by Celia Crown
I nod my head mindlessly, but I got his message loud and clear. Mr. Hart sounds weird coming from my own voice; he’s Aiden no matter what happened in the past, and his actions are of a man that cares too much.
He has a big heart, but he doesn’t give out much love with that grumpily scruffy face.
“Here,” he hands it to me, and I snatch it from his hand as he drags me close to him, “You’re lucky you’re my sweetheart.”
It’s an evidence to prove my point of having a one-direction mindset; I don’t hear his words, but I hear words, just words with no meaning behind the entire sentence. I’m too happy with gulping down the drink to care that I’m being watched through the eyes of a predator.
A thought occurs like a light bulb.
Indirect kiss.
I choke on the milk.
Chapter Six
Aiden
I love her eyes; they are a shade of green that changes in the variants of nature, and her mood changes with the color of her eyes. Nothing can steal my breath more than the indistinguishable hues of those gems when she looks at me with a storm of emotions.
Expressive, I used to tell her that when we would lay on the bed.
Love at first sight is an absurd notion. I never thought that it would happen to me; she just came out of nowhere and stole my heart with those pretty eyes and lovely dimples.
We met at the beginning of my vocation. I needed a break from modeling, and I decided to stay in a city that I have not been to. It went well considering I stood out like a sore thumb with my height and size; women had come up to me and offered their number while I declined their invitation to anything.
I had a morning routine planned in my head the day I rented a penthouse suite from the agency. I hadn’t wanted anything too complicated for my break, but I didn’t want to stay in the suite all the time.
The morning I tried out the routine, it went well; the route for running was semi-secluded, and it was too early for people to be up. After the run, I walked for thirty minutes to breathe in the morning air and allow my body to return to the regulated heartbeat.
It was then that I saw the most adorable girl; she was just on the park bench in casual clothes. She didn’t stand out in ways that flaunt her beauty, but she had my attention the moment I saw the halo of innocence emitting from her.
The black camera on her lap was not the thing that worried me because being a model, I had experience with them aimed at me while I work or even when I wasn’t working. I was focused on the five empty bottle cartons with white background and pink labels.
It was strawberry milk with little whole strawberries printed on the cartons.
Her pouty lips around the straw had my cock harden and tenting obscenely on my joggers. My blood roared in my ears while I watched her like a pervert. It was fascinating to watch her struggle between inhaling the drink or savoring it, but that little, pink tongue flickering out and cleaning the straw was the last of my resolve.
When she looked up at me, confused and wary that a stranger had gone up to her with sinful intentions clouding his mind, the straw dropped from her plump lips.
She must have thought I wanted her milk from how sweaty I was, but I was still a stranger, so she did the best to look tough. That did much good to her; she only made my cock turn to steel with those feisty green eyes and upset-turn of her lips.
“You can’t have any” is what she had said.
She got up, tossed the trash away, and ran to the opposite direction with her camera. The carton of milk still in her tony hand had spilled some, and she was frantic to catch the rest with her tongue.
I almost had enough with her subconscious flirting, but then she tripped, and everything went to hell.
I reacted before I knew what I was doing. Her camera had scattered on the ground with her drink squeezed in her fist, and her body was struggling to push herself up from the stone-paved path.
She was trying to hold her tears back, but I could tell she saw in so much pain that my heart was aching for her. I didn’t know what I was feeling, but all I knew was that I needed to tend to her wounds.
They weren’t too severe, but the glassy green eyes were overly dramatic. I had to take her back to my suite with her broken camera in my other hand. She half sniffled and half struggled against me.
She couldn’t fight a six-foot-three man with her puny, little body and thought I wanted to kidnap her. She wasn’t wrong, but I couldn’t disinfect her wounds if she didn’t come back home with me. It sounded a lot more awful than I intended, and she had given up hope of going home alive while spewing out the nonsense that she was destined to be a victim in a cannibalistic crime.
She was going to get eaten, but just not in the way she thought.
The walk was shorter than my run, and I had her in my arms when the doorman greeted me. She was ballsy enough to ask for help. I shut her escape down with a stern order to not have this event be outed to the agency. The doorman had no reason to anyway. He was just a simple employee who only greeted people, and it was my business to do what I wish with her.
She tried to escape from my suite with scrapped knees and teary eyes, but I had her ass down on the couch before she made it far.
It took a while to get her to start breathing evenly. She was a brave girl who gave me her leg to patch up. At this point, I was still a stranger with no name to her while I didn’t know her name either.
Once I was done patching her up, she zoomed out of the suite with the broken pieces of her camera and left me in the dust. If she thought she could get rid of me that easily, she had another thing coming.
She left her memory card on the table with the pink cotton balls and a bottle of disinfectant. It was a shame that I had a knack for details. I could have been a detective when I found out where she lived with the photos in the digital card. I pieced the information together, and it gave me an approximate location of her home. I also used the fact that she was in the park and it probably meant that she lived close by.
A little detective work went a long way, and I made sure to buy the most expensive camera for her to take photos. I was the reason why she ran and fell, so I would take responsibility for its damage.
I had it mailed to her because I didn’t want to scare her off by being too straightforward.
It turned out she had more guts and walked into the lion’s den again with the gift the next day. She gave the gift back and there was a faint spot of darkness on the covering. She explained that she had accidentally spat out her milk when she opened it.
At that moment, I knew I had to have her.
I made her compromise.
From intuition, I could tell she wanted nothing to do with me and go back to her home. I wasn’t about to let that happen. I get what I want no matter what she may think. There was the desire and want in her green eyes, but she was too stubborn to notice it.
She was too innocent to understand what she was feeling.
I wanted to help her come to terms with those needs.
We met halfway; she would get a new camera despite her protests, and I would get a date out of her. The new camera had cost more than her old one, and I hadn’t wanted her money. I just wanted to keep her in my suite for as long as possible, but she had to return home for work.
I went with her. I wasn’t playing fair, and I certainly wasn’t going to back off.
It was how our relationship started.
“Um, Aiden,” there’s a harsh whisper beside me.
I glance down to my shoulder, and Violet’s big green eyes are peering into mine with her eyebrows curled in panic.
“Are you hurt, sweetheart?”
My heart is starting a faster tempo as I scan her body for any injuries while holding her still by the arms. The distress in her eyes had scared me, and I must have spaced out for a long time for something to have happened to her that I didn’t realize.
Tipping her face side to side, I stroke the soft skin and sigh in relief. There are no injur
ies to her. I really thought that she might be in serious danger when she called for me.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” she murmurs, slipping her jaw from my hand. “You were just scaring everyone with that death stare.”
She has told me several times that when I’m too deep into my thoughts, I have the tendency to look angry. It’s not the explosive irritation that will have me yelling at people, but it’s the look of silent wrath.
Violet had actually been afraid of me when I did that. I can’t control my facial muscles when I’m thinking. Most of the time, it’s because of the consuming thoughts revolving around my sweetheart. It’s troublesome to linger in my thoughts when I can indulge in the presence of an angel.
I look around the forest, and there are other shirtless men raising an eyebrow at me. I nod at them, and they imitate the action back. It’s an understanding between all of us that I’m alright; I’m not angry at anything.
I have a good affiliation with them; they don’t bother me, and I don’t bother me. We’re all here to do a job. They can make friends and secure their future gigs with the owners of Violet’s agency, but they better keep their mind out of the gutter when they look at my sweetheart.
They should get the idea that she isn’t available. I’m not subtle when I’m with her, and I’m sure someone had seen our kiss at the other photoshoot place. Word would have spread the minute they saw, and I appreciate that they aren’t making a big deal out of it.
It’s the only reason why I like working with these types of models; they don’t gossip or have loose lips. I have learned that women open their big mouths to yap and spread negativities around the modeling industry. I have stopped working with any women years ago.
I’m here to do a job, not to bring my image down by chattering.
Some men do it too. In fact, all types of people do it. Spotting them is easy when the media blast out the dramas between two or a group of social media stars.
It’s pathetic seeing people reduced to children because their egos are bruised.
“Where are you going?” I capture her arm when she starts to move away.
She blinks, pointing over to the giant spheres hanging from the trees. Others have occupied the rest while some are swimming in the crystal-clear water. Donna and Thomas are finishing packing the things for the day.
I had to dig my nails into my palm when Violet was taking pictures of other men. I can’t help the flare of jealousy searing on my skin with annoyance rising in the back of my throat.
Her eyes should only be on me; I am her inspiration, her model, and her only focus through the lens. I have always been her everything; it’s a fact that I can say with one hundred percent confidence.
When she’s not looking through the lens, then that’s a different story.
It means that other things have seized her undivided attention. She has the same look on her face when she is staring at the back of a naked male model. Granted, he was wearing pants, but it’s all the same to me.
“Hey,” I snap with a growl.
She squeaks and a blush forms on her cheeks when she’s caught staring. Violet waddles hastily through the little, rounded rocks on the ground to the empty sphere.
The last model she photographed had been half an hour ago, but she was walking around to snap pictures of the area for future references when they have to do green-screen.
I’m close behind her, hands ready to catch her clumsy ass when she falls. She hops onto the sphere with her luscious ass presented to me, and I would have spanked her if there weren’t people around us to hear her sweet moans.
As she crawls into the spacious bubble, I roll her to the side and get in while she protests that I’m taking away her napping place. She can sleep on me if she complains one more time. I would love to have her body pressed against mine while she sleeps under the vibrant forest.
“Get away,” she whines while wiggling deep into the cushion with a pout.
“It’s not going to happen, sweetheart.”
“And stop calling me that,” she huffs, but she lifts her head when I shove a pillow under her head.
“Not happening either,” I said.
The birds chirp and the sway of trees creates spotted shadows on the sphere. I lean my naked back to the sphere glass. The camera in her hand flashes photos on the screen. More shirtless men are entering in her head, and I can feel the throbbing of a vexed vein on my forehead.
It’s her job to look at models, but it still rubs me the wrong way.
She lifts it up, aiming the lens towards someone who has his back facing her. One snap, two snaps, and three consecutive snaps later, my chest rumbles in a warning. She jerks the camera down, and those big, green eyes meet mine in a speedy manner.
My side press on her shoulder as I reach to take the camera away, but her hands are hanging on tight. Violet frowns, jutting her bottom lip out while refusing to budge.
“What are you doing?”
It should be obvious that I don’t like her staring at other men, but her naivety is forming a barrier and keeping her gullibility to the maximum. I love her innocence; it drives me crazy with the need to dirty her.
“I have to work!” she stammers, her strength crumbles with one yank, and the camera is set on my other side that’s far away from her reach.
“You need a break,” I grunt in a low voice.
My tongue licks my bottom lip as she crawls over my body to get to the camera. My hands instantly sink into the curves of her hip and bring her ass down to my raised knee. She slides forward, and the heat of her pussy scorches my thigh, and my cock springs to life with too much blood pumping there.
“N-no,” she mewls, shakily supporting her weight on my bare chest.
“Violet,” my voice stops her wriggling, and she obediently stays quiet.
“I want you to listen very carefully, and do not speak until I tell you to.” I know it isn’t fair to demand anything from her, but times like this when I have the most privacy are the best chances to clear any misunderstandings that she has.
She’s going to continue to hurt if I let her stew. I can’t go another day knowing that I’m causing her pain. She is supposed to feel all the love and happiness in the world.
I promised that to her.
“I’m sorry,” I cup the back of her head, running my fingers in those silky strands while bringing her to my chest.
“I’m sorry I left.”
Her back stiffens under my arm, and I trace my palm up and down her spine to ease the rising risk of her pushing away. I trap her under my strong arms; it’s her rightful place to sleep and sleep is the last thing I have in mind when she’s having another emotional turmoil.
It’s the little hints that her body gives; the shaking shoulders, the kitten claws digging into my chest, and the unnaturally still posture.
“It was to protect you, sweetheart, I left for you.”
She murmurs, “Don’t lie.”
“I would never lie to you,” I promptly correct her.
“You did,” she sniffs.
My stomach drops at the noticeable indication of her tears. I’m weak against them, and she will have me drop the discussion if I see them. For the sake of clearing this, I hold on to her with greater strength.
“Sweetheart—”
She lurches up, glossy eyes and trembling lips, and wrestles out of my arms. Violet tumbles down on the cushion; her camera narrowly missed her head as she takes it into her hand while keeping her back facing me.
“I don’t want to hear it, whatever excuse that is.”
I grind my teeth down, the tension in my jaw snaps with impatience as I loop my forearm around her neck to haul her uncooperative ass to me. It takes a bit of rough treatment to get my message across her head. This is a serious matter that I will settle once and for all.
I nip the tip of her ear; the sharp pain punches out all the fight she has.
“I’m going to explain to you what happened, and you are going to sit
your fucking ass here and listen. If I hear one word or if you dare to run away again, I will spank you in front of others.”
Violet shivers, trembling like a leaf.
“Am I clear?”
She murmurs quietly, “Y-yeah.”
“Good,” I sneer huskily, “Now, turn around and face me.”
Her little ass rises and turns on her knees, plopping that softness onto the back of her feet while kneading the fabric of her shorts. Brown hair cascading over her shoulders block my view to her green eyes, and she looks like a scowled child.
She will get over it. I have to be stern, or she will never let me explain, and running away from problems is her area of expertise. I’m done waiting and catching up to her only to find that she’s bolting down a path that’s going to destroy her if I don’t block off her road.
It’s time she looks at me again.
“Look at me,” I growl deeply, and it startles her.
Her green eyes widen as if she’s a deer in headlights; my voice can be effective in getting through her thick skull.
“I left, but because I didn’t love you. I was under contract with my agency to never fraternize; my name and image have to be clean for however long I am with them.”
She opens her mouth, and my glare shuts her up.
“I never told you who I was because it wasn’t important. I wanted you to love me as Aiden and without anything attached to me.”
My hand cup her cheek, caressing her skin with my thumb as she instinctually tilts her head into my palm.
“Somehow, the agency found out about our relationship, and I was forced to make a decision. I could either break off the relationship and go back to working, or they would sue me for breaching the contract and make sure that you will never work as a photographer ever again.”
She gasps, the wobbling of her lips gets stronger, and she sniffs wetly. Violet stays still and lets me finish; it’s a good thing that I have more influence over her than she wants to admit.
“I couldn’t do that to you. I will never be the one to take your dream away.”
“But—” she chokes on her tears.
