Chapter 56

He might truly once have been lost in that body that leaned into him with those lovely eyes curved into crescents. To think that he, of all people, who had felt nothing at all even before the temptations of the singer Trisha, whom men in Aerondo were said to lose their heads over in a single night, could have been swayed by this woman’s appearance.

If he had indeed done what should neither have happened nor been possible, then it must mean his wife’s skill at seducing men was exceptional.

And so now he was deeply curious what exactly she was plotting this time.

“Would you let go now? I’m tired and I want to wash up and rest.”

The chain of thoughts up to that point vanished at her voice asking him in cold eyes where none of that former sparkle remained.

“That works well enough. I was waiting for you too.”

“You were waiting, for me?”

Puzzled, Yvonne found herself almost dragged along behind him as he strode forward. The direction he was heading was not Yvonne’s bedroom, but his own.

“W-wait a moment. What are you doing?”

“I’m going to proceed with the deal right now. If it’s a deal, as you said, then naturally I should do my part.”

“Right now?”

“…Wasn’t it you who wanted to leave this house as soon as possible, even by a single day? Then you, not I, should be showing more enthusiasm.”

The moment they entered his bedroom, the door slammed shut. Before she could even say anything, Carlisle pushed Yvonne onto the bed and hooked a finger into the knot of his tightly fastened tie, tugging it free.

As he undid the loosened buttons of his shirt, the strong line of his throat came into view.

Yvonne, flustered, stammered.

“…Wait a moment. Even if we do this, at least let me wash first.”

“How ridiculous. Since when did we ever bother about things like that? In the beginning of our marriage, we came together without even thinking of washing up first. Have you forgotten?”

Yvonne’s face flared hot.

Just as he said, there had been a brief time at the beginning of their marriage when they had burned for each other.

At the start of the marriage, on that night after the awkward wedding ceremony. From the moment Yvonne had glimpsed his face through the veil at the ceremony, she had pressed down the trembling of her wildly pounding heart and forced herself to gather courage and resolve.

Because she had been so grateful to him.

She had been deeply grateful to him for taking her out of that dreadful Earldom and making her his wife.

She had thought he had not forgotten the promise they had made as children, and while she waited with excited anticipation for when he would show that he recognized her, she had wanted to show him her sincere heart out of gratitude.

‘I want to make a good life with you. I want to have a child who resembles you, and I want to work hard in supporting you as your wife.’

It had been a confession wrung out with all the courage she could gather while pressing down her trembling heart.

But to those words, Carlisle had given no answer at all.

At first, she had thought perhaps he was too embarrassed to answer. The man he had become as an adult was no longer the kind and shy boy she remembered, but she had thought that the image he showed outwardly was something he adopted deliberately as the Duke and as the head of Rein Kleint Company, roles in which he had to show dignity.

And so she had endured even the fear of the wedding night. Because of the Earl, who would lay hands on others however he pleased, she had developed such terror that facing a tall, grown man could make her whole body go rigid in an instant, yet she forced herself to swallow all that fear.

Though she had trembled in fright, once they were actually together, she was happy with the fact that she was touching Carlisle and with the realization that she had become his wife.

But the next morning, at the dining table after seeing the empty space beside her in bed, she could do nothing but be disappointed by the true feelings she finally heard from him.

‘There’s no need to try that hard. You only need to fulfill the duties of a Duchess properly.’

It had been a remark that cooled the night’s lingering warmth in an instant.

Only then did Yvonne realize that he did not remember her at all. She had been disappointed, but even so, she believed that before long he would remember who she was.

When day broke, theirs was a dry relationship, but once night came and darkness covered their faces, at least in bed they burned more hotly than ever.

That alone had been her consolation. At least, until after several months had passed, she realized that even after confessing several times, she had not melted his iron heart in the slightest.

That brief line of thought scattered beneath the cool air touching her chest. As the front of Yvonne’s bodice loosened, the pale skin hidden inside was exposed. Then, as he stripped away the hem of her skirt, her body was laid bare in nothing but thin underclothes.

“Do you still have the leisure to think about something else right now?”

Confronted with her milk-pale skin, Carlisle crooked one corner of his mouth.

“Our bodies suited each other well enough, didn’t they? If you want what you desire and hope a child will come quickly, then cooperate.”

* * *

Carlisle’s claim that he needed an heir made it clear that it had not simply been something he said in passing. That much could be seen from the marital relations that continued every night without fail.

And the beginning was always a deep kiss. As if to signify the collapse of all conversation, Carlisle swallowed Yvonne’s lips and mercilessly pinned down her small body. The brushing of his lips at first was soft, but soon the movement turned fierce, as if he meant to devour her.

With his tongue thr*st deep inside, he stirred through her saliva and rubbed himself against her as he pleased. The more he traced every line of her even teeth, missing nothing, tasting and exploring, the more his thirst deepened instead of being satisfied.

“Hngh-! Carli, mm—”

As he wrapped himself freely around hers, which had gone stiff before it could even accept him, she who had only trembled and tried to escape slowly lost her strength. He gripped in full the delicate body struggling for breath beneath him, and the softly rising and falling br*asts as well, kneading them hard in his hands.

At last, their long-locked lips parted. Unlike Yvonne, who released a heavy breath, Carlisle seemed almost reluctant, and he swept a thumb across her lips damp with her own saliva.

Letting out a short laugh, he once more slowly traced her neat lips with his thumb. In the next instant, her two struggling hands were caught in one sweep and dragged above her head.

“If you’ve agreed to this deal, then you ought to behave obediently.”

“I only find it strange how eager you are about this deal.”

Bracing both hands beside Yvonne’s face, he lowered his upper body. His dark gray eyes, almost bland in their dryness, shone with a cold light right before her.

“I told you I need an heir. You only need to fulfill that role faithfully.”

Yvonne’s heart had once raced at the face of this man who could let all expression vanish and give off such a cool air.

She had once thought the contrast, so ill-suited yet so striking, only heightened his charm, but now all she felt from him was an oppressive force that was difficult to resist.

The full softness of her chest, ample for her frame, was crushed into disarray beneath his large hand. After his fingers toyed with her swollen n*pple, damp lips suddenly closed around the pink bud. He traced circles with the tip of his tongue, wetting it with saliva, and even gave it a light bite between his teeth.

“I don’t understand why you’re the one taking such a dissatisfied tone. Don’t test the patience I’ve shown in putting up with all your behavior.”

“If you know nothing at all, then you of all people—mm….”

As he pressed down on her n*pple after the teasing play of his tongue, a deep heat spread through her entire body. Soon the hand that had been gripping and kneading her br*ast moved down and slipped inside her undergarments.

“Hahng, ah! Wait….”

When he slid his fingers between the warm, wet folds, Yvonne’s struggling grew stronger. Seizing the moment when a ragged m*an escaped her, he pushed his fingers deep into her wet entrance.

When Yvonne writhed, he whispered in a low breath.

“If you move like that, you only provoke me more.”

“Ahh… even so, right now… mm!”

When Yvonne tried to twist away, shaking her waist as his fingers moved inside her, he bit the n*pple he had been worrying even more painfully.

At the sharp sensation racing up her spine, Yvonne’s whole body trembled.

“Haang-! Ngh.”

The corners of Yvonne’s eyes flushed red. Each time he lightly tapped at the small swollen bud there, a rich and maddening sensation circled through her and stole her breath.

Lying on the bed, Yvonne looked at his face, full of the exhilaration of having driven his prey into his own cage.

“Hngh, is it fun for you, playing with another person’s weakness?”

“No.”

His previously well-shaped lips tilted crookedly.

“The fun starts now.”

At the sight of Yvonne shrinking in on her bared body, Carlisle let some of the sharpness in his gaze ease. Looking at the inside of the stripped-down underclothes, he gave a dry laugh.

“Shouldn’t you have said things like that before you got yourself wet down there?”

Yvonne’s roundly widened eyes grew damp with frustration. Strangely, just looking at that flushed face made the heat low in his body swell until it felt near bursting.

Carlisle gripped both of Yvonne’s knees hard in his large hands. With that, her legs were spread wide, and cool air touched naturally between the thighs she had been trying to keep closed.

Grasping himself in one hand, Carlisle slowly pressed the head of his length into her. It felt as if the nerves that had been taut with tension were waking one by one.

“Hngh-! Ahh….”

Yvonne’s shoulders trembled at the sensation of him working deeper inside. As the blunt tip stirred against her inner walls, a crushing pressure spread through her whole body as though every nerve were being pressed down. At the sight of her, Carlisle, with no patience to wait, threw her slender legs behind his waist and then drove himself straight in with one hard thr*st.