30. Kiera
KIERA
“A class?” my head swiveled, counting up the easels and wondering how long I had to run before someone saw me.
“Well, not exactly a class.” Leo rubbed the back of her neck, “But as close as we can get to one in the present circumstances.”
My shoulders dropped as I wheeled to face her, gaze sharpened by irritation. “You need to choose your words more carefully. I almost had a heart attack.”
“Sorry, Princess. Just excited. Want me to hang your hoodie?”
Tugging the rumpled gray sack over my head along with the Lucky Strike cap, I handed it over to her with a deep breath. “Alright, what do you have planned for us, Major? Or should I say Professor?”
“You can call me whatever you’d like, sweetheart,” Leo winked as she hung my clothes on a hook by the door. “I was thinking we could do some live modeling. Just the two of us.”
My face reddened as Leo continued. “I know you didn’t get to go to college, and I know this isn’t quite the same thing, but I figured there was no reason you shouldn’t get to have some of the fun of that experience now.”
“I… I’m not sure what to even say.” The gesture was indescribably sweet. I wasn’t sure anyone had ever done something so thoughtful for me. And despite all of my protesting, as I looked around the studio, I knew that she’d been right: this was something I really wanted.
“Thank you would be a good start,” she teased, nearly flooring me with a smirk as she crossed the studio to stand before me.
“Thank you. It’s… this was all too sweet of you. You didn’t have to go to the trouble.”
“Baby girl…” Leo smiled, pulling me closer by the waist. “I would crawl through glass for you. This was nothing.”
I bit my lip, trying to hold back tears as I met her deep, gold-flecked eyes. “You have to promise not to be mad if the drawing comes out terrible though.”
Leo laughed, but I smacked my palm against her chest. “I’m serious! I’m so incredibly out of practice, so if it looks wonky, you can’t be offended.”
“Oh, honey…” Leo rolled her shoulders back and flexed her muscles for me. “I know what I’ve built here. Seeing it through your eyes will only make me love it more.”
“Christ,” I laughed, pushing her off of me. “On second thought, maybe this is a bad idea. I’m gonna give you a complex.”
“Too late for that,” Leo winked before reaching for the hem of her shirt.
“Oh, are you…?” I stammered, halfway through tying back my hair.
“Do you want me to?” Leo froze, “I was under the impression that you usually do this kind of thing stripped down.”
“Typically,” I swallowed, my eyes darting to the chiseled muscles already peeking out from under her shirt.
“Well if we’re gonna do this, I’m going to do it right,” Leo smiled, peeling off the Henley to reveal a perfectly sculpted expanse of muscle beneath.
As she tossed her shirt aside, I was surprised to see she’d skipped a bra, too. But where mine commanded attention, Leo’s boobs were easy to miss amongst the wall of muscle that made up her shoulders and chest.
It wasn’t until she was stripped down from the thick henley that I could really take in the soft swell of her chest, perfectly framed by her tattoos, or the hardened bud of her nipples.
I wanted to tell her how beautiful she looked — to touch every inch of her, to guide those pants down her chiseled legs. But I cleared my throat instead, trying to focus on what we came here to do. “Aren’t you going to get cold? Should we get you a robe or…?”
The rest of the sentence tumbled from my mind as she crossed the room, her back on full display for me as she locked the classroom door. “I’ll be fine without it. Wouldn’t wanna obscure your view.”
She flexed a bicep playfully, clearly unaware of the effect she had on me. Or maybe she’s perfectly aware. Maybe this is payback for weeks of playing straight.
“Pants too?” She rested her hands on her hips.
“Mhm,” I murmured, trying to keep my eyes on arranging my tools rather than watching her unbuckle her belt. But I could only keep my eyes off of her for so long. Soon, my station was arranged, and Leo was buck naked on the pedestal, awaiting my next command.
“I’m trying to figure out how to pose you…” I murmured, struggling to keep my thoughts pure. It was odd seeing Leo without her strap for once. But it gave me a better view of her body — no harsh lines breaking up her hips or pelvis.
“What about this?” Leo dropped into a squat, resting her chin on her fist in a classic thinking man pose.
“Next,” I teased, prompting her to flex her biceps in front of her torso.
“Huh? A little gun show?”
I couldn’t help laughing at how hard she was straining. “You’ve gotta pick something you can hold the whole time I draw you. I don’t want you bursting a gasket five minutes in.”
Standing from my station, I paced closer, trying to imagine something that would show off those muscles without straining her too hard. “Kneel for me?”
“Yes ma’am.” Leo smirked, eyes glinting as she got on her knees, legs spread wide.
“Such a perv,” I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore the longing that bloomed in my chest under her gaze. “Now, lift your left hand like this…”
I draped my hand over my head, letting my elbow point forward. And as Leo did the same, I nodded. “Good. Now lean your ear toward your shoulder?”
“...Like this?” Leo scrunched her neck to the left, twisting her arm out of place.
“Other direction,” I corrected, sliding my hand over her trap to redirect her. “Just like that, perfect. And you’re going to let your right shoulder drop so that your hand is resting on your inner thigh… Perfect. You’re a natural.”
“Or maybe I’m just as good at taking orders as I am at receiving them.” Leo smirked.
“Next order: try to hold still,” I smirked, settling back in with my sketch pad. “It’s going to take me a minute to sketch out the tattoos.”
As soon as the pencil was back in my hand, the drawing came like second nature: sketching out the basic rough lines and blocking out the shapes until I had something that looked vaguely like a person.
From there, I started to carve out the finer details: the cut of her quads, the caress of her rough hand over her thigh, the way the light highlighted the swell of her muscles. It was like drawing a marble sculpture: she was perfect.
She’s making it hard to focus.
I wanted to be professional about it: Lord knows how many times in my life I might get the chance to do this.
But I couldn’t help it. She was gorgeous, and the thought of those plush lips against my skin wasn’t theoretical.
I knew exactly what those hands felt like sliding over my skin, what those arms felt like pinning me down,
She was gorgeous, and impossibly, she was mine.
Crossing my legs, I tried to ignore the throbbing that was growing inside of me. But apparently, I wasn’t the only one aching.
Up on the pedestal, Leo tried to keep her expression neutral, but as I worked on her face, I could see the slight furrow of her brow. It wasn’t much longer before her muscles began to twitch, fatigued from nearly an hour of posing.
“Do you need a break?” I called, peering around my sketchbook.
“..No,” she lied through gritted teeth.
Rolling my eyes, I added a few more lines before setting the pencil down. “Well I’m all done. You’re free.”
With a sigh, she let her limbs collapse, rolling out the ache in her trap. “Jeez, that’s harder than they make it look in movies.”
“No kidding,” I laughed, tossing her a water bottle from the bag. “You were a champ though. Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m good.” She twisted the cap off and took a big gulp. “I’ll be better once I see what it was all for though.”
“It’s not—” but before I could get a word in edgewise, Leo pushed herself up to her feet, ambling over to my workstation.
“Fuck, Kiera!” She rested her hands on her hips as she stood at my shoulder. This close, I could see the sweat beading down her abs and smell the rich, smokey musk between her legs. But I did my best to ignore her nudity, even as she hovered just inches from my touch.
“It could be better,” I frowned.
“It’s fucking amazing!” Leo shouted, wrapping her arms around me from behind. “Oh boy, Spencer’s gonna shit a brick when she sees this.”
“Do you really like it?” I craned my neck to look up at her.
“I love it, baby. I’m gonna hang it in the den.”
“Oh god,” I laughed. “Dom’ll burn it if you do.”
“I’d like to see her try.” Leo chuckled against my skin, sending shivers down my spine.
The sun was going strong now, painting the studio in warm golden light. Probably time to pack up my tools — it wasn’t smart to push my luck, especially if I wanted any chance at another outing like this in the future.
But it was still early. Our phones hadn’t rung. And truthfully, I was too drunk on Leo’s warmth to walk away from this moment. Lifting my hands to where her forearm rested against my collar bone, I gave Leo a squeeze, taking in a deep breath of her musk.
I wanted to remember this moment: how amazing it was to have someone really believe in me, how lucky I felt to have Leo taking such good care of me.
And as Leo pulled away to retrieve her clothes from the other side of the room, I surprised myself. “Don’t… not yet.”
Leo froze, tilting her head as she turned to face me. “Something wrong?”
“No,” I shook my head. “But… I’m not ready to leave yet. I need more of you…”
I reached a hand out, hooking my fingers into the side of her hip and pulling her closer.
A mischievous smirk painted Leo’s lips as she caught my meaning. “What happened to my little wallflower? You’re not worried someone will see?”
“I don’t care,” I muttered, eyelids fluttering as the hunger in my gaze clashed against the hunger in hers. “Let them watch. I need you.”