The Painter's Passion

by Dr. Rebecca Sharp

  She shifted slightly, sucking in a breath as her muscles protested. He’d bent her, moved her, and filled her in ways… Well, it was safe to say that he’d made good on his word to make sure that he’d had her on practically every surface of his room.

  Pierce groaned and moved beside her. She felt the evidence of his arousal brush against her stomach.

  And just like he’d promised, it was clear that he still hadn’t gotten enough.

  Groaning again, he began to roll on top of her.

  “What—” She broke off, beginning to laugh as his body completely covered hers; he was definitely not asleep anymore, even though he was pretending like he was.

  Then his arms flew out, pulling the covers over his head, and she laughed even harder as his mouth began to plant kisses on her chest. He sucked her nipple hard into his mouth and her laugh turned into a gasp. It was hard and fast and then he was gone. The next thing she knew, his shoulders were between her thighs and his mouth covered her core.

  Ana fisted the covers in her hands as his tongue flicked over her. He was gentle, but he was demanding. It only took a minute of his torture before she exploded underneath his mouth. With barely a moment to break her fall, he slid up her body and slid into her.

  Tossing the covers off of them, he flipped her over on top of him; his eyes burned black with desire. His hands reached up to grab her breasts, thumbing over her nipples. Even as her body still quaked from her orgasm, she didn’t wait. Her hips began to rise and fall with a frenzy, drawing him in and out of her tight heat.

  Looking down at him, she saw the exquisite and torturous pleasure written over his face, the sheen of sweat that covered his body. His hands claimed every inch of her that they touched, just like his arousal claimed every inch inside of her. His hands moved to her hips as he lost control, holding her steady as he slammed into her. His fingers found her core to send her over the edge just as his climax claimed him.

  “You know I’m going to wake you up like this every day, right?” She shivered, lying against his chest as his voice caressed her ear.

  “You know I would expect nothing less, right?” His hands traced lazy circles along her back.

  “Perfect,” he groaned, claiming her mouth sweetly once more. She put her hand on his chest to stop him from moving.

  “Nope. My turn to go out and hunt us down some food.” She smiled, peeling herself up off of him.

  They were on borrowed time right now. Morgan could come back at any minute and although she assumed he would have called or texted her first to update her, she couldn’t count on that.

  She’d waited all day. Maybe not waited – Pierce had certainly kept her occupied. However, she still hadn’t heard from her brother and it was almost dinner time.

  No calls, no texts, no nothing. And she’d called and messaged him several times.

  She had to go to the hospital; that was the only option left. She was starting to worry.

  She’d just gotten out of the shower. She needed to go downstairs and grab Pierce’s sheets from the laundry room and then she needed to tell him that their evening was going to be postponed until she figured out just what was happening with Morgan.

  It had only been, what, two days since the event? It felt like both a moment and a lifetime: a moment with Pierce, encased in their own broken world as they loved the shattered pieces of one another back into place, a lifetime since Morgan had gone to the hospital and hadn’t spoken to her or told her just what the heck was going on.

  It had been slightly selfish on her part – refraining from contacting her brother too much in case it would bring him home sooner and put an end to the happily-ever-after bubble that she’d been living in.

  Pulling the towel off of her head, she made her way to the stairs, hushed voices at the bottom slowing her descent into the kitchen.

  “I’m going crazy, Pierce. How much longer is it going to be like this?” Tash’s strangled voice asked quietly.

  “Just a little longer.” Ana could hear the frustration in his voice.

  “I don’t know that I—”

  “Tonight.” Pierce cut her off.

  What was tonight? How much longer to be like what?

  Ana forced herself to swallow over the dryness of her throat. She saw that Tash was pretty shaken up after the whole event, but she hadn’t really had the chance to talk to her or see her for the past couple days because she’d been spending all of her time with Pierce.

  The doubts and insecurities that she thought she’d vanquished crept eerily through her body, wondering again if there was something between the two of them.

  Pierce had sworn that there wasn’t, but all she could see in her mind was Tash and how Tash was the type of woman that Pierce always wanted.

  Shaking her head, she finished coming down the stairs, forcing a look of composure onto her face when she saw the two of them.

  The way her body responded, one would think that she walked in on them naked and fucking. The reality was she walked down to find Pierce and Tash standing on the other side of the island, their heads close in quiet conversation, and Pierce’s one hand resting on Tash’s shoulder.

  It was perfectly benign.

  One-hundred percent benign, Ana, she told herself.

  So then why did it feel like a little piece of her already fragile heart had started to crack?

  What didn’t make it any better was the fact that as soon as she appeared, Tash pulled back, her eyes wide on Ana and her face turning red.

  “I… Sorry…” Tash wiped the tears from her face and darted behind her, up the stairs where she’d just come from.

  Ana could see his jaw twitching in irritation just before his mouth parted and he let out a sigh.

  “Pierce, what’s going on? What’s wrong with Tash?” She needed to know.

  His fingers speared through his hair. “I can’t…” He swore. And then his eyes narrowed on her. There was a frustration in them – the kind that said there were so many things he wanted to do, but couldn’t, the kind that said he had a solution to the situation, but someone was preventing him from solving it. She knew that look, because she’d been levelled with it dozens of times in the previous weeks.

  And then he was in front of her, pulling her into his arms and capturing her lips, kissing her mercilessly.

  “What was that for?” she asked breathlessly when he finally released her.

  “Because I can’t help myself,” he whispered as he trailed kisses along her jawline. “Because I need you. Because I need you to keep me sane.”

  “Mmm,” she murmured. Her heart and her mind were at war with one another while her body shamelessly surrendered, pressing herself against him. She could feel her desire soaking through her fresh underwear.

  “If anything happened to you…” He broke off, taking her lips in a bruising kiss again, his tongue demanding every inch of her mouth and desire. In spite of every fear that resurfaced, they all dimmed under her immediate and all-consuming desire for this man. The truth that bubbled deep in her stomach was that Pierce could betray her in the worst way possible and she would still be right here, moaning against him, begging him for more.

  He’d come downstairs for some water and a snack, walking in to Tash crying over the damn tea kettle. There hadn’t been any movement, any indication that Sanchez knew that she was here – but the waiting, relegated to being a sitting duck to see how bad the damage was, was killing her. She was a mess. Last night, he’d woken up in the middle of the night to make sure Ana was still next to him, and he thought he heard noises from the floor below. Seeing Tash in the kitchen, he realized that it must have been her in the middle of a nightmare.

  Guilt washed over him.

  He’d gone over to her and before he could even ask what was wrong, her lonely, petrified eyes met his and she’d told him that she couldn’t do this anymore. She was strong and she’d been through a lot, but this looked like it could break her.

  He had to talk to Sloane and
either get her out of here or come up with a better plan. ‘Tonight’ is what he’d promised her – a new plan or a way home; she just needed to give him until tonight.

  And then Ana appeared.

  He looked at her and all he could think about was what if it was her? What if they were after her? Even just the thought put his body on high alert. His heart pumped just a little faster, beating into him a fact that he could no longer deny.

  He would do anything for her – to protect her, to have her, to love her. Any fucking thing.

  He needed to tell her all of that because it was about to explode inside of him. Only, he was a damned fool when it came to words – none of them ever seemed good enough. His feelings pulsed through his body, solidifying into his primal, physical need to claim her – to give his body the reassurance that she was here, she was ok, and she was his.

  So, he told her in the only way his mouth could at the moment – by claiming hers and losing himself in her sweet depth.

  “I need you, Princess.” She moaned against him, her hips pressing against the ridge of his arousal. He bit down on her lower lip hard before sucking it into his mouth, his hand undoing her jeans and shoving inside the waistband of her pants and underwear. “So fucking wet for me.”

  His fingers slipped into her drenched core, pushing one, then two, fingers into her, rubbing against that sweet spot deep inside.

  Tearing his mouth from hers, he spun her against the counter. One hand yanked her jeans down over her delicious ass while the other tugged down his sweats, freeing his demanding erection. Her torso bent over the counter as he slid his fingers over her soaked folds, mesmerized as she arched her hips up, begging for more. With a hoarse groan, he smacked her ass and then he rammed his cock deep inside of her, cursing as her tight heat sucked in every hard inch of him, just as her mouth sucked in a gasp of air at his hand on her flesh followed by his invasion of her body.

  He thrust into her, claiming every inch of her sweet sex.

  He loved her.

  And every push of his body into hers was how he showed her. He loved her. Again and again and again. He showed her that he couldn’t resist her, that he needed her like he needed breath.

  She moaned. “I’m going to come.” His hand came around her, searching for her clit. His fingers found the swollen bud and pinched and she exploded around him, pulling his release out with hers. With a shout, he felt his desire pump into her and he pushed himself as far in as he could, wanting to coat every inch of her – inside and out – with himself.

  One hand on the counter top and one on her back, his chest heaved in air, trying to recover from the release that was still depleting his body.

  He’d always been careful when sleeping with women. But with Ana, he wouldn’t have anything between them; he needed to feel all of her. For the first time, he’d wanted to mark her with his desire as his own.

  Not that he could even admit it to himself fully at the moment, but the thought of her swollen with his child had crossed his mind more than once over the past few days – and it only made him hunger for her more. He was broken; he was an ass; there was a good chance that he would make a terrible father. But he wanted it because he wanted her.

  He slipped his cock out of her, quickly wiping down the length before tucking it back into his pants. He heard her small groan as she pushed herself up from the counter.

  “Fuck,” he swore, reaching down to help right her clothes. “Sorry, Princess. Couldn’t help myself.”

  “Don’t apologize.” She reached up on tip-toe to kiss him. “Did I complain?”

  “No, but I fucking hurt you.” She stayed his hands as they began to do up her jeans.

  “Did I say I didn’t like it?” She raised an eyebrow.

  His Princess had a naughty side.

  “I don’t deserve you.” His hands cupped the sides of her face and he kissed her again, loving the way her lips looked swollen from his attention.

  He paused, seeing the look of concern and hurt on her face. And just as quickly as he had noticed it, it was gone. “I need to go to the hospital. Morgan still isn’t answering me and I just have a feeling that something isn’t right.”

  “I’m sure he’d call if there was a problem.”

  Ana shook her head. “I don’t know about that. We weren’t on the best speaking terms and now, I just have this really unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach.”

  He nodded. He wanted more time with her – more time before he had to confront his friend and admit to the dick thing that he’d done – more time to come up with a remotely plausible reason for how he could be deserving of Ana. Right now, no matter what Ana thought, he didn’t have that and Morgan was going to be able to easily tear him to shreds for it.

  Then again, the worried look on her face told him that he didn’t have a choice in the matter; she had to go – even if going meant disaster for the two of them.

  He felt like the goddamn Beast to her Beauty – sending his Princess off to save, in this case, her brother, even though the very person she wanted to save was the one who would rightfully come to destroy him.

  “Go.” He agreed reluctantly. “You’re right.”

  She bit her lip. “I don’t know what all is going on with Tash and your friends, and I don’t want to push you; but at some point, Pierce, I need to know. I need to not be in the dark.”

  He gritted his teeth and nodded. As soon as she left, he was calling Sloane to figure out Tash’s life and then he was going to tell her.

  She reached up and kissed him gently on the lips. “I should be back shortly. I’m not sure if Morgan will be with me or not…” She trailed off, her silence speaking volumes.

  “I’ll talk to you later,” he promised, hearing her silent concern.

  He would do anything to be with her – including walking through hell, which in his case meant confronting her over-protective twin brother - and his friend.

  “I’ll hold you to that, Mr. Lane,” she teased half-heartedly, turning towards the door.

  “You know I live to please you, Your Majesty,” he growled back, following her as she grabbed her purse and walked out of the house.

  He waited, watching as she got into a cab. While doing so, he noticed a large, black SUV with tinted windows parked about a block down. His body went ice cold. As the cab pulled away, the SUV came alive, pulling a U-turn to follow Ana.

  Fucking hell. They thought Ana was Tash.

  Chapter 31

  “I need to talk to Sebastian,” Sloane’s voice remained aggravatingly calm amidst the chaos of what Pierce was dealing with right now. “Hold on, let me just conference him in.”

  Jesus fucking Christ. Why couldn’t people just do what he told them to?

  “Hello?” The fourth party entered the call.

  “GQ, we have a problem. Sanchez has men in London and they know that Tash is here.”

  Pierce found himself shocked by the amount and nature of expletives that came out of the other man’s mouth.

  “How the hell did this happen?” Sebastian bit out. “You couldn’t make either of the men give him up? I mean, Christ, do I have to come over there?”

  “And what, GQ? Hope your model face changes their fucking mind?” he bit out.

  Sloane interjected, “Does it matter right now? It is what it is. Tash isn’t safe there anymore; what do we do?”

  “You get her on a fucking flight home tomorrow, that’s what,” Pierce said again. “Because not only do they know she’s here – they think she is Ana.

  Silence.

  “Jesus. He’s right.” The agent’s smooth voice clipped over the line. “We need to bring her back and I need to bring her in and get a detail on her.”

  “Good,” he replied. “Now that we’ve all agreed to my idea. I’m going to go and deal with this fucking mess on my end.”

  “Pierce!” Sebastian’s voice stopped him. “Don’t tell her you talked to me. I’ll book the flight and have Sloane call you with the info
rmation.” He was the first to hang up.

  “You know she’s going to want to know if he was involved, right?” Pierce asked as he downed a shot of vodka, trying to keep his anger under control.

  “I know. Just try to keep his name out of it as much as you can, please, Pierce.”

  “I’ll do my best, but I’m not going to lie to her, not now,” he replied firmly. “Sloane, I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Yeah.”

  Pierce ended the call, glancing at the time on the microwave – almost nine. She’d left over an hour ago. His stomach burned - not because of the alcohol – but because of the fear that coursed through him wondering what was taking Ana so long, wondering why she hadn’t at least returned his text, wondering if something had happened to her.

  She’d messaged him when she’d arrived at the hospital and was trying to find Morgan. He’d texted her to call him so he could tell her about the SUV, but she hadn’t called. After getting the text about her arrival, he’d tried to call her but it had gone straight to voicemail and he’d cursed hospitals for their notoriously poor cell service. He messaged her again, this time telling her about the car and that she needed to call him, but he’d heard nothing back.

  He tried to call her on his way up the stairs to talk to Tash. The bone-chilling fear, knowing that those fuckers were following her, made him crazy. Every instinct was telling him to go to the hospital to check on her, but that would mean either taking Tash with him or leaving her here alone – both of which were horribly selfish options for him. He kept repeating over and over to himself that he knew that she made it there ok and that - thank fuck - she was on her way to Morgan – the only other man in the world who was willing to die protecting her like he was.

  Pinching the bridge of his nose viciously, he knocked on Tash’s door. At least this problem, he’d gotten somewhere with; at least he had some sort of answer for Tash, even though it meant uprooting her life again.

  She knew that something wasn’t right.