Robin des Bois ✓

eighteen. The L Word

"No nakedness involved? I'm more than willing." Alexei smiled and I traced his lower lip with my thumb. He really had a face made for art. Just looking at him made my hands itch to pull out my sketchbook and lay him down on paper while every detail of him was still fresh in my memory.

"Nope, sorry."

"At least I finally get to be your muse." He nuzzled my neck and I felt him inhale deeply. "Now that that's settled, let me show you my bedroom. There's a bed in there that's just dying to make your acquaintance." He placed a kiss at the hollow of my throat and even though I wanted nothing more than to give in to his suggestion, I managed to gather enough willpower to pull away.

"I wanted to try using the body paint once first. I've never done it before and I just want to see how much of a disaster I'll be."

"You're killing me there, woman." Alexei shifted next to me. "I haven't been this celibate since I was fifteen and a virgin."

"You had your first time at fifeen?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah, one of my biggest achievements. I persuaded this one girl that I was twenty two."

I raised one eyebrow at him. "And how old was she?"

"Twenty six." He wiggled his eyebrows at me.

"That's kinda mean. She really could've gotten into trouble. How would you feel if I told you I was sixteen?" I elbowed him and gave him a mischievous smile.

"Oh come on, I'd never kiss and tell, especially to cops. And to answer your question, I'd be a bit worried. And disappointed, because what I was planning to do with you would have been illegal in twenty five states."

"Really? Only twenty five?"

"Yeah, no, I just said a random number. Thought I'd seduce you with my vast general knowledge. So how'd it work? Aren't you totally dying to fuck me right now?" He leaned in for a kiss, but I laughed and dodged him as I reached for my backpack. "I'll take that as a solid 'no'." He sighed theatrically.

"It'll only take a few minutes, I promise."

I pulled out my favorite sketchbook and hesitated for a moment as I looked at Alexei. I rarely ever showed the contents of it to anyone –actually it almost never left my room. I had an array of other sketchbooks that I carried around almost everywhere in case inspiration randomly struck me in the middle of the day, but this one was different. I'd had it for years and reserved it for the ideas that had made me choose to study art in the first place. Sometimes, I would jot down a quote that I found fitting under a drawing, and sometimes I would slip in a particularly beautiful flower to dry in between the pages. Some of the sketches in there were the reflection of my deepest and most intimate thoughts and letting someone open it was like giving them an unrestricted access to the corners of my brain that were usually unreachable. It made me feel completely bare. Even though Alexei had seen me and touched me in ways that no one else ever did, I still felt slightly uncomfortable at the thought of letting him see yet another uncharted part of me.

He gave me a questioning look and I blushed as I looked down at my worn out sketchbook. I took a deep breath and opened it, angling it so that he couldn't see inside. I quickly flipped through the pages until I found the sketch I'd drawn and later colored. It was pretty simple –his chest and the different hues of dark blue and purple that were supposed to replicate the night sky, with specks of white and silver for the stars. I'd actually searched for some constellations to keep the whole thing realistic and on the next page, I'd tested out some watercolors to try and find the different hues of blue and purple that would make the perfect mix.

After a moment of staring at it I gulped and handed the sketchbook to Alexei, who took it carefully and appraised it for a long moment. His prolonged silence made me squirm nervously and I toyed with one of my curls as I watched him, wrapping it around my finger and then letting it spring back into its original position.