He carefully lowered his weight onto her.
Her smooth skin, faintly slick with sweat, clung to his like velvet. As he rubbed against her to savor the sensation, a flash of fear crossed her small face in the darkness.
As if to erase it, he slid his tongue back into the narrow warmth of her mouth. Exploring the yielding heat within, a low groan rose in his throat.
Breathing heavily, he gently pressed down on her writhing, tender body.
Her skin was slippery with sweat—or perhaps it was his own. His head spun from the sudden spike of heat rushing through him.
He rubbed his hardened desire against her soft flesh, trailing his lips down the slender line of her neck.
When he lightly bit the pulse fluttering in her throat, she shuddered and dug her nails into his shoulders.
Her nails, rough from repeatedly growing long and snapping short, scraped his skin, and the sharp sting only fueled his arousal.
To draw more of that reaction from her, he bit and drew firmly on her collarbone before tracing downward to her heaving chest.
Startled by the unfamiliar sensation, her supple body went rigid. He stroked down her trembling spine to soothe her, taking a soft mouthful of her flesh.
A sound that was half-moan, half-sob spilled over the crown of his head. The heat devouring him was reaching a fever pitch, yet his wife remained wound tight.
Urged on by instinct, Varkas let his hands gently caress every inch of her taut frame. As his touch drifted lower, the tension gripping her wound even tighter. He leaned in, whispering hoarsely against her burning ear.
“It’s alright. I won’t hurt you, so just relax.”
Through the dark, he saw her wide eyes trembling without focus.
He kissed her eyelids, damp with sweat and tears, and continued caressing her with deliberate care. Shifting uneasily beneath him, she slowly began to soften into his touch. The sight was intoxicating enough to make the back of his neck prickle, blurring his vision for a fleeting second.
Bracing himself up to watch her every breath, Varkas gritted his teeth and pulled her closer still. At his deeper touch, a cracked, breathy sound slipped from her swollen lips.
“E-enough. It’s enough, so just… hurry.”
He ground his molars together. His entire body screamed at him to obey her command, but he could not let himself be rushed a second time.
“No. You must endure a little more.”
“I don’t want to. I can’t take any more. So please, just stop…”
He swallowed the small lips that pleaded so recklessly.
Her slick, trembling arms immediately wound around his neck. She had always made his head spin with her sudden shifts—fleeing when he drew near, yet fixing him with resentful eyes whenever he stepped back. This woman who drove him to madness was now trapped in his grasp, and he devoured her without thought.
How long had he spent stroking her damp skin and tangling their tongues together? At last, he felt the rigid resistance begin to seep from her body.
Catching her right thigh, he slowly lowered his weight. Her wet heat yielded, taking him in.
Varkas exhaled shallowly, gripping the headboard hard enough to whiten his knuckles while tensing his thighs. Sweat drenched his back as he fought to master the raw instinct threatening to tear free.
Holding himself still, biting the inside of his cheek, he pressed forward just a fraction more. A muffled gasp broke from her lips.
Despite how long he had taken to prepare her, she could not take him in easily.
A frown tightening his brow at the unyielding tightness, Varkas leaned over her and drew a deep breath. It was a mistake. Her scent, thick with heat, flooded his lungs until his senses grew faint.
Gritting his teeth, he clamped down on the headboard. A sharp snap echoed as the solid wood splintered in his grip.
Afraid she might notice and take fright, he flinched and glanced down. Yet his wife seemed completely blind to everything around them.
Seeing her eyes clouded, wholly lost in sensations she did not understand, whatever remained of his restraint gave way entirely.
Bracing his hands on either side of her head, he began to move his hips. All he could do was fight with everything he had not to lose control like a wild beast.
Every muscle corded tight as he held himself in check, terrified of shattering this fragile body that felt light enough to scatter on the wind.
His brow furrowed as he pushed shallowly in and out, drawing back slightly when the tight ache showed no sign of easing.
Just then, her hands caught at his back, and she let out a strange sound—a mingling of a cry and a broken sob. The moment he realized she had woven his name into that breath, the blood in his veins seemed to reverse its course in a scorching wave.
Thrusting his tongue past her lips once more, he picked up the pace he had forced himself to pause. There was no holding back now.
Free of its bridle, his desire gathered momentum with every stroke. He fought desperately to regain his footing, but the rhythm, torn from his command, grew fiercer.
His face twisted with dread as he searched her features.
“Does it hurt?”
To the question wrenched from his throat, she only shook her head, clinging tighter to his neck.
“N-no, not at all.”
Her humid breath fell against his ear like melted wax.
He gripped her waist, scraping together the bare dregs of his restraint. She could be lying. Was she not a woman who made a habit of tormenting herself? She might simply be swallowing the pain again. He could not drop his guard—
“But my body feels so strange, Varkas… Do something.”
That tear-streaked plea wiped away every coherent thought.
Cursing silently with an oath he had never used in his life, he drove her down into the sheets.
Her wet heat swallowed him completely, and the last shred of his reason evaporated. Soon, the rhythmic creak of the bed and the rasp of ragged breath were all that filled the dark.
He wiped the sweat stinging his brow with the back of his hand, gazing down at how she swayed helplessly beneath him.
Limp and adrift, she was like a lotus caught in a churning current. Holding that fragile form close, he dragged himself to the sharp precipice of pleasure. Then, her body seized with minute spasms.
He held her feverish, twisting waist in a crushing grip, his back locking rigid. Moments later, a fierce tremor tore up his spine, followed by a violent unraveling deep within him.
His vision grayed around the edges, and he squeezed his eyes shut.
He had no idea how long he stayed suspended there. Waiting for his ragged breathing to slow, he gradually pushed himself up to look at her.
Brushing aside the dark hair damp against her face, he found her staring blankly at nothing. A sudden chill gripped his chest at the sight of her lying so still, limbs limp and splayed.
Cupping her cheeks, slick with sweat and tears, he searched her vacant gaze with growing anxiety.
“Are you alright?”
She looked back at him, utterly bewildered.
Fortunately, there was no sign of pain. She only looked completely spent, as though drained of every ounce of strength.
Urged by a sudden, inexplicable impulse, he pressed his lips to the corners of her eyes. Her unfocused eyes went wide, a startled tremor rippling through her dark pupils.
Before he could understand why, she shoved hard against his shoulder. Frowning, he looked down. She was already scrambling frantically to slip out from under him. He caught her instinctively, pinning her down.
“What are you doing?”
“Move! You’re heavy.”
As her struggles grew sharper, he reluctantly pushed himself off her. She rolled immediately toward the foot of the bed, groping in the dark for her clothes with trembling fingers, trying to dress.
Watching her in silence, Varkas reached out and dragged her back by the waist.
“Lie down a while longer.”
“What for?”
Still flushed and unsettled, she snapped at him with a voice that shook.
“It’s over. I’m going back to my room.”
“Who said it was over?”
Hauling her back onto his lap as she tried to pull away, he pressed his mouth against the warm curve of her nape. The sweet scent of her skin rekindled the heat in his blood.
“You stay in my bed tonight.”
END