Skins & Needles (COMPLETE)

Kicking it With Criminals Part 2

Charlotte

"Are you sure you're not looking to join the ink club?" I asked casually as I continued my art. Arsen's presence just behind me would have been an impossible distraction, had I not been doing this job for six years.

"Why do I need images on my body?" he asked in return, and I shrugged.

"I guess it really depends. I look at my own tattoos as parts of my story. Each one reveals a different part of who I am and where I have been. Some get them for other reasons, but for most of us, it's an expression of what makes us who we are." I quieted, realizing I was on my way to a tangent, but gasped softly when I felt fingers on the back of my shoulder near my neck.

"So this one," Arsen said a little more softly, "of the paintbrush spelling 'Invictus.' What does it mean? What part of your story does it tell?"

I swallowed hard, trying to maintain focus on my art while this sinfully handsome man was touching my bare skin, and answered with an only slightly unsteady voice.

"I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul," I told him. "Those are the last two lines in the poem 'Invictus' by William Ernest Henley. Life dished a lot out to me, but like in the poem, I am bloody but unbowed. Unafraid. I took hold of my life through my art, hence the paintbrush. Without it, I'd still be..." I trailed off, not wanting to delve into my dark past with a man I barely knew.

He seemed to understand, and moved his hand to brush over the skin on my bicep.

"And the sunflowers?" he asked, his fingers ever-so-lightly tracing the petals. I shivered.

In the background, I heard Nathan answer his phone, before telling someone he was on his way.

"Kase called," Nathan said before I could answer Arsen. "It's about the..." He trailed off when I glanced up.

"Sorry," I muttered and glued my nose back to my art.

"You're fine, Char," Nathan said, and looked back to Arsen. "It's about our latest issue. About the Pass."

Arsen noticeably stiffened, and my heart sunk a little. As friendly as I could be with these people, I would never actually belong. I would forever be an outcast. Forever a wandering heart with an ungrounded soul, searching for my place in a world that didn't want me.

Way to get dark, I thought, mentally scolding myself for allowing my mind to spiral.

"... but if you want to stay here," Nathan was saying, "I think Kase and I can handle it. It's just an investigation, after all."

"If you're sure," Arsen said. "I'll hang with Adrian."

"And Charlotte," Adrian reminded him, and I felt an unexpected smile tug at my lips.

It wasn't uncommon to get flirted with on the job, or even to flirt back, but something about Arsen made me want to participate a little more than usual. Maybe it was his unwillingness to get a tattoo, and I wanted to break him. Or maybe he was just hot, and I wanted his golden eyes on me. Either way, I was glad he was staying.

"See you later, Nathan!" I called back. "And stay safe out there!" I always told my clients this as they left out of habit, but I really did worry about them, knowing just enough about their lives that I could determine it was dangerous out there.

"Always, Angel Hands," Nathan called back, and I heard the front door shut behind him.

"I've got a few ideas here for you," I told Adrian once his cousin was gone. "Let me know what you like, dislike, or if you want any changes." I handed him the notepad with several drawings on the open page and sat back while he looked at them. He walked over to the shop's large, antique mirror and began holding the sketches up to the area the tattoo would go.