Page 66 of Their Courtesan
She wrapped a thicker robe around her to ward off any chills as she took a bag with her outside. The air was crisp, but warm, and birds twittered in the trees as they settled in for the evening. Not quite sunset yet, but it would come soon enough. The lighting was already gorgeous in the center of the hedge maze, where Judith waited for her client and potential patron. She played on her phone with one hand and combed out her long strands with the other while she waited.
“That is almost perfect,” she heard Seth’s voice say about fifteen minutes later. “Bored, yet wistful. With the light reflecting off your hair, you look like a Victoria’s Secret supermodel waiting for her turn down the catwalk. Outside, I suppose.”
He had his easel and bag of art things with him, but all Judith saw was his red and black flannel shirt as it hung loosely on his firm frame. She wasn’t used to doctors being so athletically built… not that Seth was overly muscular, like Miguel, but he was definitely more than fit. He was probably the type to clear his head with weights and running.I always thought he was hot, but damn.Out here in the natural world, where sunlight and breezes played, Seth’s brown hair bordered on copper. He hadn’t cut it in months, it looked like. Oh, it was trimmed, as befitting his station, but bangs blew against his brow and wisps of that hair curled around his ear. As he crouched down to study his supplies, Judith realized that she was aroused for the first time since Miguel took her for round two a couple of nights ago.
I really could not go wrong with either one of them.Miguel who? Every time she was with one of these guys, she almost forgot the other. Almost. Both always lurked deep in her mind, taunting her, reminding her that she was a beautiful woman with luscious curves and a brilliant sense of humor. Or at least they always seemed amused with what she said.
“By the way, I like that color on you.” Seth nodded to her lingerie. The thick robe was curled up on the other side of the fountain. “It goes well with your skin.”
“You notice those things, huh?” Most men said they liked something, and they only liked something if it happened to betheirfavorite color, regardless of how it actually looked on Judith. She looked terrible in dark green, and yet one of her first clients always insisted on dressing her in it becauseheloved dark green. Didn’t matter if it washed Judith out or clashed horribly with her hair. “I guess that makes sense, Dr. Artist.”
“Suppose I’m pretty observant for a guy.” He set up his easel before moving it around, looking for the perfect light. Judith stayed in place on the fountain and wouldn’t move until he told her to. “You have to be, both as an artist and as a doctor. Can I tell you a secret? Every time I see your boss, I go into doctor mode. I can’t help it. I stare at her and wonder if she’s taking too much of a certain vitamin.”
From any other man, that would’ve sounded strange, maybe creepy. “As an artist?”
“They go hand-in-hand a lot. Doctors look at the big picture, and artists at the minute details. The macro and micro.” Seth seemed pleased with his final setup. “Your macro is that you’re a gorgeous woman who inspires me to be happy… well, maybe I shouldn’t put it that way. I swear I’m not that sad.”
“It’s okay.” Judith tried not to smile. “It’s my job to make you happy, in whatever way.”
“You know what I mean…”
She wouldn’t respond to that.Don’t fall in love with me, okay?Many men had fallen in “love” with her before. It never worked out well with her career. They either discovered they were in love with her forbidden fruit, or they immediately asked her to stop working or “get a real job.” Men wanted to be her one and only. She wasn’t even sure she could live that kind of life.The thought of only being with one man for the rest of my life… weird.
“So what’s my micro?”
“I’ve had a lot of time to study that.”
“And?”
Seth wouldn’t meet her gaze. “It’s not something I can put into words. As a man of the visual arts, I prefer to explain it with my work. You’ll have to take a close look to get what I see.” Now he looked at her, eyes sparkling with a new topic. “Speaking of, my agent is currently shopping around my current collection of your paintings to galleries all over the world. Who knows? You may be displayed in Tokyo soon.”
“Hate to burst your bubble, but I’ve been displayed in Tokyo before. Or was thatsplayed?”
The dramatic sigh making its way over to her almost made Judith giggle.
Once he was pleased with his setup, Seth wandered over and helped her choose a good pose for them to work with. Judith sat on the fountain ledge with one leg drawn up and the other hanging loosely toward the ground. Her elbow rested against her knee, forehead against head and hair tumbling behind her. Seth asked her to keep a disconnected expression while he painted. Not hard to do, when she was already bored within ten minutes.Nice money, though, and I get to look at him.There was something about a former doctor in flannel painting her, looking at her with those hungry eyes. Seth wasn’t shy about carnally wanting her anymore. Those barriers had been torn down between them. He liked her, he wanted her, and in turn she felt largely the same way.I don’t mind him coming over for whatever he wants.Seth was a bit aloof, but he was kind and thoughtful when Judith put herself in the foreground. Even when he got rough in bed he made sure she was happy. Miguel was the same way, and yet they accomplished the same ends so differently. For one man it was a point of pride. For the other, well… Judith was still trying to figure out what Seth got out of it.
“So you’re serious about this art thing, huh?” Judith had always known that about Seth, but hearing about what went on with these paintings in the outside world was new. “How many paintings have you made of me?”
Seth stopped sketching long enough to count. “About eleven completed works right now.”
“Eleven! What the fuck!”
“Yup. Eleven. I’ve been prolific with you as my muse. I can’t help myself. I look at you and wonder how I can experience your image for the rest of my life… and how can I share it with the rest of the world.”
She blinked away some pollen from her eye. “I’ve never heard that from a guy before.”“What? That you’rethatbeautiful?”
“No, no… that you want to share me with the rest of the world. Most alpha types want to hoard me for themselves.”
“That’s asinine. A total waste. A woman as great as you should be shared with as many people as possible.”
“Ah, yes, an artistic gang bang.”
“If you want to put it that way.”
“Sure! Wouldn’t be my first one. Gang bang, that is.”
Seth raised one eyebrow before going back to his sketch. “Do I even want to ask?”
