His Lover's Little Secret

He took her hand and led her back inside. In the bedroom, his luggage was open, and sitting on the dresser was a box of body paints. Gavin must’ve unpacked it after their driver left. She picked up the pink box and eyed it with curiosity. “You didn’t mention it was edible.”

“I thought it might bother you to destroy your own creation.”

Sabine pulled a jar of strawberry-flavored red paint from the box with a wicked grin. “Given I’d be destroying it with my tongue, I don’t mind so much.”

She advanced toward the bed, Gavin stepping backward until his calves met with the mattress. Sabine set down the paints long enough to help him slip out of his clothes and lie out on the king-size bed.

There wasn’t anything quite as inspirational as seeing his powerful, naked body sprawled in front of her. His arms were crossed behind his head, his rock-hard chest and chiseled abs just waiting for her artistic improvements. This was an exciting new canvas, and unlike the one he brought to her apartment, there was no blank, white surface to mock her.

Easing onto the bed beside him, she arranged her jars and pulled out the brush that came with it. It wasn’t exactly the highest-quality equipment, but this wasn’t going to hang in the Louvre one day.

Thinking for a moment, she dipped the brush into the blueberry paint and started swirling it around his navel. He hissed for a moment at the cold paint and then smiled. Next, she added some strawberry paint. Then green watermelon and purple grape. She lost herself in the art, mixing the colors around his skin until he looked like her own twisted, edible version of an abstract Kandinsky painting.

After nearly an hour, she sat back on her heels and admired her canvas. She liked it. It really was a shame it wouldn’t last through his next shower.

“I like watching you work.”

Sabine turned to look at him, his face one of the only parts of his body that didn’t look like a unicorn had thrown up a rainbow on him. “Thanks.”

“You get this intensity in your eyes that’s amazingly sexy.” He sat up to admire his body. “I can say with certainty that this is probably the greatest abstract art piece ever created with edible body paints. And,” he added with a grin, “the only one that smells like a bowl of Froot Loops.”

She reached out with her brush and dabbed a dot of purple paint on his lips, then leaned in to lick it away. Her tongue glided slowly along his bottom lip, her gaze never leaving his. “Tasty.”

He buried his fingers in her hair and tugged her mouth back to his. His tongue dipped inside and glided along her own. “Indeed. The grape is very tasty.”

Sabine smiled and pushed him back against the bed. “That was fun, but now it’s time to clean up.”

She started with his chest, licking a path across his pecs and flicking her tongue across his nipples. She made her way down the flavorful canvas, teasing at his rib cage and the sensitive plane of his stomach. When she glanced up, she noticed Gavin watching just as eagerly as when she was painting.

“I told you I liked watching you work,” he said with a grin.

Sabine dipped lower to the firm heat of his erection and wiped away his smile with her tongue. Taking it deep into her mouth, she worked hard to remove every drop of paint, leaving Gavin groaning and clutching at the blankets with his fists.

“Sabine,” he whispered, reaching for her wrist. He found her and tugged until her body was sprawled across his. “You’re wearing too much clothing,” he complained.

Sitting astride him, Sabine slipped out of her top and bra and then stood to push down her capris and panties. She tossed everything onto the floor and crouched back down. With little effort, she was able to take him into her body and thrust him deep inside.

His hands moved quickly to her hips, guiding her movements. Sabine closed her eyes and tried to absorb the sensations, but found that without the distraction of painting, her emotions were starting to creep in.

From the moment he first kissed her, Sabine had worried that she was fighting a losing battle. Not for custody of Jared, but for custody of her heart. No matter how many times she told herself that none of this was about them, that it was about his son, she couldn’t help but think it was more.

Sure, everything he offered would make her a happier mother for their child. But he didn’t need to bring her here, to make love to her like this. He didn’t have to be so supportive of her art when no one else was. It made it seem like more. And she wanted it to be more. She was just afraid.

Sabine loved him. She always had. There were plenty of reasons why they wouldn’t make a good couple, but in the end, only one reason mattered. She left because she loved him enough to change for him—the one thing she swore she’d never do. She’d been disowned by her family for her unwillingness to bend, and yet she would be whatever Gavin wanted her to be. And it scared the hell out of her. So she made her excuses and ran before she did something she might hate herself for.