Run This Town 03 - (Watch Me) Unmask You (6 page)

“No violence,” Tek said into the phone. “Let him come to you on his own.”

Elias didn’t know if he could. After waiting so long for Elias, it seemed Lucky had given up on him.

“Doing anything to the boyfriend might come back and bite you in the ass,” Tek said. “Let’s not add that to the list of things you’ll have to atone for later.”

Tek was always the calm one of their trio. Where Elias and Israel were quick to go the bloody route, Tek much preferred the alternate route. Violence was always the last resort for the Chinese-American. For now Elias chose to listen to Tek.

“Okay. No beating up the boyfriend.” Which meant what, he’d just have to sit and wait for Lucky to feel for him what he’d felt three years ago? No way. “Doesn’t mean I’ll just sit on the sidelines, though.”

“What are you gonna do?” Tek asked.

“And please keep in mind that details aren’t necessary,” Israel said quickly.

Elias laughed. “I’ll spare you the details, Is. But suffice it to say, I’m not giving up.”

He spoke with the men a little while longer then hung up and pulled out of the parking lot, headed to his hotel. He needed to think about what he’d do the next time he saw Lucky, because he would, there was no doubt.

Lucky didn’t sleep the night before. He lay in bed next to Chad hardly daring to breathe. His mind was a jumbled mess and he couldn’t stop thinking. Elias was back. Three years later he was back and this time…

This time Lucky wasn’t sure what he wanted. At twenty he’d been sure he wanted Elias, but as much as he hated to admit it, Elias was right. Lucky had needed to be with himself, to think, to figure out what he wanted. To live. He’d had a lot of time to do that. And he’d built something of a life with Chad. The paralegal was a good guy, a dependable guy. Lucky cared for him.

Did that mean he didn’t feel what he once felt for Elias?

He wished that were the case. Really wished it, because no, his heart still set off at a stampede when he looked into Elias’s eyes. His palms still got slick with sweat. He still forgot to breathe. When Elias failed to show up over the past three years, Lucky had hoped his feelings for the redhead would go away.

He’d hoped.

Of course Elias’s return proved that no, Lucky hadn’t escaped those feelings. What was he supposed to do, though? He couldn’t trust Elias. He couldn’t count on him to be there, and that was what Lucky wanted.

Someone to be there.

He went to work, opening the shop even though that was the very last thing he wanted to do. He’d have much preferred to stay home and hide. He didn’t have to work, not after the inheritance he’d gotten from his father’s estate. The first half at eighteen and the other at twenty-one. A whole heck of a lot of money that he doubted he’d ever be able to spend. But just because he had the money didn’t mean he wanted to sit on his ass all day. He needed purpose. So he put on wrinkled clothes and forced a brittle smile over the rim of his coffee cup.

“You didn’t call me.” Pia’s accusing eyes glared at him from across Joe’s desk in the back office.

“Not now, Pia.” He looked away.

“Who was that guy last night?” Obviously she was choosing to ignore him. “And why do you look like someone died?” She narrowed her eyes and reared back. “Did someone die? Did you kill him?”

Lucky rolled his eyes. “Pia.” He sighed and put down his coffee. “Look, I don’t want to talk about this. I really don’t.”

She watched him with big brown eyes, silent. “Okay.” She got to her feet and gave him a smile. “But you know if you need to you can talk to me about anything, anytime.”

He nodded. “I know.”

She walked out just as Al, another tattoo artist, appeared in the doorway. “Lucky, you’ve got a customer.”

Lucky frowned. “Al, you know I’m not doing that these days.”

“I know.” Al shrugged. “But the guy said he only wants you to do him.”

“Who is it?”

“Me.”

Lucky’s eyes widened as Elias appeared behind Al, a mocking smile on his lips.

“Hey, dude.” Al spun and held out a hand to halt Elias. “You can’t be back here.” Of course the big guy completely ignored that.

“Elias.” What the hell was he doing?

“I want you to ink me, Lucky.” His eyes were practically glowing. Lucky looked away.

“I can’t do that. Let one of the other guys take care of you, or better yet,” Lucky sat back in his chair, trying to affect a calm he didn’t feel. “Why don’t you leave, huh? Go someplace else.”

“I’m not leaving,” Elias said simply.

Al looked back and forth between them. “Lucky?”

“It’s okay, Al. You can go.”

Al left, reluctantly, and Lucky tensed as Elias stepped into the office and shut the door. The already small space now felt cramped and stifling.

“Lucky.”

“Are we gonna do this?” Lucky interrupted him. “Are you gonna show up where I don’t want you, make me have to deal with questions I can’t answer?”

“You can.” Elias walked over to the desk and Lucky gripped his chair arm. “You can tell them who I am.”

He barked a laugh. “Really? I don’t even know who you are.”

Elias sat on the edge of the desk, his jean-clad ass mere inches from Lucky. “I’m the man you want. The man you’ve been wanting for a very long time, isn’t that right?”

Lucky stared up at him, at the possession fierce on his face. His entire body flamed at the expression because God knew he’d wanted to see it for so long.

Elias grasped his chin.

Lucky’s breath stopped.

“Isn’t that right, Lucky?”

“Don’t—” He licked his lips and jerked away from that calloused touched. “Don’t touch me.”

“I want you to tattoo me,” Elias said firmly. “No one else touches my skin. Say yes.”

No one else… “I bet that wasn’t the case the last three years, huh?” Lucky couldn’t help the bitter taunt. “I bet you didn’t care then who touched your skin.” Why did it make him want to throw something at the thought of Elias with anyone else? He’d been with other people hadn’t he? Done some pretty fucked up things, too.

A tight line formed around Elias’s mouth. “I’m not going to dignify that hypocrisy with an answer, Lucky. Not when you went home with another man last night.”

“Get out.” Lucky jumped up from behind his desk and walked to the door.

“I’m not leaving either.” Elias spoke directly behind him, lifting the hairs on his nape. “Not without my tattoo.”

Lucky stood there with a hand on the door knob. “If I tattoo you, will you promise to leave?” He couldn’t believe he was even contemplating this shit.

“If you tattoo me—” Elias’s breath brushed his skin, and Lucky shivered. “I’ll think about leaving.”

Jesus fuck. “Fine, let’s go.” He yanked open the door, but Elias grabbed his shoulder. Lucky froze.

“This is going to be a very private session, Lucky,”

Lucky glanced over his shoulder at him. “You’re a high maintenance son of a bitch, aren’t you?”

Elias grinned, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “I just want you alone, Lucky Mousasi.”

Warmth unfurled in Lucky’s belly. What the hell was he doing? He hurried away, setting up one of the abandoned stations with everything he needed. Pia intercepted him as he was checking his ink.

“You about to work?”

He nodded curtly. Her eyes went saucer wide.

“Who is that guy, Lucky?”

“Not now, Pia.” He brushed past her and went back to the office. Elias stood at his desk with one hand in his pocket, the other flipping through Lucky’s portfolio. He looked up when Lucky came in.

“You’re good at this.”

“Of course.” Lucky had put in his time with some of the best in the game. He knew he was good. He had his own ink: a large geometric flower done in blues and blacks on his right calf, a colorful baroque on his shoulder blades, and the minimalist anchor on the inside of his left wrist.

“No.” Elias walked over to him and cupped his cheek. “Lucky, you’re fucking good.” He smiled that crooked smile that never failed to punch Lucky in the gut. “Almost makes me forgive you for not going to college.”

He felt himself sinking into that look in Elias’s eyes so Lucky stepped back, literally and figuratively. “Come on.” He turned around and walked back out, leading Elias through the main area, ignoring the stares and curious glances from the others.

Nobody better ask what he was doing. He had no idea. Inside the back room, he drew the dark curtain and nodded to Elias. “Tell me what you want.” He regretted his choice of words as soon as he saw the flames flicker in Elias’s eyes.

Elias’s lips quirked, but he didn’t speak except to hand over a slip of paper. Lucky snatched it away and frowned at it. One sentence in a language he wasn’t familiar with.

“Prima della caduta degli angeli,”
 he read the words out loud. Butchering them. “What does it mean?”

“Does it matter?” Elias sat in the nearby chair.

Guess not. “Where do you want it?”

Elias pulled his t-shirt over his head and Lucky gulped. Seeing Elias’s exposed skin after so long was… Lucky shied away from the scars, but the ink— Why hadn’t he recognized it before? Before he could stop himself, he was running a finger over a set of Chinese characters on Elias’s upper left arm.

“You were in prison,” he breathed. How hadn’t he seen them three years ago? Had they been there then?

Elias grabbed Lucky’s wrist, the hold excessively tight. His eyes were hard and cold when he said, “I was.”

Lucky stared at him. Elias had been in prison. When? Why? He wanted to ask those questions, but wasn’t sure he should. He pulled his hand away and turned, tugging on gloves. “I really know nothing about you, do I?”

“I can tell you what you want to know,” Elias said softly. “But you already know the most important thing about me, Lucky.”

He snorted. “Really?”

Elias grabbed his elbow. “You know I’ll always come back for you.”

“How do I know that?” Anger exploded in Lucky’s chest and he jerked away from that traitorous hand on his skin. “How do I fucking know that?” When Elias opened his mouth Lucky held up a hand. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. That no longer matters to me.” He clenched his jaw and went about prepping his machine before cleaning Elias’s skin with antiseptic soap. Gloves on, he used a brand new razor to swipe at the area over Elias left pec, near his heart, to get rid of any hair. He rubbed a dry paper towel over the area again then pulled up his stool, got his machine, and went to work. The low, constant buzz was the only sound in the room. Elias’s scent surrounded him, hot and crisp. Lucky couldn’t wait to finish this so he could get up and walk away. For his part, Elias sat still under his touch, head thrown back and eyes closed.

Lucky tried not to watch him, not to be aware of him, but that was impossible. Elias’s skin was hot under Lucky’s fingertips, the sensation seeping through the gloves he wore. The vibrations of the machine ran up his arm, maybe that was the reason his body tingled, the reason he was sweating.

He let the hum of the machine distract him, not that it did any good. Every time Elias breathed, Lucky felt him. It only took a short time, but by the time he was finished and wiping away the excess ink, he wanted to get the hell outta there. He stood and pulled off his gloves then tossed them in the nearby trash can.

Elias looked down at his chest then up at Lucky. “What the— That’s not what I asked for, Lucky.”

Instead of giving Elias what he wanted, Lucky had simply inked an L on his chest, over his heart. “Come back some time and I’ll finish spelling what I wish to spell.”

Elias regarded him steadily.

“Maybe if you stick around I can give you that.” He nodded to the piece of paper with the foreign words.

“How long has it been since you did this?” Elias asked quietly.

The switch in topic left him unbalanced, but Lucky just shrugged. “Too long,” he muttered. They were so close, if he turned his head he’d be kissing Elias, their lips would be connecting. Their breaths would be mingling. His hands froze on Elias’s skin. Their last kiss, the sex, that had been explosive, the best time of his life. Elias gave him that, but he also gave Lucky sleepless nights and a broken heart.

“Lucky.” He said Lucky’s name so reverently, as if he knew what Lucky was thinking, as if he knew what he’d done. “You were too young. I shouldn’t have—”

Lucky pulled away, moved to rise, but Elias held him, a hand at his waist. Lucky swallowed.

“Elias.”

“No. Look at me.” Elias touched Lucky’s chest, and a loud sound escaped him.

He met those ice-blue eyes, but they were anything but cold for Lucky, anything but chilled. He raised his chin. “What? What do you have to say?”

“We’re worlds apart, you and I. And I couldn’t…” Elias fisted the hand at Lucky’s waist. “I couldn’t take away your life, your freedom. I want for you to be free, to be happy. You deserve to have that.”

“You wanted me to be happy so you left me alone for three years?” Lucky shook his head in incredulity. “If you wanted me to be happy, you should stayed fucking gone. I was happy. I am happy with Chad.”

Elias’s gaze pierced him, his heart, made Lucky shake. He wanted to escape. Wanted to run, hide.

“You still want me.” Elias bent, brushing his nose over Lucky’s, stifling the breath in his lungs. Lucky clung to him, fingers digging into his shoulders when what he should be doing was getting the hell away from him. “And I haven’t stopped needing you, Lucky Mousasi.”

“Don’t,” he begged as he slid a hand up Elias’s naked chest. God, he shook with this thing that wrapped around them, invisible but there, heavy and deep. “I need to be able to count on you, to trust your word. I can’t. I can’t.”

“You can.” And Elias kissed him. Just took him, captured Lucky mouth-first, his hold tight, his tongue slick and sinful diving into Lucky as if he was the most decadent treat.

Lucky gasped at first contact then he was sinking into it, fingers drifting up to tangle in Elias’s red hair, tongue lashing out to curl around his, body tipping forward to fall into Elias’s arms. He moaned when Elias nipped his bottom lip, shivered when he licked that bite of pain away. Just as explosive as the last, just as good. He tasted the same, wicked and dangerous, fierce and full of barely leashed restraint.