I smile against him, a warm buzzing flowing through me. I’m hismuse.
“Is that okay?” he asks, nervousness trapped between each word.
Tilting my head back to look up at him, I speak nothing but the truth as I tell him, “More than okay.”
Chapter Fifteen
. . . DOESN’T HAVE TO STAY AT THE WATERFALL
CARSON
The other night at the waterfall was yet another damn near magical experience with Orie. Everything I do with her feels whimsical, like it’s straight out of a fairytale…and those weren’t even a big obsession of mine throughout my youth.
First kiss with her in the most beautiful crystal-filled cave? Magical.
First intimate moment under the stars and moonlight, in awaterfall? Straight out of a movie.
Everything with her is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. All I want to do is experience this silly thing called life with her. She breathes new energy into everything I see, everything I do.
The world shifts at her feet, and I don’t think she even realizes it.
At least my world does.
My cabin is full of completed canvases, all of which are inspired by her. I’ve painted everything I feel when I’maround her. How the sun looks when she’s next to me, and a lot more dynamic lighting pieces. The shadows hold so much in every piece. I can’t wait to show the world.
There’s a knock at my cabin door, and my heart skips a beat—she’s here.
I invited her over to show her just some of the work I’ve done since she came into my life. I want her to know that she truly is my muse, and I mean it in every sense of the word.
Quickly, I cross the room and throw the door open. Orie stands there, dressed in all black and looking as radiant as ever. She is beautiful inside and out, and the connection and draw to her runs deeper than the hells she came from.
“You are so gorgeous,” I say, just taking her in for a moment before moving to the side.
“Thank you.” She narrows her eyes at me, but her cheeks have a slight redness to them that isn’t usually there. “Is that why you wanted me to come over? To tell me that you think I’m gorgeous?”
I shake my head, closing the door once she’s fully inside. “No, I actually have something I wanted to ask you—or I guess, ask you to do? But you don’t actually have todoanything.”
My nerves are racing through me, taking over my mind. I’m not even sure if what I just said to her madeanysense. Gods, I need to get a grip. I know she feels the same thing I do, but that doesn’t keep the nerves at bay.
“What is it?” She cocks a brow, walking slowly around the cabin and examining it and all the things I have strewn about.
All I can do it watch her. She moves so swiftly andsmoothly, there can’t be a single clumsy bone in her body. Everything she does is elegant—every flick of her tail, every expression.
Her hair always looks so glossy, and I swear the navy blue has more depth to it every time I see her. Those eyes are so magnetic, when she looks at me, all I can do is get lost in them.
And her skin is so smooth—she is living art. But imagine artonart.
“Can I…paint on you?”
She narrows her eyes, her smile faltering. “Why?”
I close the space between us, taking her hands in mine. “Orie, you are the most divine being to exist in this lifetime and the next. You alone have opened my eyes to the beauty that exists in shades of gray, in the darkness of the night.”
Her eyes search mine, the corner of her lips giving away the smile she fights to hide. “Go on.”
I waste no time in continuing. “I used to be afraid of anything that wasn’t slightly abstract, that didn’t involve bright colors at the forefront. Now, though, I feel it in my soul that I was always meant to indulge in the realism and depth that comes with darker colors—with grays, blacks, the deepest of blues.”
She takes her hands gently from mine, and for a brief second, I fear my explanation wasn’t enough. I open my mouth to say more, but her finger gently presses against my mouth.
