Chapter 4
LUCA
They say it takes the same amount of energy to love as it does to hate. I spent equal amounts of time hating and loving Alex.
She drove me fucking insane.
After Alex disrespected me in front of my friends, I decided to kill her with kindness.
I sent my assistant to her house the following morning with lingerie and chocolate.
The day after that, I bought her new art supplies.
It wasn’t until I offered to let her paint in my mother’s studio that Alex started speaking to me again.
I could always get to her through art. She was obsessed with my mother’s paintings, and it showed. If anyone could imitate the legendary Evangeline Franco, it was Alex.
Two weeks into our new arrangement, I found Alex on the floor in my mother’s studio. She stripped down to a pair of black lace panties and a matching bra.
Why did she have to tempt me?
Rock music blared through the Bluetooth speakers. Alex was dead to the world, lost in her art. She was fucking beautiful without even trying. Her blonde hair fanned out around her as she lay on her stomach, her legs curled into her tight ass as she hummed the tune.
Watching Alex in her element took me back to better days. To the days when bloodlust didn’t run through my veins like a shot of heroin, poisoning me from the inside out.
My mother would have loved her. They were so much alike that I couldn’t help but think of the last time I saw my mother on the floor in her studio, two paintbrushes stuffed into her hair like chopsticks.
Alex gasped as I sat in the armchair beside her easel, holding her hand over her heart. “Luca, you scared me.”
After getting over her surprise, she glanced down at her lack of clothing and attempted to cover herself with her hands.
“No. Don’t hide from me. I love this gorgeous view. But why are you painting in your underwear?”
She pointed at a pile of clothing a few feet from her. “I didn’t want to ruin my dress.”
“What are you working on?”
“Something for you.” She tucked her feet under her butt, twirling the brush in her hand. “Wanna help me with it?”
“Depends.” I ran the pad of my thumb along my bottom lip, and her eyes followed every movement. “What do I get?”
She licked her lips. “Do you need a reward for every good deed?”
I rolled my shoulders against the soft fabric of my mother’s favorite chair. “I don’t make a habit of performing many good deeds.”
Her smile dropped. “No, I guess you don’t.”
Sensing her irritation, I swiped the palate from the floor. “Which colors do you need?”
Her face brightened. “More red, black, and white.”
I opened the bottles and filled the palette as she grabbed three more synthetic brushes to give her brushstrokes a smooth effect. She set them on the table next to her and moved a drop cloth below her easel, organizing the brushes in a row.
Dipping a rigger brush into the black paint, she made a slow, steady line across the canvas. I watched in awe for what felt like hours. And when she finished painting, a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
She lifted the canvas and bent forward, her tits barely contained in a lacy bra that left nothing to my dirty imagination. Alex looked incredible in another one of my presents.
She studied my face as if trying to commit every curve to memory and said, “You’re my muse.”
Alex grabbed an angled brush and dipped it into orange paint that reminded me of a sunset. She leaned forward, oblivious to her tits spilling out from her bra, the lace doing nothing to hide her nipples. Fuck, I wanted to suck the tiny buds into my mouth until she screamed my name.
“Is that…” I sank to the floor in front of her. “Is that me?”
Smiling, she looked up at me. “Do you like it?”
“It’s brilliant,” I whispered. “How do you do that?”
My voice sounded distant, unsure of my question, even though I wanted an answer.
She peeked up at me. “Do what?”
I blew out a deep breath. “Make me feel like she’s still here with me.”
“It’s an artist’s job to make you feel something.”
I cupped the side of her face, my fingers brushing her skin. “That’s the problem with you.”
She cocked an eyebrow at me. “Are we still talking about art?”
Our eyes met, and I pushed fallen strands of hair behind her ear. A trail of heat rushed down my arms, spreading throughout my body like wildfire.
How did she make me feel so many emotions at once when no one else had gotten anywhere close to chipping the ice from my cold, dead heart?
I grabbed her curls and pulled her mouth to mine. She sucked in a few deep breaths as our eyes met. The usual hesitation was in her eyes, settling deep into her bones. She felt the same way about me as I did her. We hated how much we wanted each other.
But we could not deny that once our lips collided and our tongues tangled, we were fucking made for each other.
She was everything I wanted.
Everything I craved.
I slipped my fingers through her hair as she climbed onto my lap, wrapping her thighs around me. She had the legs of a dancer, long and lean and so fucking smooth I couldn’t stop running my fingers along her skin.
“Luca,” she moaned as I kissed her neck.
I nibbled on her hot flesh as she rocked her hips to meet mine, desperate to create friction. “Baby girl, keep grinding on my cock like this, and I won’t be responsible for what comes next.”
“You’re not taking my virginity on this floor.”
I gripped Alex’s shoulder and pushed her to the tarp. “Then ride my face and let me taste your sweet pussy.”
My tongue swept into her mouth, the kiss more rough and greedy as she worked to undo the buttons of my dress shirt. To tease her, I slid my hand up her bare stomach and pinched her nipples over her bra.
“Luca,” she whispered. “Please.”
“Patience, my queen.”
“Touch me,” she choked out between ragged breaths. “I can’t stand it anymore.”
This was the closest we had ever come to sex. She usually let me kiss her, maybe even play with her tits, but she would always pull away when I tried to get her off.
I massaged her breast, twisting her nipple between my fingers. “I am touching you.”
She whimpered as if in physical pain when I sucked her nipple into my mouth over the fabric. Giving equal love to each of her tits, I sucked and bit her nipples until she was screaming my name.
Pressing my palm to the tarp beneath us, I left a trail of hot kisses down her stomach and savored every second. Greedy for more, Alex grabbed my hand and shoved it down her panties.
“Luca,” she whispered. “Oh god.”
With my mouth inches from her pussy, she bobbed her head to give me the green light. I pulled down her panties and rolled my tongue over her clit. All the time I’d spent wondering how she would taste did not do her justice.
I tore her panties clean off her body. She squealed, and before she could complain about her ruined underwear, I thrust my fingers inside her.
Throwing her leg over my shoulder, I fucked her with my fingers, ripping a series of moans from her beautiful lips.
Her eyes slammed shut when I added another finger and sucked her clit into my mouth.
Clutching her thighs, I forced my tongue to go deeper and deeper, tasting every inch of her. She writhed beneath me, panting and swearing as I devoured her like a hungry beast, wild and untamed, ready to fucking attack.
I flipped onto my back and pulled her on top of me. She rode my face so goddamn hard I could barely breathe.
But I didn’t care.
My name poured out of her mouth, and I loved the sound of it on her tongue. Her legs shook, and one after another, orgasms spilled out of her in violent waves. After she came on my tongue, she rolled off me, pressing a hand to her chest, struggling to catch her breath.
She moved her hands between us and tugged on my belt. I pushed her hand away, and she gave me a surprised look.
“We’re done playing. Get dressed. I’m taking you home.”
Alex pulled the dress over her head, and I helped her up to her feet. “You haven’t even looked at your present yet.”
“I just tasted it.”
Her laughter floated through the room. “No, I mean the painting.”
I bent down in front of the canvas. “Someday, you will be just as famous as my mom.”
She kneeled beside me, and the corners of her mouth turned into a grin. “I’m calling it The Devil I Know.”
“You can reveal it at your exhibition next week,” I said to spoil the surprise early.
“What?” Alex squealed. “Are you serious?”
I nodded. “An artist dropped out last minute. I added you as their replacement. A showing at the Franco Gallery will change your life. Are you ready?”
Alex lunged into my arms, wrapped around me like a koala, and kissed my cheek. “Thank you, Luca. This means… Just thank you.”
I wasn’t all bad.
Or was I?