No,my mind was screaming. I had no idea what I was doing. Instead of telling him that, I responded shyly, “Yes. Okay.”
I actually felt the rumble against my palm this time as a low laugh bubbled out of his chest and throat.
“Don’t stop now, Beauty. Learn about who sees you. See me.”
The paint was dripping beneath my palm. It was probably sliding over his stomach, so I slowly started to move my hand down the side of his body. I kept my left hand palm up, so the paint stayed in my hand. I concentrated on smoothing my other fingers down his ridged ribs. Tracing every single groove, I licked my lips before flattening my wet palm, caressing his corrugated abdominal muscles.
He shifted, and I felt his shudder as he sucked in a deep breath.
Stopping my exploration, I tilted my head up to where his eyes would be. “Should I stop?”
I waited for an answer to come. Instead of a verbal response, he reached out and gripped my left hand, pulling it forward, with a bit more force than necessary, to place it on the neglected half of his body.
“Definitely don’t stop, Chantel,” he ordered me.
I felt him raise his hands up behind his head.
Taking a calming breath, I took my bottom lip between my teeth and concentrated as I mirrored the same path my first hand had followed.
With my right hand still on his lower abdomen and my left hand reaching his navel, I found myself becoming more aggressive. I stepped forward and traced each abdominal muscle individually before dipping my wet finger into his navel. A loud groan slid free from his mouth. It thrilled me somewhere deep—somewhere I was not familiar with.
His body was amazing, a true work of art in every sense of the word. In my mind, I could see the dips and shadows, the valleys and sharp ridges, and the more I touched him, the bolder I became.
I took the final step toward him, closing the distance between us. I left enough space so I could still move my hands as I guided both index fingers down to his naked hipbones. His hands came to rest on mine, and that was when my breath caught. He hauled me forward and slammed his mouth onto my own.
Our first kiss was a brutal onslaught. I moaned as he slid his tongue in to rub up against mine. I dragged my paint-covered hands up his arms and slid them over his muscular neck. As he pulled his mouth away, he swallowed, and I could feel his Adam’s apple move. That’s when I began touching his face voraciously, like a starving woman.
His hands were in my hair, and I could feel them gripping tightly as I stroked his strong, masculine chin and jaw, thendipped my finger into a cleft at the center of his chin. Tracing over light stubble, I dragged my nails lightly over his cheeks, moving up to his high cheekbones. I smoothed four fingers of each hand across the sides of his broad face. Breathing deeply, I traced his beautiful, strong nose with my index fingers.
My sensual exploration ended with my fingers gliding up between his brows, smoothing them across his forehead. His face had to be covered in paint by now, but he didn’t seem to care.
Feeling his breath whisper across my parted lips, I closed my eyes, letting my head fall back into the cradle of his hands.
Softly, I asked him, “What color eyes do you have?”
“Green,” he replied quickly. “Have you seen green before?”
“No,” I told him.
“Then why ask?”
“Seemed like the right thing to do.” Before he could ask me anything else, I asked, “What color hair?”
“Brown.” He chuckled.
I felt him lower his head down until I could taste the breath he was breathing out. He was addictive. This feeling of intoxication was addictive.
“Do you see me?” he asked.
I rested my hands on his cheeks and opened my eyes.
It was an odd question to ask of a blind woman, but as I stared directly into what I now knew were his green eyes, I replied, “Yes, I see you perfectly.”
Day Four
Phillipe wasn’t able to go back to see Gemma last night, and now, it’s morning.
He knows what part she has been reading, and no matter what he agreed to, he cannot subject himself to the fucking heartache that would come from remembering that first meeting with Chantel.
