Page 74 of Finding the Forward: Part Two
“This way,” I told Grif as he moved toward the closed door of my room that led to the secret hall, both of us wearing fluffy, soft bathrobes. One of them was seafoam green and had mynameembroidered on it.
“I thought we were going to AJ’s room, but we could make your room work if you’d rather be in here.” Grif cast a look around my room, which was lit by only a bedside lamp. “Oh, the bear.”
The bear he’d given me at the Maimers game before I left had the place of honor among the pillows mounded on the circular bed.
“He was good company while I was away,” I assured him as I took his hand and led him toward the closet.
“We’re taking the expressway,” AJ replied, striding inside, where a light was on.
My bathroom only had two bathrobes, so AJ only wore a towel, having joined Grif and me in the shower as we’d rinsed off from the bath.
Grif blinked as we walked inside. The closet still smelled of AJ and me–and sex.
“I’ve lived here for years and never found what Mercy discovered in minutes,” AJ added as he pulled open the panel in my closet.
“She’s got that sort of mind. Always has. She’d find the hidden rooms and passages whenever we’d go to historical places. It’s part of why the parents don’t want her to be ‘just’ a history teacher. She could be a great structural engineer or architect if she had the interest. Which she doesn’t.” I tugged Grif into the small, dark room.
He sucked in a breath. “There’s a passage connecting yourclosets?That’s what you were talking about?”
“Oh, it gets better.” I switched on the light, revealing the cute tree-shaped nook.
“It’s a nest. I didn’t know this was here,” Grif breathed as I showed him the note.
“Me neither. No pressure, but it’s yours if you want it. We can redo it however you’d like,” AJ told him, squeezing his shoulder.
“It’s adorable. Small, but adorable.” Grif looked around. “I’ll think about it? But Dean doesn’t get a nest in your closet if I pass.”
“No, he doesn’t.” AJ opened the door to his closet.
We walked through AJ’s overly organized closet and into his room. Unlike the last time, the light was on. It was lovely and uncluttered, with a little sitting area in one corner, and a large bed, filled with pillows in forest green, black, and gray. Not a pack-sized bed, but one that would easily fit the three of us.
What drew my eye was the large bookshelf that separated the room into another part that I hadn’t noticed earlier. “What’s over there?”
“Want to see my art, Princess?” AJ took my hand and led me over to what was clearly a little studio.
“You’re an artist,” I breathed. “I knew Dean drew, but not that you painted.”
The floor here was tiled. A paint-covered drop cloth covered one area, with an easel on it. On it sat a half-finished landscape, a reference picture clipped beside it. There were other paintings, along with shelves and drawers of art supplies.
“I mostly do landscapes. I did the one in your room, and the one of the cabin that’s upstairs. Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of commissions—painting the views from people’s vacation homes so they can hang it up in their penthouses and offices.” AJ shrugged, gesturing to the easel.
“It’s beautiful.” I examined the nightscape, which was of a skyline I didn’t know and just like the reference photo.
“He’s good, isn’t he? This is the view from the roof of the cabin.” Grif held up a landscape of trees–and a waterfall.
“They’re all so good.” I put an arm around AJ’s waist. “I had no idea.”
My gaze fell on a slab of marble nearly as large as me, half-carved. I stood a step closer. It looked like a naked man was trying to escape from the rock.
“I occasionally do some carving, mostly in marble,” he told me.
AJ let me examine his art for a few more moments, then he pulled me out of the studio area, turning off the lights so only a small light illuminated the bed area.
“Are you sure this is what you want, Princess?” AJ murmured as he peeled the soft robe off my body.
I nodded as it slipped to the floor.
“Words.” His hand slapped my ass, the stinging going straight to my clit.
