Shadow in the Night

Chapter 9

***WOOO!! Chapter 9! This means I'm almost one fourth of the way through this book! It's sort of a bittersweet feeling at this milestone for two reasons. Firstly, this is the most I've ever written of any story and its all thanks to the people who read this, so thank all of you who do read this. I haven't gotten much vocal feedback in the way of comments but that's okay. Secondly, I love writing stories! It's fun and I'm super passionate about it! Hopefully I'll get this published someday (outside of wattpad) and more people will read it. Writing on this site has helped me feel more confident in my writings. Now, without further ado, I present chapter nine. (The picture above is of Elise)***

I turned off and set down the tattoo gun for the final time, wiping off the excess ink from Dimitri's skin. The wolf was black, with piercing blue eyes and the dragon was black and gold,with silvery grey eyes, and the panther was white, with emerald green eyes. The entire thing was magnificent and I hoped that I could replicate it on Nikolai. I chuckled as I stood and stretched, looking at Dimitri. He had somehow fallen asleep while I had been working. His face was relaxed and he looked years younger than he was. Five-o'clock shadow kissed his jaw and I bit my lip, remembering my dream from a few nights ago. "Keep looking at me like that and we're going to have a problem on our hands." I jumped slightly as his eyes opened, dark with sleep and his voice deepened with arousal, and I looked away, tossing his shirt at him.  "Your tattoo is finished. Let me get something to eat and your brother can come in." I was amused as a look of confusion crossed over his face. "Can't I pay you now?" I shook my head and giggled. "I'll accept your payment after your brother's tattoo is finished. No arguing with me, Dimki." He smirked and my eyes widened as I realized what I had said. "What did you call me kitten?" I bit my lip and shook my head. "I'm not gonna repeat it." He laughed and followed me to the front of the store, shirt in hand. "Yo, Emily!" Her head popped out from the office with a grin. "I'm gonna take a break and eat before my next appointment. You want me to bring you back anything?"  "Bring me back a family size bag of Cheetos and some ginger ale, thanks!" She chirped before she went back into the office. I grabbed my wallet and my leather jacket and walked out the door, surprised at how low the sun was. "So where's your brother? Shouldn't he be here too?" I shielded my eyes to look up at him. "He had to go take care of some things at the office, but he'll be here in time for his appointment." Dimitri smiled at me and took my hand in his. I blushed and looked away, smiling. "Shut up, you ass."  He chuckled as we reached the gas station.

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That'll be $4.66, ma'am." The young cashier says, idly scratching his chin. I smile politely and hand over a five. He proceeds to slide my change across the counter and hands me the cheetos and ginger ale. "Have a good day!" I chirp as I pocket the change and grab my things, walking towards Dimitri, who was waiting patiently by the door. He held the door open as I walked out, heading in the direction of a few fast food places. Dimitri grabbed my arm gently and steered me back towards the tattoo parlor. "H-hey! I need to get dinner!" I swatted at his arm and he chucked, the sound sending a shiver down my spine. "No need, kitten. My friend is delivering some food to your shop. Nikolai is already there and is quite impatient to get started." My eyes widened and I nodded. "It had better be some damn good food." I muttered and he laughed. My lips quirked up in a smile and I chuckled. "Dimitri? Is that you?" I whirled around at the voice, and stopped. A tall, blonde woman was running towards Dimitri, and wrapped her arms around him. "Darling, it has been ages since we've seen each other!" I tilted my head, curious. "I've been very busy, you know that." Dimitri looked at me with an apologetic smile. "Rayne, this is Elise. Elise, this is Rayne, a new friend of mine." Elise turned to me, her blue eyes sparkling as she bent down slightly and gave me a warm hug. "It's so good to meet you, Rayne! But please don't call me Elise, it's far too formal." She winked at me and smiled. "Just call me mom! I hope Dimitri hasn't been too hard on you. My son can be a bit...unpredictable." I looked from her to Dimitri, shocked. "You're his mother? You don't look over thirty!" Elise laughed, blushing slightly. "Well, thank you my dear!" She looked over at Dimitri, patting his hand. "She's a keeper, darling." Now it was my turn to blush at the compliment. "Eli- I mean mom, would you like to join us? We're on our way back to my tattoo parlor." She beamed and looped her arm through mine. "Yes, dear, I believe I will. Lead the way!" I smiled at her and we made our way back to the parlor, chatting the entire way about the boys.

****((okay I know it's been forever! Please don't kill me! I just recently found the inspiration to write again! Some friends helped me through my writers block. So as a thank you to them, I'm going to work on chapter ten! See you all in the next chapter!))