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His growls of frustration followed me into the house.
39
***Ada***
Iwasn’tentirelysurehow I’d let myself be talked into modeling for Jud’s painting. It wasn’t like he didn’t have enough paintings of me to last a hundred lifetimes. He’d asked with such compelling puppy dog eyes that I hadn’t been able to resist. I guess that was how. Through a series of Milo related events, I hadn’t been able to go to his room until almost midnight.
It felt like a secret rendezvous but I just kept telling myself that I was only acting as a model, nothing more. That was why I’d put on more lipstick before leaving my room. It was for the painting.
Jud welcomed me into his room with a warm smile on his face. He pulled me in for a hug and kissed the side of my head before pointing to a lounge chair in the corner of the room. “I think I want you right there. Stretched out across it.”
“Like one of your French girls?” I groaned as soon as I said it. “Ignore me and any Titanic jokes I might make.”
“No French girls, Ada. Just you.” He moved closer to me with a sheet of white silk. “This is going to seem like I’m coming onto you and maybe I am, but I also want a certain image of you. I need you to undress.”
My mouth popped open and I flapped it like a fish as I tried to think of what to say. “W-what?”
He grinned. “You won’t be naked. I want to drape this over you.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You’re right. This does feel like you’re coming onto me.”
“Yeah, I am.” He ran the silk over my arm. “I also want to paint you so much that I can’t work on anything else. It’s different with you here, Ada. The others aren’t right now that I’ve seen you up close. There are things I missed, things I couldn’t capture from memory, things Ican’tcapture from memory.”
I studied the sheet and then nodded. “Fine. If I find a picture of my mostly naked body in a museum someday, though, I’m going to be pissed.”
“This one’s just for me, sweet girl.” He stepped back, silk sheet still in his hands, and waited.
“You’re just going to watch me undress?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I’m a cad. Sue me.”
I fought a smile and failed. “Dammit. One of these days I’m going to be able to frown at you Carrington men and hold it.”
“I hope not.” Jud watched closely as I took of my t-shirt and shorts. He motioned for the bra to go, too, but when I hooked my fingers through my underwear, he shook his head. “Not if you don’t want me on my knees right here and now, Ada.”
I swallowed and nodded. “How do you want me?”
He groaned. “This might be an act of self-torture.”
I stretched out on the lounge like he wanted me with the silk draped over my body in a way that hid what absolutely needed to be hidden but left everything else exposed to the cool air in his room. I was on my back with my head turned towards Jud and one leg dangling from the lounge, toes just grazing the floor. He’d instructed me to put a pillow under my back so it was arched and my arms went over my head, lightly grasping the back of the chair. It was definitely sexual. The sheet covered my underwear and draped just over my bare breasts.
“Hey, Jud?”
He stared at me from behind his easel, eyes heavy as he watched me. “Yes?”
“You owe me.”
He smiled and nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.”
After a few more instructions, my left arm lowered so my fingertips brushed across my lower stomach and my right leg bent just slightly more, he was ready. The sounds of his paintbrush moving across the canvas was relaxing. I was slightly chilly, but other than that, I was at peace.
“You’re an addiction, Ada.” Jud’s eyes moved from my body to his painting over and over again as he studied me. “I could fill this entire house with paintings of you and not be satisfied.”
I started to turn my face away from him but his quick intake of breath stopped me. I froze. “What?”
“Don’t move, sweet girl. Please. I want to get this perfect. I want to do you justice.”
He worked in silence after that, focused on his art. I had no idea how much time had passed. I wasn’t sure of anything except Jud’s attention. His paintbrush never stopped moving across the canvas.
