Garden of May - Chapter 15
Chapter 15
The first touch was horrifyingly soft. Despite his preconceived notions of disgust, Vanessa was like a warm, sweet swamp. With every hesitant flick of her small tongue, she yielded a taste of pure honey.
His bold, invading tongue initially startled her wide, grey eyes, but they gradually softened with a growing heat. He slowly devoured each of her panting breaths. The scent that bloomed every time he nipped at her lips was astonishingly like summer roses.
“Mmm…”
As their tongues intertwined more deeply, Vanessa let out a soft whimper, a shiver running down her spine. Her small hands, unable to find purchase, trembled in the air with every probing caress. Her naive response to this unfamiliar desire was utterly innocent.
Theodore firmly grasped her slender wrists and pulled them to his waist. The yielding feel of her body against his was immensely satisfying.
To him, women were easy, impudent, materialistic, and tedious. They readily blushed at his outward appearance, offered impudent sympathy for his unfortunate family history, and acted as if they would tear off their clothes at the slightest gesture.
Then, without warning, they would blush and tremble, diligently shedding copious tears, unable to fully conceal their calculated attempts to avoid being seen as cheap.
“Hhh…”
This woman, panting in his arms, would be no different. Her feigned innocence and naive reactions were novel, but the eventual outcome was always the same. If he feigned indifference and bruised her pride, the next step would be a slap across his face. If he was unlucky, she might even burst into tears.
Theodore stifled a sigh and released her with a semblance of politeness.
“Ah…”
Vanessa’s moist lips trembled with lingering desire. Her sparkling grey eyes and flushed cheeks seemed to radiate the scent of sunshine. Her fresh face, brimming with expectation, gazed up at him.
“How was it?”
Her boundless confidence that he must have enjoyed it was both amusing and endearing. It momentarily left him speechless.
“Was it alright?”
Yes. Theodore silently admitted it to himself. Vanessa Cyrene Somerset was bewitching, like a siren, and ripe with sweetness, like a midsummer fruit.
He slowly pressed his thumb against her soft lips as he contemplated.
‘Do I desire this woman?’
Perhaps.
‘Is that desire irreplaceable enough to endure the inevitable annoyance?’
No.
The conclusion came easily. It was time for the summer garden’s spell to break.
“Well…”
Theodore twisted his lips into a slightly crooked smile. His emotionless blue eyes slowly raked over Vanessa from head to toe, taking just long enough for her to flinch with a sense of humiliation.
“I don’t think it’s going to work.”
The hopeful light in her eyes instantly hardened. Her pert eyes widened in disbelief.
“That’s impossible.”
Her voice was dazed, as if she still hadn’t grasped reality. He patiently waited for her to regain her composure and slap him.
Technically, Vanessa was his employer’s niece. And Theodore was currently known as “River Ross,” a charade he had no intention of abandoning for the time being. Therefore, it was cleaner to have the employer’s niece give up. So here…
“Do it again.”
“…What?”
“I can do better this time.”
Vanessa quickly closed the distance he had carefully created. As if the shock had never happened, her grey eyes burned with a near-childish defiance and competitiveness.
Her soft arms wrapped around his neck. Unlike the rose scent emanating from her soft body, her demeanor was that of a general marching into battle.
He couldn’t tell if this was seduction or a duel challenge. Then again, perhaps for her, there wasn’t much difference. Theodore grasped both her wrists and pulled her away.
“Get a grip.”
“Thank you for your concern, but I have a perfect grip on reality.”
“What will be different if we do it again?”
“I wasn’t prepared because it was my first time. This time it will definitely be different.”
“Didn’t you hear me? I’m not interested.”
At his words, Vanessa tilted her head, lost in thought, as if struggling to comprehend such a simple statement. Then, her suspicious gaze swept over him from head to toe.
He realized for the first time that a beautiful woman simply looking at him could feel so strange. Then, out of the blue, she asked, “River Ross. Do you, by any chance, have… difficulties in the bedroom?”
“Diffi… what?”
“In the bedroom.”
There wasn’t a trace of embarrassment on her clear face as she so clearly enunciated such a word. Theodore blinked his blue eyes and then let out a chuckle.
“Vanessa. Has it occurred to you that perhaps you hold no particular appeal for me?”
“Are you serious?”
“If I wanted a pretty face, I would have bought a beautiful doll long ago.”
The woman who had just been so confidently talking about bedroom matters flushed crimson, as if she had never heard such a v*lgar statement in her life. Then, it seemed she finally understood his meaning.
“That’s impossible.”
