He tried to pull back, but Liz pressed into him, persistent. She rubbed her face against his chest like a cat, pressed her palms into his abdomen, tickling and kneading, and his breathing came out uneven.

“Liz, stop.”

“Don’t want to. I’m going to put my face here too. You smell warm and nice.”

Liz ignored his discomfort entirely and whined like a child, pushing her face further into his chest. Her soft wheat-colored hair tickled his neck, and her warm breath, carrying the faint sweetness of alcohol, touched his skin.

D*mn it.

A vein stood out along Johann’s jaw.

He knew she wasn’t in her right mind. He knew it clearly. But her soft, unsteady breathing made his heart do something it almost never did.

Liz in nothing but a white lace nightgown was an unguarded provocation all on its own. The warm, damp heat still clinging to her from the bath and her cheeks flushed soft pink like a peach worked on every one of his senses. Her pale skin catching the faint moonlight, her lips red and full enough to look like they might bruise at a touch, those were too much as well.

And then there was that loose, helpless smile.

A sound rose in the back of Johann’s throat and escaped before he could stop it. His body had already responded to the artless, innocent temptation, a low pull gathering below his waist.

“Mmm, so warm.”

Then Liz, who had nearly finished pushing his shirt off his shoulders, lifted her head again.

“Johann.”

She looked up at him with hazy eyes. Her eyelids, heavy with drink, drooped low, casting long lash-shadows across her cheeks. Her unfocused eyes were full of a drowsy heat, and warm breath spilled from her parted lips.

The muscle in Johann’s jaw tightened as he fought to keep his expression neutral.

A silence fell. Then those red lips moved, slowly.

“Kiss me again. Like before.”

“……Kiss?”

His head swam. The shock hit him like a blow to the back of the skull. He went still, then caught himself a beat later.

He tried to think of when he had ever done such a thing, and then the memory of the hasty artificial respiration surfaced.

Johann forced himself to ignore the heat rushing downward and made sure he had heard her right.

“You want me to kiss you?”

“Mm. I do.”

He had kissed her at the wedding and again after pulling her from the water. But hearing her ask for it directly, in that small pleading voice, something taut inside him snapped.

His broad hand moved through her glossy wheat-colored hair in one long, slow stroke. A sweet, fresh scent like bath oil teased his nose.

“You might regret this tomorrow.”

Liz closed her eyes with pure, uncomplicated trust, then puckered her small red lips and held them out.

The restraint he had been holding onto gave way in that instant. The cool light in his eyes shifted into something else entirely.

He pulled her slender waist toward him, hard. Her body met his, and her sweet breath grazed his nose.

His heart beat the way it did before something that mattered. His face tilted, just slightly.

He lowered his head, and their lips touched. He drew her lower lip in softly and breathed warm air into the space it opened.

Hot breath poured in through parted lips, steady and unrelenting.

“Mmh.”

A faint moan escaped her, and her body trembled lightly.

“You started this.”

His broad hand cradled her slender nape and pressed her back, deep into the bed.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

“Haa……”

Her body felt strange, swinging between hot and cold, heat surging through her in waves. The drowsy, pleasant sensation and the softness pressing against her lips were nothing short of bliss.

Wait, lips?

“Mmph……”

Lost in what felt like a sweet dream she never wanted to leave, Liz snapped her eyes open at the skilled movement of a tongue. She looked at the face of the person consuming her lips without restraint.

Above a sharp jawline was an unmistakably handsome face. Johann von Ashworth, Duke of Ashworth.

The haze of alcohol went perfectly blank.

“Mmh. Johann. What are you doing.”

Realizing she was kissing him, Liz began to struggle. She pressed against his firm shoulders, but Johann gripped her waist and ground his lips against hers.

“This, what are you doing right now… mmph!”

Her frantic protest was swallowed whole by his insistent mouth. Johann kept kissing her and whispered between low, rough breaths.

“What does it look like. I’m kissing you the way you wanted. You’re the one who threw yourself at me after stripping off my clothes.”

“……!”

Did I say that?

Liz panted and looked around. She took in his nearly bare state and her own disheveled appearance. Fragments of memory followed, of clinging to him and begging for a kiss.

She took a sharp intake of breath. Liz’s face burned. She shook her head, telling herself this couldn’t be real, and spoke quickly.

“Mmh. Johann, earlier I……”

“I have absolutely no intention of stopping halfway. Not even a little.”

His lips curved into something wry, as though he had already guessed what she was about to say.

Johann’s lips found hers again, almost urgently. Before she could react, his tongue slid smoothly past her closed lips and pressed inside.

“Mm……”

He drew in her soft lips and worked his tongue in a slow, messy rhythm. Heat rose through her and she tried to pull her hips back, but the hand wrapped around her waist stopped her.

His tongue pushed in roughly, sweeping through every corner of her mouth. Each time it pressed down on hers and tangled with it, small sounds escaped her like quiet moans.

She needed to get away……

The thought kept rising, but the deep, consuming kiss paralyzed every rational impulse.

Infuriatingly, the kiss was intoxicating and sweet. Even she found it absurd, but she had never felt anything this intense in her life.

She must still be dreaming. Nothing else could explain why it felt this soft and this unbearably good.

A wet pull, another, the damp sound of lips parting and pressing together again in quick succession. She was breathless and gasping from the dizzying kiss when Johann laughed quietly and tugged the thin strap of her nightgown down. The loosened fabric slid away, and a cool hand settled on the exposed skin.

“Ha… hnn!”

The startling sensation at the peak of her chest made Liz’s back go rigid. The shock of a touch she had never known before quickly transformed into trembling, sending a sharp, electric feeling through her. His gaze fell on the soft curve of her chest, and his warm lips slid down her throat.

“Haa……”

Liz’s chest rose and fell rapidly. Each time his wet tongue teased her, a dull ache pulsed low in her belly.

Even if this was a dream, the kisses were languorous and gentle enough to make her drift off entirely.

Every time his teeth grazed her n*pple, Liz flinched and tightened her grip on his shoulder. The steady wet sounds filling the quiet bedroom made her ears burn with shame.

Watching her slight body tremble, Johann rolled the n*pple he had pulled into his mouth and moved his hand lower.

“I didn’t think you’d already be this wet just from kissing.”

He laughed softly and slipped past the soaked fabric. His fingers found her most sensitive place and rubbed with focused intent, drawing a louder moan from Liz.

Each time his bold fingertips gathered the soft flesh and pressed upward, a slick sound leaked out.

Even in a dream, the shame made her want to press her legs together, but his hand forced them apart again.

A few strokes, and the thin fabric was soaked through with heat.

“Haa, Liz.”

“Mm, ah!”

His low, coaxing voice washed over her like a warm melody. The repeated touches had her soaking fast. When his longest finger slid smoothly inside, a long, thin sound spilled from her lips.

His thumb worked the swollen bud in circles while his index finger pressed into the tight, clenched space.

The deeper he reached, the more her hips lifted off the bed. The slick wet that gathered around his long, thick finger soaked into the sheets.

Watching Liz’s lost expression, Johann pressed harder against that spot.

“Mm, not there……”

“You like it there.”

The moment his fingertip bore down on her inner wall, Liz’s toes curled straight. Light burst behind her eyes. Moisture gathered in her unfocused gaze.

Short, quick taps followed by a hard, deliberate press made her legs shake each time.

“Ha-uh.”

Liz had been trembling in waves, and at last she squeezed her eyes shut, overwhelmed by the pleasure.

“Shh, it’s all right. Just let go.”

The quiet whisper in her ear guided her. Her chest heaved under his palm.

The fingers gripping his shoulder went white.

“Hm, ah, ah…!”

“Haa… open your mouth.”

Johann clicked his tongue softly and covered her small, flushed lips with his own. The urge to push himself inside this tight little opening that fluttered around his fingers was almost unbearable, but he held back.

“Liz, say my name.”

“Mm… Jo…”

Liz tried to finish the word, but the hand stroking her swollen folds stole her breath.

“…hann.”

The lips that barely finished the word were taken by Johann. His tongue swept along her teeth and curled around hers, pulling it in and sucking slowly. Her mind was unraveling from the consuming kiss and the relentless hand working between her legs.

She was barely holding on. When he added another finger, her hips jerked.

“Ah. Jo, Jo……”

The pleasure that had been building reached its peak, and Liz came apart.

He drew his hand free and pulled away the lace and her underwear together. He grabbed her trembling thighs and spread them wide. The entrance still clenching from her release was fully visible to him.