Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Her hands trembled as she took his arm. Blood stained her fingertips. With a thud, the coat finally fell to the floor.
Only the shirt remained. With bloodstained fingers, she began unbuttoning it. His collarbone was now exposed. The emperor continued to watch her, his gaze silent yet intense. Her mouth went dry. His collarbone, chest, abdomen… slowly revealed. Unlike his blood-soaked clothing, his skin was pale and unblemished, just like hers.
Jia grasped the clinging shirt and, as before, pulled it over his shoulders. At that moment, the emperor caught her hand. The bloodstains were gone. His smile deepened.
“Just like me.”
“….”
“No matter how much blood we’re covered in, it disappears after a while.”
The emperor traced a circle on her small palm with his fingernail. Jia’s fingers involuntarily curled. It tickled. It felt like goosebumps, and a strange tightness in her lower abdomen.
Suddenly, his nail dug deep into her palm. Jia gasped, her eyes squeezing shut. Blood welled from the crescent-shaped wound. In the same instant, he pulled her hand to his mouth and placed his tongue on the cut.
“Hngh…!”
His wet tongue licked her palm slowly, lingeringly. Even after the wound vanished, he continued to lap at the spot as if tracing its outline, then his teeth grazed her skin.
“Ah…!”
His teeth sank in, drawing blood. The emperor sucked the blood from the wound, his lips and tongue savoring it. Jia gasped, clutching his wrist.
She belatedly remembered the rule against touching him without permission. As her hand hovered uncertainly, the emperor chuckled and took her hand, placing it back on his wrist, as if granting permission.
Jia squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them, tightening her grip on his wrist. Each time his teeth pierced her skin, her grip intensified.
“Ah… hn… hhh…”
Her body went weak, despite the fleeting pain and the quick healing. Jia’s knees buckled. Luckily, her grip on his arm kept her from falling.
The emperor finally lifted his head. Her palm was smooth, unmarked, glistening only with saliva. He ran his tongue over his lips, collecting the remaining blood.
“Your blood… tastes different.”
Jia stared blankly at his red tongue disappearing into his mouth. Their eyes met for a moment. He spoke.
“Finish undressing me.”
“…Yes, yes.”
Jia looked at his bare torso and the long pants covering his legs. She would have to bend down to remove them.
Leaning over, she unfastened the buckle. With saliva-slicked fingers, she slowly pulled his pants down. The curve of his hipbone and a glimpse of silver hair were visible. Jia squeezed her eyes shut.
Still with her eyes closed, she pulled the pants down, then straightened and opened her eyes. She couldn’t bring herself to look down. A smirk played on the emperor’s lips.
“Never seen a man’s body before?”
Jia’s face flushed crimson. Taking her blush as an answer, his eyes crinkled with amusement as he looked at her naive expression.
“You must be quite young.”
“I-I’m twenty-three…”
The emperor let out a breath. “313 years younger than me.”
That meant he was at least 336 years old. Jia began to understand, just a little, the emperor’s boredom and his pursuit of stimulation.
Would she have to live that long, too? Here?
The thought was abhorrent. She’d never wanted this. She wanted to grow old and die like everyone else.
“You look horrified.”
“Ah…”
“You can make that face. I find it horrifying too.”
Jia’s lips parted like a fish. She didn’t know what to say. Fear and anxiety consumed her.
The emperor left her standing there while he donned his robe. Jia turned her head away from the coppery stench of blood rising from his discarded clothes.
“Come here.”
The emperor sat on the bed and beckoned. Like the night before, Jia climbed onto the bed and nestled close to him. He looked intently at her, settled between his legs. Hesitantly, she lay down on his chest.
“This time, you will wound me.” He stroked her hair as he spoke. Her eyes widened.
“Scratch me with your nails, bite me… whatever you choose.”
The command was absolute. Jia swallowed hard and dug her nails into his firm chest. She raked them down, leaving red marks. But that was all. She scratched him again, from chest to abdomen.
“Hmm…” The emperor groaned softly, his eyes narrowing.
“I didn’t mean to arouse me.”
“What? Oh…”
Arouse? She didn’t understand at first, but then she felt the pressure against her lower body and quickly pulled away.
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