Page 135 of Knot Without My Permission
“Damn,” Arsenal says. “Do you want a drink, Marie? We stocked the bar.”
“Only if it’s water,” I say apologetically.
“Oh? Does the Irish girl who can drink me under the table have something to tell us?” he asks.
“Umm…”
Shit. We aren’t really telling people, but I don’t want to lie about the baby either.
“Tell them, Princess. They’re just going to figure it out themselves otherwise,” Lore drawls, tugging me onto the couch to sit with him.
He is in the middle of furnishing the clubhouse, but wanted opinions from his people before really going all in. Instead, heput mattresses in a few of the bedrooms, bought glasses for the bar, bought a couple of couches, and called it good for now.
“I’m pregnant,” I explain, snuggling against Lore. “I won’t be drinking for a while. But you can be the first people I grab a drink with after the baby is born. I don’t really have friends to do that with.”
“You don’t need catty bitches who will gossip about your post pregnancy weight once you leave,” Vik complains, sitting across from me. “We’ll air out the house too when you come over. Hear that, guys? The little queen is knocked up!”
A series of congratulations and well wishes are yelled around the house, and a bottle of water is pressed into my hand as well.
“Does that mean we need to wait on the ink?” Burner asks, dropping a paper in my lap. “I don’t mind if we do…”
“The doctor already said it would be fine,” I explain, my jaw dropping as I turn over the page. “Wow. This is beautiful.”
The tattoo saysThunderacross it in beautiful scroll work, and there’s a gun, knife, hammer, and medical bag hanging off the letters. It’s all done in watercolors, a choice that makes me glance at Burner.
“You’re the color,” he explains, shrugging. “It’s difficult not to pay attention when you walk into a room. You instantly brighten things up, which is why it was so hard to watch when you were so sad. I really love seeing you happy.”
“We’re all in this tattoo,” I whisper, my eyes watering with emotion. “Thank you, Burner. This is amazing.”
“It’ll be an honor to wear this on my back,” Wilder says, leaning over the back of the sofa.
“Where are Storm and Ransom?” I ask, frowning.
“They went on an errand,” Wilder shrugs. “I’m going to keep you company while Lore gets his tattoo.”
“So how is this going to work?” Burner asks. “I want to do your tattoo in sections, Marie. Line work today, and then color later. I don’t want to stress your system out.”
“I was thinking multiple sessions would work best,” Lore agrees.
Burner nods, pulling a foldable table for Lore to lay on into the middle of the room. He also sets up a rolling tray with everything he’ll need, and Lore kisses my temple before taking off his cut and laying it across my lap for safekeeping. Standing, he strips off his shirt and walks over to the table.
“Do we have some way for Marie to get tattooed without being exposed to the room?” Wilder grumbles, coming around the couch to sit beside me.
“I bought a partition,” Burner says. “Not that anyone would look, but this will give her some privacy.”
“Thank you,” I say, watching as he begins to clean and shave the area he’ll be preparing.
The guys all grab drinks and begin telling me about some of their adventures. I hide my face as I hear how Vik got his knot stuck in someone, and he closed the bar down hiding in the bathroom until it softened.
“Ugh,” I say, unable to help laughing. “What did the woman do?”
“She was pissed,” he said. “Apparently I was her walk on the wild side, and it didn’t go the way she expected.”
I shake my head in amusement as they continue to tell me stories, the sound of the tattoo gun fading into the background as I listen to them.
Storm and Ransom walk into the clubhouse after two hours of us talking, and I glance over in curiosity.
“Hey,” I say, relaxed and comfortable on the couch.
