His heartbeat races under my palm. He’s thin, but as I glide my makeshift paint along his body, I can feel the lean muscles beneath.
Dipping his chin, he tracks my every movement before breaking into a shaky smile. “You are a terrible artist.”
“Never insult a genius while he’s working.” I trace a circle around his belly button, then lower, over a small thatch of hair that dips beneath his toga.
His breath hitches, and he clasps my arm. “My turn.”
“By all means.” I drop my cloak to the ground. “I shall give you the most splendid canvas. In fact, I’m willing to be entirely nude.”
Even in the dim light, I notice his cheeks reddening. “Uh, no. This will be more than enough space. Go sit by the water.”
I do as I’m instructed and watch as Fare scoops a palmful of radiant essence. He dumps it into a pile beside me.
“Now, you have to close your eyes,” he says.
I do and dissolve into the feeling of his hands over my chest. I think he might be using the water to dilute some of the paint as he glides and wisps it across my body. His warm breath caresses my skin as he leans closer.
“I should have brought my reading glasses,” he mumbles. I crack a lid open, seeing his brow furrowed in concentration. He shoots me a glare. “I’m not finished.”
His hand covers my eyes, but he effortlessly slides his fingers down my face, thumb brushing my lips. A strange anticipation prickles through me. A new feeling.
With my previous lovers, the intent was always there from the start. We’d fuck and it would be fabulous. I don’t do…whatever this is.
Because this boy can’t become a lover. It’s one thing to ignore Damocles’s request that I court the Autumn Prince. It would be like spitting in his face to fuck one of the Autumn Realm’s staff. As much as Iloveannoying my eldest brother, there are some lines I can’t cross.
No matter how good Fare’s hands feel on my body. No matter how I can’t help imagining him touching other parts of me, the sounds he would make as I enter him, the expression on his face as I trace those freckles on his nose with my tongue.
“Can I open my eyes yet?” I rasp.
“Almost done.”
His fingers move in slow, deliberate strokes, and I hiss as he passes over one of my nipples.
“Sorry,” he gasps.
“Don’t be sorry. Just do it again.”
I hear his sharp inhale. “Done.”
“Shame.” I keep my eyes closed, pitying the fact he’s stopped touching me. “Sure you don’t want to paint the rest of me while you’re all gooey?”
“You don’t even know if you like it.”
Reluctantly, I open my eyes and tilt my chin down. My heartbeat stutters, and I stand, peering at my reflection in the water to get a better view.
While the lines I drew over him are squiggly and jagged, their path obviously an excuse for where I wanted to touch him, he has created a masterpiece. Detailed shells merge into beautiful arching curves of the sea. A sun, shrouded by wispy clouds, hovers over my right pectoral.
“You’re making me look bad, Little Leaf,” I say with a smile.
He stands before me, shifting from foot to foot and biting his lip in an all too tempting way. The marks on our bodies emit an ethereal glow between us.
“I like mine too,” he says.
“Well, you should. It’s also a masterpiece.”
He shakes his head, auburn curls falling across his brow. “I mean, I hadyou. All you had to work on wasme.”
I don’t know what happened to this man back in the Autumn Realm, but his self-talk needs improvement. I grasp his jaw and force his gaze to mine. “What are you talking about? You’re beautiful.”
