I hesitated to get closer, knowing that she had already formed her opinion of me and my brothers. I, however, was not as classless as they. “Do you care if I join you?”
Her eyes lifted to mine as she tucked back a fingerful of her long, shiny hair. The breeze swept her efforts right out of her hand and into her eyes. She looked divine then. With the softest, deepest brown eyes I’d ever seen. That stare she placed over me felt like a spell. It teased and taunted me, stirring my wildest desires until I felt the need to move, or I’d forever be stuck in place.
“If you want.”
I very much wanted. I went to her side and took a seat, and then I faced her as I thought of the right words to say. “My brothers can be... relentless when they want something.”
She turned quickly, her brow fussing to make sense of my words, then she let out a sharp side. “Is that what you call it?”
“I won’t sit here and defend them, I’m just telling you what I know.”
“I don’t care.” She adjusted in her seat and faced forward, her arms crossing over her legs so daintily and yet somehow powerful at the same time. “I intend to stay away from them for the rest of this vacation.”
The breeze rustled the bushes like it had before, and this time it brought an air of her perfume right over me. I couldn’t help but close my eyes and let the scent wash through me, taking me deeper into my desires. I closed my eyes and breathed her in. That sweet rose scent.
“Do you think this is funny?” Her anger struck me, and as I opened my eyes I realized how stupid I must have looked.
“Parv—”
“They embarrassed me in front of my mother. They’re only thinking of themselves, not at all how I feel.”
I leaned my head nearer to hers, narrowing my eyes as I asked, “And how is that?”
“How is what?”
“How do you feel?” My words made her squirm in her seat as she fought the wind to keep her hair in place. I lifted my hand slowly, her eyes catching sight of me as she pulled away ever so slightly, and I brushed her bangs out of her sight just as the breeze finally settled. I spoke softly. “How are you? I can only imagine everything you’re going through with this change.”
“Well, it’s been difficult.” Her lips parted as if she had something more to say, something right on the tip of her tongue, but she hesitated. Instead, she gathered the sites of the small courtyard where we sat, and then she lowered her head. “I don’t want to be rude, but your lifestyle is too much for me. I don’t think I could ever get used to this.”
“To a much-deserved vacation?” There was that faint smile of hers, picking through as she fought the urge to look up at me. My fingers were just leaving the ends of her hair, but I didn’t want to let go. I wanted to continue to feel every soft and silky inch of her. The sunscreen from earlier was just a taste, but her skin wasn’t enough. I wanted it all.
“It's just hard for me, you know, since I was raised so differently. And your dad is really nice and welcoming,” she mumbled. I could tell there was more she wanted to say, but that she was holding back her words.
“But he isn’t your dad.”
She shook her head slowly, almost as though she was afraid to admit her feelings. “I miss him a lot sometimes.”
“I can understand.” She cradled herself, and a thin bunch of her bangs swooped over her eyes. I didn’t want anything to hide her beautiful eyes from me, so I moved those bangs out of her eyes once again, and this time I let my fingers wrap around to the back of her neck. “I do hope you don’t hold my brothers’ actions against me. I’d never touch you unless you asked me to.”
Her expression lightened as a fine mist began to form in the air around us. “You mean like when I’m sunbathing?” That smirk of hers was breathtaking. Confident, powerful, delicate… I knew then that I had to show her just how good I’d be for her. That she deserved someone who would take care of her. Worship her.
I leaned close, gently holding her in my hands, and I kissed her lips. She had a certain tenderness to her that churned something deep inside of me. It was more than desire, more than the need to see how far we’d challenge each other.
The mist got a bit heavier, and by the time I pulled back, I realized my hair was dripping over my eyes. “Let’s go dry off in the room.”