Innocent Ink (6 page)

The cheesecake was rich and silky, so dense that just one bite felt heavy on the end of her fork. And the sweet-tart strawberry sauce that had been spread across the surface… “Oh my God, this cheesecake is amazing.”

“It’s pretty damn good,” Jed agreed a moment later, and they slipped into a comfortable silence.

After Jed paid the check and they left the restaurant, the sense of decadent pleasure inspired by dessert remained. When he pressed a hand gently to the small of her back, the feeling gained an edge of blistering anticipation.

Was all this really happening? After months of fantasizing, tiptoeing around and generally hoping to hell that something more than conversation would unfold between them…

“Where to?” he asked when they slipped into his car.

Karen looked him in the eye and gave him her best attempt at a seductive smile. It felt more awkward than siren-like, and her cheeks heated, but she held his gaze. “I’m open to suggestions. And I’m not ready to go home.”

The moment of silence that followed was so heavy she could feel it weighing down on her shoulders, her breasts – her entire body. The pressure was teasing and inspired thoughts of what the weight of Jed’s body might feel like against hers.

Was she being brazen? Maybe. But being with Jed – going out with him – didn’t feel sudden. She’d been waiting for so long; she’d been admiring him for months. She wanted him, bad – more than she could remember ever wanting anyone else. With any luck, by the time the night was over, he’d realize that, and they could put his absurd doubts behind them.

“We could head back to my place,” he said, turning the key in the ignition. “Or we could see a movie.”

“I like your first suggestion.” Butterflies took flight inside her belly as she spoke, and she sat a little straighter in her seat, practically on the edge of it as she imagined where they were headed.

“I have an apartment above Hot Ink. It’s nothing special. You sure you want to head there?” He looked away from the road as he rolled to a stop at the edge of the parking lot.

An electric thrill went through her as his eyes locked with hers. They appeared darker than usual, and they radiated an intensity he’d kept out of his voice.

“Yes.” She gripped her purse strap, imagining the feel of Jed’s hair between her fingers instead. It was just long enough to run her hands through, to grip – a fact she’d been conscious of ever since the first time they’d met.

CHAPTER 4

As Jed pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street, the car’s engine purred, sending slight vibrations through the seats and Karen’s body. They struck her breastbone, causing it to tremble beside her heart. The sensation was faint, but steady. She let it course through her system, calming her whirling thoughts.

Jed helped her out of the car when they arrived and together, they made their way to Hot Ink’s darkened display windows. The shop had closed an hour ago, and it was strange to walk through the dimmed interior, past empty chairs. There was no telltale buzz of a tattoo in progress, no chatter. Being alone with Jed in a place she was used to seeing full of familiar faces sent a frisson of awareness down her spine.

As they neared a narrow staircase in one of the shop’s back corners, she glanced at the door to the dual-purpose office and storage area. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she thought of all the times she’d made excuses to see him there, the little ways she’d found to prolong their conversations.

“Careful – the stairs are a little steep.”

They were narrow, too – a fact that created a sense of instant intimacy as they climbed toward the second floor.

Jed unlocked the door at the top of the flight of stairs, and then, Karen was staring square into the home of the man she’d been fantasizing about for months.

She’d spent so much time wondering about him and his life outside of work that everything was interesting, from the little white kitchen table to the red tea kettle sitting on the stove. She would’ve pegged him as more of a coffee drinker, and discovering something unexpected about him, however trivial, gave her a thrill.

“Nice apartment,” she said, and meant it. The building was an older one, and she loved that. His place had so much more character than her modern apartment did. Glancing around, she took in what looked like hand-carved crown molding and the arched doorway that led from the combined kitchen and living area to a hallway.

“It’s small, but it’s not like I need more room.” He closed the door behind them, and Karen savored the small sound that announced that they were alone together in his home.

It happened too fast for her mind to process – one moment they were standing at the edge of the kitchen tile, and then they were in each other’s arms, their bodies suddenly and completely entwined. He was hot and already hard against her, causing her head to spin as he pulled her tight against his body, making the embrace they’d shared in her photography studio seem chaste in comparison.

They kissed so deeply and so hard that her lips ached, but that didn’t stop her from wanting it to last forever.

It didn’t, though. Eventually they pulled apart just enough to breathe, just enough to be able to meet each other’s eyes.

There was no question of what would happen next. Karen’s entire body was tingling, burning up under the weight of delayed gratification. After all, she’d been imagining this for months. And he was firm against her, his every muscle taut with tension.

Wordlessly, he led her down the short hall and into what seemed to be the only bedroom.

The walls were a dark grey and there was a window above a queen sized bed neatly made with a dark blue comforter. Those things were all she could spare the presence of mind to notice as Jed picked her up like she weighed nothing, swinging her onto the bed and going down with her.

The mattress was softer against her back than he was against her front, and she relished being pressed down into it. When he slipped a hand beneath her sweater, the heat of his fingers against her belly made her nipples go hard, stiffening even more as he slid his hand higher.

She mentally cursed her bra when he caressed her breast, pressing his palm against the swell. Her nipple was aching inside the cup, and having her skin separated from his when he was so close made her want to sigh in frustration. Instead, she snaked a hand around his body, pressed it to the back of his head and buried her fingers in his hair, just like she’d imagined.

The feel of it between her fingers was surprisingly silky, and the solid curve of his skull beneath stood in tantalizing contrast. She curled her fingers, burying them deeper as she exerted pressure, pulling his mouth down to hers.

He came willingly – it wouldn’t have worked if he hadn’t; he was so much stronger than her. When their lips met, they picked up right where they’d left off, with mouths open and tongues entwined. He flexed his hips against her and his hard cock slid up the inside of her thigh in a promising motion. Even through his jeans and her pants, the feel of it blazed a trail of heat that burned all the way to her core.

When he actually began to remove her clothing, she was reasonably sure she was red from head to toe as a combined result of excitement and blushing. As he stripped her bare, she tried to be helpful, twisting and turning in all the right ways, but was unable to keep her hands off him.

Instead, she pressed them against his shoulders, slid them up and down his chest and even explored the hard ridge straining the front of his jeans. That slowed his progress, but eventually she was naked on the bed.

His eyes glittered, somehow dark and light at once, and she could feel the weight of his gaze on her skin. Still, she didn’t waste any time in slipping her hands beneath his shirt, skimming over the firm surface beneath as she leaned in and upward.

She’d been wondering about the ink hidden by his clothing ever since she’d first met him. Slowing for the barest fraction of a second, she savored one last moment of suspense.

He stole the moment away and set her heart racing when he pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it aside.

Karen sat frozen except for her hands, which she moved over his torso, tracing lines and spirals of ink with her fingertips, as if touching would help her take it all in faster.

Lots of ink had been hidden under his shirt, just like she’d imagined. The designs started beneath his collarbones, where two roses had been inked in permanent bloom on his chest, one on the inside of each shoulder. They were a vivid red that stood in contrast to his olive skin and the stark black ink that curled between each flower in a spiraling design, connecting them artfully. And below that…

She sucked in a breath as her gaze was drawn automatically to his abs, the ridges of which she’d previously felt, but never seen. Above the well-defined muscles was a line of looping black ink that cut across his ribs, forming script that said something in another language. Latin? She’d ask later, when she was capable of coherent thought beyond admiring his body.

He put an end to her silent study of his tattoos by unzipping his jeans. The sound of the metal teeth parting caused her core to tighten, and she stared as he stripped, tossing jeans and underwear aside.

He was fully hard, as had been obvious when he’d lain on top of her on the bed, driving her down into the mattress. He looked just as incredible as he’d felt then, and she couldn’t resist the urge to reach out and touch.

She let her fingers brush the smooth head of his cock before she wrapped them around his shaft, sighing as she slid her hand to the base and friction heated her hand.

He groaned and flexed his hips, sending his dick a little farther through her grip, so that her fingers rested in the almost-black hair that darkened his groin.

Every muscle inside Karen seemed to clench up, and an ache flared where she craved him, where he wasn’t – yet. She slid her hand up and down his shaft, the anticipation building with every stroke, with every hard rush of his breath.

He stopped her with a hand on her forearm, his fingers wrapped easily around her wrist. “I don’t—” he growled, cutting himself off with a sharp breath. “Fuck, Karen, I don’t have any protection.”

Even his grip on her wrist felt good. She let the pleasure of the simple touch flood through her as she considered his words and the scrape of frustration in his voice. “Oh.” Disappointment stole into her consciousness, and her heart slammed against her ribs in protest. Stop now? Every fiber of her being screamed in protest. “I forgot all about it, too.”

“I’ll go out and get some,” he said, letting go of her wrist and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. “I’ll be back in a little while.” His voice dipped a little lower as he reached for his jeans.

Now it was her turn to place a hand on his arm. Summoning the courage, she did exactly that. “I’m on the pill. And uh, I know I don’t have any STIs.” They’d tested her at her last OBGYN appointment. She hadn’t slept with anyone since then – she’d been way too busy fantasizing about Jed to pay much attention to any other men.

He froze with his jeans gripped in both hands, going so still that his hard muscles felt like the stone of a statue beneath her hand. “Same here, but I don’t expect you to trust me so blindly. I can go out and buy condoms.”

She eyed his jeans, then the rigid form of his cock rising from his lap. It was hard to imagine him getting into his pants without being in pain, and then there was the agony of delayed gratification…

How could she not trust the man who’d tried to pay her more for her photography when she owed him so much, who’d been hesitant to go out with her in the first place because of the ludicrous idea that he wasn’t good enough for her? Hell, he’d apologized for taking advantage of her because of a single kiss. He wouldn’t lie to her, especially not about something so serious. “I trust you, Jed.”

“Still.” He didn’t continue dressing, but he didn’t drop his jeans, either.

Realization dawned on her, sending heat creeping into her cheeks. “If you don’t feel safe, we don’t have to go without protection. Maybe I could get tested again some other time, and share the results with you.”

“It’s not that. I believe you.”

“Then what is it?”

A moment of silence ticked by before his jeans finally fell to the floor with a muffled sound. “It’s nothing.”

For someone who’d been completely still for a full minute, he moved with amazing speed. He had his arms around her in an instant, and next thing she knew, he was pressing her down into the mattress again, only this time there was nothing between them.

Her pussy clenched as the weight of his embrace registered with her mind and body, blowing a few circuits somewhere in the sensory cortex of her brain. Her nipples were rock hard against his chest, and she could feel him breathe, feel his heart beat. His erection was between her thighs, the head brushing her already-slick skin, and it was hard to believe they were so close.

Though they were on the verge of finally being really, fully together, it didn’t happen as quickly as it could have. Instead of entering her, he drew back a little, lowering his head to her chest and mouthing the swell of one breast.

She trembled beneath him, then gasped when he finally closed his lips around the tip, sucking it deep into his mouth.

The pressure of his jaw against her flesh and the scrape of his facial hair against her skin made her arch against the bed, suddenly breathless.

He placed his hands on her breasts, squeezing and rubbing her other nipple with his fingertips, causing it to go just as hard as the one that was caught between his tongue and teeth. Ripples of pleasure raced up and down her spine, through her entire body, and she could barely breathe. When she did, she had to draw air in deep drafts, and still, it wasn’t enough.

When he stopped, she let her muscles go slack, lying flat against the mattress as she told herself that she really wasn’t melting, it just felt that way. In the wake of what he’d just done, her breasts felt heavy and her nipples hyper-sensitive – so much so that even the motion of him pulling his hands from them made her gasp.