Inked in the Steel City Series (18 page)

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“Hey.” Mina dusted a few flecks of fine glitter from her palms as she greeted Eric. She’d misted Jess’s perfectly curled hair with a shimmer spray before she’d left with Blake and Karen, and a little of it had stuck to her hands.

“Hey.” Eric stepped inside, cradling a porcelain pot against his chest. “This is for you.” A slender stem rose from the pot, ending in half a dozen perfect violet blossoms.

“An orchid,” she said, relishing the way her body warmed when Eric’s fingertips brushed hers as he handed her the plant. “One of my favorites, and it’s beautiful. Thank you.” She sat it carefully in the center of the kitchen table – she’d find a permanent place for it later. Right now, all her thoughts were locked on Eric.

 “I’m glad you like it.” Eric pulled the door softly shut.

Mina’s heart began to speed as she looked at him, drinking in the image of his perfect figure; slim muscles concealed by well-fitted denim and a shirt that was decidedly, deliciously on the tight side. His jacket hung unzipped, granting her a view of his flat stomach and – oh God – the bulge at the front of his jeans. She glanced down at her own ensemble self-consciously, wondering if his arousal meant that the form-fitting top and skirt she’d chosen were as flattering as she’d hoped. The skirt was long enough to cover her thighs, but it still complimented her figure. Originally, she’d bought it for work, but had decided afterward that it was a little too flattering and had never worked up the courage to wear it to the bank. Tonight, she’d put on the outfit after Jess had left, choosing her clothing for sex appeal – something she virtually never did. She’d even donned a pair of heeled boots despite the fact that she’d sworn off heels after losing her job at the bank.

Eric reached out and wrapped her in a loose embrace, brushing his lips across hers in greeting. “You look beautiful. Where do you want me to take you?”

Mina pressed her face against his shoulder, breathing in his scent as her cheeks heated. “Nowhere.”

“You got all dressed up just to stay home?”

She wrapped her arms around his waist, taking a second fortifying breath. His scent had become familiar to her, mostly during the dozens of kisses and caresses they’d shared, none of which had ever been enough. Now, it reminded her exactly why she didn’t want to leave her apartment. Not tonight. “Exactly.”

He tightened his embrace, pulling her against his chest. “You sure?”

A shiver raced down her spine as she remembered him kneeling between her thighs, his breath streaming over her slick skin. She could feel how hard he was now; his erection was digging into her belly, causing the butterflies that seemed to have taken up permanent residence there to burst into flight. “Yes.”

He buried his fingers in her hair, crushing his mouth against hers and slipping his tongue inside, reaching deep as he tasted her. His hips shifted slightly and his cock jumped against her belly. She reached for it, thinking of when she’d touched him there several nights ago. He’d refused to let her do any more than that then, but tonight would be different. “Come with me,” she said, tracing the thick outline of his shaft beneath the denim.

She took him by the hand and led him down the short hallway that branched off from the living room. This was the first time he’d ever been inside her apartment, and she found herself more nervous than she’d expected to be as she led him to her bedroom. She’d never brought a man home before – at least, not since she’d gained custody of Jess three years ago. What did he think of her modest bedroom, and would her narrow bed be comfortable enough for the both of them? More importantly, what would he think of her? She smoothed nonexistent wrinkles from the front of her skirt, her fingers gliding over the ridge of her scar. Slowly, she turned to face him.

“It feels like I’ve been waiting forever for this,” she said, placing her hands above his hips, relishing the feel of his firm muscle beneath her palms and the steady rise-and-fall of his sides as he breathed. She felt like she was breathing twice as fast. Was she just imagining it?

“It feels that way for me too,” he said, shedding his jacket and then his shirt.

Mina sucked in a breath as he let it flutter to the floor, taking in the perfect lines of his body and the designs inked across it. He looked every bit as good as he did in the poster, and when she reached out to touch him, he felt just as hot and firm as he had in the studio. She felt just as decadent and turned-on as she had that day as she smoothed her hands over his stomach, tracing the ridges of his abs.

He placed his hands on the small of her back, his fingers brushing her spine as he tucked them beneath the hem of her lacy top. Her nipples puckered inside her bra cups at just the thought of being pressed against his chest with nothing between their skins. Slowly, he raised her shirt, his fingers sweeping over her skin and causing it to pebble as desire gripped her. He treated her shirt with more care than he had his own, taking care not to tangle her hair in the material as he pulled it over her head and let it drop.

When he pulled her into another embrace, she pressed kisses against the side of his neck as he undid her bra clasp. It came undone within a moment’s time and soon joined her top on the floor. Eric cupped her breasts in his palms, his breath rushing over the top of her head and causing a few strands of her hair to dance. Her nipples shrunk to tiny aching points as he trailed his thumbs over them. She wanted to lose herself in the sensation, but a little nervousness tinged her arousal, peppering her thoughts with imaginings of how he might react when the rest of her clothes came off. She pulled back and met his eyes – they were as blue as ever, hazy with desire.

He surprised her by sweeping her feet out from under her, scooping her up and lowering her onto the bed. He pressed himself on top of her, and soon they were so entwined that the narrow mattress left them room to spare. She closed her eyes and returned his hard kisses, letting her libido rise until it made her all but forget about her nervousness. That lasted for several glorious minutes as he ran his hands over her body, cupping her breasts and teasing her nipples as his tongue delved deeper and deeper into her mouth. Then his hands found the button at the waist of her skirt, and she tensed beneath him.

He paused, ending their kiss and smoothing a few stray locks of hair out of her eyes as he searched out her gaze. “Is something wrong?”

“No.” She found his free hand and squeezed it. “I’m just nervous.” She considered telling him what had her on edge, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. She knew he’d felt the thick line of scar tissue that spanned her right thigh during that late night at Hot Ink.

“Don’t be,” he said, squeezing back.

It was impossible to know whether he’d been thinking of her scar when he’d said it or whether he’d forgotten, but she couldn’t quell the butterflies in her stomach as he unbuttoned her skirt and pulled the zipper down. The thin lace of her panties showed beneath the parted fabric, peeking from between the zipper’s teeth. He pressed a kiss just above her bikini line, his lips hot against her skin, and pulled her skirt a little lower, baring her hips. Her lacy panties, which she’d bought in preparation for this night, left virtually nothing to the imagination. Still, she knew she’d feel much more exposed when he pulled her skirt just a few inches lower. When she felt the material gliding over her skin again, she closed her eyes, too nervous to watch.

Eric pulled her skirt smoothly over her ankles, the motion followed by the soft sound of crumpling fabric as he tossed it aside. The sheets caressed the backs of her legs, leaving the rest of her exposed to Eric. She could practically feel his gaze on her body. “Mina.”

She opened her eyes slowly and found herself locked in eye contact with Eric. He smoothed a hand over her thigh and she experienced the familiar lapse in sensation when his fingers glided over her scar. She was numb where her skin had once been torn.

“Were you really embarrassed for me to see this?”

She tensed. There was no derision in his voice, but there was a hint of concern that made her feel vaguely ridiculous. But she wasn’t going to lie. “Yes.” The scar was ugly – it twisted down the front surface of her thigh, an eight inch ridge of raised, white flesh. When it rained, she could still feel the tiny particles of glass that had once been ground into the open wound. It made her feel unattractive and old – what kind of twenty-four year old complained about her leg hurting when the weather was bad? That was something elderly characters always did in movies.

“It doesn’t matter to me at all,” he said. “Mina, you’re beautiful.”

“I know it’s just a scar and I should be glad that it wasn’t a lot worse, but I couldn’t help being nervous. I just really wanted you to like what you see.”

“I do.” He lay down next to her on the bed, grasping a breast and pressing his mouth into the hollow of her neck. “God, how could I not?”

She sighed as a little of the tension left her. Maybe it had been stupid of her to get so worked up about it. But he was so perfect that she hadn’t been able to help herself. She wanted him to feel the same way about her.

“You’re perfect,” he said, sending a sensual shiver down her spine. It was as if he’d read her thoughts. His fingers fluttered against her thigh. “How did it happen?”

She rolled onto her side, facing him. “Car accident. The same one that hurt Jess – that’s why she can’t walk.”

He was silent for a moment, listening, and – Mina assumed – thinking of the crash on a winter road that had robbed his sister of her life. She hated to make him think of it.

“It happened seven years ago,” she continued. “Our mother was driving, and she was high. The car clipped another vehicle, veered off the road and rolled down a bank.” Familiar anger coursed through her as she told the story as briefly as possible, leaving out the weeks she’d spent in agony at the hospital by Jess’s bedside, feeling guilty for coming away from the disaster with just cuts, bruises and a fractured wrist when Jess’s life had been changed so drastically. Their mother hadn’t felt nearly guilty enough, and so Mina had borne the burden, feeling bad enough for them both. “That’s why I wanted custody of Jess. She spent a lot of time in foster care after that – well, we both did at first, but I was a lot older and only had to spend a year in the system – and I couldn’t stand to see her shuffled around.”

“I’m sorry.” Eric pressed a kiss against her temple and Mina closed her eyes, willing the angry tears that had sprung up to go away. They always came when she thought about the accident.

“No, I’m sorry,” she said. “This isn’t very romantic.”

“I asked,” he said. “Besides, I’d wondered why you have custody of Jess.”

She frowned.

He slid down the mattress, keeping his hands on her body and not stopping until his face was level with her hips. Slowly, he kissed his way down the winding trail of her scar. The raised flesh was numb, but she could feel his lips on her skin beside it, hot and soft.

“At one point I thought I’d have it tattooed over,” she said, her stomach fluttering as he continued with his kisses, “but all the artists I went to said that the scar tissue was too thick.”

“They were right,” Eric said. “But it doesn’t matter. You don’t need to cover it up. You’re perfect.” His fingertips fluttered against the inside of her thigh, inciting an ache in her core.

She sucked in a breath when he raised his hand to touch her delicate panties, his fingers trailing over the lace, brushing her clit. It tingled in response, aching as she remembered his tongue gliding over it. “Eric…”

He gently gripped the wispy material and pulled, baring one hip and then the other, until she was barely covered. She arched her hips, letting him whisk the lace away and toss it to the floor with the rest of her clothing.