by Kira Archer
“It’s the owl we saw that night,” she said. “Our night.”
He smiled. He thought of it that way as well. Their night. The night they’d first been together and his whole world had changed.
“I painted it for you.”
She stared at it a moment longer and then came to him, her eyes suspiciously shiny. She cupped his face in her hands and pressed a delicate, sweet, lingering kiss to his lips.
“Thank you, Jared.”
She let him go, and he kept his hands shoved in his pockets instead of reaching for her like he wanted to do. She was the first person he’d ever brought to his studio. He wanted to know what she thought, watch her as she looked through the paintings and drawings he loved so much.
She moved around to his desk and glanced down at the sketches that covered the surface. Her fingers lightly moved them around. He held his breath, wondering how she’d react. When she looked up and met his gaze, he released it with a sigh of relief.
“These are all of me.”
He nodded. “Guess you’ve been on my mind lately.” Her smile lit up the whole room. “They don’t do you justice.”
“Are you kidding?” she said, laughing. She picked one up and showed him. “I look incredible in this. Obviously not drawn from real life.”
“You’re right. I’m nowhere near talented enough to capture your true beauty.”
Her mouth dropped open slightly, and then she smiled and put the sheet back down. “You always know how to deliver those lines, don’t you?”
He could argue all day long that it wasn’t a line, that he meant it, and she’d never believe him. But it did provide the perfect opening for something he’d wanted to do since the day he met her. “So let me draw you, then.”
“What, like pose for you?”
“Yes.”
She hesitated. “Like those?” She pointed at the portraits he had hanging on the wall.
He shrugged. “Any way you’d like to pose.”
“Hmm. Lying naked on a couch like in Titanic?”
He laughed and pulled her in close. “If you were naked on a couch I’m not sure I’d be able to keep my hands on my pencils.”
“Ah, but touching the model wouldn’t be professional, would it?” She ran her hands up his chest, and he put his hands over hers, hoping she’d leave them there. He’d missed her touch. Had begun to crave it like an addict going through withdrawal.
For a moment he thought she might draw him closer. But the moment passed. She dropped her hands and stepped away, and he closed his eyes against the near physical pain of it.
“Well, I’m nothing if not professional,” he said quietly.
She didn’t look at him for a moment, but when she did her smile was back in place. “How do you want to draw me?” She raised her gaze to him and held it, her sea-green eyes boring into his until he felt like he was drowning in them.
He grabbed his sketch pad and a pencil and held out his hand. “Come with me.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him, but took his hand. He led her out of the studio and down the hall to his bathroom where a big old-fashioned claw-foot tub stood.
“You want to draw me taking a bath?”
He chuckled. “I’d actually love to watch you taking a bath, but I’m not sure how long I could remain on the outside of the tub.”
Her cheeks flushed, and it was all he could do not to crush her against him and kiss her until she was moaning in his arms. He took a deep breath to get a little control and led her over to the tub and handed her a big fluffy towel.
“I want to draw you sitting on the edge, your back to me, bare,” he said, his hand tracing the outline of her body down to where her waist met the swell of her hips, “down to here. With the towel draped over the rest of you.”
She watched him watching her, and then she held out her hand for the towel. He’d meant to turn around, give her privacy to undress. He wasn’t sure why. They’d seen each other naked. Several times. The image of her beautiful body would be ingrained in his mind until the day he died and hopefully long afterward.
But she didn’t give him the option. She pulled her shirt off over her head. Unbuttoned her jeans and pushed them down her legs until she could step out of them. She stared right at him as she reached behind her to unhook her bra and let it slide off her arms. Her panties followed.
She stood before him, bare, breathtakingly beautiful. Neither one of them moved. His heart jackhammered in his chest, while his body warred with itself. The desire to touch her, draw her into his arms and hold her there forever, made him ache. But the privilege of standing before such perfection was a moment he’d cherish the rest of his life. He wouldn’t ruin it by making an advance that might drive her away. For now, it was enough. More than enough, to just look and worship the unique beauty before him.
A faint smile touched her lips, and she turned to sit on the edge of the tub, arranging the towel beneath her. She leaned forward and turned the faucet on. Within moments, steaming water began to fill the tub.
She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Seems a shame to waste the chance to soak in such a beautiful tub. Since I’m right here.”
Jared smiled and began to draw.
She raised her arms to gather her hair in a bun. A few tendrils escaped to tumble down her back. Absolutely perfect. He sketched quickly, his fingers drawing the lines he longed to touch in person, following the contours of her body.
He finished one sketch and pulled out more paper. She shut off the water and stood, swirling the water about with one foot. He drew her from that angle as well. Long, strong lines. Muscles defined beneath the soft curves of her body. He drew until he couldn’t take it anymore.
And then he put the paper aside and went to her.
…
Jenny knew he was there before he touched her. The heat of him was like featherlight kisses along her bare skin, and she shivered, though not from the cold. He dropped to his knees and lifted her hair from her neck. His lips touched the sensitive spot near her ear, pressing a tender kiss there before his tongue traced a gentle trail down the slope of her neck. He pulled at her hair, not hard enough to hurt, but just enough to bring an edge to the sensations he drew from her.
She tilted her head to give him better access, and he retraced his path. He nipped at her neck. Her mouth dropped open, her eyes fluttering closed. He kept one hand tangled in her hair while the other reached around to caress her. His fingers traced the lines of her body as they must have done on the paper while he’d drawn. When they closed over her breast, she gasped and leaned back into him.
He wrapped his arm around her and tugged on her hair again, turning her face toward his. But he didn’t kiss her yet. His open mouth hovered near hers. She tried to rise up to meet him, but he pulled out of her range. His gaze remained locked with hers. Burning. Searching.
She threaded her fingers through his where they were splayed against her stomach and brought them back to her breast. She tried to maintain the eye contact, but when his hand closed over her, her eyes fluttered closed. He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips and she opened to him, drawing him in.
His hand trailed lower, pushed beneath the towel still draped around her, until he found her slick heat, already wet and ready for him. He groaned into her mouth.
“Don’t move,” he said, kissing her neck again.
He released her, and she shivered at the sudden chill on her back. She heard a rustling and glanced behind her to see him rummaging in one of the drawers. He pulled out a condom and then undressed, whipping his shirt off over his head and unbuttoning his pants. Her mouth went a little dry at the sight of all that hard flesh. She ached to touch him, have him touch her. Craved him like an addiction she couldn’t satisfy.
He ripped open the condom and rolled it on and then came back to her side. She thought he’d get into the tub since she was halfway in herself. But he wasn’t ready for that yet. He resumed kissing her neck, only this time he let his lips roam farther
while his hands followed. He trailed kisses, sometimes gentle, sometimes with the slight sting of his teeth, along her shoulders, down her back, even nipping the top of her buttock. She tried to remain still, but with each touch she grew more and more desperate.
“Turn around,” he commanded, his hands on her leg.
She lifted it out of the water and turned on the edge of the tub. He stopped her before she was all the way around. Her cheeks grew warm as she lay on the edge of the tub, splayed out for him.
He sucked in a shaky breath. “You are so unbelievably beautiful.”
Her embarrassment ebbed at his heated look. He cupped the back of her head and drew her in for a kiss. “And I am so unbelievably lucky.”
He kissed her until her head swam and she was gasping against him. Then he climbed into the tub and turned her toward him. He drew a hand from her neck down the front of her body, caressing every inch of her, fingers dipping and teasing until her skin grew pink and her breaths erratic.
Then he withdrew. She moaned in protest, but it quickly turned into a gasp when his tongue replaced his fingers. She clutched at his shoulder with one hand while the other clung to the edge of the tub. And still he licked and nibbled at her until she was ready to come apart at the seams. When his tongue delved deep inside her, she jerked and slid off the edge of the tub, into the water with him.
He chuckled and she reached for him, loving that laugh of his as much as she loved him touching her. Maybe more. It was carefree, a little wild, deep, and incredibly sexy. Like Jared was himself. She watched him leaning over her, that perma-half-grin on his face, tenderness emanating from him. There were certainly worse guys she could end up with. What she was beginning to realize was that there might not be better.
Despite his determination to convince the rest of the world of his shortcomings, he was actually an amazingly decent guy. A guy she’d begun to look forward to seeing every day. One she wanted to spend time with, and not only because she had to.
It was a new experience for her. Usually her interest in a guy waned the longer she knew him. She was not the type to maintain steady relationships. She’d tried. And maybe it was because she’d been choosing the wrong men, but within a few weeks they’d always bored her. Jared might be many things, but boring would never be one of them. She could depend on that from him, at least.
He pulled her to him and all thoughts except for the sensations he was wringing from her dissipated from her mind. His hands ran up her thighs, smooth and silky beneath the water. He settled back and let her move down to straddle him. She looped her arms around his neck and positioned herself over him.
“We’re going to get water all over the floor.”
“I guess it’s a good thing we’re in the bathroom then.”
He kissed her long and deep. His hands wrapped around her waist and he helped draw her down until he was seated inside her, filling her.
She began to move on him, everything made all the more intense because they sat face-to-face, their focus locked on each other. She didn’t want to think about what might happen if she were pregnant. Or what might happen if she weren’t. For the moment, they were together. That was all that mattered.
His hands gripped her waist, keeping her movements slow and steady until she was half frantic with the need to increase the tempo. The long, deep strokes filled her over and over until she grasped his shoulders and held on tight while her orgasm crashed over her. He was two strokes behind her, his arms convulsing around her as he reached his own climax.
She slumped against him, the tension ebbing from her body. He cradled her and pressed a kiss to her temple. She clung to him, a small, secret part of her hoping she really was pregnant. Because if she wasn’t, she didn’t know how she’d let him go.
Chapter Sixteen
Jared had almost dozed off again when his phone rang. He jerked upright and grabbed for it, thinking for half a second that it was Jenny. Until he heard the water running in the shower and realized she was in his bathroom. Standing in the water, getting all hot and soapy.
He was halfway out of the bed to join her when his phone rang again and he remembered it had woken him in the first place. A quick glance at the screen almost had him dropping the phone back on the nightstand. Anna. He’d much rather be in the shower with Jenny. But it could be about the interview. Better to answer it and see what she wanted so he could go join his lady.
“Hello?”
“Jared? Hi, I didn’t wake you, did I?” Anna asked. Her voice sounded fakely apologetic. He doubted she was ever truly apologetic for putting anyone out. For probably the thousandth time, he wondered what he’d seen in her.
She was the client, though, and he needed to keep her happy. Even more so because of the interview.
“Hi, Anna. No, I was up, no problem. What can I do for you?”
“I was calling to see how the cake was coming along. We are all sooo excited to see it!”
Jenny stepped from the bathroom in nothing but a towel, her skin all pink and damp from the hot water. Jared’s head momentarily went completely blank and he held out a hand to draw her closer.
“The cake is looking beautiful. I think you’ll be pleased.”
Jenny squeezed his hand and mouthed I’m going to go get dressed. It was almost criminal to let her go, but they did have a cake to finish. He kissed her hand and held it as long as he could. He was turning into a total sap. And enjoying every second.
He forced himself to pay attention to Anna’s excited babbling.
“Okay, I know you are busy with the cake and all, but would you be able to break away for a couple hours and come down for some preliminary shots for the interview? I know you won’t be doing the actual interview, but my crew needs to get some staging done and that sort of thing. We need to have you stand in so we can get the lighting and everything right.”
“Oh. Well…” The last thing in the world Jared wanted to do was go running off the morning after he and Jenny had made love. He’d planned on spending at least a couple more hours thoroughly exploring her before heading to the bakery to get the cake finished up. But the whole point of doing the cake in the first place was this interview. “Sure, I guess I could come down for a bit.”
Jenny came back in dressed in her jeans and one of his T-shirts, which hung halfway down her thighs. She was so damn adorable it made his heart hurt. She frowned, catching the last part of what he said.
“Excellent!” Anna said. “Afterward, maybe I can treat you to a little lunch. Gotta keep your strength up so you can finish that cake on time!”
“Oh, that’s not necessary,” Jared said. Spending any more time than he had to with Anna was a bad idea on a variety of levels.
“Nonsense, it’s the least I can do. Okay, I’ll see you in about thirty minutes then. Don’t keep me waiting!”
She clicked off before Jared could say anything else.
Jenny sat beside him on the bed. “What was all that?”
Jared explained, watching with a sinking heart as Jenny’s frown deepened.
“Well, I guess you can’t not go,” she said, standing up to toss the towel she’d been drying her hair with in his hamper. It was probably the first time the thing had ever been used. He’d have to try to remember the towel was in there.
“Hey,” he said, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist so he could kiss her neck. “The last thing in the world I want to do is leave you right now. In fact”—he turned her around and planted a trail of kisses along her jaw—“what I’d really like to do is get you back in that bed and make love to you until the sun goes down.”
He kissed her until she melted against him. “And then we could start it all over again.”
She sighed against his lips and wrapped her arms around his waist, snuggling in for a hug.
“That sounds perfect.”
His arms tightened around her, and he backed her up until her legs bumped against the bed. “Say the word. The rest of the world c
an wait.”
She laughed. “You have no idea how much I wish we could. But I’ve got a cake to finish and you have a hostess to schmooze. Only…not too much schmoozing.”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “You have nothing to worry about there.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him. “You sure about that? I seem to remember someone falling all over himself for the chance to spend five minutes with her.”
“Hmm, well, that was when I was young and dumb and trying to win a bet. I’ve grown since then.” He ground his hips against her. “In more ways than one.”
She laughed again and squirmed out from his embrace. “Don’t start that again. We’ll never leave the apartment.”
“That was kind of the plan,” he muttered.
She grabbed her shoes from the floor and sat on the bed to tug them on. “Okay. I’m heading to the bakery. How long do you think you’ll be?”
Jared glanced at the clock on his phone. “She said a couple hours, so let’s say by noon? If I’m going to be longer I’ll call.”
“What was that bit about lunch?”
“Don’t worry about that. She said she wanted to take me to lunch but I’ll get out of it.”
“Hmm, you better. I can’t finish assembling that monstrosity you roped me into without you.”
Jared chuckled and kissed her again. “I’ll be there. I promise. Now go get to work.”
She gave him a mock glare, slapped his butt, and left him wishing more than ever he could haul her back to bed and stay there for a good week, at least. He shook his head and went to the bathroom for a quick shower. Somehow, hell had indeed frozen over and he was well and truly smitten.
Eric would never let him hear the end of it.
…
Jenny carefully placed the last piece of rolled chocolate baklava on the layer she was working on and then climbed down from the stepladder. The cake wasn’t all that tall in and of itself, but placed on a table, it was definitely going to be impressive. She was almost grateful to Jared for volunteering them to do it. It would make a great start to her portfolio.