Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

Zeppelin

I cleaned up my station as Miranda cashed out the customer I’d just finished tattooing. He wanted an Eagle on his back with the wings spread open across his shoulder blades with the bird looking as if it was swooping down upon its pray. It was a lengthy tattoo, but I’d finished the last bit today, and I had to admit it looked damn good. It was probably one of my best tattoos yet, and I’d drawn the design for him, too.

I’d always been good at art, and after becoming addicted to the feeling of a tattoo needle stabbing into my skin over and over, I’d decided becoming a tattoo artist was something I wanted to do. I finished my business degree in college, busted my ass working two jobs to help pay for the apartment Eros and I shared, and when I graduated and was ready to open my shop, Eros’s parents had given me the loan to start my business. I’d spent every spare minute I had apprenticing at a tattoo shop near where we lived while still working two jobs so I could pay Eros’s parents off.

I now owned Ink Rage free and clear, and I earned enough to have a full-time receptionist and had been able to take on Shane as an artist recently.

“That ink was damn good, bro,” Shane said after the customer had left the shop.

I flashed him a quick grin. “Thanks, man.” I tossed the paper towel I’d used to clean the armrest into the trash can before settling on my stool and grabbing my iPad to draw. I didn’t have any other appointments today, so I could chill until someone came in as a walk-in. Shane and I worked on a schedule like this so we could handle walk-ins as well as appointments—I did appointments in the mornings, and he did appointments in the afternoon.

Shane’s appointment showed shortly after, and the sound of a buzzing tattoo gun soon filled the quiet of the shop. Miranda turned on rock music, and I buried myself in my drawing, not realizing I was drawing Jaxon holding Ash until halfway through.

The bell above the door jingled, and I glanced up, surprised to see Logan walking in. When I glanced at my watch, I noted it was only three in the afternoon. His clothes were grease-stained, and his boots were scuffed up and just as greasy. His longer hair was pulled back off his face in a tiny bun to keep his dark hair out of his face.

“Hey, how can I help you?” Miranda asked, popping her gum right after and flicking her blue hair out of her face. No doubt, she found Logan attractive. And hell, he was attractive. But he also seemed to be gay and in a very happy relationship with two other men. She was SOL when it came to him.

“You,” Logan said, his gaze landing on me. Shane paused, looking at Logan, his brows arching. I let a smirk tilt my lips as I locked my iPad and set it aside, reclining back against the toolbox behind me I used as a cabinet of sorts for my tattoo supplies. Logan strode toward me. “Do you know I had to deal with a phone call at five in the fucking morning because you and your husband have Jaxon so fucking twisted up?”

I nodded. “Eros informed me—yeah,” I confirmed. Eros had cuddled him, but when I found out, I sank to my knees in front of Jaxon and sucked his cock so damn good, he’d been left babbling absolute nonsense. It’d been one of the hottest fucking things I’d ever experienced, truly. Jaxon Wreath had no fucking clue how damn gone over him I was.

“If you and Eros are just playing a game with him, fucking end it now ,” Logan growled, planting his hands on my tattoo chair and leaning over it to get in my face. I simply arched a brow at him, not intimidated in the slightest. “He deserves everything good in this world, Zeppelin, and he’s been through fucking enough.”

“We’re not playing a game with him,” I told Logan calmly. He was in overprotective mode, and while I didn’t understand why he was so bent out of shape over Jaxon, I didn’t want to send him over the edge. I saw a lot of myself in Logan, and something told me it wouldn’t take much to tip him over the edge and make him swing on me. The kid was volatile as fuck—clearly.

“You better not be fucking lying to me,” Logan sneered. “Jaxon saved my fucking life—” ah, there was the reason he was so protective of Jaxon—“and I won’t allow anyone to hurt him.”

“We want him, Logan,” I said, trying to diffuse the situation. I knew arguing with him or even getting into a physical altercation with him would upset Jaxon enough to push me and Eros away, and I couldn’t have that. “This isn’t a game. I promise. We’re fighting tooth and nail to get him to open up to us. We wouldn’t do all this if he was just some toy.”

Logan leaned up and nodded once. “Good. And if you do hurt him, I will fuck you up, Zeppelin. Understand me?”

“I understand you clearly,” I assured him. I’d want him to fuck me up if I ever hurt Jaxon. Because he was right. Jaxon was everything good in this world, and I never wanted to dim that light inside of him. Just seeing the mess he’d been had done me in.

Logan turned on his heel and walked to the counter, grabbing the tattoo book with my name on it. He settled on a stool, propping his booted feet on the rung of the chair in front of him as he began flipping through the book of my free-hand designs. “Since you were just playing on your iPad when I came in, I assume you’ve got time to do a tattoo?” he asked, not looking up at me.

Christ, this kid was like a damn light switch. How did he go from barely controlled fury to so nonchalant like that in mere seconds?

“Yeah, I’ve got time,” I told him, standing up and walking over. “You like getting inked?” I asked, running my eyes over his tattooed arms and hands. He even had tattoos on his neck. From what I could see, he didn’t have much free skin available. I was probably right in guessing that the rest of his body looked similar.

“Yeah. It’s relaxing.” He pointed to a butterfly in my book, surprising me. “I want this, but can you incorporate a lowercase cursive S and E into it?” he asked.

I nodded and leaned over the counter, grabbing a piece of printer paper. Miranda silently handed me a pencil, and I began drawing, feeling Logan’s eyes on my moving hands as I quickly sketched what he wanted. “This?” I asked about five minutes later, turning the paper so he could see it better.

He nodded as the bell above the door jingled. Miranda greeted the customer. “Yeah—perfect.”

“Uhm…”

Logan and I both turned to look at the sound of Jaxon’s voice. He was holding a plastic bag with two Styrofoam containers, and he had a tray with two drinks in his other hand. He glanced between me and Logan in confusion and a bit of trepidation. “I… I brought lunch,” he finally settled on.

I grinned and walked over to him, planting a kiss on his addictive mouth. “Thanks, baby. I’ve got to ink up your son-in-law first. You can put mine in my office. In the back, to the left. I’ll grab you a stool, and you can eat and watch me poke your son with a tattoo gun.”

Without a word, Jaxon headed in the direction I sent him. Logan peeled off his shirt, revealing a flat stomach and broad shoulders. He was tall and lanky, but there was a sleekness to his muscles that told me he still wasn’t one to be fucked with.

“I have an open spot on my chest,” he said, turning to face me and pointing to the spot. “Is it a big enough spot?”

I nodded. “Just enough.” I nodded my head toward the table. “Go on and sit down while I get this ready.”

I redid the sketch so the lines were neater and then printed it on stencil paper. Jaxon came back out of my office with only one container of food and his drink. While the design printed, I grabbed a stool from one of the other tattoo areas and slid it into my area, setting it out of the way but in a position he could still see what was going on.

“So, what are you doing here?” Jaxon asked Logan as he settled on the stool, giving the boy a stern look. “Your preferred tattoo shop is across the city, and you’re still supposed to be working.”

Logan shrugged. “I came to warn your… boyfriend away from you if he and his husband were just playing games with you.”

My lips quirked in amusement. Logan’s honesty was enviable, but I was sure that mouth got him in trouble, too. He had absolutely no filter.

“You did what ?” Jaxon growled, narrowing his eyes at Logan. Fuck, that dad voice was sooo hot.

Logan scoffed. “What? Don’t get your tidy whities in a fucking bunch, old man.” Shane coughed to cover his laugh, making Jaxon shoot him a dark enough look that Shane quickly ducked his head. It was such a fucking dad look, and damn, it made my cock hard.

“I don’t need you protecting me, Logan. My business is my business.”

Logan rolled his eyes like a bratty teen. I rounded the counter with the stencil, and Logan laid back on the black chair, crossing his ankles and resting his hands at his sides. “When you text me at five in the morning, it becomes my business, too,” Logan told him. “We can argue about it all fucking day if you want to. I’m down. But just know, I’m not changing my mind. What’s done is done. We had our talk. We’re cool. I’m even letting him tattoo my skin. See?” He waved his arm around. “So, chill out.”

“I swear to God,” Jaxon growled. “You make me want to throttle you sometimes.”

I chuckled and turned to face my man, gripping Jaxon’s chin and slanting my lips across his. He relaxed immediately, making a soft sound in the back of his throat. I stroked my thumb over his damp bottom lip after I pulled back. “Breathe, baby. And eat.” I turned back to Logan. “I know you haven’t eaten today anyway.”

“Did you?” Jaxon countered.

I nodded as I began prepping Logan’s chest for the stencil. “I sure did. Eros had breakfast and coffee delivered to me this morning.”

Jaxon sighed but didn’t say another word. However, I did hear the container open. Logan glanced up at me and smirked. “You have him so dick-whipped.”

I barked out a laugh at the same time Jaxon growled Logan’s name. “I like you, kid,” I told him.

Logan scoffed. “What’s not to like?”

I snickered and placed the stencil on his skin. “Alright, go look?—”

“Nope,” Logan said. “I’m trusting you. This is your first test. Fuck up my skin, especially with my men’s initials in it, and we’re gonna have problems.”

I rolled my eyes. “Kid, I haven’t fucked up a single tattoo yet. But okay.” I sat on my stool and scooted closer to him. “Ready?”

“Poke me,” Logan said.

Jaxon choked on his food, and I burst into laughter.