Chapter 10
Zalli stood in front of her fields, enjoying the last of the warmth from the evening sun. The breeze she felt from the summer winds brushed against her exposed shoulders.
Zalli stood in front of her fields, enjoying the last of the warmth from the evening sun. The breeze she felt from the summer winds brushed against her exposed shoulders. Her shawl covered her lower arms; she used it more for comfort than a need for heat.
With her arms crossed, she moved into her fields, enjoying the peacefulness the end of the day gave. The farmer cherished the quiet until she was startled by a masculine voice that appeared by her side.
“Why aren’t you at the festival?”
Yoltzin stood by her side with his body facing her. He had a lit cigarette in his hand while his other hand rested in his pocket. His blazer, surprisingly, was missing to complete his suit.
“The festival? ... Oh, um, well, I wanted some time to myself.”
Amiable silence grew between the two adults. Zalli brought one hand down to smooth out the skirt of her dress, even though there was not a wrinkle present. The light blue dress reached her mid-thighs and paired well with her dark brown botas de vaquero. She enjoyed the returned silence, but knew it would only last for so long.
“Am I bothering you?”
“Always. But you can stay.” Zalli turned to look at Yoltzin, exchanging a good-natured smile with his graceful one. Knowing what he was here for, she spoke again. “Go ahead. Spit out what you want to say.”
“What do you mean?”
Yoltzin brought the tobacco to his mouth and took a heavy drag from it. As Zalli spoke, he checked the wind and made sure not to blow any smoke in her direction.
“You only visit when you want something.”
He shrugged his shoulders before replying.
“You could be wrong. Maybe I just wish to spend some time with you.”
“Hmm.”
She spared him a brief glance, displaying how she raised both eyebrows up high on her face.
“But since you bring it up, I do want to ask you something.”
“Of course.”
Zalli hugged herself tighter, preparing for whatever the CEO had to propose.
“Any chance of changing your mind?”
The farmer brought her eyebrows together as she deciphered what Yoltzin’s question meant. If it was about the digging site, then she was going to lose her sanity, but she determined to give him the benefit of the doubt first.
“About selling my farm? No.”
During her introspection, Yoltzin pulled from his cigarette. He kept his eyes steadily on her, patiently waiting, but holding an intensity in his gaze that was overlooked by the maiden.
The man noticed her manicured fingers; they were the color of a soft pink and pleasing to his eye. The neckline of her sleeveless dress went up to the base of the neck, which brought his focus to her arms. Though her pearly white shawl covered the lower part of her limbs, he appreciated the tone and firmness he could see in her shoulders and biceps.
When she concluded her thoughts, Yoltzin was quick to respond.
“You know, selling doesn’t mean you’re a failure.” He stepped in front of her to show his empathy. His blue eyes softened as he spoke again. “Obviously, that’s not the case. But what I have for you is a better opportunity.”
Despite his apparent genuine concern, Zalli remained irritated by his statement. She didn’t like how he presumed to know her, or even know what was best for her.
“Alright. Your time limit has expired if you’re only going to talk about this. This topic is exhausting.”
Yoltzin placed his free hand on her shoulder and tried to placate her.
“I just don’t understand why you’re not taking advantage of an excellent business opportunity.”
“If you’re not going to leave, I will.”
Zalli glared at him with fierce intensity. Even though she had to tilt her head up from their difference of 14 cm in height, she didn’t feel small.
“From my perspective, you’re—hey! Where are you going?” Zalli moved away from Yoltzin and dashed into the forest ahead of them. The trees were scattered enough that she could not lose the CEO, but she hoped he would not want to venture through arid shrubbery and timber, considering his expensive footwear. With him being the obstinate man that he was, though, he caught up to her with ease and continued their conversation with minimal effort. ”As I was saying, you practically have wealth being handed to you with my deal.”
“And what if I like to work for my reward?”
“You’re certainly making me work for mine.”
Flabbergasted, Zalli stopped her movement and scowled at the CEO. Before she spoke, she took notice of how he dragged his cigarette. He held it between his middle and ring finger with the butt end facing his palm side. He held the small stick of tobacco as if it were a delicacy.
“And not everything is about wealth, especially an excessive amount of it.”
“How else can you achieve happiness without wealth and power?”
Rolling her eyes, the maiden spun to continue her stroll away from Yoltzin. The forest became denser with each step they took, but Zalli wasn’t paying attention to that anymore; her focus was on nothing but on the conversation at hand.
“Tch. Happiness is more than that. Of course, have money, but there is also being surrounded by the people you love and who love you back. And being able to do things that make you happy.”
“You can’t keep people happy without money. And you can’t do things without money.”
Branches snapped underneath their feet as they progressed. Their crunching scared away any small wildlife nearby.
“Look, money is not the entire issue here. When it comes to that, I am happy with just enough to be comfortable—I am not looking for a lavish lifestyle.”
This time, Yoltzin stopped Zalli in her tracks. He grabbed her by the crook of her elbow and gently pulled her back, as a request. For some odd reason, she abided by it.
“Then what is the actual issue? What is your biggest reason for not selling?”
“This land is my heirloom.” Both of her arms came up in frustration, releasing herself from his grasp. “It has belonged to my family for so long, I could not give a precise date of when we came to own it.”
“So you hold on to it for tradition.”
“I hold on to it for heritage. For roots, for-for home.”
“And your family wants the same?”
Yoltzin took a big step towards the maiden. In reaction, she moved back, but she was not aware of his hidden intentions.
“Yes, I am the sole provider, so they trust me to make the best decisions for all of us.”
“But you haven’t asked them personally what they want?”
This time he moved in a bit more aggressively with only a few steps. Zalli replicated his movement in reverse, then found herself with her back to a tree.
“I think they would tell me if they had any ... any doubts. I am not a ruthless dictator.”
Her eyes blinked at a rapid pace as she realized the situation she placed herself in. Taking bearing on her surroundings, she noted they were a considerate distance from her farm now. Sunlight could still seep through the canopy of trees, but they were in a shadier area. It was a spot that offered more privacy—an intimate atmosphere.
“But you also never opened a discussion with them. You only assume they agree.”
His words brought Zalli back to the conversation. Her eyelids fluttered in tempo with her increasing heart rate. Stuck in a daze, her survey of Yoltzin’s face went from his eyes down to his lips.
He caught where her stare went. It prompted the man to bring his tobacco back to his lips and pull the drug into his lungs like the flowing creek that was heard nearby.
Once he was ready to exhale, he brought his face way past the side of Zalli’s and blew the smoke behind her; his other hand was on the opposite side to carry his weight so he wouldn’t crush the farmer. The action brought the curve of his neck near the maiden and allowed her to smell the scent of his cologne.
She detected a sweet but woodsy aroma to him. Her second breath was deeper and even brought her face subconsciously closer to Yoltzin. This time she distinguished the sweet smell to be of a musky essence, like amber.
On Zalli’s third inhalation, as her eyelids flickered to close, she realized the man had not returned to face her. It was like he stayed still on purpose to allow her to smell him shamelessly.
Feeling like a criminal caught in their own crime, the maiden released a small gasp of surprise and pulled her head back suddenly. It caused her to hit the trunk behind her with some force, which shocked her more than it caused any pain.
The thud caught Yoltzin’s attention and pulled him back to check on Zalli. He brought both hands to cradle her head in concern. He then inquired about her state.
“Are you okay?”
Zalli nodded her head, then responded with a different topic to their discourse.
“You shouldn’t smoke, you know. You could-uh, you could start a fire here.”
Yoltzin looked at her with curiosity before he pinched the lit end of his drug. Taking care to show her he had no intentions to start a forest fire, he stepped away to walk to the nearby creek and dipped the half-smoked cigarette in the water, to snuff it out at its full extent.
Zalli stayed at the tree, bracing it with her palms and her arms down by her side. When Yoltzin returned, he placed the damp cigarette in the crevice of his top ear and spoke before she could inquire what he was doing.
“I will make sure to properly throw it away, too.” When her understanding dawned on Zalli, Yoltzin had already returned to their original position, this time with both palms on either side of the maiden’s face. Then, he moved in closer, so one elbow rested on the trunk while his other hand moved in to support Zalli’s jaw as he tilted her head up a little further. “If I were to kiss you right now, are you going to knee me in the groin again?”
Yoltzin waited with calm patience, hoping she would say no. Once she shook her head in an unhurried motion, he brought his lips close to hers, but asked for her permission for a direct consent before moving in.
“Can I kiss you?”
Zalli gulped, already knowing her answer, but she was not ready to speak it into reality just yet. With a resolving breath, she made unwavering eye contact with the man before her and spoke in a confident tone.
“Yes.”
Yoltzin brought his lips down to meet Zalli’s. It was a soft touch at first—tentative and explorative. But what began as a peck developed into a melding of lips that lasted longer with each contact made.
The hand nestled on Zalli’s jaw crawled down at a painstaking pace. It caressed her skin, starting at her neck, then moved around her shoulder until it slid down to her forearm. Yoltzin grabbed hold of her limb to guide it to his waist.
Zalli was so lost in the kiss she forgot to be an active participant. Taking his hint, she brought both arms up to splay her hands on his chest. Her hands stayed there to appreciate the firmness of his pectorals as she squeezed the muscle in a tight grasp.
Yoltzin grumbled with content from the action.
(If interested, please read full NSFW scene on my patreon - Patreon.com/RenRogue)
Then, Zalli felt her body lose all sensation in touch.
Yoltzin stopped moving as well and the surrounding forest went from soft chittering to a complete silence. Disappointment filled his voice as he spoke to Zalli with his head turned down.
“It’s time to wake up, little thorn.”
Darkness overcame her vision like a stage curtain falling, and Zalli found everything before her gone.
. . •⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅ . .
Under her covers and lying on her side, Zalli found herself in her bed with Huizi nuzzling the back of her head. It seemed like her canine companion thought it was time for her to wake up, even though it was a bit earlier than her alarm.
With a sigh, the maiden sat up and rubbed her face in her hands in an effort to wake herself up.
That was one intense dream, she thought to herself. A shiver ran through her body as the memory of it washed over her in a searing heat. Zalli had not realized her minor attraction to the CEO had developed into a weird infatuation. Certainly, she thought he was handsome, but she did not think she was interested enough to deliberate an intimate connection with him.
Zalli swung her legs to the side of her bed. The morning haze of her brain was still settling, but something felt off to her. Last night seemed nonexistent to her.
After Yoltzin left, she sort of remembered going upstairs to her room to relax a bit before dinner. Her plan was to eat, shower, then go to Tepi’s room to speak to the green apparition. She wanted more information to understand Green Tepi, for she didn’t seem malicious in nature. Only bothersome to her sister’s rest.
Yet, as soon as Zalli sat on her bed, she recalled how her body felt so exhausted and her mind was foggy in cognition. She had laid down to relax and only for that. But once her form hit her plush sheets, her heavy eyes closed shut, and she was fast asleep.
Now it was the next day, and the maiden found herself in her pajamas. Pajamas? When did I get dressed in this ... Once she completed her thought, Zalli hyper-focused on her awareness of what day it was. The festival! I have to get ready!
She hoped she could understand her dream and her behavior from last night later, but she had more important things to tend to. Without a moment to lose, Zalli was moving around her room at a rapid pace to get ready for the day.
Michelle Alva
