Scum (Wrong Side of the Tracks 1)

“That’s the girl who just left… did you make that?” he asked, sounding surprised.

Pride buzzed inside Ros at the expression on Shane's face, and he poked him with his elbow. "I told you I sculpt. Did you really think I only make molds of dicks?" Which was their ongoing joke.

Shane frowned, and the groove between his eyebrows deepened, somehow making him even more handsome. He shifted away from Ros and leaned toward the unfinished sculpture, but before Ros could have told him that the clay was still wet, Shane resisted the urge to touch it.

He grunted, bit his lip, then peered at Ros with narrowed eyes, which in the bright light of the setting sun resembled two shiny marbles. “Yeah, but I didn’t think it was like some Michelangelo shit.”

Ros could’ve melted. He grinned and stroked Shane’s chest. If he’d been a cartoon character, he’d have had stars in his eyes. “It will be when you pose for me.”

Shane pointed his thumb at himself, but the frown gradually transformed into the smirk that never failed to charm Ros’s pants off. “Oh, what will the posing involve, and do I have to pay for it?” he asked, grabbing Ros’s belt and pulling him close.

Ros laughed and wrapped his arms around Shane’s waist, intoxicated by his earthy scent. “It’s me who would have to pay my life model. Especially since I would prefer him naked…”

“You see me naked all the time, my prince.” Shane snickered and pressed a kiss to Ros’s mouth before once more looking at the messy ball of clay that would later transform into Harlene’s ear. “So is this like… regular mud?”

Ros turned to his own creation, surprised by the question. He didn’t expect for Shane to care about his art. “No, I buy the clay at an art store. It’s not even my favorite medium really, but it’s for this class. The teacher requires a realistic study of a person. I’m still going to give her elf ears. Do you think I can get away with it?” Or was he just babbling about boring shit Shane didn’t care about?

“It still looks like her. I’d do it if it pissed off the teacher,” Shane said and moved his fingers up Ros’s forearm at a pace so tantalizing that for a moment it felt as though Ros’s feet might lift off the floor.

Ros laughed, fighting the urge to jump Shane’s bones, but there was risk, and there was risk. “They’d be realistic ears, even if elven. The guy is really into very traditional sculpture, and I like fantasy elements, mixed media, and utilizing found objects. I get that everyone needs to learn the foundations, and I like that I can see my skills growing fast, but still—”

“So, what kind of thing do you want to sell for millions to people who don’t know what to do with their money, Mr. Big Time Artist?” Shane asked, clearly as aware of the fumes of attraction simmering in the air as Ros was. He stepped toward him, making Ros back against the counter by the window.

Ros could’ve drowned in his green eyes, and he hadn’t even noticed when the hot waters of lust had reached his jaw and made him salivate. “I don’t know about those millions, but I want to do large-scale stuff. A life-size Pegasus or a giant. I want to bring these fantastical creatures and beings to life in a way that makes them impossible to overlook. To make something that was just a dream into reality.”

“But wouldn’t a massive thing like that not be difficult to keep out of the rain?” Shane asked, gathering a bit of clay from Ros’s workstation. He pinched it between his thumb and forefinger and then, with a roguish smile, used it to make horizontal marks on Ros’s cheekbones.

Ros laughed at the audacity of it and slapped his hand. “Clay doesn’t stay wet forever. Besides, I could make them with metal, or plastic, or foam, and there are so many other options. And if it rusts, I’d let it, and over the years, it could get covered in moss. Take on a life of its own.”

“Are you trying to make nature in an unnatural way?” Shane crooked his head and placed both hands on Ros’s hips, pinning him by the counter. The afternoon sunshine coming through the window brightened his eyes, but despite the pleasure of Shane’s presence, Ros couldn’t help being aware that someone could see them from outside.

He glanced out the window, but his hands slid up and down Shane’s chest of their own accord. “I suppose so. To create my own reality.”

Shane hummed and leaned in, but instead of kissing Ros, he nipped his brow, triggering a shudder. “Is there a place for someone else in that world of yours?”

The butterflies were at it again, fluttering in Ros’s stomach like mad. “There could be. A handsome rogue to steal away the fairy prince.” How could one man drive him crazy like this in a matter of weeks? Maybe Shane wasn’t really a man at all but an incubus out for Ros’s life force?