So sorry for the late update. I had to re-write almost the entire chapter because Wattpad didn't save it. I would've published it two days ago if it wasn't for this issue..

Not edited.

***

Ash's POV

"Anya?" The confusion in his voice was real. "Your assistant - Anya?" Josh repeated and I couldn't help the grin that stretched.

"Yes, Josh. Anya."

  I glanced at the bathroom door in my office.. The thought of what happened there the previous day.. It so wickedly caused her to pop in my head..

  Of course, Josh was not allowed to know every detail exactly, but Anya and I both agreed that we would reveal that little secret.. One by one, starting from Josh and Kristin. And while Anya was dealing with Kristin, I was clearing things out for Josh.

"But-" The speechlessness in his voice was clear for the third time in the past few minutes after I told him. He once again searched my expression to see whether I was playing him or not. "Hold up, what did I miss? Where- when?"

I laughed. "It wouldn't be very respectful of me to discuss this with you.. Especially the where part."

"Ash." The warning in his tone was once again a clear need for some kind of a further explanation on my words.. The worry too.

  And I could perfectly understand why he showed concern. I did too. In the beginning it was for the best for my relationship with Anya to stay between the two of us only because I knew exactly what kind of judgements people would make, not only because she was a Nelson but because of my family as well..

  My father was respected, yes, but he earned that respect not through all the right ways. He was good at controlling, ruling an empire of a company that he created and I perhaps had a part in that too.. But Josh's concerns were very much clear. My father once tried controlling my life as well.. And that ended with certain death..

"Before Paris.. And a little before that as well."

I answered before he had the chance to ask again, and with the way he stood up he was clearly frustrated on how he didn't notice it. I almost laughed because Josh was always the first one to know of any affair or rumor in the company. And Anya and I were right there in front of him the whole time and he failed to even slightly notice.

"Christ," He preformed a circle in front of my desk, probably going through any missed clues in his head. "And it was all under my nose the whole damn time?"

I couldn't help the laugh that escaped me. Yes we were right under his nose.. Quite literally. Even the previous day, when he came looking for me in my office.. I was in the bathroom, with Anya that almost failed to keep quiet.

"We decided it would be for the best not to tell right away. And even though now that it's somewhat public, I still don't want you thinking that I want it all over the media. So if you-"

"I won't say a thing if that's what you want," He finished up himself, but I could see he had more to say.

"Good. I'd like it if people heard from us firstly."

"Of course, but-" The frown on his face clearly revealed that the situation confused him more than it should had. "The engagement? Is that-, is it-"

"Is it real? No. That's all just a story, like I told you." He stared at me for a few seconds, probably trying to process everything..

"So let me get this straight.." The way he clasped his hands together, per usual, made me hold back a laugh. Confused Josh was the best Josh. "You guys are together, but you're fakely engaged? And you're engaged just in France?"

  The dry laugh escaped me.. I suppose it did sound a bit more scandalous. And to think how confused he would've been if I told him that I actually proposed to her to avoid deportation.. It wasn't that I didn't trust Josh. I knew him my whole life. It was other people that I didn't trust.. Such as Sophie, or Stefan.

  I rose from my chair. "Something like that," It was enough for now.. I myself didn't know how I had grown so allured to this woman. Josh certainly couldn't understand that even if I told him. He still spend his nights in clubs and his days flirting with the employees.

  "Why the hell didn't you tell me?"

And his little outburst was priceless. Josh was the chilled type. He turned everything into sarcasm and it was the way he functioned. Seeing him annoyed was what I lived for and my secrets from him certainly dared the best of him.

  I turned my back and him and looked outside the window of my office. He asked me why I didn't tell him.. Perhaps I was quite selfish when it came to what I had with Anya. It was something different, something we were both learning to control and maintain.

  Another night spent in the bed, doing things that blurred my head with desires that seemed to burst to flames whenever she was near.. It fucking effected me. I couldn't get her out of my head. Even working, I simply could not.

  "I told you, Josh. I told you what you needed to know.. The rest wasn't necessary." And at that point, I felt regret run through tremors underneath my skin, as if I had said the wrong thing..

  I had grown way too used to keeping every little thing I had with Anya a secret, that I almost regretted agreeing on putting our relationship out there. Perhaps it was safer, more comfortable and definitely more special to have what we had for ourselves only. The world could wait. But there was no going back now..

  "Not necessary? You've completely lost your head for this girl." It took me a few seconds to register his words as for I had already lost myself in that obsession of the thought of her. That statement of his made me turn around and look at him.

  "What?"

  "You think it's not noticeable? The way you look at her.. All those secretive whispers.. I just thought it was all a part of the act. And I was a fool to believe that because no matter how much you claimed you couldn't stand one another, you couldn't had been such great actors."

  Silence filled the air for a few seconds. I had always considered myself a man with control, especially over myself. My patience may had faded throughout the years, but hell, I thought my control was the stronger side of me.

  I suppose I was wrong. I suppose I should've seen it coming. I couldn't keep my hands off her while she was around, especially now that I to represent her as my bride to be. And damn me, but I couldn't keep a straight thought if she wasn't around either.

  My hands constantly itched for a feel of her skin underneath my fingers, my whole being craving the feel of her lips against my own.. To kiss her until those lips were swollen and red, until those azure eyes were blurred with desire. When she was near, I pulled her closer to myself, no matter whether or not we were alone, because my mind swirled whenever I saw the same flames reflected back in those wild eyes..

  Yes, Josh was a fool to think it was all an act. They all were. Christ, I was a fool as well for even slightly believing that I could ever tame the lust I had for her, the need I had for her.. The damn wish I had for her constantly. It was eating my alive.

I gulped down to clear my throat. "What I have with Anya.. It's different. It's nothing like,-" I stopped myself because my mind refused to go down that path.. "It doesn't matter. It's new. She's nothing like I've ever experienced."

  When I met her, the Anastasia Nelson, the woman that turned my mind upside down the first time I laid eyes on her in that bar.. I thought of her as something that was off-limits immediately. She was the forbidden fruit, not only because soon she became my assistant, but because a part of me knew that if I didn't find resistance the first night I met her, I wouldn't be able to contain myself..

  But the forbidden fruit was the sweetest and I couldn't help but crave it. And as if she knew, she showed that wildness that could not be tamed, that fierce behind those sapphires.. Those eyes that played with my mind in the most wicked ways.. Eyes that could not decide which color they were. Once jade, once ocean blue.

   And damn me, but I could not resist a look from them. I could not resist the sight of her.. So I gave in. And it could never be a regret. It was madness that could not be put into words. Hell, I couldn't explain it to myself, let alone to Josh.

"She is different, that's for sure.." He started off. "And I'm all for it, trust me. She's a great girl, Ash, I know that, but," I already knew where it was going.. Ia already went down that 'but'. I went through it many times. "Do you truly think it would be a good idea to test your father like that? She's a Nelson, Ash."

  Josh did respect Anya. He did not think of her as anything even near to what her father was considered to be. But his words made sense. My father had sworn to ruin the Nelsons and he did by exposing some illegal business Richard Nelson had. People hated him for what he did. He was banished from Richwood and Richwood was a town that never forgot.

  All the things Anya had to go through.. They were all a result of some ancient history that many of our generation didn't even understand. But it was a small town. Rumors spread with the wind. But I had had it with all of it.

  I was not allowing Anya to suffer to consequences of something her father did years ago. especially not for my father.. He had controlled many aspects of my life, including my relationship with Jane. I was certainly not allowing that again because what I had with Anya was real.. Not planned or scripted. I swore that no one would ruin that.

  "That is why I want them to find out from me." I made myself clear, putting my hands in my pockets and rounding my desk. "He was already involved in every part of my relationship with Jane. You certainly know how that turned out."

  What I had with Jane.. It was as real as an arranged engagement could be. I had explained that to Anya.. For the first time, I told her something no one else ever knew.. My regret that I was supposed to feel after Jane's death.. I replaced it with Mexico. I replaced with with alcohol. I never felt it. And when I got back in Richwood, thinking that that regret would struck me harsher than anything ever did.. It still never came.

   Instead, a fierce young woman, with a face of an angel and a mind of a devil, marched into my office and got herself a job as my assistant. Every line of her body was chiseled to perfection, every look behind those wild eyes made me crave every inch of that beauty, day by day until I had no control left.. She turned my world upside down and I could not fight against it.. Not against myself.

  After a few seconds of silence, Josh seemed to had read me well. "Yes. But what you have with Anya is nothing like that, is it?" His voice was now calmed, filled with some kind of a serious understanding rather than a sarcastic outburst or an unnecessary frustration.

  "Nothing like that."

~

  The night was just another one of the many conventions we had to attend while in Paris. And I hated every part of them because while having to smile and nod and tell fake stories how Anya and I met and fell in love, we could've been doing a lot a lot of things that were everything but fake.

  My mind constantly roamed back and forth to think about some kind of an excuse on why me and my future bride had to leave the boring convention. Whenever my eyes landed on her, it was hard to tame all the thoughts that went through me, thing that I wished I could be doing in that moment rather than just holding her hand and nodding my head to all those damn curious strangers.

  Some of them were way too curious and I often thought that maybe I should give them at least a show that would sooth that curiosity. Maybe Miss Nelson and I could show them what it actually meant to be so damn lost in someone.. 

  Of course, I was always told that it would be rude to hold or touch your lady anywhere else than her hand at such high classed gatherings, but damn me, with all those eyes on her, all I wanted to do was go eagerly a lot lower than her back.. Especially when she leaned against me, smiled at me the way she did, and of course dared me even more in that tight dress of hers.

  Instead of red, that night she wore a light pink dress, and it shouldn't had surprised me that it looked damn gorgeous on her, because Anya could wear anything, any color, and she would still be able to drive me damn mad.

It got to the point where I would simply mute everything around, focusing on her voice as she spoke to all those desperately curious ladies that were way too fascinated with the idea of the two of us being a couple. And even though I wasn't following the story, her voice was mesmerizing to hear, soothing to my soul.

I constantly feared I would lose every bit of control I had around her and we both knew exactly how that would end. That light pink dress must've been made by some devil because it gripped her body like it was meant to drive me mad.. Like it was her second skin, lining every perfect inch of that marvelous cleavage of hers, full and luscious in that deep V..

That midnight dark hair of hers held the most mesmerizing dark mahogany shine underneath the strong lights.. The long locks fell loose over her bar back and her slight curls bounced whenever she turned her head. Its darkness was a true contrast to her ivory skin, and it was simply a sight I could not get enough of.

As she spoke, those lips moved in ways that were the true way to my insanity.. They held the color of ripe wild strawberries and whenever she bit down on her full bottom lip, I had the most urging need to pull her against me and kiss her until those azure eyes were blurred with desire..

When I got the chance to have her without a group of people surrounding us to congratulate, I asked her for a dance because it was the only way there was in that moment to have her in such closeness, to touch her and feel that silky skin underneath my lips with the excuse that I was just dancing with my fiancée.

And that's what I did. I wrapped my hands around that narrow waist of hers, that daringly exposed back that made me want to turn her around, push her hair away, and leave kisses all down the back of her legs.

She smelled like sweet perfume and wine — a combination so potent that it almost knocked me down. It was ridiculous. One look, one touch, and I felt starkly possessive. I felt like I was seconds away from pulling her in my arms and taking her somewhere where it would only be the two of us..

It was truly a relief to think that I got to go home and share the same bed with her.. To have her passing out from pleasure, and then wake up beside all that perfection.

I pulled her closer to myself and dared my own resistance because I could now feel the heat of her body against my own, the way it swayed slowly through that waltz, and the way she breathed as for her chest was pressed against my own..

  Her exposed bosom made me want to take her home right then, pull that dress down and run my hands all over those perfect breasts, kiss that silky skin inch to inch until we were both damn senseless.

Oh and the way she tangled her fingers in my hair and leaned closer until her face was inches away beside my own.. It was a true mind game that she didn't even know she had the power to control.

"I hate dancing." I heard her whisper and I couldn't help but chuckle at that random statement. It was rare to hear such seriousness in that soft voice. Anya was usually way too sarcastic.

"Why did you say yes then?" To that I wouldn't have expected much of an answer, but I should've known that Anya was an expert in seducing and tempting the best of me..

  Just how in that moment she slowly moved until she could look me in the eyes.. Ocean blue and jade green swirled together, almost as if there was a storm behind them, and damn me, but I wished I was the reason why it was there.. That mix of emotions when our eyes met. It was fascinating to even think that there was more than just desires that controlled her.

"You gave me a chance to be close to you.. I took it." She spoke and focused on my lips the same way I did on hers.. When she looked over my shoulder, I pulled her closer. "Besides, in all honestly, we're just swaying.."

  Her words earned a grin from me and the way her lips curled on the edge told me she was very much intending to make me smile like an idiot. She said she accepted the dance just so we could be closer and it seemed like we did it for the same purposes.

  I leaned closer until my lips almost brushed her ear.. Her sweet perfume intoxicated me.. Her hair tingled me..

"You have all eyes on you, Anya.. Everywhere you go.." I spoke, aware of all the men in the room unable to find a different focus other than Anya. "Perhaps I should get used to that. I should learn a way to deal with it."

  I was only thinking out loud, still very much used to it by then, used to her being in everyone's interest by simply entering a room.. But there was another little detail I refused to forget. I was the one holding her. I was the one touching her.. And I was the only one that got to leave with her hand in mine.. That got to have her in my bed that night.

"Yea? What do you have in mind?" I could hear the smile in her voice. I could only hear that too because I had the most beautiful woman in that room that night, and far beyond, as close as to feel her breath on the side of my face..

  However, my hands moving over her lower back could be seen by many. The bastards that scanned her like wolves a fresh meat, with the way we were dancing, behind her.. They must've been grinding their teeth in envy.

"Oh I have a lot of things on my mind right now.."

  Again, I moved my hands lower and lower down her dress from behind, feeling her wrap her fingers tightly over my shirt. A shaky breath escaped her and I found myself holding back a grin. I glanced at the bastards that still stole a glance or two at her.. They escaped my gaze almost in panic.

She once again moved back until our eyes met. "Maybe we should go." So my game was working again.

"I wish we could leave right away, trust me, but we have to attend for at least another thirty minutes." She still managed to make out a smile at my words, running hands down my chest like she was eager to see me lose every bit of control I was holding onto..

"Then we'll dance to pass time."

And then the way she leaned closer as she said that made me tighten my grip around her dress. "And maybe if you continue touching me like that, we'll do far more than just dancing."

The grin that stretched her lips was wickedly daring. She was determined to have me on my knees and I was damn seconds from falling in front of her. Perhaps I would beg her to stop tempting me, or maybe it would be a pleading for her to give me what I longer for..

Instead she was the one that leaned even closer to me.. Until her lips brushed the side of my jaw, so painfully slowly over the side of my neck with the way she was reaching me..

"What if I do this?"

The kiss she left right there was a simple daring gesture that shook my soul to the damn fullest. She inhaled slowly, loudly, almost like she found relief in our closeness.

And so I chose to play the game as well. I found myself grinning. She was good. A true temptress. But she had weaknesses as well and I knew each and every one of them.

"Then maybe I'll do this.." I kissed her ear shell, running my teeth over just enough to hear her breath cut. She masked it well though.

"And this?"

Leaning back, she returned with such a damn challenging way of running the tips of her fingers through my hair, down my shoulders and my chest. She looked up me and grinned when I pulled her closer.

My hands came of hers until I knew I had full control. Dancing was the last thing I had on my mind at that point. Being decent wasn't even at the back of my mind either. So I turned her around so that her back was nearly pressed against the wall, and now that there was no one behind her, I kissed her like I had been holding back my whole life.

It was quick and unfinished and damn secretive because I refused to share that picture with anyone that was in that room. But the simple press of her lips against mine was enough to blur my head and leave me damn senseless to have another taste of her.

"And now we're leaving." I found myself confirming as we pulled away, already taking her hand and staring to walk.

"But, what about the thirty minutes?" She spoke over the music.

"I fucking wish we still had that hotel room."

~

  It was definitely a great idea leaving that hotel room. In the apartment we at least had privacy, not having to worry that there was someone else behind those walls..

  It was a damn known thing that I couldn't hold back near Anya, but it was getting out of control. True madness what this woman did to me. And I was very much aware that I was damn lucky to have a woman as gorgeous as that tempting the best of me.

  Hours in the bedroom with her weren't enough.. I could simply not satisfy that insatiable appetite for her, not until I kissed every inch of her body, not until I had her arching her back in pleasure..

  With her it was never just plain sex.. No, not even the first time we gave into those crippling desires. It was something more than that.. Something far more addictive than anything I had ever had.

  We only had another day in Paris, but it had gotten far too late to go our again, and after all those acts between the bedroom door, it was not even a question whether or not we were staying in.

  Anya was always a curious soul and I should've known that she would never give up that book so easily.. Her mother had told her to find the little gray coffin in her father's old office in their house in Richwood, and to go through her favorite book. 'Pride and Prejudice'. Not as mysterious as I expected the whole situation to be..

  Anya and I found the book back in Richwood, both of us going through it, but before we left for Paris, Anya told me to bring it along with me.. Even though we found nothing, not a note or a letter like we were hoping, it didn't occur to neither of us to actually read it. We just went through the pages to see if any paper would fall out.. It never did. So Anya made it a mission to start actually reading it.

And while she sat there on the couch across from me, in a silky pair of red pajamas, putting her hair up in a bun, it took me all I had to actually look away and focus on my computer. I had a lot of check ups to do with Josh before we leave Paris, and I had no time for further distractions..

Even if those distractions were Anya.. So sweetly making comments about the leather covers of the book, little jokes here and there, and silent smiles that I hated missing. She never really went into details about her parents, but she never spoke with any spite towards her father even though he did what she he did.

  I knew she held a lot inside.. She handled things in a simple quiet way, and I always wondered how she did it. I always knew Anya was strong, she believed in herself only.. But lately, I kept wishing she put her trust in me, relax and sooth down a bit.

  She didn't want to though.. She refused letting go of that book too, determined to find out why her mother wanted her to have it. And now she sat there, running her fingers over the leathery covers and finally opening it..

  I did my work on my computer for a few minutes, but clearly noticed when she sat up, almost in panic.. A simple glance and it was clear that something was not right..

  "Anya," She frowned and flipped a page, two.. "What is it?"

She stared at the book like she just had been burned by it..

"This.." One flip between her hands, two.. She seemed awfully confused. "This is not 'Pride and Prejudice'."

"What?" I followed how she stood up, pulling on the leather covers of the book.. It revealed old, brown thin covers that were previously covered by the leather ones.

"The book.. The book we found in the little coffin.. The one my mother told me to look for.." She explained as if I didn't know of what book she was talking about.. Some kind of panic filled her voice. "It just has the covers of 'Pride and Prejudice'. "

I was still processing her words, somewhat understanding what she was saying but still unable to focus because it sounded absurd.

"A different book was put inside?" I asked watching her walk in circles in circles around the room.. She flipped through the pages almost ripping them.

"Not a book, Ash.. It's a journal."

Her voice almost sounded breathless and the clear confusion in it surprised me even more.. How did we not notice? We both went through the pages, looking for a note but I suppose we never payed attention on what it said. How come there was a whole journal underneath book covers?

"Your mother's?"

"1894th. It's Christopher Nelson's journal.. My great grandfather."

***

And what could that possibly mean? Seems like there might be some trouble in paradise soon..

I decided to add a little mystery to the book.. There should be a lot more going on, but I love me a lil secretive side..

Comment your theories on why Anya's mom could possibly want her to find that journal.. What do you guys think it's connected to?

Kisses babes 😘