Chapter 48
His head lowered and their lips met. Catherine knew this was his first kiss. But this wasn't the kiss of an inexperienced boy! Rather, after the first moment of adjustment it became as sensuous as any the adult Vincent had ever given her. She didn't know if it was their Bond that led him to this level of intimacy, but she felt just like she was kissing her Vincent, not this seventeen year old version! She had planned on allowing him a brief peck, a nice first kiss, because even though she looked like a fifteen year old girl, in her heart she was a married woman. But at the first feel of his unique lips against hers she was in trouble, and when his tongue sought entrance to her mouth, she was lost. Melting into his arms, hers rose to slide around his neck, while Vincent pulled her even closer.
They were both so lost in the kiss that neither of them heard Father approaching. As he came around the corner into Vincent's chamber, he was saying, "Vincent, I thought we could go to break…"
He stopped when he saw what was happening in the room and that they didn't even realize he was there! It wasn't until he demanded, in that strict parental tone, "Vincent, what ARE you doing!?" that they broke apart, but remained in each other's arms.
Calmly, Vincent answered, "I was kissing Catherine, Father."
At this simple explanation, without any nervous hesitation, blushing, or guilty apology, Father became very upset. "Vincent, you CAN'T!" he insisted.
"Actually, he was doing a very good job of it until you came in, and I'm sure if you were to leave, he could do so again!" Catherine informed the elder man.
She could feel Vincent's strong desire to laugh at her comment, but she also felt him fight to suppress it, knowing it would not help the situation at all.
"Vincent, we have discussed this!"
"Yes, we have, Father, and Catherine has proven you to be wrong on the subject. I have not hurt her, nor will I, and since she will one day be my wife and the mother of your grandchild, I would think that you would be glad of that!"
"Wife?! Grandchild?! Have the two of you lost your minds? You are barely more than children yourselves!"
"It's all right, Father, I wasn't talking about tomorrow or even next year. But some time in the future you can be sure that Catherine and I will be married."
"Vincent, you don't even know this girl! You only met her last night!"
"That is true, but we have a Bond, Father. I don't know how to explain it, but Catherine and I can feel what the other is feeling. We just know these things to be true," Vincent assured him.
"We're soul mates, Father. The other half of each other. Some people spend their whole lives searching for their other half and never find him or her! Vincent and I were lucky enough to find each other now. But we will take things slowly, there's no need to rush. We're both very young and we have our whole lives ahead of us!"
Somewhat reassured by Catherine's reasonable words, Father decided to bide his time and keep a careful watch on the two of them. He was mentally making plans never to leave the two of them alone together even as he asked in a challenging voice, "If that is truly the case then why don't the two of you come to breakfast with me now?"
"We'd love to, wouldn't we, Vincent?" Catherine asked moving out of his embrace even as she felt his reluctance to let her go. She linked her arm with his and waited.
He wanted to protest that he would much prefer to be alone with her and return to kissing, but in the face of Father's disapproving stare and Catherine's silent urging that he go along with this for now, he said, "That would be fine, Father."
The three of them walked to the dining hall and Father was about to lead them to his usual table when Pascal called out to Vincent to come and join him. Looking at his parent, Vincent respectfully asked, "Father, would it be all right if Catherine and I sat over there? I'd really like to introduce her to my friends."
Seeing no harm in a group situation like that, Father agreed and the two younger people headed to a table full of other teens.
To be continued….
