Mark Me

by Shawn Bailey

  Mark Me

  It was bad enough to have some guy try to hit on him in the men’s room of the video arcade last night, but to wake up and find two tattoos on his body is just too much. Who in the hell is this Dimitri person? And why is his name tattooed on my butt? Trey and the other friends have pulled some pretty mean pranks on Eli in the past, but this is just too much.

  Dimitri takes one look at that handsome sleeping face and just can’t resist branding his name across Eli’s bottom. Maybe it is the way Eli had turned down his advances earlier that night that spurs him to do such a childish thing. Or maybe he just hopes the preppy violinist will seek him out to remove the tattoos and he’ll get another chance to gaze into those big hazel eyes.

  Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Contemporary Length: 26,885 words

  MARK ME

  Shawn Bailey

  EROTIC ROMANCE

  MANLOVE

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest.

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Erotic Romance ManLove

  MARK ME

  Copyright © 2012 by Shawn Bailey

  E-book ISBN: 1-61926-317-3

  First E-book Publication: February 2012

  Cover design by Jinger Heaston

  All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Mark Me by Shawn Bailey from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Shawn Bailey’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Bailey’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  Dedicated to Bonita Davis and Nikkol Stampley, and all the friends I grew up with in New Orleans. Life was simpler back then, and I thank God I had good friends to keep me out of trouble.

  MARK ME

  SHAWN BAILEY

  Copyright © 2012

  Chapter One

  Eli Coleman took a big sip of the soda his friend, Trey Brown, handed to him. He choked as the acid from the drink burned the back of his throat. He handed the soda back to Trey and then sat down on the curb on the dark French Quarter corner.

  Trey accepted the soda and sat down next to him while their other friends, Henry Lacoste, Justin Marshall, and Holly Jupiter, remained standing drinking their sodas. “Man you look tired,” Trey said.

  Eli wrapped his arms around his legs and put his head down on his knees. He didn’t care what Trey said at the moment. He just wanted to sleep. He wasn’t used to hanging out in the streets at night.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t have invited him,” Henry said. “You know it’s past his bedtime.”

  Eli lifted his head and blinked. Everything around him seemed distorted, even his friends. He groaned. Why had he let these morons talk him into going out with them after the graduation? If he’d had any sense, he would have gone straight home with his parents after he left the convention center when the graduation ceremony ended.

  “He’ll be okay,” Trey said. “He has to grow up sometime. He can’t be mommy’s little boy forever.”

  “Fuck you,” Eli told Trey. Just because he was smaller than them didn’t mean he was a mama’s boy. He rose.

  “Where are you going?” Holly asked, walking over to him. Holly was the only female member of their group and had been the object of Eli’s attention for the last ten years. Unfortunately, she didn’t see him as anything but a friend.

  “I have to pee,” Eli answered, barely making out her pretty face and blonde hair in the darkness. He looked around for a clump of bushes to relieve himself.

  “Don’t you dare take a leak outside,” Holly warned him. “You’ll not only get arrested, but it’s just downright rude.” Eli rolled his eyes. She had some nerve telling him what to do.

  “There’s a restroom across the street at the arcade,” she told him.

  Eli squinted, barely making out the sign. “Got you,” he said. He walked across the street.

  “Maybe one of you needs to go with him,” Holly suggested to the rest of their friends. “He’s still pretty sleepy.”

  “No need,” Eli shouted back across the street. “I got this.” He found his way to the front door of the arcade and stepped inside. The bright lights nearly blinded him as he looked around. The arcade was crowded with young kids and young adults for such a late hour. The noise from the electronic games hurt his ears as he searched around for the men’s room sign. He spotted it near the right side of the room and headed in its direction.

  Eli stepped inside the men’s room. The odor of piss met him at the door. He turned up his nose and approached one of the vacant urinals.

  Another young man around his age or just a bit older used the urinal next to him. Eli unbuttoned his slacks, took out his dick, and relieved his bladder.

  “You’re kind of pretty,” the guy next to him said.

  Eli ignored him and continued to piss. The foul odor of his own urine assaulted his nose. He looked over at the other guy. His arms were covered with tattoos. Eli turned his nose up at the sight. The other guy pissing next to him had spiky, blond hair and blue eyes.

  And his choice of clothing, a pair of jeans, flip-flops, and a sleeveless muscle shirt left a lot to be desired.

  “Oh, you’re one of those arrogant, preppy boys,” the guy next to him said.

  Eli shook his dick dry and put it back inside of his pants. “No, I’m one of those don’t-want-to-be-bothered, preppy boys,” Eli replied as he staggered over to the sink.

  “You’re a smart-ass,” the other guy said, following him.<
br />
  Eli belched rudely. “No shit.” He turned on the tap, got some liquid soap out of the dispenser, and began to wash his hands.

  “What have you been celebrating?” the other guy asked.

  “My high school graduation,” Eli replied. “My friends and I have been having a blast.” He turned off the water and headed over toward the paper towels. He tripped over his own foot and felt himself falling. For some reason he didn’t hit the floor but landed in the arms of the nosey fellow next to him.

  “Hey, be careful. You could have cracked your head on this dirty floor.”

  Eli opened his eyes and looked up into his rescuer’s face. The man looked down at him with concern in his light-blue eyes. The guy had an earring in one ear and one small diamond stud embedded at the side of one nostril. With the long, spiky, blond hair he looked very much like a rock star. “Get your filthy hands off me,” Eli said, struggling to right his stance.

  “Why you ungrateful, little idiot,” the other guy said, lowering his head and planting a kiss against Eli’s lips.

  Eli opened his eyes wide as the other man pushed his tongue into his mouth. He struggled, trying to break free of both the man’s arms and his kiss. But the more he struggled, the more the other man clung to him.

  The man used his other hand to touch Eli’s chest and move it down his body until it landed at the crotch of his pants. He squeezed and Eli jumped. And then the man dropped him unceremoniously on his butt on the floor.

  Eli looked up angrily, huffing and puffing and trying to wipe the kiss from his lips. “Why the hell did you kiss me?”

  “Just look at it as thanks for saving your life.” Eli rose on unsteady legs. “How dare you?” The blond fellow looked down at him. “What’s wrong high school boy? Haven’t you ever been kissed?”

  Eli wiped his lips with the back of his hand. He hadn’t, but that was none of this man’s business. “Not by a man. Are you crazy?” His heart thumped in his chest as he studied the other guy’s face.

  The blond smirked. “No, but some people may beg to differ.” Eli glared at him and clenched his fists. He’d never been so insulted or confused in his life.

  “What do you think you’re going to do? I’m taller than you, weigh more than you, and you’ve probably never been in a fight in your life.” The other man walked around him. “Look at you. Expensive clothes, salon haircut, and your nails are clean. You probably have some nanny at home still taking care of you.” Eli continued to glare at him, knowing he spoke the truth. “Still, I’m not gay,” he said. He fought to keep the tears from streaming down his face.

  “I didn’t say that you were,” the other guy said. “But your body is reacting to mine.” He pointed down to Eli’s crotch.

  Eli refused to look down. He didn’t need to. A hard erection pushed against his thigh. Even he knew this shouldn’t be happening.

  “Don’t flatter yourself,” he said, pushing his way past the other guy.

  “It has nothing to do with you. I’m just tired.” The other young man laughed. “Sure. See you later, mama’s boy.” Eli stalked out the restroom, angry and confused. He walked quickly past the kids and out the door. He found his friends waiting patiently for him.

  “What took you so long?” Trey asked.

  “Nothing,” Eli said. “Let’s go.”

  * * * *

  Dimitri Miller exited the arcade and watched the group of kids as they walked down Bourbon Street. His body still tingled from the kiss. He ran his finger over his bottom lip. The young man’s lips were the sweetest things he’d encountered in a long time. He sighed.

  Maybe he should not have been so rough or so forward, after all the young man was sleepy and in no shape to defend himself. He watched as they walked down the sidewalk peeping into strip clubs they were obviously too young to enter. Ah, youth, he mused as he walked away from the arcade and headed down the street toward his tattoo parlor.

  He’d only stopped in the arcade for a moment to play a few games.

  He planned to go back to work and give Greer a hand with the evening rush of customers. He would have done just that if he hadn’t had to pee.

  Fate, he suspected, put him in the men’s room just at the right moment. The sight of the young man when he entered nearly took his breath away. God, the kid was a looker, with full lips and the cutest scowl. The rest of him hadn’t been bad either. He had a nice, lithe body, a tight-looking, little ass, and a decent-sized cock. But the first thing that had caught his attention were those big hazel eyes. Dimitri dreamed of the young man’s face as he walked the crowded streets.

  He sighed. Even he could tell that the guy was educated and refined, and had impeccable manners. Dimitri shuddered. Why couldn’t he meet someone like that and fall in love? Ah, no use thinking about him now. I’ll probably never see him again. He turned another corner and entered his tattoo parlor.

  “Where have you been?” Greer Smith, the other tattoo artist on call, asked him. The waiting room was packed.

  “On a break,” Dimitri told Greer. “Just let me wash my hands and I’ll be right with you,” he said to the customers. He walked into one of the rooms behind the counter, washed his hands, and then exited the room again. Just that fast he noticed that another group of people had arrived. His eyes landed on one of them. The young man he’d met earlier sat in the corner of the room fast asleep. Dimitri’s body stirred and he smiled.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Greer asked him.

  “Nothing,” Dimitri lied.

  Greer followed his gaze. “Cute,” he said.

  “Yeah,” Dimitri agreed.

  “Do you know him?”

  “Yeah, we met a couple of minutes ago,” Dimitri answered. He leaned toward Greer and whispered, “I think I love him.”

  “No,” Greer said as if he didn’t believe him.

  Dimitri nodded. “Yeah.”

  * * * *

  The alarm sounded. Eli’s eyes slid open. He tried to move but he got a sharp pain in the pit of his gut. He groaned, sitting up. His head throbbed unmercifully. He always felt like crap when he didn’t get at least eight hours sleep. Served him right for letting Trey and the others talk him into hanging out for most of the night. He rose from the bed and walked into the bathroom to pee. The acrid scent of his urine assaulted his nostrils. Eli sniffed at his arms. He reeked of sweat.

  Eli finished pissing, walked over to the shower, and turned on the water. He looked in the mirror over the sink while he waited for the water to heat up. “Yuck,” he said as he gazed at his reflection.

  Bloodshot eyes stared back at him and he had cotton mouth. He stripped out of the clothes he had worn since last night, tossed them into the hamper, and then stepped into the shower. He jumped. Too cold. Eli adjusted the water to a warmer temperature and then washed his hair. He didn’t remember what time he got home this morning, but he suspected that it was before dawn. Henry’s older brother, Ross, had dropped them off after the graduation and came back for them and deposited him on his doorsteps.

  Eli finished his shower. He wrapped a big towel around his head and stepped out the tub. He was just about to dry the rest of his body when he looked down and gasped. “No!” Right above his pubic hair he noticed a fresh tattoo. He couldn’t see it too clearly because the more he bent the more it disappeared into the folds of his skin. He found a hand mirror to examine it more closely. It was small, but obviously there. Had he fallen asleep again? His friends always teased him about his ability to sleep anywhere when he got tired. He sighed.

  They usually played tricks on him, too, when this happened. The last thing he wanted was something tacky like a tattoo on his body. The image of a tattooed arm flashed in his mind. Eli shook the memory away. He didn’t want to think of that either. He looked down into the mirror again, trying to make out the word. “L-O-V-E-R,” he spelled out. Someone had branded him in ink. “I’m going to kill those guys.” Eli continued to dry off, examining his body, trying to find other tattoos. He didn�
�t find any on the front of his body, and he couldn’t see the back of his body without being a contortionist. He turned.

  There was a full-length mirror on the closet door in his room. Eli dashed out of the bathroom and entered his bedroom. He opened the closet and turned his back to the mirror. He groaned. There was another one right at the base of his spine right above his behind. He tried to look at it with the hand mirror but couldn’t see it, so he moved the door close to his butt, tilted the hand mirror so it could reflect into the larger mirror. He groaned again looking at the little tiny heart with the name Dimitri spelled out. Who the hell is Dimitri? When he found out, he was going to strangle him.

  Chapter Two

  “You came in pretty late,” Eli’s father said to him as he entered the kitchen.

  I just graduated from high school. Doesn’t that mean anything?

  Eli sat down at the table and Emma, the cook, brought him his breakfast. She’d been with his family for years and knew what he liked. She’d arranged the eggs, bacon, and grits on his plate to form a happy face. Eli sighed. No one in his home thought of him as a grown-up. Fortunately, he’d be going off to college soon, and moving into his own apartment in two weeks. He supposed his mother would visit and put up curtains and bring casseroles Emma prepared for him.

  His mother entered, kissed him on the top of his head, and sat down across from him at the table. She wore a nice pink suit and pearls, which meant she’d be going to some type of society function later.

  “I guess,” Eli said to his father. “We were having so much fun. I guess I forgot about the time.”