TFM 119

Chapter 119

***

“Are you absolutely sure you won’t regret this?”

Varkas asked in a tight, strained voice.

Fearing that even the slightest sign of hesitation would cause him to push her away and walk out, she nodded immediately.

After staring intently into her eyes for a long moment, the man finally wrapped one arm around her waist and stood up. Talia instinctively grabbed the hem of his coat.

With a clatter, two golden buttons that had been clinging precariously to his chest rolled onto the floor. As she absentmindedly followed them with her eyes, she felt the soft sheets beneath her hips.

Talia looked up at him with eyes filled with anxiety. Varkas, who had set her down on the bed, tossed aside his open-fronted shirt. The flickering light greedily licked his upper body, sculpted as smoothly as a statue.

For a moment, her heart gave a sharp jolt.

Talia hurriedly lowered her gaze. Varkas cupped her cheeks with both hands and forced her to look up at him.

“It’s not too late, even now. If you tell me to leave, I’ll quietly step aside.”

It was a question that tore apart even her last shred of pride.

Talia steeled her reddened eyes and glared at him.

“My decision stands.”

So please, just stop asking.

As she swallowed the plea rising in her throat, his hand slid down the nape of her neck. Talia stiffened in surprise.

As if testing her, Varkas fixed his hard gaze on her face while tracing her cold-sweat-dampened skin, then moved his hand up to the top button of her dress. He lingered for a long moment, as if giving her time to refuse, before slowly unfastening the clasp.

Soon, the front of her dress parted, revealing the swelling of her cleavage.

His blue eyes, sunk deeper than usual, settled upon it. It felt as though his heart might shatter his ribs and burst out of his body at any moment.

Talia, who had been biting her lip in shame, hurriedly grabbed his wrist as Varkas moved his hand down to the second button.

“Turn… turn them all off.”

He stood motionless, simply gazing down at her. Feeling as though his gaze was seeing right through her deeply shrinking inner self, Talia raised her voice.

“Can’t you hear me?”

Only then did Varkas stand up and extinguish the candles scattered throughout the room.

As deep shadows fell across the room, his outline grew faint. But it wasn’t dark enough to satisfy her.

She gestured toward the fireplace.

“That one, too.”

The man, who had been quietly watching her, walked over to the fireplace and pulled down the cover.

Finally, thick darkness engulfed the room. Talia took a deep breath and squeezed out a hoarse voice.

“Now…… come here.”

But there was no sign of movement.

Talia, scanning the darkness with dilated pupils, moved her lips pitifully.

“Varkas… W-where are you?”

As the silence persisted, the suffocating feeling grew stronger.

Could he have just left her behind and disappeared?

Overcome by despair, she was gasping for breath when one side of the bed suddenly sagged.

Spotting his shadow, Talia reached out frantically.

She had no energy left to maintain her composure. She wrapped her arms around his long, taut neck and inhaled his scent as if gasping for air. She had to confirm that she wasn’t alone in this darkness—that he was right there with her.

“Hold me. Right now.”

As soon as her fit subsided, she gasped the words into his ear. The man, who had been as stiff as stone, laid her down on the bed.

Talia looked up at the dark shadow cast over her with eyes that trembled slightly. A hand, surprisingly hot, settled on her skin, which had grown as cold as ice.

Startled by the hand gripping the front of her dress, she hunched her neck—and in that instant, the hem of her skirt was pulled up over her waist.

Realizing he was trying to undress her, Talia screamed hysterically.

“Oh, no! Don’t undress me!”

The dark shadow looming over her head froze in place for a moment.

Gripping his wrist, Talia added urgently,

“Just do it while I’m still dressed.”

“………Are you telling me to rape you?”

A hoarse voice echoed in her ear.

Talia barely managed to swallow the sobs rising in her throat.

“It’s not rape. It’s just… it’s just the way I want it.”

She felt she could never endure his touch unless she hid her body beneath the flowing dress.

Swallowing the rest of her words, she pulled him toward her with all her might. Varkas, who had frozen for a moment, soon exhaled a ragged breath and climbed on top of her.

Immediately, a wet tongue forced its way between her lips. As she instinctively sucked in the flesh that plunged deep enough to pierce her throat, hot breath filled her lungs.

It felt as if she were inhaling a blaze. Enveloped in dizzying heat, she pulled his neck even tighter toward her, but then she felt a large hand pushing its way between her thighs.

Fearing the hand might touch her leg, Talia hurriedly spread her knees apart. A long, firm finger immediately settled on her sensitive spot. In that instant, an unexpected wave of revulsion washed over her.

Talia frantically pushed his tongue away and shook her head vigorously.

“I, I don’t like that. Stop it.”

“If you don’t let go, you might get hurt.”

A soothing voice whispered in her ear.

Talia shook her head even more violently.

“I’m, I’m fine, so just do it.”

“………………Not until you’re fully ready.”

Varkas muttered softly into her ear and slowly began to move his fingers.

Talia’s stomach clenched, and she dug her nails into his shoulders, which were as hard as marble. Every pore in her body opened, and cold sweat trickled down her skin.

The thought that he was touching her dirtiest part was horrifying. In fact, she didn’t even want him to know that such a hideous part existed on her body.

Trembling violently, Talia soon lost her patience and urged him in a rough voice.

“Th-that’s enough. It’s enough, so… just do it.”

“Not yet.”

“I don’t want to… wait any longer. Just do it already.”

If he dragged this out any longer, she might lose consciousness. Just as she was about to blurt that out, she felt the solid muscles surrounding his body contract all at once.

A moment later, she heard the sound of a belt being unfastened, and the waist that had been tightly cinched between her thighs sank down. Talia tensed her entire body like a bowstring.

She felt a heavy pressure from below. Instinctively, she pushed her hips back, but the pressure only grew more intense.

The sensation of her stomach being crushed made her open her mouth without realizing it. No scream came out. Like a fish floundering on dry land, she opened and closed her mouth silently, then rolled his name on the tip of her tongue.

Varkas. Varkas. Varkas.

As she repeated his name over and over, clinging to it like a drowning person grasping at a straw, he pushed deeper inside her.

The pain felt as if her body were being torn apart, and finally, a rough sob burst from her throat. Perhaps hearing that sound, Varkas barely managed to stop his thrusts.

Her eyes, now adjusted to the darkness, faintly made out a face that seemed to be enduring something terrible.

At that moment, a pain that transcended physical suffering weighed heavily on her chest. That expression—as if he were enduring some kind of penance—hurt a hundred times more than the act of being torn apart inside.

Talia bit her lip, suppressing the sobs choking her throat.

Please don’t frown.

Don’t make that kind of expression.

Just as she swallowed the words swirling in her mouth, the man, whose eyes had been pale and vacant, slowly pulled his hips back.

Realizing he was about to stop, Talia clung desperately to his back.

“No. Don’t stop here.”

There’s no need to feel miserable. No need to suffer either. I’m just using him to achieve my goal.

Thinking this to herself, Talia braced herself against the pain and lifted her hips.

As their loosened union deepened, their sweat-soaked bodies became entwined. At the same moment, a sound like grinding teeth—a low, gritted “Ugh”—echoed, followed by a somewhat rough rhythm.

Talia desperately endured his movements. Her lower abdomen gradually grew hot, as if she were holding a red-hot piece of iron.

It felt so strange. That a body usually as cold as ice could be so hot.

Talia, panting as she clung tightly to his sturdy, sweat-slicked body, absentmindedly ran her fingers over his taut, bulging back muscles.

Her vision swam as his movements gradually quickened.

How long had they been tossed back and forth by the rough currents like a shipwrecked rowboat? Their increasingly frenzied movements finally came to an end.