Marked (Marked #3) (22 page)

Watery eyes met mine, and she smiled. “Missed you too, jerk. Don’t ever scare me like that again, Maya. For a second, I thought I’d lost my best friend.” We’d always had a close relationship. More than just friends, we were indeed sisters. Family. We were each other’s people since very young, and with my being attacked, she hurt.

“Not going anywhere, babe. And I love you too.” With that we sat behind the desk in the chairs placed in front of the computers. Booting up the screen, I ran over the schedule for the next couple of days. The boys would be pretty packed.

Perfect.

“What kind of kinky surprise are you planning?” For a second, I’d forgotten she was there and jumped in my seat. “Must be good if you’re blushing like that. I’m in.”

“Have no idea what you are talking about.” I’d let her sit there and stew in my silence. Just a tiny bit, since I needed her help to pull it off.

“Spill.” She poked my side, and I giggled. “I’m not above tickling it out of you.”

“Give me a second, you leech. I’m looking to book another late-night appointment.”

“More ink then fuck?”

A loud laugh burst through me, causing the two men who’d walked in a few minutes ago to look back at me. “More like book, cancel, and the surprise!”

“Surprise?” she hedged with a naughty grin on her face.

I matched the smirk with one of my own. “Dirty, raw, and includes some leather kind of a surprise.”

“I’m in.”

“When are you off next?”

“Knock, knock,” Maya sang while walking into the room. Beautiful, and in a tiny white romper, she came straight for my lips. Coming around to where I stood above my client, she planted a quick kiss and bite before pulling back with a smug grin on her face.

Bad girl.

“Need help, Mr. Cox?” Bitty cooed while eyeing the girl in my chair with distaste. She’d been persistent in closing the door when we’d walked in and I set up. Privacy, she claimed. Bullshit, I answered.

It wasn’t going to happen. The door had been wide open when my girl walked through and came around to my side. Doing just as I asked in my message with Simon, much to my customer’s annoyance.

“He’s fine,” the blonde challenged, and Maya’s smile grew.

“Oh, I know exactly how
fine
he is. No need to share your thoughts. His girlfriend is well aware of his perfection.” God, I loved this woman. She was feisty. Possessive. Only person in the world that could make me blush like a fucking pussy.

“Babe.” Pausing, I cleared my throat and gave her a pointed look that warned her to cut it out before I bent her over the couch in my office. “Pass me that little packet atop the counter with her ring.”

With a salute and wink, she turned and sashayed toward the tabletop. “Sure thing, boss man.”

Another huff from below, this time with a pout. “You sleep with your staff? Hire me.”

“That’s my girlfriend, and I’d never cheat on her. Quit it.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bitty tense and flex her hand. Wonderful. Why couldn’t women take a hint? Not interested.

When they’d walked in, I had been finishing with a regular who’d come in for a consultation. He wanted a special portrait piece done to pay tribute to his father who had passed. Bimbo in my chair eyed me with lust, Simon dealt with the overly touchy friend, and Esther walked out while gritting her teeth.

Fun times at Cox Tattoos.

I hadn’t been in the mood to deal with the “friend” in question, but plastered a fake smile on my face and agreed to pierce her lips. Of course before I did, I asked that Maya be sent right back when she arrived. Stupid man I was not.

Just as I’d expected when we walked in, she tried to flirt. She was just another obnoxious bimbo with a tattoo or two, who tried and failed to act as if she belonged. Problem was that there wasn’t a set-in-stone look for those that lived and breathed the lifestyle. Was a myth.

Reminded me of something Maya said to me a while back:

“I’ve come to learn and appreciate the beauty behind the culture, baby. Your Polynesian heritage where tattoos began and how far it’s come from being seen as inappropriate or taboo. Nowadays everyone wears a piece of their personal history etched onto their skin. It’s beautiful. Artistic.”

Not the fucking way to find a cock to sit on like the desperate one in my chair.

“Talan, can I have a word in private,” the chick cooed, lip pursed in an exaggerated pout she thought was attractive. “I’m thinking of getting a tattoo very low on my back and want you to do it. Maybe you can do a freehand sketch of my idea?” Hidden meaning, she wanted my hand on her ass. Thought she could tempt me.

“Sure thing.” A smile overtook her face at what she thought was a victory. Stupid woman. “Problem is that my schedule is packed for the next six months. Make an appointment at the end with my girl here, and she will take care of you. Right, babe?”

Maya bit her lips hard in order to hold in her laughter. “Of course. I’ll make sure to take very good care of her.”

“But I thought—” I placed a gloved hand up to quiet her down. Jesus, her tone was high pitched. Caused my temples to throb.

“Ms. Owens here will finalize everything once I am done. Let’s get you prepped.” With that, I set out to sterilize the area then mark the spot right above her upper lip where she wanted her medusa piercing to be placed. She looked nervous, and I paused. “Do you still want to get this done?”

“Yeah.” Low and meek, she answered before taking in a deep breath. “Let’s get this shit over with.” Taking my forceps in hand, I stretched her upper lip and pierced the skin, inserting her with a twelve-millimeter bar to accommodate the swelling that was to follow. She’d have to come back in a few weeks for a shorter bar if there weren’t any complications. “Fuck, that hurt!”

“That they do.” Maya took over for me then and with a pair of gloves on helped me wrap up this piercing. With a lot of care, she wiped the bit of blood we’d drawn around her lip and discarded everything used. Then she sanitized the area and walked tattooed Barbie out.

Oh, she was in pain and had begun to swell quite nicely.

Bitty found me a half an hour later inside my office while I worked on some financials. Flustered and bright eyed, she came around and parked her very sexy body atop my desk. Something about the way she looked screamed trouble.

Pushing my chair back, I relaxed and eyed her. Devoured every single inch. “What’s it going to cost me?” And I wasn’t talking about money. Maya looked hungry for my cock.

Crossing her legs, the bottom of her romper rode up high exposing her thighs. “Nothing you won’t like.”

“I’m listening.” Crossing my arms across my chest, I flexed and enjoyed the way her penetrating stare traveled across the tattoos on my arms. How her eyes became hooded. “What does my little bitty Maya want?”

“A piercing.”
Huh?

Did I hear her correctly? Pierced by me? Motherfucker. That thought pleased me a lot.

“Repeat, baby girl. Please.” Husky, my timbre dropped, and the shiver that ran up her spine heightened the lust rushing through my veins. “Talk, Bitty.”

“I want two piercings. The first…” she licked her lip, and then bit down on the succulent flesh “…a Monroe.” Fuck that would look gorgeous on her. “Second, I want a sternum—pretty diamond right between my breasts.”

“Are you sure?” Hated to ask, but before getting too excited I had to make sure.

“Positive,” A breathy tone. Arching her back, she pushed her perky tits out, and it was then I noticed her lack of bra. Hardened, her pebbled pink nipples were visible through the soft fabric of her clothes. My mouth watered.

“When?” Body coiled tight, I flexed my fingers in anticipation.

“Today.” Thighs pressed together, she undulated her hips just a tiny bit and let out a low whimper. “Do it, baby.”

“Fine, but first I’m going to fuck you just a little.” With that, I picked her tiny ass up from my desk and bent her over the edge. With the one hand, I untied the knot at the base of her neck that held her clothes in place, and with the other, I released my cock from the confines of my jeans. Rubbing the tip through her slit, I spread her juices before lining up and laying a tiny kiss on the back of her neck. “Hold on, Maya, and don’t you dare make a fucking sound.”

“How do you feel?” We lay in bed naked a few hours later. Skin on skin. Maya lying on her back with my head on her stomach, her tiny fingers running through my hair. Tired and with a bit of discomfort, I wanted her to rest after taking something for the pain.

We’d waited until after my appointment with Luna for Maya’s piercings. Everyone stayed behind while I modified her flesh, wanting to both cheer her on and clean up after so I could take her home. Something I appreciated as her lips swelled up from the intrusion.

Bitty was a trooper, though.  My girl never flinched. Not on the Monroe, and she was just as still through the sternum I placed in the center of her chest. Looked sexy as all fuck.

“Sore, but okay.” Just a whisper, but I understood it was a bit hard to speak through the swelling. It’d easily take a few weeks before we could switch out the bars for her permanent gage.

“Have I ever expressed my love for your lips? How pouty and full, delicious they are.” Didn’t miss the way she pushed her bottom one out just a tiny bit more. I wanted to bite it.

“Kiss it, please.” Fuck, my dick twitched at her plea.

Pushing up from my comfortable position on her stomach, I climbed up her body—peppering every inch of her on my way to her lips. Then, as I hovered above them, I traced the outside edge of her bottom one with my tongue. With care, I traced from one side to the other, careful to avoid the left upper corner where her new piercing was placed.

“Beautiful,” I murmured against her bottom lip in between soft kisses. Two quick pecks, a light brush to fulfill her need to feel me.

“Thank you.” As if I’d ever deny her. “Now go lay down again so we can talk.”

Doing as I was told, I followed the same path on the way down. This time, though, I stopped over her sternum and admired my work. Fucking gorgeous. This woman was my perfection in every single way. Made for me. A gift.

“Do you need a kiss here too?”

“Yes.” She nodded with a small smile, careful not to strain the area.

From one breast to the other I worshiped her skin, licking around each pebbled tip before pulling them into my mouth for a quick tease. Each time her back began to arch I’d pull back and wait for her to settle down enough for me to continue.

Couldn’t have her hurting the new adornments.

“Stop.” Came out between pants.

Smiling against the soft skin of her right breast, I stopped my ministrations and looked up. “Are you sure you want me to?”

“Want, no. Need…fuck, yes.”

“As you wish.” And then I bit down on the area below my lips and sucked on the skin. Deep. Hard. Enough to leave a perfect purple circle of the shape of my mouth. Another sign of my love.

Maybe it was barbaric the sick need I had to litter her small body with my stamp of ownership. Too bad I didn’t give a fuck; I found them to be alluring. Made me hard as steel every single time my fingers encountered a bruise from the previous time we made love.

Because hard or soft. Rough or gentle. There was never a time when I didn’t pray at her temple. Loved her with everything I had to give.

“You’re mean.” Could hear the pout in her tone. “Behave.”

“Fine.” With one last swipe of my tongue over her new mark, I laid back down with my head where we began and closed my eyes. Her hand swiped at the back of my head in admonishment, I laughed. “Want to watch a movie then?”

“No.” Bitty became serious then, causing me to look up at her. “I want to talk about the letter that arrived with a certain invitation to hash shit out with Janice.” Not what I was expecting her to say at all.