Roxana
Chapter 97
Chapter 97
The Way to Protect the Female Lead’s Older Brother
Chapter 97
A dark gleam lingered in his eyes as he stroked Roxana’s ankle, gazing down at her.
It was still not enough.
He felt as though he would only be satisfied once he had engraved his mark on every inch of her body, from head to toe.
“Stop… ah, please, stop.”
Unable to bear it any longer, Roxana pulled her ankle from Cassis’s grasp.
In the beginning, of course, Roxana had matched his eagerness and indulged in it just as much.
But in the end, she had been the first to raise the white flag.
A completely unrestrained Cassis was no joke. She had no idea how he had managed to hold back until now when this was what he was truly like.
When Roxana pushed him away, showing she truly couldn’t take any more, Cassis yielded to her wishes relatively meekly this time.
Lingering reluctance clung to his touch as he released her ankle.
Until now, Cassis had been exceedingly careful about initiating physical contact with Roxana.
To be sure, he had pressed his lips to hers daily to share his vital energy, and he had always carried her in his arms as though he couldn’t bear to let her feet touch the floor.
Yet, save for those rare moments when he truly could not hold back, he had been exceedingly wary of any touch laced with carnal desire. The reason was precisely because he knew it would turn out like this.
In all his life, Cassis had never once thought himself a man lacking in self-control.
But today, that belief was thoroughly shattered.
Cassis lay facing Roxana, gently brushing away the strands of hair that had spilled over her forehead.
An affectionate gaze and tender touch washed over her. Feeling it, the tension in Roxana’s face softened into a languid ease.
Seeing how exhausted she was, Cassis’s expression turned subtly conflicted.
“Did I torment you too much?”
Oh, please, as if he only just realized…
“Don’t tell me you only just realized that?”
Yet rather than showing remorse, Cassis let out a shallow breath and said:
“You really need to build up your stamina. You tire far too easily.”
…Has he lost his mind?
Roxana reflexively glared up at Cassis in defiance.
“It’s not that I tire easily, you’re the one who isn’t normal…”
But she didn’t even have the energy to argue.
So she merely muttered those words and buried her face in Cassis’s chest.
Cassis drew Roxana closer, wrapping his arms around her. His hand stroked gently up and down her head and the nape of her neck.
“Roxana.”
After a while, Cassis murmured her name in a languid tone.
For some reason, it felt as though he wasn’t expecting an answer, but simply reassuring himself that the person beside him was indeed her.
So Roxana didn’t reply.
“Roxana.”
But she seemed to have guessed wrong. He called out to her once more.
So this time, Roxana answered him.
“Yes, Cassis…”
Cassis’s embrace, holding her as they lay together in bed, was broad and warm. Perhaps because of that, her eyes were slowly drifting shut.
But was it just her imagination?
His hand moving lower from stroking her hair was fine, but somehow it began tracing along her lower back with an alluring, suggestive caress…
The moment his hand slid slowly down as if tracing the curves of her body, grazing her sensitive spots in provocation, Roxana flinched with a shiver.
It certainly hadn’t been her imagination. All drowsiness vanished in an instant.
“Wait… You’re not trying to do it again, are you?”
Roxana asked in disbelief. Could he possibly still have energy left for that?
It made no sense. Not after he had been going at it relentlessly this whole time.
Well, sure, he had shown some lingering desire earlier while stroking her ankle, but still…
But as if proving Roxana’s suspicion right, Cassis brushed aside her hair and pressed light kisses against her fair neck, whispering softly.
“Just once.”
As if his ’once’ wasn’t already overwhelming…
Yet the moment their eyes met, for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse.
The Cassis of the night possessed a fatal charm far beyond that of the day, looking every bit like an incubus come to bewitch her.
While Roxana was at a loss for words, Cassis kissed her. It was a deeply sweet and intoxicating kiss.
As their saliva mingled and was swallowed like an addictive drug, heat surged through her body in no time.
At that point, Roxana thought, to hell with it…
And so she gave up on pushing Cassis away and melted into the kiss.
Cassis’s hand, caressing her thigh sensuously before slipping further inward, reached deep between them.
Roxana let out a soft moan, then firmly shoved Cassis back and straddled on top of him.
Their perspectives reversed, and now it was Roxana looking down at Cassis.
Cassis slightly narrowed his eyes and held Roxana by the waist, gazing up at her.
A faint, satisfied smile curved Roxana’s lips.
Indeed, she preferred this view much more.
“This time, I’m on top. You…”
As she tilted her head down, her hair tumbled over Cassis. Strands of gold and silver twined together in a single braid of light.
Keeping her lips pressed lightly to his, Roxana whispered with arrogant command:
“Just lie quietly beneath me and moan.”
At that moment, a scorching flash passed through his eyes, which were heavy with a desire dark enough to consume her.
It was as if a blazing spark had flared within Cassis’s golden irises.
Roxana truly joined their bodies just like that. In the next breath, Cassis pulled roughly at the nape of her neck and hungrily devoured her lips.
Roxana relished Cassis’s reaction and began to move in a slow, tantalizing rhythm.
Yes, so in a sense, it was Roxana’s own doing that the passion rekindled between them did not end after just that once.
* * *
…Had I briefly lost my mind?
Belatedly, I reflected on my indulgence and folly.
For the next three days, Cassis and I stayed shut inside the room.
Naturally, what we did during that time was obvious.
Aside from basic necessities like eating, sleeping, and washing, it felt as though we had lost all track of day and night, entirely consumed by pleasure.
During that time, nothing else from reality could intrude upon our indulgence.
Even so, this was a bit too much.
Sitting at the table and sharing a late breakfast with Cassis, I let out a soft, deep sigh.
“You have something there.”
Meanwhile, Cassis murmured quietly and reached out a hand toward me.
His finger brushed against the corner of my mouth. Without thinking, I licked it.
At that moment, Cassis’s hand froze. The gaze fixed on my face darkened in an instant.
“Ah, sorry. A mistake.”
I said nonchalantly, tilting my head away to resume eating.
But inside, I felt slightly dismayed.
The lingering habit from the past three days had caused me to act on pure reflex.
I swear, it was definitely not because I wanted to provoke Cassis again and hole ourselves up in the room.
Fortunately, Cassis smoothly withdrew his hand from me.
Right, after all that intensity, even Cassis must have had enough by now. He’s a human, not a beast, after all.
“Mother sent a letter directly to you this time.”
Having finished his meal before me, Cassis checked the sender of the paper envelope the servant had brought.
What? The letter was addressed to me, not Cassis?
But there was something in Cassis’s words that caught my attention.
“’Directly this time’?”
I paused with my fork and asked in return.
“A while ago, she sent someone here.”
“When was that?”
“Two days ago, while you were asleep.”
Cassis set the envelope down in front of me without opening it.
It seemed meant for me to check it myself, seeing as it was addressed to me.
“She seemed to intend to invite you for tea time. I sent them back, saying you were unwell.”
No, wait, so…
Does that mean he went so far as to turn away someone looking for me just to keep me from leaving the room?
“If you’re upset, I apologize. It wasn’t right of me to act on my own accord.”
Cassis said, looking into my eyes.
Unlike when he deceived me with sweet talk to torment me to his heart’s content over the past three days, this time he genuinely seemed somewhat remorseful.
I gazed steadily at Cassis. The man who had acted like a ravenous beast until dawn was nowhere to be seen.
Looking at that piercingly clear and innocent face, I couldn’t bring myself to reproach him.
I hadn’t been angry with Cassis in the first place. I was only a bit surprised because his behavior was so unexpected.
“Don’t do it next time.”
“I won’t.”
“Still, you did well this time. It would have been difficult for me to refuse in person.”
In the end, it meant that I, too, had enjoyed being shut away in this room alone with Cassis for three days.
As if catching my meaning, Cassis gave me a faint smile.
I thought to myself that after finishing my meal, I should send a reply to Cassis’s mother, Jeanne.