As soon as she saw the small hand-drawn image, she felt giddy with excitement. “I’m absolutely sure. I’ve been wanting to do this for months.” Her very first tattoo, and it was a surprise for Clay.
“You have become such a bad girl,” Katrina teased.
“I know,” Samantha said with a carefree laugh. “I love being bad.”
Katrina grinned. “Come on, follow me back to Mason’s cubicle, and we’ll get you started.”
When Katrina reached the private area, she rapped on the partition to get his attention before stepping inside. “Your appointment is here.”
Mason glanced up, shock transforming his dark, gorgeous features when his gaze fell on Samantha. “What the hell?”
Samantha raised a brow at Katrina. “You didn’t tell him it was me?”
She shook her head and grinned. “He would have said no. The element of surprise is much better.”
Mason frowned at both of them before pinning Samantha with a severe look. “I’m not touching you. You’re a fucking virgin.”
Samantha unbuttoned her light pink pastry chef coat and hung it up on a nearby hook for jackets and sweaters, which left her just wearing a camisole. “Trust me, after being with your brother for six months, I’m no virgin, so no worries there,” she said playfully.
“Ugh.” Mason cringed. “I do not need to hear about my brother’s dirty, kinky sex life.”
“Why not?” Samantha replied in a lighthearted tone. “We’ve been exposed to yours often enough.”
“Whatever,” he muttered, though he didn’t deny the truth of his man-whoring ways. “Does Clay know?”
Samantha shook her head. “It’s a surprise.”
Mason muttered a curse. “He is going to kick my ass.”
“Not my problem,” she said sweetly, waiting for someone to tell her what she needed to do to get this party started. But Mason was sitting on his little stool, still not looking at all pleased with the situation.
Katrina sighed impatiently at Mason. “Since you suddenly seem to have an issue with virgins, would you rather Cain do her? This tattoo is going right below the bikini line.”
“Hell no. No one else is going to do her but me,” Mason growled irritably as he grabbed the small transfer paper with the design Katrina had come up with. “Lie down before I change my mind.”
Samantha reclined on the padded leather table while Mason prepared his station. Since she wanted the image near her hipbone but below the waistband of her panties, she had to lift her camisole up a few inches, unbutton her pants, and pull them down a bit, too.
Mason helped her, his touch professional while keeping her decent at all times. After washing his hands and putting on sterile gloves, he cleaned the area with a spray of alcohol, then rubbed on a smear of gel that allowed the transfer to adhere to her skin. He applied the image, gave her a mirror to confirm the placement, then uncapped a few colors of bright ink.
“My brother is going to fucking chop off my balls for touching you, let alone putting ink on your body,” Mason muttered.
“You let me handle Clay,” she said, knowing that he was going to love the tattoo once he saw it.
Mason glanced at her as he picked up his tattoo machine, his gaze meeting hers. “He’s really happy, you know,” he said, suddenly serious, a hint of gratitude in his eyes. “Happier than I’ve ever seen him. Because of you.”
She smiled. “I’m glad. He makes me happy, too.” That was an understatement. Clay made her feel whole and complete. He enriched her life in so many ways, making her feel loved and protected and sexy—every single day.
Mason frowned as he returned his focus to the design, clearly hesitant to mar her virgin skin. After a moment, he settled his hands across her abdomen and positioned the needle right above the design. “Okay, close your eyes, try to relax, and just breathe through the pain. This is small, so it shouldn’t take long.”
The sudden buzz of the tattoo gun startled her, and when the needle touched her skin, she wanted to scream at the intense scraping sensation making her flesh burn like fire. Holy shit, how in the world did people get more than one tattoo? Let alone cover their bodies, like Katrina with her full sleeve of colorful butterflies? Samantha prayed she survived her first one!
Mason chuckled. “No turning back now, sweetheart. Keep breathing and go to your happy place.”
And that’s what Samantha did. She inhaled and exhaled, slow and deep, and let her mind wander, which usually took her one of two places—to thoughts of Clay or thoughts of some kind of new pastry she wanted to bake. Those were the two most important things in her life, and she never wanted one without the other.
Since the day Clay had come to her parents’ house and whisked her away, her life had become fun, exciting, and everything she’d dreamed it could be. Adeline had hired her right after her interview, and while she’d initially started out as just a baker, over the past few months, she’d proven herself and had been promoted to pastry chef. She baked all sorts of desserts for businesses and catering halls while also handling the front-end bakery that sold to the public.
Her career, along with her life with Clay, and being with him every day and night, was pretty damn perfect.