Dangerously Inked by Eden Bradley Read Free Book Online Page B

sorry,” she said, pausing to look up at him, sincerity in her gaze. Sincerity and a wash of her own pain somewhere behind the lovely blue. “He must have been a good friend for you to get a whole chest piece in his honor.”
    “Yeah…well. The tattoo is maybe as much for me as it is for him. Learned some stuff through him dying.”
    Why was he telling her these things? The hard truths he’d been milling over since Kenji’s funeral a month ago. He didn’t want his life to end in the same way—with hardly anyone who gave a shit. He’d come to understand that the way he’d been living his life, it could very well end that way.
    “Tattoo artists are kind of like bartenders or hairdressers—people tell us everything. You can tell me more if you want. Or not. I won’t push. But you don’t have to feel weird about it.”
    “Thanks. I think…maybe that’s enough about Ken for now.”
    “Okay.” She wiped his skin, dipped her needle in the ink and began again. “So, you want to tell me what your scars are about?”
    His shoulders went tight, his jaw clenching. Flash of the car rolling over and over, that heavy thud as it came to rest upside down in the ravine. Mum and Dad and  Ayla …Him crawling out of the wreckage. Broken, but he was the only one who  could  crawl, God damn it.
    Fuck.
    He pulled in a breath, then another. “Not particularly. That’s old news.”
    She paused again. She was silent for several moments, studying him. He wasn’t used to it. “Is it?” she asked quietly.
    What was it about her that almost made him want to tell her about the accident? About his parents. About Ayla, even.
    Almost.
    “Yeah.” When she continued to stare at him he said, “I’m not talking about it, Roisin. Not happening.”
    She shrugged. “Alrighty then.”
    “Fuck. Sorry. Didn’t mean to be so harsh.”
    “Don’t worry. I can take it.”
    He was sure she could. She was a tough thing, as tiny as she was. But he didn’t like that he’d been rude. Especially because it was  her .
    He needed to switch gears, get his head on straight. Forget.
    No accident. Not thinking about all that now. Just the ink. Just her.
    Thinking about her helped.
    “How’s it going?” he asked, letting his gaze wander over her body. She was wearing a tight pink tank top. He could see some of her own ink across the back of her shoulders. He’d noticed it the other night. Sexy as hell. That and a bite mark left by his own teeth.
    “The tattoo? Your skin takes the ink well. I’m just doing the outline today. You’ll need to come back in about a week after it’s healed to do the shading. I’ll probably only be able to do half of it, though. You’ll need a third session to finish.”
    “No problem. I won’t mind coming back. I like seeing you work on me. It feels almost like a sort of service.”
    “I’m no service sub,” she said with a short laugh.
    “So you’ve said. But you can’t deny me the pleasure of imagining you that way—kneeling at my feet, ready to do my bidding.”
    “Cut it out,” she said quietly. “I told you not to pull that shit here, Finn. I mean it.”
    He just laughed. He could see how her breath had sped up when he’d mentioned kneeling for him. Oh yes, Roisin was a lot more complicated than she thought she was. More potentially submissive. It would take the right man—the right Dom—to bring her to that place.
    She worked for the next hour in silence before wiping him down and sitting back in her chair.
    “You’re done for today. Want to take a look?”
    He got up and went to the mirror.
    “You’re everything I’d heard you would be. The work is incredible.”
    It was. The koi was curled over his right pectoral, the dragon over his left. Both were beautifully done. She’d outlined the Kanji symbols, and started to add the smoke and the water. He could see the design was going to be spectacular.
    “I’m glad you’re happy with it.”
    “Fucking thrilled.”
    “Let’s wrap it