“Fuck. Fuckity. Fuck.”
Javi chuckled under his breath at Maya’s curses. He edged into the garage where she worked, hoping she’d be happy to see him.
He tapped on the door jam. “Bad time?”
“What are you doing here?” She wore loose jeans, probably ones that had belonged to her older brother at one time, before they were faded, ripped, and paint-splattered. She had them held up with rope. She wore a cropped black tank that gave him a glance of her taut stomach and hugged her tits. Her skin had a sheen of sweat on it, and a few splashes of orange paint on her arms.
She blew a strand of hair that had drifted in front of her eyes and waited for his answer.
“I came by to see you.” He put his hands in his pockets in an attempt to hide his growing hard on. Her attitude aroused him as much as the way she looked. “We’re friends now, right?”
She smirked, and he braced himself for a fight. “I don’t have time to sit on your dick right now.” She turned back to the canvas she had up and gestured at it with her brush. “You should try calling first next time.”
He went from rock hard to straight-up titanium in two seconds flat. If she actually kicked him out, he’d probably die from blue balls. “Can I stay and watch you paint?”
“I’m almost done.”
“But you don’t have time to hang out?”
She shrugged. “I have other stuff going on after I’m done with this.”
“Just let me hang out here for a bit.” He was actually begging to spend more time with her, and she couldn’t look more unaffected. It drove him fucking nuts.
“Fine.” She pointed to chair in the corner. “Sit over there and don’t talk to me.” She pulled some earbuds in and grabbed her iPod off the dock. When she had them in, she effectively shut him out.
He sat down where she’d indicated, straddling the back of the chair. She loaded her brush, but let the paint drip on the drop cloth while she thought about where to put it. Tension grew the longer she waited, and he’d been holding his breath when she finally put it on the canvas.
Watching her work was like watching her dance, and he felt caught up in the rhythm of the way she moved. Sitting here, seeing her work, did nothing for his hard on, but he couldn’t do anything about it. She put him in a trance.
The muscles in her arms strained to reach, and he wanted to help her, but he knew that she’d shrug him off and make him leave. So he sat and waited until her rhythm slowed and then stopped.
Finally, she turned to him and pulled out her earbuds, getting paint on the cords. She cursed again. “You’re still here? You honestly don’t have anything better to do then sit and jerk off to me painting?”
He stood up, hands held out at his sides. “No jerking off. I promise.” He gestured at the canvas. “This is beautiful.”
She looked down, and her skin flushed. She’d always hated compliments, deflected them ruthlessly. He wasn’t about to let her do that now; he needed to make sure that she knew how talented she was. It was more important than anything in that moment.
She looked him in the eye, and, for the first time since he saw her at the club, he wasn’t the one who looked away first. He wasn’t going to back down or let her crap all over her talent. That wasn’t an option.
And she must have seen that because she said, “Thank you.” She went over to the sink and started washing brushes. He joined her, and grabbed her hand. “Your suit.”
He didn’t move away, though; he was transfixed by the heat of her skin against his, the cool water rushing over both of their skin, the paint swirling in the bottom of the sink. “Won’t be the first suit you’ve ruined.”
“I’m sorry about that. I saw you with two other women, and I just reacted. I didn’t even stop to check if you were wearing a ring anymore. I assumed that you were cheating on Karrie, and I couldn’t stop myself.”
Javi intertwined their hands together, and kissed the now clean flesh at the back of her wrist. The idea that she would put herself out to defend the honor of a woman she despised made something in his chest stir. Shit like that made her special. And she didn’t see it.
“I don’t care about the suit. There’s plenty more where that came from.” He paused and took one of the brushes at the bottom of the sink. He put cleanser on it and he put it into the stream of water. “I like that you were going to light me on fire if you found out I was cheating on Karrie.”
“I can’t deal with cheaters. Liars and cheaters are the worst.”
“I agree.” He looked down at her. She worked quietly next to him, no indication of emotion on her face. “Why were you swearing when I walked in?”
She looked at him through the corner of her eyes then. “I had a model scheduled to come over for a commission piece I need to finish up, and he cancelled on me.”
Javi didn’t like the idea of a guy getting naked in front of Maya. He knew it wasn’t like that between the two of them, but the thought over her with a naked man in here, sweaty and studying every inch of him, made an ugly feeling spread through his gut. “I thought you only painted abstracts?”
Again with the disaffected shrug. “I do, but this commission is an abstract version of a figure painting. The client wants a Picasso, but has a Thomas Kincaid budget.”
Javi laughed. “Will I work?”
“What do you mean? You want to pose for me? You’re okay being naked on some socialite’s wall?”
He hadn’t thought of it that way. The idea of someone recognizing him as a model squicked him out, but he’d do it if she needed him to. “Can’t you obscure my features, or something?”
They finished with the brushes and she handed him a paper towel to dry off his hands. She leaned on the sink with one him and looked at him with a cool expression on her face. She shook her head. “I’m afraid that your features are unmistakable.”
It was the first time since the club that she’d said anything that made him believe that she still thought he was special, important, remarkable. The way she said it, and the way she looked at him, as if she wanted to eat him whole made him determined to serve as his model.
He loosened his tie, and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt.
* * * *
Maya’s mouth went dry. She usually painted models who she had no personal relationship with. When she was working, she liked to keep her emotional distance. It was better that way. Having to paint Javi and not touch him would be torture.
This was why she didn’t like friends-with-benefits situations; the lines always got blurry, and Maya liked thick, bold lines.
“This is a bad idea.”
He smirked and pulled a hair tie out of his pocket. Putting up his hair should make him look less masculine, but it didn’t. His corded forearms and twitched and the veins were prominent. There was no mistaking his ponytail for a girl’s hair-do. He was all man.
“I think this is a great idea.” He rolled down his shirtsleeves and watching his fingers move made her want to jump him right there. “You get a model, and I get to tempt you into ‘sitting on my dick.’”
She crossed her arms over her chest. Her nipples were so hard, the cotton over them chafed and made her want to moan. She was not prepared for an onslaught of Javi Hernandez-brand sexiness today. She hadn’t had time to steel herself against her feelings for him. It took everything in her not to tell him to screw the painting and get his clothes off so she could sit on his cock right now.
“We’re not having sex today.” She was definitely going to make herself into a liar unless he kept all his clothes on. “And you don’t need to model for me. I can reschedule the other guy.”
It was his turn to shrug. “First night we’re together, you want me to take my pants off as soon as you walk through the door. Now, you’re looking scared that I’ll take my clothes off.” He pulled his tie over his head and walked over to the chair he’d been watching her from.
When he wasn’t right in her face, she could breathe—until he started unbuttoning his shirt. The contrast between the white silk and his dark skin and hair was beautiful. Her fingers itched to draw him like this. And during the next step of getting undressed, and the next.
“Let me help you out.” He walked closer to her again, and her thighs rubbed together. She felt like she was wearing too many clothes. “There doesn’t have to be any dick sitting if you don’t want it.”
The problem wasn’t that she was afraid of Javi doing something she didn’t want him to do. That was him. She was worried that she wouldn’t be able to control herself if she had to pay too much attention to his naked body.
“I just need you to model.” We’ll discuss the sex later. He dropped his shirt in front of the tie, and all of her thoughts about this not being a good idea vanished. The itch to draw him and then fuck him was too strong to resist as she watched the play of his muscles under his hair and skin. He didn’t look like a suit. He looked like a warrior, like he spent all his time at the gym instead of behind the desk.
Then, he toed off his shoes and unbuttoned his pants. Madre de Dios, this man. He pulled his pants down, and they pooled at his feet.
Their first night together, she hadn’t taken time to enjoy him undressing. She’d been too keyed up and horny to pay attention to the way his hairy thighs turned her insides to goo.
“Underwear, too?”
She could probably draw him if he kept his boxer briefs on, but she didn’t want to. She needed to torture herself with the whole package, literally and figuratively. “Take them off. Keep them on. I don’t care.”
He laughed again, and pulled his boxers off. His cock sprang free, and she wanted to get on her knees and have him for dinner. Fuck the painting.
“Where do you want me?”
Everywhere. Instead of saying that, she pointed to a stool. “You can sit there.” She wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans. “I just need to get my sketch pad.”
Her hands shook as she pulled open the drawers of the old work cart she stored supplies in. Seeing him naked made her stupid. She finally found her sketch pad and a drawing pen in the third drawer she opened.
She positioned a light so it would play off the shadows of his face and body. He squinted, and she was happy that she could at least make him a little uncomfortable. She might be the one in the room with all of her clothes on, but she felt totally naked and open to him. She’d never felt this way with another model, but she’d never cared this much about another model.
Once she sat down and opened the sketch pad to the same page, she managed to calm herself down a bit. Usually, she would have to spend a lot of time positioning her model, moving him around so he looked just right, but it was as if Javi knew automatically how to sit.
She could spend the rest of her days watching him move. He sat, with his back straight, which complimented his Patrician features. He looked like Spanish nobility.
With that thought, her charcoal started flying across the paper, lines and curves turning into an imitation of his form. The whole time, he stared at her. His gaze heated her body, and somehow made her pen move faster. She turned one page, then another.
His skin took on a sheen under the light. A couple of droplets of sweat ran from his temples to his beard. He didn’t ask to move before he cupped his cock in his hand. He looked her in the eye for some sign of approval before he pumped. She didn’t give him any permission. She moved her chair closer and drew his hand curled around his dick.
She wouldn’t use any of these drawings for her commission, at least not obviously. She wouldn’t be able to help herself; he would end up as every man she ever tried to paint. He was the perfect male form.
She licked her lips, trying to concentrate on committing this all to memory before he disappeared. Because she was still afraid that she would blink, and he would be gone. All the things she felt with him didn’t drown out the fear.
“How much do you need?” Javi had been so still that his words startled her. She was surrounded by papers, and had lost track of time.
She set the sketch pad aside and stood. “I have what I need.”
Again, the side of his mouth canted up. “Are you sure don’t need anything else?” And then he pumped his hand over his cock again. Her belly clenched at the sight of him touching himself, performing for her.
“It looks like you have everything well in hand.” She walked closer to him, until she could see him leaking all over his hand. His face looked in pain, and now her hands itched to touch him. There was no reason she couldn’t. Felix was out on a job, and he wouldn’t be home for hours. A person couldn’t see into the garage from the street, so this was as private as they could get.
She’d never had sex in her studio. As a professional, she didn’t do that. But she wanted this with Javi. After this, she’d never be able to come here again without thinking about him, and she didn’t care. He might ruin her emotionally, but she couldn’t help herself at this point. She had to have him.
She stood between his legs and watched him jack himself off for a minute, feeling the heat of his thighs through her jeans, but she didn’t touch him. When his face contorted like it did when he was about to come, she said, “Stop.”
He complied immediately, took his hand off of his cock and everything. Then, he surprised her by leaning forward and licking the band of skin between her jeans and her top. Her breath caught, and her abdominal muscles tightened. He put his hands on her hips and jerked her body closer to his face while he licked and bit at her exposed skin. If he wasn’t careful, he would leave a mark. She hoped he did so she could trace her fingers across them tomorrow when she was alone. So she could feel a hint of this heady lust and insanity cocktail instead of regret.
The studio felt closed up, and she wasn’t sure she could get enough air. “Please.”
He paused and raised his head until he could meet her gaze. “What do you want? What can I give you?” He undid the rope she had holding up her jeans and pulled them down without unfastening them. “Is this what you need?”
He grabbed her center in one hand and massaged her clit through her underwear. “Yes. Yes.”
“No matter what it is, I’ll give you what you need. If you want to draw me buck naked all night long, force me to touch myself so you can put it up on some old, rich lady’s wall, I’ll do it.” He pulled her panties down to her knees and kissed her right above her mound. She moaned and grabbed his face with both hands, trying to press his face down to her clit. “You need me to eat this pussy until you can’t scream anymore,” he said before he licked up and down the seam of her. “I’m your man.”
She pulled on his ponytail, wrenching his head back. He bottom lip was glossy with her juices, and he darted out his tongue to lick it off. “Are you my man, Javi?” She tugged harder and he grinned at her. “Or are we just friends with benefits?”
“We’re more than that, but I was waiting for you to realize that, mi cielo.” She looked at him for a long moment, her grip on his hair tightening. She wanted to believe him. This felt like more, but she knew the deal about rebound relationships. He was barely divorced. No matter how intense this felt, this could just be him getting over Karrie.
He must have gotten sick of their little staring contest because he shook off the hold she had on his hair and stood up. Suddenly, she felt like he was crowding her. Usually, she would hate that. But, like a lot of things with Javi, having his body over hers felt so good.
“I’ll take everything you have to give me and more.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Didn’t you see me get naked for you?” He brushed excess strands of hair out of her face and lifted up her top until her breasts popped out of the bottom. Then he leaned over and took one nipple between his teeth. He tugged until it hurt, a touch of pain before he let it go and moved to the other breast.
“We’ve gotten naked before.” They needed to stop having conversations barely clothed. They would never understand each other if everything between them was about this crazy sexual energy between the two of them.
He stood up to his full height and grazed her cheek with his. His lips were close to his ear when he said, “I am myself when I’m with you, naked and raw. You make me feel like a wound that’s finally ready to heal.”
He might have dicked her back to life, but he wasn’t completely altruistic. Maybe they were using each other?
“That sounds awful.” He squeezed both nipples and pulled until she cried out.
“It is awful.” He bit her earlobe. Between the pain where he pinched her breasts and the graze of his teeth against her earlobe, she was so wet and languid that she would agree to anything. “It’s awful until I get your wet pussy on my mouth or on my cock. Until I hear you cry out my name while I’m riding you until you come. It hurts so bad when you tell me you never want to see me again. But you can tell me that every time as long as I know you’re lying.”
“So, I’m like human Neosporin then, here to patch you up until you can be let back into the wild.” She might be making a joke, but everything in her pulsed when he said those words. Him sounding desperate was like some kind of lust switch. It lit her up and clicked the disparate pieces of her into place.
“No.” He grabbed her bare ass and pulled her into his body, her belly against his hard on. “I want you so fucking much. Every time you walk away from me, it’s like a new open wound. And I can’t breathe when I can taste you on my lips.” His little finger dipped into the crevice of her ass and she didn’t jump, didn’t dare move. He moved his mouth along her jaw, and took her mouth in a kiss that didn’t ask questions, it plundered. She felt like his medicine in that moment. This chemistry between the two of them was pure, untainted; it made her feel fresh and alive for the first time in years.
He left her mouth and trailed his tongue along the side of her neck, over her collarbone. “Please, Javi.” She didn’t even know what she was begging for, but she knew he would give it to her.
He tugged her top the rest of the way off and turned her around. “Do you know what I think?” His voice changed, darkened, and deepened. When she shook her head, he leaned close and said, “I think you want me to take you.”
She thought she would come just from those words. She was used to being in charge during sex, playing the sex kitten, then bouncing as soon as things got too intense. This thing between her and Javi was pulling her under, making her crazy. She didn’t think that there was a man alive, other than Javi, who could actually make her feel taken. So, she’d give them both what they wanted. “Yes.”
With that simple word, she could feel Javi’s leash break. He pressed one big hand into the center of her back and bent her over until her palms were flat on the stool. He traced his hand down her back and over her flank. He nipped at one ass cheek, and she jumped, which elicited a dark chuckle. “Your ass is amazing, mi cielo.” He spanked that cheek, and she jumped again. “Would you let me fuck you here?” He trailed one finger down to a place where no one had touched her. Her answer was Yes, God, yes, but she shook her head. “That’s okay. I like your pussy too much to be bothered with anything else for a good, long time.”
And then, he licked her pussy from behind. Her spine straightened out and she hung her head between her arms. “Your mouth is everything, Javi. I want it all the time.”
He pulled back, and pinched her clit with two fingers. “You can have it whenever you want it. This mouth is on call, just for you. I want you to sit on it and grind my face until you come every goddamn morning.” She could feel his breath against her swollen, ripe pussy. “C’mon, stick that ass up further and ride my face right now.”
She did as she was told, and she didn’t regret it. He licked and sucked at her clit before spearing her with two fingers and fucking her so perfectly she saw stars. “So, good. Javi. Your mouth is so good. But I need your cock in me.”
He didn’t do what he was told, he sucked harder and fucked her faster, rubbing her g-spot with every stroke. It was so intense that she couldn’t breathe, felt like she was coughing for air and drowning in him. He kept going until she broke, came so hard she nearly pushed his fingers out of her body with the strength of the spasms.
Her arms nearly gave out, but he caught her by the waist with one arm and grabbed out for a condom from his pants with the other. She let her head loll back against his shoulder and straddled one thigh when he sat back down. She turned her head to suck on his neck while he put on a condom. “The only time you kiss me, the only time you start it, is when I’ve just made you come.”
“I’m sorry, pobrecito.” He ripped the condom wrapper with his teeth and rolled it on with his forefinger and thumb.
“Don’t call me little when I’m about to be inside you.” He pulled her up and onto his cock in one, smooth motion. She was so wet that all she had to do was spread her thighs and he slid right in to the hilt.
They both groaned in unison while he settled inside of her. They stayed there for what seemed like both a long time and a few seconds. It became unbearable to sit there with him filling and stretching her.
“Do you feel it yet? Do you feel the pain? How good it is to have me inside you and how bad it will feel when I have to leave this tight pussy?”
She leaned forward enough so she had leverage to start rocking on him. His grip on her hips tightened and he moved her up and down his cock. She caught herself by gripping his knees, and that allowed him to pound into her so hard her teeth rattled. And she loved it.
“It hurts so good, doesn’t it?”
“Y—yes. More, faster.”
“You’re going to kill me, but now I know what heaven feels like.” Something bigger than the last orgasm pulsed in her belly. An ache that intensified with each word he uttered. “I’m going to come; you have to come with me.”
“I’m so close.” She was closer than she’d ever been without a hand or a vibrator on her clit. And, when it did come, it was a complete surprise. Her whole body filled with light and darkness, and the universe painted itself on the inside of her eyelids.
Javi slammed inside her once, twice, and stiffened beneath her. She leaned back and let her sweat slickened body seal itself to his. When he came down, his hold on her didn’t go lax. His hold on her tightened.
And she didn’t fight it.