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Her head snapped in my direction, her lips parting in surprise. “I’m not strong like either of them.”
“You are. It’s one of the things that drew me to you so quickly. I admired your stubbornness.”
I lifted our hands to enjoy the way our fingers looped together.
“She would have loved to meet you,” I murmured.
She sucked in a breath when I stepped forward and wrapped my other hand around her neck, gripping her like always. Her head tilted, her lips parted like an invitation, and I accepted. I drank her in, savoring the taste of her while my tongue darted out and scoured her hot mouth. She stole my breath and I robbed hers back, soaking in the intimacy of our slow kiss.
I wasn’t sure if I could tell her everything she wanted to hear– but I’d always been better with my actions anyways.
I poured everything into her, breathed my intensity and torment into her and she met me right back without fear.
Whether she wanted to believe it or not, her strength was in her open heart– laying in her ability to move forward despite all the fucked up shit thrown her way. I’d been young and dumb and never shouldered the burden to protect my mother, but I wasn’t going to make that mistake again.
When she pulled away, her lips were swollen and her cheeks stained pink.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
I kept her close to me and said a quick prayer to my mother before we turned and headed back to the car.
“There’s one more thing,” I said as I lifted her into the passenger seat. I smirked and rounded the hood.
Once inside, I pulled out my phone and made a quick call.
“It’s Yuri, I’ll be there in ten.”
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and heat ripped through me watching her. I gripped her chin and made her look at me. “Stop biting that or I’ll do it for you.”
Her smile dragged her bottom lip free, and I hit the gas.
The neon signs flickered in the now dark sky, rising high above the strip center we parked in front of. Our resident tattoo artist, Alejandro was already waiting for us outside. When he caught sight of me, he stomped on his cigarette and waved.
“Come on,” I pulled Darya to me again.
He greeted us in Spanish and I responded, keeping my directions a secret from her as long as possible. While we went over the details, she flipped through a binder of designs at the front desk until she recognized the Zaragoza rose on the last page. She’d seen it several times, on me and my brother. “Is this…?”
“Yes, Alejandro does them for everyone.”
He disappeared behind the curtains to gather supplies as I pressed myself against her back. She swayed into me, and I pulled her hair off to one shoulder, exposing the skin of her neck. She shivered as my lips led a trail up and down and I left a glossy mark from my tongue. When a breathy moan escaped her lips, my hands pulled into fists to contain my growing arousal when Alejandro appeared again and called us over.
I sat in my usual chair and unbuttoned my shirt. “Sit next to me,” I told her as I laid back and exposed my rib for cleaning.
“You’re getting one right now?” She asked, incredulously.
“I think you’ll like it.” Her eyes darted between my skin and the tattoo gun as it touched down on my flesh. My teeth clenched but I kept my eyes on her, hoping she would notice my discomfort as the needle punctured the skin above my bone. I wanted her to see me in pain. I hoped she remembered everything I told her and understood exactly why this tattoo mattered.
She winced and grabbed my hand again.
Her eyes were glued to the gun as it glided across my skin. Alejandro would press into the skin and then wipe off the blood and excess ink before moving on. It took a while before recognition dawned on her face and she shot up to get a better look at the design.
It was her name, Darya, wrapped in a thorny rose stem that disappeared into my skin. It was 3D, making it seems as though her name was etched into me, wrapped around bone and sinew, prickly but alive and present.
Her mouth gaped but no words came out like she was too stunned to speak. I pulled her down next to me and cupped her cheek, smoothing out the tension from her forehead and demanding her attention. “I want you with me. And I wanted it to hurt.”
Moisture pooled in her eyes, and I brushed it away as fast as it came.
“You’re not nothing. You’re everything,” I repeated the words, hoping they had sunk in and filled some of the cracks I’d caused. “I’m going to make this up to you.”
