Chapter Seventeen
Jade held his face tenderly with both hands and gave a small peck on his lips. He pulled her close to his chest and angled her head and claimed her lips in a possessive kiss. It was a wild kiss, as if he dreamed about it the whole day. Maybe he had. Since the night before he had been asking for it. She kissed him back and he groaned with pleasure.
He pressed his body against hers as he kissed her more passionately. When he finally broke the kiss, he closed his eyes to steady his breath. Then resting his forehead against hers, he uttered the words that she had been craving to hear for the last eight years, "My jade, my love, my life." She was overwhelmed with emotions at his simple six words.
Before she could calm her nerves, he suddenly left her and stood with his back towards her. She looked at his back with concern. What did she do now? Did she do something to hurt him? "Dustin, have I done something to hurt you?" She asked, touching his shoulder.
His sharp intake of breath as he removed her hand confused her further. He slowly turned around. His breathing erratic, his pupils dilated and dark just like storm clouds. She could see his massive arousal hardly contained by his swimming trunks. She blushed furiously and lowered her lashes, not knowing what to do. "Are you ok?" She whispered.
"No, I'm not ok. I want to make love to you. I want to taste you. I want to be inside you. I'm tired of my dreams. They're driving me crazy, Jade. Are you ready for me?" He asked with a tortured look full of longing.
She was dumbfounded by his statement. She couldn't utter a single word. No one ever loved her or wanted her this way before. Was she ready for him? Maybe not yet. How would she tell him that? She didn't want to hurt him.
He took her quietness as a no. "Then give me a moment to calm myself please. I love you, I can wait for you. But once I get a taste of you, I won't stop. I will have you as and when I please," he said, turning away from her. "You can take a shower. I'll get your clothes." He added and disappeared out of the bathroom.
He returned with a body wash, her clothes and her backpack. "Here, " he said, handing them to her.
"Thank you, " she said and he nodded, leaving her and going to the kitchen.
Dustin felt happy that he could tell her that he loved her. He wanted to sing and dance with joy. He put on his denims and went out to catch a fish.
After fifteen minutes, he came back with a good catch. Jade was in the kitchen, chopping vegetables for a salad. He showed her the crappies that he caught and she squealed with delight.
He cleaned and cut into fillets for frying as Jade prepared the batter. Dustin had come prepared with the ingredients as Seth had informed him about the lake teeming with good catches.
Granny prepared them with avocado rice and cupcakes. Both of them prepared the meal together. "It seems we are already married," said Dustin, grinning.
Jade smiled. "I want to stay here with you. I don't want to go home," she pouted.
"Me neither but I promised your dad and I will keep it," he said. She pouted but respected his principles.
"Well, now that we've started dating, we can take our relationship a little further. Right?" He said, leaning towards her to bump her shoulder and wink.
"How?" she said with a smile.
"I'm doing everything the conventional way," he said, feeling proud. "Will you be my girlfriend?" He asked, formally.
"Yes, I already am," she agreed and Dustin grinned.
They clung to each other and stayed that way.
"Tomorrow renovation work will start at our new house," he informed her.
"That's wonderful news," she gushed.
"I want you to go down and check what renovations you want. Decide the colour schemes and any other changes you want," he told her and she nodded happily. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek and he smiled indulgently.
They finished cooking and enjoyed their meal at the table overlooking the serene lake waters. The natural, quiet setting made them appreciate the moment more. Dustin held her chin and fed her a bite. Jade too fed him a bite.
"We can go boating after lunch. What do you say?" He asked her with excitement.
"Yeah, I'd love to," she agreed. They finished eating and cleaned up everything.
They went outside to the paddle boat. Dustin untied it and climbed in helping her inside. They paddled all over the lake, exploring nooks and corners, watching birds, fishes and squirrels. Dustin captured beautiful pictures of her, of themselves and the nature around him. She didn't know he was so interested in photography.
After spending nearly two hours, they returned to their cabin. "I'm exhausted," she told him, flopping on the sofa. He too sat down beside her.
"I want you to work at the restaurant. Once the rest of the money comes in, we will be building two more floors and turn it into a motel. I want you and granny to check out the designs. You would need to market it also. So would you want to complete your internship at the restaurant?" He asked, hoping she would agree.
"My internship is complete. As it is they weren't paying me well. So yes, I will work at the restaurant with you and granny but not for a payment. I will help because I love you all and it is mine also," she said with so much conviction that Dustin gave in.
"Okay if that's how you want it. But then you have to accept anything granny and I give you," he stated and she agreed.
"So, when will you join? I can't wait. I need to see you everyday, " he asked impatiently.
"Give me this month. I will give my resignation tomorrow and then serve the notice period they specify," she requested.
"Alright, just this month. Next month onwards, you join us," he declared.
"Ok," she agreed.
They rested for an hour, just talking and then went out hand in hand for a walk, exploring the area. It felt so good, without a care in the world, simply enjoying each other's presence.
"Can we come here again, Dustin?" She asked.
"Why not? It's ours. Whenever you want, we can come," he said. They walked back to the cottage and sat down on the deck to watch the birds catch fish.
"Thank you for being in my life, Jade. There aren't many people who have been a constant in my life. I only had granny and now I have you," he said, staring at his hands, his voice choked with emotions.
Jade simply held his hand in hers,"You're parents loved you," she comforted.
"No, they only loved their work and their friends. They didn't have time for me. They wanted a huge mansion to show off and went beyond their means to buy the place. Every weekend they hosted parties and I was sent away to granny's house. My mom didn't want granny to live with us, so granny lived all alone in grandpa's house. It was in a bad condition but they didn't have time for her as well. When I turned 13, I left home to live with granny. My parents came to fight regularly but I didn't want to go back. Then one day they met with an accident and everything came to an end. They left a huge debt on my shoulders," he sighed, looking at her with pain in his eyes.
"I didn't know, Dustin. Thank the Lord that you have granny," she said, hugging him.
"When we move to our new house, I can't leave granny alone in that small apartment, Jade," he said, his voice cracking with the emotions he kept hidden in his soul.
"Of course we won't. I love granny too, Dustin. She'll be staying with us," she said, laying her head on his chest.
"You won't mind her staying with us?" He asked, incredulously.
"Never. She's our family. I love both of you," she said with conviction.
"Thank you Jade. I'm glad I found you," he said, as he pulled her onto his lap and kissed her gently yet lingeringly. It was kiss which made them know how much they loved each other. It was a soulful kiss. A kiss with lots of gentle exploration of each other's mouths.
It was late afternoon and they packed everything back into the truck. After locking the place properly they drove back home. On the way back, they had dinner at a roadside diner.
Dustin dropped Jade and with a kiss on her forehead, climbed onto his truck and drove back home, happily.
