Chapter 30

There was not a single thing here that belonged to him. Everything was something taken from him. And yet in the middle of the place that made his teeth grind and his stomach turn every time he saw it because of that fact, there was a woman who had become wholly his.

One who could not be coveted by his father’s will full of betrayal, nor by the viper-like Eliya Strauss. A person he had won with his own strength, even if there had been some twists and turns in obtaining her.

No matter that he was Kyle Strauss, he did not deny that Hazel was someone special to him.

Even the newspapers full of hypocritical journalism had not lied, at least not where the two of them were concerned. Even during the five years when they had lost contact, Hazel had cheered Kyle on.

The hand brushing down her shoulder gripped her waist hard.

It felt as though the spine that had been softly curved was being straightened awkwardly. Her physical reaction, as honest as her expression, was absurd enough. Given what lay between them, this attitude of guarding herself from her own lover with her entire body was not exactly proper.

He stepped forward once. Because of that, the woman’s effort to shrink away from him became pointless. What her retreat looked like was simply that of a shy young lady backing away, unable to withstand such spark-throwing affection.

From Hazel’s mouth, bent so far back her neck was nearly forced upward, there spilled a trembling breath.

“Mm……”

It was fortunate that today she wore the low-heeled shoes she only put on when meeting Alice. Had she been balanced atop the high heels perfect for punching holes into someone’s instep, like the day she had come to the salon, her ankle no thicker than Kyle’s wrist might have cracked outright.

The arms that had been hanging helplessly at her sides lifted and pushed at his chest.

Hazel still did not know how to catch her breath while kissing. Or perhaps she was simply trying somehow to escape because she could not stand Kyle that much.

From Hazel’s point of view, Kyle was a man who had circled her, waiting only for a chance, then extended his hand like a grand favor only after she had been driven to the cliff’s edge. If her name had not been Fitzroy, he was the kind of rude, heartless man who would have tossed a single chrysanthemum onto the place where she had fallen to her death.

Moreover, all the nonsense people—more precisely, those who paid money for reporters’ printed words—had been spouting must have reached Hazel as well.

There was a paradoxical power to that baseless certainty that the money had not been earned by proper means, and the fantasy created by the man’s silence sounded as plausible as a horned horse.

It was not worth responding to one by one. There was no reason for it either. The silence had already created a baseless truth. Even if he brought proof and truth plated neatly on a silver tray, people only believed what they wanted to believe.

Rather than get tangled in worthless matters, it was better to let them believe as they pleased while he quietly focused on his own work……. Of course, it was regrettable that this image of his had contributed in no small part to his fiancée’s contempt.

‘We’re getting married anyway.’

Was there any need to make more effort than this to win her affection.

Kyle’s lips pressed firmly over hers.

“Mm……”

This man was quite good at kissing. When he kissed her, it was enough to make her head grow hazy, make her lose all sense of time, and very occasionally even think that it might be all right if this moment never ended.

From the first kiss until now, always.

A hot hand swept over Hazel’s waist. His body was always hot. If even the parts exposed beyond his clothes were like this, how hot would he be underneath, Hazel had vaguely imagined—and then her eyes flew open.

Kyle’s hand was there, in the place she glanced downward just a little. Hazel’s gaze wavered, unable to settle anywhere.

“……”

The blouse she wore today was slightly short at the top. She had thought it would be fine since her waist only barely showed if she raised her arms high, but Kyle’s hand had landed exactly on her bare skin.

She had to stop him. But the moment Hazel realized that fact, Kyle’s eyes opened. She thought he too had noticed the feeling of bare skin against his hand. Otherwise, why would he keep stroking only her waist so heavily.

It was hot. Her gaze, meeting those deeply sunken eyes, only trembled weakly like reeds and gave her no strength at all.

Her breathing grew ragged too. It felt as though anything she said would sound strange. She only hoped Kyle would take his hand away and turn back as if nothing had happened. But judging from the hand slowly moving upward from her waist, it did not seem he intended to grant her wish.

“……”

Now the man’s hand had begun to toy beneath the lower curve of her br*ast, over her undergarment. Every place his hand touched burned as if seared by fire. If all the heat she had felt until now had been hot spring water, then he was magma—something breaking through the earth’s crust to burn everything around them.

“Hel, may I go a little higher here?”

“……”

“I want to.”

It was a seductive thing to say. But at the same time, it was also a line she must not cross. There was nothing in Hazel Bennett’s dictionary that said it was permissible to allow bare skin to an unmarried man.

But if she were Fitzroy, if she were one of Holdland’s upper class who put on propriety outwardly while enjoying secret meetings in the garden…….

His face tilted. Lips cooled by the wind touched her cheeks, flushed hot.

“Everyone’s gone. Even if someone is hiding, I’ll shield you from them.”

“……”

No. Don’t give in. Who knows what sort of trick he’ll pull again. Don’t waver because of this man.

“And don’t worry. I won’t go that far, not what you’re thinking. Really. I’m not in the habit of doing that outside. It doesn’t seem comfortable.”

“……”

Hazel realized that even indecent talk could sound refined, depending on who said it. Was it really possible to calmly say it like that—today I’ll touch your chest, but I won’t take anything further.

Objectively speaking, Kyle’s voice too was far more lowered than usual. It was only that Hazel’s own agitation was so great she had not noticed.

The cold cement wall touched the bare skin of her waist. Gooseflesh rose in a ripple. By contrast, Kyle’s hand on her skin was hot. His body heat, impossible to believe in someone exposed to the cold night wind, was so high that it was enough to make Hazel nod in a daze.

Not even a few seconds after she nodded, her br*asts were freed from her undergarment. The sensation of the undergarment hanging uselessly before her chest, along with the blouse lifted just the same, gave her a strangely maddening feeling.

Included among what Hazel felt was also a sense of release. It was the sort of feeling any woman freed from underclothes she had worn without realizing their discomfort might naturally feel.

Hazel straightened her waist. The other person was Kyle. A man who, probably where women were concerned, had long since become entirely experienced.

She did not want to show him a clumsy side of herself. So she lifted her chin all the higher.

“Do it.”

In the darkness, she clearly saw the corners of Kyle’s lips lift upward. Thankfully, he did not commit the rudeness of staring openly at her face. Though whether it could be called gentlemanly for him to kiss her neck while his hand brushed down over her spine was another matter.

His thumb circled once around her n*pple. Feeling the finger touch her br*ast tip, Hazel sucked in a breath and threw her head back. If Kyle had not wrapped a hand around the back of her head just then, it might have hurt quite badly.

“Hk.”

He had only brushed lightly. Yet that place, untouched by anyone before, reacted sharply to the unfamiliar stimulation and stiffened at once.

Hazel’s face turned hot. When she glanced down at Kyle’s face, it almost seemed he was still smiling. She thought gooseflesh had risen over the br*asts hidden beneath her clothes.

And then Kyle’s lips covered hers.

“Mm……!”

She felt the grip that seized her br*ast. It was not enough to hurt, but it was certainly enough to startle her. Her initial resolve not to be flustered vanished, and while Hazel struggled in surprise, Kyle held both her wrists firmly and thr*st his tongue in as if to pierce her throat. As though he meant to steal every last bit of her breath.

Overpowered, Hazel writhed.

“Hng, mm!”

Whether he sensed her refusal or not, the strength in Kyle’s hand loosened. Now he began to tease her br*ast with just enough pressure to leave only a faint mark of fingers. Since one of his hands was occupied holding Hazel’s wrists, only his right hand was free to him.

Kyle closed his eyes and sucked at her lips like a madman.

Sweet. He had always thought she was sweet, but today she was sweeter still. Was it because of the feel of the br*ast clenched in his hand. What had intoxicated him? That soft, full sensation? Or the exhilaration of having finally taken hold?

It did not matter which. What mattered was that this woman had allowed him the raw sensation of her.

Hazel’s panting eyes widened. For some time now she had been feeling something strange near her navel. Something hard like stone, and growing in real time……..