Duke and his customer walked out of the back, thankfully distracting both Scott and Haleigh. She discreetly wiped her eyes, and Scott blinked away the emotion choking off any more words from erupting.
Duke’s customer sort of limped out. Duke shook his head with a smirk distorting his normally serious mouth. He was a six-foot-tall badass dude with piercings all the way up one of his ears, several in the other and one in his eyebrow. He wondered what Haleigh thought as she saw him for the first time. Tats ran up his arms and Scott knew he had quite a few on both sides of his torso. They looked like prison tattoos but the guy was loyal, showed up on time and did killer work. The fact that he could double as a bouncer when things got rowdy was icing on the cake.
Another couple of guys came in and Duke greeted them with a handshake. One of the guys took a piece of paper out of his pocket and unfolded it. They all bent over it, speaking about ink color and position.
“What does Kyle have? I couldn’t see anything on him. He said he came in for some kind of pirate tattoo. What did you talk him into?”
Scott grinned. “He’s got a mosaic pattern on his left pec. He actually let me draw directly on him before I inked him. It’s all black, totally killer, but I’ve always wished he had a bit of color. He said I could add to it anytime, but the right something hasn’t hit me yet.”
“Is that all he has, just one, like you?”
Scott weighed his next words carefully. “He has one more on his thigh.”
“His thigh. On the outside?”
“Inside.” She scowled, making him want to kiss her mouth. He ached to draw her close and cover her mouth with his own.
“But no one can see it there.”
“Exactly. He got it for someone he loved. If someone gets a tattoo like that and hides it, it’s private. You’ll have to ask him about it someday. Speaking of Kyle, do we need to wait for him to get here? I could call his cell and tell him to hurry.”
He reached for his phone, but Haleigh stayed his hand. She chewed on her lips and he bit his tongue to keep from offering to do it for her. “I came tonight because I knew he wasn’t going to be here. I…I wanted to talk to you alone.”
“Okay. Shoot. What did you want to talk about?” She tried to take her arm back, but he flattened her palm on his thigh, running his fingertips along the back of her wrist.
She was quiet, before blurting out, “Will you let me photograph your tattoo? I’d really like pictures of it.”
Yeah, so not what he imagined they would be talking about. “Why do you want them? Max’s Gretel? Or the Bonsai Tree, or Simon?”
“Photography is a hobby of mine.” She shrugged hastily. “If you like the photos then maybe you can put them on your website. Plus, I promised I’d send copies to Max and Cheyenne. I think you’d get a lot more business if you advertised your amazing talents more. You and Oscar are both really amazing from what I’ve seen so far. I’d like to help if you’d let me.”
Scott watched her intently as she spoke. He wanted to capture each nuance of her pretty face. Her brow creased into a tiny vee every time she answered questions. Her attention was so focused on him, and she was so sincere in her movements and words he didn’t really know what to think. Something in his chest stirred and it felt a whole heck of a lot like what he felt for Kyle.
“I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. Demille.” He stood and helped Haleigh to her feet before grabbing the neckline of his shirt, yanking it over his head. “Where do you want me?”
He couldn’t help but notice her eyes flared when he turned to face her. His dick was more than happy to volunteer to take care of her arousal. Made all those hours at the gym each week worth it.
Staring didn’t detour her for long. She grabbed the camera again, then moved Scott over in front of the photograph wall and rapidly snapped pictures.
“Why does he have blood dripping off of his feet? It’s not on his robes anywhere. No stains, just his feet.”
“All of his wounds were on the inside. You met him and he was like any other guy. We looked a lot alike, but on the inside he was damaged. My heart bled for him, and I would have taken his pain if I could. I was his big brother. I was supposed to protect him. At the end it was awful. I could actually feel his pain, especially at night. We were sharing an apartment after we’d both graduated high school and he tried to hide it from me. It made no sense, but I could feel it as I lay in bed. I’d wake up in a panic some nights and go stand in his doorway and watch him breathe until I was convinced he was going to make it through the night. He didn’t want to be in the hospital. Didn’t want to go out that way. Some nights after he fell asleep I’d lie on the floor next to him.”
He didn’t notice she’d stopped taking pictures until she stroked across the flesh of his waist like she had the first night they’d met several weeks before. “Why did you draw him hanging from some sort of crucifix?”
“Because he couldn’t escape. He couldn’t fix it and he couldn’t walk away. It was inevitable, you know? Dying. We knew how he was going to die, only the time clock part of the equation was in question.”
Her fingers traced up his spine and along the width of his shoulders. “His wings. They belong to you. Like you’re sharing them.”
“At the end he told me he’d watch over me, that he’d always be near when I needed him.” He lowered his lids. She wrapped her arms around him and laid her cheek again his back. “God, I miss him. I wish he were still here. He would have liked you.”
Before he thought better of it, he twisted in her grasp, held her close and covered her lips with his own. He licked his way into her mouth and coaxed her to respond. He sucked her tongue until air exploded from her chest and her entire body trembled in his grasp.
After pulling away, he touched the creamy softness of her cheek. “My parents were indifferent to me near the end, ignoring me altogether after he died.”
“But it wasn’t your fault.” Haleigh sounded angry on his behalf, and that warmed him.
“It wasn’t their fault. I reminded them too much of him.”
To keep his emotions in check he mentally shook himself, hauling her through the shop. “Okay, no more stalling. The time is here.” He tugged them both into the side room, where he shut the door after leaving her standing in front of the chair again. “You’ll be done in a jiffy,” he added and grabbed things out of the cabinets.
“You don’t need to do that,” Haleigh whispered as she turned away, unbuttoning her blouse.
“Scared?”
“Not of the piercing.”
Huh? “Sorry for talking about all that shit. Feel like a pussy getting all misty about it. It’s old news. I should be over it by now.”
“No one gets over that. Not if you lose someone you love. You’ll be eighty and still miss him. You understand feeling lost and being powerless. Yeah…I get that. I ah…want to show you something.” She let her blouse and sweater slide off her shoulders, peeling a thin tank top over her head. Her hair cascaded down her back, letting nothing but tiny strips of skin peek through. It heated his blood near to boiling, but the undercurrent coming from her wasn’t arousal. It was fear. She grabbed a fistful of hair and quickly pulled it over her left shoulder.
“But I’ve seen you. You’re fucking gorgeous.” He stepped up directly behind her and clenched his fists, trying to rein in his desire. “Bra off. Put your wrists behind you. Cross them.” She hesitated but finally did as he’d said. He ached to see wide cuffs on her wrists.
The slopes of her shoulders were perfect, not slightly hunched over as she had been. Her spine arched just enough to accentuate her femininity.
God, she was beautiful. Soft.
He caught the undercurrent of this being a very big deal.
Here they stood, both naked from the waist up, and he’d never been more sexed for a woman in his entire thirty-four years. A mirror stood in front of them but he refused to ruin the surprise. ”Face me,” he said through gritted teeth, knowing he was goin
g to quickly lose his control and take everything she would let him have and more.
He watched her draw in a breath and hold it. She pivoted toward him. Her gaze never strayed higher than his collarbones. His cock strained closer to her. Chill bumps raced across her skin, beading her pierced nipple, puckering the tight pink flesh around the turgid tip, making his mouth salivate to lick her again.
Then he focused on her other breast.
Beneath her veil of hair he could tell something wasn’t right. He brushed her blonde tresses over her shoulder, baring her to him. She tried to hunch again. He latched onto her crossed wrists behind her, forcing her to stand straight and proud.
He brought a hand up to her breast. A whimpering noise in her throat sounded like glass breaking in his head. It reminded him of a wounded animal, and he ached for her. She tried to step away but he followed her, tugging her closer until there was no mistaking the impression of his cock pressing against her stomach. He looked up at her, but she remained focused on his chest.
He cupped her left breast—which would never have a piercing to match the other.
Scars marred the flesh of her breast, trailing along her torso above and below. Her nipple was gone. A reddened line stood in its place. She never would have been able to have two piercings. Why she paid for both made him mad. Whatever reason she didn’t think she could be honest pissed him off. The underlying reason he’d guessed immediately upon seeing her scar broke his heart.
He glanced up at her again. Less than a foot separated them and she was terrified of him. Like he would say something stupid or ridicule her.
“Haleigh”, he barked. She snapped to attention. “I told you. When we’re together you aren’t to take your eyes from me.”
“Yes, Sir,” she whispered. He thumbed away a tear slipping down her cheek. She shook like a leaf blowing in the wind and it made him grit his teeth. Getting pissed off at what she’d been through wouldn’t help the situation.
He palmed her cheek, kissing her softly. It wasn’t a kiss to sex her up; it was an oath, which he didn’t want to read too much into.
He stared at her, locking gazes as he towered over her. Protecting her.
“What the fuck happened?”
“Breast cancer.”
It was the answer he expected but hearing her say it nearly drove him to his knees.
“Inflammatory breast cancer. I was diagnosed when I was twenty-one. I’m cancer-free now. That’s what they say, but it never goes away. It’s always there. The worry. Eating at me. All it takes is one cell getting past the chemo and the radiation.” She lowered her lids. Lost somewhere he couldn’t guess where to find her.
“But you’re still here. You made it.”
She looked up at him with dewy lashes. “But at what cost? I’ll never be…perfect again.”
“Who the fuck cares about being perfect?”
“My mother. My father. All they talk about is fixing the scars. Changing me once again into the girl I was before. But lately… I earned each scar.” She shrugged while he thumbed away more tears. “If they were all gone and I couldn’t see them, touch them. Who would I be? All my parents care about is finding a ‘nice man’ for me to marry.”
“Isn’t that what most parents want for their daughters?”
“I don’t want a nice man. I don’t want a mannequin who talks about the office and golfing and mundane BS that doesn’t matter. I want what you and Kyle have. Love. Passion. Umm…sex. Finding someone to love is a nice dream but that’s not their motive. Pretty sure they don’t want to deal with me anymore.”
“I’m sure that’s not true. Haleigh, they—”
“They shipped me off to MD Anderson in Houston four days after I was diagnosed. Alone. Mother came to visit a few times, my father once, but it never went well. They paid for everything. Nurses, an apartment, the treatment, the surgeries, but the one thing I needed was them. Someone familiar to care for me. Talk to me. But fighting cancer’s dirty, and it wasn’t something they could deal with.”
Anger surged in his veins, making him want to punch a wall.
“Doing what they want, being who they want me to be… I can’t do it anymore. Having cancer changed me. I deserve to be happy.”
“Fuck yeah you do.” They remained silent for a minute. “What will make you happy?”
“I don’t know yet but I’m trying to figure it out.” She swallowed, staring at him. “I’ve been researching BDSM online and I’ve got some questions.”
“Researching online… What? Through porn sites, right? You can’t research this on paper. Talking about it will only get you so far. You have to feel it. Live it. It’s the only way you’ll know if this kind of lifestyle is for you.” Before he could talk himself out of it, he twisted her around, squeezing her wrists. “Hands on the table. Look at the wall.”
She relaxed her arms, seeing their reflection in the mirror directly in front of them. For the longest time she stared at her chest, then up to him again, before placing her palms on the soft leather. She waited patiently for him, never taking her gaze from him in the reflective surface.
He palmed her breast with no nipple, feeling the unmistakable globe of an implant. None of his questions could dig past the lump of emotion clogging his throat, but she picked them out of his head.
“Full mastectomy, thirteen lymph nodes removed and reconstruction three years later. They tried to make a new nipple but my immune system was so compromised, and the surgery was probably rushed because Mother decided it was time. The nipple didn’t take, so I had to have another surgery to remove it and simply close the wound. Mother wanted to try again. I met with a surgeon this week, the day after I saw you guys at CJ’s. But I’ve finally had enough. It’s partly why I came to see you. To get my life back. My life. Not someone else’s approximation of it.”
His cock had never been so hard for a woman before. She was a fucking warrior but he felt as if he needed to be gentle with her. He softly caressed her side.
“Don’t,” she growled.
He stilled, questioning the vibe skating up his spine. Maybe it was one-sided…
“You and Kyle are the only ones who haven’t treated me like glass. Literally years’ worth of people tiptoeing past ‘the poor sick girl’.I want to live, and love and enjoy life. I have no idea what’s going to happen in the future, but I’m tired of settling and holding my breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
Her words freed the horrible images suffocating his head. He unbuttoned her pants and stuffed his hand between her soft tummy and panties. She was wet and hot, and he let a groan rumble out, filling the space they shared. He petted her silky folds, making her whimper, and rubbed his dick against her ass. “Good. Don’t ever settle. Find the real you. The world deserves to meet her. Not someone else’s estimate of your potential.”
He dragged the pads of his fingers along the slippery cleft at the apex of her thighs, pinching her clit at the top. She shuddered beneath him, twitching her hips against him. He fought the urge to yank her pants down, to bury his throbbing shaft into her hot depths.
He left a thin trail of wetness up her stomach before jerking her zipper up again. He tossed her clothes and shirt to her, which she quickly clutched to her chest. Her face belied every emotion. Confusion, arousal, uncertainty. He wanted to reassure her but he wasn’t a hearts-and-flowers kind of guy.
“Put it on. All but the bra.” He picked up the phone, dialing Kyle’s number with shaky hands. “Fifteen minutes. Library. Playroom.” He hung up on him before he could utter a single word. He crowded Haleigh, tilting her off balance. She clutched at his biceps, digging her nails in, but she was close to tears again. He saw red. All the people who hurt her. He wanted to gut each one of them.
“I want to fuck you, Haleigh. I want to climb so far into your sweet cunt that I don’t see light for days. If I know Kyle at all, he’s going to take your virginity like there’s a rain check burning a hole in his pocket. Tell me right now if that
’s not what you want or you’ve got about ten seconds to get your clothes on. As soon as I stop counting, I’m hauling you out of here bare-breasted for all to see, and I will beat the shit out of anyone who looks at you funny.”
“I’m not ready to show Kyle yet. Promise me. Promise me you’ll let me show him only if I’m ready.”
An honest-to-God growl erupted from him. “You’ve got to tell him quickly. No secrets, remember? Don’t push me on this.” Who knew he had a chivalrous streak?
She got all misty again, but this time with a smile, and she surprised him. She kissed him. It was a simple press of her lips to his, but it was one he’d remember for the rest of his life.
Emotion squeezed his vocal cords. He swallowed, clearing his throat, taking a second to find his man card again.
“Thank fuck I already put the request for you to be granted guest status at The Library. I want you there for the first time. Surrounded by those walls. It’ll just be the three of us, but there are cameras everywhere, protecting the members and the club itself. So be sure.”
“I’m sure,” she said as he thumbed away one last tear.
“All right. Ten, nine…”
She scrambled to get her clothes on, giggling once when she stumbled and he had to catch her. To her credit, she was ready by the count of two. He rearranged his steel-hard dick, grinding his teeth at the indention of zipper teeth against his shaft. He jerked his t-shirt on, more than likely inside out, but it didn’t matter. He grabbed her hand and hauled her out of the room.
He had to keep this just about sex. It’d be hot for however long it lasted, and that would be it.
Kyle and Haleigh would make a sexy couple. Pangs of being left behind bounced around inside him, but he stuffed them out of sight.
He’d been alone before.
He could do it again.
He had to remember that.
Chapter Eight
Kyle sat on his knees in the playroom with his arms behind his back, wrists crossed but unbound. The door creaked open. All of the hair on his body prickled with the last vestiges of his unease. He still worried about what Haleigh would think of him submitting to Scott. His cock couldn’t be bothered though, swelling behind his black leather pants. Since he faced away as they entered, anticipation clawed up the muscles of his spine, urging him to turn and face them.
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