Masquerade

Fuck she gets to me. I wonder if there’s anyone like her in the world but know there’s not.

Once I’m working on the third leaf, I say, “You have stars because of that night on your birthday. The Gemini because you feel like two people. Your mask because you hide… I saw you.” After wiping more Vaseline on her skin, I continue, knowing this is the one place where she can’t pull away. It’s fucking crazy. I want to talk to her, want her to talk to me, push her to open up. “I saw you with the leaves at the party, Bee, and now you want them in your skin. Your tattoos are about what’s important to you, aren’t they?”

She’s silent for what feels like forever. Anger at myself sneaks in, singeing my edges when I’m not sure they have a right to. We said from the begi

Neither was this…

But fuck… I want to know, need to know more about her. “If you don’t want to tell me, you can say it.”

“I always want to be able to take the good things with me. I want a reminder because you never know when everything will change. When you won’t be able to tell what’s good and bad or right and wrong, so I make sure the good is with me.”

It’s a struggle not to pull the tattoo gun from her but I keep going, don’t break the contact so she can’t pull away and so I can’t either. She wants to keep the good with her. I fight through my angry memories and try to think of the good. I blocked it out, not wanting to hold on to it because I didn’t know which parts of it were real or not.

“That’s good. There’s strength in making sure you remember, Bee.”

She lets out a deep breath. “You think?”

It takes me a minute to reply. I’m working on the hidden e in her last leaf, wishing I could wipe away the angry red skin so it will be perfect the first time she sees it. “Yeah… you’re kind of incredible. Has anyone told you that?” Closing down my thoughts, I focus on the muscle in my chest for the first time in forever.

“No.” Her voice is soft… sweet in a way I’ve never heard it. “It scares me that you did, only not as much as it should. That freaks me out even more.”

“It’s not like you’re the only one who’s nervous here.” Because I’m falling for her. Really fucking falling for her. I think I’ve known it for a while but it hasn’t been as real as it is right now.

“This is different, isn’t it?” She drops her head and I really wish I could see her face. She’s voicing what I’ve been feeling.

“You know the answer to that.” It’s all I can think of to say and I know she’ll appreciate me for it. Because that’s how we work. We don’t need words.

So we don’t use them. She stays bent forward as I continue to tattoo her. Soon I’m changing the tip so I can do the shading of the wind. Bee hardly moves, just trusts me with her body.

When I finally finish, I have no idea how late it is. After turning the gun off, I set it to the table. “Done.” Obviously but she doesn’t call me on it. It feels wrong to completely study it before she gets the chance, so I pull my eyes away and stand. “Let’s go.”

Grabbing her wrist, I help her stand. When she turns, I remember she’s half naked, and for the second time in the past few seconds, I have to rip my eyes away from her.

Bee lets me lead her to the bathroom. I stand against the wall as she leans forward, her back toward the mirror, neck turned so she can peek over her shoulder.

It’s the most incredible fucking sight I’ve ever seen. Her breasts, her flat stomach with the piercing. Those stars that go up her side, and then my mark in the middle of the puffy skin on her shoulder.

Knots form in my stomach as I watch her, as I wait for her. This is her memory, this is the way she wants to take this day with her wherever she goes and it’d kill me if I fucked that up.

Our eyes meet in the mirror and then she turns her head to face me. “It’s even more amazing than I thought it would be… Maddox… you’re incredible. Do you know that?”

It’s so close to what I said to her not long before. Words are trapped in my throat, clogged in my brain as I try to figure out how to reply to her. Instead, I do the only thing I can think of—try to take care of her.

She doesn’t say a word as I slip out of the bathroom. I grab the saran wrap and find some medical tape in the cabinet. Bee is right where she was when I left her, only again she’s looking at the tattoo.

“Let me wrap it for you.”

She nods. The plastic wrap sticks to her tattoo because of the Vaseline. I tape it down to be safe. It’s a short distance to bend forward and press my lips to the back of her neck, where it meets her shoulder. This time, it’s Bee who turns to face me, looking up at me with a look in her eyes I’ve never seen from her.

This frenzied need explodes inside me. Nothing can keep me from tasting her. My lips cover hers, soft, pleading for her to let me have her. To give herself to me the way I want to give myself to her.

Her mouth opens and I slip my tongue inside. My hands squeeze each side of her waist. It fucking kills me not to press her against the wall but I don’t want to hurt her tattoo.

Her hand goes between us and I’m scared she’s going to push me away but instead her hand goes down… down until she cups my erection. “Fuck,” I hiss, pulling away from her. “I want you, baby. Fuck the rules. Let me have you.”

Bee steps back and it’s like a fist slamming into my gut. I need her beneath me. Need her bare skin under my hands and mouth. I don’t think I can take it if she says no.

“Bee—”

Her voice cuts off my plea. “If you want me, take me.”

Chapter Twenty-Three ~Bee~

Maddox doesn’t give me time to contemplate my words when his mouth swiftly comes down on mine. It’s stronger, fiercer, and more intense than any kiss we’ve ever shared when his tongue passes between my lips and into my mouth. Even though I know it’s only been seconds, it feels like years that I’ve been waiting for him, and I immediately melt into the kiss.

My hands touch his face, feel the rough stubble. It might be one of the best feelings in the world. I keep going, continuing to touch him before tangling my hands in his hair. He palms my ass and then lifts as I wrap my legs around his waist.

“Christ I’ve wanted to do this again for so long.” His lips are moving across my neck and… down, as he starts to head out of the bathroom.

“Me too.” I lean back, hating the honesty that flows out of me so easily. Confused as to why I do want him so much. Or maybe not confused but scared. I don’t want to fall in love. It makes people do stupid things.

“Which door?” Maddox’s gravelly voice sounds almost like a growl.

“What if I don’t tell you?”

His grip on me tightens. “Then I’ll use the wall.”

He backs me up until my back is only an inch from the hallway but stops. Without him saying a word, I know exactly why. My heart turns to putty. I want to harden it, put in cement, but somehow he won’t let me. Even something as simple as him worrying about my tattoo makes me feel soft in a way I’m not sure I ever have.

In a way that I should?

No. I shove those thoughts out of my head. I want to enjoy this too much without thoughts of trying to be someone I’m not.

“The door across from where you tatted me.”

Maddox carries me inside, his mouth back on mine again. I dig my heels into him, trying… needing… to pull him as close to me as I can. He’s busting down those walls inside of me, getting closer and closer whether I want him to or not.