Page 208 of If You Give an Artist a Killer Muse

“It's midnight. I wanted to make sure I was the first person to say this to you today,” Rurik looks up, and his eyes soften as he smiles at me. “Happy birthday, Briar.”

Oh.

Fuck.

I forgot it’s my birthday tomorrow — or, I guess, technically, today.

Swallowing hard, I take the cupcake from his hand and gently place it on top of the blanket before throwing myself at him, not caring about his back hitting the grass. Rurik releases a surprised laugh before I kiss him.

“Thank you,” I murmur after leaving sloppy kisses all over his face like some untrained puppy. “Wow, Rurik. This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. Seriously, I… Wow.” I don't know what else to say. I'm stunned. I can't believe he did this for me.

Rurik just smiles—I'm realizing how often he does that now. Smiling—he pulls me to him, cupping my cheek as he kisses my nose. He pulls back and looks at me with the same intensity as before. He smirks that sexy grin again and kisses me.

My heart keeps thudding against my chest, and I'm so afraid that Rurik will feel it. But I could have sworn I felt his own heart beating abnormally fast against my chest, too, or maybe I'm just being delusional again.

I melt against him as his kisses become ravenous and his hands more adventurous.

If I had any doubts about what I was feeling earlier, there’s none now.

I am 100% deeply in love with Rurik Campbell.

Chapter 31

Briar

“Pass me the body wash, please.”

“Only because you said please, gentleman.” I do that and can hear him squirting it on his palms. Then his hands are on my body again. I hum in contentment as his hands rub my body, squealing when his fingers brush between my legs.

“Stop it,” I mutter, playfully bumping him with my ass.

Rurik just laughs, taking the showerhead and rinsing my body after. His fingers brush against the scars on my lower back, and I hear him sigh.

“What?” I ask.

“Can I ask you something?”

“You can ask me anything you want, angel.”

“Where did you get these scars?”

I suck in a sharp breath. Anything but that.

“Nevermind. You don’t have to answer that.”

“A fire.”

Rurik turns me around to face him, his eyes wide and concerned. “What?”

“Don’t worry, I survived,” I tease, waving myself down. “Obviously.”

“I don’t understand. You got caught in a fire or something?”

“Yeah,” I shrug. “Someone accidentally set the building on fire. I was a kid then and didn’t know what to do. I ran outside before things got worse.”

“Fuck,” Rurik mumbles, his fingers lightly tracing the scars.

I wave my hand dismissively, “It’s fine. Now it looks like a badass scar, so people can admire it whenever they want.”

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