Clay shook his head and replied seriously, “No, I don’t but I’ll keep my eyes open for them.”
“Good, cuz I gottz ice in the fweether for dem!” She kissed his cheek as he put her down and held out his arm for Trinity to hug so she wouldn’t feel left out.
He could recall when Trinity was this age, and by her slight pout he could tell she missed being the baby. She smiled and said, “Same as last time?”
Clay nodded affirmatively. “Yup. Just bring me what ya got.”
Trinity arched an eyebrow and smiled like she had a deal for him. “They’ve got a new flavor coming out.”
“Sure, sweetie.”
Trinity did a fist pump and hollered, “Yes! I’m gonna win the contest again!”
Bill Hooper laughed at his predicament and mouthed the word “sucker” when the girl’s attention was elsewhere. Clay wouldn’t have it any other way. But he was going to have to do something about that deep freezer full of cookies.
Remembering the reason for the conversation, he released the girls, and Bill sent them off to play. “Thanks for letting me know about our visitor, Bill.”
“You’re welcome. Sorry you’re having troubles. I hope everything’s okay. If you need me for anything, just let me know.”
“Well, I’ll be here tonight. If he shows up again, we’ll have us a chat.”
After Bill excused himself, Lily said, “Clay, one thing I can tell you about JT. He’s a creature of habit. Monday is always a busy day and he’d never leave the shop for a day during the week. He doesn’t trust Dirk or anyone else. If we see him again, it’ll be on a weekend.”
Clay wrapped his arms around her waist and sighed heavily. “We need to talk about filing a restraining order.”
Lily nodded and looked at the ground, seeming to weigh her words. “I know but I’m afraid all that will accomplish is provoking him. He’s very conniving and will see that as a challenge.”
“We’ll be ready for him. That’s all the more reason for you to stay at the ranch, which I’m glad we kept quiet.” Checking the text message that had just arrived on his phone, he added, “Del’s waiting for us at the shop.”
Lily’s eyes took on an excited gleam. “Good. I can’t wait. I’m ready to get started.”
* * * *
Del helped Lily from his truck and held the door to Divine Ink open for her. He looked around in approval at the clean conditions and decidedly nonstereotypical surroundings. It was located in one of the redone retail business spaces in the historic Divine downtown shopping district sandwiched between the Empire Theatre and Sanger’s Furniture, which had been in that location since opening day in 1897.
The bell on the door jingled, and moments later a man in his mid-thirties appeared around the partial wall that separated the reception area from the back of the shop. The interior walls were the original bricks which had been recently uncovered and restored according to the standards of the downtown Divine revitalization committee.
The taciturn dark-haired man, whom Del assumed was the owner, Seth Carter, nodded as they met halfway at the reception counter. He was tall and dressed neatly in jeans and a T-shirt. Both arms were adorned with intricately designed, full-sleeve tattoos.
“How can I help you?”
Del identified himself and introduced Lily. “Two friends of ours, Grace Warner and Maya Warner, recommended you to us. Lily has a tattoo she’d like to have redone, and I’d like to talk about getting a tattoo as well.”
Seth nodded and looked directly at Lily. “Can you show me the tat? I’d need to see it to get an idea of what I could do for you?” Del could sense the appreciation in his hooded gaze and suppressed the slight, territorial edge he felt. Lily was beautiful and there was no hiding that fact or keeping other men from admiring her…at a distance.
Lily blushed, glanced at Del, and then back at Seth. Del wanted to say something to make this easier for her, but she seemed to come to grips with the situation.
“I’d need a little more privacy.” She gestured to the storefront windows. “The tattoo is in a private location but I don’t mind showing it to you.”
Seth nodded as though this were a common occurrence and gestured for them to follow him. Beyond the partitioning wall was his work area, which included cabinets and neat countertops, the tools of his trade, a padded chair and table, all in a well-lit, clean-looking space. Grace had told Del she was impressed with Seth’s hygienic standards and his professionalism. He reminded himself of that as he thought of Lily undressing so he could see the tattoo. In the truck, she’d told him she’d dressed specifically to make this easy on everyone.
Seth took a seat on a rolling stool. “Where’s the tattoo located?”
Placing her hand on the spot, Lily said, “My lower abdomen.”
“May I see?” He gestured to the padded table, which was very much like one in a doctor’s exam room only set a little lower.
Lily hopped up on the table, lay down, then unzipped her black trousers while Del drew near to her.
Lily took his hand, and he realized he must be throwing off serious territorial vibes when he looked in her eyes and she mouthed, “You okay?” Taking a deep breath as she moved her blouse and revealed the dark mark, he nodded.
Seth slipped on latex gloves then turned to her. He froze when he saw the mark and rested his elbows on the padded table for a few silent seconds, letting out a long sigh. He looked closely at the tattoo, touching her only as much as was needed to draw down the edge of her undies so he could see the entire thing.
When Seth looked up at Del, he was practically singed by the heat and anger he saw burning in Seth’s eyes. “Please tell me you’re not JT.”
“Fuck no.”
Seth nodded in satisfaction and looked at the tattoo again. “He put his name on you? Were you a slave?” His tone was neutral, but Del could see the indignation in Carter’s eyes as he glanced up at her while he looked at the design.
Lily’s cheeks were bright pink as she hesitated, shook her head negatively, then as the crease between her brows deepened, tears filled her eyes and she nodded. “I need for it to be completely gone. I’m sorry to get emotional. I promised myself I wouldn’t. Can you fix this please?”
She sniffled, and Seth lowered his eyes as he reached for a box of Kleenex on one of the work counters and handed it to her.
He examined the mark again. “This is mostly line work. No color. It would take some time but I could do it. Did you have a design in mind?”
“Not yet. We wanted to find out first if it could be covered. Do you have pictures or designs?”
“Sure. I can show you a catalog of other art I’ve done or you can bring in your own image. I’ll do a lot of line work to disguise this and using color will help camouflage as well. I can show you some designs that would work well and we can also look online. You can cover up now.” Seth turned to him and asked, “How about you, Mr. Cook?”
“Call me Del. I think I’d like something that goes with what she gets.”
Lily looked at him in surprise but then seemed thrilled by the notion as her cheeks pinkened again, and she smiled hugely.
“But no names this time, I hope,” Seth said as he pulled two photo binders from a row of such books and placed them on the table after she sat up.
Lily lifted the first into her lap and flipped through it. There were tattoos of all different kinds, animals, reptiles, replicas of black and white photos, and all sorts of fantasy-type tattoos. Dragons, mermaids, fairies, and angels.
Lily’s lips popped open, and her fingertip landed on an image. Del smiled when he realized what she was looking at. She looked up at him and beamed happily.
“Phoenix! A phoenix.” She smiled at Seth. “Would a phoenix work?”
Seth nodded in obvious approval. “Lots of color, quite a bit of outlining. It’s a good choice. If you like that, could I make a suggestion?”
“Sure.”
Seth pulled over a rolling stand that had a la
ptop on it and navigated to a website. He scrolled through several pages before he found what he wanted.
“There are a lot of phoenix images to choose from. You can Google it at home, too, but this is what I wanted to show you.” He turned the laptop so they could get a closer look and Del nodded. It was a photograph of a model with the phoenix positioned over her abdomen and wrapped around her left hip, with the tail undulating down about twelve inches of her thigh.
Seth pointed at the design and said, “Phoenixes have long, feathery, intricate tails, which is part of the appeal. I can place the body of the phoenix over the image you want to cover, and if you’d like we can do this with the tail. It all depends on how far you want to go.”
Lily smiled but then frowned. “Um, aren’t I a bit…fleshy in that area to accentuate it like that?”
Seth didn’t hesitate when he shook his head. “I think it would look better on a curvy figure, myself.” He scrolled down a bit and showed the image from the front and said, “Del, we could do the same image over a pectoral and wrap the tail around your shoulder and down your bicep.”
Lily smiled at him. “What do you think?”
Easily, Del replied, “I like it.”
The symbolic nature of the phoenix wasn’t lost on him either. Lily was rising from the ashes and he was, too. He’d thought about getting a lily to symbolize her but had decided he’d rather show solidarity with her in this way. Clay would probably decide to get one, once he heard about it.
“Go home and think about it,” Seth said as he tapped keys on the laptop. “Google it and make sure that’s the design you want and think about if there are any particular colors you’d want.” He printed out a copy of both pictures for them and handed the images to Del. Seth gave him a ballpark figure for both and said, “We can talk about price when you come in again.” Del wondered at the low estimate.
Lily stood up. “Thank you, Seth. I’m relieved to know you can do it.”
“I hope Karma catches up with the person who did that to you,” Seth said quietly as he put the binders away. “Let me know when you decide.”
Del nodded and guided Lily back out to the front reception area, gratified by the outrage he’d seen in Seth Carter’s eyes but glad Lily was once again covered up. He didn’t like another man being able to see such an intimate part of her body.
Lily’s phone rang, and she excused herself to answer it.
Del took the opportunity to turn to the tattoo artist to ask, “Your price seems a little low.”
“I just opened my doors a few months ago. I’d do hers for free if I could afford to. Give me a few referrals and we’ll call it even. Some people have some serious kinks and I’ve seen some pretty graphic ink in the time I’ve been doing this. That tattoo on her…it’s just wrong.”
Del nodded and shook the man’s hand, feeling like maybe he’d made a friend.
Lily returned to where the men stood. “That was Jack Warner. He invited me out to see the progress on the house.”
After thanking Seth again, Del escorted her out to the truck. Since they were on that side of town, Del took a detour after letting Clay know, and they stopped by her house. The signs of construction were all around, and she seemed pleased by the visible progress. The sense of desertedness was gone from it, and the workmen who were still there smiled when she complimented their efforts.
Lily seemed pensive on the drive back to the shop, and when Del inquired she said, “To be honest, I haven’t given the house much thought lately. I feel guilty about it. It was the lifeline that got me back to Divine, the house I spent part of my childhood in. I should feel excited about the work progressing, but I don’t. It’s just…meh,” she said with a shrug.
“They say you can’t go back home.”
Lily shook her head negatively. “You can’t. It’s true, even though I own the building. It hasn’t been home since I was in the seventh grade.”
Del sincerely hoped that was because she was thinking of his ranch or Clay’s place as home now.
“Del, would you mind if we stayed at Clay’s house tonight? I know he wants to be there after hearing that JT was snooping around.”
Del shook his head. “I don’t like the idea. I know you think he won’t come during the week, but I don’t trust him.”
“But you’ll be with me the whole time. With both of you there, I’ll be safe. I don’t want to be away from either of you. I need you both.”
Del let out a chuckle when she looked at him with her lower lip stuck out. How in the hell could he resist giving her what she wanted? “Okay, if Clay agrees, I’ll go along with it. You know that pouty lip isn’t always going to work with me.”
He could barely keep a straight face when she blinked at him innocently and then giggled. “I know. I don’t take you giving in to me lightly. There’s this fantasy that’s been going through my mind, ever since Christmas evening.” She went on to explain that it involved a piece of Clay’s furniture.
“Well, since you put it that way, what did you have in mind?”
By the time she finished explaining as they pulled up at the shop, his cock was on board with the plan, too.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Monday night finally came. Clay brushed his mouth against Lily’s full lower lip in a side-to-side motion, sliding across its damp, pillowy softness as she stood naked with them in his living room.
Her amber gaze hinted at the excitement she must be feeling, and her trembling hand on his chest confirmed that she found the moment more than just a little arousing. If he touched her bare pussy right now, he’d never be able to sit back on the couch and let Lily and Del do what she’d asked for earlier in the day.
When Del had called him and told him what she wanted, Clay’s jaw had dropped. Del teased him and told him he saw no point in keeping the torture of waiting the rest of the afternoon all to himself.
Lily flicked her tongue against his and nibbled lightly at his lower lip. Del pressed against her from behind, and the body heat from her full, round breasts seared Clay through the cotton of his T-shirt.
Del let out a long sigh as he trailed kisses along her shoulder and up her throat, then back down. When he gently sank his teeth into the junction of her shoulder and neck, Lily let out a hard panting sound and balled her hands into fists on Clay’s chest.
The sweet scent of her wet pussy teased his nostrils and made his hands twitch as he resisted touching her. The moment was Del’s, and Clay had a feeling he had her pretty close to coming already with that bite. Clay’s turn would come soon.
Clay smooched her once more and then walked over to the entertainment center. For something a little kinky, like the scene that was about to play out, he thought Nickelback had the sexy, driving beat they needed. He cued the playlist on his MP3 player and then headed to the couch. “If Everyone Cared” began to play, starting them off with a slower, seductive beat so she could get into the moment. Nobody could say he hadn’t done his part of the prep work.
He’d wanted to open all the back curtains to intensify her fantasy, but with JT pulling his shit, Clay wouldn’t take a chance that she’d be seen through a window. His yard was heavily treed and none of the neighbors would’ve been able to see so he held the fantasy in reserve to replay again after all this mess was behind them.
He lay down on the couch and got comfortable, grinning at Del as he undressed and got settled in the gigantic padded rocking recliner, which Lily had draped with a sheet. He’d never thought the purchase of that comfy piece of furniture was going to pay off quite this well.
Del drew her to sit sideways in his lap, and he leaned her back over his arm and kissed her slowly and deeply. Her delicate, tapered fingers caressed Del’s biceps, and by the muted lamplight, Clay saw gooseflesh rise at the contact. He watched as Lily relaxed in Del’s arms as the song played on.
“…If everyone cared and nobody cried,
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and sw
allowed their pride
Then we’d see the day nobody died…”
Del’s fingers drifted over Lily’s abdomen in gentle caresses, and Clay smiled when her toes curled up at the contact. Her cheeks were rosy as Del’s lips moved slowly from her mouth down to her jaw in a trail that stopped between her breasts.
When she finally opened her eyes, she looked over at Clay, and his dick jumped in response to the arousal simmering in her sweet golden-honey gaze. A half smile crossed her lips, and she moaned erotically when Del’s fingertips slid through her drenched slit and sank into her cunt just enough to tease her.
Del rubbed her clit, and Clay suppressed a deep groan when her back arched and her hips flexed, obviously trying to take his fingers deeper. When Del didn’t cooperate, Lily curled her hand around his and tried to show him what she wanted.
Del chortled and murmured, “You’re the hottest damn thing, Lily. You want my cock in your pretty little pussy?”
Lily blushed deeper, and Clay watched as it spread down her throat and her chest. She rested her head on the padded arm of the chair and nodded and panted as he teased her more. Clay appreciated that Del made sure she was so turned on that she wouldn’t withdraw from the fantasy when he shifted her.
Lily didn’t even seem aware of it when Del angled her to the inner corner of the chair and then hauled her up so her back was against his chest. She kept her focus on him and his kisses. Del whispered something to Lily, and her lips parted on a whimpering sigh. She opened her eyes and nodded at Del.
“Clay wants to know if he can watch me fuck you right now. Is it okay?” Lily turned her gaze to Clay, and he could practically feel the heat in her heavy-lidded gaze.
It didn’t matter that this had been her idea in the beginning. She went along with Del and focused on Clay as she let out a slow, shaky breath. “Yes, I’d love for Clay to watch you fuck me.”
The graphic words flowing from her soft, succulent lips was incredibly erotic, and Clay’s cock swelled against his fly as if questioning his inaction. Clay had to force himself to stay still because he didn’t want to break the moment. Lily rested her head on Del’s shoulder as he kissed her and sucked at her lower lip, stroking her collarbone until she was practically vibrating with pleasure.
Divine Phoenix [Divine Creek Ranch 10] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 31
