Hangovers and Holidays (Untouchable Book 5)

by Heather Long

  A shiver raced up my spine at the very idea, and Jake slid his hand over my lower back, then around my middle before pulling me back against him. “Cold?” he murmured against my ear, and I snuggled into him. I’d had a coat on when we got here, but we’d all shed them inside the warmth of the shop.

  “No,” I told him. “Not anymore.” He chuckled and tightened his arms around me as Archie and Coop glanced over at us in between their conversation with the artists.

  “You guys going to jump in here?”

  “I know what I want,” I told him. It had been simmering in the back of my mind for the last few days, ever since Jake and Coop brought up tattoos.

  “Care to share?” Ian asked, and I stroked the back of Jake’s hand to get him to let me go. He still followed me over to the counter as I pulled out my phone.

  “I want a combination style tattoo, if that’s okay.” I tabbed over to the pictures I’d saved. I’d spent some time skimming the web in between hangovers and drinking and edibles and making out. What did I do over my winter vacation?

  Had a hell of a lot of fun.

  The first image was a heart with an infinity symbol looped through it, and the second was a fancy block number with images inside of it. The artist leaned over my phone and then eyed me.

  He wasn’t a bad looking guy, but I didn’t think there was an inch of skin on him that wasn’t decorated. It was beautiful in its own way, but really distracting because I wanted to study each piece and not stare at him at the same time. “Can you do this as a number five, then the infinity symbol weaved through it with their names on each loop?”

  “That shouldn’t be too hard,” the guy said. “You want colors?”

  “Or something prettier?” Jake asked carefully. When I glanced up, they wore varying looks of neutrality.

  “I think this could be really pretty,” I argued, then glanced at the sketchpad the guy was drawing on. The lines he made were flowing, and curvy. The five was pretty.

  “Names?”

  He added them as I spelled them, and I kept it Ian and not Bubba. When he was done, he turned it around to show me, and I grinned. Simple. Elegant.

  “What do you think?”

  The guys stared at it a beat, and then Archie rubbed the back of his neck. “Tattooing our names is pretty permanent.”

  “So is our friendship.”

  No matter what else, I wasn’t giving them up. Even if I had to fight tooth and toenail to hang onto them in the long-term as friends, if we didn’t work out. But I wasn’t thinking about the future beyond that. We’d just decided that we were making this a real relationship—they were my boyfriends, and I was their girlfriend. The five of us.

  Coop rubbed his jaw. “I want the same thing, but just Frankie’s name on the loop.”

  “Ditto,” Ian said.

  Archie chuckled. “C’mon, you guys don’t want to tattoo my name on you forever?”

  “Nope,” Jake said. “Frankie’s, yes. I love you guys like brothers, but I don’t need it tatted on me somewhere.”

  The second artist joined the first, and they glanced at us with more than a hint of speculation. My ears had to be on fire, but thankfully, my hair covered them, and I didn’t shy away from the looks. The second artist was also older, and he tapped the sketch. “You want to personalize these a little more, you’ve got room in here. We could add something inside the five or even in the loops themselves.”

  I chewed my lower lip.

  “Roses?” Archie suggested, and I laughed.

  “Cat pawprints. Books.” Coop nudged me. “Graduation cap…”

  “Roses,” I decided. “I want roses inside mine. Then I can get them colored in later.” They had come to mean a lot to me, besides being my favorite flower.

  The artist was already sketching in an idea.

  “Musical notes for you, Ian?”

  His eyes flared as he met my graze, and he grinned. “I like that.”

  “Tools for Archie,” Coop suggested.

  “Eh, I was thinking more this.” Archie held out his phone, and the second artist peered at it.

  “We have a book for those,” the guy said before slipping away, when he came back, he flipped it open to the page for Chinese symbols.

  “These three,” Archie said. He tapped the ones for love, loyalty, and friendship.

  “Me too,” I said abruptly. “I want those instead of the roses.”

  “Make that three of us…”

  “All of us,” Jake said as Coop nodded. The artists chuckled, but they finished the design. Next, we just had to decide where we wanted them. I went for my shoulder blade. The guys weren’t a fan of me shedding down to my bra, but they were all right there, and the only other people were the artists and they weren’t flirting with me.

  If anything, they were solicitous in making sure I was happy with what they sketched out and making minute changes. I loved that he’d added a hint of a heart to the upper curve of the five. It was subtle, but perfect. The guys’ names would be in calligraphy. I was going to have to get a picture of it when I was done.

  The guys decided to get theirs in the same place. Which meant it would be prominently on display whenever they were shirtless.

  All the moisture in my mouth fled as I settled on the chair and leaned forward to relax. The artist talked me through the steps and explained everything he was going to do. Jake was going at the same time I was, since he wanted to get his first.

  Birthday boy always gets his wish.

  We stared at each other as they got started. The minute the cool gel hit my back, I tensed a little, but the artist just started rambling on about the different tattoos he’d done over the years and I focused on Jake’s eyes.

  It didn’t hurt so bad.

  Okay, I lied. It hurt like a bitch. I swore it was like they were literally carving the symbols into my back and not just using a little tiny set of needles. But after a while, the hot pain just kind of all washed together and faded. It helped that Coop was right next to my head and Archie and Ian were also there, both of them watching critically.

  All too soon, it was done, and then it was Archie and Ian who were up. Coop waited with us and helped me pull my shirt on after they’d treated it. He also took a picture. It was red and blotchy and inflamed and kind of perfect.

  “Guess that’s that,” I told him, as I inspected my name now tatted on Jake’s back. It was about to be tatted on all of them. A possessive thrill skated through me.

  “Guess it is,” Jake murmured and then kissed me lightly, murmuring, “Mine.”

  “And mine,” Coop said, giving me a wink.

  “Stop hogging Frankie,” Archie complained. “Or at least hog her where I can see her. We’re over here bleeding for her.”

  Laughter burst out of me, but I grabbed a chair so I could sit between he and Ian, splitting my attention between them. All in all, it took three hours to get it all done. But by early afternoon, with instructions in our pockets and all of us sporting new tattoos, we headed out for the car. It was partially sunny, and the guys had reminded us to keep the tats out of the sun—not going to be a problem—and it would probably take a week or so before the scabs fell off—didn’t that sound charming—and we had all the supplies necessary.

  Three steps out to the car, Ian clapped Jake on the back as they laughed and we all winced.

  Yeah, that would take some getting used to.

  “Frankie’s mine for the afternoon,” Jake called as soon as we were back at the lodge. “You guys fuck off and do whatever.”

  Then he had my hand in his, and we headed up the stairs.

  “Car picks us up at six,” Archie called.

  “We’ll be ready!”

  That was a few hours off. “Picks us up for what?” I asked as Jake pulled me into his room and closed the door. He turned the lock and leaned against it, grinning at me.

  “For a surprise,” he said, and I raised my eyebrows. The ring on my finger had seemed so heavy when he’d f
irst slipped it on, but now I loved the feel of it there.

  “Why am I getting a surprise? It’s your birthday.”

  “Exactly,” he told me as he stripped off his coat, then reached for his shirt and tugged it off, even as he toed off his shoes. “My birthday.”

  I went to unzip my coat, but he caught my hands.

  “Nope.”

  “No?”

  He shook his head once, then unzipped his jeans, and I got to enjoy watching him strip those off and the boxers with them. I would never get tired of looking at Jake or the way his muscles rippled as he moved.

  “No,” he said, narrowing the distance between us. “My birthday remember?” Tugging the zipper, he peeled it downward and shivers raced over my skin. “I want to unwrap my present.”

  “So now I’m your present?” I teased, but who was I kidding? My nipples were two stiff peaks straining in his direction, and the tension coiling in my belly had already pulled taut. I wasn’t even close to naked, and I was already so turned on, I didn’t know what to do with myself.

  Fingers under the hem of my shirt, he traced a path against my abdomen. “You’re the best present I ever got.”

  I swallowed around the lump in my throat as he tugged the shirt up with extreme care as he got to my shoulder. With gentle urging, he turned me around and slid his hands down my arms.

  “This is going to sound really sexist, but I love the fact that you have my name on you,” he half-growled the words. “Ours. Our names. Our girl. Right there, and if any asshole gets too close to you, there is no mistaking who you belong to.”

  Yep, the possessive edge to those words sent another shudder through me as he dipped his hands to my pants and rolled them down. Unlike the guys, I’d just gone with stretchy warm pants rather than jeans. They peeled right down, panties and all. He paused to press his lips to the curve of my ass and then dragged his teeth along before he bit me near my hip.

  I didn’t even have to ask what he was doing as he sucked on the skin. They loved to leave little love bites on me. I had a whole pattern of them, and they’d been on display during the tattoo session. Thank God, the guys there hadn’t said a word.

  “Hands on the bed,” Jake ordered, and I pressed my palms to the end of it, to brace myself as he tugged off my boots and tossed them behind him. They landed with a pair of thumps. Then he had me stepping out of the pants. My socks went next, and that just left my bra.

  Glancing over my shoulder, I found Jake sitting back on his heels staring up at me. “I love that my name is on you, too,” I told him. “I can officially say you guys are mine. No one else gets to touch.”

  “Not again,” he promised. “No one else will touch me again.” With light fingers, he traced a path down my thigh and up again. “Frankie…do you have any idea of all the things I want to do with you?”

  I could think of a few. I smiled. “Well, we’ve done a lot of things we’ve never done before…or at least, I haven’t.”

  His pale blue eyes lifted to lock on mine as he dipped his fingers between my thighs, and I shifted my stance to widen it. The drag of his fingers along my labia, the promise of his callouses as he stroked the dampness waiting for him and spread it around. It wouldn’t take long for me to soak his hand. Not once did we look away from each other as he played.

  “Did I say thank you for that?” The depth of emotion in his eyes was almost too much but I wouldn’t turn away from him.

  “No,” I whispered. “But I’m pretty sure it was implied. Especially when we couldn’t move.”

  He chuckled. “How’s your back?”

  “Fine,” I promised. Sure, it ached, but I didn’t care about it right now. “Yours?”

  “Not even a blip.” He pressed two fingers inside of me, and I let out a sigh. “Fuck, I just want you, Frankie.”

  “You can have me,” I told him, and he withdrew his hand, then caught my hips and tugged me back toward him. I turned and then straddled his lap there on the floor and sank down. Together, we gripped his cock and angled it so I could just impale myself on him, and he echoed my shudders.

  The friction of his erection pushing into me lit me up. Hands on his shoulders, I locked my gaze on his as we lingered there, connected, but still. With one hand, he cupped my face and then pushed my hair up and away.

  “Do you remember when you left for Germany?” I asked him softly.

  “Try to forget it,” he murmured, nuzzling a kiss to my jaw. “I hated leaving you and Coop.”

  “We hated it, too.”

  “Then why are we discussing it?” He mouthed kisses on his way to my ear, and I rocked my hips, the barest motion, and it had him hissing. There was something really empowering about knowing how much I affected him.

  God knew he had an amazing effect on me.

  “Because,” I said, beginning to ride him slowly, no rush, just a gentle up and down. It seemed like I took him deeper with each downward push. Or maybe it was wishful thinking. “If you hadn’t come back…I think I would have tried to find you someday.”

  Lifting his head, he snapped his gaze to mine and dropped a hand to my hips, helping me move but not rushing me. “Even after I didn’t write?” The rawness there echoed something in me.

  “Maybe especially because you didn’t.” It didn’t seem so weird to vocalize this. “Jake, I missed you so much when you were gone, I think Coop got sick of me bringing you up.”

  He chuckled. “I missed you, too.”

  “But I didn’t have the words for it. I tried to write you, you know.”

  A frown. “No…”

  “I didn’t know where to send it, and I nagged Maddy to death about helping me find an address.” He thrust up to meet me this time, and the jolt sent little shocks through my system. “Probably pissed her off.”

  “I never got any letters,” he admitted. “I didn’t write because I had no idea if we would be back. Dad went where the assignments took him. It might be that I would never see you again.”

  Every arch of his hips as I sank down delivered a stroke to that spot that had me tilting my head back and groaning. “I wouldn’t have let that happen.” My breath came in shorter bursts, and Jake was panting. “I would have figured it out. Internet…it’s a great thing.”

  Jake surged upward, and then I was sprawled back on his bed without ever losing him as he pressed my thigh higher and deepened his angle. “Friend me somewhere?”

  “Oh yeah.” The second word rode a whimper as he slammed his hips forward, and I dug my fingers into his shoulders. We were touching everywhere, and where I might have been chilled earlier, I was burning. “You’d have totally stalked me on Instagram.”

  A huff of laughter, and then he sucked a spot on my throat before kissing it gently and laving his tongue over it. “Yeah, I would have. Probably road tripped if I saw some of those bullshit posts giving you a hard time.”

  “See…” Fuck, I was so close, and the tension corded tighter and tighter. Jake hadn’t slowed for an instant, every push and grind sending another delicious wave through me. “We would have found each other…maybe reunited for your birthday.”

  Another laugh, this one harsher. “That’s a nice dream,” he said, pinning me with a look. My back rubbed against the cover, but I didn’t care. The little stings added to the pleasure spiraling out in my system. He framed my head with his hands, keeping me in place as he began to piston his hips. A muscle ticked in his jaw, and the strain showed in the lines of his neck.

  I wasn’t the only one who was close. I stretched my hands down to dig my fingers into his ass, encouraging him to go faster, even as I hitched my thigh higher for him. The stretch burned so good.

  “But I’m really fucking glad I didn’t have to wait years. I’m glad I came back. And you’re never getting rid of me again.”

  It was my turn to laugh. “You’re damn right, I’m not.” Then I wrenched my hands up to cup the back his neck and drag his face down to me. “Mine, birthday boy. All mine.”

&nb
sp; I bit his lower lip before I kissed him, and he began to thrust his tongue against mine in time with his cock. He dipped his hand between us and stroked once over my clit, and I splintered. The orgasm didn’t so much rush up to swallow me, but spill over like a spring storm. He swallowed my cry with his kiss, and his hips stuttered as he followed me over.

  After, we just lay there, kind of floating together. Gradually, the sting on my back let me know that it wasn’t thrilled with my position, but I still couldn’t be bothered to move. The rest of the afternoon, we spent like that—naked, lounging on his bed, and just talking.

  We talked about everything and nothing.

  We even debated our favorite history videos and argued over which one was better.

  It was ridiculous and sweet and perfect.

  I glanced down at my dress and then over at Jake where he sat on the edge of the bed waiting for me. We’d eventually had to get up and shower so we could get changed for the night. The dress, like a lot of my other clothes, had been picked out by them—but this was a new one, and I kind of liked it.

  Also, I had no intentions of asking how they got it fitted. It was a solid body contouring dress with a mini skirt that cut off at mid-thigh. The midriff was open, save for two crisscrossing straps in the front and the back. The top may as well have been strapless, because it hugged my breasts and I didn’t have a single bra that would work with it. The halter strap that wrapped around my neck was more for show than anything else.

  It was also a stunning holiday green. If it weren’t cut so sexy, I’d say it was the perfect holiday outfit. I did a spin for Jake, and he stared at me with a faint look of strain.

  “Maybe we get you something else to wear,” he suggested. “Or I’m going to be hard all night.”

  I grinned at him. “But you get me tonight. Just feel bad for the boys, they don’t.”

  A wicked grin curved his lips. “This is true. If I asked, would you give me a blowjob in front of them?”

  “Jake!”

  “Hey, birthday boy gets what he wants.”

  “And you want to torture them?”