Chapter 122
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 122
Her pupils dilated. Dazed, the woman looked up at him, swallowing hard before she managed to speak. "And what exactly is this ‘way’ you want?"
“Well…”
He trailed off, his gloved hand tracing the line of his own lips. As if uncomfortable under her steady gaze, a faint flush spread across his unnaturally pale skin. Suddenly feeling a strange thirst rising from deep within his throat, he tugged roughly at his collar, which felt as though it were suffocating him.
“At the very least, I don’t intend for this to be a simple matter of lifting your skirts and being done with it.”
The crimson hue staining her face spread to her earlobes and the nape of her neck. He reflexively bit the inside of his cheek, then, succumbing to the urge to touch her, leaned over the bed.
Thalia tensed her shoulders and gathered her skirts, wrapping them tightly around her knees. Ignoring the wary glare she directed at him, he cupped her flushed cheek and pressed for an answer.
“What will you do?”
“You… you have to tell me specifically what you want…”
“I intend to take my time,” he murmured. “I will prepare you, so that you can accept my body without difficulty.”
As his thumb brushed against her lips—lips that looked as if they were sculpted from dark, cooling blood—her deep blue eyes, shimmering with moisture, wavered violently. Looking up at him with terror, she turned her head away to avoid his hand.
“Is that really necessary? It would be better for both of us to just get it over with quickly.”
He withdrew his arm, his gaze turning ice-cold.
“If you have no intention of accepting my demands, then leave this room. You may be perfectly fine acting the part of a broodmare, but I have no intention of accepting such treatment.”
Her face, which had been a soft pink, turned deathly pale in an instant.
Barkas steeled his heart against the urge to soften. If he backed down here, he would be forced to repeat that wretched night all over again. He crossed his arms over his chest and jerked his chin toward the door, as if asking why she wasn’t standing up to leave.
Clutching her skirts tightly and gnawing on her lower lip, the woman finally spoke in a trembling voice.
“Then… just do one thing my way.”
He waited in silence for her to continue. After hesitating for a long moment, she spoke with a look of grim determination.
“At least turn out the lights. If you do that, I’ll endure whatever you do.”
His lips twisted into a grimace. He knew she hadn’t said it with the intent to insult him. However, her attitude—like a martyr facing a great ordeal—made his stomach churn. Had he not known she was genuinely terrified, he would have turned around and walked out right then.
After staring at her intently, Barkas finally walked toward the window. He extinguished the candles on the candelabra one by one, then lowered the cover over the fireplace. However, the light of the sun, which had not yet fully set, still poured into the room.
He looked out at the dark, pale purple clouds and the golden sunset before turning his gaze back to her. His wife was still clutching the fabric of her dress, watching him with wary eyes. He felt a flicker of dissatisfaction, but if the darkness would put her at ease, there was no reason not to concede.
He drew the heavy curtains over the glass windows. Finally, a thick darkness settled over the room.
“Is this enough?”
Thalia gave a small nod. Then, perhaps realizing he wouldn’t be able to see it, she replied in a tight voice.
“It’s… it’s enough.”
He waited for his vision to adjust to the gloom before slowly approaching the bed. Sensing his presence, she immediately reached out. He sat on the edge of the bed and leaned in so his wife could touch him.
Soon, fingers that had grown ice-cold brushed against his neck. When he caught her hand and pulled it toward his face, she flinched, but soon began to stroke his cheek. At her touch, which seemed to be confirming his very existence, a dull ache tightened in his lower abdomen and a powerful heat surged through him.
He grimaced at the violent reaction of his own body. He had felt his body heat up whenever he was near this woman before, but he had dismissed it as a typical reaction for a man in his prime. While it was somewhat surprising that such desires still remained within him, he had never thought much of it. He had simply judged that it wouldn’t be impossible to produce an heir.
He ignored the fact that his body had never reacted to anyone else. If necessary, he had told himself he could simply use an aphrodisiac. He had been trained to strictly control all his desires, and he considered separating his body from his mind to be a simple task. Sexual desire was merely an instinct for the preservation of the species. There was no reason to attach any special meaning to it.
Yet those firm convictions crumbled easily under her touch.
Barkas let out a long breath and wrapped his arm around her waist. As he unfastened the knots of her dress at her back, the fabric fell away, revealing a delicate frame and elegant curves. As he brushed his hand down her skin, savoring the feel of her, a strained voice leaked from her lips.
“Y-you really can’t see anything, right?”
Instead of answering, he laid her down on the bed and pulled the dress down past her hips. Thalia sucked in a sharp breath and reflexively clutched at the fabric. Even in the darkness, he could see her shoulders stiffen with tension.
“Answer me. You really can’t see anything?”
Barkas looked down at her face, which was distorted with anxiety, and whispered soothingly into her ear.
“Yes. I can’t see a thing. So, relax.”
Only then did she finally let go of the clothes.
He pulled the dress down to her feet. In the bluish darkness, a body of unrealistically exquisite detail was revealed. Delicate shoulders that looked as if they were carved from ivory, breasts that formed perfect curves, a waist so slender it seemed it could be held in a single hand, and a flat, taut stomach…
Barkas let his gaze slide slowly along those precise lines, like a work of art meant for an altar, when he suddenly stopped.
The moment he saw the bandages wrapped tightly from above her slightly twisted knees down to her calves, it felt as if a blade had been driven into his throat.
As if to shake off that sensation, he urgently climbed over her and pressed his tongue against her swollen lips. Startled by the sudden contact, she flinched, but soon opened her mouth.
He explored the slick membranes of her mouth while winding her silk-like hair around his fingers. He could feel her skin growing hotter with every movement of his tongue. He felt a twinge of regret for granting her request to turn out the lights. If it were bright, he would have been able to clearly see her pale skin flushing red. He would have been able to see her lapis lazuli eyes clouding over and the corners of her eyes growing moist.
Feeling a parching thirst grow more intense, he used his tongue to gather the saliva pooling in her mouth. He sucked it in greedily and swallowed, but his thirst wasn’t quenched in the slightest. Swept up in a strange impatience, he pushed his tongue deeper into the moist heat of her mouth. Her small tongue flickered and tried to flee. He chased it instinctively. When he persistently ensnared the soft thing, she let out a moan and tilted her head back.
He instinctively held her tight as she tried to escape. The heat that had been scorching his throat was now burning in his gut. It felt as if he had swallowed the extract of belladonna.
“Y-you take yours off too. The hilt of your sword is pressing against my stomach… it hurts.”
While he was clinging to her lips, half out of his mind, she pushed against his chest and complained.
He let out a ragged breath and lifted his head. As he straightened his upper body, he saw his lower half, hard as stone, pressing down on her abdomen.
How would she react if he told her it wasn’t a sword hilt? She would likely turn pale and shrink away. He both did and didn’t want to see that expression.
He wiped his mouth, wet with saliva, and used his other hand to rip the buttons from his shirt. After throwing his clothes aside in an instant, he unbuckled his belt and pulled down his trousers.
The cool air brushed against his heated skin. But his body, burning with arousal, did not cool down in the slightest.