Page 125 of Of Flesh & Bone

I allow Grace the space to respond."The new and improved you, of course."Grace says as she flips the tattoo gun back and forth in her hand.

"Oh hell no."Eve exclaims as she backs toward the door.I grip her hips, pulling them into mine, and I nuzzle her neck.She's pushing on my chest when I say "You.Shot.Me."Quietly into her ear.

"Shit.Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit."She whines softly before nodding in defeat."I never want to hear another word from you about the shooting incident for as long as we live."

Grace is watching us go back and forth in quiet amusement.She doesn't seem to be phased by the announcement of a shooting incident.

"I'm definitely telling our kids."

"No deal.Absolutely not.If I do this, it's dead.It never happened."She isn't getting this tattoo unrestrained unless I agree to her terms, and Grace doesn't strike me as the type to comply with forcible tattooing.I'll have to find a workaround later on because I'm definitely telling my daughters what a badass their mother is.Cotton will know what to do.

"Deal."

Eve puts her face in her hands and fakes a dramatic sob.Quickly composing herself, she straightens and takes three deep breaths."Okay.Do I get to see a book or something?How do I pick it?"

Grace has absolutely no decorum.She guffaws at Eve's question.She's laughing so hard that she can't sit up straight in her seat and nearly tips over.I'm not amused, and Eve is just confused.

"I already have the design, my love.I've given it to Grace and she's confident she can do it justice."

"No, no, no, no, NO!The tattoo is the deal.There was no agreement stating it could be the tattoo of your choice."

"You agreed to my terms.You didn't ask for full disclosure.Grace already has the design, which means it was built into the deal weeks ago."

"Son of a BITCH!"Eve's fists are clenched at her sides and she's stomping the ground in the sexiest tantrum I've ever witnessed.

I lean into her and ask, "Does this mean I get to spank you when we get home?"

She groans and gives another fake sob performance."Okay.Okay.Fine.I can do this.I can do this."She's hyping herself up like the badass she is.

Quietly, so that only Eve can hear me, I tell her "I brought your medication.Do you want to take it?"

Her eyes fill will tears and so much love that I don't deserve but that I will take all the same.She shakes her head and rises to her toes to kiss me."I love you, Adam."I know that I will revel in the sound of those words from her lips until my dying breath.I love you, Adam.It feels like an undeserved miracle every time she says it.Eve takes on a demeanor of pure determination and asks Grace how she wants her.Grace asks her to remove her shirt and positions her face down in the chair.I pull out the pair of ear buds that I bought for this very occasion, and I hand them to Eve.She takes them and I can't see her face, but I can sense the affection wafting off of her.She's impressed by my attention to detail.

"I'm getting one too" I tell her, and her head pops up while Grace is still doing her prep.

"You are?Do I get to pick it?"

I laugh in the way that only she can make me do and say, "No.He already has my design too.There will be some similarities between the two tattoos though."

Her smile falls, and she seems suddenly wary."Are you going to leave me in here?"

She wants me here with her.She needs me.Damn, that feels good."No.Mine won't take as long, so he isn't here yet, but Charley will be here later to do my tattoo right over there."I point to a chair in the corner that I asked them to bring in specifically for this session.Truth be told, I need Eve far more than she could ever need me, and I want to be together when we put the past behind us and make plans for the future.

I settle into the chair near Eve's head and hold both of her hands as Grace works out the sketch on her back.Eve has her earbuds in, and I can hear The Rolling Stones sing Paint It Black through the small speakers.My girl loves her rock n roll.The Eagles, the Stones, Hendrix, Lynyrd Skynyrd.It's all she listens to.

The sketch is intricate and takes longer than I expected to transfer onto Eve's back, but Grace finally finishes it up and is ready to start with the gun.I want to discuss the irony with Eve of how she used a gun on me yesterday, and today, I've arranged to have a gun used on her, but I don't want to interrupt her playlist.She's much calmer than I could've hoped for.She doesn't seem at all concerned about the pain but more about the permanence of the situation.

When Grace starts in with the needle, Eve doesn't even flinch.It's not surprising since her body is a map of the pain that she has endured in her life.Her mind doesn't remember the trauma, but her body still felt the pain, and from the looks of the carving on her back, this tattoo gun is nothing close to the pain she's experienced in her past.

Just thinking about the atrocities that have been inflicted on her turns my blood to lava and makes my mind swim with intoxicating images of sweet revenge.I'll find out who did this to her, and they'll beg for death just like Paul did.

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