Chapter 7

“Ah, I see. Face really matters to you.”

Lucien answered, grinding out each word, then moved his hesitant hand to unclasp the undergarment that covered her chest. As the garment that had been pressing against her chest was undone, her skin gently trembled. Out of a mischievous impulse, Lucien roughly gathered her rounded br*asts in his hands, but at Serenia’s sharp cry, he loosened his grip.

The sensation—soft yet firm—filled his palms, and his grip relaxed without him even realizing it. With clumsy movements, he kneaded her br*asts, the weighty flesh squeezing between his fingers.

“Ah, aaah, hng.”

Serenia gasped and moaned with every awkward, rough touch. Her lips, unable to close from her m*ans, revealed her red tongue, swaying and tempting Lucien. Unable to resist any longer, Lucien pressed his mouth, wet with saliva, to the peak of her chest.

“Aah! Not there, hng…”

He sucked at the only spot on her pale skin that was tinged a deeper color, rubbing it with his tongue, making Serenia’s back arch. Her hand, which had been stroking Lucien’s ear, trembled and then gripped his shoulder tightly, unable to hold back. Though it seemed she was pushing him away, every time his teeth grazed her n*pple, her grip on his shoulder tightened as if she were clinging to him.

Lucien filled his mouth with her skin, nipped with his teeth, pressed her n*pple with his tongue, and yet never took his gaze off Serenia’s face. He memorized every detail—the way Serenia’s eyes, wet and blurred with heat, grew more intense, the way her parted lips let out rising m*ans.

It was all a first for him. Serenia, who had always been vigilant and never showed a crack, was now utterly unraveled, her face flushed with passion and her expression melting with m*ans.

“Ha, hng, Nia, ah…”

His mind was hazy. The heat inside him was so intense, it felt suffocating—something he’d never felt even in the hottest summer. Every time Lucien’s wet lips bit and sucked her chest, the sound of wet flesh grew louder. Amid the sticky, drawn-out sounds, Lucien’s groans mixed with Serenia’s name. Lucien sounded as if the only words he knew were her nickname and m*ans of pleasure.

“Come on, Nia, huu, open your eyes wide and watch.”

“Ugh, mm! Ah!”

“The face you like so much, look—it’s taking such care, isn’t it?”

Lucien’s voice, tinged with laughter, made Serenia refocus through the shivering pleasure. Just lifting her head slightly, she saw Lucien’s face, mouth full of her br*ast, licking her n*pple hungrily. His tongue encircled and pressed the excited, upright red tip, rolling it in his mouth.

Just like Serenia, Lucien’s eyes, usually clear, now glinted dangerously with excitement, never letting go of her gaze. He took deep breaths, burying his nose in her skin, making animalistic sounds from his throat as his head pressed into her chest.

“Haa, wait, I… mm, I feel strange.”

“Mm. You should feel strange. I think I’m a little out of my mind too. Huu.”

Lucien was like a runaway racehorse. Or, more precisely, a male beast in heat. The unfamiliar sensation made Serenia want to stop out of fear, but her desire to keep watching Lucien’s excited face clashed violently with that fear. Yet, because this new, thrilling sensation was not faced alone, but with Lucien, Serenia wanted to press closer to his warmth rather than run away.

Lucien, who had been leaving red marks on her chest and stomach as if claiming territory, sat up. Irritated by his half-unbuttoned shirt, he roughly tossed it aside.

His muscles, hidden under his clothes, appeared sharply defined in the light. Every time Lucien, his hair damp with sweat, panted, his abs stood out. His body, lean and firm, looked like a work of art, and even Serenia, gasping with passion, stared at him in a daze for a moment.

“If you don’t want to look, just close your eyes.”

Lucien, noticing Serenia’s dreamy gaze, spoke gruffly, unusually sensitive to her reaction. He knew his body couldn’t be mistaken for Serion’s, and felt defensive.

Serenia said nothing, but Lucien, irritated, lowered his head again, baring his teeth at her neck. Their bodies pressed together once more, and her n*pples, which had been tormented by Lucien, now rubbed against his chest.

The sharp pain on her neck and the pressure of his solid body brought a strange satisfaction. Serenia’s eyes narrowed again. As Lucien’s hair tickled her chin, Serenia, pretending not to notice, bravely wrapped her arms around his head.

“Lu, Lu…! Mm.”

“…Ngh.”

When Serenia whispered the childhood nickname no one used anymore, Lucien was struck by a chilling sense of weakness and his vision spun. The tip of his aroused member, pressed inside his pants, swelled. Pre-c*m leaked out, and Lucien barely managed to hold back the urge to cl*max.

Only then did Lucien realize that, even as he panted like a mad dog over Serenia, he’d been tense, afraid she might say his brother’s name instead. This was worse than some adolescent boy just discovering s*x. Lucien buried his flushed face in her neck, his hips twitching.

He may have lacked experience, but he wasn’t ignorant. The three Delaroz brothers had received early s*x education from experts handpicked by Helena. So he knew how men and women physically came together, and like any other boy, Lucien had experienced wet dreams and m*sturbation during puberty.

But Lucien always wondered if the s*xual desire people talked about was just an illusion. The fleeting thrill and dizzying sensation weren’t as addictive as he’d heard, and the emptiness and fatigue afterward were much stronger.

On nights when he couldn’t sleep, he’d toss and turn in bed, recalling s*x education lessons and slipping his hand under his waistband. Physical stimulation made him hard, but his heart didn’t race or burn with anticipation as he’d been told.

Even when he tried to picture a n*ked body with his eyes closed, it was no use. Except for the educational diagrams he’d seen, Lucien had never seen a real woman’s n*de form, and no matter how hard he tried to imagine a faceless someone, there was a limit.

“Mm… ngh.”

In the end, after forcing himself to cl*max, only discomfort and fatigue lingered, making him even more irritable. The only thing m*sturbation had given him during puberty was that it helped him fall asleep.