Page 105 of Ink & Desire
End of Book One
Epilogue
Six Months Later…
Avery
“Are you sure about this?” I ask for what feels like the hundredth time.
Corbin rolls his eyes at me, but he’s smiling. He’s sitting in the chair before me with his shirt off and his arm raised as he waits for me to place the stencil on his skin. I let my gaze roam over all that bare skin and marvel over the fact that he’s all mine.
The last six months haven’t always been easy, but I’ve never been happier. Once we got past a few hurdles and went public with our relationship, things just seemed to fall into place. My mom still isn't thrilledby my career choice, but she's coming around. As for me dating a tattoo artist, she was surprisingly not bothered by the idea. Especially since she can see how happy Corbin makes me. I doubt she'll ever get a tattoo, but I'll keep working on her.
At Henley's insistence, Corbin started seeing a therapist who's been helping him work through a lot of his issues surrounding his family and his childhood. He doesn't talk much about his therapy sessions, but I can tell he's becoming more open with me since he started. He smiles more too.
“I’m sure, angel,” Corbin says, pulling me back to the present. “Do you think I’d let you permanently mark me if I thought you’d fuck it up?”
I sigh. “No. But it’s a lot of pressure.”
“Gotta start somewhere,” Jessie says from behind me. “Time to take off the training wheels.”
I wish the others weren’t here. I’d be nervous tattooing anyone, but the fact that it’s Corbin makes it even more nerve-wracking. I’d prefer to work without an audience. I’ve been practicing for months on fake skin, but even the really expensive stuff isn’t the same as real skin. I’m worried I’ll give Corbin a shitty tattoo and he’ll be forced to wear a reminder of my terrible skills forever. But somehow, surprisingly, he seems to be totally at ease. He’s not nervous at all, which somehow makes me more nervous.
“You’re going to do great, A,” Noah says from my left. “You’ve got the skills.”
“Thanks,” I mutter.
"And if you screw it up, I'll give him a really nice cover-up," Noah adds, making the others laugh and me roll my eyes.
"Not helpful," I mutter.
I finally lean forward and carefully place the stencil in the space Corbin indicates before peeling off the thermal paper. I stand back, studying the image to make sure the placement is correct. He designed the tattoo himself, and it’s a gorgeous piece.
“How’s it look?” he asks, trying to peer down at it.
I gesture toward the mirror. “See for yourself. Make sure it’s where you want it.”
He moves closer to the mirror, studying the stencil for less than a second before turning back to me.
“Looks great. “Let’s do it.”
I’ve watched Corbin and Noah do hundreds of tattoos by now. I’ve seen so many gorgeous works of art walk out of here, permanently inked into people’s skin. I knew I’d eventually be the one creating the tattoos, but I hadn’t considered tattooing Corbin. When he notices my hesitation, his gaze softens. He looks at Jessie and Noah and gives a little nod of his head indicating that they should step away. They both walk to the back to give us some privacy. When we’re alone, Corbin reaches for me, taking both my hands in his. I'm not sure I'll ever getused to seeing that soft look in his dark eyes when he looks at me. It threatens to steal my breath every time.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, his voice soft with concern.
I sigh, letting him see the worry I've been trying to hide. “What if I mess it up?”
“Then I’ll show you how to fix it,” he says simply.
He seems so unbothered by the possibility that I scowl at him. “Seriously? What if it’s not fixable?”
“It’s always fixable,” he says. “Besides, you’re not going to mess it up.”
“How do you know?”
He grins at me. “Because you were trained by the best.”
I roll my eyes. “How modest of you.”