Best of 2017

CHAPTER SIX

MASON

SHE'S SHIVERING ALREADY and I've barely got my hands on her. I don't like this recent development. She wasn't supposed to see the painting until a few weeks into her stay with me. But it is what it is, and I need to make the best of it.

"Well?" I ask her, raising my eyebrows. "Answer me, Cara. You know I'm stern with my punishments. Or did you forget about last night already?"

She takes a step backwards, nearly toppling over the easel. A deep blush colors her cheeks and she's looking anywhere but into my eyes. Her hands are shaking and I put my own up as a sign that I'm not trying to hurt her here, even though she came into my atelier uninvited.

"I didn't touch anything," she tells me in that shaky voice. I don't know why, but her fear is sexy to me. The way she trembles, the question mark at the end of every sentence she utters. It's sexy in its own right, and the desire to push her against the wall and just fucking take her is difficult to resist. I know I have to wait, though. I've been so patient so far, I can last a little while longer.

"I know," I tell her gently. "I'm not trying to hurt you, Cara. Just calm down, okay?" She nods, but the motion is panicked and scared. I approach her slowly, like a hurt doe on the road, and even though I'm not touching her, she gasps as if my hands just seared her skin. "I'm not gonna do anything to you, nothing you don't want."

"Okay," she manages to get out, swallowing thickly. Her eyes go to the easel and my own follow her gaze, looking at the innocent expression on her sixteen-year-old form. I painted her right after her party, starting the moment I came home and barely stopping to eat and sleep until I finished. I needed to have her on canvas, the way I remembered her from the day my obsession began. I was proud of the portrait - it was definitely one of my best. A selfish part of me hoped Cara liked it too, while another one wanted her to question me about it. And she didn't fucking disappoint.

"Your work?" she asks, gathering up courage and pointing towards the canvas. I come to stand behind her, noticing the way goosebumps prickle her skin as I stand behind her.

"Yes," I tell her simply. "I'm sure I don't have to remind you of the occasion." A blush creeps up her neck and she looks away, her eyes fixed on the floor. Her neck is exposed, and I want to sink my teeth into the gentle skin of her shoulder.

"Do you like it?" Fuck. I sound uncertain, almost needy for her approval, and I am already regretting my question. She needs to see that I am above her in every way, she needs to follow my every command. And besides, I don't need her damn praise.

She looks at me over her shoulder, her fleeting gaze connecting with mine. She looks self-assured and almost cocky as she does so, and I curse inwardly again for letting that question slip. She'll pay for that cockiness later.

"Yes, I do," she smiles. She steps closer and admires the painting from up close. "I didn't know you were a painter."

"A hobby," I wave my hand dismissively. "You know I work in investments, just like your father. Painting's just a hobby I picked up in Italy. Nothing special, I'm merely a student for now."

"Looks pretty professional to me," she murmurs under her breath, and I grin to myself. A sharp fucking eye. I thought her interest in art and its history was merely a ruse to get to Italy, but it appears to be at least a little bit genuine. Cara looks at me again after inspecting a painting.

"Yes?" I ask her, grinning under her inquisitive gaze.

"I'm just wondering," she says softly. "But... no, I'd better not ask."

"I'll allow a question," I tell her lazily, mostly because I want to see what she's going to ask. "But only one. Shoot, Cara. Give me your best shot."

"Okay..." Her eyes sparkle as she looks at me again, genuine interest in those pretty blue eyes. "You have an American name, yet you live in Italy. What brought you here?"

"A woman," I tell her simply.

"Oh." Her small exhale sounds almost regretful, but I decide not to dwell on it. She'll find out more when the time comes, but I don't intend on getting too personal with Cara until I see fit. "And she was Italian? Do you speak Italian yourself?"

"I said one question," I remind her with a grin, and she giggles, blushing again.

"I'm sorry," she says, and from the strained way she utters the words, I can tell she's not used to apologizing a whole lot. "I'm just curious. Seems like you know a lot about me, and I barely know you."

"I like it that way." I turn to leave after those words, having had enough of this exchange, when her small hand tugs on my sleeve.

"Mason?"

Just that, the feel of her fingers gripping my sleeve, is enough to send me into a fucking frenzy. God, I want her so fucking badly. I thought I could resist her when she finally came here, but with Luca around her, I just want to stake my claim already.

"What is it?" I bark at her, because fuck me if I'm going to deal with my feelings right now.

"I just... I like the painting." She has trouble getting the words out, and I turn around to face her again, crossing my arms in front of my body. She's cowering in front of me, tiny and sweet and so fucking delicious compared to my strong stature. "I just wanted to tell you, I feel honored you painted me. I love it."

"Thank you," I tell her roughly. I approach her again and this time, she doesn't shrink away from my touch as I reach for her. "I needed to be tough on you yesterday, Cara. I want you to understand this is my house, and here, you need to play by my rules. Is that clear?"

She hesitates, and my grip on her arm tightens. Finally, she looks up at me and nods slowly. Her eyes are crystal clear, the blue of them almost mesmerizing. She looks so different now from the first painting I made of her, and I believe it's time for the second painting. Pleased with this decision, I grunt and pull her towards me.

She stumbles into my arms, but she doesn't shy away from my touch this time. I let my fingers roam her pretty face, down her straight and prominent cheekbones and her small chin. She parts her lips as if she expects me to touch them, but I don't. Instead, I turn around to leave.

She lets out a small gasp, followed by a moan as she calls after me. "Mason..."

"I have work to do," I tell her simply, and head out of the room. Before I can step out the door though, she's appeared in front of me, a little banshee in pink and white, stomping her foot on the ground angrily.

"You can't just leave!" she tells me defiantly, and her bottom lip pouts and trembles as if she's about to start crying. "I... You can't treat me the way you did yesterday and never give me an explanation."

I stare at her blankly, wondering where this spunky little personality came from. Her father had told me Cara definitely had a temper, but I hadn't been privy to it until now. But as she stands in front of me with her hands crossed in front of her body, it becomes clear what her father meant when he told me she can be a handful.

"Cara," I tell her slowly, warning her. "You need to get the fuck out of my way and let me work."

"No," she whines. "I want to know why... you touched me like that yesterday. Why you... spanked me like a little child!" She blushes and her small fists hit my chest, albeit hesitantly. "I need to know why."

"Why?" I groan into her face, and in a second, I have her pushed against the wall, my breath oppressing against her cheek as she tries to breathe, her frightened eyes dancing over my face. "Because it makes you feel like this, Cara," I groan into her ear. "Because it makes you so fucking weak at the knees you feel like you're about to pass out. Because it makes you want me, because it makes you submissive the way I want you to be. It makes your knees shake and your mouth water and your fucking pussy flood." She moans in protest and I chuckle. "Am I wrong, Cara?"

"Y-yes," she gets out, giving me an angry look.

"Is that so," I say. "So if I reached between your legs now, your little pussy wouldn't be soaking through the scrap of fabric you wear as panties? You wouldn't be fucking desperate to have me inside of you, Cara?"

"No," she says, and it comes out as a question.

> I stare at her for a long time, unsure whether I love or hate this new spunky personality of hers. "Alright," I tell her simply. "Prove it then. Prove you don't feel attracted to me."

She gives me a pissed off look, and I can almost see the gears in her mind running. Before I have a chance to react, the little vixen reaches for my shirt and pulls me in. I could've stopped her, but I let her do what she wants, and her hot, pouty little mouth melts against mine in a desperate, angry kiss.

She's not skilled in kissing. She kisses so needily it makes my cock tighten impossibly hard though, and I put both hands on the wall on either side of her to stop myself from tearing her panties off. Cara bites my mouth a little too hard and I grunt as she sticks her pink tongue in my mouth, demanding my attention, demanding I return her kiss.

The little slut stole our first kiss, and I didn't have it in me to stop her. Even though it's probably her first kiss and she doesn't know shit about what she's doing, her sinful lips on mine make my cock throb against my thigh.

She reaches up from my chest, her fingers trembling as she fumbles with my buttons, and that's when I realize I really have to fucking stop her. If I let her go further, I really won't be able to stop myself.

I grab her wrists and pin them above her head. She moans, a dirty little sound that makes me want to explode inside that mouth of hers. "You don't call the shots here, little girl," I tell her darkly. "You know I could fucking punish you for doing that?"