Bound By Ink & Lust

Chapter Five

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Five hours later, I met with Sam, Grant and Christian to discuss where we were at with our investigation of Bucky. Grant was full of bad news.

"You're fucking kidding right?" I asked in disbelief.

Grant looked at me and shook his head. "No, the lead was a dead end. Bucky has covered his tracks well."

"Fuck," Christian swore and slammed his hand down on the table. "We're never gonna get this motherfucker, are we?"

I felt his frustration. We'd spent the last two months trying to get a handle on what Bucky was up to and nothing, the leads turned up empty. Either Bucky wasn't up to anything or he was skilled at hiding shit. We all believed the latter scenario.

"Patience brother, "Sam directed at Christian.

Unfortunately, patience wasn't Christian's strong suit and he was pretty agitated with this latest development. "Maybe I need to go back to Dallas and talk to some boys down there. Someone's gotta know something for fuck's sake."

Sam considered this and then gave me and Grant a questioning look. Grant and I both nodded, and Sam turned to Christian and agreed, "Okay, you go down there and see what you can find. But you're going to have to keep it quiet, brother; the last thing we want is news travelling back to Bucky. You know if we can trust any of the boys there with this?"

Christian contemplated that, and then replied, "There's two of them who I'm pretty sure can be trusted."

Grant stood. "Contact them and set it up Christian." He checked his watch. "I've gotta go, got a hot date with a brunette."

"Since when do you date?" I asked. I'd never know grant to date.

"Date is probably the wrong word for it brother," he smirked, "But I have dated before."

"Must have been before I came to town."

Sam stood as well. "Long time before you came to town, Nate. Grant's a moody bastard; kind of makes its hard to find a woman to stick around."

"That and its hard to find a woman who won't fuck you over," Grant muttered as he left us.

"That's the fuckin' truth," I agreed as Christian and I stood.

"You heading out." Sam asked me.

"No, I'm going to stick around and find a bit of fun for the night."

"Yeah, I bet you are. Heard you haven't been in here for over a week; you having withdrawals?"

I chuckled. "Smartass."

Christian cut in, "Nate, Jasmine wants you over for dinner soon. Can you sort that out with her when you speak to her next?"

"Will do," I agreed. Christian and I still had an uneasy relationship but we were working on it for Jasmine's sake. Hell, I'd do anything for that chick.

He nodded and then they left together. As I watched them leave, a blonde chick caught my attention. She had her back to me and what a fine sight that was. I watched as she chatted with two men; it looked like she was doing all the talking, because their attention was on her body and it didn't look like any words were coming out of their mouths. I couldn't blame them because she was fucking spectacular in her tight, black dress that hugged her curves and barely covered her ass. Her back was exposed, and most of her skin was covered in tattoos. It looked kind of familiar to me, but I couldn't place it, and as I was wondering if I knew this chick, she turned around and started walking towards me.

Fuck.

It was Jillian in a blonde wig. My fucking dick was hard, and as I took in her killer tits and hips, it only got harder.

Shit, who was I kidding; I'd had a hard on for her for years. She inspired it in a man just by existing. I'd flirted hard with her when we first met, doing my best to get her into bed. We'd come close a few times but she'd managed to resist me and block every attempt I made to get her panties off. She'd used the excuse of not wanting to sleep with people she worked with so I'd calmed my flirting down thinking that she'd eventually come to the party. However, we'd become friends and for some fucked up reason, I didn't want to screw that friendship up by screwing her. So here I was, with a four year old hard on, and no chance in hell of getting it taken care of by the woman who caused it.

She didn't stop when she got to me, she didn't acknowledge me; she kept walking without a backwards glance. I'd really managed to piss her off this time. She was a feisty woman and over the years we'd had our arguments because she was the kind of woman who gave it to me straight. If she didn't agree with something I said or did, she didn't hesitate to tell me. But we'd always moved pasted every argument; we always knew we could count on each other.

When she'd told me to stop getting my dick out for every chick I met, she'd caught me in a bad moment and I hadn't taken it well. And I'd reacted by cutting the friendship. It'd been a lonely few months without her, but being the asshole I was, I'd refused to own up to my shit. But fuck, I'd missed her. I'd realised how much just having her to sit and talk with meant to me. I might have wanted to rip her clothes off over the years but if you gave me the choice between fucking her and talking to her now, I'd give up the sex in a heartbeat.

And that realisation right there had done my head in so I'd kept my distance ever since it'd hit me.

Watching her walk away from me without a word exchanged, hit me in the chest. It was painful; not as painful as some things in my life but it fucking hurt.

Shit.

I raked my hand through my hair. I had to fix this. But first I had to fix the raging hard on I was stuck with. I scanned the room looking for someone to help me with that. Tonight I'd take care of pressing matters and tomorrow I'd take of my friendship with Jillian.