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“Shhh, sweetheart. I’m going to help you, okay?”

“Nix…” I start but I don’t know what else to say. The last time I was this anxious I was still living with Ryan. Not that I think Nix would do anything to hurt me but I’m so afraid of getting my hopes up again. I miss painting. I don’t feel like myself without it.

“The problem isn’t your talent, baby. It’s your head and I’m going to help you get out of your own way. Just give it a try, okay?”

Putting my faith in him, I nod my head and say, “Okay.”

“I’ve got all your colors laid out for you already.” He points to a piece of cardboard with globs of paint on it. My eyebrow quirks up when I see the colors he’s chosen — red, pink, purple, gray, and black.

What is he up to?

“Trust me, baby.” Taking a deep breath, I nod again. With his hands on my hips, he positions us in front of the easel. “Pick a color, Em.” My body is still tense but I listen to him and dip my paintbrush in the red glob of paint.

“Good, sweetheart. Now, close your eyes.” My brow knits in confusion and I try to turn around in his arms to look at him. His hands tighten on his hips. “Close your eyes, Emma.” I suck in a breath and do as he says, curiosity starting to override my trepidation. “Just feel, Em. Feel me.” One hand leaves my hip and slides across my lower belly.

“What are you doing?” I can’t stop my eyes from opening.

“Such a stubborn woman,” he mutters, almost to himself. “Close your eyes, Emma, and don’t open them until I say so.”

I growl in frustration but listen to his instructions. His lips meet the skin on my neck as he lays kisses down the side and pulls me back into his hips. A moan slips past my lips. He kisses back up my neck to nip at my ear and my body bows against him.

“Nix.”

“That’s it, baby. Don’t think, just feel.”

I do my best to turn my mind off and just feel him. His hand slips under the material of my tank top and my breath hitches.

“You feel me, Em?”

“Yes.”

“Good, now open your eyes and paint.” His words startle me and my eyes pop open. Again, I try to turn but his hands lock on my hips again. “No, baby. Don’t think. Just feel and paint.”

I try to listen to him but my mind is racing again and I can’t help the doubts that fill me. “Nix, I can’t.”

“Okay. We’ll start again. Close your eyes, Emma.”

Now that I know his plan, I close my eyes immediately and wait for his touch. He doesn’t disappoint. His hand slips under my tank top again and he moves it up to cup my breast. When his thumb brushes over my nipple, my breath stutters and a shiver races through my body.

“Nix,” I moan.

“Okay, now paint, Em.” He kisses just behind my ear. My eyes pop open and my mind completely blanks out as I raise my paintbrush to the canvas and begin painting. “Good, baby. Keep going,” he coos in my ear, kissing down my neck again. Goose bumps break out over my body and I press my hips back into him. His touch grows firmer as he rubs his solid length into me.

Before long, my brush is flying across the piece and I realize that it’s working. It’s not a huge piece and it’s not anything that I carefully planned out but I am painting.

Nix slides his hand from my breast down to the band of my shorts, slipping under it and finally stopping between my legs. His fingers swirl over my clit and my eyes drift shut as I drop my head back onto his shoulder and moan. The brush stops moving as I just soak up his touch.

His hand disappears from my body and I cry out in frustration. “As long as you’re painting, I’ll keep touching you.”

“Do you have any idea how hard this is?” I’m all but stomping my foot at him. He chuckles at me.

“Paint, Emma.”

The command in his voice should make me freeze up, should turn me off and bring up my past, but it doesn’t. Not even close. That authoritative tone makes me feel hot. Makes me crave his touch even more than I did before. I begin painting again, needing his hands on me. As soon as the brush begins stroking over the canvas, I get my reward.

His hand slips under the band of my shorts again and he slides two fingers inside me. I moan loudly and my legs shake. I do my best to keep painting but between him sliding his fingers in and out of me and his lips kissing a trail up my neck, I’m barely getting by.

“You’re so beautiful.” His warm breath rushes over my ear. My teeth sink into my lip and I have to fight to keep my eyes open. “Inside and out,” he continues. “I’ve never met a girl like you. You are kind.” Lips press against the skin behind my ear and my breath stutters. “Sweet and smart.” Teeth sink into my earlobe and my fingers tighten on the paintbrush. “And funny and everything I never even knew I needed.”