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When I unceremoniously dropped the robe into a puddle on the floor, her audible gasp and rapid flick of her eyes down my body, then frantically away, piqued my interest. I’d assumed she was chasing Seb, and perhaps she was, but hadn’t the Professor said about her drawing me previously?
“Is there a problem, Poppy? You just spent the last two hours staring at me naked, seems a little disingenuous to blush now.” I grinned wickedly, crossing my arms over my chest and making no move to get my clothes.
“Yes, when you were amodel, Keane. Did you really come here to…to stalk me or something? If this is about Seb…” She swallowed and snapped her eyes to mine, her chin taking on a defiant tilt. Spitfire of a girl, this one - it wasn’t unappealing, I supposed. I could, reluctantly, admit that Seb wasn’t wrong to find her intriguing.
But still - I’d come here for a reason, and it was to get her the hell out of our lives. “It is about Seb, as a matter of fact. He’s mine, and I’d appreciate it if you would stop flirting with him.”
Her jaw tensed, hurt flashing momentarily through her eyes. “Well, fine, but I didn’t approach him, you know. He was the one that’s been hitting on me. HellIwas the one that pumped the brakes by asking what was going on with the two of you - I’m not interested in coming between anyone, Keane. I’m sorry if I did.”
The way her shoulders dropped made this little game less fun. Something suspiciously like guilt crept into my stomach and I reached for my clothes. “It’s…that’s alright. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
She laughed softly, shaking her head. “I wouldn’t call it uncomfortable, exactly. I’m glad to clear the air, though - I didn’t want there to be bad blood while I’m trying to sketch you two on Friday.”
I frowned, zipping up and buttoning my pants before turning back to her. “Why would you sketch us? Seb told you what we need, didn’t he?”
She blinked, eyes dropping to her sketchbook as she bit her lip. “Well, I mean, I thought he did? He said it was something very personal to the two of you, and he swore me to secrecy, so I just assumed…”
I know I’d just gotten done apologizing for teasing her, but when she made it so easy, I couldn’t be blamed for taking the bait. “Assumed what, Poppy?”
“You wanted a…you know…anadultdrawing of the two of you…together?” Her voice crept up an octave and she winced at me.
Chapter 5 - Poppy
Oh god. Ohgod.
Had I really misunderstood Sebastian that badly, and justadmittedit to Keane? He still stood there, shirtless and stupidly hot, a bemused expression softening his features as things clicked into place for him.
“Ahh. And when Seb told you I wanted to demonstrate what we wanted, you thought-” Something wicked danced in his eyes as he moved a step closer.
Was it hot in here? It felt hot in here. My stupid goddamn fitness watch buzzed again and I tore it off and chucked it into a box of rulers. Fucking snitch.
“Look, Keane, I don’t know! He’s hot, you’re hot, I’m good at drawing and it just seemed like…you know, like maybe I’d get money and a fun party story out of it. I don’tknow. It sounds dumb now that I’m saying it out loud.” I hissed an aggrieved sigh and shoved a hand through my hair, embarrassment burning through me. I can’t believe I’d jumped to a conclusion like that - I decided I was going to blame it on sun exposure if Keane pressed me.
“You think I’m hot, do you?” His smile was the kind of predatory that made it hard to stand still. I wasn’t afraid, not really, but Keane seemed to enjoy keeping me guessing - what he’d say next, what he’d do next. “Is that why you’ve been sketching me?”
Ah fuck. He heard the Prof.
My heart thudded in my chest as he stepped closer, in my space now. “I needed a stern model and you frowned at me a lot. So sue me. If it bothers you I won’t -”
The tiny storeroom was hot, but Keane’s mouth was hotter as it unexpectedly claimed mine, all self-assured confidence that invited me to melt into it, words lost in the unfairly talented twist of his tongue. He broke off the kiss after a blissfully long moment, resting his forehead on mine, his voice a low growl. “You are annoying, persistent, and beautiful. I see what Seb sees in you.”
That heat slid straight between my legs at his words, a strange mix of insult and praise. “Thanks?”
He chuckled, twining his fingers in the back of my hair with a casual possessiveness that, I was ashamed to admit, damn near had me panting. “We do not needadultdrawings, Poppy. I need you to draw special sigils, and the linework is precise. Can you do that for me? For Seb and I?”
I nodded mutely, trying to concentrate on his words instead of the hot press of his body, trapping me against the metal storage rack behind us. “And Seb told you we had money for you, yes?” A long, dextrous finger twined a lock of my hair at the nape of my neck. I managed another nod.
Keane’s lips practically burned down the side of my neck, which I very happily exposed to him. This isnothow I thought the day was going to go, but damned if I wasn’t happy to let this particular scenario play out. “A woman tried to come between Seb and I before, Poppy, and it’s never going to happen again. I’m going to get the upper hand this time, you understand me?”
He gave a soft tug to my hair and I swallowed a groan. “Yes. Yes, please.” I didn’t even know what the hell I was asking for, but I’d never been so wet in my damnlife. My brain might still consider Keane an unredeemable douchecanoe, but my body was ready to run through a field of flags as red as my namesake to get to him.
His hand hit the wall to the side of the rack as our lips crashed together again, the errant light switch plunging the tiny room into darkness. That was just fine with me, Keane felt like a dirty, illicit secret I couldn’t wait to explore. Fuck, I could lose my goddamn placement if they found out I was fucking around with a model - butKeane wasn’t a model, right? I clung to that paper-thin justification as closely as the man himself, currently grinding his hips into me at just the right angle.
“Fuck, why do you smell so good?” There was that growl again, evaporating every last ounce of sense in my head. Hell, I could ask him the same thing - there was the faintest whiff of burnt sugar, something like dessert wafting off of him. Previous models had smelled of soap, and more often BO after a long session under the lights, but not Keane. No, he was as infuriatingly delicious in scent as he was visually and I wanted to lick him more than anything on earth right now.
I tapped the metal rack with an open palm, using it to navigate and clumsily dragging Keane with me as we kissed hungrily. I pulled the two of us down onto a pile of blankets and folded mats we used on the dias in the classroom - it was lumpy but it’d do for now.
Keane shoved his pants off with the same speed he’d put them on, hesitating at my own fly as I pushed my shoes off. I pressed his hand into the button at my waist, whimpering with a sudden, overwhelming need. My clothes were too tight, too constricting - I needed to be naked, I needed Keane, and I needed him in me. He slid them off, and I kicked them free impatiently, reaching for him.
