Damien, Forever (An Art of Sinners Novel) by Tempest Phan

Author:Tempest Phan [Phan, Tempest]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tempest Phan
Published: 2020-12-26T16:00:00+00:00

SAINT:

Fuck, yeah.

We took a Lyft there. Bella radiated nervous energy and excitement, holding my hand in hers, her small fingers threaded with mine throughout the ride. She’d look up at me and smile, and my damn heart would quit.

Finally, we arrived. The shop was small but bright and clean, and we headed toward Saint. Bella’s eyes widened in surprise. Saint was an imposing figure. I was a big guy, but the tattooer had at least an inch or two on me, and maybe ten, twelve pounds.

“Are you guys related?” she whispered, leaning in.

She hadn’t been the first to make that observation. We were both tall, dark haired, and blue eyed, muscular without being overly bulky—ok, maybe Saint was a tad bulkier—and full of piercings. Brow, nose, lip, helix. He smiled at us and the scar on his right cheek puckered. I guess that too, now.

“Dame,” he called out, still smiling, as he stood up and returned my fist bump and back clap. “You little shit.”

“Good to see you too, asshole,” I said. He chuckled in response before his eyes trained on Bella, curiosity lining their depths.

“You must be Bella,” he said finally. “You remind me of someone I know.”

She smiled, her brilliant smile reaching all the way to her big, bright eyes, and his own darkened, his dilating pupils taking over the indigo blue. I understood. More than anyone, I understood her impact on others.

“Maybe it’s because you’re exactly like Damien described you,” he continued as she laughed.

He spent the next five hours inking onto her beautiful skin a gorgeous cherry blossom branch done in greys and blacks, with just a couple of blossoms shaded in pale pink. He’d done them in the same photo realistic, watercolor-like style as mine, but somehow, they looked uniquely hers, more delicate, more feminine. Or maybe it was just that it was her. She could make anything look more beautiful.

She looked at me, interrupting my musings with her smile. She’d held my hand throughout, not even flinching once.

“Atta girl,” Saint said, smiling. “First tat and you’re holding up better than any of the burly dudes who come in.”

She laughed her clear, crystalline sound that made my heart beat double time.

“It’s not so bad, Saint,” she said.

“Yeah, tell that to your boyfriend here. Dude almost cried a couple of times.”

She laughed again. Strangely enough, she didn’t correct him. And so I felt like I needed to.

“I’m not her boyfriend.”

She turned her eyes toward me, sadness dripping from their hazel depths.

Saint glanced sharply at me, but he said nothing. Smart man.

“So Bella,” he said gently. “What made you want to get inked?”

“I love everything Dame has,” she said. “And especially that cherry blossom branch on his biceps.”

Saint nodded. “I don’t know you, but I can tell it’s very you. Don’t you think so, Damien?”

I simply smiled in response. He looked at me again, like he wanted to say something but then thought better of it.

Good. That’s what I always liked about Saint. Dude was an endless source of discretion and knew exactly when to stop.

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