Newly Found Courage
Newly Found Courage
Taking extra care not to wake him up, I began scooting over to the side of the bed to make my escape.
I felt a sense of success as my feet touched the floor next to the bed. Slowly, I slid my body down the
side of the bed and just when I was about to land safely in a standing position, a sharp tug pulled at my
arm.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Hayden spoke up suddenly.
“Umm…” I made a thoughtful sound as I began feeling very nervous.
“Leaving without a word?” he asked casually although his words were accusatory.
“I…just wanted to head back to my room…” I replied in a small voice.
“Don’t sound so nervous. I caught you sneaking off, I didn’t catch you stealing anything from me. Come
back to bed,” Hayden said lazily.
I didn’t have to reply or state my preference in the matter because his arms were around my body, and
I felt my body being lifted back onto the bed. So much for my elaborate plan to make a silent escape
without waking him.
“Are you still sleepy? You can sleep in…” I asked curiously.
“Sit there,” Hayden said as he pointed with a finger to a spot on the bed.
“Ok…” I mumbled before scooting over to the spot that he had indicated.
Suddenly, Hayden lay down with his head on my lap. He had a comfortable look on his face as he
snuggled his head into my lap.
“Look at me,” Hayden said softly as his hand reached up and began playing with my hair.
I looked down at him and he rewarded me with a very charming smile. My heart definitely skipped a
beat just now. That smile is truly not fair.
“So? Did you enjoy my training from last night?” Hayden asked before laughing softly.
I blushed, knowing immediately what he was referring to.
“I don’t know…” I replied quite honestly. I had very mixed feelings about that.
“If you can say those lewd things to me while staring deeply into my eyes, you’ll no longer have a
problem saying something as simple as ‘thank you’ to me, right?” Hayden said calculatingly.
“I don’t know…it’s not the same thing…” I mumbled.
“We’ll see…” he said before closing his eyes.
I watched Hayden take a short and relaxing nap with his head pillowed on my lap for a while before he
opened his bright blue eyes again. Hayden sat up on the bed and stretched before running his fingers
through his blond hair. He turned his head from side to side to stretch the muscles of his neck while I
watched him go through his morning stretching routine.
Hayden leap off the bed and stretched some more. The tense muscles of his muscles moved under his
skin. I sat on the bed as my eyes admired his lithe movements. Hayden obviously felt very at home in
his own skin.
“I’m heading out first,” Hayden said without turning my way.
Hayden started taking steps towards the bedroom door and I watched his naked back as he walked
away. Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.
“Hayden…” I called after him.
“Hmm?” he made a questioning sound as he turned back to take a look at me.
“…Thank you,” I said before offering him one of my best smiles.
Hayden’s beautiful eyes widened at me for a brief moment before he threw his head back and laughed
loudly as he walked away. I watched his back until he disappeared completely from sight.
…
“Seriously…why am I doing this?” Hayden asked with a scold on his face.
“Because you have to take responsibility for your actions?” I replied suggestively.
“Why does it have to be me?” he snapped.
“Well, maybe it’s because you are to blame for this whole situation that I’m in right now? I gave that
drawing to you and you were the one who put it on the front cover of that magazine…” I replied.
“Yeah, along with other websites and stuff…” Hayden added shamelessly.
“Right. So, sit in that chair over there and stay still…please,” I said as I pointed to a chair that I had
prepared.
We were in the art studio and since it was a Saturday, Hayden didn’t need to go out to work. Perhaps it
was the effect of Hayden’s lesson last night because I had a lot of courage this morning. Enough
courage to demand that he pose for me as a model so that I could practice sketching and painting a
man’s portrait. A very good-looking man in this case was a bonus.
“Is this going to take all day? You want me to sit here all day…” Hayden complained grimly.
Despite his complaint, he sat down on the chair as I had instructed. I had chosen the position of the
chair so that the natural light coming in would hit his face at an angle that would produce some
interesting shadows. When he sat down and looked straight my way, I found out that I had made the
perfect decision in placing the chair there. The light casted a shadow over around a quarter of his face
and that worked to show off the beautiful sculpture of his face, straight nose, and firm lips. His
eyelashes were long enough to cast a shadow as well and I would be sure to capture that in my work.
Hayden is truly a beauty.
“Has someone told you before that you look beautiful?” I asked as my hands busily prepared the
canvas and other materials.
“Yes…when I was a kid, I got that a lot…” Hayden murmured.
It didn’t seem like it was something that he was proud of.
“As a kid? I think you still look very beautiful now,” I said as I focused on his face from various angles,
thinking of the best way to capture his beauty on paper.
“Is that supposed to be a compliment for a man?” Hayden asked teasingly.
I knew that it didn’t bother him because he still smiled at me. My eyes continued to watch his face while
my mind debated with myself on how I wanted to approach these portraits as a whole. Usually, people
have two preferences for portraits.
--To be continued…