Ink Me (2 page)

God, where was Aidan? You could set a clock by the man, but
apparently he’d picked tonight to be late—for the first time in his life.

“Yeah, black,” Kelly said her eyes darting to her own
reflection in the mirror. What she saw there obviously troubled her because her
face crumpled again, fresh sobs shaking her ample flesh.

Summer seized the moment, swinging her tattoo machine up and
over onto Kelly’s gun hand almost before she had time to realize she’d made the
decision to fight back. Kelly cried out in pain as the heavy hunk of metal made
contact and the gun clattered to the floor. Without pausing for a second,
Summer kicked the gun away and made a run for the front of the store. She could
be out the door and clear of the windows before the other woman had time to
reclaim her weapon. She was sure of it.

Her pulse pounded in her ears as she swiftly cleared the
fifteen feet to the exit. Bracing herself on the frame, she closed one hand
around the handle and pulled, the force of her movement nearly ripping her arm
out of her socket as she realized the door was locked.

Shit! Kelly had locked the door behind her, a fact that
would cost Summer precious time. She prayed as she fumbled with the lock that
she would still make it out, that she wouldn’t be shot in the back and killed
before she had the chance to tell Aidan and her family she loved them one last
time.

“Stupid bitch!” Kelly screamed and then Summer heard the
sharp, loud pop of a weapon being fired.

She hit the ground as fast as she could, the air whooshing
out of her lungs as her body made brutal contact with the floor. Seconds later
the sound of shattering glass filled the shop. Summer covered her head with her
hands, expecting to feel shards from the glass door falling all around her.

Instead, she heard three words spoken by what had to be the
most comforting voice in the universe.

“Freeze, don’t move,” Aidan shouted from across the room. He
must have come in the back door because now he stood just inside the staff only
entrance, his gun aimed at Kelly.

The other woman moaned and clutched at her hand. Her gun was
nowhere to be seen, but the mirror behind her was in pieces. It had been Aidan
who had fired, which didn’t give Summer the least bit of comfort. Aidan never
drew his weapon, let alone used it, unless he had no other course of action.

A violent shiver worked through Summer’s body as she
realized how close she had probably come to the death she’d been fearing.

“I said freeze!” Aidan yelled the words again and moved
smoothly into the room, not taking his eyes off where Kelly now leaned against
one of the tattoo chairs. Still, Summer could practically feel his concern for
her sweeping over her skin.

“I’m okay, Aidan. I’m fine.”

“Thank god, get over here,” he said, his voice thick with
emotion though his eyes still remained glued to her assailant. He had been a
good cop and was an even better bodyguard and Summer had never been so glad
that all six foot two of him was on her side.

She came to her feet and crossed the room on shaking legs.
Her mind might be telling her she was out of danger, but her nerves were still
completely shot. She found herself darting nervous looks in Kelly’s direction
as she made her way to where Aidan stood, a part of her expecting the woman to
pull another gun out of thin air and start firing.

Instead, she suddenly spun and ran for the door.

“Stop it, right there!” Aidan ordered, bolting after her.

But Kelly was a hell of a lot faster than Summer would have
expected. She was out the door and halfway down the street by the time Aidan
burst through the front entrance with Summer close on his heels.

“Get back in the shop and call the police,” Aidan shouted.

“No way, you’re not going after her. You’re not a cop
anymore.”

“Summer, let me go. That woman tried to kill you, I can’t
let her—”

“And she might try to kill you if you follow her. I didn’t
see where her gun went.”

“It’s on the floor of the shop somewhere. She’s unarmed, I’m—”

“You can’t know that for sure. She could have another weapon
and she’s crazy enough to kill. Please, I don’t want to lose you.”

Aidan’s jaw clenched in response, but he didn’t run after
the woman swiftly disappearing down the darkened street, away from the lights
of the strip.

“Let’s go call the police and let them handle it,” Summer
pleaded, tightening her grip on Aidan’s muscled forearm. He spent at least four
hours a week pumping iron at the gym and could have pulled away from her with
the slightest effort, but he didn’t. Instead he took a deep breath, the muscles
under her hand tensing for a second before he relaxed and holstered his weapon.

“Thank you, you know I—”

“God damn, don’t ever scare me like that again,” he said,
sweeping her up in his arms until her legs dangled in the air. Then he squeezed
her hard enough to make a few bones crack down the length of her spine and
Summer surprised the hell out of herself by starting to laugh.

“I don’t know what you’re laughing about, you nut. You were
almost shot in the back.”

“I know. Shit, I was scared.” Summer giggled before burying
her face in Aidan’s neck and inhaling the musky scent of him. Realizing she
might not have lived to smell that heady fragrance again was enough to make her
laugh even harder. It was either laugh or cry at this point and she was
grateful she wasn’t bawling like a baby. That would wreck all chances of
pulling off the night she’d had planned.

Aidan would still want to have their special night, wouldn’t
he? Even after having to draw down on a crazy would-be client and nearly seeing
his main squeeze shot full of holes?

“Well, it’s good to hear you laughing, at least,” he said,
holding her close with one arm as he turned and pushed open the door to the shop.

He dialed the number to the police department and reported
the incident to a detective friend of his all while holding her pinned to his
side, feet still dangling in the air. This only made Summer feel even more
ridiculous and inclined to giggle. Still, Aidan managed to concentrate on the
job at hand even as he shot her looks that clearly conveyed he thought she was
insane.

He hung up after giving a detailed description of Kelly and
the direction in which she’d last been seen running away from
Ink Me Studios
.
From what Summer could hear of the conversation, it also sounded like he’d
committed them to staying at the studio until a couple of men made it down to
take their statements and a few pictures of the crime scene.

Summer’s heart sank as Aidan hung up the phone. After
surviving what she had so far tonight, she knew she should just be grateful to
be alive, but a part of her couldn’t help but mourn the evening she’d had
planned. She’d waited so long for this night. Between work and family
obligations, they so rarely had the chance to indulge their wilder side anymore
and Summer had never dared think about doing the things she had planned to do
with Aidan tonight.

Though the way he held her right now left no doubt how much
Aidan treasured her, Summer had felt the passion between them simmering at a
much lower level in recent months. She’d tried to do her part to kick it up a
notch in the bedroom, but far too often found herself too tired to play the
games they used to play or take their bedroom antics past the point of a slow,
comfortable screw. A comfortable screw with Aidan was still intense, but she
hated to see that wild, abandoned lovemaking they had once had become a thing
of the past.

She’d planned this evening for over a month, putting her
heart, soul, imagination and a healthy dose of purely lustful fantasy into
creating a night neither of them would ever forget. If they let this chance
pass them by, a part of her worried the opportunity might not come their way
again for a long, long time.

By then, would it be too late?

“So I guess this means we’re going to have company, huh?”
Her disappointment was clear in every word, but Summer couldn’t seem to help
herself. Having Aidan so close, feeling her breasts smashed against the hard
muscles of his chest, made it hard to hide.

“Hey, you’re the one who wanted me to call the cops,” he
reminded her gently, his brows arching over his bright blue eyes as he set her
down behind the counter.

“Right.” Summer sighed, kicking the safe closed with the toe
of her boot. Her sensible, low-heeled brown boot, not the four-inch fuck-me
knee-high boots still waiting patiently on the floor of the bathroom in the
back.

“But that doesn’t mean our plans have to change,” Aidan
said, sweeping her long braid over to one side and pressing a single kiss on
the back of her neck. Summer shivered at the contact and felt things low in her
belly clench with excitement. “Unless you’re not feeling up to a date night
anymore?”

“Oh, I’m feeling up to it,” Summer said, smiling widely as
she turned in his arms. “As long as you’re feeling up to it.” Slowly she
scratched her nails up the front of his jeans, feeling him immediately start to
swell beneath her touch.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt of that.” His voice grew
husky as he watched her caress the bulge in his pants with obvious interest. “When
did you paint your nails that color?”

“This afternoon,” Summer said, increasing the pressure of
her candy apple red nails up and down his shaft.

“You look like a dirty little slut,” he said, his laugh
ending with a hiss as she guided her other hand to cup the heavy weight of his
balls.

“Honey, you have no idea,” Summer said, standing on tiptoe
to whisper her next words directly into his ear. “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

She pulled away as the front door opened and two cops
entered the studio amidst much blaring of walkie-talkies, leaving Aidan to do
his best to conceal the raging erection straining the front of his jeans.
Summer smiled at the two men and offered them some coffee, suddenly pleased she
had an excuse to make Aidan wait even longer for his satisfaction. This game
might not have started off the way she had planned, but she was a girl who
could roll with the punches.

Sneaking a look at him now, there was no doubt that Aidan
was intrigued, and already on his way to be mightily frustrated.

She had him exactly where she wanted him and in less than an
hour Lady Tigerlily, her highly researched alter ego, would be making her first
appearance. Now, if she could keep from chickening out and remember how to tie
her ropes properly, she and Aidan would be in for a very, very interesting
evening.

“Summer?” Aidan stepped back into the staff only section of
Ink
Me
and immediately did a double take.

What the hell had she done with the place? And how had she
managed it in less than ten minutes?

He’d only been out with Officers Dickens and Chavez for a
few minutes, he was sure of it. Summer was supposed to be back here changing
for their date, but by the looks of things she’d spent the time redecorating
instead.

Black and red candles burned around the entire circumference
of the room and in the center of the space, the old futon couch had been made
into a bed and covered with some very silky looking red fabric. Black pillows
of various shapes and sizes littered the futon and the floor and incense burned
in a small pot in the corner. Light sitar music played on the sound system,
completing the mood and leaving little doubt what Summer had in mind.

“Take a seat, I’ll be right out,” she said, her voice
muffled by the bathroom door.

“No problem, take your time,” Aidan said with what he knew
was a shit-eating grin on his face.

He’d made reservations at one of the most exclusive
steakhouses in town for nine o’clock in an attempt to do something special for
the occasion, but if Summer would rather celebrate five years together with a
more personal, private party, who was he to argue? It had been way too long
since they’d had time to enjoy each other in an intimate, sexy atmosphere.
Hell, he couldn’t even remember the last time they’d made love with the lights
on, let alone on satin sheets with music and candles.

And after the scare he’d had tonight, he couldn’t wait to
hold her in his arms, to feel her almost unbearably soft skin against his own.
He wanted to bury his face between her thighs and taste her, make her scream
her release before he worked his cock into her tight, slick pussy and fucked
her until they both forgot how close they’d come to losing each other. God, if
that woman had pulled the trigger, if she’d shot the woman he loved more than
anything in the world, Aidan didn’t know what he would have done.

Killed her, most likely, without a second thought.

“Summer, babe, you want to get out here? I’m dying to give
you another hug,” Aidan said, his heart lurching back into his throat as a
mental image of the red-haired woman raising her gun and starting to squeeze
the trigger flashed through his mind.

Too close. It had been entirely too close and Aidan promised
himself he’d look into hiring twenty-four hour security for the studio first
thing in the morning. He’d always felt nervous that
Ink Me
was on the
fringes of the strip, near where the bright, flashy lights started to fade away
as you moved closer to the airport. He would have felt safer if Summer were
working in one of the casino tattoo parlors, but she was way too independent to
give up ownership of her shop and work for someone else.

“A hug? You’re looking at that futon and all you want is a
hug?”

“I didn’t say
all
I wanted was a hug.” He laughed. “I
just said I wanted a hug. After that, I’m more than ready to get down to some
serious fucking.”

“How serious?” she asked, her voice sounding breathy,
nervous.

They’d been committed to each other for five years, living
together for seven and fucking each other for even longer than that. The last
time he remembered her sounding nervous before sex had been a very long time
ago and he thought there had been handcuffs involved. She was a control freak,
his Summer, and not into the idea of being blindfolded and cuffed to his
four-poster bed. At least not at first…

“What have you got in mind?” Aidan asked, his cock already
voicing its enthusiastic approval, no matter what her answer. He was painfully
erect, his usually loose-fitting jeans uncomfortably snug. But that’s what she
always did to him. Just the thought of Summer naked was enough to give him a
boner, let alone the suspicion that she wanted to get up to something decidedly
kinkier than their usual bedroom fare.

“Are you sitting down?” Summer asked through a tiny crack in
the bathroom door.

“No.”

“Well, sit down!” she said, that same breathless quality in
her voice that made him insanely curious to know what she was up to.

“I’d prefer to lay down, preferably with you under me and my
cock between your legs,” Aidan said, starting to walk toward the bathroom when
he was stopped dead in his tracks.

“I said, sit down.” Summer posed in front of the open door,
the light from inside turning the barely there kimono she wore completely
transparent. Her small, but perfectly proportioned curves were stunningly
highlighted. Aidan felt something low in his body clench violently as she
turned slightly and the tightened points of her nipples rubbed against the thin
silk.

“Jesus,” Aidan breathed, not knowing what else to say. There
she was, the woman he woke up next to every morning, but it was almost like he
was seeing her for the very first time.

Summer just barely topped five feet and had always
complained about her short legs, but those legs seemed to stretch on forever as
she strutted forward in boots that, god help him, were almost enough to make
him come just looking at how they caressed Summer’s tawny thighs. Her pale gray
kimono barely covered her ass and flared open as she moved, giving him
tantalizing glimpses of sheer black panties, sheer enough that he could see the
mound of her pussy clearly through the fabric.

See it clearly enough to notice that her soft thatch of
black hair was completely gone.

“You shaved,” he said, swallowing hard as she stopped a few
feet in front of him. She was taller in her boots and barely had to tilt to her
head to capture his eyes with her own.

“I can’t believe you noticed that in less than ten seconds.”

“I’m a quick study when it comes to your pussy.”

“So I see,” she said, tossing her long, ebony hair over her
shoulders in a motion that made it seem to dance around her body, a live thing
that ached to caress her as much as he did.

He couldn’t remember the last time she’d worn her hair down.
It was always twisted up in a knot on her head with a few chopsticks shoved
through it or tied back in a braid. She didn’t like it getting in the way at
work or at home, but he hadn’t realized how much he’d missed seeing her like
this, looking like some erotic fantasy come to life.

God, he suddenly wanted to fist his hands in all that hair,
to force her neck back until she opened for him completely. He wanted to ravage
that blood red mouth, let her lipstick smear across his face as they saw how
close two people could come to orgasm from a single, fevered kiss. He wanted to
rip off her kimono and see what other surprises she might have in store, to
slide his tongue between her newly shaved folds, to watch her clit rise and
swell in response to his attentions, completely exposed to him in every way.

“Come here. Now.” His voice was thick with the lust every
inch of her inspired. She was gorgeous, extraordinarily sexy and he couldn’t
believe he was lucky enough to call her his own.

“Bossy tonight, are we?” She smiled, a small, confident
smile, her nerves evidently appeased by his more than positive reaction to her
outfit.

“Fine, I’ll come to you.”

“Not so fast,” she said, stilling his advance with a single
finger held up in the air.

Her fingernails were longer than they had been that morning
as well as a shockingly different color. Aidan hadn’t thought he’d go in for
the long, fake nail thing. But it had been indescribably hot watching her rake
those nails across him through his jeans. He was dying to see what they’d look
like wrapped around his bare cock, to see the contrast between her pale hand,
those bright red nails, and the engorged length of his own arousal.

“I believe I told you to sit,” she said, moving away from
him with a seductive little walk that made her hips roll teasingly beneath her
robe. He could just barely get a glimpse of the underside of her ass cheeks,
but it was enough to learn she was wearing a thong.

Shit, he didn’t know how much longer he could wait to get
his hands on her.

“Yes, ma’am.” He forced himself to sit on the futon. He had
to rearrange a few painfully aroused parts of his body to do so, but he did it.
If she wanted to lead the festivities for a while, that was fine with him. He
could sit and be a good boy as long as she made damn sure she was wiggling that
fine ass into his lap in the next ten seconds.

“You may call me Lady Tigerlily.”

“Lady Tigerlily?” He laughed, he couldn’t help it, but the
second the sound was out of his mouth he wanted to take it back. The hint of
hurt and uncertainty in Summer’s eyes made him feel like the biggest ass in
Vegas, and in Sin City that was saying something. “I’m sorry, babe, I mean,
Lady Tigerlily.”

“No, forget it. I should have known this wouldn’t work,” she
said, clutching her kimono closed and visibly shrinking before his eyes. “I’ve
been researching a lot and in Japanese Tigerlily is Oni Yuri, but I didn’t
think you’d understand that so I thought English. But I should have—”

“Where are you going?”

“Back to the bathroom to change. I should have known that
this was stupid, that my name was stupid and my—”

“No it’s not, it’s not stupid. I’m stupid. Give me another
chance. Don’t go change. You look beautiful. I’m dying to touch you, to make
love to you.” Aidan was surprised to find himself on his knees in front of
Summer, his hands digging into the soft flesh of her hips through the silk of
her robe. He hadn’t meant to beg her this literally. Guess her outfit had
gotten to him more than even he realized.

“I know how to play. You know that,” he continued, his voice
once again betraying his need. He
needed
her, not just wanted or
desired,
needed
, and felt like he’d fall apart if he didn’t get to make
love to her tonight.

“I don’t know. Not any more,” she said, making Aidan realize
he’d been even more of an ass than he’d thought.

She wasn’t just talking about tonight, she was talking about
the last few months. He’d noticed her efforts to add a little spice back into
their lovemaking, but he hadn’t felt free to make any demands of his own. She
had so much on her plate right now, both at work and at home, and he hadn’t
wanted to pressure her. He’d had no idea she would take that as a lack of
interest, or, god forbid, a lack of passion on his part.

“Well then, let me convince you. Give me a chance, Omi Yami—”

“Oni Yuri,” she corrected with the smallest of smiles.

“Oni Yuri, give me another chance to please you,” he said,
holding her tighter as he bent forward and pressed a kiss against the soft
swell of her belly.

“You want another chance?” she asked, her breath coming
faster as she placed her hands over his and squeezed, urging him to press his
fingertips even deeper into her flesh.

She liked it when he was a little rough. It had been hard as
hell to get used to at first. He’d been so sure he would hurt her if he let
himself get carried away. He was a foot taller and had more than a hundred
pounds on Summer. He hadn’t been optimistic about his ability to keep rough
from getting
too
rough.

But she’d taught him how to dance the edge between pleasure
and pain. In their years together he’d learned exactly how hard to squeeze, how
much to bite and when she preferred real, stinging smacks on her ass to just a
little slap and tickle. It had been over a year since they’d played that edge
together, but Aidan knew he still remembered what she liked and he was ready
and willing to give it to her.

He didn’t even bother answering her question with words, but
got straight down to the business of showing her how much he wanted her, every
delightfully kinky inch.

“What are you doing?” she asked as he urged her legs further
apart and moved his lips to the inside of her thighs, slowly kissing up toward
her pussy.

“What does it feel like I’m doing?” he asked, his breath hot
against her skin.

“It feels— oh god.” She moaned as he opened his mouth and
suckled the sensitive skin into his mouth, pulling on her flesh until her
breath began to hitch, a telltale sign that pleasure was edging toward pain.

Then he moved to her other thigh, kissing and nibbling,
biting and licking away the sting until he could smell her beginning to get
hotter, wetter. He groaned as the scent of her swirled around him. It had been
far too long since he’d tasted her. He couldn’t wait to have his tongue buried
in her cunt, lapping at her cream. But he didn’t want to rush, didn’t want to
take away from her pleasure by taking her to completion too quickly.

Slow down, man. Remember, you’ve got all night.

His own breath coming faster, Aidan opened his mouth and bit
down, ever so gently, teasing her with the feel of his teeth gliding over her
clit through the thin fabric of her panties.

“Aidan,” she moaned, bracing her hands on his head and
threading her fingers through his short hair. He could feel those red nails of
hers scratching against his scalp and it made his cock twitch desperately
inside his jeans.

Groaning as the pressure in his balls began to move toward
the aching point, Aidan bit down again, this time trapping the nub of her clit
between his teeth. He nibbled at her with gentle, pulsing insistence, his
breath coming in hot puffs against her skin. He struggled to keep the pressure
light even when Summer thrust her hips forward, pressing his face into her
newly bare mound.

But it was hard, insanely hard. She smelled so good, felt so
amazing. It was all he could do not to rip off those panties and get to work
making her come. He wanted his tongue playing through her folds, dipping into
the well of her heat, getting lost in the fresh, salty, fruity taste of her.