Ridge shakes his head once, his lips curled into a grin. “You’ll like what we do here. Been plannin’ it for a couple days. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.”
I almost tell him that the fact that he’s been planning it for only a couple days is for sure going to disappoint me if it’s some half-baked design that some backwoods tattoo artist just pulled out of a hat, but I decide to give him the benefit of the doubt, at least until I actually see the design.
TAZ
There’s a moment where I hesitate to let her into the shop. She’s acting snobby about it, probably thinks this place is fucking trash, like I would let someone put shitty work on her body or on mine. She’s lost her fucking mind if she thinks that.
Drake looks up from his drafting board in the corner. He smirks when he sees me. “Lock that behind you,” he calls out.
Turning, I flip the lock, then smirk at Trista. “He is appointment only, no walk-ins allowed,” I murmur.
Her eyes widen, obviously surprised by the move. Then I watch as she slowly turns toward Drake. He is laughing softly to himself, used to this reaction from people who haven’t been to his shop before.
“Come on over and sit down,” he offers, patting a chair. He lifts his gaze up to meet my own. “You know where you want them?” he asks.
“Them?” Trista whispers.
Tipping my chin down to look at her, I give her a small smile. “You wanted my commitment. Don’t know how else to give it to you aside from branding you and making you my legal wife. Already branded you, I’ll make you my wife too, but before that, I’ll do this, first.”
She presses her lips together, her gaze searching mine before she says anything. “Are you tattooing my name on your body?” she asks on a whisper.
“And you’ll be getting Ridge on yours. Not just my brand, because fuck that, you don’t belong to them. You’re mine, you belong to Ridge.”
She sucks in a breath, then shakes her head once. “Ridge,” she breathes.
“Nope. No mushy-assed shit. You shoulda done that outside. Here we tattoo, we’re badasses,” Drake growls.
“Badasses?” Trista asks, arching a brow.
He smiles, then winks before he grabs his shit and makes his way over to us. “Where do you want it?” Drake asks me.
Licking my bottom lip, my gaze travels over her body. She’s got that sweet cursive scroll around her upper thigh and her pretty black and white sleeve. I want to put it somewhere that it’ll be seen, but not get lost in her other work.
“You know where you want to put it, same place you wanted to put your brand but couldn’t,” Trista says with a smirk.
My eyes flick from her eyes to her tits. “Can you put a tat on those?” I ask, turning to look at Drake.
He looks down at Trista’s tits too, then flicks his gaze up to meet hers. “They new?” he asks.
Trista presses her lips together, then shifts her eyes from me to Drake. She shakes her head. “I’ve had them about seven months,” she explains.
Drake nods then looks back to me. “They should be good to go, I mean, you don’t want me to tat the bottom part of her tit, do you?” he asks.
Just the thought of her exposing her entire tit to him makes my blood pressure rise. I shake my head once. “No, just the top,” I grunt.
Trista smiles at me before she turns to Drake, she starts showing him exactly where she wants it and it causes me to freeze. She’s been thinking about where she wants my name on her body, that makes my heart feel fucking funny in my chest.
Drake gets to work, but I’m still fucking frozen, I stay that way until I hear the buzz of the needle. Only then does my entire body jerk and I make my way over to the empty chair next to Trista’s.
I watch as the tattoo starts to take shape, none of us talking to one another. It doesn’t take long for her tattoo to be completed. It’s just one color, a dainty cursive across her pretty tit. Drake lifts his gaze to me and smirks.
“Think you’ll love it, man,” he announces.
Trista slowly sits up, and usually this would be the moment that she looks at it herself, but Drake knows the way we operate at the clubhouse, he knows that she’s branded somewhere on her body, especially if we’re getting ink.
My eyes slowly travel from her face to her neck and then finally land on her tit. It’s fucking breathtaking.
Ridge is written in cursive. It’s sexy and sleek, it’s dainty and light. It’s fucking perfect. It’s her.
“You ready big guy?” Drake asks. “She get to pick the place?”
Lifting my eyes to meet Trista’s again, I tilt my head to the side. “You want that?”
“What if I said I wanted it where you could never hide it?” she asks with a small soft smile.
It’s what she wants. A place where I can’t or wouldn’t cover it up. I could do the back of my hand, my fingers, my forearm. But this bitch wants me straight up branded. She is softer than most women raised in this life, but she still has the capability to be ruthless if she needs to be.
“Put it on the side of my throat,” I announce.
Trista’s eyes widen, she looks from me to Drake then back to me. “Ridge,” she warns.
I shake my head once. “Babe, told you I was in this shit for the long haul. I am. Want your name on my neck. Want the world to know I belong to you. Want you to know I’m proud that you’re mine.”
Her eyes fill with unshed tears and she shakes her head a couple of times, trying to keep the wetness from falling. “Ridge,” she whimpers.
“Don’t be a crybaby bitch, beautiful,” I say with a smile, then give her a wink.
She rolls her eyes before Drake finishes up her tat, I watch as she stands and takes the few steps between us. Tilting my head back when she’s directly in front of me, I lift my hand, wrapping my fingers around her neck, right where I’m going to have the piece put on my own body.
“I love you, Ridge,” she whispers.
Shaking my head once, I gently tug her down so that I can touch my lips to hers. “Love you more than I could ever say, babe,” I admit with my mouth against hers.
She inhales a deep breath then takes a step back from me. Drake instructs me to lay on my back, then turn to the side. Of all the tat’s I’ve had put on my body, and I’ve had quite a few, this one hurts the least.
It’s not because of the placement, I know that it’s adrenaline. Pure fucking adrenaline is what keeps my face from showing any sign of discomfort. My eyes stay glued to Trista’s as Drake scrolls her full first name across my skin.
Tristiana.
A name that I didn’t even know belonged to her, but a name that I think is beautiful. It fits her far better than just Trista. She’s not as simple as the shortened version of her name.
She is so much more complex than that. Most people wouldn’t really think so, though. Only looking at the outside, she appears to be just another club kid. Someone raised in the life, with long lean legs, a slim body, short shorts and sometimes a bad fucking attitude.
Nobody else really sees her for her. She’s as smart as she is sexy. She’s also as sweet and soft as she is hard and tough. She doesn’t take shit, but she feels, deeply.
She’s just Tristiana. She’s also mine. Nobody will ever see all of the sides that she has, because they are only for me. Whatever the fuck that makes me, I don’t give a shit.
I’m an asshole, I’m controlling and I’m selfish. I’m also perfectly fine staying that way until the day that I die, as long as she’s by my side the entire goddamn time.
Chapter Thirty-Three
TAZ
Trista and I walk into the clubhouse, my neck bandaged, her tit bandaged and a few of the guys smirk, knowing exactly what that means.
I don’t really give much of a fuck.
They already know I’m hers and she’s mine. I made that shit official when a hot brand was pushed into the flesh of her ass in front of the entire club.
“You wanna look for a place to rent
in town? Maybe get away from living here all the time?” I ask as I set her down on a barstool.
She looks up at me, her eyes wide as surprise flashes across her face. We could have moved into her childhood home, but Hawk sold that shit before Savannah’s body stopped smoldering.
After the crazy fuck killed his Old Lady, he lit her remains on fire, the rest of us watching and unfortunately for her, not feeling the least bit sad or guilty about seeing her body go up in flames.
May be harsh, but the bitch was a traitor and nobody, not even me, knows exactly what kind of tortures Trista went through during her life with that cunt as her mother.
I only wish that we could have done more to her while she was still breathing, but it was Hawk who took care of her, we’ll never know what he actually did to her either.
“A place to rent in town?” she repeats on a whisper.
Dipping my chin, I nod once. “Yeah. Couple of bedrooms, garage if you can swing it. Maybe call Presley or Esther, see if they can get you in touch with their realtor? Della’s a little busy, but I know the other girls moved recently too,” he explains.
“Okay,” she breathes.
“No real budget, you know what a good deal would be. Set up some showings or something, if there’s something you love, maybe we’ll just buy it instead of renting. It’s not out of the question.”
She nods slowly, her gaze shifting around. “We’ll just… buy it?” she rasps.
Dipping my chin, I run my nose alongside hers. “Yeah, beautiful. All in, one hundred percent. As much as I like the clubhouse, thinking we shouldn’t raise a family in this place.”
She doesn’t say anything else, she just lets out a shaky breath. I hear my name being called from the conference room, knowing that church needs to start soon.
After a long kiss, I drop Trista off at the bar. Walking away from her, I wish that I could bring her with me. Keep her firmly planted at my side, always within arm’s reach.
I know that we’re just a few dozen feet away from one another, but I meant that shit when I said that I wanted to keep her with me always. A thought enters my head before I shake it off.
Could I?
Could we?
Would she even want to?
I mean we could be like Coyote and his woman, build a barndominium half an acre away from them. Be close enough to the clubhouse that I can see our house, yet far enough away that we can have our privacy.
Am I crazy for thinking that?
Am I too controlling for wanting her close enough to keep an eye on her?
The answer to both of my questions is probably yes. But, then again, I don’t know if I really give much of a fuck. I told her that I was keeping her close and I fucking meant it. Nobody is ever going to hurt her again. I’m not going to give them an opportunity to.
Sitting down in my designated seat, I close my eyes for a moment and wait for church to start. Inhaling a deep breath, I let it out with a sigh. Dragon slams his gavel down, which causes me to jump.
Opening my eyes, I sit straight up and look around the room. Everyone has filed in, including Bones and a couple of his top men along with the prospect, Worm. Dragon’s eyes flick around before he clears his throat.
“Worm told me he’s got some news,” he announces.
Worm stands as he clears his throat, I watch as he opens his computer and touches the keys for a moment, then without fanfare, he starts to speak.
“I was able to hack into Riot’s phone. He had most of his shit encrypted, except a few text messages. Either he didn’t have them set up yet to be encrypted, or someone else is doing it for him and he isn’t doing it daily. Guess it doesn’t matter,” he says as if speaking to himself.
“Get to the point,” Dragon sighs as he lifts his fingers to his head and begins to rub his temples.
I have no doubt that Dragon is stressed as fuck. To a degree, he got us in this situation by agreeing to this fucking thing in the first place. I know that for the most part it was unavoidable, but it’s still fucking bullshit, and stressful for everyone involved.
Granted, Ramos is gone, and now we only have to deal with the Punchers, so I suppose there is a bright side to the whole thing. We have Ana staying with the Skulls and the only other living Ramos is Valentina who is with the Italians and from what I hear, hooked up with one of their men.
Charm’s body was found when we raided that fucking compound, though she was found up on a hill, something that we never told her fuckhead brother. She was stabbed in the chest, no doubt by Jaguar who later disappeared. A man who is supposed to be our brother, who is still fucking missing, a man we all suspect is the one who shot Eagle months ago.
A goddamn traitor.
“The point is, I have two men’s names and addresses,” Worm says. The entire room freezes, all eyes are on this prospect. He smirks. “They are both close enough that we can get them taken care of tomorrow if we need to.”
“Explain,” Dragon barks.
“One is in Los Angeles, California. The other is in Denver, Colorado,” he states. “Both are nine hours away and change. If we send two crews, we can handle them both by tomorrow night,” he says with a shrug.
Dragon doesn’t say anything for a moment, it’s obvious he’s thinking about the words, thinking about the plan and how to execute it. The fact is, we can gather shit today and head out first thing in the morning.
The likelihood that they’ll be killed tomorrow night is slim, we have to check their houses, make sure we can get in and out without being detected. The good thing is that we won’t need a huge crew for either job. Four or five guys, in and out, get it handled and get them gone.
“Let me get some shit together, Mountain, Taz, Silver, and Wolfe stay here. Everyone else can go and relax until we have a plan. Don’t go far,” Dragon orders.
My lips curl up into a smile. I am ready to get this shit done, to put those motherfucking Donkey Punchers in their place. I’m sick of their shit, always have been. They’re dirty fuckers, they’re animals and they need to be put the fuck down.
TRISTA
I watch as the men file out of the conference room. Taz isn’t part of them, then again, I don’t see Dragon leave either. I assume they’re having an extended meeting, so I turn to the prospect behind the bar and ask for a beer.
My chest is sore and my mind is still reeling from Ridge asking me to find us a place to live. I’m so lost in thought that I don’t even realize Avah slides onto the stool next to me until she gently nudges my shoulder.
Turning my head, I smile over at her, then frown as soon as I see Sable making her way toward us. Avah looks back over her shoulder, then turns her gaze back to meet mine. “God, she’s a bitch, right?” she whispers.
“Right.” I nod as Sable continues to come toward us.
I couldn’t be so lucky that she would just fucking leave us alone. That she would disappear the way that some of the other whores have over the years.
No, there is no way that we can be that fucking lucky. I have a feeling this cunt is here to stay, much longer than I want her to.
Sable walks past Avah, then me, before she settles down right next to me on a stool. The prospect brings her a beer, and I roll my eyes at Avah who laughs softly. I want to turn to Sable and be a bitch, but she doesn’t even give me the opportunity before she starts talking to me.
“Nice bandage,” she snorts.
Turning to look over at her, I tilt my head to the side. “I’m pretty proud of it. Not only do I have Taz’s brand on my body, I have Ridge’s name permanently etched on it as well.”
“He has hers on his too,” Avah announces.
Sable’s eyes widen, then her lips turn up into a catty smile. “That’s cute. What a lovely false sense of security that must be for you.”
“False sense of security,” I say, repeating her words.
She smiles. “He knows where to find me after he moves you out of here. He is doing that, right? Having you find your own place, just
for the two of you? I mean, it’s hard for him to truly do what he wants with you right here, watching his every move.”
I want to say so much, do so much, but instead, I press my lips together. It’s not smart to let a whore know how much they can affect you. In fact, it’s downright fucking stupid. I made that mistake when I first arrived, and the longer I play directly into her hands, the longer she’ll antagonize me.
“How’s your ass feel?” I ask, refusing to discuss Taz with her. “Is that how you earn your extra income?”
Sable’s eyes widen as Avah snorts behind me. Then as quickly as her eyes widened in surprise, they narrow with evil intent. Her tongue peeks out as she tastes her lips, then smirks.
“It’ll feel better when your man is deep inside of it again. You know it’s one of his favorite things to do. Fuck my ass while he plays with my pussy. He’s ruthless too, best I’ve ever had. It’s downright fucking magical and he always gets it for free,” she purrs as she stands to her feet.
“If you think that he won’t be coming to my bed after he’s moved you out of here, you’re in serious denial. Have your fun with all of him now, because soon you’ll have to share him. He’s never tried to be faithful to one person before and if I know anything about him, the moment reality sets in, he’ll be eating my pussy and fucking every part of my body before you can even blink.”
She turns from me and starts to walk away. I can’t just sit there and watch her think that she’s won some kind of contest over me. Standing, I turn my body to face her retreating one. I hear Avah call out a soft warning, but I don’t give a fuck.
I’m tired of this bitch.
It doesn’t take me much, just a few long strides to reach her. Extending my arms, I place my hands on her back and I give her a shove. I could have reached for her hair and pulled her head back from behind, but I’m not that kind of girl.
Every fight that I ever got into in high school with some loudmouth bitch, I fought her fair, never attacked from behind, as much as I wanted to.
UnTouch Me (Savage Beast MC Book 5) Page 25
