Tegan: Exotic Ink Series (Book Two)

by LS Anders

  Hopefully, Vehn wouldn’t say anything to him. She needed to just keep it cool and act normal as if the most amazing sex she’d ever had in her life had never happened and keep her heart out of it.

  Gabriel and Callie’s best friend, Dylan, were the next smiling couple to join them.

  “What happened to the oath you swore not to dance, Gabriel?” Callie joked, winking at Dylan as they found their seats.

  “It’s all her fault, I couldn’t resist. She’s very persuasive.” Gabriel couldn’t seem to stop staring at Dylan.

  Well, it appeared Rayna didn’t have a persuasive bone in her body, and Tegan seemed to be getting comfortable in his seat. She doubted she could get him to budge towards the dance floor with her, but she hadn’t asked him either. Then again, why should she have to ask? She’d initiated the sex, he could at least ask her to fucking dance.

  Her blood was running hot, and she normally wasn’t an aggressive person, but she was ready to scream over being ignored by Tegan, and all these happy people were pissing her off.

  “Excuse me.” She heard Callie calling after her as increasing irritation propelled her out of the seat. She had no idea where she was going, but sitting there with those couples while Tegan dutifully ignored her was not happening.

  Even Dylan and Gabriel seemed to have found a connection and Dylan was, for all intents and purposes, a whore. That girl set out to find men to screw and here she was alone, essentially a good girl, having lost her virginity on her wedding night to an adulterous husband. Rayna had only slept with one other man since, and he wasn’t paying her the least bit of attention.

  Maybe that was reason.

  Of course, it was. Why hadn’t it occurred to her before now? Tegan would prefer women with at least some experience, and she had none. Nada. Zilch. She had made a complete and utter fool out of herself with him last night. She had even admitted to not knowing what to do as she sat astride his lap.

  For the love… she was beyond sexually inept.

  Groaning from a rush of humiliation, she pushed through a double door marked personnel only. Ignoring the curious looks from the staff, she kept going until she found a secluded spot to hide her sorry ass, closing the door behind her. She knew she couldn’t hide forever, but right now she needed some space.

  All these new emotions were beginning to overwhelm her. She had grown used to her life, developed a complacency toward her husband’s indiscretions. She would go to work, come home, listen to one of Brent’s excuses why he wouldn’t be able to join her for dinner, and go to bed alone. She didn’t know what to do with all this drama, all this animosity over her situation. Fuck Brent for dying and leaving her to deal with his greedy parents, and fuck her for developing feelings for a man that couldn’t seem to care less.

  Stewing in her own self-pity and aggravation, she didn’t hear the door open or Tegan’s footsteps as he approached her from behind, yelping when he wrapped his hands around her waist.

  “Why are you hiding in the utility closet?”

  Turning to face him, she was instantly at a loss for words. The man was too close and too beautiful, sending all rational thoughts out the window. She was surprised she remembered to breathe.

  “I… needed some air.” Was all she could think of to say.

  “In the utility closet? I would have taken you outside.”

  “You would?” She looked up at him in surprise.

  “Yes, Rayna. Why are you acting all weird? Are you regretting last night?”

  Looking quickly away, she shook her head but summoned the courage to ask, “No. Are you?” Swallowing hard, she was afraid of his answer.

  “Pfft. Fuck no, but you’ve been acting off ever since this morning. You don’t have to act differently around me. Nothing has changed, it was just sex. No big deal.”

  No big deal!

  Well, it was a big fucking deal to her. It was amazing how he could be so flippant while it had meant something to her. Dropping her gaze to his shoes as a flow of tears pressed behind her eyes.

  Pulling free from his hold, she moved around him to open the door. “Sorry, I didn’t realize I was acting weird. I’m kind of tired and—”

  “Hold up there, Kitten,” he said, reaching out a long arm to push the door closed.

  That pet name he used for her didn’t seem quite as special now that he had just down played what they had done last night. He probably called all the girls he fucked by that name. Bile touched the back of her throat, not wanting to think about Tegan with anyone else.

  “Rayna, just stop a minute and look at me.” He cupped her face, tilting her chin up when she tried to pull away. “Just look at me for a minute.”

  Raising her eyes to meet his, she was floored to see the warmth of concern in his glacial blue’s as he stared back. His brow furrowed as a lone tear escaped to slowly roll down her cheek. Whisking it away with his thumb, he gave her a concerned grin before pulling her into a tight hug.

  “You’re alright, Kitten. Everything’s going to be ok.”

  Falling easily into his all-consuming embrace, she clung with both hands to his tuxedo jacket. Turning her face into his chest, she breathed in his masculine scent. Her belly curled in that lustful way it always did for him. Blinking back the tears she didn’t want to shed, she basked in his enveloping hold, loving the feel of his strength wrapped around her.

  She wasn’t entirely certain what he had meant, but she would take it for now. Just knowing he was worried for her made her earlier jealousy melt away. She had wanted this, had wanted him, and she knew going in that he had made her no promises. But, she would have to guard her heart if she continued to have sex with him, and she was going to have to scrape together enough courage to ask him for monogamy, because sharing was not something she would ever do again.

  Tegan had no fucking clue what he had meant to say to Rayna the night of Avie’s wedding. He had never been a “let’s talk about our feelings” kind of guy, but he knew Rayna had a lot going on in her world with losing her spouse and dealing with his parents. She had seemed unlike herself the next morning when they woke up together and made every excuse imaginable to get away from him as soon as possible.

  The attachment he was already feeling was growing stronger every day he was with her, and the intensity was scaring the living shit out of him. It was surprising, considering he had only known her about six months, to feel so certain that he had to have her in his life.

  They were staying late again tonight to get started on her snow leopard tattoo, and he was looking forward to being alone with her again. Not for sex, even though that always seemed to be front and center in his brain, but because he genuinely liked being around her. She wasn’t like any other girl, and she was nothing like Tracy.

  Tracy. Now there was a thorn he was ready to have pulled out of his side. His lawyer had finally returned his call and still, she was nowhere to be found. He was due in court in less than two weeks and was more than ready to get his divorce underway.

  He was also looking forward to dusting off his vintage Harley that had been stashed in Vehn’s storage room ever since he’d attempted to ride the bike his first day of work. He’d learned the hard way after nearly getting taken out several times by yellow cabs that the congested streets of NYC were not the best place to try and maneuver a motorcycle. But the trip back to Boston would be an open road, interstate most of the way, so he could get his riding fix.

  Jason would be driving his car and following him back into NYC. Tegan had promised to give him a hand packing up Gales Tattoo Studio and getting his former boss’s house ready to sell.

  Jason had leapt at the chance to work at Exotic Ink and despite the fact that he would be selling his own business and going to work for someone else after sixteen years, he was more than happy to be sharing the responsibilities of managing the studio with Evana Grey instead of bearing all the burden of having to do everything himself.

  Jason and Evana would soon be sharing an artist room and o
ffice space, until she figured out how to add on an additional room inside the existing square footage of the building.

  True to Vehn’s selfless nature, he had graciously offered Jason the third suite in his penthouse since he and Callie had practically taken up residence at her condo in Brooklyn. Vehn didn’t really care where he slept as long as it was in a bed with her, so Tegan and Jason would have the place mostly to themselves.

  Sounds of the shop beginning to close was music to his ears. Rayna, Callie, and Evana were taking turns this week manning the front desk while Avie and Cale were away on their honeymoon.

  It was eerily quiet without Cale even with Callie’s constant chattering. After only two days, Tegan was beginning to miss that fucking kid.

  It was Rayna’s turn as receptionist. Seeing her on her usual day off had him realizing how much he missed her when she wasn’t around.

  Today she was wearing a long sleeveless dress with her hair up in that bun thingy that made him want to bite her neck. Damn, the girl was so fucking pretty.

  Bordering on obsession, he could barely pull his eyes off of her every time she walked past his room. What the fuck was wrong with him that he couldn’t stay focused on any task? His mind was always veering off course in her direction.

  “Are you sure you don’t mind staying late? I can always make appointments with you on my off days.”

  Steeling himself for another assault to his senses, he slowly turned to the sound of her sweet, soft voice. Beautiful. So amazingly, naturally beautiful.

  She began to fidget. He noticed she did that a lot with him. He was used to people being nervous around him until they got to know him, but he hated knowing she was uncomfortable around him. After everything they’d done together, he thought she would be used to him by now.

  “Get your butt in here, woman. What did you think of the design?” he asked, taking the sketch pad she held out to him.

  “It’s amazing,” she said, taking a tentative step inside his room. “You’re a genius at photo realism.”

  Becoming tongue-tied over her compliment, he nodded a thank you and reached for her hand, drawing her the rest of the way into the room and leading her over to the client chair. An image of the last time they had been alone in here and what had transpired sent a surge of blood south, instantly hardening him.

  “Then we should get started,” he said, as she hopped up on the seat.

  “You’re sure you don’t mind doing this after hours?” she asked, looking at him over her shoulder.

  “I’m sure, I don’t mind,” he said, dropping the back of the chair so she could lie mostly reclined while he worked.

  “You don’t look like a man that could be forced to do anything against your will.”

  “Not usually.” A hint of a grin played along the edges of his lips. “You gonna drop the top of that dress?” His eyes bore into her as he settled onto his artist stool, wheeling it forward.

  Her lips moved, but no words made it past those perfect lips Tegan was dying to taste. Nodding her head, she gave him one hell of a show as she dropped a delicate shoulder, letting the thin strap of her dress slide to her elbow. Holding the front to her breasts, she bit her lower lip as she slipped her arm free.

  Every square inch of the room instantly filled with sexual tension, but Tegan wanted it to be her to initiate anything physical. He had a feeling her awkwardness with him was due to her lack of experience with men. He had once been the recipient of her desire as she took control and pleasured herself on top of him. He wanted that again, wanted to be ridden until cum poured out of her.

  Curbing his lust and giving her some space seemed to be the right thing to do. He wasn’t capable of giving her the amount of love she deserved, but he couldn’t seem to stay away from her no matter how hard he tried to ignore her.

  She had busted the seal on his self-control with that fucking baby doll dress months ago. Once he had tasted her sweetness and discovered her soul was as beautiful as her exterior, there was no repairing his resolve to keep her at arm’s length. Worst still, his heart had begun to beat again in earnest.

  Clearing the emotional swell from his throat. “Why don’t do you lie down and get comfortable? There’s a lot of detail in this design, so we’ll do it in several sessions, and I don’t want to risk over working your delicate skin.”

  Although, I wouldn’t mind over working the delicate flesh between your slim thighs. He kept that thought to himself.

  Running a hand roughly over his goatee before snapping on a fresh pair of gloves, Rayna made herself comfortable lying on her stomach and arranging her arm beneath herself so Tegan could begin her tattoo.

  Before he got to work, he took the opportunity to rearrange his cock that was throbbing painfully behind his zipper while her face was turned away.

  Rayna proved to have a higher pain threshold than most men, so her tattoo was further along than he had originally planned. He’d coaxed her into going to dinner with him afterwards using the gentle rumble of her empty stomach as a lure.

  Fidgeting with her beer glass while they waited for their food orders, Rayna hesitantly questioned, “So, can I ask you a personal question? You don’t have to answer, though, if you don’t want to.”

  This sounded ominous. He hated personal questions, but he could tell there was something bothering her, and he wanted to know what the hell it was.

  “Sure. Go ahead.”

  “Are you… do you, I mean, are there any other women? You know, that you see…?” she hedged, looking embarrassed.

  He had to be the densest man on the fucking planet. All this time she was worried about him sleeping around. Why wouldn’t she be, given the type of man she had been married to? From what he had heard, Brent had slept with anything that was female, including a co-worker right under Rayna’s nose. The same co-worker that had been cut loose and had essentially opened the job up for him. He was grateful for the opportunity but would have spared Rayna the heartache she had to have felt over the situation.

  “I never went outside my marriage, until you. There’s no one else,” he admitted, taking a hard pull off the lip of his stout.

  Visibly relieved, a small smile surfaced and remained on her pretty face. “That’s good to know, thanks.”

  “Sure,” he chuckled. “I don’t sleep around, Kitten.”

  “Me neither,” she said, running a slender finger in a circle on the table.

  “That’s good. Then I won’t have to kill anybody.” Tegan cracked his knuckles.

  “Me either.” She met his eyes, her bashfulness turning fierce.

  “Pfft,” Tegan brushed a hand down her cheek. “I’d like to see you turn into a little hell cat. Maybe I’ll try and make you jealous.”

  “Well, that’s not very nice.”

  “I never claimed to be a very nice man, now did I?”

  “Actions speak louder than words, Tegan and mean men don’t hold a girl’s hair back while they vomit.”

  Fuck him, but she had a point. It was rare for people to see through the gruff exterior he presented to the world. Most folks just steered clear, which was fine with him. Vehn and his family had been the exception… until now, and Rayna was efficiently stripping him of his defenses and peering into his soul. He wondered if she could see the lonely little boy hidden inside the cynical man, waving and smiling to her.

  Fuck him, he hadn’t felt this vulnerable since his dad left.

  “So, would you like to come in for a little bit?” she asked, shyly holding the door open for him.

  “I would love to cum in a little bit.”

  That was an invitation if she ever heard one and was on him before the door shut completely. The sound he made was something between surprise and approval as she climbed all over him. Meshing her lips with his, she loved the feel of his goatee as it rasped against her face when they kissed or any other place on her body he had touched her with it.

  Her hands went everywhere at once, exploring all the hard muscle she cou
ld reach. Her hands greedily pulling at his clothing. The man was solid. An immovable living, breathing turn on. Every look, every breath, every word, every movement he made would liquefy her insides, turning her knees to rubber.

  Her maxi dress needed to go!

  “Get this off of me!” she cried, struggled with the material.

  Slipping her arms through the holes, Tegan slid the dress down her body to puddle at her feet, her panties soon followed. As desperate as they both were for each other, the bedroom was too far away for them to make it.

  Lifting her by the waist, Tegan set her on the edge of the kitchen counter. Roughly unbuckling his belt, he forced down the zipper, dropping his pants and briefs to spring free his heavy erection. She watched his hardened flesh bob before he caught it in his hand and led his engorged head to her fevered center. She moaned as he rubbed through her wetness, lubricating the blunt tip before pushing inside. She clenched down around his thick invasion. He was so large, it was a wonder he didn’t split her in half.

  “Relax for me, Kitten. I’ll go slowly,” he spoke against her lips, his tongue darting out to touch the tip of hers before deepening the kiss.

  Leaning back, she planted her palms firmly on the counter to give him better access to her vagina and relaxed her muscles to allow her flesh to stretch around the width of his shaft. There was no foreplay this time to get her ready. It didn’t matter, she wanted him inside her now. She craved that deep release that seemed to touch her soul, those powerful contractions of her newly discovered vaginal orgasm.

  He had awakened a sexual desire in her that she never knew existed. A hunger that she needed to feed that had been ignored for long enough.

  Pushing his thick head in and out of her a few more times before inching his way inside, her pelvis rocked against his careful thrusts. Slowly filling her a little at a time, she was amazed anew at her ability to accommodate his girth. The pressure and the friction he created were so incredible, she didn’t recognize the guttural moan as her own.