Heart Ink: A Fling To Ring Romance: A Bad Boy Tattoo Artist Romantic Comedy

by L. L. Ash

  My legs wrapped around his hips, heels crossed behind him as I folded into his embrace, melting into his burning kiss.

  Gasping in a breath, my arms slipped around his neck. I felt his hands dip and grip my butt with one firm, demanding squeeze as his tongue dove into my mouth, owning me from the inside out.

  “You mean I finally get that repeat performance?” I breathed across his lips, nipping and biting at him like he did me.

  He grinned back at me, eyes hooded as he stole more kisses.

  “The rule is to not put out ‘til the third date,” he breathed back with a chuckle.

  “Isn’t that a girl rule?”

  “You calling me a girl, my little pixie?” he asked, grinding me against his solid, studded cock.

  Even through his pants and my panties I could practically feel him at my entrance, begging to be let in.

  “I stick to my rules,” he answered me before I could even ask.

  “So you’re going to leave me with a lady boner all night?” I gasped as his hips rolled again, causing mine to join in the rhythm.

  Oh God...since when was dry humping so freaking good?

  “Sorry,” he chuckled again, not sounding at all sorry as he gripped my hips, grinding me down on him.

  My ring, tucked under my panties moved with the jostling, and I felt it spike me closer to my finish.

  “But we already made it to home plate,” I gasped as our hips rolled in synchrony, that clit ring grinding back.

  “That was before.” He bit my earlobe. “I’ve got rules, babe. You need to respect my rules.”

  “And humping on your bike next to the Sound is A-OK on this list of yours?” I cackled, sounding almost as desperate as I felt.

  He just chuckled again, pulling my bottom lip into his mouth before catching my tongue, sucking it.

  My hands sank down his neck and jaw, following the lines down his chest until I found two little bumps down on his pecs.

  Nipple piercings.

  He groaned into my mouth as our hips ground together again, making me gasp at the burning pressure.

  My fingers turned slow circles over his piercings and he pressed closer, more frantic in both his kisses and his movements. Biting and squeezing and tasting, our hips still rolled until I was moaning and falling over into bliss, throbbing in unsatisfied emptiness as warmth waved through my body.

  Slowly, my hips waved with the heartbeat between my legs as the feeling settled.

  “Holy hell.. I’m going to have the worst blue balls tonight.” He laughed quietly into my mouth, nipping my bottom lip before giving us a little space again.

  The air was still electric and snapping around us, but he seemed to have gotten ahold of himself now that I wasn’t some grinding, panting, desperate animal in his lap.

  “We don’t have to stop,” I told him, pressing a single, languid kiss on his lips, one last ditch effort to get him to fuck me on his bike.

  How hot would that be?

  “Rules.” He smiled just a little before resting his head into the curve of my shoulder, staying still for a long time.

  I moved my arms back around him, slowly stroking my hands up and down his back as we watched the water lap the rocks.

  “Fae?” he asked quietly, as if afraid to break the gentle and comforting silence that was blanketing us.

  “Hm?” I hummed back, drawing my nails up and down his back now.

  “Why do you pull away every time I tell you that you should open a bakery?”

  He wasn’t looking at me, and I think that made it just a little easier to answer honestly.

  “Because I don’t think I could do it,” I admitted.

  “What do you mean?” He pulled me closer, tightening his arms around my waist.

  I nestled into his neck too, breathing in his scent of air and leather.

  “I mean, I know how to make cakes, brownies, cookies...but would people even really want to buy them? And I’m not that great at making big cakes… I didn’t practice that...”

  “So, make a cupcake, brownie and cookie shop.” I felt him shrug against me.

  Considering it, I imagined all the recipes I could make, how I could alter them…

  “Rome?”

  He hummed back just like I had.

  “Why did you say you had a sister?”

  He was silent for a while, and I almost wondered if he had fallen asleep.

  Eventually he sat up, though is arms were still wrapped around me as he stared down at the ground.

  “My sister died two years ago,” he said quietly. “Freak accident on the water. We were pulling skis behind the boat and it was Delilah’s turn. She hit the water just right and it...it snapped her neck. Killed her instantly.”

  “Oh my God...” I murmured, pulling him closer to me.

  “Dad and I were having our...issues… Lila insisted we have a family vacation to get us to bond again. It’s our Goddamn fault she was even on the water that day.”

  He looked up at the dark sky, sniffling and wiping at his face.

  “Sorry. It’s still kind of raw,” he said with a choked voice.

  I nodded, pressing my palm against his cheek.

  “Did you guys get along?” I asked him quietly.

  “Really well.” He nodded slowly. “She was actually who convinced me to pursue my dreams and be an artist...”

  “Sounds like I would have liked her.” I smiled gently, and he gave a broken little one back.

  “You guys are similar in a lot of ways.”

  “What was she like?” I asked, then paused. “Don’t answer that if you...”

  He shook his head, stopping the flow of words out of my mouth.

  “Delilah was… in a couple words… a force of nature. She loved everyone and everything, and she wouldn’t stand for injustice. She went after everything she wanted, and somehow it was just what everyone expected of her. The girl could do no wrong, and I both loved and hated her for it. But even still… Lila and I… we were like peas in a pod. We got in trouble together and we pissed my dad off so fucking much.”

  I watched his eyes glisten with moisture as he spoke. Love was there, entwined with pain.

  He lifted his head to the cloud-filled sky and took a deep breath.

  “We were wrecked when she died. And as it turned out, she got what she wanted even after she died. My dad and I get along again, for the most part.”

  “For the most part? And that only happened two years ago? You two acted like old buddies at dinner.”

  Roman shrugged before answering.

  “Yeah. There’s still some things we just don’t...talk about, but we get together every other week and have a meal together. Whatever meal we can both get off. Things have gotten better; less volatile. He’s gotten over the fact that I don’t want to take over the family business and, to be honest, I think he’s hoping I’ll have a kid at some point, so he can just pass it all down to them, now that Delilah is gone. When I started tattooing, he focused on her inheriting it all.”

  “Wow that’s crazy,” I breathed.

  I couldn’t imagine losing a sister, let alone trying to fix a broken relationship while dealing with grief as well. As the tears dried up in Roman’s eyes, I realized that behind those blue eyes was strength and durability that I just did not have. Roman was strong enough to be true to himself. He was strong enough to continue living after his beloved sister had died. He was even strong enough to forgive his father after he’d been thrown out as the black sheep.

  I wanted to be like that. I wanted to own that kind of strength for myself.

  “My parents just expect me to do what they want me to do. And like the trained animal I am, I do it,” I said bitterly.

  “Why?” he asked back.

  I shrugged.

  “Because I always have. Dad is persuasive and Mom backs him up.” I shrugged at him. “I guess I never really thought I could disobey them. And by the time I figured it out, it just wasn’t worth the hassle.”


  “Let me ask you what my sister asked me,” Roman said quietly, stroking my cheek with his thumb. “Are you happy, Fae?”

  Taking a gasping breath at the insanely simple, but difficult question, I shook my head.

  As much as I wanted to say yes... I just couldn’t.

  “What do you think will make you happy?” he asked now.

  “I don’t know. That’s the problem.”

  “What are your passions? What in life makes you happy? What brings you joy?”

  Pausing, I had to really sit and think about that.

  Roman’s arms slipped around me while I sat there, thinking. And in that moment, I realized that he made me happy. I was passionate about him.

  The thought made me smile.

  “Baking makes me happy. It’s what I do when I have a hard day,” I admitted.

  “And we’re back to baking again.” He smirked. “Stop fucking telling me that it’s not a good career choice, Fae.”

  “How am I supposed to do anything with baking?” I frowned. “I’d have to go to culinary school… I’d have to give up everything to chase a pipe dream that may or may not ever happen. Meanwhile I’d destroy any bit of relationship I have with my parents.”

  “Then you just need to make them understand.” He shrugged at me.

  “It’s very obvious by that statement alone that you don’t know my parents.” I laughed.

  “They’re just people, Fae. Parents, grandparents, children, bosses...they’re all just human. Blood and bone like the rest of us. Don’t underestimate people. Besides. I’m pretty sure Pixie Dust Bake Shop is pretty much the best fucking name for a bakery. You can open shop right across the street from me in that shopping center. We can be neighbors and catch lunch sometimes.”

  He was smiling now, teasing me.

  Only thing was, the more he spoke, the more it sounded like it could happen. Like I could really do it. He made me believe in myself.

  My heart warmed and swelled in my chest, my throat suddenly feeling thick and tight.

  “It’s a deal,” I grated out, emotions taking over my voice.

  His smile softened and he leaned forward, kissing me once more.

  “You can live your entire life always wanting more while you make other people happy, or you can choose to do what you need to do to make you happy. You’ve only got one life to live. Live it to the fullest or live it for other people. You don’t get it both ways.”

  I nodded slowly, still feeling the tingles of his lips on mine.

  After a short silence, I asked, “Why don’t you talk about your mom?”

  He snorted.

  “Mom’s been out of the picture for a very long time. They got divorced when I was a teenager. She liked her drugs more than us, so Dad kicked her out. Been pretty much out of the way since.”

  “That must have been hard as a teen,” I murmured, my eyebrows drawing together in sympathy.

  He shrugged.

  “It was fine, really. She was never around much anyway. To be honest I hardly noticed. I was too busy with high school and being the big guy on campus.”

  I laughed.

  “I wish I knew the high school Roman.” I giggled at him, rubbing my hands back down his chest, flicking his nipple rings one more time.

  He laughed, then whined momentarily at my touch.

  “No, you don’t. High school Roman was a total asshole.”

  “I don’t believe it.”

  “You should.” He chuckled again, trapping a couple hairs that’d fallen over his forehead and pushed them back into his man bun. “Like, a total shitface asshole. I wish I could go back in time and punch myself.”

  Dying of curiosity, I wanted to ask him why, and what he’d done, but instead I swallowed it down and shrugged.

  “Well, either way, you’re a good man now.”

  “You think so?” he asked, meeting my eyes, ocean blues penetrating my chameleon blue-green ones.

  “I know so.” I pressed a kiss to his lips this time. “If not a little asshole-ish sometimes. But I think that’s kind of hot.”

  He grinned and let me kiss him, returning them playfully.

  The kiss broke from playful to making out, then dropped off again as he stared into my eyes, foreheads pressed together and noses touching, tip to tip.

  “Guess I should take you home,” he said after another minute.

  “Then what?” I fluttered my eyelashes at him.

  “Then I go home and fucking jack off until I can finally go to sleep,” he admitted with a breathy laugh.

  “That’s stupid.” I gave him that ‘look’ that told him what he said was moronic.

  “Rules, babe.” He kissed me one more time before cinching his arm around my waist and swinging me around to the back seat again.

  “You’re driving me crazy!” I laughed at him, reaching for my helmet.

  “That’s the point!” He grinned over his shoulder at me before reaching for his helmet and starting his bike.

  He dropped me off at home with just a chaste goodbye kiss and took off after that.

  It was close to eleven, still a decent time as I changed out of my dress and into my pajamas before crawling into my bed.

  As I lay there in the dark, still tasting the sweet and tangy flavor of him on my lips, I grinned like a dumb idiot.

  I felt like a prepubescent girl with a crush. But my crush liked me back, and my crush even kissed me. Even though I felt stupid in my head, my body screamed that I was the smartest freaking girl in the world. Roman was...everything. He was the epitome of everything I ever wanted in a man, and just being around him made me stronger, more adventurous, more powerful. It was a potent combination that was quickly becoming an addiction.

  Licking my lips one more time, I closed my eyes, dreaming of his wide smile, perfect teeth, and how that perfect, sweet mouth would feel against me when I finally got him naked again.

  Patience. Date three was eminent.

  Chapter Eleven

  Fae

  “So, have you talked to him yet?” my mom asked at our typical Sunday family dinner.

  I’d spent all weekend thus far baking and trying out my recipes. I’d been tweaking them and experimenting, getting them just right.

  Josie and Cambria were complaining about carb bloat, but I was actually getting somewhere.

  “No, I haven’t talked to Justin.” I frowned, pushing my peas around my plate.

  Mom shoved her plate away from her, not even half her food eaten, and stared at me, frowning.

  “Your father gave you three weeks, Fae. You’re one week down. You have to talk to him at some point and get it all sorted before time is up. Your father is being very generous with this time frame he’s given you.”

  Generous? By giving me three weeks to get back together with my shitty ex because I was told to?

  Or else.

  “I’ve been doing a lot of studying and learning,” I told them, trying to ease the frustration building up in the air between us.

  They didn’t need to know that I wasn’t studying for the law bar so much as the cookie bar, but one bar is pretty much as good as the other, right?

  Right…

  “At least you’ve been studying, but you need to take the exam, Fae.” My father was finally chiming into the ‘let’s tell Fae everything she’s doing wrong’ conversation. “Justin took the bar right out of classes. There’s no reason why you keep putting it off. You’re just procrastinating. And nothing good comes to lazy procrastinators.”

  I swallowed hard, feeling his words right in my chest.

  “I just don’t feel ready yet, Dad,” I said quietly, not daring to add that it wasn’t the test I was worried about. I was worried about having to work as a lawyer as soon as I passed, because honestly, I knew I’d pass. I just didn’t want to practice law.

  Dad rolled his eyes in disappointment.

  Conversation halted quickly, leaving a film of disquiet and frustration around everything.

/>   As always, I was Fae, the disappointment.

  Ella brought out a cheesecake from the kitchen and set it at the end of the table. As the waft of strawberry sauce and tart cream cheese hit my nose, an idea lit my brain on fire.

  I let my fork hit the wooden table with a clatter before getting up quickly.

  “I have to use the restroom,” I told my parents as I practically sprinted into the kitchen.

  “Ella, can I talk to you for a minute?” I asked our long time chef for a moment of her time as she wiped up the counter.

  She looked up at me in surprise before nodding and smiling.

  “Of course, sweetie,” she said, handing me a sponge to help her clean up as I always did; assuming I didn’t run out of my parent’s house right after dinner, that is. “What’s on your mind?”

  “So, I’ve been thinking about something lately. I want your input.”

  She paused and gave me her whole attention.

  “I’ve been thinking about opening my own bakery.” I winced, waiting for her to frown and shake her head like she did when I said something particularly stupid.

  Instead, Ella beamed a huge smile.

  “Really? How great!” was her simple response.

  “Really?” I asked back confused, but she just smiled wider, laughing.

  “Oh, sweetie. You and me both know you’re not cut out to be a lawyer. But baking? You have flour and sugar in your blood.”

  Warmth tingled through my chest at the possibility.

  “You think so?” I asked, needing just a little more reaffirming encouragement.

  “I know so. Besides, you’ve been in the kitchen with me for so many years, you might as well have your own culinary degree. I’ve taught you everything you need to know, other than a business plan. Know anyone who can help you with that?”

  My lips spread into a Cheshire cat smile. Yeah, I knew someone who could help me with that.

  “I’ve got a plan.” I nodded at her. “But I want to go over a few recipes with you, if you don’t mind.”

  “Fae, it’ll be my absolute honor.”

  Roman

  Thirteen.