Chereads / The Artist and The Wolfe / Chapter 23 - Chapter 23

Chapter 23 - Chapter 23

I arrived at Johnny's place. We had agreed to hang out and get some coffee again, but he had called and said he was in the middle of a project and invited e over instead. He promised coffee still, so I was more than accepting. I knocked on his door and waited a minute or so before he finally opened up. He was shirtless, only wearing pajama pants, and had spattered paint up to his elbows.

"Hey." He smiled at me, moving out of the way to let me in.

"You weren't kidding when you said you were in the middle of something." I laughed, stepping past him.

"I'm painting. Wanna come see?" He walked back into his apartment and across the living room into his painting studio.

"Damn." I scanned the large canvas. He was in the middle of a self-portrait. The portrait was impressively one-to-one, and though he wasn't finished yet, it looked really good.

"You like it?" He looked over at me with a raised eyebrow, a small smile on his face.

"I love it, Johnny. It's great." I smiled at him, taking a step closer. "You're an amazing artist."

"You cool with hanging out around here for a while?" He pulled out a stool with his foot, before sitting down on it.

"Sure thing." I nodded, walking over to my own painting that I had yet to finish. "I'm more than happy to do some painting today. We can order in lunch."

"Sounds like a plan." He flashed me a smile, before turning his attention back to his painting.

We painted in harmony for a while, occasionally talking and getting assessments on our work, but for the most part, we listened to the music Johnny was playing. Mostly metal. We talked a bit about the forming relationship between Marco and me. Johnny was a good listener, occasionally giving his input when I asked for it. He was supportive of the relationship but told me to take care of myself first. He didn't seem to let our past fling get in the way of our blossoming friendship.

My phone began ringing, breaking us out of our trance. I pulled my phone out of my purse I had left on the ground, seeing it was Marco calling.

"Hey." I answered.

"Lili. Where are you?"

"At Johnny's place."

"Johnny, who?"

"Uh…" I looked over at Johnny, realizing I didn't know his last name. "Guy from the art show. Remember?"

"You're with him again, Lili." His voice lowered. "Why?"

"We're currently painting."

"And what will you be doing after that?" I could tell he wasn't happy about the notion of me being with Johnny, but I wasn't sure of the reason.

"I'm not sure. We were planning on getting some lunch soon."

"Lili. I don't want you seeing him anymore." His growl told me he wasn't messing around.

"What?" My eyes widened. "Why? Nothing is happening between us. We're just friends." I tried to convince him, even if I felt like it was pointless.

"You slept with him before, Lili. What's to say you won't do it again?"

"Oh," I scowled, "so you're just jealous."

"I am not jealous." He protested immediately, not to my surprise by any means. "I'm worried about your safety. You don't even know him."

I took a deep breath. "Marco, if you have no other reason to call, I have things I'm doing."

He paused for a few moments before he spoke again. "No. You can go."

"Alright. Goodbye, Marco." I hung up, taking a deep breath.

"I can't tell if he's being too possessive as your boss or your boyfriend." Johnny spoke up as I set my phone to the side.

"Well, he's not my boyfriend, so…"

"He sure seems to think he is." Johnny chuckled.

I sighed, shaking my head. "Anyways, what did you want for lunch?"

----

Johnny and I had spent the whole day in the studio painting. It was very enjoyable and therapeutic to be able to paint for as long as I could, as I hadn't had the chance to do that in a long time. Currently, we were finishing dinner, though it was a bit later than we eat back at home. I picked up the container and carried it over to the fridge.

"Hope you don't mind eating my leftovers." I turned to face Johnny, who was still on the couch.

"I would never complain about leftovers." He shrugged with a smile.

"Ready-" I was cut off as my phone began ringing again. I walked over to grab it, seeing it was Marco once again. I took a deep breath before answering. "Hello?"

"Lili." His voice was softer than last time. "Come home."

"It's still my day off." I ran my fingers through my hair. "I'll be later tonight, but I'm not sure what time."

"You can always sleep here." Johnny offered, getting up from the couch to put his takeout box in the trash.

"Or tomorrow." I felt like, after the call earlier today, I needed some space from him.

"Are you planning on staying with your friend tonight, then?" He sounded…upset, sad even.

"I'm not sure yet. It'll depend on how late we stay up and if we drink or not." Johnny and I had talked about going to a nearby bar for some drinks tonight, and I had planned to take him up on the offer.

"Come home, Lili." He tired again.

"I'll be home tomorrow, Marco."

"Some--something is wrong with Lark." He sighed. Immediately I perked up, clutching onto my phone.

"What happened, Marco?"

"I'm…not sure." He sounded so uncertain, unlike usual. "Please just come home."

"I'll be there soon." I walked over to grab my purse.

"Thank you." He lingered, before hanging up.

"What happened?" Johnny looked over at me with worry on his face.

"Something with Lark." I shook my head. "I need to go."

"Alright." He nodded. "Drive safe, Lili. And I enjoyed today."

I smiled slightly. "I did too. We'll be sure to hang out again soon."

"Glad to hear it. Do you have everything?"

"Yeah." I checked my things. "Bye, Johnny."

"Bye, Lili."

----

My hands shook as I unlocked the door. On the drive home, I had nothing but time to come up with all the worst-case scenarios of what might have happened. Finally, I had gotten the door open and headed up the stairs. Marco was sitting on the couch, watching me come up.

"Where is he?"

"Asleep." Marco stood up, walking over to me. "Can we talk?"

"What happened to him? What's going on?" I looked up at him, looking for some sort of explanation.

"He's fine, Lili." He placed his hand on my shoulder, holding onto me. "I want to talk."

"What do you mean, Marco? You told me something had happened to him. What happened?"

He took a deep breath. "I lied. He's fine."

I looked at him in shock. "What do you mean you lied?"

"I just wanted you to come home."

My shock quickly turned to anger. "What the fuck, Marco?" I walked past him, before turning on my heel and stopping to look at him once more.

"I don't want you seeing that man anymore." His voice was still soft as he reached out to touch me again. I quickly dodged his grasp, moving to the side.

"You mean the one friend that I have?"

"You fucked him, Lili. He's not just a friend."

"Yes, he is!" I raised my voice, before realizing I could possibly wake Lark up and dropped it again. "He is just my friend."

"I don't believe you."

"You're just jealous, Marco." I scowled at him. "Jealous that I had sex with a man other than you. Well, sorry to break it to you, but you're not my first, and you won't be my last."

Marco grabbed me by my throat, walking backward before my legs crashed into the couch. He pushed me back, causing me to fall into the couch. "You are mine." He growled.

"No, I'm not!" I attempted to push his arm away, but nothing moved it. "You're just fucking jealous, Marco."

"And what if I am?" His eyes trailed down to my lips. I could tell by the tightening of his pants what he wanted.

"Then fucking admit it!"

"Fine. I'm jealous. I want you to be only mine." He pulled me up to his height and kissed me. The fire in my veins right now made it so I couldn't deny the attraction right now. It was hot how possessive he was being. I had always wanted a man to fight over me.

"Tell me you're mine, Lili." He pushed me back, his hand still around my throat.

"I'm not yours, Marco. Not yet."

He glared at me, his grip tightening. "Fine, then I'll make you mine." He pushed me back down onto the couch, releasing my neck. He got down on his knees and sat between my legs. He pushed them apart and moved forward, his hand running up my thigh.

"Marco." I attempted but was quickly silenced by him.

His hand ran up my thigh, stopping at the waistband of my jeans. He unbuttoned them, before sliding them off and tossing them to the side. He moved closer once more, so I could feel his breath on my skin. "You are mine, Lili. Until I decide otherwise." His fingers wound around my underwear, before yanking them down, causing me to yelp out in surprise.

He moved his face closer, before licking, his warm tongue grazing my clit. I ran my fingers into his hair as he stimulated me. After he seemed satisfied with his job, he pulled back and stood up, undoing his own pants. He pulled himself out as his pants fell down to his ankles. He grabbed onto my knees and pulled me forward, so my back was on the seat. Marco shifted his grip to be around my back with one hand, while his other hand lined himself up. He pushed against me, filling me up with one thrust.

I gripped onto the back of the couch as he thrust in and out, pushing my breasts closer to my face in rhythm.

"Marco." I called his name out as I closed my eyes and arched my back.

"Say it, Lili." His free hand began to rub my clit.

"No." I protested, defiantly.

He stopped the stimulation. "Say it, Lil. Come on."

"Fuck." I muttered my complaint, opening my eyes. "Please don't stop."

Marco began rubbing again, causing me to close my eyes once more. A few more thrusts, mixed with the rubbing of my clit, and I reached climax, calling out his name once more. I could feel that he finished at the same time. He pulled out and sat down next to me, breathing heavily.

I finally spoke after the feeling passed. "I suppose I'm yours."

Marco looked over at me with a lopsided smile. "Good."