The Boy Who Paints Me (16 page)

“I need you to want me the way that I want you,” he whispered. I could feel his breath against my lips, and I wanted to feel his lips on mine again so desperately. My chest was rising and falling, and my body was filled with want.

“I do,” I whispered in a raspy voice.

“Then kiss me...please, Rai...just kiss me.” He didn’t have to ask me twice. I did something that I had never done before in my entire life. I kissed somebody. They didn’t kiss me, they didn’t force their lips against mine and call it a kiss. I kissed him. I kissed him like he was the only air that I was ever going to get. He responded instantly, pulling me closer to his mouth. I let out an unexpected moan as his hands tightened around my waist as his tongue explored the very depths of my mouth. I could feel our hearts beating in perfect sync. The kiss told me so much. I could feel what he was saying to me. My mind was racing and everything was a blur, except how his mouth felt against mine...it was the clearest thing in the entire world to me. It felt right. I almost cried when he pulled away, causing him to smile as he stared into my eyes. He brought his face back toward mine and let his lips touch mine again, so gently that I’m surprised I even felt it.

“You taste incredible,” he said breathlessly as he smiled against my lips. “So damn, incredible,” he whispered.

I sat silently, not saying a word. I knew what he meant but there were no words in the world that could explain what that kiss made me feel.

“You're driving me insane, Rai, you know that, right?” He chuckled as he stared down at me.

“Is that a good thing?” I replied, raising my eyebrows.

“Hang on. I’ll let you know in about two minutes,” he said before bringing his lips to mine again. This time I didn’t let him pull away. I slipped my hand into his brown hair and pulled him closer to me.

“Mmm.” I smiled to myself as the sound fell out of his mouth before gently pulling away.

“Yes,
definitely
a good thing. Rai?” I didn’t answer but just looked at him. “Don’t run away from me...like before. I will never hurt you, Rai. You can tell me anything. I need to know that you trust me,” he said in a sad tone.

“I do,” I said honestly.

“Promise?” He whispered.

“Promise.”

“Good,” he said as he gave me a peck on the lips. “Right, I’ve got to go,” he said as he slid me off his lap and jumped to his feet.

“Where are you going?” I asked in confusion.

“Rai, that was...intense,” he said with a smile on his face, “I need to go and paint,” he chuckled.

“Paint? What are you going to paint?” I asked as I stood up in front of him. I was already missing his warmth.

“You, of course,” he laughed.

“Me? Don’t you need me to sit there so that you can remember what I look like?” I asked in shock.

“Trust me,” he said as he slipped his hand around my waist and pulled me toward him. “I can remember every,” he kissed my lips, “last,” he kissed me again, “part,” and again, “of,” and again, “you,” he let his lips linger on mine as he smiled. He moved his lips to my ear as his grip tightened, slightly. “See you in an hour, beautiful.”He stood staring at me in silence before he let his hand slip up my face as he made circles on my cheek with his thumb. He smiled at me and then walked away, leaving me smiling to myself as though I was a kid who had just been told that I could live in the candy store. I had no idea what was happening with me and Leighton but it was happening, and I wanted it more than I have ever wanted anything else in my entire life.

Chapter 8

I had no idea whether Leighton had this effect on just me, or whether it was other girls as well. Either way, I was sat in the living room with a goofy smile on my face, laughing at the random thoughts in my mind. It was so ridiculous that my cheekbones had even started to hurt but I really didn’t care. I couldn’t describe what I felt or why I felt it because I had never experienced this before. In my life, men had equated to nothing more than sadness, pain and misery. I had never had a man that made me feel safe, calm and deliriously happy all at the same time. Leighton made me
feel
...literally. Men had put their hands on me in ways that made me feel sick, ways that I promised no one ever would again, once I escaped Mitch. Now, I felt like I was going crazy because I wanted to feel what it was like for Leighton to touch me in all of those places. It didn’t feel wrong or dirty, it felt right with him...so, so right, and I couldn’t understand why. I didn’t want to over analyse it or keep worrying and so I decided to let it go.

It would be easy for me to just sit back and feel sorry for myself. To tell myself that I was the only person that had ever gone through all of the things that I had. That would be a lie. If it hadn’t been for the years before Mitch or the time spent with my mom and Aunt Sarah, then I may have thought that there was nothing else out there but there is. There is so much more. Leighton was teaching me something without even realising. He was teaching me that we live in a twisted world, full of sick people, who do disgusting things but amidst all the pain and those people there are still some good people left. There were people left who touched innocently, walked away when you said no and made you feel completely safe. I wasn’t supposed to stay here for long but the truth was; I didn’t want to leave. I couldn’t, I couldn’t leave Leighton behind. What if I never found another Leighton again? What if I left and then couldn’t find him? Mitch scared the hell out of me but that fear paled in comparison to having to give up whatever it was that I had with Leighton. I wanted to learn and feel more, and that was a good enough reason to stay.

I had woken up pretty early today which meant that I had only had two hours sleep but I didn’t care. After Leighton went away to paint, last night, he came back. We spent the night talking. We spoke about everything. We talked about everything from, who his best friend was in kindergarten to the pain that he felt every time that his dad returned and then left again. I didn’t know why but talking to Leighton was so easy, and from what I gathered last night, he seemed to enjoy talking to me as well. I smiled as I told him about my mom and how things used to be, and I let him hold me when I spoke about how things had changed. I smiled when he spoke about how much he adored his grandmother, and I let a tear escape my eye when I saw the pain that passed his face when he spoke about the mother that he didn’t know. We shared so much. I told him stories about Mitch – I still couldn’t say his name out loud but Leighton didn’t question me. It was as if saying it out loud made it too real instead of keeping up the pretence – in my mind - that I was telling somebody else’s story. There was only two occasions where we ran out of things to talk about but that silence was filled by our beating hearts as we explored the depths of each other’s mouths. Every kiss was like a first kiss, so new and so amazing. The more we talked, the more I wanted him and the better the kiss felt. Everything felt brand new with him. I could tell that he was being careful, only ever allowing his hands to wrap around my waist or cup my cheeks. It was a sweet gesture, one that made me want to feel his touch even more.

By the time that we finally looked at a clock, it was four in the morning and pretty light outside. After leaving me with a soft and passionate kiss, he disappeared through the door of his house. Like a kid on Christmas day, excitement bolted through me as I leaped up the steps, to my room. I ran over to my window in the hopes of catching one last glimpse before the night was over. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one with that idea. Seeing that we both had the same idea caused us to giggle like kids. We stood, staring at each other for a few seconds before he broke the trance by mouthing ‘get some sleep, I’ll see you tomorrow’. I waved back before closing the blinds and melting into the blankets on my bed. I just couldn’t wipe the smile off my face, and at some point, I drifted off into a comfortable, fully clothed, sleep.

When I awoke, I was pretty shocked to see that I had only been sleeping for a couple of hours but I was wide awake. I jumped into the shower, singing a song that I had obviously made up. After taking thirty minutes to get ready, I skipped downstairs, made myself a bowl of cereal and then relaxed on the couch. I spent most of the day, hoping that I would see Leighton and replaying the details of the events of last night.

It was now mid day, and I was busy trying to distract myself by reading a book that Aunt Sarah had on the bookshelf. It was pretty interesting. It was about a woman who had fallen in love with her son’s best friend. It was...complicated. However, when I heard the familiar knock on the front door, the book became a thing of the past and all of my attention was focused on one thing...Leighton.

As I approached the door, I desperately tried to calm my beating heart down and pretend to be less excited than I actually was. That plan failed when I opened up the door. Standing there in front of me was quite possibly the most beautiful man that I had ever seen. Calling a man beautiful was probably a girly thing to do but there was no other word to describe him, and if there was, then it sure as hell hadn’t been invented yet. He was stood there, leaning against the door frame and looking down at me with a lopsided grin on his face. He had on a pair of faded blue jeans that hung perfectly low on his hips. For the first time since I had moved here, he was wearing a skin clinging, white tank top that made me feel as though I was going to faint. It hugged every possible curve that made up his abs and believe me, he had abs. I wasn’t sure whether it was a six pack or an eight pack hidden under there because my eyes were losing focus but it was amazing. His arms were toned, with slight traces of veins running from the centre of his arms down to his wrists. He was a beautiful bronze colour from the sun. He was putting every tanning lotion ever invented to shame. He had on a pair of black boots that had clearly been worn many times but gave him an edge that I only imagined drove a lot of women insane.  His dark brown hair was messy and looked as though he had just stepped out of bed but believe me, it worked for him. A few strands hung just above his eyes which were sparkling under the sun. For the first time, I noticed just how beautifully golden his eyes became under the sunlight, and the way that he was staring at me was doing things to parts of my body that I didn’t even know I had, until just this minute. I watched as his tongue slipped slightly out of his mouth to wet his lips. It was an innocent act, one that made sense, considering how hot it was today but it drove me insane. I cleared my throat and blinked a couple of times to try and gain some form of composure. I heard a light chuckle escape his lips, pulling me out of my trance.

“You ok?” He asked with a knowing smile. Was he doing it on purpose? If he wanted to see me in a padded room, in a white jacket then he was going about it the right way. “Rai?” He continued when I forgot to answer him. I had no idea what was wrong with me. I knew that I needed to answer him but instead; I let my eyes fall closed for a minute. I probably looked like the perfect example of a crazy person but it was so out of my control right now. I had been alive for eighteen years, and not once in any of those eighteen years had my body responded to another human being like this. I had been to the most intimate stage that you can be with someone, and not once had I felt anything, and this boy, this human without any special powers or abilities was making my body tingle all over without even touching me. I was definitely going crazy. “Hey,” I heard Leighton say in a gentle voice as a soft touch brushed across my cheek. My eyes instantly snapped open as an electric volt shot through my entire body at his touch. I was met with a concerned gaze and warm eyes that made me melt in that very spot. “Are you ok?”

I nodded my head and let a small smile slip onto my face since words suddenly ceased to exist in my world.

“You sure?” He asked, looking slightly more concerned. I nodded again, taking a step back from his touch, in an attempt to cool down from the heat that I knew, wasn’t coming from the sun. “Good, I’m taking you out,” he chuckled.

“Out?” It was the only word that managed to slip out of my mouth. He smiled at me before letting his hand slide casually into mine. Again, the electricity in my body went wild. I probably had enough energy running through me to keep the entire United States lit for at least a year.

“Mmm hmm,” he said with a smirk on his face that caused me to smile. “Hungry?” He asked as he pulled me, gently towards his car.

“A little,” I whispered.

“Good,” was all that he said before opening my door and then walking around to his own.

“Aren’t you tired?” I asked as I leaned into the car seat and yawned.

“Yeah but I wanted to see you again, and since you’ve got another day off, I thought that I had better cease the opportunity,” he said as he glanced at me with a smile on his face. “Tired?”