Garden of May - Chapter 21
Chapter 21
‘Even that…’ Vanessa covered her mouth, startled by her own thoughts. It was a far too indecent fantasy for daytime.
Of course, she knew she shouldn’t be thinking like this, yet her mind replayed the moment again and again. The moment they were pressed against each other, his hot, damp breath on her lips, his hand gently pressing against her throat, the thin fabric of her dress crumpling in his grasp, and his raw desire, sharp against her lower abdomen.
‘It twitched. It was unbelievably large.’
The more she tried not to think about it, the more vivid the sensations became. Her fingers, which had been nervously toying with her lips, slowly trailed downwards, trembling slightly as they caressed the still-warm skin of her lower abdomen.
“You’re leaving tomorrow, aren’t you? Will we be able to meet here next summer holiday?”
“No. We can’t play together anymore, my lady. My parents are worried.”
“You knew who I was.”
The pure memories of their childhood, running through the gardens together, covered in dirt. The day their secret was revealed, the embarrassment and surprise of their hidden identities.
“We met all summer. How could I not know?”
The boy’s face, as he answered, was strangely blurred. It was only a memory from when they were six or seven, so perhaps it was natural that it was inaccurate. Even this conversation might be a fabrication, a fantasy overlaid on the past.
But one thing was certain: they were no longer the innocent boy and girl of those days.
“Lady Vanessa.”
River Ross, replacing the lingering image of the boy, was both familiar and foreign. His gentle voice and bright blue eyes no longer held the same comfort and kindness. He was, in every way, a stimulating man. The way he spoke, the seemingly effortless smile in his eyes, his soft voice, the way the air vibrated when he laughed, the way his toned body moved gracefully under the warm sunlight…
Vanessa exhaled shakily, sliding further down against the wall she was leaning on. Her wandering hand slowly moved from the ribbon at her chest down to her abdomen. With each rustle of fabric, her long skirt rode up a little higher, the friction a teasing reminder of his touch.
Vanessa slowly pressed her heated cheek against the cool floor. She didn’t know what she wanted, or how to quench this burning heat… but she was certain there was more.
“What if, even after summer ends, you’re not tired of my body?”
A strange sense of danger washed over her the moment those words surfaced. A breathless sigh escaped her lips, pressed firmly shut behind her hand.
River Ross had grown into an exceptionally fine man in every respect. That was the problem.
***
“…As you can see, this new branch has grown past the point it should have stopped. From now on, the tree uses the nutrients it stored during winter and spring to grow its fruit.”
Vanessa sighed, letting Gardener Ross’s explanation go in one ear and out the other. Her gaze drifted back to the man who was the source of her turmoil. River Ross. The root of all evil, the embodiment of everything dangerous to a lady.
“Overgrown branches like this only consume nutrients and make it difficult for the tree to bear fruit properly. So, when pruning, you should cut this part like this…”
The man, who she’d expected to be unrestrained and dissolute, had been impeccably polite for days, like a priest. As if she were the only one in distress. There were no stolen glances, no casual touches, no whispered promises of secret meetings, none of the usual exchanges between lovers.
They had vowed to be faithful to each other, but they were never truly lovers to begin with, so perhaps this was a natural consequence. Honestly, she had even braced herself for a relationship based solely on physical desire, but she hadn’t expected this level of indifference.
‘It would have been nice if we had gotten to know each other slowly and built affection, but we didn’t have the time for that kind of relationship.’
It was only late spring, the very beginning of summer, the heat hadn’t even arrived yet, but Vanessa felt the end of the season approaching with every passing moment. And the time slipping away felt so, so, so precious…
“My lady.”
