Page 5

CHAPTER FOUR

Victoria

O f course the day is super busy. As soon as I’m done with Curt, a wave of customers come in and it doesn’t stop all day.

I’m working on a sketch for a mermaid tattoo and cursing because I keep fucking it up.

It’s hard to draw when I’m constantly keeping one eye on the hot new tattoo artist working in Magnus’ station.

Adrian is tattooing a word onto a biker’s knuckles. He has his large broad back to me and I can’t help but run my eyes over all of that hard sculpted muscle. He’s gorgeous from every angle.

“ Shit ,” I whisper when I fuck up the mermaid’s tail. I erase it for the tenth time and try again, my heart pounding like it’s been doing all day.

I mess it up again when Adrian finishes his tattoo. I just can’t resist admiring the side profile of his face as he sanitizes his station while the biker checks out his new ink. He looks happy with it.

Those icy blue eyes dart over to me and I quickly drop my gaze, feeling my cheeks getting hot.

He’s been doing that all day. As much as I’m checking him out, he’s checking me out even more.

I notice that he always keeps checking to make sure I’m still here.

Or, maybe it’s all in my head and I’m going crazy with lust.

They walk up to the desk where I’m sitting and I try to focus on my sketch while Adrian tells him how to treat the tattoo.

“Keep the bandage on for the next six hours,” he says as he walks behind the reception desk.

There’s enough room to walk around me without touching, but he grazes my leg with his.

It sends shivers spiraling down my spine.

“No swimming, hot tubs, or soaking in water for at least 2 weeks. And keep it out of the sun until it’s fully healed. ”

The guy is looking at him like none of that’s going to happen. He’s a grizzled old biker who doesn’t seem to be too concerned about consequences of his actions.

“Vic, can you ring him up?” Adrian asks.

“Sure,” I say as I slip off the stool and head to the cash.

He hovers behind me, watching what I’m doing, but I can feel him watching me as well. It’s hard to focus with him so close. My bear is pacing around like a cat in heat which isn’t helping things.

“One ninety,” I say, taking his money. The biker gives him a tip, and then slips out, leaving us all alone behind the desk. Julian is tattooing a girl at his workstation, but they’re both wearing headphones and aren’t paying any attention to us.

As soon as the door shuts behind the biker, the room shifts. Or maybe it’s just me. The air seems to be getting thicker. Warmer. My skin feels too tight, like it’s holding back something it doesn’t want to hold back anymore.

Adrian steps a little closer, erasing some of the distance between us.

“You did a nice job with the tattoo,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady.

He leans on the counter with a grin. “Nah. I fucked up the A on his second knuckle.”

“He seemed happy with it.”

“Well, compared to his other shitty prison tattoos, it looked like a work of art.”

I smile shyly as I slip back onto the stool. “Have you been inking a lot since you left?”

He shrugs those big shoulders. “Not as much as you guys, I’m sure. But I do two or three pieces a week, on a good week.”

He looks over my shoulder at my fucked up mermaid. “It’s beautiful.”

“It’s not,” I say, shaking my head. “I… It’s hard to concentrate with you in the room.”

I close my eyes as my cheeks flame with heat. Did I actually just say that out loud?

“I didn’t mean to throw off your mermaid game.” His voice is low and warm, although I think I hear a hint of amusement in it too.

“I mean, because… disruption in the shop and all that,” I say, rambling like a nervous freak. “Not that you’re distracting me with your… I mean, I just wanted to make sure you’re settled in and… stuff.”

I swallow hard as I die a slow cringing death inside. Even my inner grizzly bear is shaking her head in embarrassment.

“I’d let you tattoo her on my skin,” he says as he tilts the paper to get a better look. “ Anywhere you want.”

I swallow hard as I imagine where I’d put it if I had the choice. It would mean touching him in that spot for hours. Maybe his chest, or his bicep, or… no, that would never fit. And I’d be so distracted with it in my hand that we’d never get the tattoo completed.

“I wouldn’t put that on you,” I say with a nervous laugh. “She looks like she got her tail caught in a boat propeller.”

“What would you put on me?”

He leans one elbow on the counter beside me, not quite touching, but close enough that I can feel the heat of him.

My lips. My hands. My pussy.

My bear grumbles in agreement.

I look up at him and our eyes meet. He’s so sexy, it’s unfair. It’s all-consuming. It’s intense. Looking at him takes all the breath out of my lungs. It makes my body throb.

“You want me to tattoo you?”

“I want your hands on me, Vic,” he says. “Any way I can get them.”

I suck in a breath. My bear’s practically howling inside me now, restless and needy, pacing behind my ribs like a caged animal. I can feel the pull toward this man in my bones. In my blood.

A strong urge to put my hands on him right now begins to take over, so I quickly change the subject before I do something I might regret.

“Where have you been for eight years?”

He straightens back up and crosses his arms over his chest as he watches me. “What did Magnus tell you?”

“That you left for a girl.”

It’s a lie. Magnus never told me anything, no matter how many times I asked him, but I just want to see how he’s going to react.

“Well, it appears your brother is a bit of a liar then,” he says as he stares me down with a heated gaze. “There’s no one else. Never has been.”

I swallow hard, wondering how I should interpret that .

“Life got… heavy,” he says after a long moment. “The fire and… I had to leave town. Fast. I’m sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye.”

That’s what hurt the most. Adrian was such a big part of my life, whether he knew it or not. Every second thought in my head was about him, so having him disappear without an explanation or a simple goodbye was like a knife to the heart. So, I’m thankful for the apology.

“That’s okay,” I say with a shy shrug. “I’m just glad you’re back.”

He’s all grown up, but there’s still something boyish buried in there behind all that muscle. Something familiar. That something I fell in love with all those years ago.

“You look so different,” I say, “but you look the same at the same time. I hope that makes sense.”

He nods and smiles. “I know what you mean. I can still see that cute mischievous girl who was always up to no good, but you’re not exactly the kid sister anymore.”

I casually push my breasts together with my arms as I look up at him, batting my eyelashes.

“I’m all grown up,” I say with a grin.

“You certainly are,” he says as those piercing blue eyes roam all over me.

“So, are you here for good this time, or are you going to run back to wherever you were hiding the past eight years?”

“That depends.”

“On?”

His eyes lock onto mine. “Whether I’ve got a reason to stay.”

And just like that, the air starts buzzing again with heat and possibility.

I clear my throat and sit straighter, suddenly hyper-aware of the space between us and wanting to erase it all. “Well, we’ve got a pretty good benefits package. Free coffee. Unstable hours. Occasional bear fights. You’ll fit in great.”

He laughs again, low and genuine. “Sounds like I’m right at home.”

And for some reason, that word makes my chest tighten in a way I’m not ready to examine.

Luckily, I don’t have to because Julian stands up and walks over, taking off his big headphones. I can hear Incubus playing through them. “Hey, Victoria, do we have anymore of those large bandages?”

“Yup,” I say, hopping off the stool before I combust. “I’ll get them.”

I take a deep breath as I head into the back storage room. It’s a mess back here, but I know where everything is. One day, I’ll organize it. Maybe.

I turn around with the bandages and crash right into Adrian’s big muscular chest. I suck in a breath as I look up and see the heat in his eyes.

“I didn’t get a tour of this room,” he says, although he doesn’t seem at all interested with the room. He hasn’t taken his eyes off me.

“Let me just…”

He takes the box of bandages from my hand, brushing my fingers with his and it makes him smile. “Julian! Catch!”

He tosses the bandages down the hall and I guess Julian catches them, but I can’t be sure because all of my focus is on the big sexy polar bear shifter towering in front of me.

“You know what’s going on here, don’t you?” he asks. “You know what this is.”

I just stare at him, mesmerized and confused at the same time. So many emotions are whipping through me like a category five hurricane.

“Victoria,” he says as he reaches those big strong ink-stained hands up to my face. I let out an involuntary moan as he cups my cheeks, holding them like they’re the most precious thing he’s ever touched. “We’re mates. You know that, right?”

I swallow hard as I stare into his beautiful icy blue eyes.

I feel foolish that it hadn’t clicked all day, but as soon as he says it, I know it’s true. My reaction to him, my bear’s reaction to him… our history, the intense feelings, the unquenchable yearning I have whenever I think of him, which is always. We must be mates.

We are mates.

“I… oh .”

I have no words. What can you say to that?

“I think I always suspected,” he says as his mouth leans a little closer to mine. My weight shifts onto my toes and my chin tilts up, desperately wanting to feel those sexy lips on mine. “But it took seeing you all grown up to know for sure.”

I lick my lips and that does it for him. He can’t hold himself back any longer.

He surges forward and his mouth claims mine.

There’s no hesitation—just heat and hunger and years of pent-up desire crashing between us like a wildfire. His lips are firm, warm, and commanding. Like he’s been dying to do this forever. Like this kiss has been clawing at him from the inside out.

And holy hell, it’s everything.

His hands slide into my hair, threading through the dark strands like he needs to feel all of me.

He tilts my head just right and deepens the kiss, his tongue brushing mine, coaxing it, tasting it.

I whimper as my hands find his chest and fist into the soft black cotton of his shirt, clinging to the solid heat of him.

He groans into my mouth and the sound vibrates straight down to my core. My pussy reacts, aching and throbbing and getting so wet that I let out a moan.

I’m kissing Adrian Cross. I’m kissing my lifelong crush. I’m kissing my mate .

I don’t know which one of those amazing facts to focus on, so I just focus on his lips and tongue and hands instead.

He smells so good. He feels even better.

This is my first kiss ever and it feels even more magical than I imagined.

Because this isn’t just a random kiss with some random dude. This is my mate claiming my mouth and possessing my soul.

Every inch of me feels it, recognizes it. Even my bear is totally on board, fawning over this man and wanting to get out to smell his intoxicating scent in person.

Adrian presses me back against the wall, not rough, but firm. Intentional. Like he needs to feel my body against his, feel every inch of how perfectly we fit. His thigh slips between mine, and I gasp as the friction sends sparks shooting up my spine.

“You’re mine,” he growls against my lips, breath hot and uneven. “No one will ever touch these lips but me.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” I whisper, panting. “You’re the only man I’ve ever wanted.”

He grins, and it’s wicked and perfect. “That’s what I like to hear.”

My heart is slamming against my ribs as he leans down and kisses me again.

It’s slower this time. Deeper. Like he’s memorizing every curve of my mouth, every sound I make, every inch of me that leans into him like I’ve been waiting for this moment since forever.

I’m kissing Adrian Cross.

Holy. Shit.