My intention had been to thank her by kissing her. That didn’t quite happen, and we didn’t make it to the bedroom. However, I did manage to find a new position that didn’t put as much strain on her hips.

By four in the afternoon we’d finished with presents, a shower, and a meal and were vegging on the couch. My phone had rung half a dozen times already, as had Tenley’s, but we were both avoiding the calls. Until Tenley and I talked about New Year’s options, I wasn’t having the conversation with Lisa.

We were in the middle of watching an action flick when Tenley sighed and shifted around, rubbing her legs together. “I need to do something.”

“Why don’t we go out? We could go for a walk, get some fresh air.”

She hopped off the couch and headed for the bedroom, taking the hoodie with her. I stayed put because seeing her naked would be a deterrent to going out. We needed to do something other than have sex, even though it was a way to keep our minds off the difficult stuff. While I waited, I busied myself with organizing the presents under the tree.

She came back out a few minutes later with her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. She was wearing purple jeans that were so fitted they looked painted on and the STRYKER hoodie.

“You like?” She did a little twirl.

“Yeah. I like.” I nodded dumbly, completely rethinking my previous rationale for leaving the condo.

“Are you planning to go out like that?”

I ran a hand over my chest. “You don’t think I should?” The white T-shirt was so thin, she could see my body art and my nipple rings through it.

“Feel free, but I’m thinking if you get a hard-on, it might be difficult to hide.” Tenley gestured at my pajama pants.

I looked down. I already had an obvious semi. “Point taken.”

I changed quickly. When I came back out, Tenley was sprawled on the floor, and TK was perched on her knees batting at a string with a bell tied to the end.

“I have an idea,” Tenley said.

“What’s that?”

“You said you wanted to work on shading this week, right? What if we started now?” She looked hopeful and a little nervous.

“Are you sure you’re up for something like that today?”

“I think so.” She set TK on the floor and used the coffee table to pull herself up. “Yesterday was difficult for both of us, and I need some kind of . . . release? And I think this might help.”

I weighed the options. If I worked on her shoulders it would be less painful, and we could stop anytime. There’d be no pressure to get through a certain amount of color, and we’d have no interruptions since the shop would be empty. It could be cathartic. But it could go the other way, too. It was hard to tell which was more likely. “I don’t know . . .”

“Please? I promise I’ll tell you if I think it’s too much. We could go down to the shop for a bit. If I feel at all like it’s not going to be okay, we can just go for a walk.”

With no pressure in the request, I gave in. There was no way to know unless I gave it a shot. “We could try.”

“Really?” She threw her arms around my neck, her excitement contagious. I hadn’t worked on her since before she’d left for Arden Hills. Getting her back in my chair might be good for both of us.

“But I say when I think you’ve had enough.”

“Of course. And if I don’t think I can handle it before that, I’ll ask you to stop.”

She kissed me, her tongue pressing forward to tangle with mine, and I wondered if we would ever lose this unquenchable need for each other. I hoped not.

26

HAYDEN

At Inked Armor, Tenley wandered around the private room, inspecting the bottles of ink and plastic-labeled bins of supplies as she waited for me to set up. I drew it out to allow both of us to adjust to the environment and what we were about to do.

When I was done, I pulled her file. I kept it in there after she’d left, rendering and rerendering the color scheme when I got frustrated with my design. I pulled out the newest versions and spread them over the worktable. The tone of the piece had changed over time and revisions. The original design, which had initially drawn me to Tenley’s art, and to her, had been altered considerably.

The blacks and deep blues and purples, along with the bursts of flame, had all been tempered, subdued by an overarching golden glow. The change in color was most concentrated at the shoulders. It gave the allusion that the sun was shining down on the wings, bringing them back to life, the blackened, damaged feathers falling away, newer growth replacing the destruction.

“I’ve made some alterations.” I spun around on my chair, expecting her to be across the room.

She was standing right behind me. “I see that.”

“We can go with the original if you prefer, but I thought I’d give you choices.”

Tenley put her hands on my shoulders and leaned in, looking over the various designs spread out over the table. She moved from left to right, from original to most recently revised. “You’ve made a lot of changes.”

“A lot has changed since we started the tattoo.”

“Mm.” Her fingernails slipped under the hair at the back of my neck and dragged down. “That’s very true. I like these. They’re beautiful.” She skimmed across the last few.

“You want to go with one of them?”

At her nod, I put the others aside, except for the original design we’d started from and the ones she liked the most. Then I pulled her into my lap. We spent another good twenty minutes going over the finer points before she made the final decision. She went with the second-to-last revision, which was my favorite. I loved that we seemed to be on the same page on so many things.

I cranked the heat in the private room. As I picked out the ink and set up the tattoo machine, Tenley stripped from the waist up. When she was half-naked and everything was laid out, she dropped down in the chair, making no attempt at modesty.

“You’re a hundred percent sure you can handle this today?” I asked, keeping my eyes on hers.

“Yes. If it’s too much, I promise to tell you.”

“I’m holding you to that.”

Her broad grin eased some of my anxiety over doing this on such a critical day for her. This was exactly what I had wanted to do during my first holiday without my family. Instead, I went on a bender that nearly killed me. By that time I’d already been introduced to Chris, who’d tried to get in touch with me afterward without any luck. He kicked my ass when I finally showed up at work three days later. The black eye and bruised ribs that resulted marked the official beginning of our friendship. It was the last time I was allowed to be alone during a holiday. Aside from the Thanksgiving that had just passed.

Tenley stretched out in my chair and her hair slipped over the side. It was so long, it almost brushed the floor.

“I’m starting at your shoulders. I’m thinking a couple hours max, but it depends on you.”

“That sounds fair.”

I hit the music, washed my hands, and snapped on a pair of gloves. Next I prepped Tenley’s back, wiping it down with antiseptic spray. The hum of the tattoo machine filtered through the room. As soon as it touched her skin, she relaxed. Her eyes closed and she melted into the chair, a tiny smile playing at the corner of her mouth. I worked in silence for the first few minutes, aware Tenley needed time to acclimate to the sensation.

“How does it feel so far?”

“It’s not bad.”

“It’ll be more irritating because I’m shading instead of outlining, so if you need a break, say the word.”

I started on the scarred side on purpose. Although the ones at her shoulders weren’t bad in comparison to the ones by her hips, they were still sensitive. If I could get the most uncomfortable part out of the way at the beginning of the session, it would make the rest easier to tolerate.