I was developing stronger feelings for the rocker with each passing day. My heart actually ached when he wasn’t around, and that was kind of terrifying. Over the last five weeks, I had spent the majority of my free time with Shane. Of course with more and more freelance opportunities coming in, I didn’t have as much free time as I was used to.

Work was booming and a few magazines had even mentioned keeping me in mind when they had a position open up. It was exciting and what I’d been dreaming of since I was fifteen, but it couldn’t compete with the excitement I felt when I was with Shane.

Today we were at The Ink Shop watching Lana’s back transform into a work of art. I was there for moral support, keeping her entertained so her mind wasn’t on the needle pressed against sensitive skin. With Dallas, Linc, and Shane there to add some variety and humor to the event, Lana was spending more time laughing than thinking about what was going on behind her.

Lana was addicted to ink, just as Dallas was. While I had a tattoo of my own, I hadn’t felt that rush of adrenaline like my friends had, and I didn’t care if I ever got another one.

The Ink Shop was the place to go if you wanted a great tattoo. Dallas didn’t let anyone but the owner work on her. Shane even had one on his right bicep that he’d had done a few years before by the guy that was working on Lana at the moment. Tyler was very professional and handled the tattoo gun with confidence.

“I might get another one soon,” Shane said as he fingered through the photo album of past work Tyler had done.

“Yeah?” I glanced at his arms. Most of his ink consisted of skulls, but there were some variations here and there. A star on his left elbow. A black rose on his forearm. I liked them all and had spent hours just tracing them with my finger nails. “What do you have in mind?”

His smile was sly, a little mysterious, and I wondered what was going through his head. “You’ll have to wait and see, beautiful.”

I rolled my eyes at him.

“Almost done,” Tyler assured Lana who was making pained faces. She had been lying face down on the table for nearly four hours now and her back had to be killing her.

“I’m going to catch hell when Emmie show’s Jesse and Layla my credit card bill next month,” Lana said to no one in particular. “But it will be worth it.”

“I could have taken care of it, sis,” Shane reminded her, but of course Lana had wanted to pay for it herself, which technically meant that her brother-in-law was paying for her ink.

Lana started to say something, but it turned into a grunt as Tyler went over a particularly sensitive area on her lower back. “Never mind.”

“Five more minutes, sweetheart.”

It was twenty minutes later before we were heading out the door. Lana had seen the masterpiece on her back, but now it was bandaged up. As we left and walked toward the restaurant where we had decided to have dinner, she kept glancing down at her phone.

I knew she wanted to call Drake, but Shane had talked her into giving it a day before she let him see what she’d done. I thought the angel wings on her back were beautiful, but maybe a little extreme if it was just to tell the guy she loved him. Really, if she loved him why couldn’t she just say it and that would be that? Did she have to mark her body to prove it?

But it was her body and she could do whatever she wanted with it.

After dinner the five of us split up. Lana went back to the apartment to crash, while Dallas and Linc were heading to one of their usual clubs. Shane had tempted me with a movie, and I wanted some alone time with him. I was ready to admit that I wanted more than friendship.

I was ready for whatever he thought I still needed time for.

Shane

I was one big ache.

Five weeks of nothing but kissing Harper and I was sure that my balls were going to rupture. I had never gone without, had always taken what was offered. And when we were alone, she was more than willing.

But I had to be sure that she was ready before I took her to the next step. I wanted her to know that no matter what she could trust me with her body—and her heart.

After spending the entire afternoon watching Lana get her back inked with Dallas and Linc, then suffering through dinner, I finally had her alone in the back of a dark theater. The arm rest was up so she could snuggle closer, and I was more interested in how good she felt against me than the movie playing on the screen.

“Do you wear perfume?” I whispered, wondering what scent it was that she wore that drove me out of my mind.

“No, why?”

I nuzzled my nose against her hair. “You smell so good, beautiful. Like lavender and something else.”

“Oh, that’s just my soap.”

Just soap? Fuck, I was jealous of that soap! It got to touch her every day in places I had been slowly dying to take advantage of. Muttering a curse under my breath, I tried to move my dick into a more bearable position. It was hopeless, of course. As hard as I was, there was no position that was bearable.

Harper raised her head. “You okay?”

“No, baby. I’m not okay.” My hand rubbed over the painful rod that was resting against my thigh in my jeans. Instead of easing some of my pain, it only added to it. “I’m about two strokes away from coming in my jeans.”

She glanced around. We were in the very back of the theater and this was a crap movie, so there weren’t many people watching it anyway. Seeing that we were practically all alone, she bit her lip. I nearly cried out when her slender fingers skimmed over my aching dick.

I felt the pre-cum leak onto my thigh. My balls were tight and I was so close. Fuck, I had been this way for over five weeks! Cold showers didn’t help any more, and I had never been able to get myself off. It always made me think of that horrible time when I was a kid and Rusty would do things…

“Shane…” Harper breathed my name, her hand exploring the shape of my cock through my jeans. “Take me home with you, Shane.”

She didn’t have to ask me twice. Grasping her hand, I pulled her up and out of the theater. In less than two minutes, I had her in the back of a taxi headed toward my apartment. I was trembling like an untried teenager. I couldn’t keep my legs still as I tried to keep from devouring her in the back seat of a New York cab while the driver watched.

I wasn’t against public sex. I’d done it more than a few times at some really insane parties. But that wasn’t going to happen with Harper. She deserved more respect than that…unless she wanted it. If my girl wanted public sex, I would give it to her. Anything she wanted.