5.7

Upon arriving, Ellen was diligently picking berries when she heard the sound of footsteps crushing grass behind her.  

Instinctively, she turned toward the source of the noise and saw Leon standing there. It seemed he had followed her after hearing she was heading to the forest to gather berries.  

She had gone through all the trouble of escaping from him, only to end up alone with him again. A heavy sigh escaped Ellen’s lips.  

“I’ll help you.”  

“It’s fine.”  

Ellen tried to act indifferent to avoid an awkward atmosphere.  

“No, I want to help.”  

At this moment, she didn’t want to be alone with him. Every time she remembered what had happened between them, she wanted to deny it.  

However, contrary to her thoughts, whenever she felt his presence nearby, memories of their intimacy surfaced, and her body began to heat up.  

She felt conflicted because her body reacted against her will. She wanted to refuse him, but the man showed no signs of backing down.  

“Fine, do as you wish.”  

She disliked continuing the conversation. Instead, she thought it better to let him do as he pleased and simply ignore him.  

Ellen tried to focus on picking berries while pretending Leon wasn’t there. But she couldn’t help but notice him.  

The image of his languid, seductive gaze from last time kept flashing in her mind.  

Shaking her head, Ellen tried to concentrate on the berries in front of her.  

“It seems you need an investor.”  

At that moment, Leon’s voice came from behind her.  

“Well, I’ll have to find one.”  

She thought she had spoken quietly earlier to avoid being overheard, but apparently, he had heard. Or perhaps someone from the village had mentioned it.  

Ellen replied in an indifferent tone.  

“I could become your investor. You’ve seen how easily I bought the villa, haven’t you?”  

“No, thank you. Are you trying to boast about your wealth now?”  

Was he flaunting his wealth? Ellen’s voice grew curt out of sheer disbelief.  

“Yes, I’m trying to appeal to you. I’m asking you to love me. I’m willing to give you anything I have, so please see me favorably.”  

“….”  

Ellen stopped what she was doing and looked at Leon, who was smiling leisurely.  

As if he were genuinely trying to seduce her, his deep gaze seemed to radiate desire. Just looking at his golden eyes made her feel as though she might be drawn into them.  

Ellen quickly lowered her head, wanting to avoid his gaze. Her instincts were screaming at her to run away.  

“If seduction with my body doesn’t work, I’ll have to appeal with my wealth.”  

Before Ellen could distance herself, he stepped closer.  

The moment his firm waist touched her back, a soft, low voice whispered in her ear, making her shoulders flinch.  

“Ahh.”  

The man bit her earlobe firmly. It was unmistakably intentional. A short m*an escaped Ellen’s lips. She turned her head to glare at him, but his lips still carried a smile.  

“I’m not like my father. Even if you try to seduce me with wealth, I won’t fall for that.”  

Ellen pushed Leon away. It seemed he was deliberately teasing her.  

“Then how should I appeal to you?”  

Leon took another step forward.  

“No matter how you try to seduce me, I won’t fall for it. I wish you had acted this way before. But not now.”  

Ellen replied curtly.  

“I couldn’t before, so I’m trying now. It seems you don’t like it.”  

“No, I don’t like it.”  

“Am I making you uncomfortable?”  

“Yes, very much so!”  

As Ellen avoided his gaze, Leon gently tilted her chin upward, forcing her to meet his eyes.  

“Is that your true feeling?”  

The man’s yearning gaze had deepened even further. Just meeting his eyes made Ellen feel as though she couldn’t breathe.  

Leon tilted his head slightly, and his lips slowly approached hers, brushing against them. Their noses touched, and the soft sensation of his lips grazed hers.  

“Yes, I said I don’t like you.”  

Ellen pushed away his teasing lips and spoke.  

“I understand.”  

Their lips met again.  

“Then why do you keep kissing me…?”  

“Since seduction with wealth failed, I’m trying again with my body. You seemed to like my ‘item’ last time.”  

Leon gently held Ellen’s head with one hand while placing her hand on his manhood with the other.  

Ah.  

A short sound escaped Ellen’s lips in surprise. Then their lips met again, and their breaths mingled.  

Ellen wanted to push his chest away and remove her hand from his lower body, but his firm grip prevented her from doing so.  

As Leon pressed her hand against his manhood, it grew harder and larger. The sensation against her palm was overwhelmingly stimulating.  

At the same time, Ellen’s body felt as though a deep warmth was rising from within.  

“Haa. I’ve already given you my body, so feel free to use it without hesitation. Even if there’s no heart involved, I don’t mind. Just don’t discard me cruelly afterward.”  

As their lips parted, Leon spoke softly, his breath shallow. His body seemed to be heating up from Ellen’s touch. At a distance where their lips could almost touch, their breaths intertwined.  

Ellen’s body heated up even more under his seductive gaze. Just meeting his eyes made her feel as though her intimate area was growing damp.  

Why does this man keep making irresistible temptations…? Is it really okay to use him as I please?  

Ellen hesitated at Leon’s words. The idea that a heartless relationship would be acceptable kept shaking her resolve.  

While she disliked the idea of a purely physical relationship, Leon… he didn’t seem entirely unpleasant, which made her waver.  

Forget it.  

Ellen decided to stop thinking and emptied her mind. She didn’t want to think about anything anymore. She simply wanted to follow her instincts.  

Her hand tightly gripped the bulge visible through his clothes. The sensation of it twitching as though alive felt strange.  

As she gently moved her hand, Leon let out a short m*an that quickly disappeared into their shared kiss.  

The more she stimulated his lower body, the wetter her intimate area became, to the point where she wanted to take him inside her. As his manhood grew harder, Ellen’s desire intensified.  

But.  

Even as she tried to surrender to her instincts, a small voice in the back of her mind told her to stop. Having been swept along once, she felt as though she was too easily succumbing to him again.  

If this happened twice, it could happen three times, then four, and their relationship might become ambiguous, defined only by physical intimacy.  

She didn’t want that. She needed to reject him firmly. But her primal instincts and her body refused to let her do so.  

Which side of me is real?  

At this point, Ellen couldn’t even understand her own feelings. She didn’t want to restart their relationship, yet she craved physical contact. What was this all about?  

After two encounters, she knew one thing: her body matched well with his. She could reject his wealth, but she couldn’t refuse his body.  

This was why she had gone to such lengths to avoid Leon. Yet, in the end, she found it difficult to resist his temptations.  

He was truly skilled—whether it was kissing, caressing, or intimacy.  

She wanted to maintain distance, to push him away with all sorts of excuses, but… she couldn’t.  

She understood now why he had kept rejecting her advances before. How could anyone resist such alluring temptations?  

I don’t know. Am I overthinking this?  

Suddenly, Ellen wondered if she should stop worrying about whether they were dating or not and simply surrender to her instincts for now.  

His kisses, his scent, his intimacy—everything was good. She wanted to fall into his temptations, to intertwine with him, to mix their breaths and feel the fullness in her heart.  

If she enjoyed his body so much, was there any need to resist? Was there any need to suppress the burning desire within her?  

Leon had even said she could use his body freely without hesitation. So, for now, there seemed to be no reason to hesitate.  

In the end, Ellen wrapped her arms around Leon’s neck.