Translator: Nox

Chapter 13

“Ri, River….”

Gasping for air, Vanessa let out a scent that was impossibly clean—an anomaly, considering she had been rummaging through the garden all day.

When he hooked his fingers into the lingerie constricting her chest, Vanessa caught his wrist, her breath hitching. Her eyes, reddened as if she might burst into tears at any moment, trembled violently.

“Shall I stop?”

His voice sounded almost tender, even to his own ears. The hand tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear was infinitely gentle. He could afford to be relaxed; he had offered her a choice he knew she couldn’t refuse.

Though the possibility was slim, if Vanessa truly rejected him, Theodore intended to wash his hands of this business without a fuss. From the start, getting involved just for the sake of her damnably beautiful body didn’t quite balance the scales. Lust was merely a nuisance, not an uncontrollable variable. He still wasn’t desperate for a woman.

So. What will it be, Vanessa? Under his steady, questioning gaze, the strength in the hand gripping his wrist slowly ebbed away. Her face flushed crimson all the way to the tips of her ears as she hung her head low.

“No. Keep… going….”

Her voice was barely a crawl. The look of resignation on her face, as if she had no shame left to lose, was both amusing and irritating. He hadn’t even done anything yet that warranted such immense shame.

He gave a rough tug on the tie, and the ribbons she had fastened so securely in multiple layers unraveled one by one. The lingerie fell open, and her full breasts spilled out from the fabric. Instinctively, Vanessa tried to cover herself, but Theodore caught her arms and pinned them to her sides, holding her open.

“You can’t do that.”

The summer sunlight poured over her exposed body like dripping honey.

“River, wait a moment….”

Ignoring her murmurs, he pried her knees apart and settled his hips between them. He gathered up her cumbersome, slipping blouse and pressed it against her lips.

Vanessa stared at him, her eyes wide with shock. Had she misheard his next words? She had heard them with her own ears, yet they were impossible to believe.

River looked innocent and flawless, a far cry from a man making such a base demand. A faint heat began to emanate from his lips as they curved into a seductive line. Vanessa reluctantly bit down on the fabric of her sleeve before letting go. Immediately, his hand gripped her thigh with painful force.

“Properly, Vanessa.”

The way he urged her name was sweet. She almost wished he would just take her however he pleased.

“Ngh….”

Theodore slowly stroked Vanessa’s flushed cheek with his thumb. Her eyelashes fluttered in resignation as she breathed in shallow, pretty gasps. Crying, trembling, sighing.

“You can stop whenever it gets too hard.”

But if you want to see this through to the end, then endure. Vanessa bit her lip hard, acutely sensing the underlying meaning.

Regardless of how modest or innocent Vanessa had been until now, the ignorance she had lived in—constricting herself so tightly that marks were left on her body—was staggering. It was a stark contrast to the woman who, just a few days ago, had claimed she wanted to enjoy herself.

That was what was driving him mad. The fact that she was so conscious of him, so utterly consumed by shame.

Everything was more than enough. Theodore slid a finger between Vanessa’s teeth, prying them apart.

He stroked her lips with his dry fingers, almost tenderly. Dazed and panting, she rubbed her cheek against his hand, mistaking it for salvation. Her wet, tangled lashes fluttered like the wings of a pitiful butterfly.

“Ri, River, I… my, my heart is, beating, so fast.”

Her feverish voice spilled out in ragged breaths. Theodore gave a short laugh and cupped her throat with his palm. Thump, thump, thump. The vibrations spreading from her heart reached his palm with a frantic rhythm.

“I know. I can feel it.”

“Don’t, don’t stop. Keep….”

“Keep going?”

“Ye-yes?”

“The spider you wanted me to find is already gone, Vanessa.”

Vanessa’s eyes went blank for a moment, as if she were only now recalling how all of this had started. Theodore brushed her messy hair behind her ear, like one would soothe an obedient child.

“So you’ll have to tell me exactly what you want me to do.”

Her grey eyes, staring blankly at him, rounded in disbelief. The sharp look she gave him, as if he were a total scoundrel, was soon replaced by resentment. Of course, that look didn’t last long.

“We, we’re… lovers….”

“By contract, for now.”

“In a… in a situation like this, lovers, according to social norms, generally, I mean….”

Her voice was nearly a whisper. After a long hesitation, Vanessa finally stammered out the words through a scarlet face.

“The, the act of… joining our bodies….”

Theodore, who had been watching with interest to see what on earth she would say, burst into a short laugh. At first, he was dumbfounded, but as he processed it, a chuckle escaped him. It wasn’t easy to be funny in this state, dressed like this, and in this position.

And her answer—it was as if she’d received a very diligent sex education somewhere. That didn’t surprise him either.

“So. Do you feel sufficiently prepared?”

Vanessa’s grey eyes trembled as if looking at a villain, stung by the way he threw her own words back at her.

“Vanessa.”

When he called her name, her tightly shut eyelids finally fluttered open. Her eyes, once sharp like a sensitive cat’s, were now melting with heat. He had intended to scare her away, but seeing her face completely devoid of any guard—as if she had never intended to run away from the start—was staggering.

“Do you still want to do this with me?”

Instead of answering, Vanessa wrapped her arms around his neck. Theodore let out a fierce laugh and kissed her.

---

“Come in. Watch your head.”

The interior of the shabby shed was cramped, yet it was unexpectedly comfortable in a way one couldn’t guess from the outside. Vanessa sat down primly on the bed River Ross pointed to, her movements hesitant. Her eyes, filled with a mix of wariness and curiosity, scanned every corner of the shed.

The bed was old-fashioned but well-maintained and clean. In one corner sat a billiard table and a wooden chair. On a shelf by the window were a few books and a luxurious-looking cigar box, and beneath it sat a desk that felt somewhat large for the size of the room. A dark green curtain hanging from the ceiling seemed to serve as the divider between the sitting area and the bedroom.

It was a decent enough place for a young laborer living alone, though the dense arrangement of furniture made it feel a bit cramped.

“If you’re tired, try to get some sleep.”

Vanessa snapped her head up. She had been so preoccupied with looking around that she had completely forgotten River Ross was watching her. She quickly looked down, feigning indifference, but it was far too late for that.

River Ross laughed as if watching a small animal performing a trick, then picked up a large bucket and left the shed. Once his presence had completely faded, Vanessa slowly let out the breath she had been holding.

‘I’m exhausted.’

With no eyes on her, the tension bled out of her, and her shoulders slumped. Vanessa collapsed onto the soft bed, her back sinking in as she stared up at the ceiling, which was beginning to sag slightly. It was certainly low enough for a man of River Ross’s sturdy build to hit his head. It wasn’t an issue for her, though.

Thus, his advice had been useless to her from the start. Just as he hadn’t given her what she intensely desired, despite possessing such a robust body.

Vanessa let out a heavy sigh and folded her hands over her lower stomach. The places where River Ross’s hands and lips had touched were still tingling. Swept away by sensations she had never felt before, she had lost all restraint. And when she’d asked why he was stopping because it wasn’t enough, he had given her the answer of a total rogue: that seeing her embarrassed was more of a turn-on.

‘He’s a soldier from a common background, so of course he’s used to slang.’

In fact, he seemed more refined when his mind was elsewhere than in his everyday speech. Perhaps it was because of his blunt, unexcited demeanor that she felt that way.

Her aimlessly wandering gaze suddenly stopped on the desk cluttered with various items. She had thought the reflected sunlight was unusually brilliant, and she saw a small glass bottle gathering the light. Vanessa pushed herself up from the bed.

‘Is this… a perfume from Buford Co.?’

That must have been the source of the slight sense of displacement she’d felt. The exquisitely crafted crystal bottle, the gold-decorated cap, and the clear, golden liquid.

It was indeed a perfume from Buford Co., a brand that had become rapidly popular over the last few years. It was certainly an item far too expensive to be sitting haphazardly in a place like this.

‘Could it be a counterfeit?’

Vanessa hesitated before slightly lifting the cap. The initial scent was deep and very pungent. It was luxurious without being overly heavy, and the base notes carried the depth of citrus and sandalwood. It felt strangely familiar—it was the very scent that lingered faintly on River Ross’s body.

The moment she realized that, Vanessa quickly closed the cap and placed it back neatly on the desk. For some reason, her fingertips trembled slightly. And from that moment on, the humble scenery of the shed began to look different.