Translator: Nox

Ch#20

Their breaths intertwined with exquisite softness. It felt less like a kiss and more like the probing touch of the blind seeking to know one another. Or perhaps, a first greeting.

Their lips parted with a lingering sense of regret. Vanessa, who had closed her eyes reflexively, slowly lifted her trembling lashes. River Ross was so close their noses almost brushed. His blue eyes—eyes like the cold, breathtaking beauty of May—were there, so piercingly lovely they made her knees weak just by looking into them. He took her arm and draped it around his neck. His slick tongue coaxed her lips open, parting her teeth and surging inside in a single breath. He sweetly swallowed the damp, splashing moisture gathered there.

Vanessa felt him through the tips of her senses, through the soft mingling of their flesh, and through the lukewarm temperature sliding along her lips. Surprisingly, he tasted of an expensive man. The taste of the cologne he wore. It was a flavor derived from a scent that was cool, heavy, and made her nerves tingle.

Now, she didn’t know what to believe. Unlike River Ross’s kind face, his eyes were cool; unlike his hands that carried such heat, his manner was detached; unlike his lips soaked with saliva, his breath was dry. No matter what part of the man she examined, it all felt like a lie, yet everything she saw seemed entirely truthful.

Just like this space, where all sorts of expensive luxuries coexisted with daily necessities worth only a few pence. He was a man like a fantasy crafted elaborately by summer.

“River, River! Wait, just a moment.”

The moment her body was about to be tilted back, Vanessa pushed against his shoulders, gasping for air. River Ross let out a low laugh at the words she managed to squeeze out along with her breath.

She was out of breath. Her lips trembled as feebly as the wings of a newborn bird. River Ross’s fingers, holding Vanessa’s chin, applied a bit more pressure. He bit into her reddened lips again, which were parted helplessly and wet. A little, just a little deeper.

“Hngh.”

Heat rose within her. At just this much contact, just like that afternoon. Vanessa couldn’t help herself and merely crumpled the fabric of her skirt in her grip. During a brief moment when their lips parted, she pushed his shoulders while panting.

“Wait, just a second…”

“Why?”

He had buried his lips in her neck, which was rising and falling delicately, but he lifted his head as if annoyed. Vanessa flailed her arms and legs in a flurry.

“Right now, I’m, I’m sweating too much.”

“It’s fine.”

“No, no! I mean, isn’t it, well, hot? Hey, what if we go out to the river just ahead for a bit?”

“Go out? Now?”

With her face flushed red up to her forehead, she nodded honestly.

“I didn’t know this would happen when I came… I’m dirty. I want to wash. I was hoping for a wet towel, or at least to be able to soak my feet… if possible.”

He stared at Vanessa in silence for a moment before letting her go obediently. Vanessa grabbed his sleeve with a flustered expression.

“Where are you going?”

“You said you wanted to wash. I’ll get some water.”

He gently brushed Vanessa’s hand away and stood up. His movements were practiced as he picked up the wooden bucket standing by the doorway. Before heading out the door, he looked at her for a moment.

“I’m saying this in case you’re worrying for nothing. You weren’t dirty. Not at all.”

Vanessa stared blankly at the door River Ross had left half-open. Her fingertips trembled slightly as she touched her heated lips. What would happen when he returned? Would they go all the way?

In truth, the situation just moments ago was answer enough. Even if she didn’t know much about affairs between men and women, she knew that was the stage right before being ‘dragged to bed.’

Of course, the act itself was something she had wanted all along. Although it was more embarrassing than she had expected, and so ticklish her whole body felt like it was twisting, and she had been swept away in a flustered mess…

‘It was hot.’

The kiss, the way he touched and looked at her, that gaze, and even her own body reacting so fervently to everything about River Ross… Vanessa let out a feverish breath. The hand that had been tracing her lips slowly moved down to fiddle with the ribbon at her collar.

Whenever she was with him, every sense in her body became sensitive. At some point, those bodily changes had become a matter of course. The moment she realized that, a sudden wave of fear washed over her, absurdly enough.

She was afraid that in the not-so-distant future, she would end up clinging to him, weeping and begging. Afraid that she would give him everything without calculation, not even knowing where the line of regret lay.

“What are you thinking about with such a serious face?”

Before she knew it, River Ross had returned and set the wooden bucket of water down at her feet. The surface of the sloshing water was covered with a bounty of peonies in full bloom. Vanessa’s eyes widened.

“Where did the flowers suddenly come from?”

“I used the peonies you brought. I thought it would be a waste to let them wither.”

“I only brought them because they had fallen to the ground anyway.”

“If they’re useful, they should be used.”

They were certainly useful. Just looking at them was refreshing, but floating in the water, they looked twice as beautiful and vibrant. Vanessa marveled as she dipped both hands into the water to scoop up a peony.

“It’s beautiful.”

Ridiculously, her chest felt a bit ticklish. It didn’t matter whether it was part of an effort to be considerate of her nerves or not. Because at least, that was how it felt to her.

She lifted her head, which had been bowed to inspect the peonies. River Ross, standing askew with his arms crossed, had a slightly damp face. He must have washed while getting the water. A droplet of moisture that had been hanging from his bangs fell onto his sculpted cheek. He arched one eyebrow slightly.

“What?”

Vanessa quickly averted her gaze from River Ross, her face flushed red up to her hairline. She didn’t even want to think about how foolish she must look. She also didn’t want to get caught being conscious of every single thing about him.

Vanessa set the flower back down, took off her shoes, and dipped her feet into the water. It was only when she was wet up to her calves that she realized she hadn’t taken off her stockings.

“That’s a strange way to soak your feet.”

He let out a short laugh, having dipped his own fingertips into the water as if checking the temperature. Vanessa tried her best to ignore her burning cheeks and spoke with a feigned air of confidence.

“All women are like this. You can’t just lift your skirt outside.”

“This isn’t exactly outside.”

“I suppose, but…”

“They’ll get wet. Hold on to this.”

He gathered Vanessa’s skirt, which was beginning to get damp, and tucked it into her hands. His touch was as practiced as an expert’s as he unfastened her garter belt and pulled off her stockings. If there were experts in such things. Vanessa looked at River Ross with admiring eyes.

He seemed accustomed to this situation. Then again, with a face and body like that, it wasn’t as if this would be his first time with a woman. He must have undressed women hundreds of times…

Strangely, her mind finally found peace. Because now she knew she hadn’t goaded a perfectly fine person, but had proposed a fitting arrangement to a fitting man. This was a very fair trade.

He would receive her most precious dowry and enjoy minor sexual pleasures as a side benefit. She would nibble away at his honor, and there would be no major hindrance to their respective plans for the future.

“Ah.”

In the middle of her idle thoughts, her ankle was seized. Vanessa let out a startled cry, her eyes going wide. River Ross examined her ankle from various angles with a serious gaze.

“The swelling is still there.”

“Oh, yes. I took off the bandage because it was uncomfortable, but they told me I should be careful for a while.”

“Does it still hurt?”

“It’s much better now. It doesn’t even hurt anymore.”

“Since we moved suddenly… I thought I might have agitated it.”

His long fingers pressed delicately against her malleolus, heel, instep, and fibula as if checking them. The sensation of being touched in a place that person rarely touched felt foreign. She curled her toes slightly.

“That’s… it’s just, it tickles…”

That ticklishness meant the area was sensitive. The moment Rosaline’s teasing whisper came to mind, a hot breath filled Vanessa’s lungs right up to her lips.