Free Where the Lotus Flowers Grow by Mk Schiller Page B

accepted.”
    “And?” she asked as if I was withholding a captivating plotline from her.
    “And I worked hard those six months. I lived as frugally as I could, intending to prove him wrong. My girlfriend and I moved into this tiny loft and split the rent. I think it was half the size of this room.”
    “You didn’t sell enough then?” Her disappointment was almost adorable, except that shortcoming in my life still hurt.
    “One. One fucking painting, and to my father no less. A pinch of salt for my wounds. The critics blasted me, and these are New York critics, so they were especially harsh.”
    “That made you stop? Because you didn’t make any money?”
    “People cannot live on their dreams. I went onto college and business school, the path he’d planned for me.”
    “But there were other options. You could have gotten a temporary job and continued to paint. Just because you didn’t make money doesn’t mean you’re not good.”
    “It most certainly does mean that. It’s basic commerce. Besides, after I put everything into it and failed so epically, I didn’t have the heart for it. I parted ways with my paintbrush.”
    “And the girlfriend?” she asked, a little sharply.
    “We parted ways, too.”
    She stared down at the picture again. “I look beautiful in this picture.”
    “You look beautiful every day.”
    “May I purchase this from you, Mr. Montgomery?”
    I replayed her request in my head, unsure if I heard correctly. “You can have it. After all, you’re the reason I wanted to sketch in the first place.”
    She stood and reached into her blouse. My cock stirred at the sight. But when she pulled out a bill, I almost fell from my chair.
    “I have to purchase it.”
    “I’m not taking money from you, Mary. Have you gone mad?”
    “This isn’t much. It might get you some hard candy at the market, but it’s important I pay for it.”
    “Why is it important to you?”
    “It’s not important to me, Liam. It’s important to you.” Fuck, she picked now to say my name? As if I could refuse her anything. God, she was clever. “I don’t mean to offend you. But you’ve made it clear you don’t think you’re talented unless there is a monetary value associated with your work. It’s my way, a symbolic way, of showing you that you are.” She held out the note. “Please take it. I really want your sketch, but I won’t accept it unless you let me pay for it.”
    Reluctantly, I took the note from her. The gesture, even though it was strange, touched me. She brought something out in me I didn’t know existed. “You’re emasculating me. You know that, right?”
    “I’m empowering you.” She bowed her head for emphasis. “Sir.”
    And that gesture…well, that made me want to spank her, to kiss her, to send her away, to hug her, and to fuck her at the same time. Where Mary Costa was concerned, I checked the box that read all of the above .
    She carefully ripped the paper from the ledger and folded it into a neat square. “I have to go. It’s very late.”
    “I’ll walk you.”
    “That wouldn’t be wise.”
    “Wise people are boring. We’re going to be foolish.” I mentally forced my dick into submission before I stood.
    She opened her mouth to argue.
    “Don’t speak—not a single word. You will walk ahead of me, and I will follow a few paces behind until I see you safely behind your quarters. Is that understood?”
    She took a step back, her breaths coming out quicker than before, her breasts heaving. I hadn’t even touched her…yet. At least not the way I wanted. Oh God, Mary, you love this, don’t you? She was stubbornly independent, but she also had a desire to be dominated…at least on some level. Or was it just me who brought this out in her?
    The former suited me just fine, but the idea of the later caused my erection to become painful. The same could be said for me. I enjoyed dominating, but I wasn’t a dom, for God’s sake. I didn’t know the first thing about