The Diffident Muse

Paula watched as Nathan unloaded his equipment from the car, piling it up on the dry ground at their feet.

'Wow, that's a lot,' Paula joked, her returning smile signifying that her earlier annoyance with Nathan was ebbing away. Her mood had been much improved by the tranquillity of the landscape around them.

'It's not as bad as it looks. The large cool bag has our picnic in it - I thought we'd need some refreshments. I just hope the wine hasn't become unbearably warm.'

Together, they carried everything across the field, following the contours around the hill until the track and car were both out of view. Nathan then lead them up towards the far corner, where a huge oak tree stood.

'This is it,' he told her, 'nice and secluded, and it's in the shade too.'

'It's lovely, maybe we should bring the class here sometime,' Paula replied.

'You think they'd like it?' Nathan asked enthusiastically. 'Some of them might struggle with the walk, but... hang on, you weren't being serious, were you?'

'No Nathan!,' said Paula, covering her mouth with her hand to hide her laughter.

She helped him set up his makeshift studio, laying out a dark red blanket on the ground adjacent to the oak tree. When everything was ready, Nathan turned to Paula.

'Do you want to start now, or leave it for a little bit? It's just that the light's perfect right now,' he asked.

'Yeah, sure, I'm as ready as I'll ever be.'

Nathan tried to find something else to concentrate on as Paula started to undress. But she couldn't help noticing that he glanced over as she pulled her silk short-sleeve top over her head. Paula felt the warmth of the sun directly on her breasts for the first time ever. It was unfamiliar, but exhilarating.

'I don't mind you watching me,' she said, grinning across at him as she reached behind her back to undo the button and zip which secured her knee-length summery cotton skirt.

Nathan pretended to ignore her, keeping his face pointing to the floor. But he let his eyes rise back up towards Paula, just catching the moment the skirt fell to the floor around her ankles. Flicking her sandals off, she stood there, yet again naked in front of him. To her, though, it felt like the first time Nathan had properly seen her in such a state.

Without prompting Paula sat down on the blanket, leaning against the tree. The rough bark initially felt rough against her back, but it soon became bearable. She arranged herself so that she was side on to Nathan's view of her, in a position she felt she would be able to hold for a couple of hours at least.

He sat on a small fold-up stool in front of his easel, and immediately got to work, as if a restored air of professionalism would overcome any embarrassment he might have felt. As he busied himself sketching out the foundations of the picture, Paula started to relax. She began to read a paperback novel, although the distant view was to prove a frequent distraction.

They hardly said a word for the rest of the morning, Paula not wanting to disturb Nathan's concentration. It was a comfortable silence though, and she was happy being alone with her thoughts as usual. A recurring theme was pondering how many other models Nathan had brought here, but at least it helped take her mind off the fact that Nathan was now concentrating hard on every line, crease and curve of her body.

'OK, time for lunch I think,' Nathan said a few hours later, breaking the quiet.

Paula stood up and stretched her limbs out before pacing around. She wandered beyond the shade of the tree, the sun now high in the sky with its heat relentlessly beating down. She turned to look back at Nathan, who was occupied laying out the food and wine on the blanket. As she returned to him, she couldn't help but feel astounded by the spread he had laid on for her. She knelt down opposite him, the food in between them.

'Wow Nathan, that looks lovely. You must've been up all night preparing this. Trying to impress me, were you?'

'Something like that,' he laughed, as he began to pour white wine into two plastic beakers. 'Sorry, I didn't think my best crystal glasses would survive the trip.'

He handed one of the drinks across to Paula, and she felt her fingers brush against his as she took it off him. Immediately, she took a gulp, the still-cool liquid both refreshing her and helping to steady her nerves, as she viewed him intently.

An hour or so later, when they had finished eating, the sun reached its zenith. The breezeless hot air, combined with the effects of half a bottle of wine, made Paula feel slightly drowsy, yet content.

But, she again wondered, how many other models had received this treatment? Was it a proven seduction technique? Shamelessly, she silently admitted to herself that it was working on her. Furthermore, Paula decided, she would not reject the advances she knew were about to come her way.

'Right, let's get back to work,' Nathan said as he meticulously packed the remnants of their lunch away.

'What? What about...'

'What about what? Come on, we can do a couple more hours.'

Paula recreated her pose from earlier, although she was now totally unable to concentrate on her book. She did not know whether to feel silly for thinking Nathan was planning to seduce her at this remote spot, surprise that he had not taken the opportunity, or offence that he had (in her mind, at least) now deemed her unworthy of his attention.

So the afternoon did not pass as well as the morning. Paula just pretended to read, as she slowly stewed in her thoughts of rejection.

At around four o'clock, Nathan rose off his stool, and took a step back from the canvas.

'There, I think it's virtually complete,' he announced proudly. 'Do you want to come and see it, Paula?'

'What's wrong with me?' she blurted out, unable to contain her frustration any longer.

Nathan stood there, stunned, as she glared at him.

'Wrong? Sorry Paula, I don't understand, you'll have to...'

'We get along really well,' Paula interrupted, trying very hard to keep the tone of her voice even and measured. 'You bring me here, like I'm sure you've done many times before with many different girls, but then you decide what - I'm actually not attractive enough? Or good enough for you? It must be nice to be able to pick and choose who you can be bothered to seduce.'

'Seduce? Have you got heatstroke Paula? I didn't bring you here to seduce you. And I didn't realise you had such a low opinion of me.'

'So you are gay! I was right all along, but you just wouldn't admit it.'

'No!,' he protested. 'I'm not gay - not that there's anything wrong with that. You've obviously got me all wrong Paula. You might not believe it, but I don't make a habit of taking advantage of my models. That's so bloody clichéd. And it's also unprofessional.'

'Oh... right... so there's nothing wrong with me?' Paula said, now trying to look anywhere except directly at Nathan, wishing the ground beneath her would just open up.

He walked up to where she was sat against the tree trunk and crouched down beside her. Nathan had never been so physically close to Paula before. Reaching forward, he took her hand in his.

'Listen to me Paula: There's absolutely nothing wrong with you, I've never heard anything so daft. The truth is I think you're great. But it's not just the way you look, and it's certainly not because you're my model. It's strange you know, you being naked whenever we're together - it's like I've always been familiar with your body, but I've had to get to know your personality. But I like what I've gotten to know so far - apart from being accused of being a serial seducer.'

'OK...' Paula mumbled, forcing a smile.

'But I accept your apology for that.'

'Apology? Oh... yes... I think I probably owe you one for my little outburst. Sorry Nathan, maybe we can just forget all about it?'

Nathan just smiled, before lifting her hand up to his mouth, kissing it slowly. When he released it, Paula expected him to return to his painting.

Instead, he leant forward, his lips finding hers. Catching her unawares, it took an instant for Paula to react. But then her response came, as she pushed her tongue lightly against his, her heart now pounding.

As they kissed in the late afternoon heat, their passion slowly became more confident. Nathan moved his mouth off hers, sliding onto Paula's left cheek, planting a series of gentle kisses on her smooth skin. She closed her eyes as she felt the damp trail move down, over her jaw, onto the side of her neck.

Nathan kissed and gently nibbled her ear lobe before he recommenced the downwards journey. Paula craned her neck to the side as his lips moved into the hollow between her neck and collar bone. Her breathing was gradually becoming heavier as her chest became the focus of his attention, his mouth tracing a line that aimed straight towards her left breast.

She involuntarily let out a small gasp as Nathan's lips first touched the areola. Paula then felt his tongue scribing a moist circle around its circumference, playfully delaying the moment that her nipple, by now hardened, would be the object of his attention. Luckily, Nathan sensed her impatience, and his mouth closed around it, the tip of his tongue flicking against her erect flesh before he began to suck on her.

Paula opened her eyes to look down at him, and ran one hand through his tousled hair as she let her other hand rub and squeeze her right breast. How long had he felt like this about her, she wondered? Her thoughts, however, were soon sidetracked by the feel of his hand on her thigh, languidly stroking along its length.

As if to encourage him, she allowed her legs to part slightly. He immediately accepted the unspoken invitation, his fingers reaching around to feel the soft inside of her leg.

She almost shuddered when his fingers first stretched higher up, just brushing against the dark patch of her pubic hair, before they quickly retreated again. He repeated the movement several times, while his mouth continued to greedily enjoy her breast. Paula could only feel a growing tingling sensation between her legs, and she was on the verge of begging him to touch her down there, to satisfy her need.

But instead he suddenly stood up, as if denying her. Paula let her hand slip off her right breast and she looked up at him. Surely he had not changed his mind? Was he that scared his reputation as an artist and teacher might suffer if such activities with a model were ever uncovered?

However, Paula's doubts immediately dissolved as Nathan began to quickly unbutton his loose-fitting white linen shirt. In his haste, he almost tore it off his shoulders before chucking it onto the grass beyond the blanket. His tight black jeans rapidly followed and, to Paula's surprise, she found out that he had not been wearing any underwear. Not that that mattered, they were naked together at last.

She looked at his semi-erect penis, expecting him to approach her again so that she could pleasure it. But he just knelt down by her feet, facing her. Taking her ankles in his hands, Nathan slowly parted her legs just a bit further. Paula offered no resistance.

As she watched him, she realised he was seeing all of her for the first time. Goodness, if Nathan's students could see them now, she thought, as he shuffled towards her.

Paula felt the outsides of his legs pressing against the insides of her calves as he looked up at her, smiled, and then leant forward. She could only bite her lower lip and grip the blanket with her hands as she first sensed his goatee brushing against her own hair.

Tenderly, he began to skim his tongue around her clitoris, stimulating it as much by his proximity as by actual touch. Waves of pleasure pulsed through her body as his tongue then moved from side to side across it, before his lips sank down onto her sensitive skin. Paula felt the sensation of a growing orgasm as he alternately sucked and then teased her clitoris with his tongue.

She knew any resistance to the rising levels of bliss was useless when he drew up his right hand beneath his chest. His fingers briefly caressed her labia before they started to explore her hole. First one, then two, entered her. She could not see them, but she could certainly feel them, and the muffled squelching noise she heard as they discovered her wetness was unmistakeable.

Paula started to moan as Nathan's mouth and fingers synchronised their efforts, and she could only squirm on the blanket beneath the oak tree as the ecstatic spasms coursed through her. She gripped his head between her thighs as she writhed about. No man had ever done that to her before.

As she basked in the afterglow of her orgasm, Nathan's grinning face emerged from between Paula's legs. He stretched up along her torso, once again kissing her on the mouth. It felt strange to Paula to be tasting herself, but it did not matter - today was about new sensations.

'Oh my, that was... wonderful,' was all she could say as Nathan's lips parted from hers.

'You've no idea how long I've wanted to do that to you,' he replied with a wink.

He rolled off her, laying down on the blanket next to her in the hot, still air. Both of them just looked up into the branches of the oak tree. Then Paula did something she had no real previous experience of: she took the initiative.

She tentatively let her hand move across onto Nathan's stomach, letting it rest there for a short while, irrationally half-expecting it to be pushed away. With a growing confidence she gradually shifted it downwards, until she found his penis. Clearly, he too had been aroused by their earlier exploits, as it was already erect. Cautiously, without looking at him, her fingers closed around his shaft, and her hand started to move slowly up and down along its length.

Paula liked the sensation of feeling him against her and, judging by his occasional guttural groans, she reckoned that he was enjoying it too. But she did not want Nathan to be spent before he had had the opportunity to enter her. So, after a few minutes, she released him. Then, in an easy, fluid movement, Paula squatted over his groin, her feet either side of his hips, her eyes locked on his.

Nathan reached his hand down to take his penis, guiding it towards Paula's waiting hole. Gently, she began to lower herself onto him, letting out a gasp as she first felt its head parting her lips. Once he was settled inside her, Paula started to move her hips up and down, letting Nathan penetrate slightly deeper on each successive stroke. Rapidly, she found a rhythm, which she could increase or decrease at will.

Then, with him still inside her, she sank forward, letting her weight transfer from her feet on to her knees, which ended up almost in Nathan's armpits. This revised stance also allowed him to go deeper inside her. With his hands reaching around her to grip her buttocks, Paula gyrated her hips, grinding into him in small, circular motions. A welcome side effect of their coupling was that, when she leant forward and placed her hands either side of his head, she could feel her clitoris rubbing right against his pelvis.

Perhaps Nathan realised this, because Paula could feel him responding beneath her, pushing up against her, willing her to orgasm again. But this time, she resolved, it would be together with him. She focussed on achieving this, using her internal muscles to arouse Nathan while at the same time stimulating herself against him.

Their breathing grew heavier, her moans got louder, his grunts became more frequent, and a thin sheen of sweat appeared on their bodies in the un-abating heat. Paula could feel the same sensation as earlier gaining hold inside her, and she knew her climax would soon be upon her. She ground herself down onto Nathan harder, gripping and releasing him with increased vigour.

Lowering her face down to his, they kissed as she felt him begin to buck beneath her with greater urgency. Then, as her body once more began to quiver with pleasure, Nathan gave a few final upward thrusts before he cried out. Paula could only crumple down on top of him as she felt his warm liquid spurt up inside her. They remained motionless for several minutes, too exhausted to move.

Not that he is a mystery to her now, Paula thinks. She continues to watch Nathan as he circulates around the studio, dispensing encouragement and advice to his students as once again her nude image is captured. He is an excellent boyfriend, kind and thoughtful and amusing and talented. Even her mother approves of him, despite his occupation as an artist. A landscape artist who, as Paula had to explain at length, she met through a mutual friend.