Pretty Piece Of Flesh
Zac and I took so many risks in the days that followed our first time together. I knew we needed to be more careful, but he was like a drug. I couldn’t get enough. Each hit just made me crave him more, and made me more bold about the way I sought him out. He felt the same, it seemed, and there was never a chance of me being able to turn him down.
We arrived in Las Vegas early in the morning and checked into our hotel for the night as soon as they would let us. I’d barely even set my suitcase down on my bed before there was an insistent knock on the door. Annalee raised an eyebrow, but I had a feeling I already knew who it was. Sure enough, swinging the door open brought me face to face with Zac.
“Colby,” he breathed out. “Will you do me a huge favor?”
“I guess it depends on what it is…”
He grabbed my arm and yanked me toward the hallway. “Come on, you’ll find out when we get there. It’s nothing bad.”
I raised an eyebrow, trying to judge just what his deal was. I didn’t think Zac would be drunk or high in the middle of the day, but he didn’t seem like himself. Still, he seemed to need me, and I was powerless to tell him no. “Yeah, okay. Let me grab my purse.”
Within minutes, we were out the door and climbing into a cab. Zac still wouldn’t tell me where we were going, and the fact that he was nervously tapping his foot against the floorboard of the cab didn’t make me feel any better about what he could possibly have planned.
Like New Orleans, Las Vegas was an entirely different world. The magic of Vegas was manmade, though, all neon lights and replicas of famous buildings from all over the world. The cab deposited us in front of a fairly mundane, if massive, strip mall, and that left me even more clueless about what Zac could possibly need me for. He was determined but silent as he grabbed my wrist and dragged me through the mall’s winding corridors until we finally reached what I assumed was his destination: a tattoo parlor.
“Look, I know I liked your drawing, but…” I said.
Zac shook his head. “You’re not getting a tattoo. Well, not unless you want to. I’m getting a tattoo.”
“You are?”
“Yeah,” he replied. “It just seems like time. I don’t know why. But I went online and looked this place up, then called and found out they had an opening today, so… it just seemed like a sign. I’m doing it.”
“You should really wait until after the tour,” I said, but Zac had tuned me out and was already halfway inside the tattoo parlor.
It was a huge, beautiful and pristine shop, and I couldn’t help but admit that it did make me want to get a tattoo as well. Aside from my first one, I’d never gotten one on the spur of the moment, and I really didn’t want to do that again. If I could have, I would have talked Zac out of getting one as well, but I knew he was too stubborn to listen. If he was determined to do it, Club Tattoo seemed like as good a place as possible to pop his cherry, as it were.
I stayed behind as Zac chatted up the tattoo covered girl behind the counter. I couldn’t help being a little jealous, even when it became obvious that she was the person he’d spoken to on the phone. He was still clearly flirting with her as he borrowed a sharpie to demonstrate the simple design—those three lines—he wanted on his arm. She seemed confused by the request, but the more Zac talked to her, the more smiley and accommodating she became. I just tried my best not to roll my eyes.
“Colby?” Zac asked, turning back to look at me like he’d just remembered I was there. “You’re gonna come back and hold my hand, right?”
“Y-yeah… yeah, sure,” I stuttered out, hating the way even the thought of holding his hand gave me butterflies in my stomach.
I was certain there should have been a line of people in front of him, but somehow Zac had weaseled his way past everyone else, and soon I was following him and the tattoo artist into the back room. I tried not to stare as he stripped off the button up he’d worn over his t-shirt. All the drumming had given him some seriously muscular arms. Whether it was intentional or not, his arm flexed as the woman applied the stencil and I thought I might just pass out on the spot. At that rate, we were going to be lucky if both of us survived the tattoo.
As soon as the tattoo artist pulled out the gun, Zac grabbed my hand and held on tightly. I was true to my word and didn’t let him go the entire time—not that I could have, considering the death grip he had on me. His knuckles turned white, and I thought he might actually bite down on his lip hard enough to draw blood, but he didn’t complain even once.
Once the tattoo began to look like it was supposed to, his grimace transformed into a smile that only seemed to grow bigger and bigger. He was practically giggling once it was finally finished. Even though the tattoo was covered in cling wrap to protect it, he didn’t seem to want to stop staring at it in the room’s mirror.
“This is the best idea I’ve ever had,” he said, his hand hovering just over the tattoo, obviously itching to touch it. He finally tore his eyes away from his arm and gave me a smile. “Thanks, Colby.”
“You’re welcome,” I replied, even though I had no idea what he was thanking me for.
“Aren’t you hot?” I asked, noticing the way Zac had only one sleeve of his shirt rolled up.
Even though he was wearing nothing underneath it and the top several buttons were undone, he still had to be burning up. I’d already shed my t-shirt, leaving me in just my bikini top and cut off shorts, long before the two of us wandered off from the rest of the crew. We were lucky to have a day off in California, and spending it on the beach had been a unanimous decision. While everyone else played in the water or sunbathed, Zac and I had sneaked off to take a walk together.
He shrugged. “A little bit, but I figured I’m not following any of the other aftercare directions.”
“You’re gonna be lucky if that heals well at all,” I replied.
“I’ll be alright,” he said. “Kate will probably have killed me before then anyway.”
“Why? Because you got a tattoo?”
“Mhm,” he replied. “She’s not a fan of tattoos at all.”
I didn’t say it out loud, but I decided that must have been why she didn’t seem so fond of me. I supposed I was lucky not to be surrounded by close minded people; I had never before had someone judge me for being tattooed, at least not that I was aware of. It was just so silly. “Does she even know?” I asked.
“Nope. I’m just going to wait and show her when we go on break.”
“That’s almost a month away,” I remarked.
“Still too soon,” Zac replied, then shook his head. “God, that’s awful of me to say, considering the whole reason for the break is so I can be home when she gives birth.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. I was pretty sure if I opened my mouth at all, it would only be to puke.
He shook his head again. “I’m horrible, aren’t I?”
“I dunno,” I replied with a dismissive shrug, not meeting Zac’s eyes.
“I mean, it’s not like I’m not excited… I would have to be really awful not to be, it’s just…” He sighed and trailed off. “This is going to sound really bad, okay? But I haven’t told anyone and I just need to say it.”
I couldn’t help looking at him then, not wanting to hear what he had to say but feeling strangely comforted that he wanted to tell me whatever it was.
“It’s just… we were fighting so much, and I don’t know… then all the sudden she was pregnant, and leaving wasn’t an option. Not that I was going to. I hadn’t even threatened to, but I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it. And I know… well, she wouldn’t be the first woman to ever get pregnant just to keep her man, I’ll put it that way.”
“Okay, but… I mean, you were there, too. Unless you’re implying…”
Zac cut me off with a quick shake of his head. “No, it’s… it’s mine. I know it is. I just think the timing is pretty suspect. Like, how can I even consider leaving or even fighting any more now that there’s another baby on the way?”
“You can’t,” I barely managed to squeak out.
“Exactly,” he replied, then shook his head hard. “Do me another favor, Colbs?”
I was almost afraid to ask, but I couldn’t stop myself. “What?”
“Take my mind off all that,” he replied, grabbing my wrist and pulling me away from the edge of the water.
I had no clue what he meant, and I grew even more confused as he drug me toward a row of outdoor showers meant for washing off sand. We were hardly sandy at all, but I couldn’t help thinking there was an ulterior motive behind his words and actions. When he pulled me into the shower with him, I was certain of it.
“Zac, what are you doing…”
“Hopefully you,” he replied, smirking.
I rolled my eyes. “You’re not supposed to work out until that heals, you know.”
“Then I guess we’ll have to find something else to do…” he replied, pulling my hand toward the bulge I was surprised to already feel in his pants. His other hand stretched for the cord to turn the shower on, although we were well out of the spray. I supposed he was just trying to cover our tracks, and the sound we would no doubt make.
His hand guided mine, rubbing him slowly up and down, while he leaned down and slipped his tongue into my mouth. We kissed until I was out of breath, and I pulled back and took a few deep breaths to prepare for what I was about to do. The shower floor was rough against my knees, but I tried to ignore that as I helped Zac shove his pants down. I was surprised that he didn’t have anything on underneath his khaki shorts, not even underwear.
The second I took him into my mouth, his head fell back against the shower wall, and I said a silent prayer that no one was around to hear the thump it made. It wasn’t long before he was thrusting into my mouth, practically doing all the work for me. I didn’t really mind.
“Fuck, Colby…” He gasped out. “I’m not gonna… last much longer…”
All I could do in reply was moan around his length and suck a little harder and faster. That only made Zac thrust even more, until I was certain I would pass out before he came.
Only a few seconds later, he grasped a chunk of my hair in his hand, and moaned loudly. “Fuck… Colby, I’m coming…”
I was being pulled in a dozen different directions—the concrete digging into my knees, Zac’s hand tugging on my hair, his hips rolling against my face… I saw stars behind my eyes as he came, exploding into my mouth with a long, low moan that reverberated through my entire body.
While Zac tucked himself back into his pants, I ducked my head under the water to wash my mouth out. He just laughed at me. I’d managed to swallow most of it, because I felt this strange need to show off for him, but I still didn’t care for the taste.
“You should quit smoking,” I teased him, making a face.
He just laughed more. “I shouldn’t have ever started. But I think I need one right now.”
I just rolled my eyes and nudged him toward the shower door. “Go on, go give yourself lung cancer. See if I care.”
“Oh, you’ll care,” he replied, digging around in his pocket for his cigarettes and lighter. He lit one up and gave me a smirk. “You’ll care, Colby. I know you will.”
He had no idea how much, though. Of that I was certain.