WickedSeduction Read Online Free Page A

the
caress of a heated breeze. “Nice to meet you, Marnie.”
    She hesitated for a moment, smiled but eased her hand from
his. “You too, Tor.”
    Clearly, she didn’t want him coming on too strong. Her call.
He’d always respected a woman’s boundaries.
    “Want to go inside? It’s cooler.”
    Again, she seemed reluctant. “Maybe I should ask what I have
to first.”
    “Sure.” Many people were hesitant about getting tats or
piercings, needing to weigh the pros and cons first. “What do you want to
know?”
    She moved away from the parlor, as though worried someone
might overhear what she said.
    Tor followed. Once she’d stopped and faced him again, he
shielded his eyes from the sun. The rays backlighted Marnie’s hair, bringing
out the red highlights, making her tempting as hell. Even from where he stood,
Tor caught a whiff of her shampoo, the scent sweet and seductive.
    “Do you do special tattoos?” she asked.
    Her question surprised him. He’d expected her to ask about pain
and sanitary conditions—if she could get an infection from the ink or, God forbid,
a blood disease. Some women wanted to know what the tat would look like in
forty years. If wrinkled skin would make the design too awful for words.
    “Special?” he asked. “You mean like a unique design? Sure. I
can create whatever you want. The same goes for giving an image depth, the
illusion of 3-D, until the flower, butterfly, lace or whatever looks more
genuine than the real thing.” He grinned. “We have Fluorescent tats too. They’re
practically invisible until you turn on a black light then pow you can
see the design. Totally amazing.”
    She smiled weakly. “I’m sure, but that’s not what I meant.”
    Oh. Tor thought he’d seen everything but hey, he was only
human. Some stuff did get by him in the ink world. “You have a design you’ve
seen somewhere else? A picture maybe?”
    “No.” She seemed daunted then oddly resolved. “Do you have
any tats to cover scars?”
    Without thinking, he glanced at her long sleeves and skirt.
Rude, he knew, but Tor hadn’t been able to help himself. No wonder she wore the
kind of clothes she did, her decision to do so in this horrible heat finally
making sense. He wondered if she’d been in a car accident and figured she had.
“Yeah. Sure. Do it all the time.”
    Women who’d had mastectomies often wanted tats to cover
their scars. The same for marks left after tummy tucks or Caesarian sections.
    “Then what I want is doable,” she said.
    He smiled at her obvious relief, wanting to put her at ease.
“Completely. Come inside. I can show you some pictures.”
    Back at the parlor, he opened the door for her and directed
her to the left. “My station’s this way.”
    “Afternoon,” Lauren said to Marnie in the hall. “Welcome to
Wicked Brand.”
    “Thanks. I don’t know if I’ll be getting anything.”
    “No problem,” Tor said before Lauren could. “Our
consultations are free. Take as much time as you want to look through the
designs then you can make a decision.”
    Once inside his station, he gestured Marnie to one of the
chairs, took his own and kept the door open. A necessary evil when he or the
other male artists had female clients, so the ladies couldn’t return later
claiming assault. If any of the women did want the door closed—because their
breasts or other intimate body parts were exposed—security cameras in each room
recorded everything to protect all involved.
    Marnie stared at the opened door and hall, her expression
pained. “I thought this would be more private.”
    Given how she fisted her fingers, Tor could see her distress
was genuine, not an act to con him into anything. “I can close the door. We do
have security cameras for your protection.”
    She lifted her face, staring at the camera in an upper
corner of the room.
    Tor regarded her long throat, skin dewy with youth, the
small mole at the base of her neck. He imagined the hollow there smelled of