“What? Why?”
He smiled and turned my body away. “Because I already have the outline ready to go and I'm about to grab it to get the farthest points, I don't want you to see it.” I heard papers shuffling for a minute before he turned me back around. “This big.”
My eyes widened for a second and I took a deep breath. “Okay, I want it here.” I grabbed the wax paper and put it down on my hip. “I want it to start on the far left side of my stomach and wrap around my left hip.”
His eyes flashed with heat as he took the paper from my hands and rolled up my shirt just past my waist, “Lay down on your side.” I sucked in a breath when he tugged the left side of my pants down a bit, “I'll keep everything covered, I promise. I just need this side further down.”
“Chase?”
“Hmm?”
“You said it's going to take hours?”
“Yeah, probably three. As you can see it's big and the shading is really detailed. That part will take the longest.” He set everything up before turning back to face me, “This is where you need to trust me. I'm about to put the outline on, please don't look.” I shut my eyes and he laughed, “If you ever need me to stop, just tell me, okay?”
“Kay.” I took two deep breaths in and out, “I'm ready, let's do this.”
After the outline was on and he got the tattoo gun ready, he gave my hand a squeeze before putting his hand on my hip. “You picked the perfect spot, this is gonna look awesome.”
“It better.” I warned.
I froze when the needle first touched my skin, but relaxed after the first minute. It wasn't painful like I thought it would be, it was just uncomfortable. I really think the worst part is the sound of the gun.
“You okay?”
“Yep, just pay attention to what you're doing.”
He laughed and continued his work. The outline was done and he was on to the shading in no time, and that's where everything went downhill for me. I'd been so focused on trying to figure out what it was from lines he was making, that I didn't even have time to think about his big hands touching me. And now it was all I could think about. I was trying to do breathing exercises so I wouldn't hyperventilate, but Chase said I was moving too much. His hands gripped and pulled my waist, hip, stomach and butt as he shaded and it took everything in me to stop the shivers that wanted to make their way through me. I ached for his hands to go lower, to feel his long fingers caress me. God this was wrong. Think about Brandon, think about Brandon…I was going through songs in my head when the gun stopped and Chase tilted his head towards me.
“Are you humming?”
“Maybe.” Crap, I hadn't realized I was doing that out loud.
He laughed and ripped off his gloves while rummaging through a drawer. Walking back to me, he handed me his iPhone and a pair of headphones. “You're doing great, I'll be done soon.” He pressed his lips to my neck and went back to work.
The music ended up being a great distraction from the steamy scenarios that were flashing through my mind, but more than once he had to put a hand on my upper thigh to get me to stop keeping time with the bass, and that would start the scenarios all over again. My hip was so numb I didn't realize Chase was done until he placed a quick kiss to my lips. My eyes shot open and I ripped out the ear buds.
“Am I still moving too much?”
“No Princess, I'm all done.” His smile and the way his eyes were shining made my heart squeeze. “Are you ready to see it?”
“You have no idea!”
He chuckled and shook his head slightly, “Close your eyes again, I'll let you open them when we're next to the mirror.”
He placed his hand on my right hip, grabbed my left hand and walked me a few feet away. Turning my body slightly he whispered into my ear, “Open your eyes Harper.”
The first thing I saw was his anxious expression in the mirror. He was worrying his lip waiting for my reaction. I inhaled quickly and his body locked up when I looked down to my left side. It was beautiful. There were four large orange lilies wrapped around my hip, and I couldn't believe how amazing they looked. I stepped closer and took in the perfect shading and detail to each flower. From the sketches I'd looked at and his drawing of me, I had known Chase was amazing, but I'd never thought he could make something like this look so real. His forced swallow was audible, and I realized I still hadn't said anything. But there were absolutely no words. First my ring, and now this? Did anything get past him? I turned to face him and ran a hand through his messy hair.
“Please tell me what you're thinking.”
Unfortunately, I wasn't. I crushed my mouth to his and he quickly deepened the kiss. Right away the other tattoo artists started hooting and yelling for us to get a room. I pulled back and knew there was nothing I could do about the deep blush on my face. Chase led me back to his table and put ointment and a wrap over my tattoo before fixing my shirt, he was all smiles.