With both hands cradling her face, I pull back and look into her eyes. She blinks as if trying to focus. I stroke my thumbs along her jawline. “Are you trying to stall?”
She smiles. “You kissed me.”
I nod. “I did, but I think you were trying to take it a little further.”
“You think? I mean I pretty much invited you into my bed back at the house, but you wanted...”
I interrupt her with a groan. “I want you, there’s no doubt about that, Katie. But when we do this, you’re not going to be hiding your body from me. I thought this would make you more comfortable with me seeing you.”
She blinks up at the bright light and then back at me. “Yeah, this light is so flattering.”
I kiss her lips briefly and pull away. “You’re beautiful in any light.”
I go about grabbing the instruments and pulling everything out of the sanitizing enclave. “So talk to me, tell me what you want for a tattoo.”
I keep my back to her, hoping it will make it easier for her without having to look me in the face. I’ll give her the chance to warm up to all this, but soon, I’m hoping she won’t feel she has to hide anything from me.
She blows out a breath. “Okay, so I had a child.”
I smile at her over my shoulder. “Yeah, Lane, good kid.”
She smiles at me. “Thank you. Yeah, well, I gained weight with him, and to put it frankly, I have a bit of a road map on my belly, but one section, uh, of stretch marks are really deep. Craig always made fun of it. The rest of them are lighter but these, just wow. So I always thought I’d get something to make it look better. You know, so if I ever did start dating again, I wouldn’t be insecure about it.”
I almost snap the tattoo gun in half when she talks about Craig making fun of her and then again when she talks about dating again, insinuating that another man is going to see her body. All of it puts me on edge. I mentally force myself to relax before I turn around.
“Lie back. Undo those jeans and tug them down your hips a little.”
Even as I say it, my cock hardens in my jeans.
She lies back and slowly starts to undo her jeans. She’s staring at the popcorn ceiling as she lifts her hips and pulls her jeans down a little. My God, I almost forget to breathe. I’ve done so many tattoos, and I’ve never reacted like this before. It’s like there’s a pressure on my chest that won’t budge. She’s curvy and thick, and I instantly take a step toward her. The shirt she has on has raised a little, but only shows a small patch of skin from it to her panties. I see a few marks at the edge of her panties, but they’re barely noticeable. She’s still not looking at me.
I grab on to her hand that is resting beside her. “Do you want to pull your panties down or do you want me to?”
She clenches her eyes closed. “You do it.”
I should try to comfort her, but it’s as if I’m too excited to see her. I pull her panties to sit low on her hips. Her hands go into fists, and she’s like a ball of nerves with her whole body closed up tight. Everything is clenching.
I look at the belly that she seems so unhappy with. Yes, there are a few faint lines, and I see the section that she’s talking about that is maybe a little deeper, but there’s nothing ugly about them. I lean over the table to get a closer look and follow the marks with my eyes. I’m already imagining the artwork that I could put there. I don’t know what makes me do it; I’ve never done anything like this in my life, but I lean over and kiss the end of the deeper mark. I kiss it and then I drag my tongue across the trail that leads farther down to the juncture of her thighs. She moans, and her hand goes to the back of my head. She grips my hair tightly. She doesn’t try to pull me away; she just holds me there. I kiss her stomach again and then rest my forehead on her stomach. I take a deep breath to give me the strength to pull away. When I get myself together, I raise my head and stare into her rounded eyes.
“You’re perfect, Katie. Just the way you are.”
She sits up, and I rise to a standing position to look her in the eye. I wonder if I went too far when she jumps off the chair and pulls up her panties and jeans quickly. “Take me home.”