A One For All Holiday - Attachment to All For One (Complete)

Part Thirty

I swallowed tightly and stayed in the shadows at the top of the stairs. They were all down there waiting for me to make my appearance in a similar fashion to the night before but as I had stepped further down the hallway after Gabriel had left to give me a moment alone, my confidence had waned and nerves had settled in with a vengeance.

I could even feel my toes shaking in the light pink ballet flats that Meanie had slipped onto my feet.

I was about to stand under the scrutiny of the perfect Mr Blackbourne as we prepared to leave on our date. The thought shook me even more, making my stomach tighten, a date with Mr Blackbourne. I shook my head and stepped even further away from the top of the staircase.

What was I thinking? I would never make it through a night alone with him without doing something that would utterly mortify us both and strain our very complicated relationship to breaking point.

I was so caught up in my own roiling imaginings that I missed the sound of footsteps on the stairs.

A gentle waft of spring soap had me sucking in a frantic breath and jerking my gaze up to his as he stood a few feet away with a blank look upon his face.

Mr Blackbourne

I swallowed tightly as I stood at the bottom of the staircase and stared upward as my brothers lounged nearby. I had managed to calmly get through dinner and changing into the black suit and shirt with grey tie that Gabriel had pulled from a garment bag but as soon as I had joined the others, I had begun to feel unfamiliarly anxious regarding the coming evening.

I hadn’t been on a date in well over a year and never with someone as special and important as the gorgeous Miss Sorenson. It wasn’t often that I found myself stymied and uncertain but when the boys had approached me with the request for planning a weekend away and organising the individual dates, I found myself lost.

They all had amazing ideas for their time with the young lady but my own passions weren’t so easily captured in tourist attractions. I found it hard to relax enough to let my walls down and to have to plan something invariably specific and personal for the girl that would complete our family…well it worried me that she wouldn’t enjoy the time alone.

I could speak to girls, yes, and I wasn’t innocent or naïve when it came to the male-female dynamic but all the women that had been in my past had had some place in the Academy and hadn’t mattered beyond a pleasant time together before we parted ways.

I had never formed an attachment quite like the one that I had realised was blooming into reality with the ever-amazing Sang Sorenson.

I fiddled with my tie for something to do as the time on the clock slowly crept forward to the 8:30 p.m. mark with no sign of her at the top of the staircase.

“Where is she?” My brother and closest friend wondered as he moved in closer to my side. Sean was my opposite in most things and I valued him more than he could ever guess. If not for his support, understanding and positive outlook, I would have developed grey hairs prematurely or possibly jumped from the roof of the nearest building.

“Fucked if I know,” Mr Coleman answered in a grumble, “She was ready to go when I left her twenty minutes ago.”

I had the sudden thought that she had decided against accompanying me and was stressing over a way to politely turn me down.

I will admit that for the first time since I was a child, I panicked; for our plans to come to fruition, she had to form a relationship with me that went beyond what it currently stood as. There was no other choice, my brothers loved her wildly and I had put more into a future with her than I had with anything or anyone before.

I fought down my agitation and started up the staircase, “I will go to check that nothing has occurred.”

I didn’t wait for a reply from the others and hoped that they wouldn’t feel it necessary to follow me. I didn’t want any witnesses if I was about to get rejected; that I could not handle.

I took the final step up and began down the hall only to come to a complete stop as my breath left me; Miss Sorenson was plastered against the nearest wall with a hand pressed firmly to her chest and her head lowered so that she could watch as her other hand plucked at the skirt of her beautifully elegant gown.

She looked like a vision; her dress was light pink and softly ruffled. The skirt was simple and plain while the top boasted long puffed sleeves with the neckline beginning at the gentle curve of her shoulders and plunging to produce a modest but provocative V. Added to the picture of elegance, Gabriel had swept her hair into a lose bun with a few curls left loose to draw more emphasis to the alluring shape of her bare neck.

I wanted to spend another few moments just staring but something must have given my presence away as her head jerked up and those glorious emerald eyes focussed on my own.

We were silent as we absorbed one another but she suddenly began to flush with such intensity that I saw the red begin to disappear below her neckline.

I stopped the nervous twitch of my fingers, not wanting to startle her any further. It appeared that I had been correct in the assessment that she was having second thoughts and had decided to withdraw.

I felt my heart break a little but I hid it as well as I hid everything else, “Miss Sorenson, I didn’t mean to startle you. We were beginning to worry.”

She lifted her finger to her shiny lips and pushed, “I didn’t mean to keep you waiting. I just needed a moment.”

I smoothed down my already immaculate jacket, “If you do not feel like accompanying me…”

She stopped me as she quickly began forward, “Oh…oh no, I didn’t mean to give the impression that I wanted to change the plans for the night, I just,” I saw her swallow convulsively, “I guess I’m just a little nervous.”

“About me?” I asked with baited breath.

She nodded slightly, “I’m sorry but this just seems to be a bit harder…”

She paused and I took an emotional step back to ask, “Because we are not as acquainted as the other boys?”

It had been implied by Sean before I had moved off to dress that she was uncertain how to proceed in her relationship with since I had always insisted on a very formal boundary between us. Looking into her eyes, I suddenly cursed how I handled our interactions before this. All my control had done was wedge a very real distance between us; she was open around the others while I had never bothered to try and connect with her on the level that she would need to feel comfortable.

“Yes,” she answered softly, “I’ve never been quite sure where I stand with you even though I care about you just as much as I do the others.”

I pushed a hand through my hair and silently appreciated her willingness to be candid; she wanted to know me, already cared about me. It was more than I could have hoped for.

I decided suddenly to lay it all at her feet, “Sang…I would like it if you would join me tonight.”

I saw her reaction to the fact that I had called her by her first name and hoped that this wouldn’t blow up in my face.

She stepped closer; so close that I could feel the warmth coming from her skin, “Owen,” I tightened up at hearing her murmur my name, “I would love to accompany you.”

Her small hands reached forward and pressed gently against my chest. I gazed down at her as she tilted her head back and gave me a small, mysteriously feminine smile.

My answer was shocking to us both as I lift my own hands and cupped her sweet face. Tonight, for her, I would be Owen and the nineteen year old boy that I was wanted nothing more than to taste her.

So I did, slowly lowering my head; I watched as her eyes widened before they drifted closed. Her consent was written in every line of her body as she swayed toward me. My lips made contact with hers and I shuddered in reaction.