The Painter's Passion

by Dr. Rebecca Sharp

  “Tony.” He turned to the other man. “Do you have a spare bedroom so that Tash could stay with you?” Tony nodded.

  Ana’s head flew to stare at him, confusion written on her face. He stepped forward, clasping Tash’s shoulders with both of his hands.

  “Tash, you ok to stay at Tony’s tonight?” His mouth thinned as he leaned in a little closer. “I want to make sure the house is safe,” he said much softer.

  She nodded as vigorously as she could.

  “There were more of them. I want to make sure that in case we have any unexpected guests later tonight that no one else is in harm’s way.”

  “I can take Tash home and then—”

  “I can handle it,” he cut Tony off. A lot of shit just happened; this web was a lot fucking bigger than he’d thought and he needed to regroup without the goddamn group.

  Tony looked to Ana for approval and she must have nodded because he looped an arm around Tash’s waist to support her as they walked towards the door.

  “Pierce, what the hell is going on?” Ana demanded, angrily.

  “We have to go.” He didn’t wait for her response before he grabbed her elbow and pulled her from the room.

  She was fuming. And she was forced into silence by the presence of the driver – the inside of a cab wasn’t exactly the best place to discuss secret operations, stolen paintings, and attempted murder. Her foot tapped impatiently on the floor, barely able to contain her agitation.

  When they got back to the house, Pierce was going to hear it.

  When they got back to the house, this devil was going to get his due.

  He’d done exactly what she’d asked – and he’d promised – not to.

  She reached after him, trying to stop him from approaching Morgan and Tash, but he’d disappeared too quickly into the mass of people. She didn’t want to admit that he was right, especially right now, but the small voice inside of her head whispered that if he hadn’t gotten there, who knows where the assailant’s knife would have ended up.

  She hated that the choice to disobey her might have been the right thing to do.

  She hated that the thought that was upsetting her most was the thought that he could have gotten hurt – or worse. She felt bad for the woman, who’d looked in pretty bad shape as Morgan carried her out of the room, but she didn’t know her and in that moment when Pierce had lunged toward the man with the knife, her heart had stopped.

  Fear had gripped her.

  A fear that was as powerful, if not more so, than the one that had paralyzed her the night that Shane had attacked her. She shuddered at the unwelcome memory and all the baggage that came along with it.

  “You ok?” Pierce’s gruff voice resounded through the silence of the cab.

  Her phone buzzed and she checked it instead of acknowledging the incredibly irritating and attractive man sitting next to her. Glancing at the message, she saw it was from Morgan; he was going to stay at the hospital tonight with the thief. They’d just taken her into surgery to close up the wound and he didn’t want to leave in case she somehow managed to take the chance to escape – or worse, in the case that someone unfriendly came looking for her.

  She felt his body tense next to her and she knew that he was preparing for the same battle that she was.

  He held the door open for her as she stepped out, but she refused to take the hand that he offered. Her body barely contained the swell of emotions that were brewing inside of her. She strode through the front door ahead of him, walking almost past the main staircase before abruptly turning around to face him just as the door shut, the thud echoing through the large, empty house.

  Even though a million things had run through her mind in the car on the way over, they all got lodged in her throat and not a sound escaped her.

  Pierce raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for her tirade to begin.

  Of course, he wasn’t going to take this seriously; he wasn’t going to take her feelings seriously.

  “What, Ana?” he pressed her. “Just say it.”

  “How dare you?” She breathed into the silence.

  The darkness in his eyes flared; she was playing with fire.

  “What did you expect me to do?” he returned.

  She threw out her hands, letting out a harsh laugh as her frustration finally found a voice. “Oh, I don’t know, Pierce, maybe what I asked you to do?” Her tone grew harsher with every word. “Maybe what you promised me?”

  “Ana,” he ground out. “If I hadn’t—”

  “Hadn’t what? Gone over there and intervened, maybe the girl wouldn’t have recognized you? Maybe she wouldn’t have tried to run? And in doing so, maybe she wouldn’t have run right into the knife that was waiting for her?”

  She saw his face darken as he took a few steps towards her and she knew her words had struck a nerve. He’d done this to try to be a hero, knowing that it would be viewed by everyone else as careless and insubordinate.

  The truth was, if he hadn’t showed up, that knife would either have been used to get that woman to leave with them or it would have been more successfully placed; either way, instead of in the hospital, the thief would now be in the morgue.

  So, why was she really upset? Why was she berating him?

  She sucked in a shaky breath.

  Because she was angry that he’d left – that after everything that had happened between them, he could walk away without even a word.

  “If I hadn’t fucking gone over there,” he began, taking another step in her direction, “that woman would be dead. One way or another.” She shook her head in protest even though she knew he was speaking the truth.

  “You promised me that you would—” She choked on the last words as he continued to advance on her.

  “Goddammit, Ana, I know. I know I told you I would listen to you, but I saw what was about to happen. What did you expect me to do? Sit back and hope that your guys got there in time? Watch from the sidelines while my friends are in danger?”

  Her eyes widened as he stopped a few feet in front of her.

  His eyes fell for a moment and he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Where the hell is Morgan?” A cold pit of fear formed in her stomach.

  “He’s… at the hospital. He’s staying there until the woman is out of surgery,” she replied softly.

  He cursed and looked back towards the door.

  “Why?” she asked, her throat thick with tears. “Were you planning on leaving again?”

  “Yes.” His stare locked with hers and she only saw truth written in his gaze.

  “Well, you don’t need to worry about me. You can go.” She shrugged her shoulders, trying her best to give the impression that she wasn’t about to break down again. He continued to stare at her, trying to decide if she was serious or not.

  “I should…” he said tightly, a tortured expression coming over his dark features. “I should go.”

  “I just have one question,” she couldn’t stop herself from adding. “The other night… Was that just another one of your nightly adventures that you can forget about in the morning? Am I just another woman for you to play with?” She laughed self-deprecatingly.

  “No, Ana.” He cursed underneath his breath, causing goosebumps to run up her spine.

  And she wondered just what she’d gotten herself into.

  Why was she even asking? Why did she even care?

  She’d told herself that she wasn’t going to read into anything that happened between them – that she was just going to let herself feel good for a little while. And yet, here she was, wondering why he wasn’t treating her better than any of his other flings.

  He never promised you it would be more than that; you brought this on yourself, her brain chastised her.

  But he kept coming back to you. It was more than just one night. He’d made it his mission to bring you pleasure. He told you about his past, about his scar, about his pain. He’d faced those demons to make you feel special, her heart replied emphatically.
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  Still, that same heart acknowledged that he’d also just up and left the other day without any concern for her; that didn’t speak to the type of man her heart wanted to believe that he was.

  This was why she couldn’t get involved with anyone; her heart insisted on believing the fairy tale, not the facts.

  Pierce ran his hand through his hair. “You are nothing like those women, Ana.”

  “Oh, that’s right.” She nodded, wiping away the first tear to fall. “I’m even less than them – I deserve less than them. I’ve seen them, I’ve heard you with them – they at least received a ‘good-bye,’ but not me; I just get to wake up and find out from Tash that you’re gone.” She wiped another tear. “Well, that’s completely fine, Pierce. I just wish you would have let me know so that we could have been on the same page.”

  Ana knew that her words didn’t match her emotional response, but she didn’t care. Everything that was happening tonight was just wrong – from the men at the auction, to the woman being injured, to Tash having a meltdown, to Pierce breaking her heart.

  She whirled away from him, heading to the stairs to escape to the painful solitude and safety of her room.

  Let him leave if he wanted to.

  “Fucking hell.” She heard him roar behind her and then the next thing she knew his arm was around her and her back was pressed against the hard, heated muscle of his chest. One hand was clasped around her left arm, holding it firmly, while his other hand pressed against her lower abdomen, pushing her back to feel the hard ridge of his arousal against her ass. “You couldn’t be fucking farther from the truth, Princess. I’ve never wanted anyone the way that I want you.”

  She gasped. “Oh, no?” she asked breathlessly. “I can’t believe that, Pierce.”

  Pierce growled and the next thing she knew, his fingers were down at the thigh-high slit in her dress, pulling it up so that his hand could close over her sex.

  “God, no,” he rasped as his finger delved underneath her panties.

  She moaned loudly, her head falling back against his shoulder. “Pierce…” His name was laced with her pleasure as his finger began to tease her clit. “Why… did you… leave?”

  That was his Princess – always demanding answers.

  He clenched his jaw, both at her question and the fact that she was soaking wet for him.

  “You want to know why, Ana?” he growled as his fingers moved uncompromisingly over her. “I left because I can’t fucking stay away from you, Ana, and I should.”

  He heard her gasp and knew that it was because of the words he’d said and not the pleasure from his touch.

  “All I think about is you, gorgeous – the way you order me around always expecting me to obey you. The way you make me want to share things, remember things, that I’d rather just suffer in silence, hoping one day to forget.” He pulled her hips back harder against his arousal. “All I think about is the way my body no longer has any interest in anyone except you,” he breathed into her ear. “No one, Ana. And trust me, Princess, there were days that I wished to God that it would want someone… anyone… besides you.”

  He slid the tip of his finger inside of her, feeling her muscles clench instantly around him, and he knew that she was on the edge. “All I think about is the way you feel against me...” Another flick of his finger had her shuddering against him. “The way you taste underneath my tongue.” Ana moaned as his fingers applied more pressure to her and she struggled to focus on what he was saying. “The way those gorgeous lips of yours feel wrapped around my cock.” She could barely stand, the pleasure building inside of her was becoming too great the way he expertly teased her sex.

  “Pierce,” she moaned his name.

  “The way my name becomes like the air that you breathe while I pleasure you,” he growled into her ear as his fingers moved faster over her.

  Ana reached for something – anything – to hold onto as her release overwhelmed her. Her hips rocking against his fingers, her entire body quaking, as she screamed – her pleasure echoed through the stairwell.

  “And the way that your body comes apart underneath my hands is the most beautiful piece of art that I’ve ever created,” he rasped as his own body struggled not to lose itself in her pleasure.

  Once the world came back into focus, his hand left her, letting her dress fall back down even though he still held her against him and his throbbing erection. She felt his forehead rest on the back of her shoulder, his breathing labored.

  “Don’t go…” she whispered – she begged.

  “Ana,” he pleaded her name. “I can’t stay. I told you, you deserve better than this – than me. I left the other day for the same reason I should turn and walk out that goddamn door right now – because if I stay, I’m going to take you every fucking way that I’ve dreamt about since the day that I met you. I will take you until there is nothing left for you to give. Is that what you want?” The question came out ravaged by a blend of need and frustration.

  “Pierce,” she began, turning to face him and the tortured expression written all over his face.

  For all that he wanted to show the world that he didn’t care and that he was a self-centered ass, she knew that the person he pretended to be would have already had her out of her dress right now in the interest of his own lust; the man that he was, was trying to protect her from himself and the damage he was afraid of doing.

  She put her hand on his chest, right over where she knew his scar was. “What I want is you – and anything and everything that that entails.” She raised her gaze to his, meeting it with the determination reflected from her words. “I want to feel like I still have something to give – that I still have something worth wanting.”

  “Dammit, Ana,” he cursed underneath his breath. “What about Morgan?”

  “I don’t care about Morgan,” she ground out. “I’m a grown woman and my brother is not my keeper; he only has himself to blame if he truly thinks that to be the case.”

  His right hand lightly traced up the sleeve of her dress, sending goosebumps out all over her body.

  “You know the darkness that’s inside of me,” he rasped. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “Pierce,” she whispered his name, standing up on her tiptoes to murmur into his ear. “I’m not afraid of the dark.”

  Chapter 24

  Like Hades abducting Persephone from the plentiful promise of the world where she lived, he selfishly took her down into the hell that was his life.

  He should walk away and leave her before he hurt her even more, but the way that she stood there looking at him with the confidence that her light would illuminate all of the shadows of his past was a temptation he could no longer resist.

  He crushed his lips to her for a split second to hold him over before he bent down and hoisted her up into his arms.

  She let out a small squeal until she realized just what was happening.

  “I can walk, you know!” she exclaimed in jest as he quickly made their way up the stairs.

  “I know; I just want you to save your energy,” he replied with a seductive smile. “You’re going to need it.” If it was meant to be a joke, nothing about his tone or expression made it seem that way.

  Even though Morgan was at the hospital, Pierce wasn’t taking any chances. He carried her into his room and kicked the door shut behind him. For the first time in his life, he walked into a bedroom and looked at the bed with anticipation. Tonight, he was going to replace every last horrible memory with ones of Ana. Tonight, he was going to have sex in a bed for the first time in his life – and because of her, that thought didn’t make his blood run cold. Instead, his entire body burned, begging him to toss her onto the mattress that very second and take her.

  It was going to happen, but he had other plans first.

  He gently lowered her to her feet once inside his room. They stood in the open space directly in front of his untouched bed. To their left was his closet and to their right was a floor to
ceiling mirror along the wall that contained the doorway into the sitting room next door.

  Normally, he would have taken her directly towards that room he’d set up as his studio so that there was no thought of taking any intimacy onto the bed. But not with Ana. He wanted her in his bed.

  Fuck, he wanted her on every goddamn surface in the room: the couch, the floor, the shower, the closet.

  It was a good thing he had all night.

  Capturing her face in his hands, he said, “Ana, this is your last—”

  “Pierce,” she said with a small laugh. “I want this. I want you. Don’t ask me again.”

  “Thank God,” he whispered before he captured her lips again, his tongue sinking deep in the warm confines of her mouth.

  She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing herself tighter against him. His arms came around her, holding her steady as he ravaged her mouth. He felt her hands on his sides before one slipped down between them to the front of his straining pants.

  Pierce groaned, pushing his hips against her hand as she clasped his arousal, blood pumping furiously through his body as it fought for release. His hand reached down and closed over hers, stopping her torture.

  “As much as I love your hands on me, Princess, tonight, there is only one thing that my body needs – and that’s all of you,” he said hoarsely against her cheek. “Tonight, I need to be inside you, Ana… Tonight, I won’t settle for anything less than everything.”

  Pierce drew back to look into her eyes and a moment of silent sincerity passed between them, as he slowly drew her hand off of him and up to his mouth. Keeping his gaze locked with hers, he placed an open-mouth kiss onto her palm.

  Her eyes glazed over with desire, deepening to a green-ish gold.

  Releasing her hand, his traced over her wrist, along her arm to her shoulder. Her eyes drooped shut, as her hand came to rest on his shoulder. His finger traced along her collarbone, hitting the edge of her dress, and tracing along the fabric.

  “You looked beautiful tonight, Princess,” he said hoarsely.