CHAPTER TWENTY
Indiana
“Thank you for making me part of your shop,” I say when I pull back from the kiss. I got all choked up when I first saw it. I thought maybe he’d changed the name recently, but the fact he named it after me, even when I wasn’t in his life anymore, means so much more. It confirms everything I hoped all those years ago—that he hadn’t forgotten about me after he left, and that I did mean something to him.
“You still held my heart the whole time I was gone,” he admits, making me melt. The sincerity in his words brings a lump to my throat as my hold on him tightens. I can’t believe we wasted five long years of our lives apart. In saying that though, I know it will only make us more appreciative of what we have now.
“Can we go in and take a look around?” I ask with excitement. I want to see what it looks like inside. I want to see him in all his glory. I’m so proud of everything he’s achieved. Even though my heart was broken after he left, the hardest part for me was not knowing what had become of him. He was all alone. A teenager with a huge chip on his shoulder and a mountain of anger inside him. That’s what worried me the most.
My main concern was that he’d get himself into trouble. Or worse, turn to alcohol or drugs to cope. I’m so grateful that wasn’t the case. Even back then, as much as he tried to hide it, I knew his heart was good. He was just tainted by a stupid word.
“Really? You want to go inside now?” The disappointment in his voice doesn’t go unnoticed. When he pulls me back against him and I feel his hard on pressing into my back, I know why. “I was hoping to take you upstairs first.” The hopeful look on his face almost has me agreeing. But I want to get this out of the way so we can lock ourselves away for the rest of the night. I’ve been busting to see it.
“Just a quick one. Then you can take me upstairs and ravish me.”
“Deal,” he says grabbing hold of my hand and dragging me towards the shop. He unlocks the door and flicks on the main switch lighting the place up. My eyes dart everywhere as he disables the alarm system. I love it already. It’s nothing like I imagined.
“Okay. You’ve seen it, let’s go.” He reaches for my hand to drag me back out the door, but I pull away from him. Nice try buddy.
“Let me look around first,” I say with a small laugh as I pull out of his grip and step further into the reception area. I hear him sigh behind me, but I ignore it. It’s huge. It doesn’t look so big from the street. The floors are tiled in a dark charcoal grey. There are two long, black leather sofas right in the middle of the room, sitting on a turquoise blue shag pile rug. A black coffee table sits in the middle of the sofas. There are four large black albums stacked on top.
Walking towards them, I open the first one to see it’s full of his drawings. I want to sit down and go through them all, but I know that’s going to piss him off, so I’ll leave that for later.
Off to the right is a large, black L shaped counter, with three pendant lights positioned strategically above it. This place has so much class. It’s nothing like what I imagined a tattoo parlour would look like. I’m fascinated by every detail. My fingers run over everything as I pass. The walls are painted in the same turquoise colour as the rug, and the large black and white framed drawings around the walls stand out against the green. I take it all in as I manoeuver through the room. There are recessed lights built into the ceiling above each drawing, illuminating them.
My eyes move to Carter, still standing just inside the doorway. His hands are buried in the pockets of his jeans as he stands back observing me. “I love seeing you in my space,” he says as he stalks towards me. I love that he brought me here.
“This place is beautiful,” I tell him. “I’m so proud of you.” My arms snake around his neck as I tilt my head back to make eye contact with him. “Really proud, Carter.”
“Thank you,” he replies bringing his mouth down on mine. “Can I take you upstairs now?” His comment makes me laugh.
“I haven’t finished my tour yet. Show me around the rest of the place.” He exhales in frustration.
“Fine, but it’s gonna be quick.” He reaches for my hand, pulling me through the room towards a long corridor. There is a stack of doors all the way down. At least ten each side, maybe more. “These are the rooms of my artists. Where all the magic takes place,” he explains.
“You have that many people working for you?” I ask surprised.
“Yes. I have twenty-three people on the books, not including me: twenty artists, plus Vicki, who does all the piercings. Justine works on the front desk and then there’s Jacquie. She does all the stocking and ordering of supplies.”
“Wow.” I don’t know what else to say. For some reason I thought it was just him and maybe one or two other people working here. I’m blown away. “Which room is yours?” He leads me down to the end of the corridor.
“The biggest one,” he chuckles. “I’m the boss, I’ve gotta have some perks.” Of course he’d have to have the biggest. That doesn’t surprise me in the least. He grabs his keys out of his pocket and unlocks the door.
“Why is the door locked?”
“All the doors have locks on them. My guys each have their own keys, and I have a master key that unlocks them all. The equipment we use is expensive. It just made sense to fit locks on the doors when I had the shop fitted out.”
“Makes sense,” I say in agreement. When he switches on the light he steps to the side so I can enter. Again it’s nothing like I imagined. It’s bright and sterile looking. I suppose it has to be given the nature of the business. The walls are painted white. Along the back wall sits a black leather flat bed. Over in the corner is a matching soft black leather reclining chair with an adjustable stool beside it. There’s a stainless steel bench off to one side, with two long lamps that have retractable extending arms attached. Another stainless steel cabinet sits off to the side of that. It has small drawers down both sides.
I walk towards the frames hanging along the left wall. They’re all certificates. “Did you win all these awards?”
“Yeah. Jax made me enter them when I worked for him. I don’t have time for that shit anymore.”
“That’s amazing,” I say looking over my shoulder at him. He has a shy boyish smile on his face that I find very endearing. My eyes are drawn to the large picture behind him. “Oh my God, Carter. That’s me.” It’s a huge framed sketch of my face. It takes up half of the wall. Far out.
“Yeah,” he replies, scratching his head and bowing his face like he’s embarrassed that I’ve seen it. I step around him to get a closer look. It’s beautiful. My mouth is curved up into a natural smile. He has drawn my eyes with such detail they actually look like they’re sparkling. Is this how he sees me? I stand there for the longest time just staring at it. I’m mesmerised.
Carter comes up behind me as I take it all in. His arms snake around my waist and his lips trail a path up my neck. “Let’s get out of here before I bend you over the bed and fuck you senseless. Having you in this room makes me want to do all kinds of crazy shit.” I tilt my head to the side and smile as he sucks my earlobe into his mouth. When he bites down softly, I moan.
“I’m game,” I breathe, turning in his arms.
“Don’t tempt me, because I’m already on edge.” The desire I see in his eyes sends tingles down my spine. Sliding my arms around the back of his neck, I pull his lips down to mine. That’s all the encouragement he needs. Before I know it, I’m backed up against the wall and my top is being pulled over my head.
His mouth, tongue, and hands are everywhere. Grabbing hold of the hem of his T-shirt, I slide it upwards as my fingers move over his delicious abs. He reaches behind himself, tugging at the neckline before ripping it over his head. My mouth goes straight to his nipple ring, as I swirl my tongue around it before sucking it into my mouth.
Tilting his head back he groans loudly. “I need to be inside you now,” he breathes. His hands move around my back as his fingers work at unclasping my bra. Sliding it down my arms, he lets it drop to the floor. My body melts into him as his hands run up my sides until he reaches my breasts, palming them.
My fingers work frivolously at his pants, undoing the button and fly. Once they’re undone, I pull them down over his hips taking his boxers with them. Wrapping my hand around his hard length, I stroke it. “I can’t wait another second,” he groans as he spins me around before lifting and laying me face down on the bed. His hands move around to my front and he makes quick work of undoing my jeans and reefing them and my underwear down my legs. “Get on your knees,” he commands. I do exactly as he says.
My arse is high in the air and I’m completely exposed to him, but I’m so turned on I don’t even care. I want, no, I need his hands, his mouth or his cock in me now. Like he just read my mind, his finger runs from my clit, sliding through my wetness before sinking deep inside me. My back arches as I push my body into his hand. “Oh God,” I moan.
“That’s not my name,” he says in a stern voice as he pulls his finger out before adding another and gliding them back in.
“Carter. Please fuck me,” I beg. When his fingers leave me and I hear the foil wrapper tear, I know I’m about to get exactly what I asked for. I moan loudly when I feel him rub his length around my entrance. His fingers slide up my back until he reaches my hair. Wrapping my ponytail around his wrist, he gently tugs my head back.
“I remember the first day I met you,” he whimpers, sliding all the way inside me. “My first thought that day was exactly this. I wanted to bend you over, grab hold of your hair and fuck you hard.” He pulls almost all the way out before slamming back into me. He repeats the process over and over until I’m screaming. What we’re doing is hot and feels so damn good.
“Don’t stop,” I moan. The rougher the better. It just turns me on more. Every time he slams back into me, the head of the bed hits the wall with a loud thud. “Harder,” I implore as my fingers clutch tightly onto each side, digging into the leather to hold me in place. He’s never been this rough with me before, but I love it. It’s so primal, so raw. It’s fucking at its best.
“Fuck, Indi,” he cries as his fingers dig into my hips, stilling me. He continues to pound into me in hard, short strokes. “I love you so much, Indiana.” That’s all I need to send me over the edge.
“Carter,” I moan as my head tilts towards the roof and my eyes roll back in my head. “I’m coming …”
“I know, baby. I love the way your pussy grips my cock when you come,” he groans out as he pumps into me a few more times before his body shudders then stills.
His lips find my neck when he collapses down on top of me. “That was amazing,” I pant.
“It was,” he replies as his lips curve into a smile against my skin. “I’m never gonna look at this bed the same way again.”
“I think we marked the wall,” I giggle.
“I don’t give a fuck about the wall. I didn’t hurt you did I?”
“Not at all,” I say turning my head to meet his lips. He smiles as his hand comes up to brush the hair off my face. The love I see in his eyes melts my heart. Nobody will ever make me feel the way he does. Nobody.
He plants another kiss on my lips before he pushes off me and stands. “Get dressed. I want to take you upstairs. You can soak in the bath while I fix us something to eat, then I’m taking you to bed.” The look of promise I see on his face sends my heart into a flutter. I’m so glad I came up here with him. I already know this week is going to be amazing.