Ascent - Passion's Paradox - VOL.1

.05. Lawson Marshall

The eyes still closed, I slowly emerge from sleep and hear a soft sigh near my ears. It comes from the body that sticks a little more to me. The one with whom I shared the warmth of the night before. His legs mingle with mine and his arms embrace me between the crumpled sheets. They wake me up. I yawn without opening my mouth and grunt slowly as I start to move. I turn my head and see the young woman beside me frowning still asleep.

I blindly tap the bed, closing my eyelids to look for the blanket that I can't find. I open my eyes this time, slowly but once and for all. The daylight is intense, aggressive. So, I pass my hands on my eyes and rub them. I close them again in the hope of getting back to sleep but it's useless. Instead, I straighten my head and look around. I'm not at home but in a suite I'm holding around. I sink back into my pillow and sigh with relief. If my father or brother had surprised me, I would have heard about it for a very long time. I run my arm over my forehead and sigh.

"Hey... Your leg."

My hoarse, pasty voice makes me shiver. All the bacteria my night has gathered now feels too present on my tongue and teeth. I need my toothbrush.

" ...What?" she growls after a few seconds.

"Your leg", I insist a little harder.

She straightens her head, eyes squinting. She sees her leg pressing my morning erection and of course it affects me. She yawns and straightens up with a little mocking smile. She looks for the blanket with her eyes, it has fallen to the ground.

"I'm going to take a shower."

I answer with silence as she leaves the bed with elephant steps before opening the door and going out, dressed only in her green thong and her skin golden by the early morning light. I almost want to catch her right now and put her against my bed to start a new round and satisfy the intense desire that rises in me, but I don't sleep twice with the same person... And then this damn erection is not all natural. This dream...

Damn it.

"Do you have a change of clothes?" yells the stranger a little later when the water stops flowing behind the next wall. "You ruined mine last night."

With these words, she sticks her head in the doorway. I stop myself from clenching my teeth when I think that I was just putting everything on this thing that makes me suffer. I point behind her and answer her:

"Ask the maid, she'll have some for you. Tell her it's in Lawson's name, she'll understand."

"Is it your pretty little name?" she giggles happily wearing her towel.

"Don't waste my time," I growl definitely disturbed to have been interrupted. "Last night was nice but it was yesterday."

"I was not asking for more", almost offended the brunette I remember meeting at the hotel reception, before disappearing behind the door.

I lie down on the bed and think about the night I just spent. The dream I endured last night. Because it wasn't just an erotic dream... No, there was someone familiar in front of me. I didn't think I would be able to see Neferu NepTet in this way. Not so soon. We've only known each other for two days. ,n

We've only met consistently since I saw her at that meeting, and we've had several opportunities to talk. Talk. She hasn't been the easy type and certainly still holds a grudge against me for the position. But that's just a detail. If yesterday, black looked great on her at my ceremony, the burgundy red of her second dress was seductive, falling on the sinuous curves of her body.

She disturbs me. The way she invades my thoughts since she came to confront me for what is "rightfully" hers and the way I am drawn to her. I'm not supposed to act this way, not with someone so close to me in my business, it's not Meredith. Meredith doesn't have the same status. And mine has just changed, forcing me to exercise restraint. I can't lose my sense of priorities. Even less so because I've dreamed of it.