Chapter 77
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 77
Straddling his thighs was embarrassing, but for the first time, she felt as though she had taken the initiative. The chair supporting their combined weight creaked faintly with every movement. Vanessa caught her breath, burying her lips against the slick nape of his neck.
Closing her eyes, she let her imagination run wild. They were in the middle of a vast, storm-tossed ocean. The creaking was the groan of wooden planks on a drifting, dilapidated ship. They were making love, having run out of even a single drop of water to drink.
“Ah…”
Between her soft, parted thighs, his veined, dark-red length twitched—a thick tree root pulsing with fierce vitality. It was freshly erect, so hard it was difficult to believe he had just spent himself minutes ago.
It felt as if it might split her open at any second, thrusting deep into the sensitive, weeping flesh of her core.
The mere memory of the pleasure only he could give made her inner walls slick with a shameful wetness. The fluid dripped down onto his shaft where they were pressed together, making a soft, squelching sound. The tip of his erection, which she had been barely holding down with her weight, sprang back resiliently, pressing hard against the cleft of her buttocks.
Vanessa let out a low groan, resting her hands on his firm abdomen. His skin, glistening with their mixed fluids, rainwater, and sweat, felt exceptionally smooth. As her excitement surged once more, she bit her lip. Chasing the memory of that pleasure, she lowered her hips, pressing down and rubbing herself against his length.
“Ah…”
River Ross, who had been gently kissing the swell of her breast, let out a ragged sigh and gripped her waist with both hands. His hands were so large that a single one could easily span half of her slender torso.
His elegant brow furrowed, and his prominent Adam’s apple bobbed. Drops of sweat trickled down his flushed cheeks. Gritting his teeth against the pleasure, River Ross looked almost holy in his restraint.
“Don’t tempt me.”
He gripped her lower back again, steadying her squirming body. Groaning as if he were at his limit, he clasped her left hand.
“If we go any further, your body won’t be able to take it.”
River’s ragged breath fanned over her collarbone. As she slowly leaned her forehead against his, her golden hair spilled like a waterfall over his broad shoulders. Her fingers tightened in the hair at the back of his head.
“You don’t… ah… have to hold back…”
Though their bodies were well past their limits after taking each other several times, she stubbornly insisted. Vanessa pressed her hand over his as it cradled her cheek, begging as she rubbed her wet lips against his scarred palm.
“Just… make me forget everything…”
She looked at him through eyes hazy with heat, blinking slowly. She felt utterly intoxicated; her entire body was exceptionally sensitive tonight. Leaning their feverish bodies against each other, the sheer fulfillment of being so deeply entangled made her head spin. It was the bond of their most vulnerable parts connected, the sensation of belonging entirely to each other in this moment.
She adored him for reining in his desire beneath her. She was grateful for his kindness—the way he looked at her with those dark, intense eyes, never asking for anything she wasn’t ready to give.
His breath was scorching hot as it scattered over her breasts, which were flushed red with bite marks. The moment she shifted her hips in a coaxing motion, he gripped her pale buttocks so tightly his fingers left marks, sliding all the way into her deepest depths in a single thrust. The thick length filling her to the brim seemed to expand the moment it settled, as if bursting with suppressed desire. Her flushed folds stretched to their absolute limit.
“Ah, ah…”
Her eyelashes grew heavy with fresh tears. The tantalizing friction of his shaft against her core quickened.
Her insides boiled. Her walls, softened from a night of lovemaking, yielded easily to his size, weeping clear fluids. Her sensitive nipples throbbed with a sweet ache. The mere touch of his hand, the press of his lips against her skin, drew breathless, ecstatic cries from her. Her thoughts scattered, her mind finally melting into a thick, sweet haze. It was delightful.
In a moment of dizzying pleasure, she sank her hips down, and his length, buried deep against her cervix, throbbed. The raw, unfamiliar sensation brought a sudden wave of fear alongside a strange, thrilling excitement.
“…Hah…”
Whether he had truly reached her very limit or she had only imagined it, all she knew was the vivid sensation of his hard tip invading a sacred, untouched place.
River Ross let out a low grunt as heat slowly consumed him. The tight flesh clamping around his shaft and the friction against his glans pushed his restraint to its breaking point. His eyes burned with raw, unbridled desire.
“Wrap your arms around my neck.”
Vanessa obediently clung to his neck, which was corded with powerful muscle. He suckled her breast fiercely as he drove his hips upward in a raw, primal rhythm.
Her lower back, already wracked by several climaxes, trembled weakly, all strength gone. Her vision repeatedly went black as if she were about to faint, only to clear again in a dizzying wave.
“Ah, ah, yes… ah!”
In her slowly fading consciousness, the fantasy drifted back. The storm, the sea, the old ship, and the two of them…
To her, fantasy had always been a means of escaping reality. While imagination faithfully reflected one’s desires, it possessed no power to hurt.
Nurturing an affection that might never be returned was always accompanied by a paralyzing fear. It was especially true for her, who had been trampled on repeatedly by her only living relative. Beneath her desperate attempts to suppress her feelings for River Ross lay that very terror.
He’ll leave one day. We can never truly be together. We’ll only become each other’s weakness…
Fearing a pain that had not yet arrived, she had been too busy hiding. She hadn’t even dared to cherish the fragile feelings that had finally begun to sprout within her.
Why didn’t I realize it sooner?
A person’s heart cannot be hidden simply by wishing it so, nor can it be severed cleanly like a thread. In a way, emotions possessed a terrifyingly resilient vitality, like the first green leaf sprouting from a tree that had seemed dead after a long, harsh winter.
“Ah… ah… Ri… River…”
Perhaps she had been helplessly ensnared from the very beginning. From the first moment her eyes met his beneath her window; from the moment they first pressed their lips together under the summer sun and felt each other’s warmth.
From the moment he ran through the pouring rain without hesitation to hold her, to the moment they stood drenched in the mud, weathering the storm together…
Finally, she made up her mind. She would cast off all her defenses and hold him with all her might. She would no longer hesitate or waver in loving him—River Ross, the man who had offered her warmth without question at her most miserable moment.
“Ah… ah…”
Seized by a dizzying ecstasy, Vanessa tilted her head back. She closed her eyes, letting herself dissolve into the brilliant, scattering afterglow.
*
“My ship departs tomorrow at noon. I’ve only returned home briefly. I’ll have to stay abroad for about two more weeks to monitor the situation. If things don’t go well, I might really have to liquidate the company.”
The Marquis’s voice coming through the receiver was heavy with exhaustion. Blair was silent for a moment before speaking.
“Is the situation that bad?”
“Now that I’m out here, the political climate is highly unstable. A war might actually break out. Damn it, after all the gold I fed those Amiens bastards to establish a foothold… The losses are astronomical. Even if I sell the company now, I don’t know if I can even recoup my investment.”
The faint sound of leather shoes pacing anxiously came through the line, just as he always did when things weren’t going his way. After a long sigh, Henry raised his voice, changing the subject.
“Anyway, is everything alright at home?”
Blair froze, momentarily speechless, before slowly bringing the receiver back to his mouth.
“I plan to proceed with my marriage to Sissy as scheduled. Other than that… nothing of note.”
“Now that is news. Especially after you fought so hard against marrying her.”
“I’m making preparations so we can hold the ceremony as soon as you return. We plan to keep it small and invite only a few guests. Sissy has agreed to this as well.”
“Sissy is far too fond of you. Given the current climate, I agree with rushing the wedding, but it would be better to have a grand ceremony. That way, I won’t be embarrassed to face Count Bronte.”