barely knew each other and now he was going all pussy ass wanting to know the guy.
Fuck. That.
“You can get up. We’ll stop for today. That’ll need two weeks to heal then we can put the color in. The lines and shading are done.”
Ethan sat up, stretching his arms when he scooted to the edge of the mattress. “That wasn’t so bad. You were right, after a while it didn’t sting so badly.”
The rim of his shorts hung loose as he slid off the table. Ethan’s hands disappeared when he zipped his pants. Damn, what did that cock look like? From the way his shorts had given the hi-how-are-ya, the kid had nothing to be ashamed of.
Niko popped off the black latex gloves and tossed them on the rolling side table. His fingers were vibrating, and it had nothing to do with the gun he’d just held for three hours. As Ethan turned to grab the T-shirt half draped across the chair, Niko fought the urge to punch the wall. The red and pink strips on Ethan’s flat stomach broke the contrast of an otherwise perfect canvas.
Instead of beating the shit out of the counter, he studied the tattoo on Ethan’s side. The tip of one of the anchor’s hooks hung down barely touching the front of Ethan’s slim hip. The creamy color of his skin took the ink just as Niko had imagined it would, and the feel...the dip of that lean waist curved as his gun had glided to where the design was laid out.
Even through the thin glove, heat had radiated through his fingertips. His cock had been stone hard as soon as Ethan rolled onto his side and the red elastic of his underwear peeked out.
Niko shook his head forcing the dark thoughts to escape. Trying to focus on the cleanup, his gaze gravitated toward the delicately defined muscles of Ethan’s back. The guy was all lean sinew leading to a tapered waist. Niko had to work out to get the six-pack lining his abs, but with a metabolism like Ethan’s, it obviously came naturally.
Niko fought the urge to rip the T-shirt from those slender fingers and toss it in the trash. Those fingers needed to be wrapped around a cock, not a flimsy shirt. A hard, long, thick—
“So, how do we do this?” Ethan asked, breaking Niko into a thousand pieces when the thought ripped out of his head. He imagined filtering his fingers through the guy’s soft light-brown hair, messing the strands as if the guy had just rolled out of bed. “I mean—”
“See Scarlet on your way out and she’ll set you up for two weeks out. Keep the area clean.” Niko grabbed a tube of ointment from the plastic container on the shelf. “Put a thin layer of this on it once a day for a couple of days. Keep it out of the sun.” Get out of here before I donkey punch my brain.
Ethan nodded. “Can I look in the mirror now?”
“Yeah.” Niko headed back to the desk, hoping the raging thud of his heart would calm down the farther Ethan walked away.
“Oh my God, Niko. It’s beautiful. Perfect. Even without any color it’s...it’s perfect. Did I already say that?” His soft laugh echoed against the white walls. “I love the hummingbird. You’re so talented. No wonder your waiting list is so long.”
Niko wasn’t one of those assholes who needed his ego petted, but damn if it didn’t make him stand a bit straighter coming from Ethan. “I’m glad you like it.” Niko grabbed the towel from the table and sprayed down the plastic mattress with disinfectant. “Where are you headed now?” Niko didn’t want to give a shit, but for some reason he did. Ethan had mentioned he had been kicked out so where was he staying?
Ethan walked back to the table and picked up the backpack off the floor. “I...um, have a lot of studying to do so I’m headed to the library.”
Niko knew that look. The brown and green that had sparked in those hazel eyes looked dull and jaded. “Do you…” Jesus, what in the hell was he doing? “Do you want to get some coffee or something?”
Ethan’s lips split into a half smile. “I better get back
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