Chapter 16
“Why are you dressed like that? What would you have done if some other bastard had barged in instead of me…”
His temper flared first, and logic came later.
Why am I angry? We’re not in a relationship where she owes me fidelity. Am I worried she might have another man? That she deceived me by pretending to be inexperienced? Or am I worried about hygiene because witches might be promiscuous?
In that brief instant, distrust exploded inside him. But the strongest feeling was still concern. A young woman living alone in a forest like this was dangerous enough as it was.
This won’t do. He could think about the rest later. Max flung the door open and grabbed her shoulders first. Lizzy flinched at his touch and gave an awkward smile.
“Oh, what man other than you would come looking for me after business hours? I just thought the Warden Duke might visit at night, so I tried dressing myself up a little.”
“No…”
“It doesn’t suit me, so you were making fun of me, right? I know how u-ugly I am. My skin is dull, and my freckles are unsightly. Why, I’ve been called ugly ever since I was little.”
“I wasn’t saying that.”
“That’s why I wasn’t sure. Whether you would really come back. You might have regretted our promise… So I desperately prayed that you would come soon. I-It was rather shameless of me… Did my feelings turn into a spell and fly to you? If you thought about me today, then it worked. Now, it’s cold outside. Hurry and come i— Mmph…!”
He had nearly told her to stop living in seclusion in this gloomy forest and move into his residence.
Max clenched his teeth. Again. That feeling of losing control. To stop himself from spouting any more nonsense, he decided to seal his lips with the witch’s. He immediately hooked an arm around her unguarded waist and pulled the back of her head toward him.
“Ngh…!”
Their second kiss was deep from the very beginning.
He learned that the tip of his tongue could even brush against another person’s uvula. All he had to do with the overflowing saliva was swallow skillfully while sucking on her soft lips. The cheek he buried his nose against heated beneath his breath. His own cheek was warming beneath the woman’s breath as well.
Yet amid that strange sense of fulfillment, dissatisfaction stirred. As though she had something to say, the woman’s moist tongue refused to stay still while his wrapped around it and kept slipping away in every direction.
Eventually, he lost it.
Barely escaping Max’s futile pursuit, Elizia exhaled the breath that had been trapped inside her with a gasp.
“Wow, I don’t think there’s anything more I can teach you about kissing…! I’m dizzy… B-But perhaps you could take it a little slower and vary the pace. And if you could warn me before you kiss me, so I can prepare myself…”
“Enough. Have you ever seen someone announce, ‘I’m going to cut your throat now,’ before launching a surprise attack? Forget manners and let’s get to the point. Where’s the bedroom?”
“Down the h-hall, turn left once, then right once… Ah!”
“Who the hell built a house like this? Did they dig out a burrow or something?”
“Eek…!”
He knew nothing about kissing etiquette.
But he understood foreplay for s*x. It probably began by not letting his lips leave his partner’s skin.
Max swept Elizia up in one motion and easily slung her over one shoulder. As she rustled against his chest, the purpose of her negligee became blatantly obvious. Why would someone going to bed alone wear sleepwear split open at the sides like this? The Warden Duke strode down the corridor, buried his face between the fabric, bit into her soft waist, then sucked it into his mouth.
Elizia shrieked.
“No, n-not there. The flesh there…!”
“It feels good in my hand, so what does it matter? I’ll tell you this now. Thin bodies make me uneasy. So I’d rather you didn’t worry about losing weight. I’d prefer it if you gained more.”
“How irresponsible…”
“Just tell me what you want too. We’re rubbing our bodies together for mutual pleasure, so I’ll try to suit your tastes.”
Thump!
He kicked the bedroom door open with his military boot.
Nibbles, who had been curled up inside in the form of a squirrel, fled through a crack in the window in surprise.
Maximilian was a capable man. Even in the cramped room that felt full the moment he entered, he held Elizia while neatly removing his cloak and easily kicking off his military boots. Only the rattling longsword did he leave close by at the foot of the bed. Then he laid the woman he had brought with him on the mattress as though tossing her down. Several old animal hides had been layered across it.
“O-Oh my…”
The bed sank deeply. Max had climbed onto it on his knees.
The man unfastened the buttons of his austere military uniform, which had been closed all the way to his chin. Click, click. His face was expressionless, but his black gaze pierced Elizia like the path of an arrow. It looked like the gaze of a hunter preparing to strip the flesh from his prey while it was still alive.
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