Sacred Skin Read online

  I nodded. “Two weeks from now.”

  “Cool, I’ll see you then,” Brooks said. “Marlena will go over the care instructions with you.”

  I thanked him again and went to the counter. As Marlena went over the care instructions, I couldn’t help but notice the two men waiting on the leather couches. They were big and scary-looking. Bald heads and neck tattoos. They looked like they’d walked straight off a Sons of Anarchy set. I avoided eye-contact. Brooks poked his head out from the screen separating the front and back of the studio. His whole demeanor changed as he saw the men. He nodded to them and the larger of the two got up and walked over, the pair disappearing behind the screen. Huh. I wondered what that was about. Marlena shifted on her feet as well, her eyes wandering between me and the remaining man on the couch.

  “We’ll see you in two weeks, Leo,” she said it with a smile but I could tell something had spooked her.

  “Yeah. Thanks again. For talking to me earlier,” I told her, as I turned to leave.

  “No problem. I’m glad you stayed!” she called after me.

  So was I.

  2 Brooks

  Leo. That damn name and the person who it belonged to was all I had been able to think about for the last two weeks. I couldn’t explain it. Couldn’t figure out what exactly it was about that man that made me question so much about myself. My attraction to guys had been there for a long time, but I was able to suppress it. I was able to go on with my life like that part of me didn’t exist, to go around town hooking up with beautiful women and not ever feeling like I was missing out on something. It was out of sight, out of mind. Until two weeks ago. Now it was all I could fucking think about. Leo’s sweet soft voice. His full lips. The way he bit at his lips when he was nervous. And that fucking hair. Gold and wavy and framing that adorable baby face of his.

  I’d had to stop myself from going to the gallery where he worked. Had to tell myself to pull my goddamn head in. Not only was my fascination absurd, it was unprofessional. I’d had plenty of beautiful clients and I’d managed to keep my hands to myself. Even the ones who were persistent or assuring they’d be discrete. I took my job seriously and I didn’t want that kind of reputation. So, what the heck was it about Leo? Why did I have such a strong pull to him? Why did I want to be near him so bad?

  I prepped my workstation, getting ready for Leo’s arrival. It was his second and final session with me. I was looking forward to seeing how his arm had healed. With scars like Leo’s, it was hard to predict how the ink would hold. I was used to seeing self-harm scars. It was a small part of my business, but it was a part I enjoyed doing. Knowing you were doing something big for someone else. Someone who didn’t want to be reminded of that pain anymore. It was a part of the healing process and I was honored to take part in it. But that didn’t mean it was always easy. With Leo, it was probably the most difficult tattoo I’d ever had to do. His scars were bad. And there was a lot. I tried not to, but I couldn’t help letting my mind go there. What pain had this beautiful man been through? He’d told me his mother had died, so maybe that had something to do with it. Whatever it was, I knew Leo had a dark past. I just hoped he was in a better place now.

  I heard the bell on the door chime as a customer entered. Even if I couldn’t see who it was, I could feel Leo’s presence fill the studio. Marlena greeted him and they shared a laugh as Leo told her something I couldn’t hear. I sucked in a sharp, deep breath as I stood up and walked to greet him. As soon as I saw him, I had a feeling in my stomach that could only be described as butterflies. That was new. I wasn’t sure if there was anything more emasculating than getting a feeling often described by school girls. Leo sat in the waiting room, his leg bobbing nervously. He was wearing vintage style blue jeans and a baggy grey hoodie. His style was the type that looked effortless and cool. I imagined him posing in one of those hipster magazines, all androgynous and artsy. I never knew that was my type but my dick was definitely telling me otherwise.

  “Hey,” I said, trying to sound casual and cool. “You can come through now.”

  Leo’s blue eyes looked up and met mine. He smiled warmly, as though he was as glad to see me as I was him. He followed me back to my set up and sat on the tattoo bed. Leo still hadn’t said anything but I’d gathered from the last time he was here that he needed a bit of time to warm up. I liked his shyness. That quiet demeanor of his that kept me guessing. It had felt like a small miracle when he’d actually started talking at our first tattoo session.

  “How’s your arm healing?” I asked him.

  Leo pulled up his sleeve. “Good, I think. It’s still a little dry but I think it’s almost healed. I love it,” he added at the end, looking up at me and smiling. His face looked young without any facial hair but his eyes gave away his old soul.

  “Awesome,” I said, resisting the urge to reach out and touch his tattooed skin.

  I applied the new transfer on Leo’s opposite arm, making sure it was symmetrical with his other tattoo. They were almost identical, except this time, Leo had asked me to incorporate text into the design. The word Enough. I wanted to tell him that he was. He was enough to keep me up at night. Enough to occupy my thoughts for the last week. Enough to drive me crazy with those lips of his. I tried to focus on tattooing and not the person I was doing it on once Leo was comfortable and ready. I was taken back when it was him who started conversation with me.

  “Busy week?” he asked.

  “It’s always busy here,” I laughed. “My books are full for two months right now.” I didn’t want to make it sound like I was complaining. I definitely wasn’t. It was an honor to work this job - one I was passionate about and got to be my own boss at. The fact my books were full made me proud. It was draining though. “What about you? How’s that gallery of yours doing? I was thinking of stopping by some time.” The words came out of my mouth before I really had a chance to realize what I was saying.

  “Really?” there was surprise is Leo’s voice. “You should definitely come by. I’d like that. And I think you’d enjoy some of the work we’re showing right now. There’s this amazing sculpture artist from Portland. She does these kind of steam punk-y works that are incredible.”

  That did sound right up my alley. “Cool. What days do you work?” I held my breath, hoping I didn’t sound too interested. What did I even think was going to come out of this? If I was going to make an assumption about Leo’s sexuality by the way he looked, it was that he was into men. But if there was one thing I knew from being heavily tattooed, it was to never judge a book by his cover. I’d seen all sorts of people walk through the doors of Sacred Skin and it never ceased to amaze me what people hid underneath their clothes. As for me, I’d been prejudged more times than I could keep track of. I was just a regular guy as much as other people were, I just happened to be more colorful. Maybe I was reading Leo all wrong.

  “I’m there Wednesday to Sunday,” Leo said. “At least, those are my scheduled days. I end up going in every day for one reason or another. Plus, everyone I work with is like family. The place feels like my home away from home.”

  “I get that. I think we all spend more time in the shop than we do at our homes,” I told him, referring to Frankie and Marlena as well. For now, it was just the three of us working in the studio but we did have plans to expand. There was enough space for another artist. I was hoping my brother, Jay, would have been able to work at Sacred Skin too. That was the original plan when I’d set up the shop. Until he got locked up.

  “Exactly,” Leo agreed. “I ah, I was meaning to ask you something, actually.”

  My heart stood still for a moment and I looked up at him. “What is it?”

  Leo looked nervous. “I’m doing this photography series at the moment. It’s a portrait series. Different people from different walks of life. I wanted to know if you’d be interested in posing for me?”

  It was not what I’d expected Leo to say and I weighed up the idea in my mind. It wasn’t something I was into bu
t it was an excuse to spend more time with Leo and get to know him better. Since this was our last tattoo session, I couldn’t turn it down.

  “I’m not used to being in front of the camera,” I admitted.

  “I know. And if you don’t feel comfortable doing it, I understand. It will be totally casual. Just the two of us in my little studio. I can show you around the gallery too,” Leo smiled, before adding. “I just thought you’d be an interesting subject to shoot with the way you look.”

  The way I looked? Large and inked, I was guessing is what he meant.

  “Sure. I’ll do it,” I told him.

  Leo grinned. “Really?”

  I looked at his face. He was really glowing. Like this small favor meant so much to him. I wondered how many times he’d been let down by the world. That look on his face was enough reward for me to do anything he asked.

  “Really,” I confirmed, meeting his eyes. I had this urge to pull him into me and hold him. I wanted to take all his pain away.

  I finished the tattoo on his arm, making sure to be gentle and meticulous. Leo sat like he’d been getting ink for years. I knew it could be painful getting tattooed over scar tissue so I was trying my best not to hurt him. He didn’t seem bothered though. When we’re done, I snapped some photos of the work for my Instagram. I tried stalling the process for as long as I could but I had another client coming in and I had to clean and set up for them. At least now I knew I would be seeing Leo again. I’d be meeting him at his studio in a few days and he was going to show me around and take the photos. I knew it wasn’t a date but I was still rife with a sort of nervous excitement. Something I hadn’t felt since I was a teenager.

  As Leo left the store, I spotted Pyro walking towards it. I glanced at Marlena who was too busy on the phone to notice what was going on. Before he could enter my shop, I opened the door and walked towards him. He looked particularly rough today, a stitched-up wound above his left eyebrow. I could make the assumption that he’d been in a fight but I didn’t have to. I had heard from one of my clients that the Bandidos had been involved in a turf war with the Outlaw Angels a few days ago.

  Pyro met my gaze with cold, empty eyes. “You got the money?”

  3 Leo

  I regretted this bright idea of mine. I knew Brooks would be perfect for my photo series. I wanted to show diversity and different bodies. Brooks was a perfect example of both with his large frame and endlessly inked skin. It was the being alone together in my studio part that freaked me out. I had been attracted to Brooks from the moment I laid eyes on him, but he was so much more than his appearance. Which if I’m being really honest, caught me off guard. I rarely wanted to give people a chance. My upbringing had made me cautious of strangers and what they might promise. Caden had only confirmed those suspicions to be true.

  It was hard not to let my mind go there with Brooks too. If Brooks was just some hot dude, I’d be able to put my attraction aside. It was more than that, though. I could feel a connection with him beyond physical attraction, which was absolutely insane. Brooks was a straight dude. There wasn’t the inkling of queerness about him. Except for maybe the way he looked at me. What was that about? I wanted to say he was just being polite. Professional. It was part of his job to seem interested in his clients. But I couldn’t help feeling like maybe Brooks saw something in me too. Maybe he felt the same zap of electricity when our eyes met. Or the warm current that transferred between our bodies when we touched. Maybe it was all in my head and I needed to get a grip on reality. As if in sync with my thoughts, the gallery door opened and Brooks walked in looking as attractive as ever.

  “Hey,” he greeted me. He was wearing fitted black jeans with leather boots and a motorcycle jacket. He looked like he was straight off the cover of a bad boy romance novels Aria was always reading. My heart skipped a beat.

  “Welcome to Inspire,” I said, holding out my arm like a car show model. I avoided too much eye-contact. That would certainly make me crack. I couldn’t handle the intensity of his gaze, especially after that dorky move. He had the kind of eyes that seemed unreal. They were grey, silver when the light hit them. Otherworldly. I lead Brooks through to the main gallery. The office door where Evania and Aria worked was open enough that I could see them glancing at us from behind their computer screens. We had an audience.

  “I can’t believe I’d never heard of this place before,” Brooks said, looking at a human-size steampunk bunny sculpture. It was one of my favorite pieces we had in the gallery at the moment. “This is so rad.”

  “Isn’t it?” I agreed. “We’re just a small gallery for now but since we started holding workshops, we’ve been getting more interest. We want to turn the place into a sort of community art space. Have bands play on the weekends and more live art shows.” Aria and I had been working hard on transforming Inspire. Evania had built the space over the last dozen years but she’d given us more control of the business aspect of things. Now she was older, she was more into making her ceramics than organizing events or curating shows.

  “It’s the perfect space for that sort of thing,” Brooks agreed. He walked slowly looking at the various art pieces on the walls with fascination. I felt proud that he was obviously interested in what we’d worked so hard on doing with the place. “Where’s your photography?”

  I blushed. “I haven’t showed any yet. I’m actually planning on having an exhibition once I finish this series. It’ll be my big debut,” I joked. I was not one for being put in the spotlight but Aria and Evania had insisted on me finally having an exhibition.

  “I guess it’ll be my debut as well,” Brooks teased, doing a pouty model face.

  I laughed. “True,” I told him, although I found it hard to believe. Brooks could have easily been an underwear model. Not that I’d seen him without clothes on yet but it was pretty obvious he was rocking an insane bod under them. “I’ll show you my studio.”

  I led the way to the back part of the gallery where there were workshop rooms and small studio spaces we hired out to local artists. I had a small room of my own where I photographed against a backdrop with studio lighting. I’d already set everything up, all I need was for Brooks to take off his shirt and take a seat on the stool.

  “No hair and make-up?” Brooks teased. “And didn’t you get my backstage demands? I don’t see any bowls of only-red skittles.” He looked at me and winked. I could feel my cheeks heating up.

  “You don’t have enough hair and I’m not sure you’d suit the full-glam look,” I told him, adjusting my tripod. I loved Brooks’ sense of humor. There was something so attractive about a man who didn’t take life too seriously. Plus, he was helping break the ice a little. That was definitely not my forte. After a moment of silence while I set up, the closeness between us caused my mind to wander. “Would you mind taking your shirt off?” I asked him, stepping back from my camera and trying to sound professional like I knew what the hell I was doing.

  Brooks nodded and removed his leather jacket, hanging it on the coat rack by the door. I held my breath as he proceeded to peel off his black T-shirt, revealing smooth muscle and even more heavily tattooed skin. My mouth went paper dry as I gawked at his chest. The gleaming silver of his nipple rings caught my attention and I tried hard not to bite my lip. I hadn’t been expecting them and I had no idea I found nipple piercings so damn sexy. But I did. If I’d thought Brooks was god-like before, this only confirmed my suspicions. He was a beast, in the sexiest way possible. His abs were perfect mountains of muscle leading to a dark yet sparse happy trail that didn’t leave much to my imagination. I could feel myself practically salivating. I had to look away.

  “Where do you want me?” Brooks asked, looking around the small room. There weren’t many options on where he could go given the space.

  “The stool would be good,” I told him, trying to keep my mind on my work and not the hundred and one sexual fantasies about Brooks running through my mind. I couldn’t remember the last time I had such a hopeless
crush on someone.

  “So those ladies in the office, is it just the three of you that run the place?” Brooks asked with a genuine curiosity. I let out a small sigh of relief at the conversational distraction. I hadn’t realized Brooks had caught them watching us. Typical. There was nothing sly about Evania or Aria and they would have definitely thought Brooks was a hot piece of man-candy. They were hopeless.

  “Evania bought the place with some other local artists about twelve years ago,” I told him. “Eventually, the other artists moved on but she kept the place. I met her in my last year at art school and she gave me a job. She really took me under her wing. Eventually, Aria came to help out here as well. She’s my best friend. Evania isn’t really business savvy but Aria is. She had lots of ideas and Evania trusted her enough to help see them through financially.”

  “Cool. It sounds like you have free reign then, huh?” Brooks enquired.

  “In a way,” I admitted. “I do feel quite lucky to have this space. Evania’s been really generous giving Aria and I so much freedom. But we’re also making a small profit. Not that it’s really what the space is about but it’s nice that we can do what we love and make a living from it. I’ll have to show you Evania’s ceramics sometime, she’s a master.”

  “I’d like that,” Brooks said, looking me in the eye. Would I ever get used to being held by his gaze?

  “Looks like we’re ready to go,” I told him as I finished adjusting the camera settings. Everything was ready, now I just had to shoot. “You can just relax, sit back in the stool. Do what feels natural. When you’re ready, look at the camera lens.”

  Brooks smile dropped a little and he did what I said. He was such a natural in front of the camera. His body wasn’t stiff or rigid. It was as though he’d been posing for years. I looked through the viewfinder, taking my time to study Brooks’ upper body. I was grateful that I was about to capture this moment in time. Even if this was the last time I’d ever see Brooks, I’d always have this moment. This perfect image of him in all his glory. I snapped the photos.