AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I have no idea what I’m doing.”
Tanith managed to hide her smile behind her canvas, which currently had a simplistic outline of her back garden drawn out. When she was finished, she’d feather in some color, maybe hang it by the back door in the kitchen. Blake, meanwhile, had been stabbing his canvas for about twenty minutes now with a whole mishmash of paints, and she couldn’t imagine it looked like much of anything.
Still, she’d been over the moon ever since he offered to paint with her—so she didn’t care what kind of work he produced. All that mattered was that he wasn’t miserable. She’d been stealing glances around her painting, as their canvases sat against one another while they worked, and while he’d seemed a bit lost, at no point did he seem like he wanted to make a run for it.
And he very well could have. The door wasn’t locked. He could jog up those stairs, grab his stuff, and get out if he wanted to. It wouldn’t end well for their little spat, but at least Tanith would have a very clear idea of where they stood. As of that moment, she finally had a clear idea too—only it was for the better, not worse. The fact that Blake would put himself in unfamiliar waters willingly spoke volumes.
“Let me have a look,” she said, setting her pencil aside and grabbing her unused brush, prepared to touch something up as needed. However, as she sauntered around the table and took in what he had created, Tanith knew right away she wouldn’t need to correct anything.
Even if Blake had used a whole slew of color, it just worked. Abstract. Modern. It almost looked like the kind of art you find in big box stores, the sort college kids purchase cheaply to add a touch of class to their apartment; the next step between movie posters and actual real art, the kind you cherished for decades after paying a hefty price for perfection.
“Well?” He held his hands up like he was waiting for a scrub nurse to slide gloves onto them pre-surgery. Somehow, despite all the paint splatter across his shirt, he’d managed to keep those hands of his clean. “What do you think? Am I totally art-illiterate?”
She laughed, sliding an arm around his muscular torso and standing up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “No. Not even a little. I think it’s lovely.”
“Really?” Blake scrutinized his work with a squint. “You think?”
Tanith tilted her head to one side, as though appraising a new masterpiece. “I do. In fact, I think you should give it to Hayley as an early birthday present. She’ll make me hang it over her bed, I’m sure of it.”
He seemed to stand a little straighter at the thought. “Huh. I can live with that.”
“As you should. It’s an honor to make the wall of fame in that girl’s bedroom.” Tanith studied the blend of colors a few moments more; he really did have an eye for that sort of thing. However, when she felt his gaze wandering the side of her face, she glanced up with a smile, the look in his eye making her heart skip a beat. It was a look she was getting to know quite well these days: a glimmer of desire hiding behind that breathtaking gaze.
There it was again—that pull, that instinct kicking in, telling her to kiss him, touch him, hold him forever. Tanith hadn’t ever felt so nutty over a man before, yet with Blake, it was like every gut instinct was to throw herself at him and never let go.
At this point, she wasn’t sure how comfortable she was with that. So, to break the tension, just as he dipped down to kiss her, Tanith tickled his lips with her clean, unused paintbrush, giggling as he sputtered.
“Foul play,” he murmured, tossing his paintbrush onto the table and turning his full attention on her. “Red card, ref…”
She’d thought she had his full attention before, but this look, the timbre of his voice, sent a shudder of desire through her that made her weak-kneed and light-headed. What was it with this man that drove her so crazy?
Biting down on her lower lip, Tanith ducked out of the way when he tried to wrap his arms around her. A mischievous smirk spread across his lips, and she laughed when he chased after her, corralling her around her small basement, full of storage boxes and old paintings and a couch-TV combo that no one ever used. The way he stalked after her made her think of a predator, his moves calculated, his energy expended with forethought—whereas Tanith flailed about like a wounded deer, her scent drawing the hunter in.
He caught her around the waist just as she tried to skirt around the couch and make a run back for their art station. A rather embarrassing squeal slipped out when he hoisted her up, legs kicking out and all, and threw her over his shoulder. “Blake!”
“What?” He swatted at her butt as adrenaline pounded through her, Tanith’s heart racing and her cheeks aching from her ceaseless smile. “I’ve claimed my prize. I think it’s only fair that I get to do whatever I want with her to celebrate my victory.”
He set her back down carefully, and then pinned her against the wall. Her eyes widened, a powerful combination of surprise, fear, and excitement slamming into her hard as he snatched her wrists and pinned them up by her head. All thoughts of her new job, their fight, and his art went out the window as she tried to steady her breathing.
Blake hovered a breath away from her lips, his eyes seeming darker as they held hers. There was the predator. But was she truly the prey? Pressed between the wall and his rock-hard figure, she certainly didn’t feel like prey. Prey wasn’t desired. It wasn’t lusted after and adored. For it was plain as day, when Blake captured her lips in a fiery, open-mouthed kiss, that he lusted after, adored, and cherished her.
And all without saying a word. So Tanith let herself fall. She let herself be captured, claimed, and devoured.
Her hands dropped to his pants, hastily unsnapping buttons and tugging down zippers, just as Blake snapped up the bottom of her dress and yanked it over her head. She winced when he caught her earrings along the way, but quickly forgot about it when he kissed her again, consuming her, his tongue thrusting into her mouth as his hands roamed her body freely, heatedly, caressing her curves and worshipping her breasts. Tanith whispered his name, softly, her voice trembling, and he responded with a groan, grinding his hips against hers, his hardness brushing over her most sensitive spot at the crest of her slick sex.
She practically shredded his shirt, desperate for more skin-on-skin contact, though Blake wasn’t any better with the way he yanked off her panties, nearly tearing them in two along the way. While one hand clutched her face, pinning her there as he worshipped her with his mouth, the other delved between her thighs. The groan he made when he found her wet and wanting almost pushed her over the edge—that was all she needed when it came to Blake, apparently.
“Please,” she whispered, hooking a leg around him and drawing him closer. “Please, Blake…”
“Sweetheart, with me, you never have to ask twice,” he growled against her.
She let out a little squeal when he nipped at her swollen bottom lip, then moaned when the head of his shaft brushed along her opening. She wriggled in place, trying to do a little capturing herself, but his body kept her stiller than she would have liked. Until he slipped into her, thrusting hard and fast so that he filled her in one swift motion. The pain intermingled with pleasure made her gasp, and she threw her head back, mouth dropped open in a soundless cry as they became one.
“Are you okay?” he murmured, hoisting her legs up and wrapping them around his hard midsection.
She nodded, biting down on her lower lip. “I’m great,” she whispered back. “You’re great. Please, just take me—”
Blake fucked her slow and steady, each rhythmic thrust bringing her higher and higher, until she was in the company of stars and planets, far from all her problems and fears. They lost themselves in one another, their lovemaking like a beating heart—one that eventually raced and pounded, their joint cries and groans and gasps a private symphony meant only for their ears. Until it was all over, and there was nothing but blissful silence. Wrapped in Blake’s arms, sweaty and satisfied, Tanith liked the silence most of all.
