Truth in Watercolors (Truth Series Book 2) (24 page)

“My mermaid. Your marlin. Wes, what is this?”

“It’s a sketch my dad did. One of the only good memories I have of him. Hell, one of the only memories I have of him was the day he drew this picture and told me the story of the marlin and the mermaid.”

“He’s who you get your talent from,” I observed, tracing the outline of the sketch with my finger. It really did resemble Wes’ own artwork, embodying his knack for realism mixed in with an ethereal quality I’d only seen done by him.

“I guess so.” Wes looked out into the distance toward the ocean. “My passion for it is my own, though.”

“Of course,” I said, understanding his need to separate himself from his dad.

“So what’s the story that goes with this?” I asked looking toward the blackened ocean.

“The marlin was a brave and strong fish. Time and time again, he was caught by fishermen but wrestled himself free of the nets.”

“Kind of like Hemingway,” I said

A dry laugh escaped from him. “The only book I actually read in high school. Took me forever.”

“So where does the mermaid come in?” I asked noticing how exact this sketch was to the mermaid Wes had painted on me.

“Well, the marlin was a stubborn fucker and liked to mess with the fishermen. Each time he saw a boat approach, he put on a show for the fishermen, doing swan dives and belly flops.”

“Wow.” I giggled softly, and Wes peered at me out of the corner of his eye with a small grin.

“Until he was caught again.” He looked back into the darkness. “This time the marlin was over it, and rather than fighting for his freedom, he let go and sunk into the net.

“He thought he was dreaming when he saw her swimming up toward him through the depths of the ocean. Her golden hair mixing in swirls and smears with the water.” I smiled at his description of the mermaid. I loved when this side of Wes slipped through, the side that forgot who he was trying to be, and revealed the sublime center of his soul.

“The mermaid approached the marlin and worked quickly to untie the knots of the net. The ropes slipped from the marlin, and he watched the net sink to the bottom of the ocean.”

“She set him free.” I smiled at the sketch and passed it back to Wes. He folded it up carefully and stuffed it back into the deepest corner of his pocket.

“She did.” He turned toward me, pulling my hands into his. “Capri, you’re perfect.”

“Wes,” I laughed, “I’m so far from perfect.”

“To me you are, though. You deserve the same.” He looked up into my eyes, stilling the breath in my chest. “And I want to be him. I want to be the guy you deserve.” His thumbs ran over the skin of my hand quickly. I squeezed to steady their movement.

“You already are. You are
him
.” Wes’ chest rose and fell in a mix of stuttered breaths. “I want you, Wes.” His chest rose and fell slowly.

“Here. Right now. I want you,” I repeated, and he perked up.

“Oh! You
want me
, want me?” His voice rose excitedly. I nodded unable to contain my smile, but then his body sagged.

“You deserve more than the back of my car.”

“The hood will do nicely, too,” I said, patting the cooled metal. Wes threw his head back and groaned.

“Wes,” I said touching the side of his prickled face with my hand and bringing his eyes back to mine. “This car is a piece of you and is more yours than any apartment or any bed. It’s you. I deserve you. I want you.”

He watched me closely. If I hadn’t become familiar with the little quirks that signal his innermost thoughts, I would have thought he was about to turn me down. The subtle flare of his nostrils, though, and the rapid dilation of his pupils told me that he was rising to my challenge. His hands darted to my face and gripped my jaw with his hands. He took one slow, steady, and heavy breath. Then he kissed me. Deep.

I felt him all the way from the drag of our lips to the burying of his heart into my own chest. Holding his face in my hand, I clutched him toward me, wanting all of him as close as possible.

Wes slid from the hood of the car, maintaining his steady devour of my lips. I felt his knees push on my own until my legs fell open. His hands anchored to my thighs, and he yanked me down, solidly pinning himself between my legs. I pulled my lips away in a gasp at the divine pressure.

Wes pulled the skin below my ear into his mouth sucking, and then released with a nip of his teeth. “You taste so damn good,” he hummed into my neck between sucks and delicate bites. The combination of the smooth warmth of his tongue and the dull sting of his teeth bred a wanting throb in me.

I wrapped my arm around his waist and grabbed the hem of his shirt. My fingers desperately clung to the fabric and I lifted my hips to him. A puff of cool air burst across my collarbone when he hissed. Then he pushed back, and it was my turn to hiss. I lifted my hips toward him again, but he pulled away. “Hang in there, baby. I wanna play first.”

“I don’t wanna play.” I pulled on his shirt, but he wouldn’t budge. “I wanna fuck.”

His head dropped back into the crook of my neck, and I felt the vibration of his mumbled groan. “You can’t say those things to me. I’m barely keeping it in as it is.” He lifted his head so that we were face to face. His hand brushed across my forehead and down my cheek. I watched his eyes bounce over my face until they settled on mine. “Besides. You know just as well as I do that’s not what this is.”

“What is it then?” I asked feeling the throb spread into my stomach. His eyes deepened and flared before perking up.

“Fucking passionately,” he said and dove back into nibbles down my neck. I laughed and tried to bring his face back up to mine, but he dodged me moving lower. “Playtime,” he mumbled, pushing my shirt up and placing open-mouthed kisses against my stomach. He unbuttoned my jeans and pulled away. I lifted myself up as he peeled them down to my knees. Then he began with the open-mouthed kisses again, except this time between my thighs. The heat of his tongue against my skin brought on an empty ache that had to be filled.

I ran my hands through his hair and tried to guide him to me. He shook his head releasing my hands and continued the steady stroke of his tongue up my thigh. The calloused pad of his finger brushed the edge of my underwear to the side. I shuddered against the sudden assault of balmy sea air.

The anticipation of having Wes’ mouth against me, and his tongue in me had me completely wet. Though, instead of doing what I so desperately needed him to do, he continued to tease with the light trail of his tongue across my bare mound. “You’re an asshole,” I forced out in a heavy breath. His chuckle pulsed through his tongue adding an insatiable need.

Then he did it. He pressed his face into me. Tongue deep. I moaned myself into an arch, taking in as much of his mouth as I could. His close shaven beard scratched against my thighs and massaged his lips into me. Nothing had ever felt physically this amazing. The throb deep in me was pulsing at an all-out ache, and I could feel myself dripping down my thighs.

“God, you’re soaked,” Wes whispered roughly.

“I need you,” I whined out. I needed him so bad. In more ways than I thought I’d ever need a person.

Wes pulled away from me letting the coolness of the air slip in between us. He peeled my pants off the rest of the way then lifted me from the hood of the car. I wrapped my legs around his waist and stared into his eyes. “You ready for this, baby?” He spoke softly. I nodded and touched my fingertips to his jaw.

He walked us to the car and held me completely in one arm as he opened the back door and slid me in. I climbed backward toward the other side of the car making enough room for him while peeling off the rest of my clothes.

Still standing outside, Wes unbuckled his pants and quickly removed them and his shirt, tossing them into the front seat. Then he crawled in and propped himself above me in a canopy of his heat.

He lifted up a foil package to his teeth, and I put my hand on it to stop him. “I don’t know how to fuck without one of these.” He shook his head in a smirk.

“Neither do I,” I said, “but this isn’t just fucking. This is fucking passionately, and I want to feel you completely.”

“Damn, how does a guy say no to that?” He tossed the packet onto the floor. “Wait, what about—?”

“I’m on something,” I assured him, knowing what he was about to ask. “So fuck me, Wes. Passionately,” I whispered the demand.

Wes lowered himself closer to me, and we stared at one another. I took in the subtle vulnerability of his eyes, and the anticipation of his breath. We were seconds away from changing everything, and I was so ready.

Seeming to come to the same conclusion, Wes pressed his lips to mine and kissed me slowly. The weight of him on me increased as he slid into me slowly at first, and then sunk in fully.

Our lips parted in silent exhales, and his forehead fell against mine. He pulled out slowly and filled me once again at just the same pace. Over and over again, slowly and deeply Wes rocked into me. Our legs and arms moved within tangles together and our hands brushed and gripped each other. With each thrust and every touch, I felt him burying further and further inside of me, yet he wasn’t deep enough. I still wanted more of him. I wanted all of him. The need spiraled up in me and our movement became more emphasized. I pushed my fingers further into his skin, and he filled me in heavier thrusts.

Sparks of white light flashed in my clenched eyes the closer I got. Brighter. Brighter. Closer. Closer. Until with one last push into me, a rainbow of color burst into my subconscious and my body exploded in delicious pulses around him. Wes followed me with his own release almost immediately after.

He fell cautiously onto me and peppered my chest, neck, and cheeks with soft cool kisses. Our chests battled against each other for breath until they both settled into a soft, steady pace together.

Never. Never had sex ever been that amazing for me. Never had it been that consuming. “I think you ruined me,” I whispered thinking that Wes had just become the last and only man I’d ever want again.

“I think you made me,” he whispered back laying his head over my heart.

M
en were simple fellas. We didn’t want much in life; food in our bellies, a kind woman on our arm, and a morning B.J. My girl excelled at keeping the simple me happy.

I should probably get up and shower or something, but I was sprawled out on my bed in happy man euphoria. My bathroom door squeaked open, and I flopped my head to the side to watch her.

“You haven’t moved.” She smiled climbing like a cat back into bed. Rawr.

“And your lips are still swollen. All signs that it’s too soon to get up.” I reached my arms out and pulled her on top of me kissing the swell of those lips. She settled into a comfy straddle over me arising the sleeping giant who’d already had a turn. She didn’t seem to mind.

“We never get up on Sundays,” she mumbled through our lazy kisses.

“I know,” I said running my hands up and down her back. We’d been doing this for weeks now. Spending all of our free time together and ending each day with her in my bed. We spent all day on Sundays in bed. I repeat
all day
. Could a guy get a round of applause?

It was nice, though, having her around this much. No, nice was when your eighth-grade crush touched just the tip. This was more like finding out your best friend’s hot little sister couldn’t get enough of you. Oh yeah, that happened! Monogamy didn’t get the credit it deserved. Having one chick on your dick all the fuckin’ time was ah-mazing, mainly because it was Capri, though.

“I wanna take you out today,” I said hooking my thumbs under the edge of her panties. Why’d she put these back on? “Why are these back on?”

She giggled into my lips. “I thought you’re taking me out?”

“After.” I pulled her bottom lip into my mouth with my teeth and ran my tongue across it. She tasted like me. “Then we can go.”

“Where are we going?” she asked sitting up. I reached for her frantically, but then she slipped off her panties with a sly grin and climbed back on. I sighed in relief.

“On a date.” I pushed her hair over so I could bite on her neck better.

“We’ve never been on a date,” she said sitting up again. I sighed in frustration.