The Quiet Dawn III

// ------------------------------------ //

patreon.com/nneeil (up to 15 chapters ahead of current release)

https://discord.gg/xZqYt267NH

On with the chapter!

// ------------------------------------ //

Hari was… erotically innocent. The contradiction brought an amused smile to Leandro's face as she watched the woman in question busy herself with household chores.

She was on the floor, wiping it with a wet rag. And for the life of him, he couldn't understand why she didn't use a mop. 'Perhaps it's a Korean thing…' Hari sagged deeper into the softwood flooring, hands furiously rubbing away at some stubborn stain.

And because of that, her wide butt was wagging enticingly in the air. She was not even doing it on purpose; he'd notice if that was the case. She had been doing that ever since he was a kid. And among her many traits—a pedophile she was not.

Leandro's eyes idly trailed the bodacious curve of her backside. Despite Hari's lithe frame, her curves were quite meaty and round. A slender body that was burdened with hyper-focused concentrations of fat in all the 'right' places.

Sweat glistened on her white skin, which made her rich brown hair cling to her forehead. Leandro stroked his mouth, mentally chiding himself for his misbehaving eyes. His self-restraint was forged on the battlefield. You couldn't afford to be horny when someone was hacking and slicing away at you—especially if that someone had very little regard for their state of dress, or lack thereof.

Leandro walked around Hari and crouched down.

His sudden presence startled her. "Uh, oh, Leandro…" She blinked at him, as harmless as a doe in the woods.

'Or a rabbit…' Leandro amended in his mind. "Mi coneja, why do you have to expose yourself in such a provocative way… Every. Goddamn. Time." He ended in a whisper.

Hari froze as a shiver washed over her body. She instinctively turned her head away. "Huh? What are you talking about?" She gulped. The way her body reacted to his proximity left her confused yet oddly earnest for more.

His stare stretched on for a while before he tilted his head. "Nothing." His knees unbent as he pushed himself back up. "But please, should we ever have guests in the future, put more clothes on. I don't like to see you flashing your body around like that."

It was the right thing to say. With how innocent she was, Leandro had no doubt that she could very well—albeit unknowingly—drive someone's fantasies wild with her 'not-so-innocently' poses.

Leandro had been protecting her from the wolves for years, and he didn't intend to stop.

Hari was hard-pressed to stifle the pleased smile that bloomed on her face. She turned around to stare at him, but her sudden shift in movement and distracted mind caused her elbow to jerk against the bucket of water next to her.

Everything spilled down. Hari panicked. "Oh no…" She immediately tried to mitigate the damage with the rag, but her knees found a slippery surface instead of a smooth one. She squealed as she tumbled face-down on the puddle of water. "Ugh…"

Leandro sighed. She was incredibly clumsy. "Are you okay?" He reached a hand out. She eagerly took it, using it as a crutch to elevate herself without any further humiliation.

"Y-Yes…"

He zipped his lips when his eyes fell on the wet and see-through fabric of her blouse. 'Is this a divine sign?' He couldn't help but chuckle at the turn of events. Hari's bountiful bosom was almost exposed. The white outline of her bra was visible, and so was the creamy shade of her skin.

"You can't be around people…" Leandro commented, half amused, half concerned.

Hari's lips scrunched up into a pout. "That's not true…" And then she proceeded to slip out of the wet garment, completely exposing the glimmering pearls of water and sweat that danced across her voluptuous and bare upper-body.

"..."

Leandro's mouth opened, but his brain failed to conjure up a sentence fit enough to explain his inner turmoil.

"My pants are wet as well." Hari huffed, more annoyed than embarrassed.

"Don't you dare take them off—"

"Uh, I made such a mess…" Hari mumbled, promptly tugging her leggins down, going as far as to lift her legs up to slip the uncomfortable garment off.

Leandro dragged a hand down his face.

And so she stood there, slumped on the wet floor with nothing but her underwear on. A two piece set—white and pink, so adorably characteristical of her. The panties were even decorated with a bow in the middle.

She tucked a wet curl of hair behind her ear. There was an embarrassed blush on her cheeks. "Leandro, can I borrow one of your shirts?" She asked, blinking owlishly.

"Of cour—" He immediately snapped. "—Don't take your underwear off here!"

Hari's hands froze as she shrunk back, staring up at him with a puppy stare. Leandro ignored it and headed to his room. He walked up to one of his drawers, whereupon he retrieved one of the many shirts he owned. It was a tight fit for him, but for Hari it would be oversized enough that it'd cover all the important parts with room to spare.

However…

"Hari Noona…" Leandro pursed his lips inward. "When I said 'don't take your underwear off here' I didn't mean that it was perfectly fine to do it on my bed."

The woman had followed him, leaving a trail of damp clothes behind.

And now Hari was lying face-down on his bed, her nose buried into his pillow, breathing in his leftover scent like an addict would on a line of cocaine.

Leandro found it hard not to admire the unblemished canvas that was her skin. Her back was slightly arched, and the concave of her spine highlighted the soft, white hills at the end. A pair of ripe peaches that glistened with the wet tracks of water.

Her legs swayed in the air, feet bobbing up and down.

"But they were really wet…" She said softly and resolutely, as if it was the most logical thing to do.

"You seriously don't see a problem with this?"

When Hari tilted her chin up to peer over the rim of the pillow, a gasp hitched in her throat. Leandro was resting an arm on the headrest of the bed, looking down at her. His green eyes were very light, akin to raw jade stones.

"Umh… what are you talking about?"

Leandro stared at her. She stared back at him… until she inexplicably found herself looking away, finding the white wall very interesting.

"You're naked."

"Yes…"

"In my bed."

"Hm-hm."

Leandro edged closer. "Doesn't that seem 'wrong' to you? Not one bit? I know that you watched me grow up, but I'm not a little kid anymore… you know that, don't you?"

They were both adults, their bodies developed enough that certain stimuli could trigger certain reactions.

Regardless of how innocent she was, Leandro refused to believe she treated her nudity so lightly.

"Uh… huh…" Hari wasn't immune to his penetrating gaze—or words. She was not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, but she was aware of the physical demands of her body… especially when Leandro paraded around the place in nothing but his underwear. "If it's you, it's fine…"

Ambiguous words.

Leandro wished to believe he wasn't dense. He could pick up on clues easily enough, but this was beyond him. Hari grew up sheltered. She went to an all-girls catholic school. She was the chaste girl-next-door. Pure and innocent.

So why…

Hari wet her lips, still refusing to look him in the eyes.

Her body was trembling, he noticed.

"Here…" Leandro shelved away those thoughts and offered the shirt to her. "... you're probably col—"

The unmistakable clicking of gears turning sounded out.

Leandro's ears strained, his 'Aura' heightening his hearing.

He vaguely picked up the chatter of girls getting ever so close. The noise was akin to that of sound reverberating inside an empty can, a subtle echo bouncing off the invisible walls of his heightened perception.

Nari was among them, her laugh unmistakable. It had a very soft cadence.

He exhaled, clearing his head of unnecessary thoughts and quietly formulated a well-detailed explanation to stymie Nari's outrage at the misunderstandable situation. Hari was on his bed, for fuck's sake, and naked.

A chorus of footfalls sounded out beyond the door, followed by more chatter. It kept getting closer and closer.

"We're back~"

"Is no one here?"

"Then, can we go inside?"

"Nari, why is there women's underwear on the floor?"

"Is he with a girl?"

"Woah… let's not disturb him and his girlfriend…"

"..." Nari was oddly silent as her friends laughed and hypothesized about the owner of the clothes.

Leandro mentally shook a fist at Nari for bringing her friends over at such a bad time. Still, he composed himself. "Leandro…" Hari's soft whine lured his attention back to her.

She was in a sitting position, in the process of standing up, his pillow secured in her arms. His eyes softened. "Hari, listen up. Put that shirt on and don't make a peep. If Nari were to see you like this, I doubt she'd have the capacity of mind to be rational."

Hari smiled brightly. "Thank you." She inched closer and wrapped her slender arms around him. Due to the gap in height, her head barely touched his chin. Leandro had to put a lid on his flaring hormones the moment Hari's heavenly mounds pressed stubbornly into him.

Despite his iron-clad control over his more carnal needs, it didn't mean Leandro was unfeeling or unreceptive of Hari's curvaceous flesh pressing into him. "Why are you thanking me…" He patted her head, his fingers easily skimming through the silky locks.

Hari smiled into his chest, eyes fluttering shut. Her hold on him tightened. She realized that the bulging ridges of his muscles were a perfect nest for her face. Warm. Strong. Protective.

Leandro could feel her nipples poking into his chest—and thank God he was wearing a shirt at the moment, because he wasn't sure his mind would hold strong under the bare contact.

"It's because you always take care of me." Hari said softly, a beatific smile gracing her flawless face.

"Someone has to." Leandro replied, just as softly, but with a hint of humor.

Hari cracked a laugh, plastering her soft mounds deeper into his embrace. Leandro tried to squelch back the rush of blood that made its way down his loins.

'Damn hormones…'

Hari's laugh grounded to a halt when she felt something pressing insistently into her thighs. She blinked, pulling back slightly to look down. Her eyes widened when she took in the sight of a massive tent in Leandro's shorts.

"Sorry about that." Leandro sighed, not really ashamed by his body's reaction but quite vexed that he couldn't stop it in time. "You are naked." He said matter-of-factly.

"It seems like it's getting bigger…" She stared at the protrusion in his shorts, its tip stretching the fabric far past its elasticity point. 'They told me when a boy gets excited, their thing starts to grow…' She thought to herself, a little flustered. 'But Leandro's thing is that big…?'

When he was younger, it was small. He was a scrawny boy, barely reaching her waist. Of course, comparing both versions of Leandro was quite silly. One was a 9 year-old kid, the other a 19 year-old young man.

He towered over her now. He was not a hulking tank in terms of muscles, but his shoulders were broad, his chest like two carved slabs of granite, and his stomach a streamlined sheet of rippling abs. The powerful yet beautiful aesthetic always made Hari admire his dedication to achieve that body type.

Hari gulped, and, instead of putting more distance between them, she decided to grapple Leandro in a tight hug. "As your Noona, no matter how big it gets! I don't think it's weird at all!" She all but yelled, which, no doubt alerted Nari and her friends considering that the chatter had momentarily died down.

"This is not the problem here…" Leandro huffed.

Hari's warped perception of the issue could spell problems down the road.

"Then… what is…" Hari looked up at him, her arms still looped around his torso, chin tucked into the crevice of his well-defined pectorals. There was an adorable rosy tint on her cheeks, and whether that was due to their closeness or simply her natural complexion, he didn't know.

When Leandro gently placed his hand on the concave of her spine, Hari shivered. "Look at you, Hari Noona." His words were delivered in a light whisper, but they retained enough sharpness to cut through her defenses. "Despite knowing what kind of effect your closeness has on me, you spared no thought into throwing yourself at me. Are you truly that clueless or are you amping me up on purpose?"

"I… I…" Hari had the decency to look away. "I didn't mean to…"

"Perhaps you didn't." Leandro thumbed her chin, tilting her gaze right back to him. With his other hand, he skimmed it down the enticing arch of her back, until it rested a little above her plump backside. "But don't forget that I'm a man, and for all of my self-restraint, I'm still a human. Keep pushing like that, and I'll make sure you won't be thinking of anything, or anyone else but me. I'll be the drug you won't ever have enough of."

'When did I start getting this possessive?' It was not the first time such a thought wormed into his daily life. After all, Hari Noona had occupied his thoughts for the better half of a decade. However… Leandro mused that this possessiveness stemmed more from the prospect of her finding someone who could truly steal her attention rather than a formless fear.

He simply hated sharing.

Even the thought of it gnawed at something feral inside him.

'Calm down.' Take a deep breath. It was exactly this very possessiveness that played a critical part in your death.

Leandro peered down, silently observing Hari, waiting for her reply.

Hari stood rooted on the spot, utterly speechless after that spiel. Her face was a vivid scarlet color. She had enough common sense to decipher the little nuances and meaning behind Leandro's daring words.

She retreated a little into herself, sneaking glances at him to see if he was about to act on those words or not.

He didn't. Instead, he turned his gaze towards the door. Footsteps were approaching. "Stay here, I'll intercept Nari and nip this mess in the bud."

However, Leandro forgot one little thing, and that was that he was still in a very excitable state. His body continued to translate that.

As such, when Nari swung the door open with a suspicious look in her smoky eyes. "What is goin…—" She stopped mid-sentence, her mouth going dry when her eyes fell on Leandro. He was standing on the threshold, blocking her view from scouring anything beyond his towering form. "—...on…"

"I'm afraid you came at a bad time, Nari." Leandro said huskily—not even meaning for it to come out that way. He looked down at her with piercing green eyes. "Unless you're here to make me misinterpret our relationship with acts of indecency. In that case, you're more than welcome to come inside."

Nari sputtered as her eyes made a sharp descent on Leandro's erection, then they widened and started to swirl cartoonishly.

Her mind momentarily short-circuited when Leandro adjusted the tented shorts.

And, despite all of her inner declarations of never being impressed by his eerily good looks again… Leandro had shattered them to pieces.

"Y-Y-You…!" Nari pointed an accusing finger at Leandro, her cheeks ablaze. "Arghhh! Damn you!" With her heart jackhammering in her chest, she swung the door closed.