Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 61100 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61100 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
Rose’s brows lift, and her mouth forms a little circle as she says, “Oh.”
“I guess that gave you a bad impression of me,” Christian says.
“That, and the fact that you scowled at me!” She looks around at the rest of us, playfully accusatory. “You all did.”
“Guess you’ve gotten used to that,” Zipper says, his current scowl looking more devilish than grumpy as Rose stands there in her little pink panties.
Hutch shows her where we plan to position the tattoo, and when Rose says she’s happy with it, he prepares a stencil. Christian and I would be fine with freehand, but Hutch prefers stencils, so that's what we’ll go with.
While he’s transferring the artwork to her prepared skin, she asks, “Why are you so grumpy all the time?” She doesn’t direct her question to any of us specifically, but mostly looks at Zipper, Christian, and me.
Though Zipper’s usually the last to speak, this time he’s the first. “The world is fucked up beyond redemption. No other outlook makes sense.”
She frowns at this, and sits with it a moment before asking, “So you don’t think I have the right outlook on life?”
When Zipper doesn’t respond, I jump in. “I admire your outlook, Rose. And your ability to stay positive even after shit’s been thrown at you, if you’ll excuse my language. You work harder than most people, and you never complain about it. You lost your mother much too young, and you have every right to be angry about the unfairness of that, but you carry on with a smile.”
“I agree,” Hutch says.
Rose is silent for several minutes as the transfer sets and we get our equipment ready. Before Hutch peels off the paper, she says, “I suppose after my mom died, I felt pressure to carry on with a smile. I always had a positive disposition, but after she passed away, I felt like I had to keep looking happy so people wouldn’t feel sorry for me. Plus, I didn’t want to make things any harder on my brother, since he had so many more responsibilities than I did.”
“You shouldn’t have felt obligated to fake your emotions,” Hutch says.
“You should be who you are,” Zipper says. “If people don’t like it, that’s their problem.”
I watch Rose processing these comments, and I can tell the advice isn’t easy for her to take on board. I imagine if you spend so many years trying to please other people, it would be hard to imagine living your life any other way.
“Are you ready to get started?” I ask her, softening my voice to soothe her.
She nods, and I talk her through what’s going to happen and give her tips on handling it. “We’re each going to outline our sections,” I explain, “and then we’ll rotate back through, adding shading and color.”
“Okay.” Her voice is shaky and she lets out a big breath.
“It’ll be fine,” I tell her. “Look, I had all this done, and I’m still standing.” I tug off my t-shirt to remind her of all of the art that covers my chest.
“Maybe you should all take your shirts off,” Rose says with a shaky laugh. “You know, just to remind me of all of the tattoo applications you’ve survived.”
The other men grin at her and do as she requests, and Rose’s eyes roam around between us, taking in all of the artwork on our bodies.
“Ready to go?” I take her hand in mine and give it a squeeze as Hutch gets started.
She flinches and grips my hand tightly, but she stays quiet, and after less than a minute, her body starts to relax.
“Not so bad, right?” Christian asks.
“It’s tolerable,” she says. “I imagined worse.” After another few minutes, a song she loves comes on, and she silently mouths the lyrics. Christian runs his outlines, then Zipper, then me. Rose keeps impressively still through it all.
“Time for a break,” Christian says. “And a relaxation treatment.”
Rose turns her head to him. “Relaxation treatment? What’s that?”
“You’ll see.” He starts to undo the top buttons of her shirt, making her eyes go wide before her mouth curves into a knowing smile.
“I like where this is headed,” she says, leaning back in the chair.
As Christian bends to mouth her nipple through the bra, I prepare to do the same on the other side. We know from experience that Rose loves it when we team up like this.
I realize she was still holding a lot of tension in her muscles when I feel her body start to relax under our mouths and hands. Her bra is moved aside for better access, and when her breathing comes faster, I slide my hand down between her legs, where I rub over her pussy through her thin cotton underwear.
She starts to squirm, so I slip my fingers into her panties, find her clit, and press circles around it until her hips buck in the seat and she cries out my name. God, I love making this woman come.