Burning Up

The Rule of Three

"What're you gonna do today?" I asked Iago, glancing at him in the reflection of the mirror as I did my mascara.

"Nothing much." He replied casually, muscles rippling as he stretched languidly. "I have some shit to do for Ghost, after that I thought I might go and get a tattoo."

"Another one?" I teased, turning to face him.

"Shut up." He replied, rolling his eyes. "You wanna come?"

I nodded and made my way over to him, moving to straddle his toned stomach.

"I wouldn't miss out on a chance to see you squirm."

I shrieked as he dug his fingers into my sides.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" I managed to get out between giggles. "Nothing!"

"That's what I thought." He replied smugly, leaning back on his forearms.

"What time were you thinking? My class finishes at like two." I asked once I'd got my breath back.

"Six maybe? I need to talk to my artist, he said he was free today, but you never know with him."

"Cool." I smiled, leaning down to place a soft kiss against his lips. "I'll see you then."

He smirked, his grip on my waist tightening.

"Who said you're leaving?"

"I'm gonna be late." I whined, but didn't resist as he flipped us over, biceps coming to rest on either side of my head, caging me in.

"I don't care." He replied, sucking a deep hickey into the bottom of my neck just under the collar of where my shirt would sit. I moaned softly.

"Stop it. You just love to torture me." He looked up at me, a grin tugging at his lips.

"I can't help it." He replied, moving to kiss down my bare stomach.

I arched my back, my body responding before my rational mind could stop it, before coming to my senses and pushing him off me.

"I have to go." I laughed, trying my best to ignore his pouty scowl.

"Fine." He grumbled, flopping back onto the bed with a sigh. I smiled at his grumpiness and moved to place a kiss on his head, my hand running teasingly down his naked chest to dip below the top of his boxers before pulling away.

"Later." I whispered.

"Now who's torturing." He scowled, but I could see the amusement glittering in his eyes.

I grinned at him, pulling on a t-shirt before slipping on my shoes and heading towards the door, glancing back at him with a wink before slamming it behind me.

As I sat in class, I let my eyes travel over my bare arms, wondering what it would look like to have something inked into my skin. I loved Iago's tattoos and couldn't (wouldn't) imagine him without them, and yet the thought of doing something similar to myself made my skin crawl.

I tried to picture what he was thinking of getting, what would sit well next to the others, but in my mind there seemed to be no pattern to what he liked. I knew there would be no realism, and for that I was almost grateful, but other than that I was absolutely clueless.

I leant my chin against my hand, spinning my pen around my finger as I tried to jot down as much of the relevant information my professor was spewing. The lecture was interesting, but despite myself I couldn't stop my thoughts from wandering.

Ever since Iago had turned up at my door a beaten mess three months ago, I worried each time he went out on a job. He still refused to tell me what had happened, and I didn't know whether it had been a client, a rival dealer, or his own boss that had left him in that state. What if it was a regular occurrence?