2023 Story Collection

Painter of Worlds II

Aurora realized then that Samuel had caught her. His arms wrapped around her, holding her tightly to his chest.

They stay like that for a while. Staring into each other eyes in disbelief.

"I never imagined an angel would fall all the way from heaven just land in the arms of a man like me," his voice is exactly what she imagined it sound like. A deep, warm bass. It didn't suit his appearance.

She finally seems to come to her senses at the feeling of his rough calloused hand brushing the hair from her face.

"I am no angel," he raises a brow at her words.

"Then you must be a witch," he says and smiles. The smile is crooked and awkward, most likely from lack of use but is still captivating. "You've enchanted me."

At this point she was convinced she was most likely dreaming or had gotten knocked out then she fell. She figured a dream like this was a gift. Normally her sleep was filled with nightmares-another thing that ran in her family.

"Maybe I have," she replies and wraps her arms around his neck, "are you not scared of my power?"

"I do not fear that which I dream of every night." She raises a brow at his words. "For all I know, this could be a dream right now." He speaks honestly.

"And what would happen if it was?" She was taunting him. She would enjoy this dream. She was excited to see what would happen, she soon got her answer.

"I would do this," he leans in and kisses her. It was surprisingly gently.

She kisses back deepening the kiss, turning it into something much more rough. She runs a hand through his hair and gently pulls on it. He lets out a soft moan and claws at her waist pulling her impossibly closer. He takes her breath away.

She pulls back sucking on his bottom lip, savoring the moment. Her hand lays on his cheek with a gentle caress. She slowly opens her eyes, only to be met with his hooded in lust.

"You must've put a spell on me," he admits in a breathy whisper.

"Maybe I have," she repeats, pulling him in and kissing him again before pulling away far too quickly for his liking. He lets out a grunt of frustration. She pulls his chin to look at her.

"But the real question isn't whether or not I have put a spell on you, but rather if it is one of love or lust?" She stares into his eyes for an answer and finds one.

He stares so deeply into her eyes, they tell far more than she was ready for. She steps back suddenly hit with the reality of it all.

She stops. Her back hitting the railing of the balcony. She turns and looks out at the world before her.

She recognized the city line, it was the world she'd painted as a child just as she'd imagined it, before she followed the rules her mother had given her. She turned back to him, hurt and confusion on his face.

She walks back up to him and takes his face in her hands. She stares into his eyes deeply. Trying to make sense of it all.

"I have not enchanted you," she kisses him again, "what we feel is real," she says breathlessly. All the tightness he had gained in the absence of her touch melted away at her words. He placed his arms back around her and pulled her to him tighter, kissing her again.

When they pull apart to catch their breath she spoke "I fear you may have been right about me being a witch," he looks up at her words.

"I do not care," he says and they both know he means it.

"But sadly, I do." She looks down. "I am from another world, in my world you and all this is but paintings from my hand."

"You dreamt me up and painted me into existence?" He asked amused.

"I don't know," she says frazzled. "I just wanted to paint the handsome man I'd dreamt about, I had no idea this would all happen."

"Handsome?" He asks a hint of tease in his tone.

She looks up at him frustrated.

"I told you all this and all you care about is whether or not I think you're handsome?" She glares in frustration.

He laughs and caresses her cheek with his hand.

"The moment you fell into my arms my priorities changed," she knows he means it. He is so honest it makes her blush.

"You fell for me that quickly?" She just can't believe it. "Is that even possible?"

"Your the one who fell first," he winks and pulls her tighter.

"I feel for you as I painted you last night," he can't help but be surprised at her words "so, I suppose I did fall first."

She smiles and his heart thumps hard in his chest. The moonlight on her skin is ethereal. Unlike the woman in this town that is still poor and starving, she is a healthy weight, soft in all the right places. Each stroke, drop and brush of paint on her skin tells a piece of the story that is her. He wonders if his scars and callouses do the same.

She shivers at a cold bit of wind. He pulls her inside his room. It isn't much, he knows but it is the nicest place he could afford at the moment.

She walks around the small room and inspects his things, a small smile playing on her lips.

"This room is filled with you," she says picking up a small wood carving he'd done of a bear. "I could tell it was yours even if someone tried to convince me otherwise."

"You know me so well?"

"Well enough," she turns and walks over to him. "I know more than you could imagine."

"Now that's just not fair," he says as she wraps her arms back around him. "I know so little of you."

"Then ask," she kisses his cheek. "I'll answer any questions you have."

"You said your a witch?"

"I'm pretty sure all the women in my mom's side of the family are."

"Why painting?"

"It is what I love most and no matter how much I tried to stop, I couldn't." She kissed his other cheek. "It is as much a part of me as my hair is."

"What about your world?"

"It is very different from this one but not necessarily better," she tries to think up a way to describe it but knows that words do it no justice.

"Do you have a paper and pencil?" She asks. "I'll draw it for you."

And so she does, she draws her studio in all it's messy glory. She draws the city she lives in. She draws her family and friends. She tells him about how her work will finally be shown in a gallery. He listens intently to all of it and asks questions trying to understand the weird things of her world.

"You have carriages that move faster than horses?" He asks trying to wrap his mind around such things. She nods and smiles at his genuine interest.

She's never felt so loved. She doesn't want to leave. She will have to find a way back soon but she doesn't want to think of that, she only wants to think of this moment, of him.

In that moment she pushes her drawings off the bed onto the floor, making him look up at her in confusion. But before he can ask her anymore questions, she reaches over across the bed and pulls him into a kiss.

It is a kiss that is bound to become more. So when their clothes slip off and their hands begin to roam over each others bodies it is no surprise.

The stars smile down at the lovers and decide that for once they shall be kind, for tonight.

To be continued...

December 15, 2023