Love and Tattoos Read Online Free Page B

right though, yes?”
    “ You are.”
    “ So, I know close to how many you have, but do you know for certain how many I have?”
    “ Two.”
    It was her turn to cluck her tongue in disappointment. This was kind of fun, but she didn’t have to let him know that. “Oh you poor, misinformed man. That’s going to cost you your pants.”
    “ Huh?” He shook his head in disagreement. “No. I’m not wrong. You have an art palette on your right shoulder blade and there’s a swirl behind your right ear.”
    “ Still…” Her casual shrug was unapologetic. “You’re wrong. I have three.”
    He glared for a long moment and his squint told her he wasn’t sure she was being honest. “Okay,” he said, decision made. “I’ll bite. What’s the third?”
    “ Words. Above and below the palette. It says “Got Art?” in a pink ombre color scheme.”
    “ Now wait a minute.” The emphatic shake of his head had Annie laughing. “That could be considered part of the previous tattoo.”
    “ But it wasn’t part of it. The palette was done before my senior year in college. The words were a graduation gift.”
    “ I remember the pages and pages of palette designs you went through before drawing what you wanted. Who added the rest?
    “ Joe,” they said in unison.
    “ You had to know it would be him. He’d kill me if I let anyone else near me with a tattoo gun. You were out of town on a case or something and I was home to move the rest of my stuff. Some of my sorority sisters came to help and as payment, Joe gave everyone a small tattoo of their choosing.”
    “ Yeah, I was bummed that I missed the moving party. Show me.”
    “ Pants first, please.”
    She squirmed, both inside and out, under his u nblinking perusal “Okay.” He stood and moved casually, deliberately, popping the button on his pants. He dropped the zipper, the metal teeth catching and releasing. The room fell silent, but Annie kept her gaze averted.
    This little back and forth thing between them was nerve wracking as much as it was intriguing. She’d already stripped a piece of her attire off for him, but him taking his pants off for her…? She had to pinch her wrist to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.
    And he ’d caught on.
    “ Eyes on me, Annie.” She obeyed immediately but only made it as far as his lips, or was she looking at his chin? His neck? “Lower,” he growled. “You know you want to.”
    Truth was, she did want to. There was no use hiding it.
    She lowered her lashes and zeroed in on his cock, pressing against the boxer briefs he still wore. His cargos slid to the floor with a gentle push from his thumbs and then he was standing before her in underwear and a t-shirt.
    It wasn ’t until he kicked the pants away that she blinked, but where he had grunted when he’d seen her without a shirt, she couldn’t make a sound when seeing him with very little covering his lower body.
    She ’d always wanted him. Their earlier kiss had been their first. This half naked, or half clothed thing, depending on how one looked at it, was a first, as well.
    How many other firsts would there be before dawn and how many other firsts would she want after the sun came up?
    “You have to show me.” His words broke into her thoughts and she turned. She sucked in her breath when his fingers slid her bra strap over her shoulder, and then returned to dance over the tattoo. She let that same breath out in a rush when his lips feathered kisses along her skin. “Nice,” he whispered, seconds before he traced the edges of the ink with his tongue. “I like it.”
    He pulled her into the vee of his thighs with an arm around her waist and she considered melting on into the black and white tiled floor. Moist air from his mouth made her lose all presence of mind. There was only him and her and every fantasy she’d ever had about him… “Next?”
    “ Wha —” She was still lost inside her head, lost in the feel of him at her back that she didn’t comprehend