “You have no idea.”

  But I did. My woman was the best. I’d been with a lot of girls before her, sowing my wild oats and shit, but none of them compared to my l’l wildcat in the sack. No one had ever brought me to my knees and had me on the verge of begging like my wife.

  I placed my hand on her leg, letting my fingers slide up her inner thigh. “How much for all night?” I felt good about this. I’d played along and came as close as I could to the movie dialogue without actually remembering a single spoken line.

  “Ten thousand.” She opened her legs and granted me more access, giving me a taste of what was to come.

  “Sold. Baby, I would’ve paid a million to lie with you tonight,” I tell her.

  “I’m going to bring you so much pleasure, you won’t want to get rid of me.”

  The words kind of made my stomach hurt. I couldn’t imagine a day without Suzy in my life. Nothing and no one would ever make me want to get rid of her. I never understood the assholes who stepped out on their wives and fucked everything up.

  “Shall we?” I motioned toward the lobby with my head as I continued to stroke her thigh.

  “But what about my drink?”

  “For ten thousand dollars, I’ll have it delivered to the room because I’m not wasting another moment with you.”

  I already had the room set with strawberries and champagne waiting for us, along with an entire assortment of things that would be messy and divine to eat off each other. I had everything covered and had somehow been able to do it on short notice. It was amazing what a guy could accomplish when pussy was involved.

  “I have limits, Edward,” she said as she slid off the stool and her red heels touched the marble tile floor. “I don’t do…”

  “For ten thousand dollars, there are no restrictions.”

  “I don’t do threesomes.”

  “Agreed. Everything else is on the table.”

  “Everything?”

  “Everything.”


  I threw a fifty on the bar and ushered Vivian toward the bank of elevators. We walked in silence with her arm hooked in mine and bowed our head to passersby. If they only knew the dirty shit I was about to do to this woman, they’d… Hell, they’d be jealous as fuck because let’s face it, their sex lives were probably more boring than watching paint dry.

  She stayed at my side as we walked out of the elevator and made our way down the hallway. When I grabbed the key from my pocket, she leaned against the wall and stared at me. “Why me?” she asked, tipping her head to the side. “You can have any girl. Why me?”

  I took a step to the side and placed my hands on the wall, caging her in. “Because you’re the most beautiful girl in the world. I acquire pretty things, and tonight you’re my sole possession.”

  She blinked and was at a loss for words. I leaned forward, sweeping my lips across hers. She gasped, no doubt feeling the same electric spark I felt just like the first night we met so long ago.

  “Last chance to change your mind.”

  “Never,” she breathed against my mouth. “I want you.”

  “I own you tonight,” I told her. “I’ve never wanted anything more than I want you right now.”

  “I’m yours.” She smirked, jutting those tits closer to my face.

  Chapter 3

  I backed away and pushed the door open, waiting for her to step inside before I followed her inside the suite. She squealed quietly when she saw the champagne and food. It was typical Suzy, but also a little Vivian too, and I couldn’t hide my happiness.

  I sat down and stared at my wife, watching her fidget and not knowing what to do next. “I want to see your natural beauty. Strip for me.” She started to pull down the strap of her dress, but I stopped her. “In front of me,” I told her and pointed at the floor near my feet.

  Leaning back, I didn’t take my eyes off her as she pulled down the straps of her dress. Slowly she removed the dress, swaying slightly, trying to be sexy with her stripper moves. They were pretty damn impressive for Suzy.