Chapter 14
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 14
When he pressed his finger against her lips, Vanessa sucked and licked at it eagerly, hardly knowing what she was doing. He told her to clean it with her tongue since it was going inside her, and for a moment, her mind went blank. Her flushed, tear-stained face looked up at him so submissively—as if her brain had melted from sheer pleasure. The fact that he wasn't annoyed was almost laughable.
Yes, perhaps that was the problem. Her body was just as beautiful as her face. From head to toe, she was built exactly to his tastes. In truth, not a single thing about this woman was laughable to him.
“Ah, mm…”
River Ross bit down on her pale breast, hard enough to hurt, and parted her curled legs once more. Pushing her underwear aside, he slid a thick-jointed finger deep into her soaking heat. The hot, tight walls clung greedily to his finger, resisting his entry.
She was tight. Tender and soft. Her slick arousal felt like warm, simmering cream. As he slowly stirred her inner flesh, a tremor ran through Vanessa’s throat. Faint whimpers spilled continuously from her parted lips. Clinging to his arm for support, her small body shivered violently, as if she no longer had the strength to even hold herself up.
To think she would react like this to a single finger. River Ross let out a breathless, disbelieving laugh. It seemed this woman had never even touched herself before.
“Vanessa.”
At the sound of her name, her tightly shut eyelids fluttered open. Her eyes, usually as sharp and haughty as a sensitive cat’s, were now soft and dazed with pleasure. He had only meant to scare her off, but her completely defenseless expression—as if she had never intended to run away in the first place—was utterly baffling.
“Do you still want to do this with me?”
Instead of answering, Vanessa wrapped her arms around his neck. River Ross let out a low, feral laugh and roughly thrust a second finger inside her.
* * *
Vanessa sobbed, squeezing her thighs together. Even the slightest shift of her hips sent a jolt of heat straight to her core. It was only two fingers, but the sensation of them parting and stroking her inner walls was overwhelmingly lewd and vivid. It was impossible to bear with any semblance of sanity.
“Ah…”
Every time he suckled hard at her breast, a deep hollow formed in his handsome cheek. The sight of his sharp nose buried in her cleavage as he kneaded her flesh was intensely stimulating. Vanessa bit her soft, swollen lip to swallow a breathless moan.
It stung, it smarted, it ached. Yet, at the same time, an unbearably sweet, tingling sensation shivered up her spine. The space beneath her navel quivered with a burning heat. The moment his teeth nipped her swollen, erect nipple, Vanessa couldn't help but arch her hips.
“Slow down, Vanessa,” River Ross whispered gently, using his thigh to prop her knees open. He thrust his fingers deep inside her once more, the slick friction making a wet, squelching sound.
“Ah…!”
As his hand picked up speed, her arousal frothed with every wet thrust. Unlike Vanessa, who was panting and burning with fever, River Ross’s breathing remained perfectly steady. It was as if his rock-hard erection didn't even belong to him; he hadn't even unbuttoned a single cuff of his neatly pressed shirt.
She had always known that River Ross viewed her as young and immature. Even now, as he thoroughly explored every inch of her body, he remained utterly composed.
It was both frustrating and heartbreaking. She was dying of embarrassment, yet he was completely unfazed. She was utterly helpless, entirely at the mercy of a man who didn't even seem to want her all that much. And yet, she wanted River Ross so desperately it felt pathetic.
“River… please…”
She tightened her arms around his firm neck in a silent plea, prompting a low chuckle from him. His calloused thumb pressed down hard on her swollen, sensitive clitoris—scraping, stroking, and grinding in relentless circles. Over and over… Just as her thighs began to shudder from a sensation so intense it felt like she needed to weep, his third finger forced its way into her raw, aching depths.
Vanessa bit her lip hard as her body convulsed. She had peaked again. On a weathered table in an abandoned garden, brought to the edge by nothing more than a man’s hand.
She could feel the slick, clear fluid spilling out, running down the cleft of her backside. Her heart thrashed like a landed fish, pounding so hard she could feel it in her throat.
“Ah, oh, yes…”
She had never known this side of the world existed. She had thought she never would—had even believed, once, that she was better off never knowing. River Ross’s large hand roughly cupped her pale, heavy breast. Her soft whimpers dissolved into the humid air as he captured her swollen lips, sucking them into his mouth.
Climaxing for what felt like the hundredth time, Vanessa clamped her thighs tightly around his wrist. It was the absolute height of humiliation.
* * *
“Come in. Watch your head.”
The interior of the shabby warehouse was cramped, yet deceptively cozy. Vanessa hesitated before sitting quietly on the edge of the bed River Ross indicated. Her eyes, filled with a mix of wariness and curiosity, scanned the room.
Though old-fashioned, the bed was clean and well-maintained. In one corner sat a billiard table and a wooden chair. On a shelf by the window were a few books and an expensive-looking cigar box, and beneath it, a desk that seemed a bit too large for the room. A dark green curtain hanging from the ceiling appeared to partition the living area from the bedroom.
It was a decent enough place for a young working man to live alone, even if the tightly packed furniture made it feel cramped.
“Get some sleep if you’re tired.”
Vanessa snapped her head up. She had been so absorbed in examining the room that she had completely forgotten River Ross was watching her. Realizing her mistake, she quickly lowered her gaze, feigning a haughty disinterest, but it was far too late.
River Ross chuckled, looking at her as if she were a small animal putting on a show, before picking up a large bucket and heading out of the warehouse. Only when his footsteps had completely faded did Vanessa finally let out the breath she had been holding.
I'm exhausted.
Now that she was alone, the tension drained from her body, and her shoulders slumped. Vanessa collapsed backward onto the soft mattress, staring up at the slightly sagging ceiling. It was certainly low enough that a man of River Ross’s imposing stature would have to worry about bumping his head. Not that she had to worry about that.
In that sense, his warning had been useless to her. It was just like him—possessing such a powerful body, yet refusing to give her what she so desperately wanted from it.
It's still so slick down there.
Vanessa let out a soft sigh and folded her hands over her lower stomach. Although River Ross had wiped her down with a handkerchief immediately afterward, the friction had only served to restimulate her highly sensitive flesh. She had been clean for only a moment before the slick fluid began to seep out again.
The places where his hands and lips had touched still tingled. She had been swept away by sensations she had never experienced before, completely losing all self-control. And when she had desperately asked him why he wouldn't go all the way, he had given her the wicked, infuriating response of a true rogue: Because seeing you look so embarrassed turns me on even more.
He’s a commoner and a soldier, so of course he’s used to such vulgar language.
Yet, strangely, he seemed far more refined when his mind was elsewhere than when he was putting on his usual act. Perhaps she only felt that way because of how cool and detached he had remained, never once losing his composure.
Her aimlessly wandering gaze suddenly halted on the desk, which was cluttered with various small items. A glint of reflected sunlight caught her eye, unusually brilliant; a small glass bottle was catching and refracting the light. Vanessa sat up from her slumped position on the bed.
Wait, is this… Buford Company perfume?
This must have been the source of the subtle dissonance she had sensed. The intricately cut crystal bottle, the gold-plated stopper, and the clear, golden liquid inside.
It was indeed a fragrance from the Buford Company, a brand that had taken high society by storm over the last few years. It was certainly far too expensive an item to be left sitting casually in a place like this.
Could it be a counterfeit?
Vanessa hesitated before gently lifting the stopper. The initial note was deep and heady. It was luxurious without being overly heavy, leaving a lingering trail of crisp citrus and rich sandalwood. She realized why it felt so familiar—it was the exact scent that faintly drifted from River Ross.
The moment she made the connection, Vanessa hastily replaced the stopper and set the bottle back down. For some reason, her fingertips trembled. And from that moment on, the warehouse—which had initially seemed so humble—began to look entirely different.
The cigar humidor on the shelf was crafted by the Milon Company, and the watch bore the engraved logo of the Largo Company. The fountain pen was an import from Langton, the ink was from the Bodak Company, and even the handkerchief resting beneath the kettle was from Hermes… Every single item was a luxury good she had only ever seen in Rosalyn and Blair’s rooms—and even then, they were the sort of treasures the twins had to beg their parents for.
No matter how generous a naval officer’s salary might be, River Ross’s spending habits were on an entirely different level.
Or perhaps they really are all counterfeits. If he were truly that wealthy, he would be smoking those cigars instead of the cheap cigarettes favored by common laborers.
As Vanessa scanned the room for further evidence, her eyes fell upon a worn leather notebook. It was a crude assembly of papers of varying sizes and textures, bound together roughly with a piece of string—far too unpolished to be a store-bought item.
Beside it lay a piece of used charcoal wrapped in paper. As if possessed, she reached out and picked up the notebook.
“Vanessa.”
She spun around in surprise. River Ross was standing in the doorway.