Chapter 21
Ever since returning from the Kepine Salon, the man had not left her mind.
Black hair, black brows, and dark eyes.
A face so handsome it gave her chills.
But what dominated her thoughts was the indescribable aura he possessed.
Every time he opened his mouth, something tingling and hot seemed to pierce through her body from head to toe.
When she heard his voice, her body stiffened and something deep inside her grew so hot that her legs trembled faintly.
She had wanted to collapse right then and there.
And on top of that, his touch…
Evina suddenly realized that her legs, beneath her indoor dress, were slowly spreading open on their own, and she quickly pressed them together.
She set down her teacup and clasped her faintly trembling hands together tightly.
To her, s*x was less horrifying and more revolting.
Ah, there had been a time when it was horrifying.
When she first married Viscount Derise, thirty years her senior, and had her first relations with him. When he slapped her across the cheek as she begged him to spare her and shoved that hideous thing between her legs.
When he choked her as she screamed, driving into her burning insides with that skewer-like c**k.
Back then, it had been horrifying.
But they say humans are creatures of adaptation.
After repeating the same process a few times, her body seemed to have grown accustomed to it. Even when the Viscount shoved that revolting thing inside her, it was no longer horrifying.
She just wished the time would pass faster.
She got slapped a few times for refusing to simper and fawn over him the way his dead ex-wives had, but the Viscount soon gave up and sought out courtesans instead.
After that, s*x became less horrifying and more simply disgusting and repulsive.
So she was confused.
It was the first time the place deep between her thighs, where the Viscount’s thing went in, had ever grown hot.
Something she had never once experienced before.
“My lady, the tea has gone cold. Shall I boil fresh water?”
At Therese’s voice, Evina snapped back to her senses and nodded.
“Would you?”
“Yes, I’ll be right back.”
Cheap tea only grew more bitter as it cooled.
She stared quietly at the cold tea.
What nagged at her was the feeling that she had seen the man somewhere before.
But she had spent eighteen years unable to leave the Siollier estate, and now she couldn’t even leave the Derise residence. Where on earth could she have met such a striking man?
The memory of the cold leather glove slowly stroking up her waist surfaced, and she straightened her back sharply.
“Ha…”
She pressed her fingers to her temple and shook her head faintly.
She was aware of it herself.
That lately, she was thinking about the man far too often and far too deeply.
But she couldn’t stop it.
Some might call it the wantonness of a woman living an unhappy life, but it was a little different.
It was instinct.
Though even Evina herself didn’t know why.
* * *
Finally, the day of the New Year’s gathering arrived.
As always, Viscount Derise woke at the crack of dawn and began his grooming. Considering he usually woke well past noon, it was an impressive display of dedication.
He forbade Evina and all the servants from using hot water, telling them to save on firewood, yet he himself bathed in water boiled scalding hot and rinsed his body several times.
Servants carrying water to the Viscount’s room went up and down the stairs over a dozen times from the early morning.
Evina felt relieved when Therese slipped a few eron to Hainz, who tended the furnace, and brought back two buckets of hot water.
It was too cold.
On a day like this, soaking in cold water might have stopped her breath entirely.
“Thank you, Therese.”
Evina took Therese’s hand and expressed her gratitude.
“It’s nothing.”
“Thank you for always doing your best for me, Therese.”
She tucked twenty eron into Therese’s front pocket.
“Please continue to take good care of me.”
“Of course, my lady! Now hurry and get in. It should be a little better at least.”
Evina nodded and stepped into the tub.
“Ah…”
“It’s warm, isn’t it?”
She couldn’t exactly call it warm, but it was decent enough to wash with.
“Thank you.”
Therese nodded and her hands grew busy.
Leaving the bath to her, Evina sighed inwardly.
Discussion
0 CommentsReactions
No comments yet.