Page 196 of If You Give an Artist a Killer Muse

If I weren’t shocked, I would have applauded for her audacity.

She stands up, her face now brimming with intense anger. Aw, fuck. Did I push too far? I fucked up again, didn’t I?

When all she does is stare back at me, I swallow hard and take a step closer to her, my hands out to show her I don’t mean any harm. “Briar, listen—”

“Pussycat!”

I froze at the safe word.

My body clams up as I stand there rigidly.

Fuck. I did push too far.

I nod, backing away from her. “Okay. Okay, I’ll leave you alone.”

But she just shakes her head. “I have boundaries. Rules.”

I blink, surprised that she’s not asking me to leave again. That’s a good thing, right? I clear my throat and nod. “Yeah. Of course. What are they?”

She lifts her chin again and looks down at me with harsh eyes. “You can’t keep treating me like a piece of trash every time we see each other.”

I open my mouth to tell her I didn’t mean to treat her like that, but she snaps. “Don’t you fucking dare interrupt me. I listened to your boundaries. Listen to mine.”

I shut up.

She glares at me and continues, “I don’t care if you don’t want anyone to know what we do at night, but we can at least pretend to be friends out in public, can’t we?”

I swallow hard and nod. “Yeah, Briar. We can do that.”

She purses her lips, her anger slowly draining. She blinks a few times, staring at me with her brows scrunching together.

I offer a small smile.

Her lips twitch slightly as if she doesn't realize that simple gesture is powerful enough to bring me down to my knees.

Briar then sighs and looks down.

Then, as if she remembers something else, she straightens up again and adds, “Stop leaving and running away from me every night we spend time together. From now on, you sleep here with me. Am I understood?”

I pounce on her like a starved animal.

Because I am.

Starving.

She squeaks as she falls back on the couch with me on top of her. I kiss her face, starting with her forehead, eyelids, nose tip, corner of her lips, chin, and now nibbling on her throat.

The little groans she makes vibrate inside me, and my dick twitches as if seeking for its home.

“What the hell are you doing?” Briar whimpers as my lips trail down to her knees and up to her inner thighs.

“I’m sealing the deal with a kiss,” I say simply, remembering the words she told me last time. “This time, I won’t run away either.”

“Fuck,” She groans as I lick every skin I can reach while pulling her shorts and panties down.

“God, Briar,” I groan, reaching up and kissing her hips. “I’ve never known what it was like to lose control before. And then you come in, and I feel like that’s all I’ve been doing. Losing control of myself, of everything.”

She mumbles something, but I can’t hear it because her intoxicating sweet scent and taste consume me. I bend her legs, gripping her thighs as I continue tasting every smooth skin.

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