Page 50 of Passion Painted in a Lady's Heart
His studies were always made in charcoal. He could draw swiftly, outlining the form, the shapes, contours of the limbs, the fall of the hair, and the curvatures of the breasts. But in a dress, or even a chemise, the form was subject to imagination. To transfer the study into the nude required imagination, but that was not the realism he desired.
He had just drawn the sweeping curvature of Rosalind’s legs when, glancing around his easel, he gave a cry of exclamation. Rosalind was still there, but she had slipped the shoulder straps from her chemise, revealing her breasts. Sebastian’s eyes grew wide as she smiled at him.
“You don’t have to,” he stammered, unable to take his eyes off her, but she merely continued to hold his gaze, rising to her feet, and allowing the silk garment to fall to the floor.
There she stood. Her form, with its slender curves and pert breasts, outlined against the sunlight flooding into the studio. She was beautiful, the perfect figure, the perfect study. As she lay down, she adopted the same position as before, her right arm raised, her head resting on her shoulder. Her earlier embarrassment was gone, replaced by a mischievous smile, as Sebastian found himself hardly able to concentrate on his sketch.
“But I want to. I want you to paint a nude. I agreed to be your study, and if you’re going to paint a nude, then I should be nude,” she replied.
Sebastian’s fingers were trembling, and he could hardly take his eyes off her.
“I’ve never…if you feel uncomfortable at any moment,” he said, but she shook her head.
“Will you show me what you’ve done so far? I’m curious to see it,” she said. Sebastian rose to his feet, and taking the canvas from the easel, he stepped across the room.
He sat down on the edge of the chaise lounge, and Rosalind lay next to him, entirely comfortable, it seemed, to be naked in his presence. The sketch was only half finished, but it showed Rosalind’s outline, her breasts, the contours of her body, the mischievous smile on her face. She reached out and touched the figure, smearing the charcoal a little, before withdrawing her finger and smiling.
“Do you like it?” he asked, glancing at her, and she nodded.
“I do, but you needed me in the nude, didn’t you?” she replied, and he smiled.
“It’s certainly helping,” he said.
Her bare leg was touching the small of his back, her breasts a pale white in the sunlight, as though wrapped in a blanket, the shadows on either side framing her, as she raised her hand to shield her eyes.
“Good. Then I want you to sketch me again, and I want to be your model for every painting,” she said, and he smiled at her.
“Do you really?” he asked, and she nodded, resting her head back on the arm of the chaise lounge and smiling.
“And always like this,” she said.
He looked down at her naked form, his heart beating fast, as he edged closer, their bodies touching, his overcoat against her soft, supple skin.
“If that’s what you want,” he said, and she nodded.
“I do. It’s so freeing. No corset, no petticoats, no reams of skirt, just the form as it was intended, the female form, like Aphrodite,” she said.
“Then if that’s how you want me to sketch you, I will, just like Aphrodite,” he said, as now she ran her hands across her breasts and along her body, still smiling at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
“But if your study’s nude, why not you, too?” she asked, and Sebastian’s eyes grew wide with astonishment.
“You want me to be nude?” he asked, and she nodded.
“Why not? It seems a fair transaction,” she replied, and he smiled, blushing, as he pulled off his overcoat and unbuttoned his shirt, pulling it over his head, so his chest and torso were exposed.
Rosalind narrowed her eyes, still with a mischievous smile on her face, raising her eyebrows as Sebastian sat in only his breeches. He looked at her, his heart still beating fast, as now she reached out and ran her finger across his shoulder, sending a shiver running through him. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen, and now she indicated for him to continue, pointing down at his breeches.
“These, too?” he said, and she nodded.
“A nude for a nude. Can’t we both be a study for one another?” she asked, and rising to his feet, Sebastian obediently pulled off his belt, allowing his breeches to fall to the floor and removing his underclothes, too.
Now, he stood next to the chaise lounge, entirely naked, gazing down at Rosalind, whose own attire was the same. She smiled at him, sitting up as he sat down next to her, embarrassed at the obviousness of his arousal.
“Are you sure about this?” he said, and she nodded.
“I wouldn’t have suggested it if I wasn’t, but if you’re going to paint something like these other paintings, you’ll need more than two nudes. You’ll need a definite study,” she said, and leaning forward, she kissed him.
Her hands slipped around his torso, drawing him into her embrace, as they sank down on the chaise lounge in a sudden fit of passion.
