Haven

by J D Worth

  Mace gives me a chin lift. “Check out the boards.” I linger around the walls as if I were at a museum, admiring the ink masters’ work. I smile, recognizing each of my friends’ tattoos with many other beautiful pieces that highlight Jax’s artistic hand. Back in my society life, tattoos are not acceptable and neither are multiple piercings like Trent has. The only exceptions are single piercings that showcase extravagant jewelry.

  Cal sinks into the couch with Payton and Violet, asking, “Hey, Jax, how much longer?”

  “Maybe ten minutes,” he replies.

  Cal winks at me and says, “How ’bout I grab food from Burger Hut? Goof can’t get her fill of burgers after last night.” Mace and Cal laugh as I shrug. I did have a second burger, and now I’m hooked. Move over cupcakes. The gang shouts out the orders as Cal nods. He asks the guy behind the counter, “Anything for you, Redmond?”

  “Nah, I don’t wanna miss the action on the boardwalk, so I’m calling it an early night. Jax, you can call it an early one too.”

  Jax replies, “Thanks, Redmond.” Redmond nods, pulling the shades and turning off the outside neon light before leaving.

  Cal asks, “Payton, you wanna join me since we got a big order?” Payton grabs her bag and smiles at him. A grin stretches across Cal’s boyish face. “The Hut’s packed this time of night, y’all hold tight.”

  Violet smirks as they disappear out the door. “Expect our food to be cold! Those two will be making out around the corner for twenty minutes at least.” She retrieves a tin of professional color pencils and an art pad from the handy bag she carries everywhere. She begins doodling a dress design for a theater costume she has to create. She pats the seat next to her, asking, “Audrey, do you wanna color? That’s what Jax is doing, so why not join in the fun?”

  “Sure.” Grabbing a piece of paper, I hold up one of her pencils with a smile. “I’d often do this same exact thing when my mother worked at her interior design firm, and she’d let me use her art supplies.” A happy memory drifts while I sketch away, getting lost in the past, thinking about Martin’s ground changing revelations yesterday.

  Violet’s voice brings me back. “Oh, that’s beautiful. I didn’t know you were planning on getting a tattoo. Why are you hiding your artistic talents away?”

  I stare at the beautiful bird created from my memories. “Oh, umm, actually my mother was the artist. She graduated from the Chicago Institute of Design with a degree in fine arts.”

  “Wow, that’s a great school. Looks like she taught you a thing or two.” Violet admires my work. “Hey, Jax, come check this out when you finish. Did you know Audrey’s an artist too?”

  “To be honest, I’m not.” I shake my head as my face flushes with heat. “My mother would give me advice when I was drawing in her office. I guess she was giving me lessons all along. I packed all of her art supplies, hoping I could use them one day. Now I wish I’d brought her supplies down here to use during my stay. I can almost imagine painting on the beach just as she had done when she was my age.”

  “Hold tight, Woman, I’m nearly there,” Jax says, adding the last of the black ink. I watch in fascination as Jax finishes the design. “Done.” Jax eyes his work with pride while setting his tattoo gun down and peeling off his gloves.

  “Nice work, brother.” Mace squeezes Jax’s shoulder as they admire the intricate design.

  “Woman.” Jax hops up and kisses Violet on the lips. “You girls have fun showing Audrey ’round town?”

  “We sure did!” Violet smirks while snatching the paper from me. “Look at the beautiful sparrow Audrey drew.”

  Jax takes the piece of paper from her. “Audrey, there’s gonna be an opening here when I jet off to Myrtle Beach. This shop could be your backup plan if that Harvard MBA doesn’t pan out.” He winks as we all laugh.

  “Or I could be a cupcake assassin. I’ve already mastered the training, and my missions are usually covert.” We laugh again. “Art was never something I could explore since I was enrolled in college prep and business classes.” Jax hands off the drawing to Mace. “My mother always called me her sparrow. I was doodling, and the memory popped up, so I wanted to honor her.”

  “Your mind’s telling you something,” Jax muses. My inquisitive eyes meet his. Jax may be the quiet one of the crew, but his sharp insights are always spot on. “Sailors used to get sparrow tattoos for the miles logged on the open seas. The birds represent freedom, undying love, and commitment. One of the few birds known to mate for life. So, sailors would use sparrows to guide their ships home, ’cause sparrows always return to their one true love. They’re like a compass.” And my mother returned to me. A twisted bend of guilt seems to unfold in my heart, allowing a shimmer of peace in. The corners of my mouth lift so high, I’m sure my mother would be laughing with joy.

  “That’s beautiful, Jax.” Love fills Violet’s eyes as she gazes up at him. Shifting my attention away from their intimate moment, I watch Mace study the lines of the bird.

  I ask, “Jax, will you tattoo that sparrow on me?” The wall clock marks a long silence that falls across the studio.

  Mace’s eyes lift to mine. Catching my bright smile, his eyes darken with desire, stirring a longing deep within me. The corner of his lips lift with naughty possibilities as he lays a sexy grin on me.

  “Are you sure, Darlin’? A tattoo is gonna be on you forever.” Jax voices what everyone here is silently thinking: ink is not an acceptable art form where I come from.

  “I want the sparrow as a remembrance of my mother.”

  “I can’t argue against that,” Jax declares with a huge dopey smile. “Violet, lock the door so no drunk walk-ins accidentally stumble in. I have my next customer. I bet you’re thinking simple lines. No color, right?” Jax looks to me for confirmation.

  Nodding, I say, “Yes, only black ink.”

  Mace suggests, “What ’bout using white ink?”

  “Ooh, Audrey, You have to!” Violet says. “Imagine how beautiful and inconspicuous that will be. You have to deal with designer wears, and stylists can be quite handsy in those boutiques, right?” I nod in agreement, impressed with the white ink suggestion.

  “Where?” Jax asks. The corners of his mouth lift into a coy smile.

  “On my hip like Violet’s. I want the same size as well.”

  “I love it!” She hugs me with such a whirlwind force that I have to brace myself.

  Mace speaks up, “I’m gonna grab a fifth of JD from the corner store. You might wanna change into something more comfortable, Princess.”

  My eyes widen as I take in Mace’s smirk. “Am I going to need something to take the edge off while Jax tattoos me? This can’t be worse than having electrolysis, which I’m a pro at this point.”

  Mace walks backward towards the door. “Maybe I’m the one who needs to take the edge off.” Jax cracks a laugh as Mace quickly disappears.

  “Yeah, Darlin’, I want you as comfortable as possible.” Jax scrambles to get the station ready for me.

  “Jax, I’ll show Audrey to the dressing room.” Violet winks and slips her arm through mine as she snatches my bag. She tugs me towards the hallway that leads to the back of the studio. “The guys really get off on tattoos.”

  “Right.”

  Violet bumps my shoulder with hers. “No, I mean like getting ink is a major turn on. You saw how eager Cal and Payton were to head off, which was after Cal had more work done to his back tattoo. Jax is mighty horny, and I’m ready to jump on him. Seriously, ink is like porn to these guys.”

  “Oh.” I study her face as a slow grin covers her lips.

  “Yeah, and that includes Mace practically running out the door with a hard-on.” She opens the door to the decent size changing room with floor-to-ceiling mirrors on all four walls so you can see your tattoo from every angle.

  I step inside with my bag. “Well, damn.”

  “If you were looking for an aphrodisiac, you found Mace’s.” S
he laughs under her breath while heading to the front to join Jax.

  I throw on my black yoga pants and a white cami top. I drop my yoga pants low as I glance in the mirror at my bare hips. A daring thrill of excitement dashes through me as I smile in the mirror. Soon ink will mark my body, and there’s nothing the fucking Asters’ can do to stop me.

  Mace returns with a large bottle of Jack as I reemerge in the studio. Mace casts a devastatingly sexy smile my way while Violet nudges me from the side with her elbow. “Told you,” Violet says in a singsong tone.

  “Princess, you’re not ready just yet.” Mace takes a couple of long swigs from a bottle of JD while casting me a hungry gaze that makes my legs quiver. “Jax, you trace the transfer, and I’ll get Princess while I patch myself up.” Mace disappears down the hallway to the back of the studio.

  I grab ahold of Jax’s hand and squeeze. “Thank you for doing this for me, Jax.”

  “It’s a true honor, Darlin’.” Jax smiles.

  I join Mace in a little supply room with a rolling cart stacked full of bandages, gauze, and individual wrapped ointment packages. He spreads ointment around the raised red areas of his new tattoo. “You’re a pro, Mace.”

  “When one of your closest friend is a tattoo artist, you pick up a few things.” Mace asks me to place the bandage on the inside of his arm and top of his bicep. He rips off the tape for the gauze with his teeth, securing the tape down, and I continue wrapping the gauze around. I gaze up at him as he smiles. “What?”

  “It’s obvious you know what you’re doing. By the looks of it, you received a gunshot wound, not a tattoo.” My own gunshot graze throbs as I rub my hand over the white line on my shoulder.

  Fingering the spaghetti strap over my scar, he asks, “What’s this scar from?”

  I swallow back a frown. I’m surprised he didn’t ask me yesterday when I was pawing at my scar after Elmer shot off his shotgun. The nearly two-inch white scar pops against my deep tan now. I chomp back my usual little white lie of falling off my horse. The problem with being numb, sometimes you sleepwalk through the moments you need to focus on. The injury was my fault, and I should’ve been paying attention, especially around loaded guns. The truth of how the scar came to be still torments me. I paid again last night by redeeming what little sleep I got with nightmares.

  I readjust my cami, but I can only hide so much. “That is where a plastic surgeon fixed a … blemish. My grandmother insisted.” The truth is right on the tip of my tongue, yet I can’t spill the horror of that day. No matter the surgeon’s handy work, the blemish remains deep inside along with the wall of silence the Asters have built so high. I’m climbing and can’t escape just yet.

  He kisses the area, mumbling, “Sun-kissed. You smell like the sun today.”

  Swooning over this handsome man with his lips on my skin, I giggle like a silly school girl. “And that would be…?”

  “Sunshine, coconut, and vanilla. And something so pure that I can’t quite put my finger on it.” Smirking, Mace shuts the door behind me. Leaning into me, he rasps, “We can’t have Violet popping her head in here.”

  “Charming.” My eyes hood as his naughty smile promises another tantalizing adventure.

  “You just wait. I’m all ’bout the horsepower…”

  “Horsepower? Are you sure you aren’t running on solar energy? My unicorn didn’t work out, so I’m going to need a big, strong replacement.” My eyes flutter before landing on his sun tattoo on his bare shoulder.

  Mace points to his ink. “This means having the sun on me while I’m riding my bike. My own compass.” Moving into my space, his eyes rove my body. “Where on your lucky body does Jax get to mark you with your compass?” I get lost in his green eyes while his hands linger under my breasts. The warmth of his skin moves over my curves, finally landing on my hips. The pads of his fingers search for bare flesh under my yoga pants.

  “My hip,” I rasp. His eyes smolder as he unleashes a smooth smile. His fingers strike a chord against my heated skin as he circles my hipbone.

  “I know, but which side?” He slowly tugs down my yoga pants so the material rests at an indecent level on my hips. Heat shoots straight to my sex.

  “The design fits my left hip,” I say dazed while his hands run over my bare skin. He kneels down on one knee and lifts my cami up, exposing my belly button. He places a sensual kiss there and continues moving my yoga pants down.

  With an amused smile, he tugs until the material rests mid-thigh. The sight of him before my bare sex is almost too much. I rasp, “You better be searching for cupcakes down there.”

  “Oh, I’m gonna eat all your fuckin’ cupcakes, Princess.”

  My eyes twinkle. “I like your ambition. You may proceed, kind sir.”

  He chuckles. “I’m hard as a fuckin’ rock right now. I need to taste you just so I can think straight!” He takes his time exploring my body, leaving behind big, wet open kisses as I moan with each pleasurable touch. “Are you good with that?”

  “Cupcakes, licking, and promises of strong vibrations. Fuck the vibrating unicorn!”

  Smirking, he eases back and glances up to me as he unzips his jeans and releases his thick cock. Even in his large hand, his cock is incredibly impressive. I gasp. “I’m gonna lick you till you melt against my tongue.” I intake a sharp breath. “Then I’m gonna fuck you with my tongue while I get off. By my count, that’s at least two orgasms for you and a bit of relief for me.” I pant as heat settles over my skin. His mouth curls into a devilish grin as he watches my chest rise and fall. “You like me talking dirty, Princess?”

  I swallow hard and wet my lips.

  His voice drops low, promising, “I won’t hold back next time.” He pumps his hard cock with his hand and dives forward, wasting no time working me over with his tongue. I grip his shoulders, steadying myself with this unexpected turn of events. I throw my head back and shift my hips forward, brushing the scruffy gruff on his face. He groans against my sex, sending vibrations over my sensitive flesh. His tongue flicks against my nub, and I shake like an earthquake.

  My muscles tense while climbing that seemingly elusive peak and finally let go. Pleasure washes over me. We gasp, sharing a moan. He chuckles.

  “Now hold tight for the ride, Princess.”

  I quash a high squeak as his thick tongue plummets into my sex. He pumps waves of pleasure throughout my body. My hips shake against his mouth. I grab ahold of his hair and pull him against me, willing him deeper. His rough whiskers graze over my smooth skin, adding heat to the mounting bliss between my legs. He hits just the right spot with the tip of his tongue. I rock back and forth until my body goes limp. My mouth drops wide. I close my eyes, relishing the exhilarating moment of another massive peak.

  Mace reaches up and runs his thumb over my parted lips. “You’re fuckin’ beautiful when you come.”

  Flushed, I gaze down at him. Desire fuels my actions. I can’t get enough of Mace. I grip his wrist and move my mouth so that his thumb slips in. Moving my lips over his skin, I clamp down and suck. I yank his hair with my other hand and hold tight so that he’s looking up to me. Winking, I say, “Your turn…”

  His eyes darken as he smirks. He jerks his cock roughly until his face folds into tight lines. Pleasure pours over him as he grunts and relaxes back on his heels, his hand wet from his own pleasure. He snatches a fresh hand towel from the nearby cart and wipes me clean before cleaning himself. After tucking his cock away, he grabs a brand new cheap plastic razor and shaves the fine body hair on my hip. He finishes off by wiping the area with alcohol wipes. His eyes travel back up my body as he stands up, readjusting my pants.

  Growling, he takes my lips rough and needy. I kiss back just as fierce. Gazing at me, he asks, “Ready, Princess, for another first?”

  “That was definitely a first,” I whisper, still catching my breath from his lustful onslaught. “You are a cupcake eating champion.”

  A slow smile spre
ads across his face. “Is that right, Princess?” Mace captures my mouth with his again.

  “Yes, and I’m guessing that’s not the usual service Jax provides.” I snort.

  Mace rumbles a laugh. “Hope not. He’d get his ass beat real quick by Violet!” He tugs me to the front studio and situates me onto the flat positioned tattoo chair before relaxing back on the couch. Jax places the transfer on my skin and gets to work.

  Violet hops up to let Cal and Payton in. Cal drops the food on the counter while Payton passes out our drinks.

  Cal glances at me as Jax applies the white ink to my skin. “A little purple flower messaged me that you’re getting inked. Is this what happens when I leave you alone with these rascals? They corrupt you?” Chuckling, he swings a nearby rolling work tray my way, placing my food within reach. He adds a large takeout box with toasted cylinder shaped food. “Try these, Goof.”