Page 21 of Cover Up

Dei wanted to burrow under the floor. “God, I’m such a fucking awkward piece of shit.”

“Yeah, no. That was definitely me,” Felix corrected. “Sorry. I’m a social disaster.”

Dei’s brows furrowed, and he turned his head to see Felix just a bit better. “Oh, sugar, you’re not at all. I told you I was more than ready. It’s just been a while, and I think I’m a little nervous.”

“But you’re sure?” Felix asked.

Dei’s heart thumped at the sweet hopefulness in his voice. “Hundred percent. I gotta get back to work in a couple hours, so as long as you can be done by then, I can’t think of a better way to spend my break.”

Which wasn’t a lie. Napping would be more logical, and he could think of a thousand different things he could suggest Felix do with his hands than give Dei another tattoo, but he’d take any time with Felix, and this was what the man was offering.

Felix reached over and pulled the swinging door to the side, and Dei walked through, gently clipping his hip on the counter. He let out a sigh as he followed Felix past a low wall of partitions and through a small opening.

“Did that hurt?” Felix asked.

Dei scoffed as he sat down on the edge of Felix’s tattoo chair. “I don’t even notice it anymore. I just forget to turn my head since I lost the eye.”

Felix pulled a face, and Dei wasn’t sure he even realized he was doing it. Everything about him lacked most social filters. It was so honest—so genuine—and he couldn’t seem to get enough of him.

“So, I have three designs,” Felix said, holding a photo book close to his chest. “I mean, I have a lot more than three, but I have three I picked out for you, and they shouldn’t take more than an hour and a half at most.”

When Felix tried to hand Dei the book, Dei shook his head. “Mind holdin’ it open there for me, darlin’? Just so I can flip the pages.”

“Oh. Shit. Yeah, of course,” Felix said.

He flipped open the cover, then thumbed four pages until he stopped on a sketch of a snake curling around a sundial. It was nice, but it wasn’t quite speaking to him. Dei reached out and flipped the page to the next one. It was an eye with a clock where the pupil and iris should be, and it was wild.

It was something he’d love to have, but it still wasn’t right.

He flipped the page again, and his breath caught in his chest. It was a crashing wave with a bird coming up out of the water like it had been birthed from the sea. Or, as he saw it, a rebirth. He swallowed heavily.

“You can do this in less than two hours?”

Felix glanced down, and his cheeks pinked. “If we keep it greyscale and less than the size of my palm, yeah. I can do this in under two.”

“Sweet thing, you are so goddamn talented,” Dei murmured. He watched as the color in Felix’s cheeks darkened, and he filed that away for later. “Would it be hard to put on the side of my neck?”

Felix’s brows furrowed in thought as he set the book down. Then, without warning, he took Dei by the chin and tilted his head up. The touch was tender, the caress of a lover without being allowed to do more than touch. His heart hammered in his chest under the weight of Felix’s gaze.

He tried not to jump when Felix then traced a few shapes over his pulse point. “Here?”

Dei swallowed heavily, and it felt like there was a stone lodged in his chest. “Yeah.”

“I can do that,” Felix said very softly.

Dei closed his eyes for a long moment, nodding so long he probably looked like a fool. But it was getting harder and harder to care the longer he was around Felix. “I’m all in, sugar.”

He wished to god he was allowed to mean that in a totally different way.

Felix let out a soft breath that fanned over Dei’s face. He smelled like mint gum and coffee. “You okay to lie back?”

Dei tried not to shudder at the thought of being under Felix in any capacity, and he nodded. “Yep. However you want me.”

He did not miss the look on Felix’s face at those words, and he refused to clarify or take them back. Jesus, he was in so much trouble. He quickly pulled himself away, heaving his prosthetic up on the leg rest before settling in, and he turned his head so he could watch Felix ready his station.

“Please tell me you didn’t cancel anyone for me when I called the shop,” Dei said after a long silence.

Felix looked up from where he was wrapping cling film over a metal tray, and he laughed. “No, but trust me, the people I’ve had this week? I’d do it just to give myself some damn peace.”

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