The Emperor (The Tarot Club 2)

"Hello, Michael." She walked her fingers along his forearm, and the action shouldn't have been seductive, but it was. "Are you ready for us?"

I watched Michael's throat bob as he swallowed. "Everything has been prepared according to your specifications."

"I appreciate that." Maxine tilted her head in a way that was all flirtation.

Dimitri wrapped his arm around my chest, pulling me closer towards him, his beating heart at my back, and somehow, in this dimly lit room, I knew that everything would be okay.

Two red leather chairs that seemed to recline sat in the center of the room with a set of mirrors strategically placed on two walls, creating a fun house of mirrors effect.

"Come sit." A woman stepped forward, guiding Dimitri and I each to a chair. She was pretty in an understated way with her auburn hair scraped back to her scalp. I looked to Maxine for confirmation, but Michael held her full attention, and so Dimitri and I allowed the woman to guide us to our respective seats.

Dimitri looked at the table of equipment and seemed to somehow relax in understanding. I shot him a questioning look from my seat, but being the infuriating man that he was, he simply raised his brows in pretense that he didn't understand my silent questioning. I wanted to kick him.

Finally, Michael peeled himself away from Maxine's attention as he stepped towards us.

"Jenny and I will be working on the two of you today." His voice was confident but not overly loud as he stepped towards me in an indication that I was somehow his client.

Dimitri grunted a solid no. "Jenny will work on Corinne, and you can do me."

To his credit, Michael didn't flinch under Dimitri's command, he simply changed direction, setting himself up by Dimitri. Jenny began setting up by me, and it was only when they stretched open a cloth of fine black powder that I forced the words from my throat, refusing to allow them to remain stuck for a moment longer.

"What are we doing exactly?"

Jenny's hazel eyes found mine with surprise tinting her expression.

"We're tattooing you and your fiancé…" She trailed off, her eyes darted across the room as she no doubt searched for Maxine for further explanation.

I imagined that someone sitting in a tattoo artist's chair, completely unaware that they were receiving said tattoo, did not follow the norms of the practice. Maxine stepped forward, between our two chairs, as she examined the fine powder.

"Oh." Her sigh was one of absolute pleasure. "This is good."

"What exactly are we doing?" I threw the question at Maxine, praying that she answered before my patience wore out entirely.

"You're getting a tattoo - obviously."

She spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world, as if getting my first tattoo was an utterly normal experience that I somehow should have expected.

"O-kay." I let the realization settle in. "What tattoos are we getting?"

Maxine smiled, and this time it was all warmth and joy, as if she had been waiting for me to reject her gift.

"You're getting The Empress crown, and Dimitri, The Emperor."

I glanced across at Dimitri who was listening to Maxine intently, prepared to jump in at any moment.

"And this," Maxine gestured towards the fine black powder, "is obsidian stones that we ground up to mix into the ink for added protection and strength.

"Are you okay with this?" I directed the question towards Dimitri. He had already sunk into his chair, relaxed at the very notion of being inked.

His broad shoulders rose in a shrug, stifled slightly by the soft leather cushioning, and his laid back posture. "It's not the first one." His gaze found mine. "Are you okay with this?"

My teeth grazed my bottom lip as I nodded.

"Okay then. No take backs." Dimitri smiled at me, and I was suddenly aware that I was experiencing a lot of firsts with this man. It was as if before him I had simply been going through the motions or living without actually experiencing life itself.

Jenny showed us the designs that Maxine had painstakingly designed with Jesse's artistic talent, and to the plain eye it looked like two magnificent crowns - one masculine, one feminine - but upon closer inspection, woven deep within the filigree, were sigils for love, protection, and unity. My heart ached at Maxine's gift as I realized how much the Club had already done for me, and how they had unwittingly accepted Dimitri as one of their own.

"Do you know where you want it?" Jenny's soft tone brought me back to the present. And I nodded once before lifting my shirt, exposing my ribs.

She began sketching and applying the design to the right side of my rib cage, just below my breast, and I was suddenly grateful that Jenny was the one administering the process and not another male.

By the time the buzzing sound of the machine met my ears, I was content in my decision. Dimitri, by contrast, chose his wrist. Whereas his other tattoos were hidden by clothing, this one he displayed proudly in plain sight.

It wasn't as painful as I thought it would be, and as my skin absorbed the new ink, I felt the protection, love, and unity sigils settle across my flesh. And I knew that it was no coincidence that our tattoos were being done in unison as Maxine muttered a spell beneath her breath with each indent of the needle against the flesh of our souls.