And that wasn’t all she wanted to do. She wanted to take a road trip. She wanted to go down the coast to visit a tattoo shop Preacher had told her about. Even I knew about it, and the Raisers weren’t connected to the shop.
But the Untouchables were.
Down the coast near Bakersfield was the biggest MC in the state. The Sons of Satan. The club was run by Devlin McRae, which is why a lot of folks these days called them the Devil’s Riders.
And she wanted the club’s tattoo artist to work on her. Why him, I had no idea. I heard he was a wild card, or used to be before settling down.
A real sex machine, from the rumors. I didn’t much like the thought of a horn dog putting his mitts on my woman. But the doctor had said she could get a tat. And I couldn’t think of an argument against it other than I don’t like it.
Yeah, that wasn’t going to fly with my lady. She might be soft-spoken, but she had backbone. She was stubborn as hell too. It was another thing I loved about her.
“I want to talk about this tattoo thing.”
She paused what she was doing, then went back to plating the food.
“The food is ready already?”
She nodded and carried two plates to the table. I grabbed them from her and blocked her way.
“Cane.”
She sighed and picked up her cane, joining me at the kitchen table.
“So, about this tattoo.”
“Shane. I need this. I can pay for it myself.”
“You think I care about the money? I just don’t want you to do anything drastic right now. Anything you might regret.”
“Do you regret your tattoos?”
“No,“ I admitted grudgingly. “But you’re in school. Who knows what you might want to do? Tats make people judgmental. I just don’t want you to regret it.”
Nor did I want another man touching her so intimately, but I didn’t say that out loud.
“Listen to me.” She reached out and took my hand. “I want to try and . . . I have these ugly scars—”
“They aren’t ugly,” I insisted, staring into her beautiful, troubled eyes. “You are perfect.”
“You’re just saying that.”
“I’m not, Parker. I don’t even see them when I look at you.”
“Well, I do. And they are ugly to me. Or at least what happened was ugly,” she threw in when I started to argue.
She kept talking, sounding like she meant what she said. It didn’t sound like a whim. It sounded like she knew what she wanted, I admitted to myself.
“I want . . . no, I need to make something beautiful out of them. Something I choose. I was thinking . . . maybe a wildflower garden. Growing up my side.”
She indicated where the worst of the scars were. The main one and some slices he’d taken later. Tears filled my eyes. Something inside me cracked open, letting all the love and fear I’d had come pouring out of me.
“Parker.” I shoved the table out of the way, pulling her against me. “My God, Parker. I want you.”
She stared at me, both of us breathing hard, both of us ready to break.
“I thought you had lost interest.”
I groaned.
“God, no. Never. I will never lose interest. I love you, woman. Don’t you know that?”
She shook her head.
“I know you said that in the hospital. I just don’t know if you loved who I was. Before. I feel so different now. And I’ve been waiting for you to . . . well, you know. But you didn’t. So I thought . . .”
“You thought what?” I asked, my voice unintentionally harsh.
“I thought you didn’t want me anymore. That . . . maybe I was ugly to you now.”
I groaned in frustration.
“That is the opposite of what I think.” I exhaled and shook my head. “I was just afraid to hurt you. Afraid I would lose control and be too rough.”
“Oh.”
Her cheeks turned a bright shade of pink and I nodded.
“I guess I’m just going to have to show you.”
“Show me what?”
“Show you” —I hoisted her up— “how much I worship you. Every fucking inch of your gorgeous body.”
“Shane!”
She looked shocked and pleased as I carried her carefully to the bedroom and laid her down on the bed. She was so gorgeous but breathless and nervous, shy like she’d been the first few times we’d fooled around. But I wasn’t having it.
There would be nothing between us now. Just skin on skin. She would just have to get used to being naked as much as humanly possible, I decided.
I stared at her as I pulled my shirt off. I kicked my shoes away and reached for hers. I got rid of her shoes and pants quickly. Then I crawled on top of her.
I moaned in pleasure at the feeling of her underneath me. I brushed her hair away from her beautiful face and nipped her bottom lip. I had to go slowly, even though my cock was more than ready for the finale.