“I went ahead and sent the guys for their lunch break,” he said.
“Isn’t it a bit early? It’s not quite noon, I think,” I said.
“I think they deserve a long lunch break, don’t you?” he asked.
“I guess. How are things looking out there?”
“Pretty good. The outside of the building’s done. I can’t wait to show it to you. I’m working on the sign all day today while they move inside and begin painting the walls. You know, after lunch.”
“That’s so good! Oh, I can’t wait to see it,” I said, smiling.
He slid between my legs again, only this time, his hands fell to my waist. His fingertips pressed into my malleable skin as his eyes devoured my presence. I recognized that look. I’d seen it many times since we started seeing one another. I was shocked that he wanted to do this now with the looming threat of someone walking in and seeing what we are doing.
“Bryan?” I asked. “Is this appropriate?”
He lifted me from the chair, and I wrapped my legs around him. I couldn’t help but giggle with delight as his lips planted into the crook of my neck. He pressed me against the wall, and I could feel him growing to life against my leg. I knew what he was wanting to do.
And his words only confirmed it for me.
“I want to experience life with you,” he said as his face hovered over mine. “I want to take it as it comes like you do.”
His pulsing breath upon my lips trembled my jaw. I nuzzled his nose with mine, feeling the way his body responded under the smallest touch of my skin. His hands grasped my thighs, hoisting me farther up the wall before he planted his hands beside my head.
Then his lips crashed into mine, and everything else running through the back of my brain faded to black like the backdrop of his portrait.
Chapter 23
Bryan
My lips connected with hers and the fires in my gut burst into a forest of flames. Her legs squeezed me beautifully, and I could feel their thickness melding into my hips. I ran my hands up her shirt, trying to feel every inch of her I could as our tongues battled for dominance.
She was a radiant woman unlike any I’d ever known. She made me feel things I’d never felt before and made me recognize things I’d never dreamed I could see before. I loved this woman with a burning passion that had been lit the moment I knocked on her door all those weeks ago. The way her purple hair had caught my attention was only the beginning. Her free spirit and her passion for helping others rounded out the beautiful body I was sinking my fingertips into, and I could feel her shivering against me as she worked her shirt off her body.
I pulled her bra down and allowed her breasts to spill out. I drew one between my lips, feeling how her fingernails raked over the top of my scalp. I loved how she dug into me. How she fucked me with the same passion she threw into her artwork. It was like I was her blank canvas and her warmth and scent was painting onto my blank space time and time again. Every time I lay with her, it was a new experience. It was different, and carnal, and never devoid of emotion. She showered me with lust and poured her dedication over me.
In the arms of this woman, I felt strong and important. In the
arms of this woman, I felt capable and tall.
In the arms of this woman, I felt happy and grounded.
Hailey had come into my life like a whirlwind of giggles and plans and fantasies that seemed unable to be harnessed. I was hesitant to take on a project like that. Most clients who whirled about with fantastical thoughts and outcomes were hard to please. If there was one lesson I learned as I was starting this company, it was to get everything in writing from the get-go. When you had a client who was unsure or stuck in their heads, you needed to outline every single detail and get them to sign off on it. That way, if they changed the plan mid-game, you could legally charge them for the extra time and materials.
I’d been worried Hailey would be exactly like that, another one of those clients who whirled around with her head in the clouds and had no idea about what she truly wanted. But when she asked me up to her apartment on that very first date we had together, I saw the glint in her eye. I saw her going after what she truly wanted, and I knew then and there she was unlike any client I’d ever had.
I knew she would change my life somehow. I just didn’t realize that meant I would fall in love with her.
Her back arched into me, and I could feel the warmth between her legs growing. My mouth devoured her breast, suckling and marking as my hands drifted all over her body. She pulled my face deeper into her skin, deeper into the milky softness I lost myself in every single time my lips connected with hers. I grasped her beautiful ass, hoisting her from the wall as she fell into my face.
Her arms wrapped around my neck while she giggled, and I placed her quickly onto the table as I scooted the painting over.
It pained me a bit that she was scared of my reactions, like being scared I would’ve gotten upset with her over painting me. I wanted to hide my sadness from her. I wanted to hide my dark side from her. But her light was so enticing, and when you stood in the light of someone who shone as brightly as Hailey did, they were bound to see your flaws underneath their microscope. Hailey had managed to capture the very sadness I held close to my heart. The very stoic nature that brewed right behind my eyes. Her intuitive nature was something I couldn't hide from, and as she peeled back the layers of my clothing every time I made love to her, I felt as if she was pulling back another layer of myself I’d thrown up to keep myself guarded.
I found myself wanting to bare it all for her. I wanted to let her shine her bright light into the darkest parts of my soul and break up the black she had painted on the background of my portrait.
She lifted herself up off the table and toward me while her hands began to dance over the button of my pants. I pulled my shirt from my back before I undid her bra, feeling her hands push my pants down as my erection sprang free. The smile on her face brought joy to my soul, clenching around my heart as I felt about being deep inside of her. I kicked our discarded clothes off to the side as I bunched her skirt up, pulling her panties off to the side as I climbed onto the table.
She was so wet for me, and I groaned as I slid my fingertips slowly up her slit.