Chapter 124
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 124
He pressed his lips just below her earlobe, lightly grazing the pulsing skin, and felt her slender shoulders flinch and draw inward.
Gently rubbing the tight, delicate muscles with his palm, he pressed his chest against the smooth curve of her spine. The sensation of their bare skin meeting was a provocation he could barely endure.
“D-don’t…” she murmured, her voice faint.
He let the sound drift past his ears, nipping playfully at her elegant shoulder before sliding his hand down past her waist.
She was drenched. As he softly caressed her skin, slick with the heat of their union, the woman who had been as stiff as a board began to writhe.
Reflexively, he caught her wrist.
“What is the matter?”
“I told you to stop! I have no intention of repeating this... this business twice in one night!” she cried out, her face tight with trepidation.
Barkas looked down at her with furrowed brows, then let out a low sigh and pulled up the duvet.
“If Your Highness does not wish it, I shall do nothing more. But please, sleep here in my bed.”
As he wrapped her in the soft fabric and pulled her back into his arms, confusion and anxiety flickered across her small face. Like a snail retreating into its thin shell, she peered out from beneath the covers with wary eyes.
“Why should I? By now, everyone in this castle knows we’ve consummated the marriage. There is no need to share a room and endure such discomfort.”
Barkas felt the languid heat that had been enveloping his body vanish in an instant. He glared at her. Had she not looked so utterly fragile and anxious, he might have lashed out with a few sharp words.
Taking a long breath, Barkas slowly stroked the curve of her curled back.
“There is also no reason not to share a room. It is only natural for a husband and wife who have spent the night together to share a bed.”
“B-but we…” she stammered, looking flustered.
He brushed away the strands of hair clinging to her face and pressed his lips to her cooling cheek. Whether the breath grazing her skin was ticklish or not, her slender neck—so delicate he could encircle it with one hand—quivered and shook.
Feeling his impatience grow, he stroked her lower abdomen over the thin duvet.
“We are no different.”
As he whispered low against her ear, he felt a fine tremor run through her body.
The face pressed against the bridge of his nose grew increasingly warm. Had the room been brighter, he surely would have seen a flush spreading across her skin, which was as translucent as milk-white glass.
Feeling the desire he had only just sated beginning to swell again, he lightly bit her soft earlobe. The woman gasped, drawing in a sharp breath as a shudder racked her frame.
Seeing that she didn’t seem to particularly dislike it, he traced the bud-like curve of her ear with his thumb before sliding the tip of his tongue against the small opening. At that, she recoiled, jerking her head back in shock.
“You said you wouldn’t do anything else!”
“Am I not even allowed to touch you?”
He pulled her tiny, perfectly-sized body into his arms and whispered against her forehead. Her large eyes shook violently.
Sensing her inner conflict, Barkas toyed with her slender waist through the duvet before lingering near her navel. She curled her body even tighter. This time, however, he could tell it wasn’t out of tension or anxiety, but arousal.
His gut burned with the hope that she might accept him once more.
“Can I move the blanket?”
“N-no.”
“Really?”
Even in the darkness, he could clearly see her eyes darting about as if she were weighing her options.
The corners of Barkas’s mouth quirked up. He stealthily slid his hand under the covers and carefully began to part her knees.
In that instant, the woman, who had been slowly relaxing, began to struggle violently as if she had been struck by lightning. He scowled and tightened his grip on her narrow waist. A shrill scream tore from her lips.
“It hurts!”
He released her immediately, as if he had been burned.
Not missing the opening, the woman scrambled out of bed. Wrapping herself tightly in the duvet, she stumbled toward the door. Barkas watched her with a grim expression before catching up to her in a few long strides.
“Why are you so desperate to return to your room?”
“I… I don’t want to be here. My room is more comfortable.”
Her voice was thick with deep-seated fear. The moment he realized this, it felt as if cold water had been poured over his head.
She was a woman who harbored a profound aversion to sexual contact. He realized his forceful behavior might have triggered her nightmares.
“Did I make you uncomfortable?” he muttered, his voice tight.
A complex swirl of emotions flickered across her face. She lowered her head and spoke in a subdued tone.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just… I’m more comfortable with my own way of doing things.”
“And is your ‘way’ to run away like a frightened rabbit after the deed is done?”
He didn’t want to push a woman who already seemed so unstable, but a sharp edge crept into his voice nonetheless. Fortunately, instead of shrinking back, she bristled and stood her ground.
“Who’s a frightened rabbit? I just prefer what’s efficient.”
In the bluish darkness, his arrogant Imperial Princess lifted her chin high.
“I will stay for as long as I want, when I want, and then I will leave. You can do as you please while we’re doing that, but afterward, things will go according to my will!”
He crossed his arms and gave her a crooked look. Seeing her bluffing even as her shoulders trembled, a cruel impulse momentarily flared within him.
He could handle her however he wished. He could force her to stay in his bed, and he could unleash his desires upon her as much as he wanted. But he also knew that if he succumbed to that savage urge, he would wound her so deeply it would be irreversible.
He closed his eyes tightly and then opened them.
The blue eyes that had provoked him incessantly since they were children were sparkling in the dark like shattered glass. He looked straight into them and asked, “Is that truly what you want?”
Something like hesitation flickered across her pale face. But soon, she stubbornly thrust out her chin.
“Yes.”
Barkas stared down at her silently, then twisted his lips into a smirk.
“Then I suppose I have no choice but to wait until you want to stay in my bedroom longer.”
Whether the words were unexpected or not, confusion clouded her eyes.
“That will never happen.”
“We shall see about that,” Barkas replied indifferently.
He snatched his pants from beside the bed and pulled them on quickly. Then, draping his Tunka over his shoulders, he scooped her up, duvet and all.
Startled by the sudden movement, a cry escaped her.
“D-don’t! I can walk on my own!”
Ignoring her protests, he stepped out into the brightly lit hallway. She immediately hid her face inside the duvet. Barkas let out a short laugh at the sight of her looking like a caterpillar hidden in a cocoon, then strode down the corridor.
He caught glimpses of servants watching him with startled expressions as he passed, but he didn’t care. Arriving at her chambers, Barkas supported her back with one arm and twisted the doorknob.
As they entered the room, she finally peeked her face out. The sight of her moist, reddish eyes and her disheveled golden hair made his throat tighten with a thick, intense thirst.
Suppressing the urge to crush his lips against hers then and there, he set her down on the bed and knelt before her.
“When do you think you might want to visit my chambers again?”
“How should I know?”
“Tomorrow?”
“I told you, I don’t know!”
He furrowed his brow. If she wouldn’t come, he could simply go to her. But he wasn’t sure if it was right to pressure her like that.
She wanted to choose for herself. If that was the only way this absurdly timid woman could feel safe, then he had to follow it. He wound a strand of her hair, which shimmered like golden glass, around his finger and stroked it gently.
“I will wait.”
Light danced across her blue irises in various hues. He gazed into her intensely trembling pupils and added slowly, “Come to me when you wish.”