Page 23 of Huge Dynamite
“This next part can be a bit more painful,” Marco explains. “It’s the very top, and your hip bone is so pronounced you may feel this a bit more. Best thing to do is to keep taking slow, smooth breaths.”
“Got it.” Deepening my breathing, the pain suddenly becomes sharper and more severe. “Oh, ow, that does hurt more.”
“I’m almost through. If you need to, take short breaths in and out—like Lamaze breathing.”
Closing my eyes, I clench my jaw and take little breaths in and out of my mouth. Opening them and glancing at Seth with his brow furrowed and the worried look on his face, I have to suppress a giggle. Anyone walking by would think I’m in labor. He squeezes my hand so tight, it begins to hurt more than the needle.
“I’m okay, Seth.” I squeeze his hand back. “The only thing I need is for you to lighten up your grip a bit.”
“Oh, sorry.”
When he releases my hand, a cold shiver runs up my spine.
Biting the corner of my lip, I close my eyes in a moment of pain and then open them and smile at Seth. “I didn’t want you to let go.”
Taking my hand again, he smiles at me and all I want to do is to climb off of this table and onto his lap. My mind is racing in a million different directions, but it finally settles on one semi-cohesive thought:Dr. Holly Boling with a tattoo—who the hell are you? And where have you been all these years?Sighing, I relax. In another couple minutes, it’s done.
Standing, Seth releases me to go see Marco’s work, and I miss the feeling of him holding my hand so much, I suddenly wish I were getting a full-body tattoo.
“Wow. It’s beautiful.” Seth nods to Marco.
With Seth standing there beside me, staring at my naked hip… it’s maybe the sexiest thing I’ve ever experienced, and I squeeze my legs together in response.
As Marco explains my aftercare and tells me that he’s going to wrap my hip in plastic wrap, Seth grabs a hand mirror hanging on a hook on a nearby wall and comes back to my chair.
“Ready?” he asks, standing next to me.
Nodding, I take a deep breath. “I think so.”
As Seth positions the mirror so I can stay lying down and still see the tattoo, a million more thoughts race through my brain.What was I thinking? How could I trust a man I don’t know at all to pick something that will be burned into my flesh for the rest of my life?
But looking into his eyes, once again my fear falls away and a sense of calm overtakes me.
“Yeah.” Gathering my courage, I prop myself up on my elbow. “I’m ready.” Glancing down at my hip, I see the simplest, most beautiful bird with her wings spread wide. Reaching down, I move to run my fingers over it.
“Not yet.” Seth grabs my hand before I can touch it. “It needs to be covered for twenty-four hours.”
Nodding, I’m so mesmerized I can’t make a cohesive thought. Finally, I mumble, “A bird.”
“A bird soaring with her wings spread wide,” he adds. “She’s free.”
Nodding, I try to process this, but for the first time maybe ever, my brain fails me and instead, my emotions come pouring forth and tears spring into my eyes. As I look at Seth, a giant tear rolls down my cheek.
“Holly?” Leaving the mirror on the table next to my chair, he rushes up to me and takes my hand. “I’m sorry. You don’t like it?”
Shaking my head, I fight back a sob. All of these pent-up emotions, everything I’ve been feeling for the past twenty-eight years, come pouring out of me in a flood of tears. “I couldn’t have picked anything more perfect. Thank you, Seth.”
“Holly, I don’t want you to cry.” The way he looks at me, his brows knit together—he wants to comfort me.
Nodding, I hold out one arm, and he moves forward and wraps his strong, protective arms around me, holding me tight in his embrace.
“Thank you, Seth,” I mumble into his shoulder. “I love it.”
He holds me even tighter as I take a deep breath, and on my exhale, I let about a billion pounds of stress go.
No, I don’t know who this newly-tattooed woman is who drives a convertible and cries in the arms of Seth Hardy, the world’s sexiest biker, but one thing is for sure—now that I’ve found her, I never want to let her go.
Burying my face in Seth’s shoulder, I close my eyes tight and pray that he never wants to let me go either.
