“Thank you.”
Juno nodded at Scar before starting toward Rome. He walked slowly, taking the time to run his gaze over the man on the way. As good as the man looked in that suit, he was sure he’d look even better out of it. He stopped in front of Rome and smiled.
“Hi. I’m Juno,” he said and shook Rome’s hand.
“Rome.”
The man’s deep, gravelly voice did things to Juno’s body. It wasn’t that often he was attracted to men, but this guy just hit all the right buttons.
“I’m sorry about the misunderstanding,” Juno said.
Rome grunted. “It happens.”
Juno smiled at him, then motioned for him to follow as he led the way to the room. Rome shrugged out of his suit jacket and hung it on one of the hooks on the back of the door, then he took off his shoulder holster. With a glance at Juno, Rome hung it next to his jacket. Rome sat down on the chair and pulled off his shirt, leaving Juno staring, his mouth drying out. The ink on the man’s chest and arms were nothing short of delicious. He took a long minute to just take it all in. Rome had a full sleeve on his right arm and a half sleeve on his left, from wrist to elbow. It was mostly blackwork and tribal tattoos. He liked the look on Rome, and the tats coupled with the stubble and those dark, brown eyes, made the man even sexier in Juno’s book.
There was only one thing uncomplete. The piece on the right side of Rome’s upper chest needed filling in by the collarbone and over the shoulder.
“This all Bones’ work?” Juno asked.
“Most.”
It was quickly becoming clear that Rome wasn’t a chatty guy.
Juno had to talk himself into wiping off Rome’s chest. Touching the man was not gonna make this easy for him. But he could be professional. He usually was. Stiletto had beaten that into him early on. It was necessary for the business to thrive and with a guy like Rome? It could mean the difference between life and death. Not that either of them were dumb enough to start a war over it. Mostly. Probably.
Juno sat down on his stool and rolled it up next to Rome’s chair and turned to his table. He prepared the ink, then took a box of new needles and inserted them into his tattoo machine.
He took a deep breath, then pulled on new gloves. He glanced up at Rome for a second before stepping on the foot pedal. Rome didn’t move, didn’t even clench his jaw as Juno got started. The whole tattoo had been done in freehand which was usually more something he or Stiletto would do and not so much Bones. He preferred following a stencil to the letter. As did Scar. Saint didn’t care either way when he came to help them out on busy days. More often than not, he’d join Juno in handling the walk-ins.
“Hey,” Scar said from the doorway. “I’mma head out. You guys good?”
Juno lifted his tattoo machine and glanced up at Scar. “We’re fine.”
Being alone with the guy wasn’t a good idea. Because it made him think of all the dirty things he could do to Rome. All the things Rome could do to him.
Rome
He ran his gaze over the tattoo artist. He was sexy as all hell and from the way he held himself, he knew it, too. Used it to his advantage, most likely. His blond hair was tousled, falling in front of those piercing green eyes of his. There was a playful gleam in them Rome couldn’t help but like. The needles stabbing his skin was the only thing keeping his dick down. Thoughts of shoving his dick down Juno’s throat kept filling his head. It didn’t help that the guy had a hand on his chest as he leaned over Rome to tattoo him.
“When did you start coming here?” Juno asked.
“A few years ago.”
Juno glanced up, surprise in his green eyes. “Really? How come I’ve never seen you before?”
Rome stopped himself from shrugging and said, “I’ve been here after hours most of the time.”
They didn’t exactly keep a normal schedule in the mafia. When he first started going there, he’d usually just drop in whenever he found the time but now Bones was insisting on a set time. It was likely to do with that girlfriend of his he’d gotten a call from last Rome had been there.
“Your tats mean anything, or did you just want to look cool?” Juno asked, a teasing tone to his voice.
Rome grunted. “You saying I wouldn’t look cool without them?”
Juno pulled the tattoo machine back and glanced up at Rome, meeting his eyes.
“Aw, you care what I think?” Juno teased.
Rome narrowed his eyes in a glare at Juno, but the man just smiled, completely unfazed even though he had to know Rome was a dangerous man. He’d always liked Bones because he didn’t ask any questions and he certainly didn’t talk too much. He wasn’t sure if he wanted Juno to stop talking, though, and that couldn’t be good.
“No,” Rome said.
Juno shrugged, the smile still on his lips as he returned to stabbing Rome’s chest with tiny needles. Rome couldn’t help his fascination. He watched Juno. Watched that concentration line appear on Juno’s forehead when he got to the harder parts of the tattoo. Felt the warmth of Juno’s hand on his skin. He dug his nails into the palm of his hand to keep from cursing when Juno bit his lip. He’d never had this much trouble keeping his dick down and from the way Juno looked at him, he wasn’t sure if he should.
Juno
Rome tensed under his hand so he figured the guy could use a break. Tattooing on someone
