Gravity (Artistic Pricks Ink Book 1) (9 page)

“Stay the fuck away from me you disgusting bastard!” Ki screams making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up in warning.

What the fuck is going on?

Without knocking, I shove through the front door. “Ki!” I shout, tossing her keys and the brownie box to the couch as I run through the living room. “Kionna?” I shout.
Why isn’t she answering me?
A million scenarios race through my mind as I run down the hallway. Stopping at the doorway, I see Ki scrambling across the white tile kitchen floor on all fours. The trash can and a mop are knocked over beside the refrigerator and a pile of wet towels. Her face ashen, filled with terror. “Where the hell is he?” I ask, clenching my fists at my side. My eyes roaming around the room for her attacker.

Looking up, she raises up onto her knees. “I have no idea. When he ran out from under the fridge, I slipped on the wet floor. He has to be hiding somewhere. The little bastard.” She shudders, her hands shaking.

“Wait, what?” I ask in confusion. She has to have hit her head pretty hard. Watching Ki carefully; I pull out my cell phone from my pocket, ready to call 9-1-1 if necessary.

“The spider, it was coming straight at me. It was huge!” She exclaims, trying to stand to her feet.

I force my laugh back. She was scared shitless over a harmless spider? “A bit dramatic for a spider, don’t ya think?” I ask, biting back a laugh. “You sounded like someone was trying to kill you.” Taking a step closer to her, I shake my head. “That was all over a tiny bug?”

“Little my ass. Did you miss the part where I said it was huge?” She bites out, glaring at me. Squaring her shoulders, Ki takes a step forward, jabbing me in the chest with her finger. “It. Charged. Me.” Poking me with each word to drive the point home. “Do you realize that all spiders contain venom, and nearly every one of them can bite? How does it make a big, strong, man like you feel to know one bite from a monster even as small as a dime can possibly kill you?”

“You’re giving spiders a bad name.” I chuckle, looking down into her eyes.

“They do that all on their own,” she defends, crossing her arms over her chest. My eyes dropping to where her arms now angle her tits right at me. The front of white shirt is totally soaked so that the pink lace bra I saw a glimpse of earlier now is now in clear view.

“Jesus Christ,” I shout, pointing behind her. “He is a big one.”

“Fuck!” She screams leaping onto me. Her arms and legs wrapping around me, hanging on for dear life. “Get it! Oh my God, get it!”

“I think you already did, Dollface.” Turning our bodies so that she can see, I point to the now very dead Wolf spider on the kitchen floor. “Looks like the mop did him in.”

“You’re sure it’s dead?” She asks, closing her eyes tightly.

“Pretty sure if the mop didn’t kill him, your screaming gave him a damn heart attack,” I reply, knowing I was damn close to stroking out myself.

Burying her face in my neck she shudders. Her chest rising and falling rapidly. “Oh God,” she says, damned close to hyperventilating. Two words and my dick goes stone hard.

The air in the room changes. It pops and crackles around us making it hard to catch my breath. Kionna’s breathing hitches in her throat and I know she feels it too. Pulling back, she looks into my eyes, the deep brown heating. All of a sudden it’s so hot in here I can’t stand it, everything is spinning. It’s all too much. It’s the same feeling I got when we were Mom’s basement earlier.

Unable to fight it, I slide my hand behind her neck and slam my mouth to hers. Kissing her again has been all I have been able to think about all night. I’ve never been a fan of just kissing, but fuck if I don’t want to kiss her lips all night long. Thankfully, Mitch was there to help fix her car because my concentration was shit. Boy, did he know it too. He gave me shit the entire time and loved every minute of it too.

Asshole.

Ki’s fingers slide up into my hair, tugging on the ends, grounding me to the here and now. Our lips and tongues move together, devouring each other. My free hand slides beneath her ass, making her moan into my mouth. That only causes me to do it again, greedy to hear that noise again.

Stumbling back, I slide down the wall until my ass hits the tile floor. My mouth never leaves hers. My hands slide along her body, hungrily running along the curves that feel so goddamn right pressed against me. Ki straddles me; my steel hard cock throbbing as she rocks her ass against it, making me hate the denim between our bodies right now.

“Luke,” she moans and I nearly blow my wad in my fucking pants. Gripping her ass, I urge her to move faster. The friction our bodies make has my entire body buzzing. My thighs jump up with every roll of her hips.

Fuck, that’s amazing.

“Mmm,” She moans, breaking the kiss to nip along my jaw. Her lips move down my throat toward the collar of my t-shirt.

My head falls back against the wall and Ki takes advantage of the better angle. She nips with her teeth before running her tongue along the hollow of my throat, driving me insane. “Damn, you’re making me crazy,” I moan, sliding my hands underneath the back of her shirt, needing to feel her bare skin under my hands.

Reaching down Ki pulls her shirt over her head, the wet fabric falling behind her to the floor with a slap that echoes loudly. Brushing her hair over her shoulders, my fingers trace the cups of her bra. My fingers run along the edges of the lace, teasingly skimming along her soft skin. Her nipples are already hardening against the barely there lace, giving me just a peek of what is beneath. I am dying to taste her skin. I want to take her to bed and spend hours figuring out every way to make her scream my name.

“Luke,” Ki whispers, tipping up my chin with her fingers. The look on her face stops me in my tracks. Her body may be all fired up for me, but her head isn’t in the right place. Indecision couldn’t be clearer if it were written on her forehead in bright red marker. “I’m sorry,” she exhales before burying her face in my chest.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” I reply, reigning myself in. “This is the last thing I was expecting to happen tonight when I brought you your car. Not that I’m complaining.”

Pulling back, Ki looks into my eyes as if she can’t believe what I just said. Her brow arches skeptically, the wheels turning in her head so fast part of me wonders if smoke will start pouring from her ears while she overanalyzes everything that just happened. “Ugh, what a day,” she sighs. A defeated giggle slips past her lips, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. “Today has just been…” Her voice trails off, those eyes that were heated just seconds ago become distant.

“I can tell.” I reply, running my fingers up her arms trying to pull her back into the moment with me. The last thing she needs to think about is her shit day. For some reason I want to see her smile, to be the one that made her day end on a good note. “Why don’t you go get some dry clothes on? I’ll take care of the spider and we can actually eat that dessert now.”

“Okay, that sounds good.” Pushing to my feet, I make sure she is steady before letting go of her waist. “You really think we can forget that just happened?” She asks, scooping up her wet shirt, covering herself from my eyes. Stepping into the hallway she turns away from me, my eyes dropping straight to her ass. Tossing an “I told you so” look over her shoulder, she giggles. “Yours isn’t so bad either.” She shrugs before disappearing into her bedroom.

Grabbing a few paper towels from the roll, I scoop up the dead attacker. Righting the trash-can, I toss him inside. “Thanks for taking one for the team, man,” I chuckle. It may not have been some serial axe murderer or drug cartel hit man, but I couldn’t be happier about playing the hero tonight. I wasn’t lying before; the last thing I expected was for a kiss to go as far as it did. I just wanted to spend more time with her tonight. Call me crazy, but the more I get from her, the more I want to know.

Walking back up the hallway; I stop just outside her cracked bedroom door, but don’t dare go inside. I’m mesmerized by the view. Ki digs through her drawer, wearing nothing but a pair of pink lace boy shorts. Every inch of her, from head to toe, is flawless. I don’t know why, but I’m eating up every inch of the un-inked skin. Being a tattoo artist, I don’t see virgin skin very often. If I do, it’s not for long. I watch her body move as she steps into the legs of a pair of yoga pants. Every bend of her body as she pulls them up her thighs is a tug at my already tortured cock.

This is fucking cruel.

Forcing myself to look away, I head up the hall into the living room. Standing there being a total pervert won’t help prove that I am not just here for sex. If she would have turned around, she would have thrown me out of here on my ass.
That can’t happen.
Whatever it is about this woman that has me so fixated, I’ve got to figure it out. Ki is a puzzle, and I’m more than happy to put the time in to work her out.

Adjusting my hard on, I carefully sit on the sofa. Poor guy didn’t get the memo that sex isn’t happening here tonight. In an attempt to get my mind off of the beautiful, half-naked woman in the next room, I focus on anything else I can think of. I’m working out inventory in my head and invoices for the shop when Ki steps out, closing the door behind her. She has on a tight, pale blue tank top with yoga pants on, now, and no matter how hard I try I still see what’s underneath playing on repeat in my head.

“Come here,” I say, patting the cushion beside me. “I want you to try these.” Picking up the box beside me, I open the lid as she pads across the floor toward me.

“Oh,” she teases. Sitting beside me, she crosses her legs beneath her and gets comfortable. “I didn’t think you were going to share.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” I purr, lifting the brownie to her lips.

Her lips part, still swollen from me kissing her in the kitchen, and I slowly slide the bite of chocolate chip cookie and peanut butter fudge brownie into her mouth. Her eyes close, just as I knew they would. There’s no resisting the ecstasy that is a Leah’s Brownie Bite. My eyes stay fixated on her mouth as she chews, moaning when she swallows.

“Oh my God,” She moans, opening her eyes. “That was incredible.”

It sure as hell was.

Ki, reaches into the box for one. I have half a mind to stop her. Seriously, I will drive here three times a day to feed her if she will make those noises with every bite. Shit. Holding a piece between her fingers, she lifts it to my mouth. “Oh no, I can feed myself,” I say attempting to take it from her.

Grinning, she shakes her head. “Not how it works, Dollface.” She teases, repeating my words from before. “Tit for tat is how this game is being played, Luke. Now, open up.”

“Is that what this is?” I ask, trying to figure her out. “A game?”

Opening my mouth, I let her feed me the bite. The flavor explodes on my tongue just like it always does. Mitch is right; Charlie is a lucky bastard because he lives with this kind of culinary magic. Ki shrugs. “I don’t know what
this
is, or even if there is a
this…
” She replies honestly, gesturing between us. “But, it’s fun.”

I can live with that. For now.

Once we’ve finished the entire box, Ki turns on the television. We flip through the channels and I tease her about her addiction to reality shows. It’s not awkward, we are surprisingly comfortable just sitting here on her bright green sofa with a million different color throw pillows like this shit happens every day. That is until she stops on one of my favorites. “See, this one I love and don’t you dare call this one lame or staged,” Ki says defensively.

Setting the remote on the table, she leans back into the pillows and sighs contently. “He takes the old cars, and flips them like some stuffy real estate agent would do to a house. The thing I love about him most is it’s not just an investment on wheels, or a job to him. It’s about rebuilding a piece of history and letting the customer take it with them wherever they go. He’s an artist.”

I can’t help smiling at her. “You are full of surprises, aren’t you? I can’t believe I’m sitting here on a neon green couch, covered in a million different color throw pillows, on a Saturday night watching my favorite show at a girl’s house.”

Her eyes widen, “This is your favorite show?” She asks in disbelief pointing at the screen as the custom car genius haggles a price for a Corvette that needs a lot of love.

“Of course it is,” I reply. “I rebuilt my car from the ground up. That beautiful bitch was a junkyard rescue before I put the time, money, and love into her. Now she’s perfect.” Yeah, you could say I’m proud of her.

“Yeah, that figures,” she blurts. “I mean you make bodies canvases. You take their idea and breathe life into it, making it reality,” Ki adds, staring at the ink on my arms. “It shouldn’t surprise me that you would surround yourself with all aspects of beauty.”

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Isn’t that what they say?” Reaching out, I brush a loose strand of hair from her face and watch as a blush spreads across her cheeks.