***
My anger gave way to curiosity as I slowly pushed the storage door open. I flipped on the light and a bulb above clicked on, shining brightly into the forbidden room.
It was a storage room, alright, but nearly as large as the one that I was in. And it was filled top to bottom with canvases.
Only these canvases weren’t white. Someone had used them already. I stepped gingerly past the door and looked at the paintings. Jake must keep all of the art here, I thought, all of the paintings he’d bought that weren’t currently on display. I could see a few more Kage paintings, as well as some charcoal sketches that were unsigned.
Crazy. This room alone must house a million dollars of art.
Carefully, I pulled some of the canvases away from the walls to flip through them. A charcoal sketch with lettering. Another pastel. And underneath—
I frowned, pulling the back canvas out. It was a painting by Kage, that was for sure. It was his lettering, his broad sweeps and bright colors. But it wasn’t finished. The painting ended halfway down the canvas, with the rest of the lettering only partially filled in with pencil sketches.
I’d never seen a half-finished painting by Kage before. I held it up to the light to see it better, and—
“LACEY!”
I yelped and dropped the painting. It landed with a hard crack on its corner. I jumped back, away from the door, and spun around.
Jake was standing in the doorway, anger burning his face.
“What are you doing here?” he hissed.
I bent down and picked up the Kage painting. It didn’t look like the framing had cracked, but I held it carefully just in case.
“I—I—”
“Give me that!”
I held out the painting and Jake ripped it from my hands.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I only wanted—”
“Get out!”
He held the door open, and I cast one look back longingly. It was then that I realized something strange.
There were other unfinished paintings, stacked on top of each other. But all of them—
“These are all by Kage,” I whispered. I stopped in my tracks.
“Lacey, I’m warning you—”
All of them. All of them had Kage’s lettering or Kage’s style.
“What are all of these?” I asked. “Why do you have so many—”
I looked back at Jake, at the way he was holding the canvas so possessively in his hands. And then I knew. Reflected in his eyes was my recognition, and his fingers turned white as they clutched the painting.
“It’s you,” I said, with an inward gasp.
“You’re him. You’re… you’re Kage.”
Chapter Ten
“I told you not to come into this room,” Jake said.
“You’re him,” I repeated. “Kage. Wow. I can’t believe it. I should have figured it out, but—”
“Get out!”
Jake grabbed me suddenly by the arm, tearing me out of the art storage room. I stumbled back, stepping onto the large square of canvas I’d been working on. It was forgotten now with this new revelation, and I stared at Jake like I expected paint to come gushing out of his ears.
“So is this your art studio—” I started to ask, but the look on Jake’s face stopped me cold. He was mad. And not just upset. His eyes burned with fury. He tossed the painting back behind him into the storage area and slammed the door.
“You,” he spat. He took a step toward me. I retreated, and my foot caught on the canvas. I fell backwards and landed with a hard thunk on top of my painting. My hands slipped in the wet paint as I scrabbled back away from him.
“Jake—I mean, Kage—I mean—”
Jake took one step toward me and I shut my mouth. His shoes squelched against the paint, leaving footprints in the painting.
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I didn’t mean to. Well, I did, but only once the door was open. I…” My voice trailed off as I watched Jake’s face contort with barely suppressed rage.
“You disobeyed me. After I had to spend all my willpower controlling myself around you…”
He took his jacket off and threw it to the floor.
“After I promised myself I wouldn’t spoil your innocence...”
His fingers unbuttoned his shirt. I swallowed, watching him, no longer wanting to speak. I couldn’t defend myself. He was right. I was in the wrong. And yet, as he spoke, I found myself hoping that somehow this—this act of unwitting defiance—had broken down the wall that kept him away from me.
“After I tried to stop myself from wanting to take you...”
“Take me!” I cried.
It was all I got out, and then Jake was on his knees, dragging me over his lap. His hands yanked the fabric of my terrycloth robe up, and then he was spanking my bare ass so hard that the blows made my body jerk with the shock of his force. I squealed as he spanked me, aware that I was instantly aroused, my body aching for his touch no matter how hard.