Snowbound Ink

by Veronica Tower

  She pulled off her other boot and then lowered her pants and panties, folding them neatly and setting them on the counter with her purse.

  Then she sat down on the chair and waited for Tony to return. It was remarkably cool, she discovered, sitting in a tattoo artist’s chair without any pants on.

  Tony came back in less than a minute with the thermal fax in hand. He showed it to Liz. It was the reverse of the image she had agreed to, but like the rub on tattoos she’d enjoyed as a child, this one would right itself when he pressed it on to her flesh.

  “It looks great!” she told him, and that was the simple truth. She was very pleased with Tony’s design.

  “I’m glad you like it,” he said as he plucked a pair of latex gloves out of a box and pulled them on.

  His eyes were lingering on her pussy, but he covered for what Liz sincerely hoped was an impropriety by pretending he was examining her pubic hair.

  “I’m going to have to trim you quite a bit,” he said. “In fact, I think I’ll take a full half of your bush off.”

  He sat down, reached into a drawer for a disposable Bic razor—the kind with the white hollow handle and the yellow cap over the blade—and then proceeded to quickly and professionally remove half of her pussy hair. It wasn’t as sexy an experience as Liz had hoped it would be. He didn’t soap her up or try and make the experience sensuous. He just scratched the hair away.

  “That looks pretty good,” he told her.

  “Only pretty good?” Liz pouted.

  Tony shook his head as if trying to figure out how to respond to that. Evidently he gave up without finding an answer because he picked up the stencil, positioned it carefully on the flesh of Liz’s mons veneris, and wet it down with a stick of roll on deodorant.

  Then he let it sit for a minute while he fit a needle in his tattoo gun and fixed the little cap full of black ink on top of it. When the instrument was ready, he set it down on the counter and pulled the stencil off Liz’s flesh. It might have stung if he hadn’t shaved her already, but maybe that was just wishful thinking on Liz’s part.

  Tony picked up the tattoo gun again. “Are you ready?”

  “Ready!” Liz confirmed. He was all business now, which took a bit of the fun out of it for Liz, but maybe that was for the best too.

  Tony started to lower the needle to her flesh, but stopped. “You’re not going to scream like your cousin did, are you?”

  “No!” Liz told him. The question stiffened her spine with indignation.

  “Good!” Tony said. “Because the only place I like to hear a woman screaming is when I’m fucking her hard in bed.”

  Liz’s eyes opened wide in surprise, but Tony didn’t wait to evaluate her response. He lowered the needle to her flesh and started bringing a honeybee alive on the sensitive flesh of her lower mound.

  The pain felt good in the same sort of way that a good spanking could, but not as good as it did to know Tony could flirt and tease too.

  Chapter Four

  Snowflakes

  Kara

  “I want you to keep it bandaged over night,” John told Thea as he taped the piece of gauze over the new tattoo. “There’s always a risk of infection. The bandage, together with the A&D ointment I put on your skin, will help counter that.”

  Kara listened closely as John taught Thea how to care for her new image. She was pretty certain she was going to get one herself now. The blood still bothered her, but she thought John had been very careful to keep everything that touched Thea’s flesh sterile.

  And she really wanted to see Ron’s face when he pulled down her panties to see her new piercing and found the tattoo staring out at him as well.

  “Hey, everybody,” Liz said. “Want to see my new tattoo?”

  Kara turned to look at her sister. Liz was standing in the doorway with her pants, panties, boots and purse tucked under her arm and the flaps of her blouse hanging around her butt and groin, almost—but not quite—covering her.

  “Liz, where are your pants?” Thea asked her.

  “Right here!” Liz said, lifting the bundle under her arm a little higher. “And John,” she continued, “you take that bandage right back off. I didn’t get to see Thea’s tattoo yet.”

  John looked at Thea as if seeking her permission.

  She sighed and said, “All right, if I have to.”

  “You have to!” Liz told her. “It was in that paperwork we signed earlier. Thea must show Liz her new tattoo when she finishes getting it.”

  John ripped the bandage off in one quick pull.

  “Hey!” Thea complained.

  “Oh stop acting like a little baby,” Liz told her and came over to see her cousin’s new ornament. She seemed completely untroubled by the fact that neither of them had pants covering their private parts.

  “Oh, Thea,” Liz said. “That’s really nice. I’ll bet you Nick loves that!”

  “He better,” Thea said. “I can’t believe how much it stung.”

  “And it will itch terribly,” John warned her, “if you don’t keep it moist with A&D ointment for a good two weeks.”

  “Itch?” Kara asked.

  “Didn’t you research this on the web?” Liz asked her.

  For some reason, Liz’s attitude was beginning to set off Kara’s temper. Perhaps she was just nervous about her decision to get her own tattoo. “If you’ll remember, I didn’t originally come here to get a tattoo,” Kara said. “I came to get a piercing.”

  Liz’s lawyer brain immediately caught the subtle shift in Kara’s meaning. “Originally?”

  Kara felt the heat rushing to her face. “Well, I’m thinking I might get one after watching you two do it. What do you think of yours?”

  “It’s wonderful!” Liz told her.

  Kara’s younger sister pulled back the tails of her blouse and showed Kara and Thea the little honeybee that Tony had drawn onto her flesh. It really was cute, but Kara simply could not figure out why Liz thought the bee would be sexy.

  “Why did you choose a honeybee?” Thea asked the question Kara was only thinking.

  “Since you told me about you and Nick role playing, I’ll let you in on my own little secret,” Liz said. “Besides, it might do you both some good to give it a try.”

  She paused dramatically until Kara finally said, “So what is it? What’s the bee mean?”

  “Travis has a sweet tooth,” Liz told them, “and he’s shown me that it can be very hot and sexy to indulge in it.”

  Thea shook her head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “What do bees make?” Liz asked her.

  Kara noticed that both John and Tony were watching Liz intently, waiting to hear exactly what this half naked woman liked to do in bed. For a moment, Kara idly wondered if both these men would go home and masturbate to thoughts of her sister tonight.

  Then she wondered why that thought made her feel jealous of Liz. Did she really want these two men going home thinking of her?

  “I still don’t get it,” Thea said.

  “They use honey when they make love,” Kara explained. She had always thought of herself as the sheltered one, but sometimes Thea made her feel very worldly.

  “Honey?”

  “Jeez, Thea,” Liz said. “You’re taking all the fun out of this. We get a jar of honey, or better yet one of those plastic bears you squeeze, and we use it to tantalize, tease and lubricate—if you get my meaning.”

  Suddenly Thea’s eyes flashed open as the full meaning of lubricate sank in, but before she could say anything, Tony chimed in.

  “I’ll bet that’s very sticky,” he observed.

  Kara shifted her full attention to the man. He wasn’t leering. He seemed to be genuinely considering what it would be like to use honey in the bedroom.

  “Try it with your girlfriend sometime,” Liz said. “I bet you’ll like it.”

  “I’d do that,” Tony said, “but my wife tends to get angry when I have fun with other women.”

/>   “Your wife?” Liz asked. She still had that teasing lilt in her voice that Kara had always envied. It made her sound utterly comfortable whatever the situation. “I didn’t know you were married. Why don’t you wear a ring?”

  Tony held up his left hand and rubbed the base of his ring finger with his thumb. “It’s right here,” he said.

  Kara looked closer and then felt a burst of amused delight as she saw what he was speaking about. “You tattooed your ring on!” she exclaimed.

  Tony smiled. “I used to be about fifty pounds heavier than I am now,” he said. “When I lost the weight, the ring didn’t fit right. It kept falling off.” He shrugged. “And frankly, it was a pain to wear with these tight latex gloves. So I decided to ink on a permanent ring instead.”

  “That’s very clever,” Kara told him.

  “I thought so,” Tony agreed, “although the practice is more common than you would think.”

  He returned his attention to Liz. “Now that you’ve shown off my artwork—which I do appreciate you doing—are you ready for me to cover it up with some gauze?”

  “What’s this about the tattoo itching?” Thea asked. “I didn’t realize it was going to itch either.”

  “It’s only for the first couple of weeks,” John told her. “If you don’t keep it moist for the first ten or maybe fourteen days, the skin will dry out and start to flake. That’s uncomfortable and can lead to infection. So put A&D on it a few times a day and you’ll be fine.”

  “Hey, we’re doing this for our boyfriends,” Liz reminded everyone. “How long until we can show it to them and get rewarded for our creativity?”

  Tony smiled again. It was obvious to Kara that he really liked Liz. If he weren’t married and she weren’t with Travis, Kara wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d asked her out. She hoped he wouldn’t ask her out anyway. That would definitely lower Kara’s opinion of him—and of course, she couldn’t really be certain Liz wouldn’t say yes. Liz had always been a touch too wild to predict.

  “You should give it at least twenty-four hours,” Tony told her. “I’d rather you wait until Thursday or Friday night because sex—especially if you’re planning to break out the honey—isn’t a particularly clean activity. But realistically, you’ll probably still be a bit sore in twenty-four hours, but it should be safe.”

  “Let’s be clear,” Liz said. “Are you saying all hands off for twenty-four hours or just our boyfriends’?”

  “Hands, tongues, and other pieces of anatomy,” Tony clarified. “Honestly, the tattoo is a little raw right now so I don’t think you’ll want anyone—even yourself—touching it. Just be good for a day.”

  Liz sighed. “I hate being good,” she said. As if to prove the point, she turned to her sister and started teasing her. “Now what about you, Kara? We’ve still got to get your pussy pierced. Are you also going to get a tattoo?”

  “I think so,” Kara told her. Then, feeling particularly bold, she added. “I like the idea of Ron thinking he knows what the surprise is and then finding something extra special for him down there.”

  She flushed again at Liz’s knowing smile.

  “Tattoos are what we do!” Tony reminded them. “What did you have in mind?”

  The subject embarrassed Kara just enough that she had trouble looking Tony in the eye. “I was thinking of a snowflake,” she told him, “or maybe three tiny snowflakes all together.”

  Tony nodded thoughtfully. “I can do that, of course, but snowflakes are intricate work. It will cost you a little more than your sister and cousin paid.”

  “How much more?” Kara wanted to know.

  “Let’s go look at the books,” Tony said. “I can give you a price when you’ve shown me what you want.”

  “Let’s do that!” Kara agreed.

  “Great!” Tony said. “Liz, can John here put the bandage over your tattoo or do you still need the master’s hands?”

  Liz stuck out her lip and pouted. “Are you leaving me for another woman, Tony?”

  Tony just laughed and gestured for Kara to precede him out into the hall.

  Kara had had no idea that there were so many different types of snowflakes in the world. Certainly she had intellectually understood that no two flakes found in nature were supposed to be identical—not that anyone really believed that, did they? After all, there were trillions upon trillions of them falling every year. But that didn’t mean she had expected there to be hundreds of snowflake designs both in Tony’s books and on the Internet. There were so many, in fact, that she quickly got bored looking at them and started describing what she wanted instead.

  “I’m picturing something like those snowflakes that fall in that old cartoon, How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” Kara explained to Tony.

  He immediately understood what she was looking for, calling up the image on the Internet so that Kara could point at exactly the kind of intricate pattern she wanted. Tony printed the screen and Kara chose a cluster of three flakes.

  Then she had another idea. “Could we…what if we…”

  Tony waited patiently for her to figure out how to ask her question. “What if—I’m thinking about adding my boyfriend’s name to the tattoo,” Kara finally said. She wasn’t actually certain why she felt this would be a good idea. She agreed with all of Liz’s objections to putting a man’s name on her flesh. Even marriage didn’t mean you’d be together forever these days. But Ron had made the last year of her life happier than she’d ever imagined was possible and the thought of him pulling down her panties and finding his name on her flesh—his name adorned in snowflakes—really excited her.

  “What’s his name?” Tony asked.

  “Ron.”

  “That would be easy,” Tony told her. He pulled a blank piece of paper out of the printer and quickly sketched Ron’s name in elegant letters and then started drawing a rain of snowflakes over and beneath it. It was more elaborate than Kara had intended, but she found Tony’s design very sexy.

  “I like that,” she said. “How much would that cost me?”

  Tony shrugged as he ran the numbers in his head. “I suggest we do Ron’s name in bright red ink. You have very dark skin tone and the brighter colors generally stand out better against that. Then I think we should outline the snowflakes in black, but fill them in with white. That will take some time. It’s a small design but the work is very intricate. Still, I think it will be worth it! This is going to be a very sexy tattoo!”

  Kara tried to picture that in her head and liked what she imagined. “Okay, then how much will that cost me.”

  Tony quoted her a figure roughly twice what she had been expecting.

  She blinked trying to think of what to answer. It wasn’t that she couldn’t afford it, but it was a lot of money.

  “It’s intricate work,” Tony reminded her, “and let’s face it, you need it done right the first time. This is your flesh we’re inking.”

  Kara still said nothing. She really wasn’t sure if the surprise was worth that kind of money.

  “I tell you what,” Tony said. “If you decide to get this tattoo, I’ll throw in the labia piercing for free.”

  Kara blinked again and remembered one of her questions about the piercing process she’d learned from researching the subject on the internet. “You don’t use a piercing gun, do you?”

  Tony laughed. “What do you take me for, some trendy earring shop at the mall? I use sterile surgical needles of course.”

  Kara felt herself relaxing a little. “That’s good,” she said. “What kind of anesthetic do you use?”

  “I’ve always thought ice works best,” Tony told her. “We’ll hold it against your labia for a minute or two—it will numb you more than enough to take the edge off the pain when I stick the needle through you.”

  Kara shuddered. She couldn’t help herself. She just didn’t like that imagery.

  “So what do you think?” Tony asked. “Do you want to get this tattoo today or just stick with putting the stu
d in your labia?”

  Kara made up her mind. “Let’s do both!” she told Tony.

  “Excellent!” he said. “I have some paperwork for you and then we’ll rejoin your sister and cousin.”

  “I can’t believe you’re really going to do this,” Liz announced as she and Thea appeared in the doorway. “I mean, I was surprised by the piercing, but a tattoo?”

  “I don’t know if I can explain,” Kara told her. It was the simple truth. If Liz thought she was surprised by Kara’s decision, it was nothing compared to the astonishment Kara, herself, felt in regard to it. “I’m getting my labia pierced because Ron gave me a sweet gift on the one year anniversary of our first date and he really wants me to. But the tattoo is for me. I don’t do a lot of things for me, but watching you and Thea get inked, I decided I want to do this for me.”

  “Why a snowflake?” Thea asked her.

  Kara didn’t have to search for this answer. “Because Ron and I met because of a snowstorm and a lot of the best times we’ve had have been in the snow. It’s magical for us. I don’t know if you can understand that.”

  “Snow is just a pain in the ass for Nick and me,” Thea told her. “Every time there’s even a couple of flakes in the sky, his bartender freaks out and Nick loses another night off.”

  “Every time we get a good snowfall,” Kara told her, “Ron and I—”

  She broke off when she realized she was speaking aloud. She loved her sister and her cousin, and to a very large extent, she trusted them. But they did not need to know all of the times that Ron had made love to Kara with the snow falling all around them, or right outside the window. She wasn’t the sort of woman who told all the intimate details to her girlfriends.

  “You’re still dressed,” Tony noted as he entered the room behind Thea and Liz. He held the thermal fax for her tattoo in his hands. “Having second thoughts?”

  “Not at all,” Kara assured him.

  She hesitated a moment longer and then decided there was no point in waiting. She pulled a generous strip of paper off the large roll and set it on the seat of the big chair. Then she turned around so her butt faced the chair and her pussy was momentarily shielded from prying eyes. Steeling her nerve, she unfastened her jeans and lowered them and her panties to about the level of her knees. Then she sat down without fuss and swung her feet up into position.