Chapter 89
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 89
Marriage was not a prerequisite for happiness. Perhaps she could have found happiness in a relationship slightly different from the norm—if only he were not the Duke, and she were not the cherished daughter of the Count and Countess of Somerset.
Being a mistress was an insult, and she could never raise an illegitimate child. If theirs was a relationship where they could neither be together nor stand proud, then it was only rational to abandon the child's father. Vanessa could see the end in all his empty promises.
Someday, the Duke would marry another woman, not her—if only to carry on the ancient legacy of Battenberg. To deny this was to blind herself, nothing short of self-deception. And she had a gut feeling that day wasn't far off. But for now, at least…
“I’m not very hungry.”
“……”
“Just, like this…”
* * *
He gripped her hips from behind, lifting her as she let out a soft groan. A sultry heat radiated from her thighs, flushed from their lengthy foreplay. Just a glimpse of her slick, wet depths made the back of his neck throb. The tip of his shaft, thick with dark veins and taut with tension, brushed against her pliant entrance. The moment he nudged inside, her tender inner walls drew him in with a wet, sucking sound.
Despite how often they had coupled, her tight flesh was exceptionally slick with warmth today. Just breaching her entrance was enough to make her wetness spill down his pulsing, engorged length in a sudden gush. Though a part of him tried to remain detached, the sight made his eyes burn hot again.
“Mnh, ah…”
It was the most primal reaction, the undeniable proof that this woman wanted him.
“Ngh.”
He slowly leaned down, pressing his firm chest flush against her back. His large hand covered her pale one, which was desperately clutching the crumpled sheet. As he bit her flushed, heated nape, her toes tensed, digging into the mattress.
“Does it hurt?” he asked, barely holding on to his fraying sanity.
She shook her head with difficulty, her teeth clamped onto the pillowcase. Her golden hair, scattered over her slender back, blurred his vision.
“Then focus… and open up properly.”
His mind reeled; she was dripping wet, yet she wasn't fully open for him. If she was going to resist, she should have resisted completely. She clamped down on him so tightly it felt as if she might shear him off, shredding his patience by the second. He cupped her lower abdomen, lifting her. As he gritted his teeth and forced his way deeper, her high-pitched whimpers turned tearful.
“Ah, mnh, ah…”
Her flushed entrance stretched to its limit, tightly wrapping around the thick shaft forcing its way inside. Her sensitive flesh clung to him, squeezing him with a suffocating density.
He barely held on to his thread of sanity. His jaw trembled from the sheer effort of holding back. Rather than satisfying his own raging, swollen desire, his priority was to avoid tearing her incredibly narrow passage.
Strength slowly gathered in his rock-hard thighs and glutes. His shaft, throbbing fiercely like a beast in heat, was tightly enveloped by her yielding inner walls. Hot moisture dripped steadily from her tight, narrow passage.
“Mnh, ah…”
He bit back a ragged breath. He wanted to bury his face between her thighs like a dog and lap at her. His throat burned with a sudden, savage urge. He wanted to sink his teeth into the very spot where her slickness spilled, ravaging her greedily until she wept and begged. He wanted to pry her thighs apart and thrust his tongue deep into her folds—where she would surely flinch and tremble in shock—tasting her thoroughly, depravedly.
He had never stared into such an abyss within himself before, yet the thought was strangely sweet, almost comforting.
“Ah… ngh.”
He imagined binding her softly weeping body in chains, so that she would never dare to even dream of leaving this place. He imagined breaking her ankles, tearing off her newly sprouted wings if he must, just to keep her by his side.
He let out a self-mocking laugh. Vanessa Siren Somerset was a monster. And he was a beast. Every time he held her, a fierce, insatiable desire awoke deep within him. It was a form of madness. It showed him the depths of his depravity, how base his inner self could be. What a terrible creature he was…
“Vanessa.”
Therefore, they could never end. Even if it killed him, he could never let her go.
“Ah, ngh!”
His glans, thrusting greedily to her absolute limit, knocked against her cervix. Heat flared along their tightly fused flesh. A flush bloomed on her neck as she propped herself up on the mattress. Perhaps from the shame of presenting her back to a man, or perhaps because the sheer size of what had invaded her was too overwhelming, her slender shoulders and waist, which had been holding up stiffly, buckled.
Her slickness trickled down her trembling thighs. It traced a thin line down to her knees, pooling heavily on the white sheets.
Her feverish body was exceptionally hot. Her softly swollen inner walls clamped down on him, as if they couldn't bear any more. Even though he paced himself, thrusting slowly and showing mercy, she couldn't hold out, and her posture finally collapsed. Soft, breathless whimpers spilled from her lips.
Her breasts, which had grown even fuller over the past few days, were so pale and lush they looked as if they might leak milk. Now, they overflowed his large hands whenever he cupped them.
“Vanessa.”
Vanessa, Vanessa. Every time a breathless groan burst from her lips, he persistently whispered her name into her ear, engraving it there. As if anxiously waiting for an answer that would never come. Or perhaps, demanding that she answer his call.
He remembered how she used to desperately cry out a false name at the height of her pleasure. It was a habit he had broken. Now, she bit back her groans in shame, her flushed eyes burning with a sharp heat, and when the stimulation became too intense, she would look back over her shoulder, begging him with her eyes…
He gripped her trembling, slender waist and thrust up mercilessly. He pulled his length nearly all the way out, then slammed back in before her flesh could close. Her pale, naked body, overwhelmed by the force, shook wildly beneath him. Ah, ah, ngh! Holding back his own mounting release, he focused solely on drawing cries from her lips. Sweat dripped from his jaw, falling onto her slender back.
Her peak, which had been teasing her on the brink of overflowing, finally broke. Her soft whimpering changed. Her limbs trembled violently, her inner walls rippling and yielding with every thrust. The moment her climax triggered, hot moisture gushing from deep within her clenched passage, he seized the moment and drove himself deep inside.
“Ah, mnh! Ah!”
Even as his mind felt as if it would shatter from the blinding, red-hot pleasure, a corner of his heart remained chillingly cold.
Vanessa Siren Somerset did not call his name. Not once over the past three days.
* * *
Their lovemaking, which had begun in the early evening, did not last much longer. The moment they finished, Vanessa fell into a deep, dead sleep, showing no signs of waking. Theodore gently wiped away the dried traces of their passion from between her pale thighs with a damp towel, then slipped on his discarded robe.
Sitting at the bedside with an unlit cigarette between his lips, he looked down at the sleeping Vanessa. Even in the dim light, her face was strikingly pale and serene.
Perhaps she was dreaming, for her small hand twitched like a child's, as if searching for something to hold onto.
“……”
He gently pressed his fingertips to her palm; it was incredibly soft and delicate compared to his own. Every single finger was uniquely Vanessa. Looking at the ink stains smudged across her right hand, a faint smile tugged at his lips. How on earth did she hold her fountain pen?
Her cuteness aside, she was being rather wicked. Over the past few days, whenever she wanted to change the subject, Vanessa had used her body to seduce him. It was a sly tactic—made all the more wicked because she knew he had no choice but to yield to it.
Of course, it wasn't as if she had planned it with cold calculation. It was likely just her finding the most efficient way to shut him up and halt his train of thought… It was an odd arrangement, but since he was the one reaping all the benefits, he didn't mind. However…
“What on earth is the truth you are trying so hard to hide?”
Theodore lightly brushed the back of his hand against her damp cheek. Vanessa looked utterly peaceful, sleeping without even a flutter of her eyelashes. Even the air surrounding her felt quiet and beautiful. He let out a sigh of satisfaction.
For now, this was enough. Just the fact that Vanessa was sleeping by his side, and that he possessed the power to protect her slumber.
Money, love, stability, and desire—there were already more than enough reasons for both of them to prolong this relationship. He would gladly give Vanessa whatever she wanted or demanded. If only you would give up on marriage.
“My Lord.”
A low voice cut through his drifting thoughts.