“Take responsibility.”

“…What?”

I blinked, looking at the man before me.

Take responsibility? I had no memory of doing anything that would require me to take responsibility for such a large man. Besides, this man and I had only met for the first time today. We just met, so what on earth did he mean by taking responsibility?

I stood there in a daze, and the dark, large, handsome man in front of me let out a rough, rumbling laugh.

The corners of his eyes creased into a languid smile. His yellow irises gleamed like a bird of prey that never lets its quarry escape. He took one step closer. His shadow fell over me, and I shrank back without thinking.

“U-um… I think you have me confused with someone else? I, I don’t know who you are, but…”

“Quiet.”

My back hit the wall. I had been stepping back this whole time and had already been cornered. I looked up at the man, a little frightened.

The man moved with ease, but before I knew it he was right in front of me. He reached out slowly and pressed a finger to my forehead, then let it slide down to trace the curve of my ear.

A chill ran through me without warning and I pressed my lips tightly together, when I suddenly realized he felt far too familiar. He was like…

“Every time I open and close my eyes, you come to mind. I can’t forget a single thing about you, Daisy.”

He slowly, and with an oddly uncharacteristic caution, drew a little closer to me. He now buried his nose between my neck and shoulder and drew in a breath. A faint animal scent came from him.

The enormous man bent at the waist and stood so close he nearly grazed me, as though he was reaching for something he desperately needed. Without thinking, my hands moved on their own and stroked his back.

The feel of finely built muscle twitching beneath my fingertips caught my attention. I pulled him into an embrace, drawn in without knowing why. His body temperature ran a little higher than a human’s. He was like…

“Ruik…?”

“Yes. I’ve thought hundreds, thousands of times about hearing you call me by that ridiculous name with that adorable little mouth of yours.”

When I embraced him first, he shed his carefulness and pulled me tightly against him in a rush. It felt like heat spread all at once through my entire body. The sudden movement made his warm, animal scent grow thicker. I opened my eyes wide in surprise and pushed away this person who was both familiar and strange. But he only held me tighter without a word. He was like a large beast clinging to its owner, desperate for love.

A man that big throwing himself at me like that was more than I could handle, and my legs gave out, but his strong grip held me in place and I had no choice but to stay standing. A low rumble rose again from deep in his throat. He looked at me with those golden eyes that called to mind a bird of prey. Like he would never let me go again.

“You have to take responsibility, Daisy. You’ve taken over my entire mind.”

He laughed with a soft chuckle and pressed his forehead to mine. He was exactly like a large wolf acting spoiled. Well, not just like one, he actually was a wolf.

“Hm? Aren’t I right? My Daisy. You said you’d take responsibility for me to the end. Yes, it’s me. Ruik is back. No, I had no choice but to come back. I haven’t forgotten a single thing about you, not for a single moment.”

He spoke gently, but there was something precarious and fierce about his presence. With a firm arm wrapped around my waist, he tilted his head. His short, fine black hair fell softly. His eyes glinted dangerously, binding me in place.

“Or are you going to throw me away now, after all this? Hm? Say something, my Master.”

I could not utter a word and swallowed hard. Truly unbelievably, he was….

The big doggy I had picked up and taken care of!

* * *

Daisy blinked, still in a daze. It was Ruik who caught her by the waist. He pressed his warm body against her and laughed low in his throat.

Peck, peck, he showered small kisses all over her face.

He looked down at her, eyes drooping lazily as he smiled, and slowly licked his lips. The look on his face was unmistakably hungry for her, and Daisy felt her face grow hot.

He took hold of the top of her foot, kissed it, and smiled at her, and Daisy felt her face flush red all over again at the sight and trembled slightly. The feel of his lips pressing softly against her felt strange.

“Now then. How shall I serve my master?”

He said this and climbed over her in one easy motion. He shed his clothes in a single sweep and dipped his head toward her nape. Then, sniff sniff, he breathed her in and gave her a slow lick. Daisy shrank back slightly from the ticklish sensation and the tension it brought.

“What do I smell like?”

“Mm, grass and fresh flowers.”

“On me?”

Daisy turned her head away, suddenly embarrassed for no particular reason. Ruik looked at her and laughed again with that soft chuckle, then gently bowed his head as he pulled her clothes down. 

His lips passed over her nape and reached her collarbone, and his tongue swept over her smooth skin. His warm, soft mouth moved as though searching further and further for more sensitive places, passing her collarbone, undoing the buttons at her front, and traveling down to the swell of her chest.

“Mm, Ruik.”

“Yes, Daisy.”

He laced his large fingers through hers and interlocked their hands. She didn’t know what to do with herself and squeezed her eyes shut.

It was then.

“I love you.”

Ruik whispered in a sweet voice. Daisy’s eyes flew open. And almost at the same moment, he grinned mischievously and pulled her undergarment down. Her full chest was laid bare, and he took that soft, tempting flesh into his mouth in one bite.

“Hah!”

His teeth playfully nipped her n*pple, then his tongue rolled over her ar*ola. Daisy let out a moan at the sensation that seemed to set every place his lips and tongue grazed alight.

“Mm, ah… I, I love you too.”

Ruik’s hand, fingers laced through her small ones, tightened its grip. He buried his face against her chest, breathed out slowly, and then began to remove her clothes one by one.

“You were the first.”

“The first?”

Ruik’s lips traveled slowly down her chest, her flat stomach, her small navel, her pubic bone, and her hips. Daisy squeezed her eyes shut as she was left bare, trembling in small shivers at every sensation he gave her.

“Like this,”

He took her hand and pressed it against his chest. She felt his heart beating, a little faster than usual.

“My heart racing when we’re together.”

Then he guided her hand down and placed it over the front of his trousers. She could feel him there, hard and swollen with want. Daisy shrank back slightly.

“The excitement.”

He let go of her hand and ran his palm down over her bare skin.

“The person who makes me feel so madly in love.”

“Mmm…”

Daisy let out a soft moan and looked at Ruik. He smiled, his eyes curving gently.

“You are absolutely the first, Daisy. My flower.”

He lowered his head and buried his face between Daisy’s legs.