by Jamie Begley
“What the hell?” Vida screeched, trying to pull her top back up.
“Stop it, Vida. Don’t be ridiculous. You do realize I saw your strip act. Not only that, but I’ve had your nipples in my mouth.” Vida didn’t appreciate being reminded of him seeing her naked.
Gently, he unwrapped her tattoo.
He grew tired of her fidgeting with the top. “Sit still, Vida.”
Vida pulled her top up to cover her breasts, making herself sit still as he rubbed lotion onto the tattoo before rewrapping the sensitive skin. When he was done, he tugged her top from her hands, helping her to slide her arms back into the sleeves. Before she was able to button it up between her breasts, he held the material apart as his knuckles stroked the soft globes.
Colton leaned forward to kiss the flesh between her breasts. Then, without rising up, he brought his weight forward. Vida leaned backward, trying to move away only to find herself lying on the couch with Colton above her. His lips traced towards a pink-tipped nipple. Laving it with his tongue, he surrounded the tip with his mouth and then sucked her into the erotic heat of his passion.
Vida’s head moved against the couch as he played with one breast before turning to the other, giving it the same tormented attention. All of Vida’s good intentions disappeared as her insides clenched in need. She knew her body was telling her it wanted him; the warmth between her thighs was burning her, wanting instinctively to be filled.
Colton’s mouth moved away from her breast, downward across her stomach, teasing her belly button while making her stomach muscles quiver. Colton tugged her pajama bottoms off, letting them fall to the floor. Vida tried to slide out from underneath Colton, having no intention of having sex with him, but Colton used the opportunity of her movements to slide down between her thighs.
“Colton, I’m not sure—”
“I know, baby. I’m not going to fuck you tonight. I’m just going to make you want me to.”
Colton’s mouth covered her pussy, consuming her in a fire she had never experienced before. His tongue slid between the cleft, finding her clitoris. Vida lost what little restraint she had left; her hips surged forward, trying to seek pressure against her where she needed it the most, instinct driving her movements to seek relief. Colton eased his tongue along the tip of her passage, exploring the delicate flesh. She twisted not wanting gentleness, instead she wanted something to ease the building desire.
He used his finger to trace the fleshy side of her pussy. “I’m going to tattoo my initials right here.”
“No.”
“Yes. Right... here.” He touched a spot to the side of her mound. “This pussy is going to be mine, only mine, Vida. Do you hear me?”
“I’m not going to let you tattoo your initials down there. It would hurt like hell!” Vida protested, shocked.
“Baby, when I tattoo you there, you won’t even feel it.” Colton promised with a wicked grin before he lowered his mouth to her once again.
Vida tried to regain control of her body, but she was weak against the experience he used against her. His teeth tantalized her flesh. He even used the piercing under his bottom lip to brush against her, causing a storm of sensations she recklessly let herself enjoy before it escalated into a need that had her hands drag through the length of his hair, forcing him against her as she tried to seek the orgasm he was denying her.
Vida began to plead with him. “Colton...”
“Do you want me, baby?” Colton asked against her moist flesh.
“Yes.” Vida knew he was waiting for her to give in, but didn’t care anymore. She wanted her aching body to be given the satisfaction she knew he was capable of giving her.
Colton sat up, pulling her up with him. Reaching down to the floor, he picked up her pajama bottoms. Vida stared at him stupidly as he helped her put them back on before pulling her pajama top up and buttoning it to her throat.
“I don’t understand.” She saw Colton wince as he stood to his feet.
“I wanted to give you a little taste of what you say you don’t want.”
“You were teaching me a lesson?” Vida asked, her body hurting.
“Baby, are you ready to be in my bed every night? Have me fuck you anytime I want?”
Vida didn’t answer.
Colton grinned, bending down to kiss her mouth. Vida’s lips parted, letting his tongue enter her mouth and stroke hers in a voracious kiss. Pulling away, he straightened to stand above her, his hand going to her braid where he tugged it until she stared helplessly up into his hard face.
“I’m trying to give you time, Vida. I want you to admit that there’s something going on between us. I want you to want me to fuck you as much as I want to,” he explained bluntly, bringing out in the open what Vida was trying to ignore.
Vida winced at his crude words.
Colton sighed, squatting down in front of her, he put his hand on her cheek, his thumb caressing her soft skin.
“I’m not a hearts and flowers kind of guy. You mean something to me, Vida.”
“I don’t want to mean anything to you. I don’t want you to mean anything to me. I have plans. I want a home and a life, like your sister.”
“Do you plan on living that life alone or are you going to share that life with a man, children?” Colton asked, his face gentle.
“Of course.”
“Then why can’t it be me?” Vida turned her eyes away at his prying question.
“Because you’ve been married. You aren’t faithful to her. You expect her to be around you and not care that you’re with other women. I’ve seen how you treat women, Colton. You use them for sex then don’t call them again.” All her fears of him being like the men that used her mother came out in her words.
Colton sighed again, this time deeper. “I really have gotten off on the wrong foot with you.” Colton rose to his feet. “Vida, I’ll tell you about my marriage soon, but not late at night when you’re tired. I will say that I went into my marriage wanting it to work out, and when it ended, it ended badly for both of us. That doesn’t mean that a relationship with us couldn’t work, that I wouldn’t be good to you. I would be very good to you, baby.” This time his thumb rubbed over her bottom lip.
“How about we take it one day at a time and get to know each other better until my divorce becomes final?”
“What about when your divorce becomes final?”
“Then all bets are off. I’ll take you to my bed, and you can get to know me even better.” He smiled at her wickedly, rising to his feet. “Lie down.”
Vida lay down and Colton spread out a blanket on top of her. Giving her a gentle kiss with a sweet “Goodnight” against her parted lips, he left her tired and confused about his treatment of her.
He could be so domineering and arrogant, yet he had reassured her and made her feel wanted and desired as well.
He had let her know he had every intention of having sex with her and confirmed her worst fear that emotionally they were growing closer.
Confused, Vida stared at the dark ceiling, her mind in turmoil and her body still desperately wanting Colton.
Chapter 14
Vida dressed in loose jeans and a pretty red top that had capped sleeves, her tattoo looking pretty against the bright color of her top. Brushing her hair, she pulled it back from her face with two combs, but left the long length down her back.
“You look fucking gorgeous,” Colton complimented when he saw her. A blush rose in her cheeks. He had a way of making her feel feminine and sexy with simply a look from his eyes, however he didn’t try to hide the dirty thoughts going through his mind.
Vida shook her hair back. “How does it look?”
Colton’s gaze didn’t go to her tattoo as she had intended, but to the cleavage her top exposed. He opened his mouth to reply.
“I meant the tattoo.”
Colton closed his mouth. “Let me rub some more lotion on it before we go. It looks good on you. I do good work.”
“Yes, you do,�
�� Vida complimented.
Colton rubbed the lotion on the still tender skin. His knuckles brushed the tops of her breasts before stepping back.
“We better go, or we’re going to be really late.” His tight jaw left no doubt what activity would delay them.
They stopped for breakfast at a waffle house on the way to the shop. Colton chose a different one than the one Tammy worked at, which was close to the apartment. Vida didn’t question his choice, merely giving him an amused grin.
Enjoying herself, Vida found herself relaxing even more in his company as he told her stories about when he first joined the Predators and their exploits to embarrass the new recruit.
She laughed until she was almost crying when he described standing watch over a dumpster that the brothers told him had a money drop in it until someone came to retrieve it. When the brothers came back to pick him up and he told them no one had showed, he had to jump in the dumpster to retrieve the drop bag. It hadn’t been easy to find and was outside in an alley that had several restaurants. He had described how he had almost vomited several times, only the humiliation he would suffer if he had, had him choking it down. When he had finally found the bag, they had told him to open it. Inside the bag, he told her, they had placed his cut. They had made him a member, and he had passed his final test. Of course they had made him walk back to the clubhouse, as no one wanted to ride double with him.
“I can see why you miss that life,” Vida teased. “Gives you an excuse to go dumpster diving.”
“When we have time, I’ll tell you some stories of what I used to pull on the recruits,” he bragged.
“Worse than dumpster diving?”
“Much worse,” he confirmed.
Vida climbed on the back of his bike, laughing at his dire voice.
The ride to the shop didn’t take long, both of them walking into the shop with smiles on their faces. Tessa stood behind the counter with the appointment book in her hands, eyes narrowed on them in suspicion.
Vida ignored her, letting Colton deal with the temper she could see brewing. She was not able to prevent herself from feeling guilty when she remembered she was his wife, however close to a divorce they were.
“I was wondering when you were going to show,” Tessa said snidely.
Colton gave her a sharp look; Vida could tell he wasn’t happy with her sharp tone of voice.
“I’m not late. In fact, my first client isn’t scheduled for another thirty minutes.”
Forestalled in her effort to find something to rip into him for, her eyes fell onto Vida’s tattoo. “When did you get that tattoo?” Her eyes bore into it.
“Colton did it last night after the shop closed.” Vida tensed, seeing from Tessa’s face going pale that something was wrong. Her eyes turned to Colton, shocked to see apprehension instead of the anger she expected.
“You gave her your symbol, but never tatted one on me, even though you gave me three fucking tattoos.”
Colton didn’t reply.
“I don’t understand. What symbol?” Vida stared back and forth between the two.
Tessa swung back to Vida. “Are you fucking blind?” Tessa pointed to the butterfly. “He’s fucking telling everyone that you’re his.” Vida looked down at her tattoo, not seeing anything other than the butterfly.
“She can’t see it. Even if she looked in a mirror the lines would be reversed,” Colton explained.
Vida began to get angry. “What did you do?” Her voice had sunk to a whisper.
Tessa’s hand pointed to the pictures that hung around the lobby. “Look how he signs his pictures.”
Vida got up from the desk and took a closer look at the pictures hanging on the wall. Each one was signed with a symbol, which blended the initials of his first and last name together.
“Why would you do that?” Vida questioned him angrily.
“Wanted to make sure that everyone knew you were mine. Anyone that knows tattoos will easily see that those are my initials.”
“You might as well have his name tatted on your shoulder.” Tessa swung back to Colton. “How many times did I ask to put your name on me? You told me no.” Tessa’s hand reached out and snatched up the stapler, throwing it at Colton who didn’t move out of the way, but caught it in his hand.
“Do you really want to go into this in front of Vida?” Colton never lost his cool, even when Tessa threw the stapler at him. Vida was surprised; she had thought that Colton would be the type of man who would react physically when challenged like Tessa had by being the first one to try to get physical.
“I don’t give a fuck what she hears,” Tessa screamed at him.
“I tatted your name on me several time’s, I told you I would be faithful, be committed to our marriage. You were committed to one thing; the snow you shoveled up your nose. You know why I didn’t put my name on you? You thought I would forgive and forget. I can’t forgive you for what you did. You lied to me straight out about how much you were using, then I caught you stealing from the shop. And when I thought you were doing better controlling your habit, you were selling your pussy for Digger to keep you in your habit. Everyone in this town knew except me that you were fucking around on me. Then, the night I got busted by the cops, King told me everything, and every dirty little detail your life had become.” Colton’s words were painful for Vida to hear. She had been wrong to assume the failure of his marriage rested on his shoulders.
“Then why did you keep me out of prison?”
“Because you were carrying my kid, Tessa.”
Vida stiffened in her chair. Seeing the pain on Colton’s face, she knew that she didn’t want to hear anymore, but she was trapped, not wanting to draw attention to herself by getting up.
“King called me when he heard from his informant on the police force that the bust was going down. He told me everything that was going on behind my back. You had told Digger you were pregnant, but not me.” Colton paused before continuing in an emotionless voice.
“I wasn’t going to have my pregnant wife in prison delivering my baby. So I took the blame, and you got rehab.” Tessa had taken a step back as if struck when Colton had mentioned the baby.
“Colton, I was going to tell you,” Tessa tried to explain, but Vida could tell it was too little too late.
“When were you going to tell me, Tessa? You never mentioned in all this time that you were pregnant. If one of King’s women hadn’t overheard you telling Digger, I would have never known. When I went in prison, a couple of the brothers kept an eye on you for me, that’s how I found out you aborted my baby.”
“Colton, I was doing so much coke. I was messed up. I figured I had damaged the baby so bad that—”
“Shut up, Tessa, or so help me God, I’ll hurt you.”
Tessa shut up. Vida heard Colton take a deep breath, trying to regain control.
“So, no, I didn’t want my name inked on you to remind me every fucking day how stupid I was to marry you in the first place. I called you every month while I was in prison, serving your time, to get the divorce. When you didn’t, I handled it, but you wouldn’t even show me the respect to sign your fucking name to the papers.”
Colton nodded his head towards Vida. “She doesn’t think I can be a faithful because I fucked so many women when I got out of prison and was still married to you, when the truth of the matter is, our marriage ended the first time you spread your legs for a dime bag of coke.” Vida saw Tessa swipe away the tears on her face.
“Now, can we get to work before the clients start coming in and someone else hears my private shit?”
Reverend and Carlito came in the door, both coming to a stop when they saw everyone look their way.
“What’s up?” Reverend said into the tension-filled silence of the room.
Colton and Tessa remained silent.
Vida spoke up, trying to get the day back on track. Opening the schedule book, she read off everyone’s first appointment. “Carlito, you’re first up for walk-ins.”
“Cool, they end up being more fun.” Carlito was a good-looking man of Mexican descent who didn’t let anything faze him. Vida had talked to him several times when he was between customers. He would sit at the desk beside her, playing on her computer.
The clients began arriving, so the artists and clients moved off to their respective rooms. Thankfully, after the rocky start, the shop was busy keeping everyone occupied. Tessa remained quiet when she would venture into the lobby to greet her customers, not even looking at Vida who felt uncomfortable after hearing the details of Colton’s and her marriage.
Vida didn’t know how she felt. She was angry that Colton had tattooed his symbol into her butterfly, but at the same time, she felt a sense of belonging that she hadn’t experienced since her mother’s death. She refused to dwell on it until she was able to talk to Colton about it tonight. She had been scheduled to perform at the Strip club for the last time, but Colton had called and cancelled for Vida after Digger had promised to return Sawyer. King hadn’t protested, relieved that his part in retrieving Sawyer was no longer necessary.
Vida glanced up when the door opened and Seth entered, wearing a sheepish expression on his face.
“Hi, Vida.”
“Seth.” Vida’s voice was cool. The hurt she had experienced when he had left after learning she was a stripper was evident.
Vida watched as he blushed at her cool reception.
“I know you’re angry, Vida, but I’m hoping we can go out to lunch and talk, please. We don’t have to go far, just across the street. I’d like to explain.” Seth’s apologetic gaze had her hesitating in giving her refusal. She had liked Seth and thought they had become friends. She hadn’t thought that he would have been the type to turn his back on someone because they might not live up to his standards.
“I don’t know,” Vida tried to prevaricate.
“Please, Vida. If not lunch, then how about a cup of coffee? My treat. I really would like to explain why I was a jackass.”
