Praise for the Brown Family novels of Lauren Dane
LAID BARE
“[Laid Bare] moves and surprises you in all the best ways. I loved this book!”
—Sylvia Day, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Entwined with You
“The sex is sizzling, the emotions are raw . . . Laid Bare, quite simply, rocks!”
—Megan Hart, national bestselling author of Switch
“The hottest thing since Prometheus gave us fire. Don’t miss this book.”
—Ann Aguirre, national bestselling author of Agave Kiss
“Each and every love scene pushes the boundaries.”
—Joyfully Reviewed
“Laid Bare lives up to its title.”
—The Best Reviews
“A highly erotic read.”
—Fiction Vixen
“Laid Bare is proof that it’s sometimes worth reading outside your comfort zone. This book is a gem and I can highly recommend it.”
—Monkey Bear Reviews
“This book was just wow! Yeah, I know I should have known after reading so many great reviews, but seriously, I never imagined it to be so good.”
—The Geeky Bookworm
“Amazing! . . . This is the best book I have read this year.”
—The Book Girl
“Laid Bare is a fantastic read on many different levels, but it’s the way the story speaks to your heart that cements it as a must-read title.”
—Romance Junkies, 5 Blue Ribbons
“Laid Bare puts the emotions of the characters right out in the open, nothing hidden.”
—Manic Readers
“In a word, this book is amazing. All three characters are magnetic and thoroughly realistic . . . With ménage and some mild M/M scenes, this is Dane’s best story yet!”
—RT Book Reviews
“If you like steamy sex scenes featuring dirty men and their dominating ways, you will not want to miss Laid Bare.”
—GeekVixen.com
INSIDE OUT
“Inside Out is tender, romantic and unapologetically sexy. Lauren Dane writes with an emotional depth and authenticity that always leaves me breathless.”
—Lara Adrian, New York Times bestselling author
NEVER ENOUGH
“If you even slightly enjoy a dirty-talking hero and a confident heroine who knows how to let loose behind closed doors all wrapped in an interesting and sometimes heart-tugging story, you must read this book!”
—Fiction Vixen
Berkley titles by Lauren Dane
LAID BARE
COMING UNDONE
INSIDE OUT
NEVER ENOUGH
DRAWN TOGETHER
UNDERCOVER
RELENTLESS
INSATIABLE
MESMERIZED
CAPTIVATED
TART
LUSH
Berkley Sensation titles by Lauren Dane
HEART OF DARKNESS
CHAOS BURNING
GOING UNDER
Anthologies
THREE TO TANGO
(with Emma Holly, Megan Hart, and Bethany Kane)
CHERISHED
(with Maya Banks)
Specials
LAID OPEN
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) LLC.
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
USA | Canada | UK | Ireland | Australia | New Zealand | India | South Africa | China
Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
For more information about the Penguin Group, visit penguin.com.
This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.
Copyright © 2013 by Lauren Dane.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
BERKLEY® is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.
The “B” design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.
eBook ISBN: 9781101625750
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dane, Lauren.
Drawn together / Lauren Dane.—Berkley trade paperback edition.
pages cm
ISBN 978-0-425-25609-1
1. Women tattoo artists—Fiction. 2. Erotic fiction. I. Title.
PS3604.A5D73 2013
813'.6—dc23
2013006287
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Berkley trade paperback edition / October 2013
Cover art by Tony Mauro.
Cover design by Rita Frangie.
Text design by Laura K. Corless.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
Contents
Praise
Berkley titles by Lauren Dane
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Ever since Erin first came onto the page in Laid Bare,
I’ve had so much love for this group of family—
intentional and biological.
The Brown Family novels have been a joy to
write and I’m very grateful readers have enjoyed them so much.
I’ll be back at some point because I can’t really imagine
being totally done with these folks.
After all, there’s a whole new generation
of artists and rockers coming up.
In the meantime,
this one is for the readers who’ve made this series possible—especially for those of you who’ve understood
that, despite her crusty exterior,
Raven was worthy of her happily ever after.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As always, my thanks go first and foremost to my husband. Without the support and understanding from my family, this gig would be a lot harder. And without him it’d be a lot more difficult to write an alpha male!
My thanks always go to my friends, who are such a fabulous support system. To Megan Hart, for being so awesome. And to my delightful, brilliant hoors at the Loop That Shall Not Be Named.
More thanks:
My incredible friend and assistant Fatin, who truly makes my life so much easier.
Mary, who is a wonderful beta reader.
My editor, Leis Pederson, who is so wonderful to work with.
The Berkley art department and Tony Mauro, who have consistently created such fabulous covers for my books.
Laura Bradford, my agent.
And always, to the readers who m
ake this all possible!
1
“So Levi tells me you’re a tattoo artist.”
Jonah Warner was beyond hot. He was on-fire sexy. Like panties on fire. Raven looked him over, imagining him naked. Imagining him over her, under her, whatever. Just naked and doing something sexy with her would do just fine.
He had a voice like smoke. Like caramel and other things made with heavy cream and possibly deep fried. He was whatever things that were a thousand calories that you ordered anyway because you had to consume them.
“I do okay.”
He looked her over with slow perusal. As if he was wondering what she looked like naked too. Which was absolutely fine with her.
One corner of his mouth lifted and she licked her lips, imagining his taste.
“You do more than okay.” He held a hand out. “I’m Jonah Warner. Levi’s brother. I know we’ve seen each other in passing at various events but I don’t think we’ve formally met. I’d have remembered.”
She took the hand and he slid a thumb over her wrist as he shook it.
“I’m Raven.”
He made her all tingly in the absolute best way. She wanted a bite of this man. Maybe a whole mouthful.
“Did you do Erin’s ink?” He tipped his chin toward where Erin stood with her brother Adrian.
“Nope. That’s all Brody Brown. I do okay. He’s a genius. But I’m hotter.”
Jonah laughed then and she had to fight the urge to step closer. Anywhere but this party and she might not have resisted. But she’d promised Erin to try her hardest to remember her manners.
“You are most assuredly hotter. He’s not my type at all.”
“Thank God for that. If you were gay, I’d be very disappointed.”
“That so?”
She nodded. “I mean, it’d be nice if a gal could watch. But the loss of such a stunning specimen would make womankind very sad.”
He cocked his head, leaning back against the wall. “Brody recommended you actually. For ink. I have a project.”
“What are you thinking of?”
“Would you like a drink?”
She shrugged. “Sure.”
He took her elbow and steered her to the small bar. The party was in honor of Mary Whaley and her new fiancé, Damien. He’d asked her to marry him in front of a crowd of tens of thousands and she’d said yes.
A mutual friend, Gillian, was hosting and had invited Raven. Anyone else and she might have said no. She wasn’t much for engagement parties. But it was impossible to say no to Gillian, so Raven didn’t try.
She liked the way he handled her. He didn’t ask, but he gave her a moment and some space to pull away. But once she didn’t he took over.
He looked her up and down as they waited for the bartender.
“Pear martini for the lady. Sidecar for me.” He slid some bills into the tip cup and handed her the martini once it was finished.
“Interesting that you’d assume I wanted this.”
He tapped his glass to hers as he steered her away. “I had one earlier. It’s strong and yet fragile. It occurred to me that it was a lot like you.”
“You don’t know me well enough to make that assumption.” He held a chair out and she sat.
“I don’t know you well enough to know what sort of sushi you like. But a drink is another thing entirely. It’s good, yes?”
Oh this one. He had trouble written all over him. Bossy. Dominant. She would normally have thrown her drink in his face and walked away from a man like him. But there she sat, sipping a really delicious martini.
“Tell me about your ink.”
“I want a full back piece. A wolf.”
“Why?” She’d done a dozen wolves. If he wanted a full back piece, it should mean something or he should realize that if it didn’t, he’d be stuck with something that meant nothing to him for the rest of his life. A small tattoo you could cover up or even get removed. But she was a big believer in full disclosure about the commitment one made with a tattoo of that size.
“Why do you want to know?”
“A back piece will take a lot of time. Some pain. Money. And it’ll be on your skin forever. Partly I want to know because it’ll be important in my design. For instance, do you want a Norse-style wolf? A Celtic-style wolf? Pacific Northwest Native American? A face in tight? A wolf moving or running? In a pack? Are there other elements you want in it? How do you envision it sitting on your skin? Also, this is a big, permanent thing. Sometimes people think it doesn’t matter if the tat has no meaning and for some people that might be true. But a tat that large? I like to make sure people understand that a tattoo isn’t like a pair of pants or hair color. You can’t just change something the size of a full back piece.” She shrugged.
He raised a brow. “I understand. How long have you been doing tattoos?”
“Since I was nineteen.”
“So for what? Four years?”
She laughed. “You’re so full of it. You know how hot you are, you don’t need the bullshit to get some tail.”
“You’re a beautiful woman. Is that better?”
“Infinitely.”
“Wolves symbolize things I believe are important. Loyalty. Honor. Protection. As for style, would it be possible to have you give me a few ideas to choose from?”
“Yes. I can show you some of my work. I have a portfolio.”
“All right. You come highly recommended but it can’t hurt to see your work. Do you do house calls?”
“I do.”
“Would you like to have a drink with me? At my place. After you show me your portfolio that is.”
“Is the drink contingent on the portfolio?”
“No. I’d want to have a drink with you either way.”
He was blunt. She liked blunt a great deal. She was bad at reading people and being coy. It took more energy than she normally had. Definitely more skill.
“All right.” She pushed her phone his way. “Put your number in there and I’ll call to schedule something.”
He leaned across, placing a hand over hers. “What are you doing tonight after this?”
A rush of heat blew through her.
“I’m busy.” She was. She’d promised Erin she’d come over to see Alexander, and as that sweet little boy owned part of her heart, she wouldn’t consider bailing, not even for a superhot turn in between the sheets with Jonah Warner.
“Hm.” He sat back looking her over. He took her phone and put his information in it, doing the same with her number in his phone while he was at it.
She got the feeling he thought she was playing a game. And if that was the case, he could suck it. She didn’t play games. They were useless and a waste of her precious time. If she liked a person and wanted to pursue something physical, she said so. And she had.
“Call me when you get the chance and we’ll set something up.” He handed her the phone and she tucked it into her bag.
“All right.”
He started to say more, leaning in again, but Gillian tapped a glass and began speaking, so they turned their attention to her.
“Mary was the first person I met when I moved here back when Miles was a tiny baby. She and her family took me under their wing from the start. Little treats, homemade baby food, that sort of thing would show up. She has been a very dear friend since the start. Jules, Daisy and I are so thrilled to host this party because no one deserves happiness more than Mary Whaley, who has taken care of us all for years. So even though Damien has taken her away and spirited her down to Oregon for most of every month, we’ll allow him to have her because he makes her so happy.”
Jules put an arm around Mary. “To Mary and Damien.”
Raven raised her glass and drank. She liked Mary well enough. She made Gillian happy, and that was important. She was good to Poppy, Gillian and Adrian’s baby daughter, as well.
Raven didn’t have many people she’d give a kidney to. But Gillian was one of them. And because Gillian loved Mary, that was
more than enough reason to raise her glass and mean it.
They milled around and Erin caught her eye. Wanting to go home, Raven knew, to Alexander.
She turned back to Jonah. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Jonah. I’ve got to go now.”
He stood, walking with her to where Erin stood with Todd and Ben, both her men. One her legal husband, the other the husband of her and Todd’s heart. They’d both loosened up around her, especially once they realized how much she loved their son.
“I need to get my bag, I’ll be right back.”
Erin went with her, leaning in to speak quietly. “Holy crap, Levi’s brother is so freaking hot. You gonna nail him?”
Raven rolled her eyes at Erin. “You’ve got two dudes of your own to nail; why the prurient interest in my knickers?”
“Be quiet about that. He’s hot. Naturally I’ll need every last filthy detail.”
“He wants me to do some ink. There’s chemistry. Chances are—if he’s lucky—there will be filthy nailing to tell you about like you’re my pimp.”
Erin laughed. “I just want to check in on Poppy before we leave. Miles said she’s popping a tooth.”
Poppy Brown was clearly her father’s daughter. She had the Brown ebullience. Always freaking happy. Always making noise or music. She lit up when someone she loved came into view.
So when they came around the corner to find Miles—Gillian and Adrian’s now-sixteen-year-old son—holding his sister, who held his cheeks, patting them as she babbled, Poppy’s little face lit even brighter when she saw her aunt and Raven.
She held her arms out and Miles frowned, loath to give her up.
“Once Aunt Erin has her, I’ll never get her back.”
Raven swooped in and took her instead.
“Hey, Pop, what’s shakin?”
Poppy gave her a gummy grin, grabbing a fistful of Raven’s hair. “Oh, I see your tooth.”
Erin crowded in. “There it is. You have a chomper, Ms. P. Whatcha going to eat with it? A steak?”
Poppy gave a gusty laugh as she kicked her legs.
“I should have known you’d be in here with the baby.” Gillian came in. She moved to Miles, putting an arm around him. “Hello to you, my biggest child. Mary says she’s put a tote full of food in the fridge for you.”