"Love is not about how many days, months, or years you have been together. Love is about how much you love each other every single day." —
Unknown
"Not here," he whispered against my ears. "Not out here in the open."
I tried to pull him back as he rose to his feet, not ready to stop, not wanting to stop.
But as he pulled away, I had no choice but to stand as well, suddenly feeling ashamed of myself for my want on behaviour.
I was angered by his rejection and desperately wanted to get as far away from him as I could.
As I made to shove past him into the house, he held my hand…and I melted into butter all over again.
"My queen, you are everything I have ever dreamt of," he said, planting small kisses from my hand all the way up my arm and right up to my shoulder blade. "Everything."
I closed my eyes and groaned softly as his lips now wandered along my neck.
Never before had I felt this kind of sexual desire. With the three men I had ever bedded, it had always been nothing more than a chore to be endured, but this time, I desperately wanted to be taken, to be consumed by this man.
I wanted him.
"Meet me at the back gate of the mansion tonight," he whispered in my ear. "I'll be waiting for you."
For the rest of the day, I floated through the house with a sheepish smile on my face, his words ringing in my ears, and his scent pervading my senses.
I was desperate to push the arms of the clock forward, desperate for the long day to quickly turn to night.
So eager was I to see Jason again, to be taken in his arms again, to kiss his soft lips again…and to experience so much more. I was desperate for it.
I sat on my bed anxiously watching and waiting for dusk to give way to night.
I watched as the sun made its slow journey to exchange places with the moon, and the very moment I decided I had enough darkness to act as a cloak, I left my bedroom.
It was only a little past 8pm, but there was reduced activity in the house.
The dinner service was over, and only madam Maria and a few other kitchen assistants, who would attend to the minister when he returned, remained in the house.
As far as I knew, clara was still in his bedroom, recovering from the earlier altercation with her mother.
I couldn't help but wonder if the minister would decide to take her on as another wife, now that their secret had been exposed.
But that was actually the least of my problems.
I made my way quietly to the back door, careful not to arouse any suspicion.
Once outside, I walked nimbly but noiselessly to the other side of the mansion, doing everything I could not to rouse any of the domestic animals nor their keepers.
With the gate hardly used, it was secured by an old, rusty padlock, I was grateful to see that someone, very likely jason, had left the padlock open.
I gasped at the loud creaking sound the gate made when I opened it and looked around frantically, to be sure nobody had been alerted by the sound.
Satisfied that my tracks were still covered, I proceeded to squeeze myself through the small gap that had already been created, not ready to risk opening it any wider.
"I'll have to oil that gate tomorrow," came a voice beside me.
I looked, and my heart burst into a chorus when I saw that it was the man whose kiss I had been dreaming of since we parted only hours ago.
"Hi," I said, breathless, not because I was tired from the journey from the house, but because of the excitement and nervousness I felt from being in his presence.
My heart was racing a mile a minute just standing there next to him. Everything about him was electrifying.
He bent and took my lips in a sensual kiss, one that I happily and willfully gave in to.
The back gate of the ranch opened into a large expanse of unoccupied grassland that was being contested by some families, so we had no audience.
I wrapped my arms around him, kissing him with an eagerness that surprised even me, ready to succumb to him right there and then, with the moon and star-lit sky forming the perfect tapestry for our love.
"I want to take you somewhere," he said, holding my hand and leading me down a hastily cut path on the grassy road.
My body tingled in my excitement. "Where are we going?"
He turned around and smiled, the smile that turned me into mush. "You'll see."
We walked for about twenty minutes, and I made sure to keep my head bowed. It hadn't occurred to me that we would come so far out into town, otherwise I would have brought along a scarf to cover my face.
I was even too scared to speak, to ask where on earth he was taking me to, lest my voice gave me away.
It was not like there were that many pedestrians on the road, but the handful of people walking to and from their place of work, or just enjoying a quiet evening stroll, were enough to cause me considerable panic.
Thankfully, we soon branched off into some kind of woodland.
It was a part of the town I had never seen in all my years living there.
Before I could raise any alarm over this strange place he was taking me to, we got to a small creek.
All my grumbles and complaints died right there on my lips as I beheld the beauty of the body of water, ornamented with rocks and boulders, the sound of its flow almost melodic.
Under the moonlight, it twinkled as if scattered with a million, tiny diamonds. I had never beheld such a picturesque sight in my whole life.
"It's beautiful, isn't it," Jason beamed with pride, as if he had created it himself. He held out his hand to me. "Come."
I looked around. As scenic as the place was, it didn't seem conducive enough for the fulfillment of my passionate fantasies. With rocks and stones everywhere, where would we lie?
"Is this where you bring all your women?" I asked coyly. "Do you seduce them here, under the moonlight?"
He shook his head, his gaze never leaving me.
"I've never brought anyone else here. I discovered it a few years ago, and I come here when I want to think…to meditate."
Thinking and meditating was the last thing I wanted to do.
Deciding we would have to make do with the stony ground, I reached for him and pulled him into a kiss.
His was tender, but mine was much more demanding.
He kissed me like we had all night, but I was more mindful of the limited time we did have.
Eager to move things along, I pulled away from him and started unbuttoning my dress.
"No, my love," he said, putting his hand over mine.
"Let's not rush. I didn't bring you here for that."
I looked at him, surprised, not understanding what he meant, not understanding how it was possible for him to want anything but sex from me.
"Being here with you, having you here with me like this is a dream come true for me," he said, planting a tender kiss on my nose.
"You don't know how long I've wanted you.
"
"So, you don't want to sleep with me?" It was more of an accusation than a question.
He looked at me, and there was raw desire in his eyes. "You don't know how much. But not here…and not like this."
"Then let's go somewhere then. Let's go to your house, or I could even sneak you into my room – "
"Or we could simply enjoy each other's company, like this," he said, kissing my hand. "We could just sit here, under this beautiful night sky, and enjoy each other's company. We could get to know each other first."
"So, why did you bring me all the way here?" I retorted. "We could have just done the same back at the ranch!"
"That's where you're wrong, my beautiful Zeynep," he said, leaning in to kiss me. "Back in the ranch, I couldn't kiss you like this."
I closed my eyes and savoured his kiss; slow, unrushed and beautiful.
As he wrapped his arms around me, I allowed myself enjoy the comfort of his strong body.
As I dialed down my sexual desire, my heart took over, and as I kissed him, I felt something I had never felt before.
I felt love.