Chapter 32
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 32
“Ah, nnh…”
It was a dizzying climax. Heat flooded deep inside her throbbing core, and her body, sensitized to an impossible degree, registered every last drop. Vanessa buried her flushed face in the bedsheets, trying to stifle the moans that spilled from her lips.
Her narrow passage couldn’t contain all of what he had poured into her, and it began to leak from the tight entrance. The fluid trickling down her thighs felt hotter than it was. Lost in the messy, decadent sensations, Vanessa crested a second time.
With a body like this, she could no longer claim to be pure. And yet, a secret part of her was pleased.
* * *
“My voice is completely hoarse.”
Vanessa frowned, testing her throat with a few soft, “Ah, ah,” sounds. It felt raw and swollen. She must have strained it by trying so desperately to suppress her cries.
“You didn’t have to hold back.”
“But what if someone heard us?”
“Isn’t that what you wanted? For us to be caught eventually?”
“Well, eventually… yes.”
“Then why?”
“If we’re caught now, you’ll be in danger.”
At her words, River Ross turned to look at her, one eyebrow arched in disbelief.
“I’d rather you make noise than hurt yourself.”
But what if we really get caught, and my uncle hurts you because of it? Vanessa quietly swallowed the words that rose to her throat.
Perhaps he was only pretending to worry—not because he actually cared, but because he was playing his part in their fake relationship. The cynical thought, born from her own insecurity, surfaced before she could stop it. Swallowing a sigh, Vanessa nodded readily.
“I’ll do that next time.”
He narrowed his eyes, as if doubting her sincerity, but then a playful smirk touched his lips.
“So you’re planning on a next time?”
“…Summer is still a long way from over.”
“Ah, summer. Right.”
“I don’t mean anything else by it. It’s just our deal. Whether we like it or not.”
“You’re overthinking it, Vanessa.”
His grip tightened slightly on her slender wrist, which he had been holding all along.
“Does that mean you didn’t enjoy it?”
His eyes, which had darkened in an instant, were utterly serious. The teasing rogue from moments ago had vanished, replaced by a man with a solemn expression. Normally, she would have pretended not to hear and simply brushed it off, but his earnest gaze made it impossible. It was a weakness he could exploit, a habit she’d had since childhood.
Had he suddenly remembered that about her? Vanessa averted her gaze and mumbled, her voice barely audible.
“…It was good. Of course, it was.”
Why did such simple words feel so embarrassingly shy on her tongue? But the next moment, he smiled like a young boy, and everything else seemed to fall away. All her careful calculations felt pointless. It no longer mattered how foolish she looked or how crazy this man made her feel.
River Ross looked into the distance, sensing a sudden shift in the wind. His hair, dark as a raven’s wing, fell softly across his forehead.
Above the rose bushes in the garden, beneath the early evening moon, the first fireflies of the night began to rise. It was a magical sight, like seafoam scattered against dark rocks. The moment was fleeting, yet it created the illusion that time itself had slowed to a crawl.
Vanessa watched him, not daring to blink. Was this the expression he wore on his ship, feeling the sea breeze on his face?
“…”
Sometimes, she let herself fall into the illusion that he might feel the same way she did. Lately, River Ross had been acting so sweet, as if they were truly lovers.
He craved her multiple times a day. No matter how often they were together, he clung to her relentlessly, like a man dying of thirst finally finding water. He acted as if this summer would never end, as if their relationship would go on forever—as if it weren’t just a contract.
That’s what I want, but…
Every time she tried to gauge his sincerity, she was met with disillusionment. At some point, trying to distinguish between what was real and what was pretend had begun to feel like a fool’s errand.
Did River Ross even realize the way he looked at her sometimes?
“…”
The soft press of his lips on her forehead while she slept, the hand that brushed her hair back to cool her skin, the quiet footsteps he took so as not to wake her—there was no coldness or calculation in any of it.
One night, he had smiled without realizing it, only to hastily cover his mouth in embarrassment when he noticed her watching. Whenever she remembered those moments, whenever they felt like proof of something more, Vanessa would dig her sharp fingernails into her palms until it hurt. Just like now.
It hurts.
It had become a habit, punishing herself whenever she felt swept away by him. That was what her time with River Ross was: sweet, yet as futile as a dream destined to shatter. And sometimes, it made her unbearably anxious.
They had each taken one end of an invisible rope, but somewhere along the way, she had become the only one dangling from it. Whenever River Ross gave the line a tug, as if suddenly remembering he was holding it, she was pulled along without a fight. Like a dog on a leash, unable to even hide the feverish devotion in her eyes.
Vanessa bit her lip, suddenly bothered by the foolish, telltale blush she knew was spreading across her face.
“By the way, River.”
Vanessa stopped walking and looked around. She had been so lost in thought that she hadn't realized he had been leading her halfway across the castle grounds.
“There’s nothing but the outer wall ahead. If we keep going, we’ll run into the patrolling guards.”
“I know.”
“Then where on earth are we going?”
“You said you wanted to see the circus.”
“Well, yes, but… you want to go now?” Vanessa blinked in bewilderment.
“But we’re… Besides, Uncle won’t be back tonight, and he would never grant me permission to go out in a letter. The Winchester twins aren’t here either, so I don’t even have an alibi. The guards will stop us, and on top of all that, we don’t have a carriage or a car to get there…”
Listing the reasons one by one, her face growing pale, Vanessa suddenly trailed off as a thought struck her.
“Surely, you’re not suggesting we climb over the wall?”
“Something like that.”
“That’s insane. If we get caught, we could be killed.”
“Then let’s not get caught.”
…He had a point, but still. His confidence was so absolute it made her worries feel trivial. That wasn’t the only problem, though.
“This is a bad time. And my clothes aren’t suitable.”
“Your clothes? Why?”
“It’s not proper for a lady going out, I don’t have a coat, and the top button of my blouse is missing…”
Though her dress might look fine at a glance, it bore the unmistakable traces of their passionate afternoon. Anyone with a keen eye could guess what they had been doing just by looking at the wrinkles. River Ross curled his lips into a nonchalant smile, looking like a man with nothing to lose.
“If you don’t want to, we can forget it.”
Conflict warred in Vanessa’s light gray eyes. After a long moment of hesitation, she shook her head with a look of determination.
“No. I want to go.”
She felt that if she missed this chance, she would regret it for the rest of her life. Perhaps a “perfect moment” to go out would never come.
He smiled as if he’d known her answer all along and started walking again. He navigated the path with an adeptness that suggested he had been this way before.
Vanessa looked around, her eyes wide with curiosity. This was still Gloucester Castle, but she had so rarely ventured into this area that it felt like an entirely new place.
“How did you know about this path?”
“Mr. Ross told me.”
“I’ve been wondering… why are you so formal with your uncle?”
He glanced down at her.
“Are you particularly fond of your uncle?”
“Well… honestly, no.”
Blushing slightly, as if she had confessed a great shame, Vanessa mumbled, “But even so, I don’t call my own uncle ‘Mr. Somerset’.”
“This way.”
He turned, cutting the conversation short. Diagonally from a broken, abandoned statue of an angel, a path lay half-hidden by overgrown bushes. They followed it until they reached a towering iron gate with the dark moat beyond. It was the outermost perimeter of the castle.
How on earth does he plan to get over something this high?
Just as she was tilting her head in wonder, she flinched at the faint sound of metal grinding against metal. Looking up, she saw River Ross putting his full weight into his grip on the iron bars.
“Oh my goodness, River!”
She was about to cry out, worried he would hurt himself, when the bars slid back with a low groan, revealing a gap just wide enough for a person to slip through.