Page 61 of Possession

“This… this is fucking incredible.” My eyes scanned the ground, soaking in the massive piece of art in front of me. Every canvas was unique in its own right, but when you looked at them all together, as one big picture, they formed a pair of eyes.

My eyes.

The creases were deep on either side of the oval shapes, the slope of the nose, it was me… the dark blond hair of my brow… it was all here in this multicolored assortment of paint. My eyes stared back at me from the canvases, and even without the expression of a smile, I could tell the eyes watching me were happy. They were clear, open, and alive.

“I didn’t sleep,” she whispered. “I went home, changed, and then came straight here. I’ve been here all day.” As she said it she rubbed the back of her neck with the paint-stained fingers of her free hand.

We both stood there, hand in hand, silent, in awe, as the expanse of talent spread out before us.

“It’s yours,” she said and turned her head to look at me. There were blotches of blue paint on her pink cheeks. “I wanted to show you. I wanted you to see what I see when I look at you.” She raised her gaze and searched mine. “I wanted to recreate the moment… that moment when your eyes find mine… and you see me, you really seeme,Declan.Everything else disappears and all I want to do is fall into you.” She laughed softly and licked her lips. “I sound crazy.” She laughed again and shook her head. “Crazy, right?”

I kissed her instead of answering.

I dropped our linked hands and framed her face. My thumbs tilted her head back, and my fingers pushed into the mess of her hair. Her arms wound around my neck, and her body pressed against me. I had no words, only emotion. I didn’t close my eyes as I kissed Paige. My eyes were mirrored in hers and it was then I saw her inspiration, I saw thatmomentwhen my eyes sparked and cleared and filled with just her. I saw it and as our kiss intensified, and my eyes finally closed, I let her fall into me.

She sighed as she lazily kissed my lips, then my jaw before she asked, “So you like it?”

I chuckled and trailed my nose to the crook of her neck. “This belongs in a gallery not my apartment.”

“It belongs with you.” She leaned back and her lips parted with a shy smile. “If you want it, it’s yours.”

“I love it, Paige.” My hands fell to her waist as I pulled her closer. “I’ll have one of my brothers help me move it to my place when you’re ready.” I lowered my chin, bringing my lips to hers again. I brushed them across her top lip and then her bottom as her eyes fluttered close. “You have no idea how talented you are.” I kissed her cheek as my hands slid under the thin fabric of her shirt. My palms melted against her skin, and softly caged her in place. “How talented you’ve always been…” I raised one hand and trailed my thumb along her jaw lifting her chin as her eyes opened and found mine. “Even after everything, after what you’ve been through, you still own the brush.”

The color in her irises seemed to swirl, the illusion set by the tears that filled her eyes. I kissed a drop that escaped before our mouths collided. She moaned, and the music heated the room as the bass matched the beat of my pulse. I wanted to show her how unbelievable she was. Show her what I couldn’t formulate into sentences, smother her in feeling and flame, let it lick and burn her like she did me.

It wasn’t long before I had her tangled on the floor, a mixture of sound, paint, and limbs. My pants pushed down, our discarded clothes shoved to the side, my body inside hers, my palms bracing her head, the cement floor of the studio cold beneath my knuckles. My teeth on her jaw, her neck, her shoulder, each wave of her hips below me clouded my control. Her small hands, her nails, her lips pressed against my skin as I sank deeply inside her. My fingers fisted in her hair as I slipped past that line of reality and reason. The tender side of me lost to the beast as I moved above her with rough strokes. The muscles in my stomach coiled as I came. She cried out, her nails digging into my neck as her entire body tightened around me. I consumed the sound as I brought my mouth to hers. Her lips were salted and sweet as we both descended with each breath in and each breath out.

I shuddered, despite the sticky sweat that beaded on my brow as she painted patterns along the line of my neck and shoulders. The movement made her tremble as well, and I groaned as I moved my weight onto my forearms. I kissed her mouth, the wet heat grounding me. She licked my lips as I pulled away and then settled onto my back beside her.

She snuggled against my chest and audibly winced.

“Shit, did I hurt you?” My brows knotted, but her giggle untied them immediately.

“No. The floor, that’s another story… but it was worth it.”

My hand moved under her shirt and trailed up and down her spine a few times with a firm pressure. The hem barely covered her ass, and I rested my hand just below it. The soft curve had always been my favorite spot. I didn’t care that my pants were still on, pushed well past my hips allowing the cold of the solid cement to sink into my bones, I just wanted to enjoy this, enjoy her. All I ever wanted to hear was that giggle, that sound she made when she came, and that light whisperedI love youjust after. No more voices, no feelings of hopelessness, or worthlessness, only Paige.

She shivered against me, and I said, “I don’t think I completely thought this through.”

“I’m glad you didn’t.” She shifted, kissed the cross in the center of my chest and then sat up. The reverent way her lips touched the ink, it spread warmth through my limbs every time.

“Since we’re being spontaneous…” She lifted her left eyebrow and grinned.

“Yeah?”

“I want to get that tattoo, that quote we talked about.” Her grin pulled into a wide smile.

I sat up, adjusted my jeans and then zipped them up as I asked, “Are you sure?”

“I’ve been thinking about it.” She stood and I watched her with a hidden smile before I stood as well. Paige’s shirt moved with the sway of her hips exposing every curve. “And I think… I think I want this. I don’t want to wait.” She grabbed her pants and underwear, slipping them on quickly to my disappointment.

I pulled my own shirt over my head and pushed the sleeves up to my elbows. “You want this,” I repeated.

She nodded and cast her gaze to her hands. She fidgeted as she spoke, “I started thinking about this specific idea in the Bible, in Genesis it says God took a rib from Adam to create Eve. I used to always think that scripture was so patriarchal, but I think, in reality, it’s actually really romantic. Adam gave Eve life, I know Plath is talking about her heartbeat when she saysI am, I am, I am, but you’ve given me life again, Declan, because of you, I can breathe.” I stepped toward her, my hands sliding under her shirt and encasing her small rib cage on either side. She inhaled and exhaled, proving her point. “I want the quote along one of my left ribs a few inches down from my heart.”

I moved my thumb along the bone. “Here?”

She nodded.

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