Fender didn’t respond. “Je veux que vous me peigniez un portrait.” Paint for me.

“Désolé monsieur, mais je ne fais pas ça.” Sorry, sir. I don’t do that.

“Vous le ferez. Donnez-moi votre prix.” You will. Name your price. Fender stared him down, daring him to defy him.

He gave a sigh in defeat. “Qui est le sujet?” Who?

“La plus belle femme du monde.” The most beautiful woman in the world.

He was in a foul mood for the rest of the night.

Our pleasant conversation was over.

The drive was spent in silence.

I’d assumed we had dinner plans afterward because we didn’t eat, but he blew them off.

I didn’t understand why a single painting could make him so angry.

We returned to the palace and entered the foyer.

Gilbert immediately came to greet us. “How was your evening, sir?”

“Deliver dinner to my bedroom in an hour.” He took my hand in his and pulled me to the stairs.

Gilbert was flabbergasted. “I…I didn’t realize you were expecting dinner this evening. I’ll get right on that.”

Fender took me up the stairs, to the top level, and into his bedroom. There was an urgency to his movements, like the way he sped through the streets even though he had nowhere to go. He gripped my hand tightly as if I might slip away and fall down the stairs. He’d been angry before, many times, but he’d never been quite like this.

His clothes dropped, and he tugged everything off like he couldn’t get rid of it quickly enough.

Unsure what to do, I just stood there and watched him.

He got down to his bare skin, his dick hard despite his anger, then flashed me his aggressive stare.

I froze.

He stared at me as his chest rose and fell with his deep breaths, giving me a searing look that was aflame with molten fire. He sprang into action and cupped my cheeks, giving me a passionate kiss full of those deep breaths, full of unbridled need.

My mouth immediately responded, and my hands were on him, feeling him devour me, holding on to him for balance as he backed me up to the bed, his big fingers yanking down my zipper and getting the dress free.

He pushed it down my body, yanked off my underwear, and then carried me to the bed. My back hit the sheets as his arms hooked behind my knees, and he quickly positioned his thighs so he could push inside me.