Page 55 of Fearless
She tilted her lips up to me. “Hmm?”
I kissed them and whispered, “rubbing my ass crack all over Reaper’s shower.”
“Oh my God, Jandro! You did not!”
“Seriously, I had to do handstands to get those hard-to-reach spots.”
“You are…the absolute…worst!” she choked out in a fit of laughter.
“Not when I can get you to laugh like this.” I kissed her again and released a sigh with my forehead on hers. “I have to get going, but I will tell Gunner to make your supplies a priority. And to stop being a fucking dipshit.”
“You don’t have to do that second part.” She rolled up to sit. “I have a feeling Reaper gave him a piece of his mind, and that’s why he was so drunk at the fight. If he doesn’t want this, we shouldn’t push him.”
“I won’t get on him about being with us, just about treating you with the same respect as any other member of this club.” I pushed her hair behind her shoulder for one last look at those perfect tits. “Which you are, by the way. We’re gonna need to tattoo you soon.”
“Tattoo?” Her eyes widened. “You meanthattattoo?” She pointed at the horned skull running across my ribs.
“That’s the one,” I smirked. “It’s in the rules,bonita.Everyone gets it as a symbol of commitment to the club.”
“Does it have to be that big?” She tilted her head to peer at mine more closely. “And where would it go?”
“It should be big enough to see all the details. Mine’s a little smaller than Reaper’s, and Shadow’s is probably the smallest of everyone’s.”
I paused for a moment to swallow. I’d forgotten that she’d seen Shadow’s, because she fucked him. I was a little jealous before, but she was mine now. I had no reason to feel that way. Still, the recollection left me with a small, weird feeling. Like learning a detail of your lover’s past that you didn’t really care to know.
“As for placement,” I went on, “that’s up to you, as long as all the details can be visible. I’m partial to right here, personally.” I dragged a finger from her collarbone down over the swells of her breasts, continuing down through the valley between them.
She smacked my hand away. “I’m not getting a giant skull on my chest as my first tattoo.”
“There is also the classy, under-breast corset style.” I touched her again, this time running my fingers over the sensitive underside of her flesh. “Lots of women like ink there. Tattooing over the ribs is painful, though.”
Her lip curled in distaste. “What else?”
“Slightly less classy, you have the lower back area, affectionately known as the tramp stamp. Noelle had hers done there. Hers looks a little wonky because we had to go to an outside artist.” I drummed my fingers on her thigh. “We’ll probably have to do the same with you, unfortunately.”
Mari’s brow furrowed. “Why?”
“Because,” I paused for a moment that stretched on too long. “Our resident tattoo artist is Shadow.”
Twenty-Two
GUNNER
My face fucking hurt. The swelling went down a little around my eye, but I could still barely see out of it. I knew what I should’ve done—swallowed my pride and marched down to the medic’s office with an apology. But now, sober and with enough regret to last a lifetime, I wasn’t ready to see her yet.
Horus and I weren’t alone in the conference room long. Shadow came in a few minutes later, followed by Reaper and Hades. Our president greeted me with his cursory nod and grunt, like this was any other day. Like he didn’t filet a man alive this morning. None of the men slowly filing in acted like they just witnessed a brutal execution. Big G had the balls to shoot me a smug look. Whatever. I purposely turned my chair to face away from him. I burned one bridge already. Why stop there?
Jandro was one of the last ones to arrive, slipping in quickly to take his seat next to Reaper. They bent their heads toward each other and started whispering, Jandro’s face immediately taking on a huge grin. I rolled my one good eye and ignored them too. I didn’t even want to speculate on what they were talking about.
“We all here?” Reaper asked the room when the last man shut the door behind him. “Good. Church is in session.” He slammed the gavel down with a definitive blow, then folded his hands on the table. “Today I did something that I hope never to repeat.”
A deafening silence filled the room. Hardly anyone dared to breathe.
“In fact,” Reaper stroked his jaw, “I’ll go ahead and say I willneverrepeat what happened today. Because no true Steel Demon is stupid enough to go behind my back. Do I make myself absolutely clear?”
“Yes, president,” came the resounding chorus.
“Python was a trusted member among us, and that was my mistake,” he went on. “I failed you as a president because I trusted a man who didn’t deserve it. I will not make the same mistake twice.” He paused, his gaze resting on a small chip in the wooden center of the table. “We’re shocked at what we saw. Some of us are grieving, mourning a loss. But this had to happen. And now that it’s over, we must move on. Remember, but don’t dwell. I kept my word and I expect nothing less from the rest of you.”
