Page 26 of Such a Sweet Girl

I tipped my head as she ran her fingers through my hair.

‘So what now? You’re not going to have sex with me?’

‘Oh, I am. After a short break. Let’s clean up, finish our baking and go for a sunset picnic on the lake.’

A smile lit her face. ‘You want to go for a picnic? What if someone sees?’

‘I’m not ashamed to be seen with you. Never hide yourself for a man. I’d be proud to be seen with you on my arm.’

‘Or your face?’

I laughed and kissed her hip.

‘Most definitely.’

THIRTEEN

FRANCESCA

The sun dipped low in the sky, flashing through the trees as Alexander rowed us to the secluded island in the middle of the lake. A frog chorus mingled with the lap of the oars.

Idyllic.

The tensing of Alexander’s arms as he rowed drew my eyes, each stroke making them bulge. Who knew arms could be so attractive?

A breeze whispered over my shoulders, raising goose pimples in its wake. Our picnic basket sat nestled between us, filled with the efforts of our day in the kitchen.

Yet, food was the last thing on my mind. I couldn’t care about the delicate pastries and savoury filled buns. No, my thoughts were totally stuck on Alexander. The way his eyes crinkled when he laughed. The way he focused on me completely when I spoke, like each word was of the greatest importance. There was a sparkle in his eyes that glittered when I touched him with the slightest graze.

Alexander made me feel important in a way no one else ever had.

I craved his attention.

I wanted to see his face fill with pleasure when I followed his instructions.

I needed to have him command me to do the filthiest of things under his tutelage. To let me escape my head in submission for a while.

With a gentle bump, the boat nudged at the shore. I’d crossed to the little island many times throughout the summers I’d spent at the lake, anything to escape my parents’ strict schedule. Long summer days pretending to run my own kitchen filled with bark plates and leaf pastries, serving make-believe customers who were always super grateful to come to my lakeside cafe. But I’d never been there with a guy. Especially not an older, far more experienced man who made my heart skip a dozen beats with every look.

Stepping onto the grassy shore felt like an adventure from my life. Perhaps for the short time I had with Alexander, I could cosplay as the person I wished I was. A successful, contented woman who didn’t live to please anyone but me. Someone who stood up to my parents and pursued my dreams despite theirs.

Taking my hand, Alexander steadied me until I stood on the narrow path worn by hundreds of feet before me. Picnic basket in hand, he led the way through the trees to the small clearing in the centre of the dense foliage.

‘Do you take all your women here?’ I half-joked as he shook out a patchwork picnic blanket and sat.

‘Oh yeah, a different one every night.’

Pouting, I sat across from him. I knew he was joking, but it didn’t stop a flare of anger glowing in my chest.

He knelt, leaning in and grazing my jaw with his lips. ‘Sweet girl, did you want me to tell you that you are the only woman I’ve ever taken here? That I’m so sickeningly obsessed with you that I’m going out of my way to impress your jealous little ass?’

‘Well… Yes. Please.’

‘I like you jealous,’ he crooned, planting a series of tantalising kisses along my throat. ‘Maybe you’ll get so filled with rage that you’ll decorate my body with your need, claiming me from any of my previous dalliances.’

‘Will you do the same to me? Erase the memory of your son with your cock?’

‘By the time I’m done with you, a memory of me in every crevice will plague you. For the rest of your days, your body will pine for my mouth, my hands and my dick.’

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