• Quick A/N: I'm trying something a bit different this time. This chapter was inspired by one of my dear readers who reached out to me through my private message. PaperBlanks this chapter is for you. Thank you for offering me your amazing work for my story. The rest of you will understand as you read on. Enjoy. •
"No butler to greet us?"
Mia gave Eli a dull glance and closed the door after them. Discarding her jacket, she hung it up on her coatrack. "Guest bedroom is through that door. You can set up in there, put Elana to bed."
Eli didn't reply, just went straight for the room, carrying the sleeping Elana on his arm. He closed the door and that was that. Mia stood a little in her entrée before she sighed and then headed for the kitchen. She decided she needed a drink.
Things were just so messed up. How did the guy who vandalized her school (who turned out not to be the vandalist) end up staying at her place? A guy who she initially hated was now the guy she was currently fucking. And on top of that, a side of the world she never thought she would have anything to do with was now something she had chosen to involve herself in.
Mia fished out a much needed beer from her fridge and twisted the cap off before taking a long sip. Unlike most people assumed, she didn't mind a good beer. I didn't always have to be champagne and caviar, although if you asked Eli, he'd probably disagree. Rich chicks stereotypes and all that.
Massaging her shoulder with one hand, Mia walked into her living room with her beer. She took a seat and leaned back comfortably in her couch while absentmindedly thinking about everything. What was she going to do with them now that they were here? What was the next step?
The guest bedroom door silently opened and Eli came out. Glancing at him for a moment, Mia tiredly yawned and then closed her eyes, settled in her sofa. She heard his footsteps walk into the kitchen, and a minute later she heard the fridge open - the sound of another beer popping open.
"You're not twenty-one yet, Eli." She reminded him tiredly.
He came back into the living room, taking a seat on the couch across from her. "What are you going to do? Turn me in?"
Of course he knew she wouldn't.
Sitting up, Mia glanced at him as he took a sip of his beer, licking his lips afterwards. His Adam's apple bobbed, making the lotus on his neck dance and stand out on his skin. Beautiful.
Mia shook her head. She really needed some sleep "I'm gonna go to bed. See you tomorrow?"
"Mm."
She got up from the couch and walked up to her own bedroom. Pausing when a thought struck her, she then hesitantly looked back at Eli who just sat there, sipping his beer. Why didn't he go to bed, too? "Unless... do you want to talk?"
"Go to bed, Mia. You have school tomorrow."
She had already mentally decided hours ago that she was calling in sick tomorrow. She wanted to make sure him and Elana got settled properly.
"Alright. Goodnight then. Sleep tight."
He didn't reply, but she didn't expect him to. Mia went to bed and knew that when morning came, she would have to make some good excuse to her school as to why she wasn't coming in.
~~~
"Ditching school..." She heard Eli's gruff voice say from behind her. "Did you take your meds this morning?"
Mia flipped the pancake on her stove and pursed her lips. "I didn't wanna go to school today knowing you two were here all alone."
"Afraid I might clean you out?"
"Not at all. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
"Newsflash; We've been doing just fine before you came along."
"Even so," Mia said, turning off the stove. She turned around and placed a plate of pancakes with berries and jam on the counter in front of him. "I wanted to make sure that you got settled right. You might be here for some time, so bon appetite."
Her brain instantly went into a freeze when her eyes landed on him; In nothing but a pair of black sweats, he looked deadly gorgeous. Dear God, by now she should've been used to it, but she wasn't. She still got overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of his tattoos and the firmness of his body. Pairing that with his rumpled morning hair which was falling onto his forehead, it was a lethal combination – lethal meaning dangerous for the life of her panties.
"Come on, princess. Close your mouth unless you want me to fill it."
Mia quickly closed it. Her cheeks then crisped up when her eyes met his, finding light amusement inside them. Of course that wasn't surprising since she had been blatantly checking him out. He might not have been the most narcissistic of guys, but he still had an ego, and she was pretty sure she just fed it up good with all her staring.
"Why did you make this?" Eli then chose to ask and tipped the plate she had put down in front of him a little. He cocked a brow at her. "We aren't playing house. You're not my girlfriend."
And that she knew. She didn't know, however, what compelled her to make pancakes that morning, she just felt like it. Maybe because she had a feeling that none of them had gotten a decent, well-cooked breakfast in forever. She wished she could've cooked some for Caleb as well. Wherever he was. "I know, jackass. Can't you just say 'thanks for making me breakfast' and eat it instead of being all rude about it? It's just breakfast for Christ's sake, not a ring."
His lips twitched in something that could've been a smile. It was gone before it could ever become more, though. "I'll go wake Elana up."
They then all ate breakfast in peace, enjoying the pancakes with whipped cream and fresh berries from her fridge. Elana was very excited to be there if her rapid signing was any indicator. Not many things could bring a real smile to Eli's lips, but Mia quickly learned that Elana were one of the few that could. Each time she was done signing something, Eli usually returned it with a smile and another string of ASL.
There was something so eloquent about the way he signed, Mia noted. Maybe it was because you didn't expect an overly tattooed man like himself to bust out a skill like that, or maybe it was because his face was usually so hard and reserved that you couldn't imagine him doing funny finger signs. And yet he did and it took your breath away.
Elana got full at one point and then raced off to play in the guest bedroom. Eli kept her company behind closed doors, so in the meantime Mia went into her living room, to the corner where all her art supplies were. She figured since she didn't go to school today, she should make up for lost time. She got out a clean canvas and placed it on her easel and then fished out her pencils. Pausing in front of it, she looked at it and asked herself the same old question she always had to ask; What was she going to draw today?
Her mind wandered for minutes. There were so many things she could draw, but in truth there was just one thing she wanted to sketch; Eli.
It was as if her mind was obsessed with him, as if she was only able to create art that involved him. She got butterflies in her stomach every time she thought about him; About his brooding eyes, that lethal glare in them; Those dangerously glinting piercings, those exotic tattoos; The firmness of his body against her palms, the strong grip he had on her whenever he held her... and then there was his mind.
She didn't understand him. She so badly wanted to. Who was he before he became this, before all the tattoos? Where did he live? Where was his parents? Had he been happy, and then something awful happened that changed it? It was a cliché thing to assume, but of course there was also the far worse scenario; He came from a bad place with bad parents and bad people around him, which turned him... 'bad'. Whatever the case was, she badly wanted to know his origins.
"You're staring at a blank canvas again."
Mia yelped and jerked around. There he was again. "And you're creeping up on me again. Did you and Caleb take a class on that or something?"
He didn't comment on that. Instead he stared at her white canvas as well. "Trying to draw again?"
She sighed and nodded. "With no luck as always. Where's Elana?"
"Taking a nap. Why don't you just draw what you see?"
What did she see? She saw him. That's all she ever saw when he was in the room. "I don't really work that way."
"No, you're only able to create after you've been thoroughly fucked."
That was low. Sending him a cold stare, she turned away and resumed staring at her canvas. "Go away if you're just going to stand there and harass me. Unless of course you want to stand model while I draw you?" She glared flatly over her shoulder when he didn't reply, but just continued standing there with an impassive look on his face. "Yeah. Didn't think so. Go away."
A long moment of silence stretched while Mia could feel he just continued staring at her, his eyes drilling into her back. She was just about to turn around again and shoo him away when he suddenly spoke up.
"You can draw me if I can draw you."
Mia froze up and took a moment to swallow that. She then slowly turned around and stared gobsmacked at him. "Excuse me? You want to... draw me?"
"And I want you to be topless. You can leave the bra if you're too chicken, but I think it's only fair that I get to draw you without a shirt on when you've done the same with me."
Mia felt a nervous rush go through her body which she then quickly realized was in fact excitement.
He wanted to draw her? As in, draw her body? Create art with her in it?
She wanted to see him do that. She loved art and she loved—
Wooow. She paused her thoughts. Her mind almost just ran away with her. She quickly shook it off. "Alright. Deal."
Eli raised a brow as if he hadn't expected her to take him up on his offer, but then he gave a curt nod and spoke. "Get me a pencil and a sketch pad then."
Mia quickly got up from her stool and went to her shelf, tossing through all her art supplies until she finally found a sketch pad, a pencil, and an easer. She then turned back around to Eli, holding out the supplies. "Pencil and a pad." He took them wordlessly. Mia then walked back to her own canvas, but couldn't help but bite her lip and look hesitantly back at Eli. "You're not gonna draw my face, are you?"
"Would I ask you to be topless if I wanted to draw your face?"
Alright then, point taken.
Mia slowly pulled off her top and exposed her black lace bra underneath. As always she suddenly felt very self-conscious when his dark eyes landed on her cleavage, then roamed over the two soft swells. She gulped and tried to ignore it, carefully picking up her own pencil to start. "Shall we?"
Eli didn't reply again; Instead he sat down on one of her bar stools and begun sketching, moving his hands with exercised movements, she noticed. Mia then turned her attention back to her canvas after a moment and did the same as him; begun drawing.
This was going to be interesting.
~~~
A couple of hours later they were still going at it. Every once in a while, while glancing at each other, their eyes met. Eli's eyes were concentrated, but also dark – a detail Mia couldn't help but swallow dryly at. Her living room had gotten very hot over the last few hours, especially since none of them really spoke, only sketched. But the look on Eli's face as he studied her, that kept Mia almost messing up and having to erase and try over.
His eyes trailed over her feminine features with deep concentration, his head tilting to the side and his lips pressing into a thin line every time her chest did a small, shaky bounce when she couldn't keep her body under control. His hand, so deft and skilled, swept across the paper in artistic ways, leaving Mia curious as to what he was drawing. She really hoped in hadn't drawn her hardened nipples.
Finally, after a long silence and almost two hours of intense drawing, Mia decided to break it. "How are you doing? You can just say if you need a break or anything, some water or food."
"I'm fine. How's your art coming along?" He tonelessly replied with his eyes pinned on his paper. He made a long stroke with the pencil.
"Good. Almost done, actually. I just want to get your tats right. How's yours coming along?"
"Good. Almost done, too. I just want to get your tits right."
Mia looked up and then almost choked on her breath when she saw his lips twitch into a smirk that could only be described as sexy, while his eyes stayed focused on his drawing. God, the way his mouth sometimes said things... "Well, uh, I'm done now. Signing it..." Mia flicked her pencil and scribbled her signature. "Done. Would you like to see?"
"Two seconds."
Eli worked intensely for another three minutes before he finally looked up, and to Mia's surprise, tossed the pencil carelessly over his shoulder. "There. Let's go."
Nervously, Mia turned her easel towards him and waited for him as he studied her work.
(Credits to PaperBlanks)
She had decided to draw his portrait today since the drawing she was making of his body didn't contain his face. She had wanted to capture that too, but on a separate canvas. This was of course for him to have and not for anyone else to see.
"Not bad."
That was it. That was his grand assessment of her portrait of him got cut down to two words. She figured that was about as much of a compliment as he was capable of giving. "Thank you. Can I see yours now?"
He flipped his pad and let her see it.
(By yours truly)
Mia looked, stunned. Maybe it wasn't a masterpiece, but to her it was. The shading might not have been completely right and the details could've been better, but she loved it. It was an Elijah original, his take on her.
"I'm not much of a realistic artist," He commented. "I prefer tattoo art."
"Eli, it's beautiful," Mia murmured, taking the pad from him to study it closer. "I absolutely love it. The stroke of the pencil, the shading..."
"If you're fishing for a fuck, all you have to do is ask. Skip the ego sucking."
"I'm serious, Eli," She said, looking up at him. "It's not half bad at all. Where did you learn to draw like this?"
"Where did you get your tits from?"
"You're saying this comes natural to you?" She questioned, feeling like breathing just got harder. "Holy shit."
"It's just drawing what's in front of you. It's not that hard."
"Uh, yes it is, to some people. Most people can't calculate proportions, can't place shading, determine distance or size—"
"Jesus fucking Christ, what do they teach you at that school?" He suddenly snapped. "Why do you make everything so goddamn complicated? It's art, it doesn't have to be fucking mathematical. Just draw, for God's sake."
With that Eli then turned around and stalked back into the guest bedroom where Elana was sleeping, shutting the door silently, but firmly.
But his point lingered in the living room with Mia who couldn't help but breathe it in.
Just draw.
• • •
Anyone else draw?