“No,” I lied. “I came out here by choice.”
Nat shook her head and suppressed a frustrated laugh. “Asa, ever since my debut, you go out of your way to avoid me. When you see me, you turn the other way, and you barely say two words. The times you do look at me, you can’t look away quick enough.” Solemnly, she stared at me, pain reflected in her beautiful eyes. “Why do you hate me?”
My eyes widened in shock. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You truly think I hate you?”
Nathalie threw her hands up in the air. “Of course! What else would I think? Asa, I don’t understand what I did to make you—”
“You’ve done nothin’!” I confessed in a loud burst. Nathalie’s eyes widened. “I don’t hate you. Far from it.” I began to pace, looking at Nat from the corner of my eye. “The truth is I can’t stop thinkin’ about you. You are on my mind every single day and it’s drivin’ me mad.” Before Nat could reply, I stepped forward and made the worst make mistake of my life. I did what I had wanted to do since Nathalie’s debut into society and I saw her walk down the stairs and every single part of me said mine.
I kissed her.
When my lips crashed against hers, my mind screamed at me to stop.
This is wrong. It can’t continue.
Her lips were so soft. Softer than I could ever imagine. But they were rigid against my lips. Her entire body was rigid, with her hands at her sides. It was as though the moment I kissed her, she became frozen in place. As the seconds went by, her mouth became pliant. I still kept my arms at my sides, my body shaking at the effort.
I angled my head and glided my tongue across her lips.
Open for me. Just for me.
Nathalie let out a gasp.
At once, I pulled back, and it was agony. I had to force my arms to remain at my sides because Nat stood before me, flushed, her eyes slightly glazed.
She tasted even better than I imagined.
Dragging my hands through my hair, I exhaled a deep breath and began to pace. “Oh, God. Oh, God. I shouldn’t have done that. Nathalie, I’m sorry.”
Nat followed me under the tree. “Don’t be sorry. Please,” she whispered.
I whirled around, and stared at her, eyes wide. “You’re Étienne’s sister.”
She lifted a delicate shoulder. “So I’ve been told.”
“I have to tell him because he’ll discover the truth. This is Étienne. He finds outs everythin’.” I thought of what Étienne said to me during Nat’s debut into society. He meant every word, and I couldn’t lose my friendship with him because it was more than that. It was a brotherhood.
The moment I mentioned confessing to Étienne, Nat shook her head. “No, no, no. I won’t say a word, and neither will you. It will stay between us. All right?”
Tears clung to her black lashes. Her eyes were so bright and vivid they bordered on yellow. She was so beautiful. I had never been able to say no to her. There was no possible way I could at this moment.
Wordlessly, I nodded.
Gratefully, she smiled before she looked at her clasped hands. “You don’t regret the kiss, do you?”
Why must she ask me that so soon? Why? Because I had no remorse for kissing her. My remorse was that she was Étienne’s sister. My remorse was that the kiss hadn’t gone further. Perhaps the truth showed on my face because Nat slowly smiled and took a step toward me.
Abruptly, I backed away. Anxious to have space between us. In my haste, my feet stumbled on an exposed tree root. Like a fool, I fell to the ground with my legs awkwardly spread out in front of me.
Nat followed me to the ground. She sat at my left and stared at me with something close to wonder. I shouldn’t have kissed her or told her how I felt about her. That was why we’re here.
There’s still time to change this scenario. Tell her to move away. Regain the power! She is just a young woman!
Was she, though? Because she leaned over me, one hand resting near my head and the other against my shoulder. The position of her body caused her clothing to mold against her. Her breasts pushed against her blouse. I wanted to reach out and touch them, every part of her, so badly my cock twitched.
When her knees grazed the underside of my ribcage I immediately sat up, my palm slammed against the ground. My actions only brought our faces closer together until there was only a hairbreadth between us.
Her hazel irises moved back and forth between my lips and my eyes. One arm firmly wrapped around my shoulders and the other curled around the side of my throat, as though I was going to try and escape.
It had never been her I was trying to avoid. It was the emotions she brought out of me.
The possession, desire, and jealousy. I didn’t understand it. And I was afraid if I did, far more emotions would come with it.
She leaned in and that was all it took for our lips to meet once again.
Nat’s kiss was shy, and sweet, and served to show how inexperienced she was. I let her lips explore mine. Her mouth grew bolder, but she still gave closed-mouth kisses. I kissed her back with the same intensity, unwilling to shock her like I did before.
With a moan, Nat pulled away, cheeks flushed. “Please, Asa,” she whispered.
Panting, I stared at her for several seconds, weighing my choices. But only for a second. Because the choice was clear. Nathalie. I fully surrendered and wrapped an arm around her small waist, pushing her closer, and kissed her without any barriers.
Nathalie fell on top of me, her hands sliding into my hair. The feel of her breasts molded against my chest, made my control break.
The two of us rolled over, until I was above her, my body between her legs. My tongue swept inside her mouth with repeated bold strokes, when Nathalie’s tongue moved against mine. A ragged groan tore from the back of my throat.
I kissed my way down to her neck. She was so sweet and perfect. So damn perfect.
I sucked on the skin near her collarbone, inhaling her sweet scent. My tongue glided over her skin, before I moved down.
My head spun, and my heart beat so fast, I couldn’t hear the world around me. I started to unbutton her blouse desperate to feel more of her.
Nathalie clutched my head between her hands and held me close. I managed to undo the first three buttons before I lost patience. It was enough to expose the upper swell of her breasts. My lips found their way back to her creamy skin, and gently sucked.
“More, more,” she panted.
In frantic desperation, Nathalie wrapped her legs around my waist and arched her body against me, brushing against my cock. I groaned, my vision growing dim. Any argument I had died on my tongue.
I gathered the material of her skirt in one hand and jerked it up, exposing one thigh.
All I heard in my head was more, more.
I shed my jacket, blindly throwing it behind me. My hand moved to the buttons of my pants. When two buttons were free, I lifted my gaze toward Nathalie. She was sitting up on her elbows, her breasts heaving with each breath she took. With her legs open and one long leg exposed, she looked like one of my dreams come to life. But her eyes were eager and innocent.
The realization of what I was about to do began to sink in. As I looked down at my half-unbuttoned pants, my eyes closed. “Christ.”
I jumped off her as though she was on fire. Nathalie stared up at me with open confusion. For the second time, I profusely apologized, and offered my hand to her.