TPWSM 98

Chapter 98

The Grand Duke’s eyes flushed red. “Ha…” A painful groan slipped from him. He looked like a wounded beast, on the verge of howling at any moment.

“Now I understand why you never asked me about my identity. You must have recognized me at first sight.”

“…Yes.”

There was no way to deny it. The moment he had walked into the pawnshop and sat across from me, I had realized it was him.

He silently gazed down at me. I clutched my restless heart and looked up at him. Our eyes tangled in midair as silence thickened all around us. Only the sound of rain outside the window could be heard.

“How… how despicable must I have seemed to you. You saw my pathetic self from beginning to end. I can’t even imagine how ridiculous I must have looked.”

The Grand Duke shook his head.

“All the rambling feelings I muttered to myself… you must have heard them too. And even knowing that, you treated me as if nothing was wrong.”

“It’s my fault. I’m sorry.”

I knew that apology was the only thing I could say. Even knowing it would come to this, I let the situation drag on this far. This was my mistake, and I had to bear responsibility for it.

“No, the one at fault is me. I was the one who tried to hide first. I was the one who tried to deceive you. You only helped someone who was in need.”

He kept pressing such words into himself, trying to force down his emotions. Denying my fault, blaming himself instead. His voice was thick and low, as though something was about to burst out—not anger, but some other emotion close to it.

The hand that had been holding my wrist slipped down and locked tightly with my fingers.

Why is he doing this? I tried to pull back, but he gripped tighter, refusing to let me go.

“Your Grace, don’t blame yourself. There’s no need to say who deceived whom first. It’s true that I wronged you—”

“Alisa.”

Just hearing my name fall from his lips made my heart drop to the floor with a thud.

“…Yes.”

“Right now, I feel completely stripped bare.”

His voice sank, heavy and damp, like a mist over water. His eyes, reddened, glistened like peach blossoms touched by rain. Almost unconsciously, I reached out and brushed beneath his eyes. My fingers came away wet with his warmth.

Strangely, he did not look sorrowful. At the time my true identity was revealed, his gaze had been cold, but at some point it had grown deep and burning.

All I could do now was offer helpless explanations.

“I was going to tell you everything today. Truly. But I kept missing the chance, and things turned out this way. What can I do… to ease Your Grace’s heart?”

The Grand Duke gave a bitter smile and shook his head. At the same time, a tear slid down his cheek.

“Don’t just apologize. Answer me.”

“…Pardon?”

“You heard me. That I’ve taken you into my heart. That I desperately desire you. That I want to stand proudly at your side as a man.”

He rubbed his face roughly with one hand, then bore down on me without pause.

“Even after being played with by your hand, right now… my heart, my body, everything is burning up. I’m going mad with wanting to touch you.”

He raised my hand and pressed it against his cheek. Heat and dampness spread across my palm. He closed his eyes and smiled in rapture as if savoring my touch.

That face—frighteningly beautiful—stared at me relentlessly. His gaze was almost wicked in its intensity.

“Alisa Lasantia. Answer me now. Will you throw me away… or will you claim me?”

He tilted up my chin gently, offering only two choices.

What other answer could there be?

I rose on my toes and closed my eyes.

Smack.

I kissed his lips.

The Grand Duke froze as if struck by lightning. Ripples spread through his violet eyes. His face looked dazed, as though he’d been hit hard.

“David… won’t you part them a little?”

I whispered secretively in his ear. A playful mood stirred within me. I wanted to finish what we had left undone on the terrace of Barbica Hall.

“It must be sweeter inside—mmph!”

He seized the back of my head and devoured my lips greedily. The fierce press of his hot flesh crushed my mouth’s soft inner walls without restraint.

Instinctively, I clung to his chest and accepted the kiss. His relentless probing made my shoulders tremble uncontrollably.

Heat welled from my chest, crawled up my neck, and surged into my face. My heartbeat pounded irregularly, hammering against my temples.

The kiss, unrefined yet forceful, pierced straight and deep. It was both welcome and overwhelming.

I tilted my head back, breaking away just long enough to gasp.

“Haa… haa…” Our foreheads pressed together as we struggled for breath. Our mingled sighs escaped between parted lips, connected by a thin silver thread.

I untied the knot of his robe. The soaked fabric slipped heavily to the floor.

Placing my lips against his ear, I undid the buttons of his vest one by one. He let out a low moan and sucked on my lips with desperation.

Then, suddenly, my body was lifted high. Even with my eyes closed, I knew where he was carrying me.

Thump. My back sank into a soft bed.

I opened my eyes. The Grand Duke loomed over me, trapping me between his arms. His slightly swollen lips gleamed with my saliva. His pupils were hazy and unfocused, his face overcome with raw impulse, dangerously lewd.

He pressed his lips to my forehead, my lips, my cheeks in turn. I gripped his shoulders, trembling at the breath that raked through him. His kisses slid along my jawline, up to my ear.

“…I don’t trust myself.”

His heated breath swept into my ear, making me shiver. What didn’t he trust, when he had already pushed me this far? I forced my heavy eyelids open to meet his eyes.

“I don’t trust myself to stop. If I go all the way… is that all right?”

His gaze, clouded with intoxication, locked on mine as he asked.

“I want to know. Just how far the end is.”

Was my answer too provocative? He let out a sound, half laugh, half sigh.

Then he hurriedly yanked apart the ties of my robe, tugging free the laces of my shirt beneath. Cold air seeped into my collarbone only for his hot lips to cover it instantly. My sensitive skin pulled taut under the suction, and a sharp moan escaped me.

“Ahh…” I bit my lip hard, my brow furrowed.

Our clothes peeled away layer by layer. His warm, solid body pressed down on me, heavy but not suffocating. Sweat slicked our skin, sticking us together.

In the faint light of the oil lamp, he touched me carefully. His hands, clumsy but tender, brushed sensitive places that made me shudder and claw at his back.

He was learning me, every part of me. It should have been his first time… so why did it feel like it was mine? Was it because it had been so long since I had shared warmth with another person?

Just as I began to lose myself in thought, his lips crashed down on mine again, rougher.

The more fiercely he devoured me, the more my mind melted like candle wax. My arms wound around his neck.

A breathtakingly beautiful man was tearing me open, exploring me without restraint.

I yielded to his relentless curiosity, weak and pliant.

At some point, the sound of rain outside vanished from my awareness.

“…Alisa.”

He called my name, voice burning.

His touch grew more deliberate, more thorough. His wet lips roamed ceaselessly across my skin. The air around the bed grew heavier, hotter. I bit my lower lip and whimpered.

“Do you know… how beautiful you are right now?”

He traced the red marks left on my body and smiled. Irritated, I dug my nails into his shoulder. But he, unbothered, showered kisses over my earlobe, my cheeks, my temple. Everywhere his lips passed, my pulse throbbed.

Too sweet to be punishment, too intoxicating to be a reward. My limbs curled in, the hairs on my nape standing one by one. At last, he pulled me into a fierce embrace.

“Haa… I take back everything I said before.”

He whispered, breath ragged.

“If you are to bear an heir…”

“…Ahh.”

I couldn’t even form a proper answer.

“It must be mine.”

With that possessive declaration, he drove me to the point of tears.

Their belated wedding night stretched on until dawn.