Page 10 of Beautiful Heart

“Yes,” she said. “There are a bunch more in my storage space in the basement. Why?”

She wasn’t sure what he was thinking as he turned back to study the painting she had done in response to her teacher’s request for a painting depicting the word “magic.” She had taken the class as part of her therapy after the car accident, and found she loved the various painting techniques and the magic that came from applying paint to canvas.

She had scoffed when her instructor offered to show them to a gallery owner he knew. She knew she wasn’t good enough, no matter what he had said. She just liked to take mental images she got and see how accurately she could replicate them into a picture. She’d gotten pretty good at it, but the visions came faster than she could paint them, and supplies cost money she didn’t have. So, the completed paintings took up more and more space, and she had given up the hobby.

“From what I see here, you have talent. Have you ever thought of having a show and selling them?”

“My teacher once offered to set me up with a gallery, but I turned him down. I’m not good enough to be a real painter,” she said, using air quotes around the last words.

Livingston looked at her with a slight frown creasing his brow as he crossed to stand in front of her. “You’d be surprised how real a painter you are. But we’ll talk about that another time. For now, I need to ask a question and your answer will determine how the rest of the evening goes.”

Gerri simply lifted her right eyebrow in silent query. She had a feeling she knew what he was going to ask, but still wasn’t sure what her answer would be. Should she allow her head to prevail and pretend to be a good girl who refuses to have sex on their first official date? Or should she follow her heart that was screaming at her to grab hold of this man and not let him go until he had made her his mate?

When his hand covered her cheek, she blinked and returned her focus to him. “What’s your question?”

****

His cock throbbing with the need to claim this woman as his own, Livingston moved both hands to her shoulders. He began to gently massage the knots he felt there, working the muscles to softness. She moaned as her shoulders relaxed, sounding so sexy that his cock twitched in response.

“Do you need more time? Or do you wish me to claim you as my mate?”

He thought he knew what her answer would be and wasn’t surprised when she closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again to look up at him. “I … I need time. You’re talking about changing my entire life for a man I’ve known less than twenty-four hours. I’ve always been accused of being a turtle when it comes to making any kind of decision, and this is the biggest decision of my life.”

While her request for time disappointed him, the tears that filled her eyes had him force a smile on his lips as he nodded in agreement. “Whatever you need, my princess. Just know that I will be doing everything I can to persuade you to see things my way.”

Gerri nodded, blinked, and looked relieved. “That sounds reasonable.”

“Starting now…” Livingston took the half step that separated them. As he did, he slid his arms around her back. One bracketed her waist while the other braced her shoulders. He pulled her closer and closer until the only things separating them were the layers of their clothing.

He grinned but didn’t otherwise respond at the soft sound she made when his hard cock pressed into her belly. She buried her face in his chest, no doubt trying to hide the hot pink flush that now covered her cheeks. He dropped a kiss on top of her head before pressing his cheek to the same spot.

“While I would love to claim you as my mate tonight, how about we just make out a bit to relax you so you can sleep?” he said gently, wondering if he could hold back the monster inside his soul who demanded he mate her despite her hesitation.

She dropped her head back and looked up at him through heavy-lidded eyes. The heat he saw there matched the burning need low in his belly. “I think I’d like that,” she whispered. She slid a hand behind his neck and pulled him down for a kiss—a hot-wet-lips-parted-tongues-tangling kiss that proved how compatible they really were.

Slipping his hands down to Gerri’s generous ass, he bent his legs, then straightened so her feet dangled a few inches from the ground. Then, without breaking the kiss, he shuffled across the room to the big overstuffed chair sitting in front of the small flat-screen television.

He sat down and arranged the woman so she sat across his legs. He broke the kiss for a moment so they could catch their breath before starting up again. Gerri remained a willing participant in everything he did, to a point. His hand slipping between her legs to slowly stroke up and down her right inner thigh had her freezing. When he got to an inch from her pussy, her legs slammed together, trapping his hand between them.

This time she turned her head and broke their lip-lock. Instead of verbally protesting, she simply stared across the room. He wasn’t sure if she was lost in memories, or trying to come up with a way to kick him out. He would have pulled his hand back, but her legs were pressed tight around it.

“If you don’t want to continue, just say so, Princess. I won’t be hurt or offended. I’m willing to take things at your speed.”

She stunned him when she turned her face to look at him as her legs relaxed and moved apart. “I’m so close, I just needed a moment so I wouldn’t come the second you touched me,” she admitted in a whisper so soft a bland male would not have heard her.

His cock twitched in anticipation as he fought back a grin. “Then come, sweet princess. You don’t know what an ego boost it is to know my touch affects you so strongly. Come again and again as many times as you can.”

She blinked then her cheeks grew even pinker as she dropped her gaze to his chin. “I’ve never come more than once before.”

Livingston chuckled as his hand slid to her knee and then back up again. “Then its time you did, don’t you think?”

When she gave a small nod, he closed the last fraction of an inch and laid his hand on the silky material covering her pussy. It was soaking wet, proving she was as aroused as he expected. Shifting his hand, he pushed the fabric aside and stroked his fingers over the bare skin of her lower lips. His eyes widened. “You’re bare?”

She nodded, her gaze now directed at her lap. “I did it once and my husband liked it so much I just kept it up. When he … well, let’s just say I like the feel, too, so I keep it bare.”

“Mmmm,” Livingston purred as his index finger traveled the valley between those lips, moving deeper and deeper with each stroke. That finger traveled from her open pussy up to the knotted flesh of her clitoris.

Finally, he shifted his hand again, using the pad of his thumb to rub over the top of her clit while two fingers slowly inched into her pussy. He marveled at the heat, the wetness, and the scent of her pussy as he pressed two fingers as deep as possible. He began a slow in and out fucking motion, pleased to his toes when her hips began to move in counterpoint to his hand. Soon she was fucking herself on his fingers.