The Harder He Falls: 2 (So Inked) (18 page)

Instead of messing with the condom though, he unbuttoned her shorts and pulled them off with her thong. The worn wood under her ass was rough but not uncomfortable.

“What are you doing?” She reached for his waistband, only to have her hands shoved away.

“I’m getting my taste,” he said with a glint in his eye as he sank down to his knees.

“Oh…”

He kissed her inner knee on one side, the tender part of her thigh on the other. Her breath caught in her throat. He was so damn handsome.

Quin parted her folds, exposing her pussy, and set his mouth to her clit. She gasped and clenched her hands into fists as pleasure unfurled low in her stomach. His tongue swirled around the sensitive bud and Kellie’s body went limp.

She sank back on the desk until she rested on her elbows and wrapped a leg around Quin’s shoulders, her ass hanging partially off the edge. He hummed his approval and pressed against her harder. Fingers found her entrance, dipped into her channel. She shuddered and dug a hand into his thick hair and pulled. She needed it harder, and he could give it.

Quin slapped her thigh, startling a yelp out of her. She glared even as he chuckled against her, the vibrations spiraling her desire higher.

“What the fuck was that for?” Her leg tingled but not painfully. He curled his fingers and she forgot all about the spanking. Her delicate muscles fluttered for a moment before clamping tight around his fingers. She tossed her head back and groaned as ecstasy rippled through her.

Quin stood, sliding her leg from his shoulder. She panted for breath and watched him tear into the condom through eyes too heavy to keep open.

“This is going to be quick,” he warned, pushing his shorts and boxers down around his thighs and sliding the condom on.

“You’d better be.”

He pushed her thighs farther apart. “Tell me if I hurt you.”

“As if,” she snorted.

Quin grinned and thrust into her slick pussy. Still sensitized from her orgasm, Kellie moaned and rolled her hips. “Fuck. Me.”

“Gladly.”

She locked her ankles at the small of his back and lifted her head to watch him. Quin’s gaze was focused on their joined bodies, his eyes dilated and his breathing heavy. He slid in and out in short, measured strokes.

“Mm, harder.”

His grip on her thighs tightened, lifting her for a new angle. He glanced up at her, an evil grin on his face as he drew out of her, leaving just the tip nestled between her lower lips. He thrust hard enough her teeth rattled together and she scrabbled to hold on to something.

Jolts of electricity shot through her body. Her nipples chafed against the cups of her bra and her pussy spasmed around him.

“How did you like that?”

“Again,” she panted.

He pounded into her until her spine was arching and incoherent words spilled from her lips. She was close, reaching for the edge all over again. A hard smack on one side of her ass pushed her over. Her muscles tightened and she groaned as her body orgasmed harder than before. Quin worked his cock in and out of her tight sheath in frenzied thrusts. She reached for him, digging her hand into his hair and yanking him down for a kiss.

She felt the twitch of his climax and the warmth of his seed through the latex barrier as he devoured her mouth. She nipped his lips and bit his tongue. They were rough with each other and she loved it.

He leaned over her, braced on his elbows, their heated breath mingling. “That was fucking fantastic.”

“Not so bad yourself.” She planted a kiss on his cheek before she pushed him away. Her bones had the consistency of pudding, but they were out of time.

Quin stepped back, peeling off the condom.

“Bathroom,” she said sharply when he would have tossed it in the office trash. “Don’t leave that in here.”

He blinked at her, then chuckled as he realized leaving evidence of their coupling for her coworkers to find probably wasn’t a good idea. He tucked himself into his shorts with one hand and ambled off to the bathroom. Kellie grabbed her clothing and yanked it on. Her shoes were where she’d left them under her desk before their confrontation. She jammed her feet into the flats and bent over to look in the mirror.

Warmth and skin slid along her thigh. Quin blanketed her from behind, his hands gripping the edge of the desk. She turned her head as he bit down on the juncture of her shoulder and neck.

Pounding from the back door made them hesitate.

“Did you close the door?” She straightened, but Quin merely wrapped an arm around her waist and held her against him.

His mouth pressed against her neck. Her already well-used body perked up. “Of course I did. You shouldn’t be here by yourself. Anyone could come in here.”

“Ugh, you’re ridiculous. Stop.” She pried his hands from her breasts and stepped away. “That’s going to be Pandora. Thank god you shut the door though. Speaking of doors…” She put a hand against the cracked door. One hinge was almost completely off the wall.

“I’ll fix that.”

She glanced over her shoulder. “Yeah, but how am I going to explain it?”

Quin grinned. “The truth?”

She shook her head and stepped into the hall, groping through the darkness for the doorknob.

“I’ve been standing out here pounding on the door for five minutes,” Pandora huffed as she passed. Waves of heat followed her in.

“Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention,” she muttered to Pandora’s back.

“What the—? Oh, hello.” Pandora stopped in the doorway, glancing from the door to Quin, no doubt.

“Pandora, this is Quin. He was just leaving.” She pushed Pandora into the room and arched a brow at Quin.

“Right, I’m leaving. Nice to meet you.” He waved at Pandora and headed for the door, grabbing Kellie’s hand as he slipped by.

“I’ll be right back,” she said over her shoulder as Quin led her to the hallway.

In the semiprivacy, she pushed him up against the wall before he could do the same to her and planted a kiss on his lips.

“Go. Now,” she growled, a hairsbreadth away from his mouth.

“What are you doing tonight?”

“Closing and then going home.”

“Want to come to my place?”

She shook her head. There would be no one to watch Grandma, and after her latest stunt Kellie didn’t trust her. “Not tonight. We’ll figure it out.”

“Okay, cool. I’ll see you tomorrow still, right?”

She paused, scrambling to remember what tomorrow was. Thursday. “Oh, the tattoo. Right. Yeah, come by whenever.”

“See you.”

He pushed out the back door and she took his spot leaning against the wall. She didn’t know what to think, but she felt good.

Cherry Blossoms—In Japan, these spring flowers blossom on the sakura tree, and have nothing to do with the cherry fruit. The fragility and brief life span of these pink-and-white flowers symbolize mortality. They are a very popular design.

Kellie sliced open a box, ignoring the sidelong looks Pandora had been giving her for the last half hour. The shop doors were unlocked, the Open sign lit, and still they had not touched on Quin or what had happened to the door.

“Um, Kellie?” Pandora said hesitantly.

“Hm?”

“Did you sit on something?”

Invisible fingers walked up her spine. She straightened and glanced over her shoulder. “What?”

“You have a mark, here.” Pandora gestured to the back of Kellie’s thigh, right below the curve of her ass.

Where Quin had smacked her.

The box cutter hit the wooden surface. She strode to the mirror hanging at the beginning of the hallway and turned to examine the area.

I’m going to kill Quin.

An angry red oval stuck out several inches below the hem of her shorts. To anyone else, it could be a burn from sitting on a hot tailgate or a bruise from falling. But she knew it was also the perfect size of Quin’s hand.

“Why are you going to kill Quin?” Pandora leaned against the wall next to the mirror.

Had she really said that out loud?

She gestured to the handprint. “He did this.”

“Were you guys sparring?”

Kellie snorted and shoved her hair out of her face. For such a randy girl, Pandora could be pretty naïve at times.

Pandora gasped, her eyes going wide and a hand rose to cup her mouth. “You didn’t!”

“I didn’t what?”

She jabbed a finger toward her. “You had sex in the office!”

Okay, so maybe Pandora wasn’t as ignorant as she thought. “How do you know that?”

“You guys broke the door?” Pandora gave her a once-over. “I don’t think I want to know.”

“It was not like that. The door happened before.”

She jabbed with more enthusiasm. “You did have sex in the office!”

“I thought that was obvious.”

“How did the door get broken?”

“Well, that’s an interesting story. I gave Quin a black eye, and he broke the door down when I wouldn’t open it.”

“Wait, hold up, you gave him the black eye?”

“Yes. I gave Quin a black eye when I saw him kissing this blonde, who he’s not with but is the mother of their kid. Except she’s hitched to someone else now. Quin showed up today to grovel and I closed the door in his face. He went all caveman, broke it down, and now I have bruises on my ass. He’s quite the alpha-hole.” Pandora was lost to a fit of giggles that didn’t bother Kellie, but on principle she glared at her anyway. “This is not funny! There’s a handprint on my ass.”

“I’m sorry,” Pandora heaved.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t laugh at you for having a quickie with Brian at the shop.”

Pandora’s jaw dropped. “You knew about that?”

“It wasn’t that hard to figure out.”

“Has Mary or Autumn done it here?”

“When? Mary’s never here without you or me, and Autumn’s with her mom.”

“Have you heard from her?”

“Autumn? Yeah, she’s going to be out a bit longer, but she’s at least going to call her appointments.”

“Thank god.”

* * * * *

Quin pulled the glass storefront door open and stepped into the eclectic atmosphere of So Inked. Despite being the middle of the afternoon, the shop was empty.

“Hello?” he called.

“Coming,” someone answered from the back of the shop.

He leaned against the receptionist desk and pulled out his phone. He tapped out a quick text to Kellie and sent it, only to hear her phone vibrating on the desk in front of him.

“Sorry about that.” Heels tapped on the floor, heralding the same woman from the previous morning. He vaguely recognized her from the party, but couldn’t be sure. “Oh, it’s you.” She paused a quarter of the way to him and pivoted. “Come on back, we’re almost done.”

Curious, he followed her to a room he’d not been aware of previously. Kellie lay on one of the padded tables, a tray of sadistic-looking tools resting on her stomach.

“See, I told you it was him,” she said to the woman. To Quinn she said, “Come here and hold my hand.”

“Do I want to know what you’re doing?” He gripped her right hand and rested his other on the padding next to her shoulder.

“I’m getting my nose repierced. What does it look like I’m doing?” Kellie replied.

He eyed the tray. “I have no idea.”

“Have you met Pandora?” She gestured to the woman with their back toward them, rummaging through tiny plastic drawers. The tattoo spread across her shoulders and down her back was eye-catching to say the least. Little cherubs made pincushions out of zombies with their heart-shaped arrows.

“No, not officially. Hi, I’m Quin.”

Pandora glanced over her shoulder and grinned as she pulled on a pair of latex gloves. “Hi. So about that door?”

Heat circled his neck and reached for his cheeks. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

“Are you blushing?” Kellie cooed, poking a finger at his chest.

He grabbed her other hand and bent over to kiss her smiling lips.

“Okay, you two.” Pandora stood across from him, holding a mirror. “Make sure that dot is where you want it.”

Kellie pulled her poking hand back and took the mirror. Her bangs were flopped back, putting her face on full display. Today her eyes were heavily lined and smoky colors dusted her lids. Thick eyelashes accentuated her gaze, which was focused on her reflection. A single purple dot marred the outside of her left nostril. She pursed her glossy lips and twisted her hand in his so she gripped him harder.

“Looks good. Let’s do this so I can finish up his tattoo.”

“Yeah? What are you doing today?” Pandora asked as she picked up something that looked like a set of tongs.

“Finishing the samurai on his arm. It’s going to look sick.”

“Awesome.”

She clamped the forceps on Kellie’s nose. Kellie sucked in a deep breath and squeezed his hand. Pandora took what he could only assume was a needle from the tray and placed it against Kellie’s skin. He peered over Pandora to get a glimpse of what she was doing. Was the spot between the tong pieces?

“Hey, get your fat head out of my way.” Pandora laughed and elbowed his shoulder.

“Sorry, I didn’t know what you were doing.”

“Well, I’m piercing her nose.”

“Smart-ass,” Kellie muttered.

Pandora dramatically rolled her eyes. “Fine. She marked where she wanted the piercing with that dot there. I’ve clamped her nose with forceps, and I’m going to pierce her with a hollow-point needle. This is going to hurt like a bitch because someone took their nose ring out and let it grow back in and wants it pierced in the same place.”

“Shut up and shove the needle through already.”

He squeezed her hand, not liking the idea of Kellie hurting. “Are you supposed to do it that way?”

“You can do it any way you want to, but piercing through scar tissue hurts more, and if she lets it grow back in again, the scarring will be worse,” Pandora replied.

“Stop yapping already!” Kellie snapped.

“Fine. Deep breath.” Pandora placed the needle against Kellie’s nostril.

Kellie squeezed his hand, the only indication that she might not be as cool as her exterior suggested. He watched the muscles in Pandora’s arms flex as she pushed the tiny needle through flesh and cartilage.

“Okay, breathe. Not so bad?” Pandora smiled and let go of the needle, which was sticking straight through Kellie’s nose. The forceps came off and were placed on the tray.

He grinned. “Maybe you should leave it like that, doll.”

Kellie glared at him.

He leaned over to get a closer look. Having sat through plenty of staples and stitches himself, he didn’t think the piercing looked that bad.

“What do you do next?” he asked.

“Next we put the jewelry in,” Pandora replied.

“Are you getting a diamond put in?”

Kellie did not answer that question either.

Pandora chuckled. “No, she’s getting a ring for now to allow her nose to swell. Once it’s all healed up she can change out to a stud. You know, I haven’t done this many piercings in a long time.”

“That’s because Autumn’s not here,” Kellie mumbled.

“Yeah.” Pandora glanced at him.

“He knows.”

“Heard anything about her?”

“Nope. Are you going to stick that ring in, or just think about it all day?”

“Okay, hold your breath.”

He couldn’t tell what Pandora was doing, but Kellie gripped his hand hard. For several long seconds Pandora moved in tiny increments, her hands sheltering the piercing from view.

“All done.” Pandora produced a mirror, which he took and held for Kellie when she was slow to respond.

The plain silver hoop was not his favorite. It drew attention to the piercing instead of complementing her beauty. But it wasn’t his place to tear down what she liked well enough to do twice to herself.

“What do you think?” he asked.

Kellie took the mirror and turned her face toward him to better examine the piercing. Her eyes saw details he would not, so he waited.

“This ring is fucking huge. Pandora, are you sure we don’t have something smaller?”

“It’s not huge, you just don’t like rings. Give it a week and change out to a stud.” Pandora gathered the tools of her trade and began tidying up at a small counter on the opposite wall.

“Fine.” Kellie sat up and swung her legs over the side.

She was wearing shorts again, in a pastel yellow, and a tank top with the shop logo that was almost transparent. She wrapped her leg around his calf. Maybe the tattoo could wait?

He leaned in but she pushed him away.

“Let’s get started on that arm.”

* * * * *

Kellie swiped the new rag over Quin’s arm again.

“Dude, I’m only going to finish the samurai. I don’t like how much you’re bleeding.”

He flexed his arm, the muscles bulging and dancing. “It’s not that bad.”

“I don’t like it.”

“I’m not a wuss.”

“This isn’t about being a wimp, dumbass.” She dipped the needle in the green ink and continued shading the samurai’s robes. “It’s about bleeding out the ink. That’s probably why the colors don’t pop as much on your other arm.”

He turned his attention to the aforementioned sleeve and examined the myriad tattoos wrapped around the limb.

“Huh, I hadn’t thought of that.”

“You should think about getting touch-ups sometime.”

“Do you do touch-ups?”

“I do. Not everyone will touch another artist’s work, but I’ve never seen the point in turning away business. I’m not too proud to slap a second coat of paint on someone. I do charge to touch up someone else’s tattoo, where I would do it for free from someone getting a touch-up on a tattoo I did.”

“Maybe this is ignorant, but why would someone need touch-ups?”

“Lots of reasons. Too much sun exposure, skin stretching, bleeding during the tattoo, peeling the scab off and bleeding out ink. Some people’s skin just doesn’t hold some colors well. Pandora had to tattoo her boyfriend three times because of scar tissue before it stuck. Think of touch ups to your tattoos like getting your oil changed in your car. It’s maintenance.”

“Huh. I feel kind of dumb for not knowing that.”

“Not everyone looks at it that way. Okay, I think we should call it a day.” She sat up and rolled her shoulders. She wouldn’t say it, but she had a headache and her nose was sore. She’d already had to pause to stop a nosebleed.

“If you say so.” He twisted his arm this way and that, admiring the design.

Both Mary and Pandora were in their corners with clients, and Sam was in the office doing his summer school work. Her stomach growled, demanding attention soon. Quin’s hand cupped her inner thigh, his thumb swiping broad arcs back and forth. Heat pooled between her legs and she forced herself not to squeeze his hand between her thighs.

Instead she swiveled toward him and arched a brow. Quin merely grinned and slid his hand farther up her leg, his fingers disappearing beneath the hem of her shorts. She could feel his body heat scant millimeters from her needy button.

She glared at him. It was that or fuck him. “If you don’t move your hand, I’m going to put my foot up your ass. This is where I work. Not a titty bar.”

He chuckled and squeezed her thigh before obediently removing his hand. “Sorry, doll. Can’t keep my hands to myself.”

“Obviously.”

“Want to teach me a lesson?” He leaned toward her, watching her begin the process of cleaning her station.