Mark Me

I spend my days telling other people their scars don't define them.
I just never believed it about mine.

I'm Dr. Lila Sen, trauma therapist. Calm voice. Steady hands. Good daughter. Good doctor.
And every night, when I undress, I see the thick scar down my side and remember one thing:

I walked away from the car.
My best friend didn't.

I go to Ink & Bone to make it disappear. Just skin. Just ink. A "cosmetic procedure."
Instead, I meet him.

Adrian Kade.
Grumpy, inked, ex-con tattoo artist with strict rules and a voice that makes my spine go weak.

He refuses to erase my scar.
He refuses to let me stay in control of the story.

If I want his art, I have to give him my truth... piece by painful piece.
Session by session, under his hands, I'm not the therapist. I'm the one shaking, breathing on command, learning to surrender control in the one place I fear it most: my own body.

He is haunted by his past. I'm drowning in survivor's guilt.
Neither of us believes we deserve softness... but we keep reaching for it anyway.

If you love:

Scarred, emotionally vulnerable heroines

Grumpy, tattooed, protective heroes

Tattoo studio, slow burn, steamy contemporary romance

Trauma, mental health, and healing woven into the love story

then Mark Me is my story... and maybe yours.

I came to him to hide what I hate most about myself.
He marked me instead.

And for the first time, I didn't want to run. I wanted to stay