Hard to Be Good (Hard Ink #3.5) by Laura Kaye Read Free Book Online

when he still worked for someone else’s shop, when a customer refused to let Jeremy do his ink because he’d seen him out with another man. That shit didn’t just sting, it fucked with his livelihood. Luckily, his employer and mentor, Aleck—the guy who’d made him see that his background in art could find an outlet in tattooing—didn’t stand for that bullshit for one minute, and he’d asked the asshole to leave.
    Not that Jeremy expected anything like that from these guys. Not when Nick had always been so cool with whoever Jeremy chose to be with. And not when the whole team had been so accepting of Charlie—hell, they’d risked their lives to save him—knowing he was gay and that Charlie and his father, who was also the team’s commander, had had a falling out over it. Not one of them had blinked an eye. In fact, the only murmurings Jeremy had heard were ones of disappointment in the colonel.
    Still, cart before horse much?
    Yeah, probably. But there was one way to fix that, wasn’t there?
    Back in his apartment, Jeremy walked through the big open space that made up the combination kitchen and living room. With its exposed brick walls, unfinished industrial ceiling, and big leather couches, it was his favorite room in the whole place. Rehabbing an abandoned factory into a business and a kick-ass loft apartment—so far—was something he was hugely proud of. Whether it was drawing or painting or renovating or building something from scratch, Jeremy had always loved working with his hands, and buying this building had pressed every one of those buttons.
    Usually, the big windows that stretched to the ceiling meant it was also full of light, but they’d hung blackout curtains to mask their presence in the building from outside eyes. Jeremy couldn’t imagine—or, at least, didn’t want to imagine—what might’ve happened during the attack if they hadn’t taken the precaution of making it look like the other half of the building was inhabited and the inhabited half was abandoned and empty.
    Passing the big kitchen island, Jeremy crossed into the hallway that led to all the bedrooms. His pulse kicked up at the thought of seeing Charlie, touching him, kissing him. Jer had nearly died yesterday, after all, so it was about damn time.
    He paused in front of Charlie’s bedroom door, took a deep breath, and knocked.
    The door opened, the dim glow of a bedside lamp the only light in the room. “Hey,” Charlie said. He dropped his gaze and stepped backward, as if he was inviting Jeremy in but uncomfortable doing it.
    Jeremy wasn’t having that. Not for one more second. Two steps had Charlie in his arms, their bodies crashing together, and Jeremy’s mouth firmly, possessively, and unreservedly claiming Charlie’s.
    Burying his hands in the long strands of Charlie’s soft hair, Jeremy devoured Charlie’s lips and nearly groaned when he opened his mouth, allowing Jeremy to deepen the kiss. Charlie tasted like sweet, innocent temptation, and Jeremy wanted to consume every last bite. He stroked and sucked at Charlie’s tongue, tightened his hands in his hair, and tugged their bodies flush until all Jeremy could feel, taste, and smell was Charlie.
    Charlie moaned deep in his throat, and the sound shot right to Jeremy’s dick, hardening him in an instant. Jeremy wasn’t alone. The way they were pressed together made it crystal fucking clear that Charlie wanted this every bit as bad. When Charlie’s hands settled on Jeremy’s hips, then slowly, tentatively, so damn maddeningly stroked at his sides, his back, and then his ass, Jeremy groaned and finally had to break the kiss or risk having this be over before it’d really begun.
    “Jesus, Charlie. I’ve been dying to do that for so long,” Jeremy said, cupping the side of Charlie’s face in his hand. Stubble tickled Jeremy’s palm, and that roughness, that hardness, was one of the things he most loved about being with a man.
    “You have?” Charlie