39. Ada
Iwasn’t entirely sure how 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 I can’t capture 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.
I was almost asleep when Jud’s bedroom door swung open and the other two Carrington brothers came in. Joe was already talking to Jud before he even saw him. “Jud, we saw your light on. We need to talk-”
Jud stood up and held both hands out to me. “Don’t move, please. I’m so close, Ada. Just…freeze. Please.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. “This is humiliating.”
“What exactly is…this?” Joe’s voice moved closer and he whistled. “I should’ve been the artist.”
“Shut up.” I groaned and opened one eye to look at Jud. “Are you almost finished?”
“Yep.” He didn’t sound like he meant that answer.
“I’ve always wanted to watch you paint, Jud.” Collin sat at the foot of Jud’s bed, right in my line of sight. “This seems like as good a time as any.”
“I’ve been meaning to get into the arts.” Joe sat next to him. “Carry on. We can talk later.”
I waited for Jud to kick them out but he was so focused that he just kept right on painting. I groaned. “You guys suck. I’m never modeling again.”
That caught Jud’s attention. “You want me to kick them out?”
I looked at the two of them, perched on the end of the bed, watching so closely, and a touch of my attitude from early in our acquaintanceship flared back to life. “No. Let them stay and watch. It’s for the arts, after all.”
The energy in the air shifted and I could almost feel their gazes like physical touches on my skin. I flushed as I felt my nipples harden and become plainly visible under the silk sheet. My underwear dampened and I bit my lip in an attempt to distract myself.
The room was silent, except for the steady sound of Jud’s painting. I could hear every rustle of their clothing when they shifted. I could hear Jud’s labored breathing as he worked, the sound of it rhythmic and animalistic. I was so aware of them in the room with me that I ached. I gripped the back of the lounge hard and tried to breathe like normal but I was so turned on that I was terrified it was becoming obvious.
One look at Joe and Collin made it even worse. They were both leaning forward, elbows on their knees, faces pinched like they were in pain. I squeezed my eyes shut again and clenched my teeth together. I was breathing too hard and I was absolutely horrified that there was going to be a wet spot under me when I got up.
“Are you okay, Ada? You’re breathing harder and you look a little flushed. Need a fan?” Jud, the asshole, sounded like he was fully aware of what was happening and was enjoying it.
“I’m great, Jud. Are you almost finished?”
Joe stood up and moved behind Jud to look at the canvas. “You’re amazing, Jud, but there’s something about the real thing that just can’t be beat.”
“Never beat. Just captured.” Jud cleared his throat and stood up. “I just need to adjust your hand, Ada. Don’t move. I’ll do it.”
I gasped at the feel of his hand on my lower stomach and trembled. I was painfully aroused and my body was basically vibrating with need. I met Jud’s eyes and watched as he inhaled deeply and licked his lips. He stroked his fingers over mine and slowly repositioned my hand, letting his knuckles brush over my stomach as he stood.
“Perfect. Don’t move.”
Right behind him, I could see Collin and Joe watching with heat in their gazes. I felt like a bunny rabbit waving its juicy ass in front of three starving wolves. Worse, I wanted to be eaten.
It was the look exchanged between brothers, a silent communication that passed in less than five seconds, that finally broke the spell. I knew that if I stayed for another minute, I was going to be fucked three ways to Sunday. No matter how much I wanted that, I didn’t understand it and that scared me.
I stood up and ran out of there with the sheet clutched to my chest and without my clothing. I thought I heard them call for me but I wasn’t sure. My blood was rushing through my body so hard and fast that I couldn’t hear anything but a roar in my ears. I made it into my room and locked the door once I was in. I wasn’t afraid of them. I was afraid of me and what it meant that I wasn’t afraid of them in that room. I’d wanted to spread myself out and offer my body to them. All of them.
Flinging myself into bed, the sheet brushing over my nipples, I couldn’t help it. I pressed my hand into my underwear and touched myself until I came with their names on my lips.