★★★
Regulus basked in Hera's beauty. Not only that, he immortalised it. He took her beauty and turned it into art. His art for now, soon it would belong to the world. It would be cherished by anyone who dared to admire it. Imagine that, as many eyes as you can picture, all looking at Hera. That was the artist's goal.
Never in his short but genius career has he been as determined to spread a single source of beauty than he was with her. There was no question about it, Hera was deserving of it all.
He couldn't stop himself from painting her figure, from sketching her hair, from sculpting her shape, or from taking pictures of her perfect mouth around his dick. She was perfect, and he wanted more than anything to celebrate her perfection.
He didn't even think of it as unnecessary to start wars over her beauty like Helen of Troy or Cleopatra, to riot in the streets, or to burn down everything for which she showed a hint of dislike. For now, he would have to settle with memorialising her in his work. Mapping out every curve and dip of her body like he would never see her again. Snapping enough photos of her to compile them into a film reel. This was what she deserved. If he had one legacy to leave the world, it would be the gift of Hera.
That's why his fingers were stained and calloused from the amount of work he had put into her. Charcoal was smudged on his hands—all from his new collection of drawings. He planned for at least a dozen candids of her. It was a small project, just something to keep him busy when he couldn't work on his big pieces for her.
He had gotten through six already. It had just been a few days since he started—ever since the boudoir shoot—but he couldn't take his mind off of her. What better way to deal with all his thoughts than to make something of them?
Regulus started imagining poses for the seventh while he painted the portrait of her in art class. Even while he waited for Hera to change out of her clothes and sit nude in front of him, he was still distracted by thoughts of her, and all the inspiration she brought him.
The door to the supply closet shut, and Regulus' gaze followed her all the way from there to the stool where she sat in front of the group. He watched, mesmerised, as she went through the same routine as always.
Hera dropped the cloth so it revealed everything north of her lower torso, then she adjusted it a bit, making sure it would stay put for the whole session. She took a silent breath, inhale then exhale, then resumed her normal pose. She stayed practically motionless for the whole time the collection of artists tried to capture her essence and paste it onto their canvases.
When Slughorn gestured to her from the side of the studio that time was up, she gathered up the sheet and stood up. She grabbed a piece of paper from under her left leg. It was tiny, no more than a few centimetres on each side length. She hid it between her hand and the sheet as she walked, and she subtly dropped it onto Regulus' lap as she walked by his easel.
He waited a second before reading the words on the note. He looked around to make sure no one had seen her pass it to him. Once he was sure no one was looking at him, he unfolded the one crease right down the middle of it.
It only had a few words. He could see they were fading out of the phase of their affair where they cared for greetings and pleasantries. 'Your flat in an hour. Excited to see what I've inspired you to create this time.'
With her excitement came his. Only, he wasn't sure what to make. He had a few things in progress, but nothing big, and nothing he really needed her there for. He racked his brain as he cleaned up his station, trying to remember some of the art pieces he had imagined late at night when he had nothing to do besides dream.
He remembered an idea he had a few days ago while shopping for art supplies. He had gone through them faster than ever this last bit, after all. Unfortunately, the plan relied on supplies he had only ever seen at that one store nearly twenty five minutes away. Running through the route in his head quickly, he promised himself that he could make it. If he sped enough, it would be no problem at all.
He went quickly, and it turns out that he had made it back with nearly perfect timing as Hera was walking down his street when he reached the flat. Regulus placed the bundle of supplies down on his porch while he unlocked the door.
"Were you just out?" Hera asked, walking up to him.
He finally unlocked the door and let them both inside. "Yes, but you'll be pleased to hear why."
She looked and saw the paints and canvas in his hands. "You were getting supplies."
"Not just any supplies. I've got some non-toxic paint and a loose canvas. I want to lay it out on the ground, cover ourselves in the paint..." He trailed off slowly, hoping she would either agree with him or dismiss him passionately.
"You want to make a sex painting?" She said, a giggle weaved within her words.
He felt his face flush at her unrevealing reaction."I wouldn't put it in those words."
"In what words would you put it, then?"
Regulus tried to think of what to say. Damn his mind, if only he had spent less time on his journey imagining the end result instead of how to introduce the idea, he would already be on the floor.
"Okay, it's a sex painting." As usual, he worried for her consent on the matter. "Of course, if you don't—"
A sharp, still untelling, eye roll from Hera caused him to stop talking. "What colours did you buy?" She asked curiously.
Hera was interested. It shocked the artist a bit, but it really shouldn't have. He shook his head as if to shake away the doubt, and rifled through the bag he had taken from the art supply store.
"Emerald, ruby, gold, sapphire, and silver."
He felt insecure and pretentious for using the names of precious stones, but they were the names that the shopkeeper had used. Plus, with the eye of an artist, the distinction between shades was important. He wondered if he would feel this embarrassed for anyone else, or if it was just Hera's past comments on his privilege that gave him a vigilant hindsight over his own words.
"I'll take silver. You should use the green."
"You have a good eye for colour." He complimented. He wasn't sure she took it as sincerely as he meant it, but left it nevertheless. "Yes, I'll take the green."
"Are we starting right away, or are you going to take me to dinner first?" Regulus' eyes widened, and Hera let out a chuckle. "I'm kidding, of course. It's actually a good thing we're doing this because you really need to loosen up."
"And what better way to do that than making art with you?" He asked, rolling out a large canvas sheet onto the empty floor space of the flat.
They both started getting undressed, following the same pattern; top to bottom, one layer at a time. In a minute, they were both completely naked, and all their clothes were in piles next to the makeshift art station. Perhaps the fabric was too close to where they were to make a mess in a few seconds, but the idea of their clothes getting splattered was the least of their worries just then.
Regulus grabbed the paint bottles from the counter where Hera had discarded them a few seconds prior and handed the silver colour to her.
"So, we should just cover as much as ourselves in the paint that we can, I think." Regulus said, shaking the green bottle.
"You're not worried about the waste of paint?" Hera replied.
"I couldn't waste paint on you even if I tried."
Hera bit the inside of her cheek to avoid her face breaking into a flattered smile rather than her usual confident stoicism.
The two of them stepped on the canvas and started pouring the paint onto themselves, from their neck to their feet. It was far less viscous than one might expect, and quite different from most other paints that they were used to. But that wasn't a bad thing, if this relationship has proved anything so far, it's that experimentation when it comes to art and lust can be nothing short of euphoric.
Once they had squeezed out all the paint from the small containers, they took a second to just stare at each other. Regulus looked like he had just crawled out of an algae-infested lake, as only small sections of his pale skin were left untouched by the pigment.
Hera, on the other hand, looked marvellous. The silver went well with her skin, and it cast a divine glow over her face and the other patches of her body without paint. It showed Regulus exactly how he thought of her. She was beautiful, more precious than the metal and far more stunning. Regulus realised how much of a privilege it was to be alive at the same time as such a wonder, let alone know her in the ways that he does.
He didn't know how long he had spent looking at her nude figure covered in the metallic paint, nor did he care. He would look at her for as long as she allowed him, and he would cherish every moment. But, he knew that the longer he spent staring meant less time creating the painting; and he was looking forward to making this painting.
"Shall we start?" Regulus asked.
"We shall." Hera replied. She took a step forward, accidentally planting her foot in a puddle of green paint that had missed Regulus when he was trying to cover himself. It made a lewd noise that they both knew would not be the only one that night, and Hera let out a giggle at the ticklish sensation on the sole of her foot. "This will be an interesting experience, I see."
"It's an experiment. We can stop at any time if it's too bizarre."
"If it's in the name of art, stopping for fear of anything new is blasphemous."
Regulus was even amazed at how well she could articulate philosophies about art. Mesmerised by Hera—in that moment and forever after—and wanting nothing else, he leaned forward and planted a kiss on her plush, inviting lips. He pulled her body even closer to his as his hands roamed her body. He would have been perfectly content to stay kissing her like that for hours on end, but alas, the painting was of priority. He didn't want to waste all that paint, even if it meant tasting her for as long as she would let him.
He pulled down on her shoulders, gently manoeuvring them down to lay on the floor, still exploring each other's mouths.
After a small but important realisation, Regulus pulled off of her soft lips and tried catching his breath before he spoke. "The paint likely isn't safe to ingest, so we can't..."
He had never been so afraid of vulgarity before he met this woman. He had always just spoken his mind, even if some might find it crude. It was especially true when he was talking about art. What was Hera doing to him? No matter what it was, he was okay with it.
"That's okay." Hera knew what he meant. "We have hands. And other appendages that can help."
She laid down on her back, and Regulus positioned himself on top of her. He kissed her again, and adored the vibrations she sent into his mouth via the moan that came out when he brought his right thigh between her legs.
Hera brought one of her hands up to his dark curls, fighting back a pang of guilt for getting paint in his beautiful hair, even though she knew this was no time to care about making a mess.
At the feeling of his hair being tugged on, Regulus started grinding his thigh against her core. She planted her hand against the canvas behind her, creating a metallic green print. As the two of them continued their chain reaction of pleasure, they both seemed to forget the world around them.
The artist kept up the motion of his thigh against her clit. It was irregular and broken sometimes since Hera was sucking at his jaw and the spots of his neck without the green ink.
It didn't take long for the model to become overtaken by her own pleasure. She let out a few profanities right next to Regulus' ear, and he tried to prolong the feeling for the both of them.
Regulus lifted his head a bit so he could look Hera in the eyes. "Do you need more, or—"
"You know what I need. I need you to fill me up." She was breathless when she responded, which told Regulus she may need a second to catch up before they did anything else.
He laid down next to her, waiting for as long as she needed. Once her chest was falling and rising with a normal rhythm, he asked her if it was okay to keep going. She nodded, and he climbed back where he was a moment ago. He used his leg to separate her thighs again, and he slowly pushed into her heat.
Inch by inch, they both felt the intimate euphoria come back slowly. He began to thrust into her, going gently to start. He pressed a kiss to Hera's cheek for every little note coming out of her mouth. She dragged her hands across Regulus' spine, blending the two paint colours on his back.
Realising how plainly silver the canvas must be, Hera rolled the two of them around so she was on top now.
This wasn't her first time riding him on the floor of his studio, but it might have been the best time. They were much closer than when they first met, even though they knew so little of each other. The beginning awkwardness was a little bit of a dam. The mystery was an aphrodisiac.
She placed her hands on his torso and closed her eyes as she rolled her hips, trying to create the most amount of satisfaction for the both of them.
Feeling useless on his back, Regulus held himself up and steady with a forearm on the ground and started to rub her clit again, adding to her experience.
"You like that?" He asked. "I know you love it."
"I do." Hera assured him. "It's amazing, Regulus."
They kept up that position as the sensations built, and they both knew it wouldn't be much longer before the painting was done. It was all for the painting, of course.
"Get on your hands and knees." Regulus said after a second. The words in themselves were an order, but the sweet way he said it made them more like a plea.
And she obliged him, of course. He sat up as well, resting on his knees and aligning himself with her from the back. He pushed his cock back into her, and they both let out moans when he did so.
He brought his hand up to her hips, one grabbing each side of her as he continued to thrust.
"Right there, Regulus. Please." Hera begged.
Regulus was close too. So close that it only took a few more motions to have both of them climaxing. As they kept going lazily to extend the moment, Hera lowered herself from her hands onto her forearms.
Looking to the sheet below them, Regulus inspected every print and stain they had made together.
"I think it looks beautiful." He complimented a second after pulling out of her.
"Of course it's magnificent, you made it." Hera said, standing up. "We need to shower, and then you can start thinking about where you're going to put that."
★★★