Ch#124
124
He pressed his lips just below her earlobe and lightly sucked on the pulsing skin, causing her fragile shoulders to flinch and huddle inward.
Gently rubbing the tight, tender muscles with his palm, he pressed his chest against the slick curve of her spine. The sensation of skin against skin was agonizingly provocative.
“D-don’t…”
She murmured in a frail voice. He let the sound drift past his ear, peppering her delicate shoulders with light bites before sliding his hand down past her waist.
She was drenched. As he softly caressed the flesh slick with the fluids of two people, the woman, who had been stiff and frozen, began to writhe.
He reflexively caught her wrist.
“What is the matter?”
“I told you to stop! I have no intention of repeating that business twice in one night!”
She cried out, her face tight with distress.
Varkas looked down at her with narrowed eyes, then let out a low sigh and pulled up the duvet.
“If Your Highness does not wish for it, I will do nothing more. However, please sleep in my bed.”
As he wrapped her in the soft fabric and pulled her waist close again, confusion and anxiety flickered across her small face.
She peered out from the covers like a snail shrinking into a thin shell, her eyes sharp with wariness.
“Why should I? By now, everyone in this castle likely knows we have consummated the marriage. There is no need to share a room and endure the discomfort.”
He felt the languid heat that had been enveloping his body vanish in an instant, and he glared at her. Had she not looked so utterly unsettled, he might have let fly a few sharp words.
Taking a long breath, Varkas slowly stroked her rounded spine.
“There is no reason not to share a room, either. It is only natural for a husband and wife who spent the night together to share a bed.”
“B-but we…”
She faltered, looking flustered.
Brushing away the strands of hair clinging to her face, he brought his lips to her cooling cheek. Whether the breath brushing her skin tickled or not, her slender neck—hardly a handful—quivered and shook.
Feeling his impatience grow, he stroked her lower abdomen over the thin duvet.
“We are no different.”
As he whispered lowly against her ear, he felt a fine tremor run through her body.
The face pressed near the bridge of his nose grew increasingly hot. If the room were bright, he would have been able to see a red flush spreading over her skin, which was as translucent as milky glass.
Feeling the desire he had barely sated rising once more, he lightly bit her soft earlobe. She let out a sharp intake of breath and shuddered.
Seeing that she didn’t seem to particularly dislike it, he rolled his thumb over the bud of her ear before sliding the tip of his tongue against the small opening. At that, she recoiled and jerked her head back.
“You said you wouldn’t do anything else!”
“Am I not even allowed to touch you?”
He pulled her small, perfectly fitting body into his arms and whispered against her forehead, her large eyes shaking violently.
Realizing she was conflicted, Varkas toyed with her slender waist through the thin duvet before lingering near her navel.
She curled her body even tighter. But he could tell that this time, it wasn’t out of tension or anxiety, but excitement.
His gut burned with the hope that she might accept him once more.
“Can I move the duvet?”
“N-no.”
“Truly no?”
Even in the darkness, he could clearly see her eyes darting around as if weighing her options.
His lips curving upward, Varkas stealthily slid his hand inside the covers and carefully parted her knees.
In that moment, the woman who had been slowly relaxing began to struggle violently as if struck by lightning. He furrowed his brow and tightened his grip on her slim waist. A shrill cry escaped her lips.
“It hurts!”
He released his hold as if he had been burned.
Not missing the opportunity, she scrambled out of bed, wrapped herself tightly in the duvet, and stumbled toward the door.
Varkas watched her with a grim expression before catching up to her in a few strides.
“Why on earth are you so desperate to return to your room?”
“I… I don’t want to be here. My room is more comfortable.”
There was a deep-seated fear in her voice. The moment he realized it, it felt as if cold water had been poured over his head.
She was a woman who harbored a strong aversion to sexual contact. He realized that his forceful behavior might have triggered her nightmares.
“Did I make you uncomfortable?”
When he murmured in a strained voice, a complex mix of emotions flickered across her face.
She lowered her head and spoke in a subdued tone.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just… I’m more comfortable with my own way.”
“And is your way to run away like a frightened rabbit after the deed is done?”
He didn’t want to push a woman who already seemed unstable, but his voice sharpened of its own accord. Fortunately, instead of shrinking back, she met him by raising her thorns.
“Who’s a frightened rabbit? I simply prefer what is efficient.”
In the bluish darkness, his arrogant Princess held her head high.
“I will stay when I want, for as long as I want, and then I will leave. While we are doing that, you can do as you please, but after it is over, I will do as I please!”
He crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a crooked look. Seeing her blustering even as her shoulders trembled, a cruel impulse surged within him for a moment.
He could handle her however he wished. He could force her to stay in bed, or vent his desires as much as he wanted.
However, he knew that if he succumbed to that barbaric urge, he would wound her so deeply it would be irreversible.
He closed his eyes tightly and then opened them.
The blue eyes that had constantly provoked him since childhood were sparkling like shattered glass in the dark. He looked straight into those eyes and asked.
“Is that truly what you want?”
Something like hesitation crossed her pale face. But she soon stubbornly jutted out her chin.
“Yes.”
Varkas, silently looking down at her, twisted his lips.
“Then I suppose I have no choice but to wait until you feel like staying in my bedroom longer.”
Whether it was the unexpected response or not, confusion entered her eyes.
“That will never happen.”
“We shall see about that.”
Responding nonchalantly, Varkas snatched his trousers from the floor and quickly pulled them on. Then, throwing his Tunka over his shoulders, he picked her up, duvet and all.
Startled by the sudden action, a scream erupted from her.
“D-don’t! I can walk on my own!”
Ignoring her words, he stepped out into the brightly lit hallway.
She immediately hid her face inside the duvet. Varkas let out a small chuckle at the sight of her looking like a caterpillar hidden in a cocoon, then strode down the hall.
He caught a glimpse of servants passing by looking at him with shocked expressions, but he didn’t care.
Arriving directly in front of her quarters, Varkas used one arm to support her back while he twisted the doorknob.
As they entered the room, she finally poked her face out.
The sight of her moist, reddish eyes and disheveled golden hair made his throat tighten with a sticky, intense thirst.
Suppressing the urge to press his lips to hers then and there, he set her down on the bed and knelt before her.
“When do you think you might want to visit my quarters again?”
“How should I know?”
“Tomorrow?”
“I told you, I don’t know!”
He furrowed his brows. If she wouldn’t come, he could simply go to her. But he wasn’t sure if it was right to pressure her in that way.
She wanted to choose for herself. If that was the only way this absurdly timid woman could feel safe, then he had to follow it.
He wound a strand of her hair, which shimmered like golden glass, around his finger and caressed it gently.
“I will wait.”
The light flickered colorfully over her blue irises. He stared intently at her dark pupils, which were shaking violently, and added slowly.
“Come to me when you wish.”
