“Fuck,” I murmured, trying my best to not flinch. Alice’s left hand was curved against my side, just below where she was tattooing, and she yanked it away.

“I’m sorry,” she stammered.

“No, it’s … your hand wasn’t bothering me. I just forgot what the needle felt like,” I replied. What I wanted to say was, “No, please put your hand back, and if you want, move it slightly forward, because God knows I’d love the feel of your hands on my tits,” but I did not.

Restraint.

That was all this tattooing session would be.

About a minute into the tattoo, Alice was still working on covering my previous ink, and my eyes were watery, threatening tears. I’ve got to distract myself, I thought. As I did so, Alice’s left foot came into the periphery of my vision, yet again, and I realized the proximity with which she had to be sitting in order to do her job.

The thought of Alice that close to me was enough to make me have to clear my throat. “Okay?” she asked. I nodded.

My eyes were still teary when she grazed her hands over my shoulder, leaning back to take a break and stretch her back. At that slight touch, I closed my eyes and imagined that she hadn’t lifted her hand.

We weren’t in the back room at her tattoo studio anymore. We were in my apartment, and quiet music played as she stood behind me in my seat and slid her small hands down my shoulders, cupping my breasts gently, teasingly. She bent down and kissed me, feather light, and then nibbled my ear.

I closed my eyes and angled my face to hers, and she took my bottom lip between hers, pulling gently so that my lips parted. Her sweet tongue darted into my mouth, seeking out mine and caressing it gently.

The needle moved in a long line across my shoulder blades as the Alice in my head whispered, “Turn around, baby.” I listened and as I did so, she dropped to her knees in front of me. I draped my wrists over her shoulders and admired her slender form in only lingerie. Her hands traipsed over my thighs and then settled on my hips, playing with the waistline of my underwear. Alice leaned forward and took my already sensitive peak between her teeth, nibbling gently.