Avery POV

Kai's hands slid down to my waist, and he pulled me closer to him while we were locked in a deep kiss. The world around me seemed to slowly disappear and the only thing that kept my focus was the man in front of me. He kissed me slowly and gently, yet the intensity of the kiss left me breathless. Kai released some of his pheromones, and while they were not strong by any means, it felt like they were an extension of himself, wrapping around my body. I could feel Kai's pants start to bulge, and I knew things were headed in a dangerous direction, and fast.

"Kai, let's slow down." I said, trying to break away from the kiss.

As soon as I spoke he squeezed my hips tighter and released more pheromones. I felt pleasantly suffocated by the warm embrace he provided me. His pheromones made it feel like sunlight was providing thousands of kisses all over my body, and it smelled like I was smack dab in the middle of a meadow.

"Kai, please, hmmm, we can't keep, ngh, we can't keep doing this here."

He never opened his mouth in protest, but his actions were equally non-compliant. He started trailing kisses down my jaw and onto my neck, and with every small moan I let out he pushed things a little further. I could feel his desire in his pheromones, I knew just how bad he wanted me right now. I would be lying if I said I didn't want him, but this is one place we absolutely can't take things further in.

"KAI!" I shouted, trying to get him to stop. Despite my intentions I ended up coming off rather curt, and I could feel his entire body freeze in place.

"I- I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me."

He pulled away while avoiding eye contact and went outside to get some fresh air. What was that? His pheromones weren't strong by any means, but he released a lot of them. If I didn't know any better I would have assumed that he was about to start his rut soon, but that's months away. I went to the bathroom to try and compose myself. My face was flush, my ears neck and chest were red. I was hard, and I could feel myself getting wet.

I splashed some cold water on my face and used some paper towels to try drying myself off where I could. Once finished I went out and propped open the windows and turned the fans on to try to clear his pheromones from the studio as much as possible, then I also went outside in an attempt to clear my head.

Kai was sitting on the curb a few spaces down from the studio. He looked shocked and confused, and he held his head in his hands as though he was trying to figure out how things got to this point. I wasn't sure if he was mad or hurt, or confused by his own actions, but the series of events certainly left him stewing in his own emotions. I slowly walked over and sat down next to him.

"I'm not mad, you know. It's just that in a few hours people will start arriving to the studio, and I didn't want the place to fill up with our pheromones."

There was no doubt that he heard me, but he made no effort to respond.

"It felt good, you know. I mean everything you did, but especially your pheromones. After that display I can't believe you thought that you wouldn't be able to satisfy me."

Kai still sat there in silence, and I started to get rather frustrated. I can understand being shocked by your own actions to the point of speechlessness, but at least fucking talk to the person who is trying to work through the situation with you.

"Kai, can you say something? I like to think I am a rather patient and understanding person, but if I keep feeling like I'm talking to a wall I am going to lose it."

"…I don't know what to say."

Well, at least he finally opened that mouth of his.

"You didn't do anything wrong, I just noticed you seemed rather absorbed in your thoughts when I stepped outside, so I came over to see if you were alright."

"I'm okay Avery, I just feel rather… Shocked by my actions. I have never been next to someone before and felt such a strong and overwhelming need to be with them. I mean even when you were in heat I wanted things, but I was able to hold myself back. Just now all I could think about was how badly I wanted to touch you, and so I did without giving it a second thought. I am so sorry."

I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. I had to remind myself that this guy has some seriously fucked up baggage and that his was his first relationship. Nothing about his behavior struck me as rude, and it wasn't that I didn't want it. It just wasn't the right place for it.

"It's okay," I said while scooting a little closer and leaning my head against his shoulder. "I know that this is all rather new to you, but there was nothing wrong with what you did. I quite enjoyed it, actually. We just can't fill the studio up with our pheromones like that."

"Then… What about my place?"

I lifted my head up to look at him, and his entire face was red. It was so cute seeing this bear of a man wildly blush at the mention of going to his apartment, and it was all I could do to try not to laugh.

"That's fine. Let's go there after the art class is done tonight. You can follow me to my place, I will run in and grab an overnight bag. Then you can take me to yours."

My body was practically trembling trying to hold in this laughter, but he was too damn cute. He blushed even more when I nonchalantly accepted his offer, and I couldn't stop thinking about how lucky I was to have such a big softie like him in my life.

After cooling off some more we went back inside the studio, and I had Kai sit in position so that I could start painting him. I set up a warm light next to him, and the yellow tint from the bulb made his skin look as though it was shining gold. I decided to paint him in shades of gold and bronze, various browns, some greens, and flecks of red and yellow.

He looked like he was carved from the earth itself, and I couldn't help but wonder if he was a king or a gladiator in his past life. I used an off-white color for the white coat on the canvas, it was more of an eggshell, and I knew that it would be the perfect base for the other colors I had chosen. As I started painting him I found that my strokes were long, almost endless. I wanted to be next to him, I longed for him, but all I had at this moment was the painting in front of me. I didn't want this moment to end, and I didn't want to remove my brush from the canvas for even a moment.

I found myself lost in my own little world, practically entranced by the image of Kai slowly coming to life on the canvas. Whenever I would peak to the side of my easel I could see Kai staring intently at me. He watched my every movement, and I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up at the intensity of his gaze.

It felt like it had only been mere minutes since I started painting, but before I knew it the kids and some of their parents started showing up for the evening class. I moved my easel and canvas near the desk in the front corner of the studio and started welcoming the kids in for class.

"Hey Avery, I'll go wait outside until your class is done."

"Nonsense, just stay here. There is a table in the back near that coffee bar, and that is where parents who choose to stay during class sit and wait. You can go hang out there, or you can take a chair up near my desk and sit there."

"But I don't want to interfere… I think It would be better if-"

Some of the kids in the class heard the conversation that Kai and I were having, and they ran up to him and tugged on the bottom of his shirt.

"If Mr. Hansley said that you can stay, then you can stay! This class is super fun!"

I could tell Kai seemed rather uncomfortable with the attention he suddenly found himself receiving, but he ended up agreeing to observe in the back with the other parents. The rest of the class went by fast. We spent the first twenty minutes of class going over the pieces of art that the kids created on Tuesday, and then we moved on to a fun yet technical aspect of art. We talked about the difference between warm and cool tones, and then I had the kids make their own color wheels with some paint.

Class ended before I knew it, and compared to Tuesday the kids were a lot calmer and easier to handle. Most of them finished their color wheels and we hung them up to dry. I told the kids that on Tuesday they were going to paint a picture of their own choosing, but they had to pick only cool or warm colors to use for the entire painting. They seemed excited, and as usual the parents thanked me as they all left one by one. Once the last kid left, Kai helped me clean up the studio and then it was time to close up.

"Are you sure you're okay with me following you home?"

"Yeah, it won't be a problem at all. You can just pull up on the side of the driveway next to my car once I park, and then I'll run inside really quick."

The drive back to my place was pretty short, and I was extremely happy to be spending the night at Kai's place. I pulled into the driveway, hopped out of the car, and ran to the front door. Emette and my mom were sitting in the living room, and both looked my way while I ran up the stairs. I could hear my mom say something to Emette, but I didn't care enough to listen. She and I hadn't spoken since we talked, and I was not about to get into another conversation with her when I had Kai waiting outside.

Once I got to my room I grabbed my hairbrush, a sleep shirt, some underwear, and a change of clothes for tomorrow. I walked over to my nightstand and unplugged my phone charger, then tossed that in my bag as well. It was just for one night, so I didn't need much, and after only a couple minutes of throwing things in a bag I was already on my way back downstairs.

"Where are you going?" Emette asked as I rounded the corner to the front door.

"I am spending the night out, so don't wait up for me. Love you both!"

I didn't give them time to respond as I left. Walking out I saw Kai leaning against my car with the motorcycle helmet under his arm. He turned to look at me when he heard my footsteps, and the brightest smile spread across his face. His eyes sparkled with excitement, and when I walked up to him he put the helmet on my head.

"Ready?" He asked, and when I said yes he helped me onto the bike, then we made our way to his place.