Wilde Ink (Wilde Brothers Book 3) (7 page)

He managed to work his jeans down his legs without letting go of the goddess in his arms. The second he had his shoes and pants off, he started kissing his way down her body, eager to get his mouth on the dusky skin of her nipples. He latched onto one and Lia leaned back on the desk, bracing herself with one hand as she arched her back and offered herself to him. “Lie back,” he told her, his mouth still full of succulent flesh.

When she didn’t move right away, he released her nipple and lifted his head to stare into her eyes. “Don’t start second guessing things now. Just trust me and lie down. I have something I need to do.”

“You don’t have to do that…” she said, and he could actually watch as her skin darkened in embarrassment.

“Have to, no. Want to? Hell yes.” Nick watched her expression a few seconds longer, seeing her doubts and finally understood. “You’ve never had someone do this for you before, have you?”

Her lower lip disappeared between her teeth and she shook her head. “No.”

Nick couldn’t stop himself from grinning. “Then I am your first. Lie back. Now. I’ve got more I want to show you.”

When she closed her eyes and lowered herself to his desk without a word, it was all he could do not to cheer. He was going to make this good for her. Hell, he was going to try and ruin her for any other man, ever. When she was stretched out in front of him, eyes closed and fists clenched at her sides, Nick saw another side to Lia. She looked uncertain, vulnerable. It twisted his gut into knots and made him want to protect her. Instead, he moved around to her side, took one of her hands in his and leaned down to brush a tender kiss to the line that furrowed her brow.

“What are you doing?” She asked, her eyes fluttering open to stare up at him in confusion.

“Enjoying the moment,” he said and dropped his lips to hers. He kissed her until he felt her tension ease and she threaded her fingers through his short hair, pulling him closer. Closer was exactly what he wanted. Skin on skin, no space between them. When her nails scraped the nape of his neck, he knew she was back to herself again. With a smile he broke their kiss and started working his way down her body, taking the time to explore every curve and indent along the way. By the time he reached her navel, she was panting softly, and when he blew a stream of air across her pussy she moaned.

Nick moved between her legs again, lifting her feet and placing them on his shoulders so that she was spread open to his gaze. Her feet slid down his back as he leaned down and stroked a finger over her glistening folds. “Open your eyes and look at me, Lia.”

When she did, he lifted his finger to his mouth and licked her cream from it, keeping his eyes on her the entire time. “You’re delicious. Sexy, and all mine.”

Fire danced in the green depths of her eyes as she met his gaze. “I don’t belong to anyone, Nick.”

“There’s a first time for everything.” Before she could argue, Nick dropped his head and showed her everything that she’d been missing. He licked and suckled, never focusing his attention in one place for too long. He spread her dark pink folds with his fingers, exposing her swollen clit to his tongue. Soon Lia was trembling beneath him, her legs tightening around his shoulders as she ground her pussy against his face. When he latched onto her clit and sucked hard she came up off the desk with a cry. He slid his hands under her, cupping her ass and lifting her higher. He pushed her hard, wanting to see her orgasm. Hell, he’d promised her he wouldn’t fuck her until she screamed his name, and he was a man of his word.

Her cries grew louder with every lap of his tongue, and he knew she was on the brink. He held her there, just on the edge of orgasm until at last he heard what he’d been waiting for. “Nick! Oh God, I…I…please!”

He sucked her pearl into his mouth and when he bit down lightly she came apart in his arms. He lowered her back to the desktop with care, his cock already leaking pre-cum at the idea of finally getting inside her. That’s when it finally hit him. Condoms.

Fuck.

Half a second later he was laughing like a lunatic, tugging open the drawers of his desk until he found what he was looking for. When Lia saw what he was holding, her eyes narrowed in distrust. “Do I want to know why you keep a box of condoms at your desk?”

“I don’t usually. These were a gift from my brother and Jo…it was their way of announcing her pregnancy. They handed me these and told me they didn’t need them anymore.”

She laughed at that and the shadows faded from her eyes. “Then let’s put them to good use.”

“Believe me, I intend to.” He got the condom on in record time and returned to the end of the desk before taking her hands and drawing her back up to a sitting position. Lia’s long legs wrapped around his hips and she molded herself to him, bringing them together in a moment of pure need that stopped his breath. God above, she was beautiful. He took her mouth a bare instant before his cock found its way into her channel, and then he was inside her. The walls of her cunt were so tight he could barely move, and he slowed his thrust, not wanting to hurt her. The, slow, delicious slide into her body seemed to last an eternity, but finally he was seated to the hilt, every inch of him buried deep.

Lia’s arms locked around his neck and she rose up off the desk, driving his dick even deeper.

“Fuck me,” she whispered into his mouth, and Nick’s control snapped. He gripped her ass and started moving, legs spread and hips pounding as hard and fast as the beating of his heart. The wet slap of flesh, the low moans of need, hot breath and the nearly insane need to go deeper, drove Nick on. He wanted to lay claim to every part of her body so that she’d never forget his touch. Her nails raked his back and he nipped her throat in response.

She was as wild and fierce as he, matching him thrust for thrust as they chased each other through a place of primal passions and all-consuming need. Every good intention turned to ash in the fire that raged between them. Nick had finally found the passionate woman he was certain lurked beneath the icy armor Lia wore, and he wanted nothing more than to bask in the glory of her flames.

He felt the tightening coils of need in his groin and started fucking her harder. He lowered her back to the desk and she leaned back, the change in angles squeezing his cock even tighter in the slick heat of her pussy.

He reached between them to finger her clit, hoping to bring her over one last time before the end. Her wild moans filled the air and the scent of their lovemaking perfumed every breath he took.

“You’re mine, Lia,” he barely heard a word he said, but Lia did.

“Maybe I am.”

It was enough to send him hurtling into orgasm, taking her with him as he lost himself in the pleasures of her body.

It was Lia who moved first, nuzzling her face to the side of his neck. “I hate to ask, but how many health code violations did we just break?”

He chuckled. “Too many to count. Come on, gorgeous. I’m taking you upstairs, and then I’m going to feed you.”

She settled into his arms, warm, sated and completely trusting. It was the best feeling he’d ever known.

Chapter Seven

Lia briefly considered asking Nick to put her down, but the words never left her mouth. She’d forfeited control of the situation the moment she’d asked him to kiss her, so why try to take it back now? Besides, being in his arms felt right, and it gave her yet another opportunity to look at his tattoos up close. There was an elaborate rose over his bicep, just below a tribal band that circled his upper arm. The rose looked almost like a pencilled sketch, all in gray. “Somehow I didn’t expect a tough guy like you to have a flower tattoo.”

He paused on his way up stairs to glance down at his arm. “That one’s for my mom. The thorns along the stem are my pain in the ass brothers, and my dad. That’s pretty much my family summed up in one image, a beautiful flower and five thorns in my side.”

“They can’t be that bad. David’s been a good boss so far…but he did mention that the two of you aren’t exactly close.”

Nick’s head snapped up. “When were you talking to him about me?”

“When he saw the stuff on my desk and figured out you must have sent it. He called me into his office.”

“Shit. I didn’t think he’d do that. Sorry.”

“I didn’t think you’d call him to ask if it was okay to date someone in his office. That was…surprising.”

“I told you I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. That includes your career. If Dave had told me there’d be a problem, I would have backed off. Not happily, but I would have.”

There he went, surprising her again. “You’re not what you seem to be, are you?”

He flashed her a cocksure grin and lifted her higher in his arms as he climbed the rest of the way to the second floor. “I think that really depends on what kind of person you think I am.”

“I thought—wow.” Lia interrupted herself to take in the room they’d just entered. She hadn’t been sure where Nick was taking her, but she would never have imagined the space she found herself in. Sketches and drawings filled every inch of wall space, some framed, some simply tacked into place. There wasn’t much furniture. An old wooden desk and equally aged chair, a small table pulled up close to a day bed and a few assorted chairs and side tables. There was a laptop, powered down and closed, on the largest table. Everything else was dedicated to Nick’s passion. Art.

“If you want to know who I am, Cin, all you have to do is look around you. This is me.”

“Before I do that, do you think maybe we should get dressed?”

Nick sighed heavily and stuck out his lower lip. “Nope. Don’t wanna. How about we compromise and wrap up in a quilt instead?”

His woebegone expression made her burst out laughing and she raised her hand in surrender. “All right. Quilts it is.”

“Perfect. Did I mention there’s only one? We’ll have to share.” He waggled his brows at her.

“Scoundrel.”

“You have no idea.” He carried her over to the day bed and set her down in the center of it before reaching back and drawing a large, handmade quilt around her shoulders. Still completely naked himself, he tucked her in with care. “I need to call in our order. There’s beer and soda in the fridge. And if you’re good, I might consider bringing your clothes up with me.”

“And if I’m not?”

“Then I’ll toss your clothes into a snow bank, ensuring you’re stuck here with me all night, naked. Frankly, I’m tempted to do that anyway.”

“If you did that, I’d have some serious trouble getting home. Though I think I’m going to need to borrow a shirt or something, you tore mine to ribbons. Besides, I already said I’d stay with you tonight.”

“You did. And I’m holding you to it.” His blue eyes darkened with desire as he leaned in close and whispered in her ear, “In fact, I plan on holding you in my arms all night, just to make sure you don’t get away. Sound good?” His soft words made her pulse race, and she nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She’d never spent a night with any of her lovers. They hadn’t tried to keep her, and she’d never wanted to stay.

Yet somehow, here she was.

He straightened up and then paused just as he started to move away. “And before you start wondering about it while I’m downstairs, the answer is no.”

“No?” she repeated, not sure what he meant.

“No, I don’t make a habit of this. The only other women to set foot up here either work for me or they’re family. I just thought you should know that.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll be back in a few minutes. My phone is somewhere in that pile of clothes we left on the floor.” Nick turned and left, giving her ample time to admire the toned lines of his very naked body. Even in the dim lighting, she was mesmerized by the intricate lines of the wings that covered his back. Once he was gone, she left the daybed, braving the chill of the hardwood floor to go exploring.

She found the light switches and nearly blinded herself when she turned all of them on at once. White lights danced behind her eyelids and she fumbled at the switches again until most of them were turned off again. Better.

Now she could see more of the art on the walls, and as she took it all in she quickly realized that despite the different techniques and subjects, the underlying style was the same. She walked up to one large piece and located the artist’s signature, a raven’s wing with Nick’s initials scrawled below it. She checked another piece, and then another. All of them were Nick’s. He had created every image she was looking at, and in doing so he’d given her a chance to see the world through his eyes, to know what he valued. It was almost overwhelming.

Not sure where to start, Lia made her way to his desk, where various sketches and half done pieces were spread out across the surface. She picked up one at random, and found herself staring at a familiar face. Her own. She picked out another one, and then another, only to find that all of them were of her. She traced the outline of her features across the page. Nick had captured her image quite well, but it wasn’t just her face and form she was looking at, he’d somehow managed to convey a piece of her soul, as well. It left her feeling exposed.

There was a sadness in her eyes that Lia never showed to anyone. At least, she didn’t think she had, but there it was, on the page. They’d barely spoken, hardly knew each other. How the hell had Nick managed to see what no one else could? She was so focused on the sketches she never heard Nick come back upstairs. It wasn’t until he spoke that she knew she wasn’t alone.

“I did mention you’d been haunting me these last few weeks.”

“I’m not sure whether to be flattered, or frightened.” She turned around to find him standing only a few feet away, arms crossed over his enticingly bare chest.

“Most of these I did when I didn’t expect to see you again. That one, I did last night.” He nodded to the sketch she was still holding.

“You’re very talented.”

“You’re very beautiful. I was inspired.”

Lia glanced at the picture again. “Why did you make me look sad?”

“Is that what you see?” he asked, crossing the space between them in a heartbeat. He tugged her into his arms so that her back was to his chest and he was peering over her shoulder at the sketch.

“It’s obvious,” she said.

“To you, maybe. Not to anyone else though. You keep yourself so buttoned up you could be a professional poker player. I just drew the woman I’ve been dreaming off.”

“I still think I look a little sad.”

Nick nuzzled her hair and tightened his arms around her. “If you pose for me later on, I promise to draw you smiling.”

“Do I get my clothes back first?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“Nope.”

“Then it better be a really big smile. And if anyone ever sees a drawing of me naked, I
will
shoot you.”

Nick’s voice dropped to a low growl. “No one is seeing you naked but me. Not on paper, not in person.”

“Then I will pose for you later tonight. You really are incredibly talented. I have to ask, why don’t you do this for a living instead of tattooing people?”

“Because tattoo artists are the exception to the rule that all artists have to starve. This way I get to make beautiful art, meet some pretty amazing people, and I can order a pizza whenever I want. You seemed to like my ink just fine earlier, so why can’t I create living art like that for a living?”

“When you put it like that, I guess there’s no reason why not. And I do like your tattoos. I’d like to see them properly. Will you…let me look at them?”

“Did you just ask me if I’m okay with you getting up close with my naked self? Lia, baby, I’m extremely okay with that idea. You can take a look at any part of me you like, for as long as you need.”

“Then go sit down. I want to look at those wings.”

“Anyone tell you that you’re really sexy when you get bossy?”

She craned her head to give him an incredulous look. “No.”

“Well you are. And don’t give me that look. I think it’s sexy as hell.” He planted a kiss to her temple and released her to go stretch out on the daybed, face down and with his head pillowed on his crossed arms. “Pizza will be here in twenty minutes, until then, I’m all yours.”

Lia looked at his sculpted body and briefly wondered if they had time for another tumble before their food arrived. She had always kept a tight leash on her libido, but tonight she was revved up, and not even the three incredible orgasms he’d already given her had put a dent in her drive. Nick Wilde was bad for her self-control, that much was clear. When he was around, she lost the ability to say no.

Nick shifted over, giving her space to climb onto the bed, and she let the quilt drape over them both as she curled up near his hip. When her fingers touched the wingtips at the base of his spine he groaned softly and closed his eyes. “Have I mentioned how much I like having your hands on me?”

“You did. I think that’s a good thing, because I haven’t had much luck keeping them off of you since the day we met.” His laughter vibrated through her hands and up her arms as she kept up her tactile exploration of his artwork. “Did it hurt?”

“In places. It’s not the pain that bothers me. It’s the itching a few days later.”

“Tattoos
itch
?”

“Like a healing sunburn, and you can’t scratch. It nearly drove me out of my mind.”

“You designed this tattoo, didn’t you? It looks like the rest of your work.”

“I designed it, and the man who would become my mentor did the tattoo. The process fascinated me, Tor liked my work, and by the time my back was done I knew I wanted to learn the craft. These wings got me started on this whole crazy adventure.”

“This is incredibly detailed work. It must have taken hours.”

“It did.”

She traced the outline of one wing up to his shoulder and then followed the criss-cross pattern down his spine, back to the small of his back. “Tor doesn’t mind that you have your own shop now? Doesn’t that make you his competition?”

“Tor never had a shop in Chicago. He’s in Florida.”

“Florida? You moved to Florida to learn to tattoo? That seems a bit extreme, aren’t there plenty of shops here in Chicago?”

“I was already in Florida. I went to an art school down there. I wanted to see what it felt like to wear beachwear in January instead of a parka.”

Lia wanted to know what that was like someday, too. “So, what is it like?”

He cracked an eye open to look at her. “You don’t know?”

“I’ve always wanted to do a winter getaway, but I’ve never managed it. My parents need me.”

“Florida was great, but I missed Chicago eventually. Hurricanes really aren’t a lot of fun, and neither are fire ants. I left because I needed to get away from my family for a while, but it was never going to be a forever thing. You know, I’ve never asked about your family. Siblings? Crazy aunts I should be warned about? Your folks run the corner store I dropped you off in front of the other night, right?”

“They do.” Lia took a steadying breath. “No crazy aunts, and no siblings, at least…not anymore.”

Nick swore under his breath. “Sorry. Did I just put my foot in my mouth?”

“No, it’s okay. We lost Alex a long time ago. He was my older brother, the responsible one, you know? He got killed in a robbery at the store. He shouldn’t have been there. He was covering for me because I bailed and took off with friends for the night.”

“That’s a pretty shitty thing to have to deal with.” Nick said, turning over and pulling her down into his arms. She didn’t even try to resist. Instead, she just buried her face against the warm bulk of Nick’s chest and let him offer what comfort he could.

It felt better than she could have imagined.

****

His brothers were a pain in his ass, but Nick couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose one of them forever. That kind of loss never really healed, and he’d caught the guilt in Lia’s voice when she’d said he was covering for her. Guilt and loss would explain the walls she’d built around herself, not to mention why she’d chosen such a challenging profession. He was willing to bet that it was no accident that she was a robbery detective, chasing down criminals like the ones who had killed her brother.

“You know, I think you’re the first person who didn’t say “I’m sorry” when I told them about Alex.”