Artful Love: A Short Summer Love Story (new adult/contemporary romance) (3 page)

“I know it’s not much, but I needed a big space and this is all I could afford. I got it cheap, but I have to keep an eye on the stuff downstairs.”

“I like it. And I love your paintings. They’re just incredible.” I turned to admire the paintings again.

“Not as incredible as you.”

I spun back and looked straight into Roberto’s dark burning eyes. My pulse started to beat wildly. Warm tingles crept all over my body.
 

I quickly looked down at my glass, a strand of hair falling onto my face. “So—so… tell me more about those paintings, of the storm?” I hesitantly looked up from under my hair. To my relief, Roberto had broken his gaze.

“I saw that storm develop from the beginning. And that’s how I got inspired. It was a cloudless day, with only a light breeze. Then a few clouds came in, the wind started blowing, making small waves, and the sky was growing darker.”

He gestured with his hands to accentuate his words. “The wind was strong now, the clouds charcoal and dangerous. The waves rose higher and higher, raindrops started falling, leaves and branches flying around. The wind became stronger and stronger until the storm was at its peak. There was a torrent of rain, it became a hurricane. The wind was blowing me over, the rain hurt my skin, the wind was howling in my ears. The battle of the elements—that’s what I paint. To me, that’s beauty.”

He gazed at me again, eyes darkened. Now I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He had drawn me in; I wanted to be with him in the storm. I wanted him.

 
“Do you want me to show you how to put real emotion into a painting?”

I nodded. He stood up and walked to an empty canvas, gesturing to me to come closer. He handed me a paintbrush and a palette with red, white and black paint on it. “Paint a tornado.”

Hesitantly, I dipped the brush into the thick black paint and painted a dot right at the bottom of the canvas, carefully expanding it in an upward spiral. I heard Roberto move behind me, closer and closer until I felt his body heat caressing my back. My heart was thundering in my ears, and I failed to prevent my hand from shaking.
 

“Use all the colors.” His big, strong hand wrapped around mine and directed the brush towards the palette, dipping it into all three paints. Then he started moving the brush on the canvas, first slowly, but soon accelerating in a circular motion.

My arm was moving along, but all I could feel was his hard chest muscles pressing against my back. The canvas before me became a blur as his warm breath in my neck sent goosebumps all over my body. I leaned back, inching closer to him. Instantly, the paintbrush stopped moving. His lips brushed against my neck, barely touching. It made my pulse jump.
 

I lifted my hand to his head and threaded my fingers in his hair. In response, he pressed his lips to my sensitive skin, leaving a trail of soft kisses down my neck.
 

His left hand encircled my hip, stroking my waist with his thumb. My eyes closed, I heard the paintbrush falling to the floor and his ragged breath in my ear. His arms now encircled me, both hands around my waist. His kisses became longer, deeper, more insistent. I clutched his hair, a hot desire stirring inside me.
 

Suddenly, I felt the floor taken from under me. Roberto had scooped me up into his strong arms as if I was weightless. My heart was pounding madly. Pressed against his hard chest, I looked up at his chiseled face, which exuded calm and focus.
 

He strode towards the bed. I expected him to deposit me onto the bed and cover me with his body. All I could think of was his body crushing mine against the mattress. But instead, he set me down gently and lay next to me, twisting to face me. His eyes blazed with yearning.
 

“
Te deseo
.”

A strand of hair fell forward onto my face again. His fingers tucked it back in place, lingering there before circling around the nape of my neck. Then the tender touch of his lips, all around my face—my eyebrows, my nose, my chin. That merest brush lit up a fire deep inside me.

When his mouth finally found mine, it stroked my lips; it fondled, nuzzled, teased. His soft caresses made me feel dizzy, and made me hungry for more. I pressed my lips harder against him, and he didn’t hesitate to respond. Our lips interlocked, with kisses long, hot and deep.
 

The fire inside me was growing. I slid my hand beneath his t-shirt and traced the hard curves of his muscles. With my other hand, I tugged on the fabric. He momentarily broke away from our kiss, hastily pulling the shirt over his head.
 

My mouth went dry. His heavily muscled chest was a magnificent sight to behold. And it was mine, all mine. Pulling him towards me, I pressed my lips to his open mouth; harder now, more insistent.
 

His hand closed on my left breast, and through the light cotton material of my dress, drew his thumb across my nipple. My nipples firmed instantly under his touch, leaving me to gasp.
 

His other hand found the zip at the back and yanked it down. Shrugging out of my dress, I felt his lips brush the top of my breasts. Before I knew it, he freed me from my lace bra. In response, I closed in on his jeans, my fingers fumbling with the button.

“Let me.” He swiftly undid button and zip, and guided my hands to the top of his jeans, signaling to tug them down. His own hands skimmed my sides before curving around my hips to slide off my panties.
 

Overcome with desire, I tried to crush my body against his, but he held me at a distance by grasping my shoulders.

“Let me look at you.” He dropped his gaze to my breasts. I looked down and I understood—my hardened nipples were jutting out in shameless invitation.

“C’mon, you’re killing me here.” I was shocked by the huskiness in my voice.
 

He flashed me a sexy smile. “What do you want me to do?”

“This.” I pulled his hand down and guided it to my left breast. When his fingers tightened on the soft flesh, I moaned with pleasure.
 

“Is that what you want?”

“Yes.”

He lowered his other hand and covered both my breasts with his palms. Then he drew his fingers together to pinch and roll my stiffened nipples, and I let out an intense moan. Flames of desire licked my insides, and I strained my body against him.
 

My world was spinning out of control. I felt the urgent press of his male hardness against my inner thighs, and lowered my hand to wrap my fingers around him. Oh, he was huge! I was about to guide him into me when he locked my hand and whispered, “Condom.”

In one smooth movement, he took a condom from the nightstand drawer, tore the wrapper off and sheathed himself. A moment later, his breath was hot against my nipple, teasing it into a tight peak. His tongue circled the areole before he closed his mouth around my nipple, hardening it to unbearable tightness. I cried out, wrapping my arms around his head to cradle him to me.

“I want you inside me. Now.”
 

With his knee, he urged my legs wider. I happily obliged, the wetness between my legs craving to be filled. His dark eyes hungry with desire, he slowly entered me. I relished the feeling of fullness while I stretched to accommodate him. He slid deeper and deeper until I felt I would explode.
 

Then he pulled back, and a sense of emptiness overcame me. I thrust my hips forward, and he slid in home again, making love to me with long, slow, deep strokes. Sensations of pleasure rippled through my body across sensitive nerve endings that all led to the tight bud hidden between my folds.

He caught my hands and pulled them over my head, gripping me tightly while he plunged into me faster and faster. I moaned with pleasure until I felt my internal muscles tighten, and a few long seconds later, pulsate around him in a mind-blowing orgasm that carried him over the edge with me.
 

Afterward, I cradled him in my arms, relishing every inch of him.
 

“That was amazing.” I traced my finger over his sculpted chest muscles.

Nuzzling my neck, Roberto whispered, “You’re amazing.”
 

“No, you are. You have an incredible talent. You’re wasting it by living here. If you were in New York, you’d be famous.”

“You know that’s impossible. There’s no way I could get into the US. No, this is what my life has to be.” His eyes darkened with pain.
 

I threaded my hand into his thick black hair. “I heard it’s hard to get into the US, but surely it must be possible for someone like you, someone who is so talented. It’s just not fair.”

“Life is not fair, Jessica. Except sometimes, it brings you an unexpected masterpiece, even if it’s for a short time. One that you treasure for the rest of your life.” He bent down to kiss the hollow at the base of my throat, causing my breath to catch in my lungs. “You are so beautiful, Jess. I’ve never met anyone like you in my life.” He raised his head to press his lips to mine, and gazed deep into my eyes.
 

“I love you,” he whispered. His dark eyes widened as if he hadn’t expected to say this.
 

Before I knew it, I responded, “I love you, too.”
 

Even though I had never said these words to a man before, I felt their truth in every fiber of my body. I had spoken from my heart. A heart that yearned for only one man: that gorgeous man who’d just declared his love for me.
 

Roberto swallowed, and when he spoke again, his voice cracked. “Jess, I don’t have anything to offer you. Only my heart, and my dreams. What future could we possibly have together?” He dropped his gaze down, slumping his shoulders, and rubbed the back of his neck.
 

A pang of sadness shot through me. He was right—we didn’t have a future together. Yet I couldn’t imagine living my life without him. I had never felt so fulfilled, so
whole
before. It was the first time a man had ever been able to reach inside and touch my soul.
 

“We could get married.”
 

It had come out on impulse, without any thought to the consequences of what I’d just offered. “We’ll get married on the ship and then we’ll go to New York.”

Roberto’s dark, sensual eyes widened in astonishment, rendering him momentarily speechless.
 

“Baby, are you sure? Are you really sure you want to do this?”

Flashing him a sultry smile, I pushed him in the middle of his chest with my finger. “Hey, I thought you said you loved me.”

“I do. I do love you.”

“So, what do you say?”

Roberto furrowed his thick eyebrows. “I want to say yes, but shouldn’t we think this over? It’s only been two days. Are you sure you’re ready to spend the rest of your life with me?”

“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t think I was ready.” I threaded my fingers through his thick hair.
 

Roberto dropped his chin to his chest. “Oh Jess, I wish I had something more to offer you. I don’t want to see you suffer, married to a poor artist like me. You’re so beautiful, you’ll easily find a man to marry you, someone with a well-paying job, someone who will provide for you.”
 

“I don’t want anyone else. It’s you I want, and only you.” I left a tender kiss on his forehead.
 

“But how will we survive? We don’t even have jobs.”
 

“We’ll worry about that later. Love conquers all, isn’t that what they say? So, for the last time, will you marry me?”

My mouth felt dry as Roberto gazed deeply into my eyes.
 

“This is crazy, but yes. I’ll marry you. I’ll spend the rest of my life with you. And I’ll make love to you like this every night.”

The thought made my pulse take a crazy leap. “Is that a promise?”

“I promise.” Roberto pulled me into his arms and pressed his lips against mine, his tongue ravishing my mouth. I returned in kind until our tongues were deeply entwined in a dance of passion.
 

As his hands skimmed the curves of my body, waves of pleasure started to flood my system. But I willed myself to break our kiss, rolled him over and pushed his chest down into the mattress. He lay there, hot and hunky, with eyes full of yearning. With my arm stretched, I found a condom on the nightstand and rolled it down his shaft. The moment it was in place, I climbed on top of him, straddling him with parted thighs. I lowered myself slowly, stretching open my folds to accommodate his hardness. I sank in deeper and deeper, savoring the sense of fullness.
 

His hands found my breasts—palming them, kneading them; his thumbs brushing my nipples to unbearable tightness. As I rode him, lifting and sinking, each stroke fanned the fire within me. Within minutes, I felt my body tighten and my flesh convulse around him. My spasms triggered his release, and gripping my hips, he thrust into me a final time before soaring into ecstasy.

Later, as I gazed at Roberto asleep with his arms around me, utter happiness filled my whole being—something I’d never felt before. I would wake up like this every morning for the rest of my life. It felt so good, so right.
 

Cradling myself against him, I drifted off to sleep.
 

The captain’s door was open; I didn’t even have to knock. He was at his desk, leafing through a pile of papers, and looked up with a smile when I entered.

“Jessica, it’s good to see you. Can I help you with anything?”

I came right to the point. “Do you remember the artist who did my portrait on the wharf? In the past two days, we’ve been spending a lot of time together and we’ve fallen in love. We want to spend the rest of our lives together. So I wanted to ask if you could marry us.”

The captain’s smile turned into a scowl. “Marry you? But you hardly know the man.”
 

“I know how crazy it sounds. We’ve just met, we’ve spent—what, a couple of days together. It’s hard to explain how I feel, and I don’t expect you to understand. But have you ever felt in your heart that something is right, even if it doesn’t seem to make sense?”