“The rule that no-body alterations while inebriated? Not that strict, I’m afraid. My cock is the living proof of it.”
All things considered, they had been lucky they didn’t get any disease and their cocks hadn’t fallen into pieces, because next day they couldn’t even remember where they got the piercings done. First and last time he’d ever blacked out.
“Don’t tell me Kai is the one who pierced you. Is that the reason why you dislike him so much?”
He shook his head, sobering up. “I dislike him because he had you in his bed.”
She stared at him for what it felt like an eternity. “He didn’t.”
Relief at her statement flooded him. “What about your tattoos?”
“Constellations,” she said. “Orion the Great Hunter chasing the Pleiades, the seven sisters, daughters of the Titan Atlas. On the other leg Scorpio, sent by Artemis, forever chasing Orion.”
Orion, the eternal hunter, being eternally hunted. Very fitting.
“Funny description for an astronomer,” he said, caressing her thigh.
She shrugged. “I could call the Pleiades M45, an open star cluster with middle-aged hot B-type stars in quadrant NQ1, but doesn’t have the same ring. Humans always looked at the skies to find their own place. It doesn’t hurt to dress it up, right?”
She straddled him and brushed her lips over him. “I think I’m going to take your advice and start to work through the inspirational sentences. Love slowly.”
He couldn’t stop the chuckle. Of course she would choose to start making a dent in that during the most painful moment for him.
She was not rushing it, caressing him. Taking her time. Then she moved downward and teased his nipples.
“You need to be careful at the Diablos, pet. I can’t call Mullen or any backup without risking them trying to get you away from me. You have to do as I say.”
She stopped nuzzling his chest and lifted her eyes to him. Her nod surprised him. Then she proceeded to trace his scars.
“What are you doing?”
“Soothing you.”
Jack stilled at her words. “I don’t need soothing.” No one took care of him, ever. He took care of himself.
She ignored him and touched the scars from the cigarette burns with trembling fingers. “Of all the scars, these small ones are the most horrific. No wonder you—”
“What? Turned out to be such a bastard?”
“No. No wonder you are as hard as you are.”
“That’s on me, pet. What I became. Can’t stand losers blaming their childhood and others for their choices and how their lives ended up. They need to grow the fuck up, take responsibility, and own their shit. Make something of themselves.”
“Like you did.”
“I had motivation. A child to look after.”
She cupped his face and looked at him for a long second, the softness in her gaze killing him. “You know, I totally strayed this time. No asshole here.”
Tension stiffened his body. “Don’t go there, pet. And don’t get illusions. I am an asshole.”
She snorted and rolled her eyes. “No, you are not.”
He felt naked. So fucking naked. He ached for her, for something he had no name for. Every time he touched her, this weight pressed at his chest, because there was not only lust between them; there was something else too. Something bright and warm and precious, glowing more and more with every passing moment. “Do you need me to prove it? Because hey, glad to,” he said, standing up. He had to break this intimacy.
Before she could react, he’d hauled her up, taken her hands in one of his, tied her up, and then hooked the ropes to the O-ring in the ceiling.
“That’s all you got?” she asked, lifting her chin, defiantly.
Her eyes were shining, her breath coming out in short pants, but she stood proudly.
He grabbed a cloth and blindfolded her.
She stood taller. Prouder. The shadows of the fire reflecting on her body, playing off all the swells and hollows. All her luscious curves. “You don’t scare me, so don’t even bother with all this macho tripping and power games.”
“This is not a game,” he said, roughly opening her legs.
“You need to prove you’re an asshole? Go ahead, but you don’t fool me; you’re just deluding yourself. And throwing a tantrum while you’re at it.”
He walked around her, stopping at her back, and ran a finger from her neck, along her spine, down to her ass, and closed in to whisper in her ear. “Keep talking and you’ll earn a ball gag.”
She snorted. “Bring it on. You’ll have to take it off at some time, won’t you?”
“I don’t know. Will I?”
“You love my mouth.” True. “And my smart-ass remarks.” True again. “You keep me gagged, you won’t get either.”
“You are defenseless. I could take whatever I wanted from you.”
“Again with the useless intimidation. Yes, I am defenseless. I’m blindfolded and tied, but only because you’re afraid of me. Really, just give it up. You wouldn’t take anything that wasn’t freely offered.”
It floored him. Her confidence in him. How brave she was. How fucking beautiful. Fire outside. Fire inside.