Page 19 of Illicit Illustration

“Should we get started? The faster we get this done, the quicker I can leave.” Her tone may have sounded confident, but I could tellby the way she was clutching her coat, knuckles turning white as she held the unzipped sides, she was nervous.

That made two of us. This girl had me all twisted up inside. And not just because of the illustration help. She still hadn’t responded to the text. I’d thought maybe she would when she escaped into her bedroom earlier, but I was still on read. And I didn’t like it one bit.

“Typically, I like to take my time with these things, especially when I’m really invested in a project.” Her eyes flashed with surprise, and she stepped back, bumping into the table behind her, but thankfully she didn’t fall. I wanted to keep her on her toes with the subtle flirting, not knock her off them.

Without waiting for an answer, I turned toward the hallway leading to the back, glancing over my shoulder briefly to make sure she was following me.

“Well, must not have been invested in that girl,” she muttered, and I bit my lip to hold in the chuckle that wanted to escape. She was right in a sense, I wasn’t invested in anything other than fucking the girl she’d caught me with, but clearly Hazel had no idea how enjoyable it was to have frantic sex against a wall.

Something I should not have been picturing with her. I had a long way to go to make sure she was comfortable around me. And I was still withholding information from her. But I hoped that in a few weeks she’d see me as more than just who I fucked.

Because the only person I wanted like that for the foreseeable future was her.

“This is it?” she asked as I unlocked the door to the break room and let her inside.

The fluorescent lights overhead flickered on, and I stepped aside, setting my camera bag on the small table before I shed my jacket. Hazel was still standing in the doorway, yet again dissecting one of my spaces. It wasn’t much, just a place for my staff to come and rest between clients. It had a fridge and coffee bar along one wall, a large wardrobe cabinet for coats on the other, a small roundtable in the middle of the room, and up against the window that faced the woods was a black leather futon.

“Is that where you want to…?” she trailed off, nodding at the futon.

She was so fucking adorable, so full of fire, but so uncertain of herself. I hoped the next few weeks would change that.

“Get comfortable, I’ll nab the heater from my workspace and bring it in here, so you aren’t cold.” If she would ever release the death grip she had on her coat, I didn’t want her getting chilled when she’d stripped back down to the outfit she’d come out of the bathroom wearing earlier.

“And by comfortable, you mean?” she asked as I stepped forward, her eyes widening as she backed herself against the doorframe.

“I mean, you need to get rid of this,” I responded, uncurling her fingers from her coat. Then I traced the back of my fingers down her sweatshirt, enjoying the way she shifted her weight from my touch, even if it was through several layers of fabric. They lingered at her waist as she stared up at me and I fought the sudden urge to pull her into my arms and kiss the fuck out of her. Instead, I tugged on the drawstring peeking above her waistband. “Then you need to take these off.”

“And what will you be taking off?” she asked, her voice low. But she immediately covered her mouth with her fingers like she hadn’t intended to say it like that.

“Whatever you want me to, Haz. You’re in charge here. If you want me to take something off, all you have to do is ask.”

At her quick inhale of breath, I stepped around her and escaped into the hallway, needing to cool myself off for a few minutes so when I started shedding clothes, she wouldn’t see the massive hard on she’d caused.

This project, and my dick, were going to be so fucking hard. But I hadn’t been lying to her. Shewasin charge, and I would do whatever she asked me to do. The only thing I wished could changeabout this situation was that I wanted to be doing the things in her commissionstoher, not just pretending.

Hazel

My heart was poundingas Reid stepped around me and into the hallway, leaving me a shaking mess. The way he looked at me lately left me wanting to melt into a puddle at his feet, but I knew I was just imagining it as desire. He didn’t really want me like that.

Knowing he’d give me shit about it if I was still standing here all bundled up when he came back, I shed my coat and laid it next to his, trying to fight the urge to pull his to my face. It was bad enough I secretly tried to huff him anytime he was near me. He didn’t need to catch me in the act.

Sitting down on the edge of the futon, I pulled off my shoes, tucking my socks inside.

“You’re being an idiot,” I muttered as I braced my feet on the cold tiles and lifted my hips. Slowly lowering my sweats, I tried to remain calm and focused. Instead, all I could focus on was the fact that he would probably smell how turned on he’d made me this morning when I was straddling his…

My phone buzzed in the pocket as I pulled the waistband over my knees. I froze, leaving my pants half pulled down as I reached for it, my fingers shaking as I unlocked the screen.

A text alert was blinking up at me from the number I’d saved in my phone asSeven.

Fuck, I’d completely forgotten to text him in my Reid induced haze this morning. I needed to stop thinking about Reid’s dick and start thinking about number Seven’s. Wait. No. I needed tostop thinking about anyone’s dick and get my shit together because Seven was a real possibility to explore, and Reid was not.

Seven: Leaving me on read all night isn’t very nice, Fourteen. Are you feeling a bit naughty today?

My eyes widened as I tried not to read something dirty into the context of his message. My mind was just stuck in the gutter lately.

Fourteen: Would you like it if I was naughty?

His response was almost immediate.

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