Page 19 of 3013: Wonderland
“Good. That’s good.”
She watched as he slid a pair of gloves on, then he sat down on a sliding seat and scooted closer. After he adjusted the armrest, he positioned her arm on it and started rubbing something on her skin. He frowned when she flinched.
“Wait! Do you think I should change before we begin?”
He rested his hand on hers and gave it a little, comforting squeeze. “You’re fine as you are. If you want a distraction, we can use VR glasses to—”
“No, I think it would be worse if I felt it but wasn’t able to see what you are doing. I’m just a little nervous, but that’s normal, right?”
“Everything will be okay. I promise. The Artanes created a new device that will make this go a lot faster. Brielle doesn’t like needles either, so they tried to make it as easy as possible for her to get the nanotech tattoos necessary to connect to Evo.”
“I don’t have to get a nanotech tattoo, do I? Because I really don’t want to be connected to the computer system.”
Chuckling, he shook his head. “Nope. Just an ink tat for you.”
“That’s good.”
“But we can add some sparkles to the butterflies if you want.”
She absolutely adored that idea. “We can really do that?”
Grinning, he nodded. “We can. Are you ready?”
“I guess so.” She took a deep breath, then nodded. “Yes, I’m ready.”
When he turned on the machine, she braced herself for the pain as he slid the device over her skin. She felt a slight sting, but it was nowhere near as bad as she thought it would be. Perhaps her tolerance for pain had increased during the time she’d been held captive by James.
No, she didn’t want to think about that. Thoughts like that would take her down a dark and dangerous path, and she was determined to stay in the light. Besides, she didn’t think that was the reason the tattoo didn’t hurt.
“I can barely feel it.”
“Good,” he murmured. “I put some numbing cream on you so it shouldn’t be bad.”
The soft hum of the machine was hypnotic, and she closed her eyes as she listened to him work. She sensed him moving until he was close enough for her to feel his warm breath against her skin. Goosebumps covered her flesh, and she tried to hide the shiver of desire that swept through her.
“Almost done,” he said softly.
He obviously noticed her reaction to him, and she opened her eyes to watch as he completed her tattoo. She didn’t look down at her arm, though. Instead, her eyes widened when she realized there was a mirror on the ceiling that allowed her to see everything. She watched the progress in the mirror for a while but realized it wasn’t as good as looking at the real thing. Turning her head, she focused on him again.
Fenris Barra was a ruggedly handsome male with a raw sex appeal. He had been blessed by the gods with masculine features, golden skin, and deep dimples that flashed every time he smiled. His black hair had a natural wave to it as was evident by the few strands that had escaped from his short ponytail.
While he wasn’t as big as Raek, he was still muscular and strong. She loved watching his tattoo-covered arms flex every time he moved. She longed to reach out and trace her fingers over the colorful images decorating his arms but held back since she didn’t want to startle him.
“Done,” he announced as he sat up and rolled the stool back.
“What? Already? That was fast.”
He chuckled. “You zoned out for a little bit.”
She glanced down at her arm, then switched to looking at it in the mirror on the ceiling. The tattoo was a little higher than the stencil had been since he’d added a few swirling vine embellishments that curled around her shoulder. There was also another sparkly purple butterfly that looked like it was perched on top of her shoulder.
“Come on. Check it out in the mirror.”
He helped her stand, then she walked over to stand in front of the mirror on the wall. The tattoo looked even better up close, and she spent several seconds simply admiring it.
“Thank you. I love it.”
“I’m glad.”