Her Conquest

7. The First Date

Laura slides out of town car taking in the scene around her at the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden. Chase is standing there wearing light colored jeans and loosely fitted linen shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Laura itches to run her fingers through his dark hair that has fallen loosely around his face. Jesus, he looks like he’s stepped straight out of a magazine. Wonder if that stubble feels just as good as it looks between my— “Ready to let loose, Laura?”, Chase asks breaking her from her impure thoughts. “Of course. What is it we’re doing here exactly?” She walks over to him giving Brian a small smile and waves him goodbye. He takes her hand, lacing their fingers together, guiding her through the entrance. “We are going on a walk through the gardens followed by dinner. I know a guy who pulled a few strings so we have the whole place to ourselves.” Her heart starts beating a million miles a minute, “Aw Chase, this amazing! I don’t know what to say.” He turns her to face him, lifting her chin to meet his gaze, “You don’t need to say anything. I just want you to have a relaxing evening and enjoy tonight." There is a lingering pause and the pull between the both of them is undeniable, but Chase manages to break free to lead them into the gardens.

They walk in comfortable silence, hand in hand, taking in all the beautiful pieces of art. “I’m glad you warned me to wear comfortable shoes. This is so breathtaking. Art has always held a special place in my heart.” “I know.” She turns to look at him as they continue walking through the gardens, “Oh really? Just how would you know that?” He stops at a sculpture to admire it as she takes her eyes off him to examine the art before them. There is a brief silence, “Freshman year we were in the same art class.” Still studying the statue he continues, “That was the first class I had with you. You walked in that day wearing a black dress. I thought it was odd for first day attire, but then I saw how sad you looked.” She started to look down and was remembering back to her first day of freshman year. She had come to school late that day. Her grandmother had passed away, and the funeral was that day. She wanted to go to school to be with her friends. Anything to take the pain away from that day. Her grandmother was her best friend and confidant. Losing her so quickly devastated her. “As you took your seat by Heather and started sketching you seemed to instantly relax. Any time after I saw you in art class you always appeared at ease. Like it was an escape for you.” Laura feels a tear slip from her eye, and she swipes it away. The pain from losing her grandmother still stings to this day for her. She finds herself trying, but struggling to look for the words to speak,” Wow,” her voice comes out a broken whisper not meaning for it to. Her voice still above a whisper, “I never knew you paid that much attention to anyone back then.” Chase turns to her, holding her hands in his, “I told you I was very observant back in my youth, but you always caught my eye. I was always too nervous to do anything about it. Until now.” Before Laura can say anything Chase slowly closes the space between them, moving his big strong hand to cup her cheek. His gaze never leaving hers until his lips lightly brush hers making contact. Laura melts into his kiss, deepening the embrace, allowing herself to be overcome with the sparks he is igniting within her. His tongue lightly brushes her lips seeking entrance, which she happily grants to him and makes her even weaker in the knees than she was at the beginning of his kiss. His other hand snakes around her waist to pull her even closer to him, dipping a little lower just above her cheek. She snakes her hands around his neck, running her fingers through his midnight locks that she was itching to touch earlier and was not disappointed. The stubble on his chin grazing hers as they kiss feels just as good as she dreamed it would.

She can feel Chase putting on the brakes, and he pulls back from her looking down at her with a heated gaze, “I won’t be able to stop myself from doing unspeakable things in the middle of this park if I don’t stop this now.” Both of their chests heaving from the passion ebbing through them, trying to find cool air to breathe, calming their racing hearts. Laura looks at him with hooded eyes, struggling to make her brain form cohesive words, “What if I don’t want you to stop.” He flashes a wicked grin and makes her panties dampen even further than the previous assault did. “You just might be the death of me, Laura. I promised my friend I would be on my best behavior, and so I shall be ever the gentleman since I gave my word. I would be banned surely if I had my way with you right here in this garden.” Just the thought makes Laura clinch her thighs together and Chase notices her body’s reaction. Smiling that devilish smile of his he walks her backwards until she is met with the statue and no where to run. He dips his head to whisper in her ear, his voice dark and husky, “No one said I had to be a gentleman when we leave.” His tongue flicking out to catch her earlobe using his skilled member to nip it between his teeth ever so slightly causing Laura to let out a soft moan sounding more like a whimper. He pulls away and the loss of body heat from his contact feels like she was doused in ice water. Chase holds his hand out for hers to take, “Now, let’s get some dinner. I don’t know about you, but I'm suddenly famished.”

Walking hand in hand, Chase leads her to a section of the park, known as the Duelling Oaks, she sees a small table set up laden with a gorgeous candlelight dinner. “Pulling out all the stops, are we?”, she teases. “Only the best. Please,” as he motions for her to sit in the chair he has pulled out for her. “Thank you,” she replies quietly while taking her seat. Laura takes the napkin out of its holder on the plate, draping it across her lap. Chase moves to the take the wine out of the ice bucket to pour them both a glass. Taking his seat, he raises his glass, “A toast to new beginnings.” Laura raises her glass and they both take a sip. The chilled wine washes over her tongue and swallows the crisp, cool liquid. Damn, a girl could get used to this treatment. “The wine is delicious. You seem to know your wine.” He gives a light chuckle, “I actually spent a couple months in Italy when my company was getting off the ground securing business deals with prospective vineyards, so there was a lot of taste testing. I picked up a few tips along the way.” “Ever the enthusiast so it would seem,” she replies with a sly grin. His grey eyes flickering in the candlelight and voice dark with desire, “I’m a man who knows what he likes.” His eyes traveling down, taking in all of her dips and curves, travelling back up to meet her with a lustful gaze. f**k me. This man is definitely trouble.