7. Honestly, passionately (Part 3)

Alexander had been unusually excited since morning at the thought of seeing Eirin for the first time in over a week. It was the first time he had been apart from her for so long after they had grown so close.

But he couldn’t go see her immediately.

The night Stefan had discovered their relationship and savagely beaten his face, Alexander had suffered anterior ocular bleeding in both eyes. He had thought it would improve the next day, but he was mistaken. Instead, the whites of his eyes had turned a horrifying red color. He had summoned the most renowned physician in the area.

‘It’s not a serious problem. The bleeding has stopped, so the blood will naturally absorb over time.’

Over time, huh?

‘How long will it take’

‘Well, a week at the fastest, a month at the slowest.’

‘A month?’

It would take a month for it to fully heal? 

Alexander turned to the butler standing nearby.

‘How do I look? Unpleasant to the eye?’

Even the butler, who always spoke sweetly to the duke, hesitated in answering, seeing Alexander’s ravaged face.

The image of Eirin crying her eyes out upon seeing his beaten state came to mind. The reflection of his eyes in the mirror was horrifying to Alexander himself. He couldn’t let her see him like this when she had cried so much over the torn wounds.

That’s why he had only sent her letters and stayed away for a while.

Being apart makes the heart grow fonder. For several mornings, he had checked his eyes. Finally, on this day when the redness had subsided, he had rushed here as soon as the rain stopped, without even sending word of his visit.

Well, there was no need to notify her. 

Coming to his fiancée’s home was only natural.

Fiancée.

It was a lovely resonance.

Admittedly, it had taken a slightly circuitous route, but the moment Eirin stepped into the parlor room, Alexander was certain that deciding to marry her was a wonderful decision. As the sunlight glinted off her vibrant red hair, a smile naturally tugged at his lips.

He had been so averse to the idea of marriage, yet the fact that he could now kiss her and spend nights with her whenever he wished felt remarkably alluring.

But then…

‘I think it’s best if we call it off….our marriage’

Her words were as bitterly painful as his spirits had been buoyant.

Eirin had always said she disliked loveless marriage, as if it were a mantra. But he hadn’t realized she would go so far as to endure the humiliation of a broken engagement to avoid marrying him.

Anger and disappointment made Alexander’s lips tremble.

“Does it matter if we love each other or not right now? We’re friends. Building that kind of trust between a man and a woman, no, between people, isn’t easy. If we can respect and live with each other, I believe we may even fall in love someday.”

“It’s not that simple.”

Why isn’t it simple? 

No, it’s such a straightforward matter. She doesn’t have someone she loves. Marrying me would be far better than waiting for someone who may or may not appear, wouldn’t it?

Alexander had no intention of backing down.

“We’ve decided to get married, and we will get married.”

He spoke stubbornly, his brow furrowing. He wouldn’t yield an inch.

“Alexander, why are you so insistent on this marriage all of a sudden? Didn’t you dislike the idea of marriage?”

That was before I fell in love with you.

What could be more foolish than letting go of the woman I love?

Trembling with anger as he gazed at her face, Alexander felt a raw desire. Seeing her anxious eyes darting about made him ache to kiss those trembling lips he had restrained himself from claiming for the past week.

But those heated lips were now informing him of her wish to break their engagement.

Damn it.

Muttering curses under his breath, he stepped towards her. Sensing his frightening expression, Eirin retreated a step, but Alexander didn’t stop. Before she could flee, he pulled her into his embrace.

“Do you think I’ll just let you go?”

Alexander’s strong arms prevented her from moving. Her delicate frame was enveloped in his hold, their heated breaths mingling.

“Absolutely not.”

“Alexander.”

Eirin had expected Alexander to readily accept her request to break the engagement, so she was caught off guard by his reaction. He leaned down and claimed her slightly parted lips in a passionate kiss.

“Mmph.”

Her lips, untouched for so long, were still soft and moist and the anger that had surged through him at every touch had mellowed into a desire for her.

He hungrily claimed those lips he had already savored many times, sucking and delving his tongue roughly into her mouth. The sensual feel of her pliant lips sent shivers of pl*asure down his spine.

But Eirin, who had voiced her desire to break the engagement, did not push him away. Instead, she parted her lips further, accepting his fierce kiss. Her delicate hands timidly trailed down his back, her fingers caressing his spine longingly.

The hand supporting her arched back slid down to her soft belly and then reached her br*asts. When they usually met in secret, Eirin would be wearing a thin nightgown, allowing him to easily caress her tender skin. But now, in broad daylight, it took him some time to undo the fastenings of her dress.

He roughly unfastened the b*ttons, kneading her br*asts. Holding the swell he had missed so dearly, an unbearable longing consumed him. He nipped at the gradually exposed flesh with his teeth.

“Aah…”

A soft moan escaped Eirin’s lips, not sounding like a rejection at all. Finally, as he pulled down her dress, her lush, tempting br*asts spilled out, the pale skin flushed with ar*usal.

“You said you dislike loveless marriages?”

He nuzzled his rough stubble against her delicate skin, teasing the pert n*pple with the tip of his tongue until it darkened to a deep crimson.

“You know nothing of love.”

As he swirled his tongue around her n*pple, his other hand caressed her side. Eirin cradled his head.

“Alexander…”

“This burning desire, this craving for each other – that is love.”

He captured her br*ast in his mouth again. A sweet feminine scent wafted from her bosom.

“This desperate longing for one another, that is what I know as love.”

“What are you-“

His lips trailed lower, pulling her dress down further to reveal her abdomen. As the sunlight streamed in, Eirin, weakened, leaned back against the wall, panting. Her luscious hips trembled with tension.

Kneeling before her, Alexander quickly tugged down her underwear. This was a place his lips had already explored, but now, bathed in the daylight streaming through the window, it was even more breathtaking than in the darkness.

“Ah, haa.”

Eirin gazed down at him, her breathing ragged.

Alexander stared intently at the curls of her light orange p*bic hair, so different from the vibrant red of her head. He ran his palm over them a few times before burying his face.

I want to devour it all.

I want to savor it with my teeth. Not just here, but from head to toe, I want to possess every inch of her. 

Alexander was consumed by a raging desire. As he pressed his face against her, Eirin’s tightly closed thighs parted slightly to welcome him.

Eirin placed her hands on his shoulders, trembling inwardly. She was torn between the pl*asure of being with him and the fear of his apparent anger.

Why is he doing this? Why is he looking at me with such hateful eyes?

I had thought he would readily accept my proposal to break the engagement. I never imagined he would pursue me with such persistence.

I wanted to call off the engagement so he wouldn’t come to hate me later.

But instead of accepting it, a glint of anger flashed across Alexander’s face.

That’s as far as her thoughts went. Alexander didn’t stop.