Chapter 109 - Love Triangle
Graven assisted her when she exited the carriage, holding her hand. He doesn't want to let go of her hand, but she let go of his first. He sighed. Their happy moments were over the moment they left the room in his property in Bay Meadow, and now, here they are back in reality.
Laura went to the open-air eatery and sat beside Rebecca while Horace vacated his seat for Graven.
Laura looked at the empty dishes. "What are you eating?" she asked, salivating because her stomach is already grumbling for food. She's hungry.
Rebecca rose to her feet. "Guys, wait here at the table. I'll order the specialty of the house for you," she said and walked towards the location of the cook that is busy preparing the customer's order. After ordering beef stew with veggies, roasted chicken, and rice, she went back to the couple's table. "I already ordered your food. Just wait for a few minutes while the cook was preparing the order," she said.
Laura looked at Rebecca. "Thank you," she said.
"Don't mention it," Rebecca replied and looked at Graven that is staring openly at Laura as if he had seen his crush for the first time. "I'll go to get something from the carriage," she said and left.
The couple was left alone at the table.
Laura glanced at Graven. She noticed that he was staring at her face intently. "Why are you staring at my face? Do I have dirt on my face?" she asked.
Graven shook his head and smiled fondly at her. "I just want to fill my mind and heart with your images, 'coz when I start distancing myself from you, I'll have some of your images to keep me company through my lonely days," he said sadly. An air of melancholy surrounded him.
He never took his eyes away from her, even for a second.
Laura lowered her gaze and bit her lip. She can be blamed partly for the struggle that Graven has been going through in his mind and heart right now. She willingly gave him a taste of her body two times already, of course, that would make him feel more attached to her. She becomes a temptress overnight, and she can't help it. There's something about Graven that is hard to resist. He is like a magnet that is pulling her to him whenever they are together. With just a mere touch of his hand - he can awaken the fire of desire in her body.
"I'm sorry, you feel this way. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have given in to your seduction," she said.
Graven sighed. "No, please don't say that, Laura. I treasured everything that happened between us. It's the most memorable memories I have shared with you so far," he said, giving her a glimpse into the window of his soul.
Laura breathed deeply, feeling conflicted inside. She avoided his gaze and roamed her eyes around the area. Aside from them, ten travelers were eating at the tables, which is a bit far from their location.
A few minutes later.
The waiter of the eatery comes to their table to deliver their food. He carefully transferred the bowl of dishes, plates, spoon, and fork on the table, including the two bowls of rice. "Enjoy your meals, Sir and Madam!" he said and left. He returned a minute later to deliver the pitcher of drinking water and two glasses.
"Thank you," Laura said.
The waiter smiled. "You're welcome, Madam! Happy to serve you!" he said.
Graven took money from his pocket and paid their bills. "Keep the change," he told the waiter.
The waiter smiled brightly after seeing the extra money in his hand. "Thank you very much, Sir!" she said with gratitude in his voice and left.
"Let's eat!" Graven said.
"Okay." Laura began putting food on her plate.
The couple ate in silence, enjoying the delicious beef stew and the savory roasted chicken.
Meanwhile...
Horace and Rebecca were watching the couple a few meters away, under the shade of the tree.
"So...what can you say to the couple?" Horace asked. "Did they did it or not?"
Rebecca's brows knitted together. "What - did it? What are you implying?" she asked, pretending to be innocent.
Horace smiled. "What I'm trying to say...is what is your guess? Did they have sex or not?" he asked.
Rebecca's eyes widened, she punched his arm. "Don't say something like that! Graven will get mad if he hears you talking about things like that. It's their personal lives, even if we wanted to know what's going on between them...we can't ask them directly. It will be an invasion of privacy!" she scolded him.
"Yeah, I know," he said. "In my opinion, they already did the deed. I wonder how will Lord Luke feel if he discovers that the woman he loves and his twin brother are sharing intimate moments while he was recuperating inside the coffin," he said in a grim voice.
Rebecca sighed. "Let's just hope that Luke does not know about this or else... it's going to be chaotic once he comes back to life," she said, breathing deeply.
Horace was shaking his head. "A love triangle between one woman and two brothers? It usually never ends well, unless, both brothers are willing to share the woman, that might work..."
"Nah, Laura might be tempted with Graven's charm because he looks like her first love. But once Luke comes back to life, she won't pay attention to him anymore," Rebecca said, trying to defend Laura's action.
"But what if...Laura develops feelings for the Lord and will choose him. What do you think will Luke do if he wakes up to find his beloved woman already chosen his brother?" Horace asked.
"Well...that's not going to end well in the end. I'm just hoping that Laura will think and chose wisely, or else we will see the brothers having a rift between them just because of one woman. The key to peace between brothers lies in Laura's hands," Rebecca concluded.
Horace rubbed his chin. "This is interesting! I wonder who will Laura chose in the end?"
Rebecca sighed. She adored the brothers, they're like siblings to her. They're kind to her and treated her as their little sister. It would be sad to see them fight one another because of one woman's love. If there is anything she can do to prevent the tragedy from happening, she will do it.
Back in the eatery.
Laura and Graven finished their food.
"That was a delicious meal!" Laura enthused.
Graven smiled. "I'm glad you like it," he said.
"I'm going to travel with Rebecca in the carriage today. I hope you don't mind," Laura said. She saw Graven's face turn sad instantly.
"Why? You don't like my company anymore? Getting tired of me already?" he asked, feeling hurt by her rejection.
Laura sighed. "It's better that we began implementing social distancing between us. It's for the best for the three of us," she explained calmly.
Graven nodded his head. He understood very well what is the message Laura is trying to tell him. "I have one question to ask you. I hope you don't mind answering them for me," he said.
"Okay, go ahead, ask me anything," she encouraged him.
"Did you hate me for what happened to us?" he asked.
"No. I don't hate you. I told you before - I did those things willingly with you," she replied.
Graven feels so much better now. "Did you like it? The things we did inside the bedroom?" he asked.
Laura blushed crimson red. Damn! Why does he have to ask her such private things like this? It's making her blush! Right now, her mind was instantly recalling their hot lovemaking inside the bedroom. Just thinking about them awakened the fire of desire in her belly. She looked at Graven, he was waiting for her answer. "As for your question. Yeah...I enjoyed the thing we did inside the bedroom..." she answered and rose to her feet. "We'd better keep moving," she said and left, going to the carriage located a few meters away from the eatery.
The driver assisted Laura inside the carriage.
A few minutes later.
Graved looked at Rebecca. "Keep Laura company in the carriage," he ordered with a grim face.
"Okay," Rebecca answered obediently. She entered the carriage to keep Laura company for the duration of their voyage.
Horace and Graven entered the other carriage.
They resumed their journey.
Meanwhile, inside the moving carriage, silence descended upon the two women.
"How's the food in that eatery, Laura?" Rebecca asked, trying to start a conversation with her.
Laura smiled and glanced at her companion. "The beef stew with veggies is delicious, and the roasted chicken is tasty," she replied. "Graven and I enjoyed it so much," she added.
"Good. I'm glad you enjoyed the dishes I ordered for you and Graven," Rebecca said.
Laura smiled and gave her a thumb up. "I'm going to read a book," she told her. She reached for the book inside her traveling bag and began flipping on the pages.
Rebecca was staring at Laura, debating whether to ask her or not about what happened earlier. Is it proper to ask her where did she and Graven go when they disappeared from the carriage? She was about to ask her - but changed her mind at the last minute 'coz it will be an intrusion of privacy.
"I'm going to take a nap," she finally said.
Laura looked at Rebecca and smiled. "Sleep well!" she said casually and returned her attention to the book that she was holding in her lap.
Rebecca closed her eyes to sleep.