Chapter 7: SEVEN. CLAIRE

I waited for Raviel while wringing my hands together nervously. I made a mistake by agreeing to Raviel's idea of ​​going to the beach with him. I should have rejected his idea and stayed away from my stepdad, but it was too hard to say no. I couldn't forget the lustful look he gave me in my bikini on the balcony. I couldn't be wrong if I saw something like a spark of desire in his eyes. I recognized the signs because I was taking a psychology program. Studying human nature and body language was something I did every day in college.

But I could be wrong. My intuition wasn't that sharp. He was my stepdad, after all. I could see that Raviel loved my mother very much. He couldn't possibly lust after his own stepdaughter. Besides, I wasn't as attractive as my mother. My mother was a beautiful woman, with a curvy, slim body. She could charm any man easily, to the point that sometimes she got annoyed with random men who suddenly came up to her to ask her out.

Sometimes I envied her because my mother was so attractive that she never had trouble getting five men lining up to be her boyfriend at once. As for me, not a single man contacted me to ask me out. I think I look more like my father. My face didn't look like my mother's at all. Our hair colors were different. She said my father's genes dominate me more than hers. Yeah, I was lucky!

"Hi, are you alone?"

"Hi. No, I'm here with my parents."

"Sorry, I thought you were alone. I saw you daydreaming."

I raised my eyebrows at the two strange men. They seemed to be about my age. They looked like beach kids who spent more time in the sun than indoors. Their skin was very tan, and their hair was blonde. They had nice ideal bodies, but not like my stepdad who had bulging muscles under his shirt. Ughh... Just imagining Raviel's muscles made me want to bite them.

“What’s your name? I’m Charles and this is my cousin, Dave. We live around here.”

As expected, they weren’t one of the resort guests.

“I’m Claire. I’m from LA.”

“We’re going to the beach to surf. Want to come with us?”

I raised an eyebrow. It seemed like it would be fun to hang out with friends my age. I had been so focused on my studies that I had forgotten how to have fun.

“Umm… I would love to go to the beach with you guys, but…

“She’s going to the beach with me.”

Suddenly, an arm wrapped around my shoulders. Raviel pulled me closer to him possessively. My breasts pressed against his hard, muscular torso. He was wearing nothing but a pair of very tight swimming shorts. God! This was the first time I’d seen my stepdad’s half-naked body. And he was amazing! Those damn beautiful muscles weren’t just my fantasy. They were right in front of my nose. Even if I stuck my tongue out right now, I would be able to taste them in my mouth.

God! He was amazing. My mother was damn lucky to have Raviel as her husband. His skin was perfectly tanned with hard muscles underneath his toned skin. And his abs! Damn. I wanted to grind my nails into the perfectly sculpted muscles on his abs. How could I have never realized my stepdad was this great?

I knew that there was a gym in his house with complete exercise equipment. I only went there occasionally when no one was using it. I never dared to disturb Raviel when he was exercising because my mother always warned me to stay away from that place when he was there. Now I know why my mother forbade me from getting close to her husband. She must have been worried that I would be fascinated by Raviel's impressive muscles. But my mother was right. I was indeed fascinated by my stepfather's muscular body.

"Oh, okay. I saw her sitting alone earlier, so I thought she was alone."

"No. She's with me."

"Okay. Nice to meet you, Claire. See you later."

I wanted to say the same thing to Charles, but it seemed like Raviel would prefer that I not say anything to him. They seemed nice though. Maybe I could learn to surf with them and explore the interesting things in Hawaii since they lived around here.

"How can those kids hang around this resort if they're not staying here?" Raviel grumbled.

“Maybe they’re surf instructors and one of their clients lives here. Who knows?” I shrugged slowly.

“Don’t be fooled by their looks. They might drag you to bed after they’ve managed to get you to the beach under the pretense of having fun.”

“Why not? I’m single. No one would be mad if I dated someone.”

“But you’re a virgin.”

My body stiffened. Raviel knew I was a virgin! That was embarrassing. Mom must have told him. However, I kept that embarrassing fact a secret from everyone, including all my friends in college. I always told them that I had one-night stands even though I didn’t have a boyfriend.

“Please take your arm off my shoulder.”

I looked down as tears threatened to fall from my eyes. I didn’t dare think about what Raviel was thinking about me. He must have thought I was abnormal because most women my age have had sex with a man at least once.

“I’m a normal girl.”

“What? What happened to you?”

Raviel lifted my chin, forcing me to look at him. My eyes were watery as I stared at his blue eyes that were looking at me worriedly.

“I’m a normal girl. I know you must think I’m abnormal because I’m still a virgin, but I am normal. I can feel arousal, I have biological needs, and I’ve tried touching myself. I chose to keep my virginity because I haven’t met the right man, who has the right to claim me completely. So, don’t get me wrong.”

Raviel stared at me without blinking. I thought he would laugh at my silliness for suddenly crying and saying something so embarrassing. But instead of laughing or making fun of me, Raviel stared at me intensely.

“Do you think I’ll think you’re abnormal just because you’ve never had sex with anyone?”

I nodded slowly. I stepped back, and his palms slipped from my chin. I wiped my tears roughly. My face was so hot from holding back the shame. I wanted to go back to my room right now and bury myself in my pillow to scream as loud as I could and cry. It was so embarrassing!

“Forget it. Just pretend you never heard anything from my lips.”

I walked away from him with my head down. I hoped Raviel wouldn't chase me, but he did.

"Claire, wait. Listen to me.

He grabbed my wrist and stopped me. I took a deep breath, then looked up with a weak smile.

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault. I’m just a bit sensitive.”

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you or make you feel inferior because you’re still a virgin. Actually, it’s a good thing. You don’t sell yourself easily to hungry men like those bitches out there.”

“So, you don’t think I’m useless?”

“What? No. I’m actually proud of you because you’re a principled girl. There aren’t many girls who think like you these days.”

His palm gently caressed my cheek. Raviel had firm and warm palms. His skin wasn’t soft, but it wasn’t rough either. He was a hardworking man who actively worked outside the house, but I don’t think he’d ever done any rough work that would make his palms calloused. Huh, how stupid of me. Raviel was a CEO. He obviously had a lot of employees to order around.

“Don’t cry, okay? We’re here to have fun.”

“Yeah, we better go to the beach now before there’s no more place left to sunbathe.”

I don't know why I'm in such a bad mood today. One second ago, I was so sad that I wanted to cry my eyes out, and the next second I was so excited that I wanted to hula-dance on the beach. Ewhh...

Raviel was guarding me like a father who was overprotective of his daughter. He put his arm around my shoulder as we walked along the path to the beach. We passed hotel guests a few times. I felt a pressure on my shoulders every time we passed a man or a group of men who were staring at me blatantly. I looked at Raviel, and I saw his jaw tighten a little. Why?

So this is what it feels like to have an overprotective father over his daughter?

I always wanted to feel like this. But if my stepdad was like Raviel, instead of looking like an overprotective father over his daughter, he would look more like an overprotective man over his girlfriend.

“It seems like you’re not the only one who wants to get an exotic tan here.”

“You’re right. It’s packed here.”

The beach was filled with women in bikinis, children building sandcastles, and shirtless men lying on the carpet. The weather today was sunny and warm. It’s no wonder that many people choose to go on vacation to the beach.

“Do you think we’ll get a good spot to sunbathe?”

“We’ll definitely find a spot. All we need to do is find it. Let’s go.”

I flinched in surprise when Raviel suddenly slipped his fingers into my palm, then pulled me to walk to the edge of the beach. My mother would definitely be angry if she saw this.

“You know, this is like a Dad and Daughter Date.”

“Eh.”

Raviel’s words seemed to slap me. What were you thinking, Claire?! You just thought that Raviel was your lover, while he only thought of you as his stepdaughter!

“Yeah. I never really had a father since I was little, so I’ve never had a Dad and Daughter Date.”

“I’ve never had a daughter either. So this is my first time. And it turned out to be fun.”

I smiled at his cheerful face. Raviel was a combination of an angel and a devil. He had charisma that dazzled the eyes like an angel, but he was also like a great sin that was too difficult to avoid.

“Do you mind if I ask what your life was like before you met my mother?”

He shrugged slowly. “Nope. Ask me anything you like. Didn’t we want to improve our relationship to be better while in Hawaii? I guess that could be a start. You want to get to know me better, I want to get to know you better too.”

“How many women did you date before my mother?”

“You think?” he smirked.