Hell For Leather

~ Tattoos and Headboards ~

Evie's POV:

I wake up with two heavy weights draped around me, pinning me to the bed. I start to struggle against the hold when they constrict around me. Finally I managed to open my eyes and glance down at the tattooed arm that rested over me. I blink at the blurred lines and color squinting to make out the tattoos. At first they looked like random images but as I studied the tatts I could see they told a story. The one that covered the lower half of his forearm was an image of a body of water with a small dock stretching out towards the horizon. On it were shadowy figures of two kids standing at the end. Frowning I carefully reach for my glasses and slide them on and peer at it. Hidden in the figures were all too familiar initials and what looked like a date.

Upon closer inspection I can make out more details to the tattoo. Birds, trees and what looked like two fishing poles to make an x. My eyes pop wide as the scene all comes together. Gray had just turned thirteen and my parents had invited him out to the lake for the weekend. We'd spent it fishing and swimming with no care in the world. It had been one of the best weekends of my life and one I'd never forgotten; apparently neither had Gray because he'd tattooed it onto his arm. As I continued to look at his tattoos I realized that most were memories from when we were growing up. Some I didn't recognize so they must have been after he'd left.

Unable to resist I trace the lines of the inked art work on his arm. Who knew tatts could be so sexy? I'd just traced a particularly long line when Gray began to stir before eventually opening his eyes. Those forest green eyes stared at me while a lazy smile stretched across his features. Seeing it reminded me of the boy he'd once been and it made my heart ache. He was so different than he had been back then, but at the same time he let the person he had once been show through the mask he kept in place around others. I grin at him and trace the same line that went from his bicep to his shoulder blade.

I feel the muscles tightening and flexing at my touch a moment before he's suddenly grabbing me and rolling with me. My hands are pinned beside my head with his weight pinning me down. When I squirmed trying to break free he let out a sound that may have been a growl before ducking his head and kissing the sensitive spot just behind my ear that had me quivering. Just to show me he can, he does it again and it's my turn to growl. Lifting my legs and wrapping them around him I throw my entire weight to the side so that Gray is on his back with me straddling his legs.

And damn him he still had a hold of my wrists. They were held firmly without hurting me. When his grin widened flashing me a wolfish smile it was then that I realized that he had allowed me to flip him over. I scowl at him and try to pull my hands free from his grasp only for him to tighten his hold a fraction and draws me to him. As short as I was my head barely reached his chest. Huffing I scowl at him but he only winks at me. Finally he drops my hands only to grasp my thighs and pulls me up so that I was now straddling his hips. "This is a nice way to wake up." His voice had a deep raspy tone to it that had a shiver work down my spine.

I look down at him and all but drool at the sight before me. He had an athletic build that was cut and muscled but not bulging. His hair was mussed and in total disarray from sleep and he never looked sexier. As I continued to study him that sleepy look was replaced with something predatory. "Keep looking at me like that and I'll have you limping later." A hot flush spreads across my face, but instead of looking away I meet his gaze challenging him to do his worst. With another growl Gray sits up so that we're eye to eye, hazel eyes to green ones.

Before I can ask what was running through his mind his mouth meets mine. Unlike the other ones he'd given me it was slow and almost tender. I still in surprise as his hands go from my hips to under my shirt. His long fingers tracing the lines and dips of my waist sending goose bumps rising along my skin wherever he touches. His thumbs had hooked on the hem of my shirt so as his hands travelled upwards so did it. Gray broke the kiss long enough to remove my shirt leaving me in nothing but my underwear. He brings his mouth back down to mine for a brief kiss before skimming it along my jaw line to my neck. I let out a soft hiss and brought my hands up to his shoulders my nails digging into the flesh there.