Page 86 of Vexatious Queen

It hurt to hear how much she took on, but I knew that there was no point trying to tell her to stop because she wouldn’t listen. Ren was programmed to look out for others.

Putting the paintbrush between my teeth, I took the material off her shoulder and tied it on her arm before painting four lines across her side like ribs.

She shivered as the brush tickled her skin, and I turned her so that she was facing away from the camera. Grabbing the yellow paint, I traced her spine and then touched her chin so that she glanced back before I snapped another photo.

She was a living work of art as she exposed the darkest parts of her soul to me.

“When you think of the future, what terrifies you the most,” I asked as I moved the cloth to her waist.

“Failing. Letting everyone down. I know that the expectations of who I am and what I need to become are high, and I fear that I’ll never be good enough.”

I snapped another photo and then brushed my lips against hers.

“You’ve always been enough.”

Removing the ripped material, I dropped it on the table and grabbed two paintbrushes, one purple and the other green. Taking her hands, I painted one in each color.

“Run your hands all over your body, and I want you to move.”

“Move?”

“Yes, stay where you are, but allow yourself to fall, stand, sway. Show me how you feel inside. Let your body speak.”

Stepping back, I dipped my brushes in their colors and held them in one hand. Ren was tentative at first, but once she got into it, it was like watching a butterfly transform before my eyes. As she kicked and turned, I tossed more paint at her, the colors landing in random patterns as the camera flashed.

“Tell me who you want to become when the darkness lifts?”

“Someone my mother would still recognize.”

“Who are you now?”

“A girl trying to rebuild herself.”

“What are you destined to become?” I growled.

Ren stopped, her fists at her side, chin up, her chest heaving.

“A queen.”

Laying the paintbrushes aside, I peeled off the night-vision goggles and set them down. I was plunged into the same darkness, but the image of her like this would burn forever in my memory.

Keeping only the remote, I walked over to Ren and stopped in front of her. Tilting her head up, I kissed her slowly as her bottom lip trembled against mine. Warm, salty tears mingled on our tongues, and I lapped them up, drinking her sorrow down.

The camera flashed, and I kissed her deeply. Ren moved with my body in a show of submission and trust at the same time.

Flash.

Ren wrapped her legs around my waist when I lifted her.

Flash.

Our lips never parted as I turned her in a circle fast enough that her hair flew out behind her.

I dropped to my knees with Ren positioned so that she would be looking down at me in my arms, and then another flash.

“Give yourself to me,” I whispered.

“I’m yours, now and forever,” she said, and I slowly lowered her down onto my cock.