Half the work Rodrigo had done on him had been from the sheer pleasure of making him do it, he’d just never admitted to himself what his motivation was. He got pleasure from making Ro put everything else on hold and submitting to him. Of course he loved the tattoos, but he also loved this part of it. The power struggle where he told Rodrigo what to do, they fenced back and forth with words, this man – who commanded others and was a shark in the financial world – bent to his will.
He’d bought the tattoo equipment and made Rodrigo start tattooing again, even though he’d thought he’d left that part of his life behind. Making Rodrigo pierce his nipples, and his dick hadn’t seemed sexual at the time. Now he had to admit he’d gotten off on making Ro do it.
“How may I be of service?” Rodrigo shifted in his chair, his gaze falling to the stack of paper on his desk. Too busy to give him a tattoo, or having trouble meeting Severin’s gaze?
“Like I said, just a tattoo.”
“Where?”
“My shin.”
Rodrigo gave a curt nod and rose, gesturing to the door. “At least you’re not insisting I add more fishing tackle to your dick. Shall we?”
“You’re not going to give me some sort of shitty excuse about being busy?”
“I am busy, but we both know how this is going to play out. I can’t deny you anything. All of this can wait, anyway.”
He led Severin down the stairs to the room that had been set up as Severin’s own private tattoo studio. The only other person who’d ever been worked on in this room was Minnow, and he’d been there for that. The memory of Rodrigo piercing her nipples was already making him semi-hard, as though the echo of her pain and fear still filled the room.
Severin sat in the chair and yanked up his pant leg, then rolled it to keep it in place. Rodrigo set about readying his ink and covering the requisite surfaces with plastic. When he moved to put the foot of the chair up, Severin stopped him.
“No.”
“But I need...”
“No. You’ll be a good boy and kneel at my feet while you tattoo me.”
Rodrigo met his eyes briefly, and Severin caught a hint of a blush along his golden skin. “God, do I sound like that much of an ass when I boss Minnow around?”
Severin grabbed a handful of Rodrigo’s hair, close to the scalp, and growled, “What’s your safeword, puppy?”
Ro exhaled shakily and opened his mouth, but all that came out was a weird sound of distress.
“I don’t think I’ll remember that,” Severin said, smirking.
“I just –” Rodrigo rubbed a hand over his mouth. “I didn’t think this was ever going to happen, and I feel...unprepared.”
“Did you forget to wax your asshole?” Severin snorted. “I’m not fucking you today, princess.”
Now Rodrigo was definitely blushing, and the sight of his discomposure made Severin chuckle.
“Strip.”
“What?” Rodrigo’s horrified gaze flew to his.
“Take your fucking clothes off,” he explained. “It’s not a difficult concept.”
Rodrigo squeezed his eyes shut as if he was bracing to dive from an unfamiliar cliff. He blew out another breath and stripped off his T-shirt, then looked to Severin for approval.
The bitch was stalling. Severin snapped his fingers to hurry him up, wanting to make sure he was naked before he thought things through too much. If this became a battle of wills, Severin wasn’t sure he knew how to win against another man who was usually dominant.
“Pants too?” he asked miserably.
“Everything. Shoes, pants, underwear, and God help you if you leave on your socks.”
Rodrigo barked a laugh. “Yeah, I don’t think I can make those over-the-knee socks sexy the way Minnow can.” He kicked off his boots and pulled off his socks, then unbuttoned his jeans, apparently determined to pretend this was the same as going swimming at the lake together.
Severin tried not to stare as Ro slipped his jeans down, displaying the vee of muscle, the narrow hips – all of the parts of him that Severin always had to try not to gawk at. Luckily when Minnow was in the room and naked, it made it easier to ignore Rodrigo’s sensual mouth, his broad chest, the six-pack and shallow indent of his navel, his wide shoulders and the hollows in sides of his ass cheeks.