Page 74 of Beck

“I can do that. Where do you want it, Maxim?” Beck asked as he stepped over to his working table, fiddling with some ink bottles.

“I was thinking it might fit in the space on the back of my neck. What do you think?”

Beck nodded. “That’d work. It might have to be a little smaller, but if you lie down, I’ll check the available area.”

Maxim sent a smile to Hilary and climbed onto the table, face down. Kole settled into his chair and rested his drawing pad on his knee, watching all the others as they interacted. Beck discussed the placement and created a copy of the drawing,slightly smaller, but still as detailed, and then took a photo so Maxim could confirm he was happy.

“Looks good to me. What do you think, Hilary?”

Kole couldn’t see Hilary’s expression, but her voice trembled as she spoke. “It looks amazing.”

Kole swapped a smile with Beck and divided his attention between his drawing and the couple—and he was sure they would be a couple soon—in Beck’s care. He smiled whenever Beck made them laugh, watching him weave his spell over them, though Kole knew he didn’t know he did it. His personality, despite his trials and tribulations, drew people to him. They wanted to be near him, to know him, to take just a little of what made Beck as strong as he didn’t believe himself to be and help themselves to be strong, too.

The clock said it had been an hour and a half when Beck finally rose and stretched after covering the tattoo with cream. He had shaken his hand out a few times during the process but hadn’t complained.

“All done. You know the drill, so I won’t bore you with the details.”

Maxim exhaled as he stood. “That’s going to sting for a bit.” He huffed a laugh.

“Yeah, you chose an area close to a bone. You know how that goes,” Beck said.

Maxim turned his back to Hilary. “How does it look?”

“It looks great. It suits you.”

Maxim beamed. “Thanks.” He pulled on his top and glanced at her as he smoothed it down. “I better leave you to it.” He grabbed his coat. “Thanks, Beck.”

“You’re welcome. See you soon, no doubt.”

Maxim nodded, looked at Hilary once more with a smile and headed for the door.

Hilary bit her lip, eyes darting across the floor, until she finally stood and said, “Wait!” Maxim paused, gaze solely on the woman wringing her hands. “Will you stay?”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

Hilary’s smile returned, her shoulders lowering again. “You don’t.” She turned to Beck. “It’s just finishing off, anyway.”

Beck nodded. “If you’re okay with that, then by all means.”

Hilary swallowed but smiled, putting her bag on the floor by the table, and pulled her top off, revealing her bra. She had a slight flush to her cheeks, but she settled onto the table on her front, exposing her back.

“Oh, wow,” Maxim breathed, stepping closer.

Kole felt the same. The ink on her back was…beyond words. Patterns, images and words, all mingled to make a massive, full back spread. It was incredible.

Beck smirked at them and then got to work. Kole continued with his drawing, in between watching Maxim. If the man hadn’t been fascinated before, he certainly was at that point.

By the time Beck stepped back, Kole’s design was done. He closed the book, unable to look at the design any longer because it was raw. Unadulterated emotion and love, and it hurt. The band around his chest tightened with every breath, and he could barely swallow. He had never experienced such a thing before. None of his drawings had ever made him feel as bare as he was then. He wasn’t sure he could show Beck even.

“All done,” Beck said. “You know the routine. Don’t do anything daft with it.”

Hilary chuckled as she rose, slipping her top back on. “Thank you, Beck. I really appreciate it. And though this one is finished, there is a lot more skin for me to choose.”

Beck laughed. “I know you, Hilary. It won’t be long before you come back. Or you either, Maxim.”

Beck’s words seemed to shake Maxim from his stupor. “Absolutely. As much as I hate this, I also love it.”

“I’ll see you both soon, then.”

---