Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 86074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“Pose for you?” Dark lifted his eyebrows. “What does that mean?”
“Remember back at the club, I told you I’m not just a professor of Art History, I’m also an artist?” Lili reminded him. “I mean, not a very good one—not good enough to make a living at it. But I still like to sketch from time to time and I brought a sketch pad and some charcoal with me.”
“Oh, so you want to draw our picture?” Light said.
Lili nodded.
“Exactly—will you pose?”
The twins exchanged a look over her head and Dark shrugged.
“Sure. Why the fuck not?” he rumbled.
Lili clapped her hands together.
“Oh good! I’ve been wanting to sketch you two from the minute I first saw you! Come on—let’s go in the back and I’ll get out my supplies.”
They went in the back and Lili retrieved the large sketch pad and the brand-new charcoal Rachel had gotten her as a gift to take on her trip. Her best friend had always been a big fan of her art and had often encouraged her to try and make a living with her sketches and paintings, rather than teaching. Lili always laughed at the idea, however.
“Thanks, but no thanks,” she told her friend. “I’d rather be a well-fed professor than a starving artist!”
But there was no denying that sketching gave her more pleasure than teaching and she had seldom had such amazing subjects to sketch before.
She had Light pose first, standing in the middle of the living area while she and Dark sat on the couch. The Dark Twin watched with great interest as she sketched and kept up a running commentary.
“Holy shit, Brother—you ought to fucking see this!” he rumbled, looking over Lili’s shoulder as she drew. “She’s really fucking good!”
“Thank you, Dark,” Lili murmured distractedly. She loved drawing the Light Twin—she just wished she could get a better view of his body. He and Dark were both wearing the standard Kindred uniform—tight black trousers tucked into tall black boots and both of them had on long-sleeved black uniform shirts as well.
Their purple skin—and Dark’s golden tattoos—stood out beautifully against all that black, but Lili still wished she could sketch them nude. It seemed rude to ask though, since she hadn’t known them that long.
She herself was wearing a blue wrap dress with long, flowing sleeves trimmed with golden fringe. The dress was cut low in the front and fell to her ankles. Soft blue slippers that molded to her feet went with it and they were absolutely the most comfortable shoes Lili had ever worn—even if she was considerably shorter in them, without her usual heels.
Liv’s friend, Kat, had assured her that the outfit was appropriate female attire for F’rith Three. Lili was just glad she hadn’t had to wear something really outlandish—aside from the extremely low-cut V neckline of the dress which showed quite a bit of cleavage, it wasn’t bad at all.
She kept on sketching until she finished her portrait of Light and then turned it around to show him.
His silver eyes widened in surprise when he saw her work.
“The likeness is remarkable,” he murmured. “How did you capture me so completely with just a few strokes of that black stick?”
“It’s called charcoal.” Lili smiled. “And I’m glad you like it.”
“My turn!” Dark declared. “How do you want me to pose?” He went to the middle of the living area and crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Like this? Is this how they do it in the human art classes you teach?”
“Well, I teach mostly Art History,” Lili said. “Though I have done a few figure study classes.”
“Well, how do they pose for those?” Dark wanted to know.
Lili decided to take a chance.
“Actually, the models for those classes are almost always nude,” she remarked, as casually as she could.
“Really? Why is that?” Light asked.
“It allows the artists who are sketching to get a better look at the muscles and shape—the overall form of the model,” Lili explained. “That’s why so many classical statues and paintings depict the nude form—it’s the body you’re celebrating, not whatever clothes the model is wearing.”
“Do you think you’d get a better picture of me if I was undressed, then?” Dark asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Oh, undoubtedly,” Lili said. “But that doesn’t mean I would ask you to strip for me. I mean that would be—”
But before she could even stop talking, the big Dark Kindred was already taking off his clothes.
Lili watched, trying not to drool, as his chiseled body was revealed. She had never seen a man who was built more like a Greek god, she thought—or at least a statue of one.
After a moment, Dark’s clothes and boots were in a pile on the floor and he was standing there, completely nude. Lili allowed herself to look at him, taking in the broad, muscular chest, the thick biceps, the washboard abs, and his long, strong legs.