Chapter 3

Three

K aila

"Okay, it's a short name, but it's dark. But I have some ideas. Let me draw something up real quick, okay?"

I nodded, proud of not letting my nerves show. "Yes, please." I scooted back on the chair a little farther, and Diesel's gaze latched onto my thighs. Perfect skin, he'd once told me.

Golden, beautiful thighs that are full and sexy like the rest of you. I remembered him whispering those words to me right before he tipped my chin back and gave me the kiss of my life.

A new little thrill passed through me as he tore his attention away and went to another part of the shop to draw.

Several minutes passed. I looked around at his station. Equipment, scraps of paper. Rubber gloves and his machines lined up in holsters as if they were weapons. There was a framed and signed photograph of him and a lead guitarist from a band I followed. I smiled and looked closer at the signature, moving the small photo stuck into the corner of the frame of a bulldog with its tongue lolling out.

The dog's expression made me smile.

I put it back and waited, thinking about the dark yet soft brown eyes of the dog's master, the man who was about to ink me.

The music in the shop switched to a song I was familiar with, and I bounced my foot to the beat. By the time Diesel returned, I grew more than intrigued with what he had in mind and the man behind the drawing.

"You ready for this?" His eyes danced, and he held a sketchbook at his side so I was unable to see.

I rubbed my hands together. "Yes!" My excitement returned with gusto. Suddenly I couldn't wait to bury Wolfe's name if it meant putting Diesel's stamp on my body. Like the lead guitarist's autograph, Diesel's art on my body would be an honor given.

With a grin, he whipped the sketch under my nose. I blinked down at the fat cherub with wings half-folded as if protecting itself. But it peeked from behind its wing with a playful glint in its eyes. It had eyes as blue and bright as mine.

My jaw fell open. "It's..." I had no words. I looked up into Diesel's eyes and shook my head. "How did you...?"

"I told you—I'm good at cover-ups. Plus, I've had the sweet honor of having you in my arms once upon a time. I can attest to the angel you are."

Blood roared in my ears. Did I just hear him right? Did he just talk about our time together? I thought for sure he'd forgotten. Buried it like a bad memory.

As though he could read my mind, he pinned me in place with a tilted grin and said, "I could never forget you. You were the one that got away, baby." He smiled at me and when his lips peeled back my heart stopped. He was gorgeous with a serious face. But when he smiled the world changed. Or, at least mine did.

His hand rested on my thigh. Soothed over the tender and untouched skin.

I knew I blushed and hiding it would prove impossible, so I just blurted out the truth that went with it. "I thought for sure you had. I mean, you just walked away. You didn't reach out or anything."

He didn't say anything for a long minute, just held that smile with an arched brow like he considered his words. A shadow crossed his face. "One thing I would never do is come between siblings. I did what I had to do for your sake." He took my hand in his and brought his lips to brush over my knuckles. "Not that it was easy."

He smiled slowly and he left it at that.

Tears rimmed my eyes. Since I didn't know what to say to that. I mean, did I throw my arms around him and did we pick up right where we left off? Didn't I just tell myself I was not going to be impulsive? I could see the pain in his eyes and it ripped out my heart.

With no answer to my questions, I turned back to the sketchbook in my hands. "You're amazing. The design. It's so representative..." I shook my head again in awe.

He gave my thigh a light squeeze, and I didn't imagine the stroke of his thumb over the curl of tattoo ink under his hand? "What do you say, Kaila? Is it a green light?"

"Yes!" I lay back on the chair and pulled down the edge of my skirt to give him ample room.

My hair was pinned to the base of my neck, so I pulled it free and laid the thick length over my opposite shoulder to drape over my breast.

Diesel went dead still. His gaze fixated on my throat. I squirmed under that too-hot stare, aware that something major had changed in him. His whole demeanor had gone from sexy friendly to utterly primal in a blink.

He shook his head and cursed softly, eyes dropping to my exposed hip and partial thigh.

"What? What is it?"

His throat worked, making the dragon tattoo appear to move. "Every time you wore your hair like that I wanted to take you home, wrap those lengths around my hands and drive into you until you knew nothing but my name."

My breath stilled in my chest.

Comprehension dawned and I felt the burn of his light touch.

I was his one . Me, when he could have had anyone he wanted. Every girl in my class, half the women in town. They all wanted the bad boy who said what was on his mind and had Hollywood level fame written in his stars with the artistic talent he had.

Without another word, he left me alone again. I fidgeted with my skirt and my hair and finally stared at the photos. The dog had so much personality. From the tilt of its head to the way its paws turned slightly inward. I was smiling when Diesel returned.

He followed my gaze to the picture as he drew up his stool. "That's my dog, Karma," he said offhandedly. "I'm going to pull the edges of your skirt down now."

Heat crept into my cheeks as I nodded nervously. I loved the feel of his fingers on me again. His tone branded me with the level of power he emitted. Softly spoken yet potent to my libido.

I helped him inch my skirt down. Diesel's eyes latched onto my thigh, and he growled, skimming a hand over my body before he began to position the template over my tattoo. When he spoke, his voice sounded gritty, failing at nonchalance. "This is going to look beautiful over such perfect skin."

My nipples bunched. Why did my traitorous body have to respond to everything? Didn't I ache enough being an abandoned submissive without this constant torment? I peered at Diesel from beneath my lashes. He was the first man to raise any emotions and here he was doing it all over again. I swallowed hard and focused on the photo of Karma.

"So this Wolfe...he was your husband?" His gaze shot from my thigh to my eyes. The warm brown depths raised a shiver in me. His fingers felt unbearably hot and rough on my skin. I wanted to move into his hands and be comforted. I didn't realize how much I longed for another's touch until that second.

He smoothed the template over my thigh and met my stare fully. A spark shot through me, and my pussy clenched with desire.

"Not even close. I never even slept with the guy. Just thought I loved him once upon a time," I continued quickly, my face burning with my admission.

He set his lips into a tight line.

"I see."

He spun his stool to his equipment. Watching him slide black latex gloves over his big hands made my pussy wetter than it had been in months. The deep ache there was going to tear me up if I wasn't careful. I wiggled, and my movements didn't go unnoticed.

He fitted his machine with fresh needles and selected several pots of color. He put his gloved hand on my knee and with the cascade of emotions drenching me, I jerked. Heat washed over me. My nipples pinched tighter and I moaned.

Oh God…

I trembled but not because I was scared of what I was about to do. Well, that might not be true either. I was scared. But only of what he made me feel.

"You haven't been touched in a while. I can tell." His matter-of-fact tone, deep and full of meaning, stroked my senses.

Actually, he would be shocked if I told him the truth.

Instead of going down the long road explaining how I managed to stay a virgin into my twenties, I simply shook my head while my pulse tried to find a normal rhythm again. "That obvious, huh? I've kind of had an aversion to people touching ever since him."

His smile crash-landed on his handsome features, a crooked, bad-ass smile that reassured and frightened at the same time. The reassurance I needed. The fear I craved. It made my heart skip beats and for once in a long while, I felt emotions I thought might have died with Wolfe's betrayal.

"Try to stay calm, Kaila. I've got you."

I know he didn't mean it in that way. But my stupid brain wrapped its greedy mitts around the words all the same and hugged them tight.

To be here with Diesel made me feel safe and like the last few years were just growing pains.

My heartrate spiked, and I sucked in a harsh breath as he started the machine and applied needle to ink to skin. As the first ink wrecked Wolfe's name, I felt a wild surge of happiness. Freedom I hadn't known I needed so badly.

"Tell me what you've been up to while you've been away."

Diesel didn't look at me as he made the soft demand, just kept his attention on his work. Suddenly I wanted his attention very badly.

I could tell him about how I worked my ass off at two jobs—one in retail, the other waitressing—to help pay for my business and marketing degrees, but none of it seemed important. So, I opened my mouth and told him about my horrible mistake that led to the tattoo—how he'd made me into a fool from day one.

Diesel laid in another line of ink before he looked into my eyes. "You didn't do anything wrong. He was an asshole. Not you. And it's damn obvious he didn't deserve you."

I blinked at him. "I hear you, but I still feel I was an idiot. But I doubt you can understand how foolish perceived love can make a person."

I regret the words as soon as they leave my mouth. "I covered my face with my hands. "Diesel, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. Just that there is no way a man like you would be as stupid as I was."

He smiled slowly. "Don't sweat it, baby. I knew what you meant." His eyes grabbed me, and I couldn't look away. "I will say, you'd be surprised by how fast I could erase this Wolfe character from your memory, just like I am doing with your skin. Just give me the chance." His dark promise tipped into my soul. In all honesty, I could barely think or breathe, and all I wanted were Diesel's hands on my body and his mouth claiming mine so we could finish what we started five years ago. Only this time nothing would stop us from going all the way.

"I..." I trailed off.

He set aside his machine. When he raised his hands to his shirt buttons, my pussy slicked. Those big fingers moving over the intricate task made me burn to have them on my body. And not in the way of a tattoo artist and his client.

But as his lover.

My heart throbbed too fast, and I could barely get enough oxygen. Tanned skin appeared as he parted his shirt one button at a time.

I slowly sat up and sucked in a gasp when the word covering his sculpted pec was revealed.

Kaila.