The man holding on to her tit was not her husband.
She'd walked long blocks in a town she did not know, sweat dripping down her back and into her bra in the California heat despite the dark and the late hour. She wasn't sure where she was going. She was very aware of the double-takes of men on the corners who saw her. Small white women weren't supposed to be out in this area at night. She knew that, and it scared her, and thrilled her.
What she was after was bling. This trip to Cali had come at the last minute, another fucking work trip, and she'd lost things in the packing and traveling. Among them, her belly ring. It hadn't been festooned with real diamonds or anything, but she missed the curve of metal that pierced her navel. Gave her a reason to show off the stomach she worked at keeping.
But she did have one alternate reason to seek out a body mod shop in the dark.
The place she'd found in a listing on her smartphone eventually appeared. It was cleaner than she'd expected. It was a well-lit nicely decorated little shop covered with art options for people to pick as tattoos. It even had a little bell over the door to signal her arrival. Which was good, as there appeared to be no one there. Still, the AC blasted and felt like a wind from heaven as it chilled the salty drops on her skin.
As she waited, she pulled at her tank top, at the spot between her breasts, to get some cool air on her torso. She hadn't worn a bra, just the tank, a skirt, and shoes with a heel far too high for this neighborhood.
"Do you for?" asked a voice. He'd caught her off guard.
"Oh, hey. Hi."
"Hi." He gave her a smile. He looked like a skinny biker, in jeans and a t-shirt, sinewy arms covered in a sleeve of color from shoulder to finger tips. There were even markings coming out from under his dark beard, slithering down his neck. "Help you?"
She was for some reason tongue tied, and pointed at her belly button. The man smiled again and went behind the counter.
"Got a big assortment, various metals. You take a look and we can try them all."
"I don't want to keep you open if you were ready to close," she said. Though she did want to keep him open.
"I'm in no hurry, little lady," he said. "You take your time."
She perused the case, pointed at a few, and he dutifully pulled them and she pushed up her tank, then held each ring next to her navel, looking down, chin tucked. "I dunno. I'm not sure anymore. Any you'd recommend? You're the expert."
"Well, I like the jewelry look, maybe give a little message." He went to another case and pulled some items, brought them over. He laid them out one by one.
One had pink stones that spelled 'ROCK.'
The second read 'Peace' in little fake gems.
Then, with no hesitance at all, he put out the last one, a hook of stainless steel with a black charm on the end with white letters: 'SLUT.'
The man looked her dead in the eye as he put it down; she couldn't look up at his. Her cheeks flushed a little.
Her first though: How can he tell?
Her second: My god, I'm fucking soaking wet.
"I have..." she said, catching her breath, "I have another question."
"Shoot."
"Nipple piercing," was all she could say.
He waited, then finally said, "We do them. Sure."
"I have a, uh, special circumstance," she said. "I should... show you."
He didn't say anything to that, just moved his head toward the back. She followed.
In the rear was a tattoo chair that reminded her of the dentist, and other stations for less intense work. He led her to a stool. He pulled a slightly lower chair over and sat. When she did likewise, his face was at the same level as her chest.
"Show me." He said it less as a request to a customer, and more like a command. It made her cunt tingle to be talked to like that.
She lowered the tank top sleeve on her shoulder, pushed it down her right arm until the shirt could drop and expose her entire breast for him. It was obvious—the nipple was partially inverted, a consequence of breastfeeding. Doctor said it was nothing to worry about, but she'd thought frequently about a nipple ring, a little barbell through the nipple that, once erect, maybe could make it look more like before.
"Interesting," he said. And stared at it.
"Do you think—"
"Get it erect."
He'd done it again. She glanced at his lips, his hands, wondering what they'd feel like if he touched her. That, as much as the command, drove her own hand to her breast, massaging it. Squeezing it. When the nipple popped out a bit, she grabbed at it, pinching and pulling to get the nipple to distend. The cool air in the shop helped. Her other nipple was definitely erect, poking through the fabric of the tank top.