Absolute silence filled the space we were standing in, and he reached out, taking my hand. Tugging gently, he urged me forward, and I complied. I could hear the cloth as I stepped onto it as well.
“Okay, how about this? For right now, I just want to please you.”
I frowned for a moment and moved my eyes to where I was sure his face would be. “You have pleased me. Thank you for showing me your studio.”
He laughed softly as he moved even closer, and I felt his hands grip my arms lightly.
“This isn’t what I wanted to show you,” he assured me, leaning down to press a soft kiss against my left cheek.
At the first touch of his mouth against my skin, I sucked in a quick, deep breath and stiffened as he let me go.
He didn’t move far. “Hold out your hands for me?”
Confused but curious, I raised my arms and held them out.
“Palms up,” he instructed me.
Flipping my hands over, I was surprised when I felt a cool glob of liquid hit my palm.
“What are you doing?” I asked nervously. “What is this?”
“So many questions, Beauty. Relax. Trust me,” he teased, his voice taking on a seductive timbre.
I heard a rustle of movement and knew immediately that he’d moved away from me. I could hear him doing something, but what, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t understand what he had planned until he stepped back in front of my raised hands. Taking me by the wrists, he tugged me forward. I stumbled a little, nervous and uncertain of what was going on.
He whispered, “I want you to see me.”
My heart was now galloping in my chest, and my breathing was coming fast.
“How?” I asked, but I knew how. It was how the blind alwaysseepeople, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to touch him that way. I was already under his spell just from his voice alone. Touching him would make it impossible to ever surface.
Pulling my right wrist up, he placed it, wet palm down, on a very naked chest. He must have removed his shirt when he stepped away earlier. His chest was a little higher than my own breastbone, and his muscles were hard and solid.
He released my wrist. “I know you use touch to learn a person’s features. I thought it would be fun for you to paint me.”
Swallowing deeply, I let out a fit of nervous giggles. “So, I’m just going to…paint you?”
I knew that if I could see him, he would have a smile on his face. I could hear his happiness in his voice.
“Yes. Don’t worry. They’re watercolors,” he replied. “Then, maybe one day, you’ll let me paint you.”
Wow. Sitting in Phillipe’s chair, I stop for a moment, finding I need one.Hell, I might need several.I’m trying to imagine how Chantel must have felt. She stood in this very studio with paint on her hands andhimnaked from the chest up in front of her as he gave her permission to touch his body.
The fact of the matter is that I don’t have a clue how she felt.
Last night on the stairs, I froze like a statue, allowing him to do whatever he wanted with me, and he was fully clothed during our encounter. She was standing before him with the knowledge that he had removed clothing.Yes,my first conclusion is sound. I have no idea how she felt.
Staring down at that last line—Then, maybe one day, you’ll let me paint you—I’m struck at the simplicity of that moment in time. He made a request. Obviously, somewhere along the way, she granted him permission.And now?
Shaking my head, I am amazed by how much one moment can change your life forever. That moment certainly changed theirs.
Looking down at the journal in my lap, I pick it up and continue reading…
I could feel his heart beating under my palm—thump, thump, thump.
It was steady and calming, but by that stage, I was feeling anything but calm. I spread my fingers wide. The heel of my palm brushed against a pointy nub, his nipple. I moved my hand slowly, so my palm was covering his strong pec. His nipple was now pushing against the center of my hand.
“Touch me all over,” he offered suggestively.
