My lips keep going, wanting to touch and taste every inch of her, until they get to the small tattoo of a hummingbird tucked away on one side of her lower belly, just above the crease where her thigh meets her torso. The delicate lines of the ink stand out against her skin—blue and green, like her eyes. It can’t be coincidence. The artist matched her perfectly.

I kiss it too, then trace its outline with my tongue. “Is asking about this breaking the rules?”

Her skin prickles with goosebumps, and she swallows back a moan as she squirms beneath me.

“No, I guess not. Actually, you’re one of the few people in the world who’s seen it.”

Something about that really gets me going—but when I realize a second later that I’m not the only one who’s seen it, possessiveness pangs in my stomach.

“I got it done there for that reason,” she adds. “It’s a secret.”

“Really? Why?”

She looks away from me and shrugs. “People in my life don’t really see me as the ‘tattoo type.’”

I rest my chin on her hip, staring up at her. “Does it matter to you what people in your life see you as?”

As soon as the words leave my mouth, I see something shift in her expression, a vulnerability that makes me want to pull her closer, to protect her from whatever expectations are weighing on her.

She turns the question over in her head for a few seconds, but I can tell from her expression what the answer is going to be. I only barely know her, but I already feel like I can read her face like a book.

Finally, she moves her eyes back to mine. “Yeah. It does.”

There’s something soft and vulnerable in her gaze, like I’m prodding at a bruise with the question. She’s not giving me the sense that she doesn’t want to talk about it, more that it’s a little difficult for her to talk about. And it’s not like she really knows me—she’s been adamant about not exchanging personal details—so I guess I don’t blame her for being a little guarded.

But this little flash of vulnerability from her only draws me in more.

I kiss the inked design again. “Even though I don’t know you well, hummingbird, I think you’re the tattoo type. Whatever that means.”