He was really grinning at her now, and she knew without a doubt that her lust had to be filling the air with her scent. A good thing about being mated to a wolf shifter, apparently, because her body could say things that her mouth apparently could not.
“You are so fucking hot,” she finally managed. “I mean... Henrik, I adored you when we were children, but you were... I mean, I was too, but we both... we both grew up to be really fucking hot.”
He chuckled and dipped his head a little, a nervous gesture he always used to do when embarrassed. It made her blush, cheeks turning hot. Right, wait, what were they doing? Tattoo. Right. Tattoo.
“So, um, where did you... where do you want—”
“Here,” he answered, saving her from having to fumble out a full question. His hand brushed over his chest, right above his heart. “Right here. Right where it matters most.”
Oh, he really was trying to kill her.
“So this was your big idea?” Why was she fumbling with her words? She was always eloquent, always had a snappy remark, always had words to say and judgment to give. It was Henrik who was awkward with his words, when they were younger. Why was she struggling to speak to him? Why was he able to form a sentence?
“Part of it,” he agreed with a nod. “Good thing you’re not showin’ too much skin on your hips, so I can touch you there.”
So I can touch you there.
“You got them gloves, right? So you can... do it?”
Closing her eyes, Violet took in a slow and deep breath. They were going to try this, apparently. He had the same thought she did. What if it was possible for them to touch, so long as a barrier remained between them? That first time he touched her, when she had set the flowers on fire, it had been okay when he grabbed her hips, but it was once his thumbs brushed her skin that everything had erupted. Would the thin gloves be enough? Would it be possible?
Condoms were suddenly on her shopping list...
Was it possible to get a full body condom? Latex was totally a thing. Full body leather suit? Whatever was needed... she would do it.
“I guess we won’t know until we try.”
And then... andthen...
Everything would change.
Violetstoodacrossfromwhere Henrik was sitting, messing around with her gloves. She had the stencil ready to apply to the skin, had him sitting in her chair, had her tools ready and sanitized, and had the special ink used for shifter skin on her tray. She hadn’t done much ink on shifters in a while, not since her apprenticeship when she worked for a panther shifter, but she was always ready, knowing that the supernatural were always drawn to one another.
She had always used the same ink in her own skin, knowing that, should she ever one day resume using her powers, she would need her entire body to be centered and open, without something throwing her off. She didn’t know if regular tattoo ink, with the minerals and metals in it, would be unnatural to her abilities, but she was struggling just to function at this point. No need to do anything that would make it worse.
A razor sat on the tray, ready for her to pick it up, to start prepping the area. She would have to shave the hair on his chest so she could apply the stencil to his skin, but that would mean touching him, which meant gloves, which meant...
Was she ready for this? Could she do this?
“You been starin’ at that tray for so long, you’re startin’ to make me think you don’t wanna touch me.”
Well, that was the furthest thing from the truth.
Straightening up, Violet picked up the tray to take to the table beside the chair. She could do this. She was going to do this. She could... touch him. She was going to... finally do it. Finally, without fear.
Except, she was very full of fear.
Without looking at him, Violet set the tray down and pulled on her gloves, right and then left. She was used to working with them, insisted on it really, so nothing about this so far was abnormal. She had done hundreds of tattoos, maybe even thousands at this point, and she had done tattoos on shifters before, and other magical creatures.
The only difference here was how much she loved this shifter, and how she was scared of her magic flaring up. She was terrified, but... how much longer was she going to move through life afraid? How much longer would she insist on struggling but failing? How long until she stopped living in a shadow, out alone in the cold?
The razor was loose in her hand as she finally looked at Henrik, into his eyes. She expected to see worry or concern, knowing that this might all go wrong, but instead, she saw softness, adoration, love. He was looking up at her like he loved her, which he did, but there was so much trust in him. He was trusting in her, that she wouldn’t screw this up, which was insane, because they both knew this could all go horribly wrong.
He saved her from closing the distance, though, when he reached up and took the razor from her hand, and set it on the tray. Her hands were now empty, hovering over him. She didn’t know what to say or do as they stared at one another, and then he looked down at her hand. Her gaze followed his, and she watched as his hand moved towards hers. There was no hesitation in his movements. One moment, his hand was in front of hers, and the next, his fingers were brushing against the inside of her palm.
Yes, there was a strange material between them, but she could feel the warmth of his hand and the strength in his fingers. She twisted her hand so their fingers could interlock, and she nearly moaned as she realized she was touching him, holding his hand, able to feel him through the material. It was warm, yes, and her body felt on fire, but nothing was burning.
This was... possible. Doable. They could do this. They could almost really touch.