IBWCD 29

Chapter 29

Her mind became foggy and blurry as her body was pummeled from head to toe.

Evelyn felt like she was melting wherever the hot body heat touched.

The sensation of a huge body crushing her was overwhelming.

The sound of wetness seemed to send her body floating through the air.

Evelyn’s heart was racing as if she had suddenly fallen from a great height.

“Ha, ha, ha.”

Only when she was out of breath and on the verge of hyperventilating again did Kalian release her.

He sucked lightly on his lower lip, the movement tinged with regret, and a thin, long line of saliva dangled between his lips.

He looked at her cheeks, reddened with fever, then at the corners of her eyes, which were watering in physiological response.

Evelyn met his gaze, running a hand through his messy back hair.

A strange feeling stirred in her stomach as she met his eyes, which glowed with desire.

She couldn’t read his mind, but she could tell he didn’t want this to end.

She doesn’t need to hesitate.

She doesn’t mind if he wants more of her.

Evelyn cupped his face in her hands as he pulled away. Her lips tingled, but it was better than the tingling in her heart.

“You said I’d learn to do it right.”

“What?”

“I don’t know yet, so just a little more…”

Evelyn’s words were cut off by a quick smack of his lips.

“Hmph!”

The moment their lips met again, a red light went on in her head. She quickly tried to catch it, but it was too late.

He sucked in her tongue like he was soothing a whimpering child as she shuddered in painful pleasure.

The kiss was soft and slow, as if his tongue awakened hidden cells, and Evelyn felt her lower stomach tighten.

‘I’m going crazy.’

So this is what it feels like to give blood to a vampire.

It feels like all the energy is being sucked out of her body.

The sweet sensation was mesmerizing, almost intoxicating.

“Hmph, now, wait…”

Soon, the pleasure coursing down her spine was so intense that her nerves were fraying as she tried to calm herself.

Sensing her arousal, his lips parted for a moment, and he nibbled her earlobe, his voice husky.

“Tell me if you’re uncomfortable.”

His harsh, hot breath irritated her ear.

“I don’t know if that’ll make me stop.”

“Mm.”

Biting her lower lip to keep from making a sound, a question flared in her mind.

He’d said once that he was extremely wary of contact with women.

He’d even said that if any woman got close enough to him, he’d feel a strong sense of rejection that made him want to tear her apart.

‘Of course, he seemed pretty good at kissing and making out.’

But it’s no wonder he knows so much about women. The woman in the portrait would not have been included in his category of women.

What mattered was that she was being responded to by a man who had no interest in, let alone appreciation for, the bodies of the opposite sex.

And that fact made Evelyn feel very erotic.

She knew it wasn’t a sexual attraction, but she didn’t care.

‘So please, just a little more.’

‘Aaah, this feels so weird.’

Evelyn gasped in exaltation as she hugged the nape of the neck of the man who would fulfill her need with a deep thrust.

As she did so, her great cloak and robes flowed downward.

Her long, lustrous hair and graceful shoulders stood out in the darkness.

As the man stared, she could see a savage impulse in his eyes.

Then the hand that had been stroking her bare thighs slipped hesitantly into her negligee and stroked stealthily along the nape of her neck and down her spine.

Her ribcage swelled and sank as if her heart would burst at any moment.

Everywhere his touch seemed to send a tingling electric current that made her stand on her toes in the air.

To his annoyance, her struggling ankle was caught in his grasp.

Evelyn’s tiny feet squirmed in his large hands as he slowly removed her slippers.

She was so aroused now that she could hardly contain her moans at the slightest stimulus.

His mouth curled as if he could see right through her, and he gently ran the tip of his tongue over the indentations in the smooth, unblemished soles of her feet.

“Ahhhh…”

She swooned at the rush of pleasure, and after kissing his way up her slender leg, he pulled her ankle tight and wrapped it around his waist.

She could feel his hard body against her as their bodies pressed even closer together.

“Ha, ha.”

Evelyn breathed out, staring at him with lazy, relaxed eyes.

At the same time, there was a strange glow in his eyes.

As if he saw a ghost of someone in her, and let go of the thin threads of reason he was holding on to.

A trickle of someone else’s blood ran down his brow bone and trickled down his towering nose like a blade.

It was so unspeakably erotic and lustful that Evelyn had to squeeze her eyes shut.

If she didn’t, she’d melt into it.

She felt like she might want to arouse the man who was trying so hard not to take her body.

‘Don’t touch me. I don’t want to hurt you.’

As if he had read her mind, the man reached down and grabbed Evelyn’s ass with both hands.

A thick sheen of sweat covered her entire body, as if she’d just been through a series of erotic acts.

Her heart was pounding like it was going to explode. She felt like she was going to lose her mind.

“Ahhh, stop, Grand Duke…!”

But she wouldn’t give him what he wanted.

As her arousing touch picked up speed, Evelyn couldn’t hold back any longer and sought his lips with a desperate bite.

“hmmm, hmmm…!”

He didn’t stop, even as she eagerly returned the kiss.

Her body, pushed to its limits by being crushed by a giant hand many times the size of her own, was heated to the point of burning, and any semblance of rationality that might have been present was long gone.

“Ha.”

An animalistic groan and hot breath mingled together.

Darkness, as thick as tar, engulfed his vision, and it was pitch black.

* * *

The next day, early dawn.

Standing at the window of his office, Kalian watched Evelyn warm up in the corner of the garden, swinging her wooden sword lightly.

Her morning routine was the same as always.

Rain or shine, wind or no wind.

Once she’d dried off with the sword, she’d sit cross-legged, hands on her knees, and meditate in stillness.

The next day would be no different, as she would fall asleep, exhausted from the intense intimacy.

Of course, it’s not just meditation.

The mauve auras and pure white wisps of light coursing through her veins were plainly visible to the perceptive Kalian.

It was a curious thing. A woman who had never stepped foot outside of the mansion had learned to harness her healing powers like a demon.

As if she had taught herself.

From the way she channeled her magic to the way she manipulated and cast her aura, every step of the way was eerily similar to his own.

But there was more.

The ability to store and manipulate magic into mana was a skill worthy of study, one that would make a northern demon lord’s eyes glaze over.

The more magic she absorbed, the greater her power, which meant that mad sorcerers might be tempted to use her as a guinea pig.

“As expected of a prospective Grand Duchess, she is in fine form.”

Benjamin, who had been in the throne room since dawn, glanced over his shoulder and out the window.

‘Elegant?’

Benjamin’s gaze snapped back to the window, where Kalian was pretending to look at some papers.

The loose-fitting shirt and mid-calf boots were of good quality, but they were hardly the attire of a woman who was to become a grand duchess.

Of course, he has to admit, he’s still drawn to her.

‘She’s a woman you don’t recognize.’

The dawn light tinted the corners of the window blue.

He straightened the upturned corners of his mouth, then turned and sat back in his chair.

Benjamin, who habitually placed Kalian’s cigar case, teacup, and newspaper on the desk in his office, looked up from his work.

“Did you manage to get back from your trip?”

After two all-nighters, Count Martin had softened the crystalline stone.

Pure enthusiasm for new research and a modest reward made the impossible possible.

“Did everything go well at the manor?” Kalian asked, nodding slightly, and Benjamin spoke up, his face gravely.

“A little while ago, I sent two of the maids away.”

“I see.”

“You wouldn’t ask why?”

“I thought you would have taken care of it yourself.”

“Well, yes, I did.”

Kalian smirked at Benjamin’s broad shoulders as he answered like running water.

Even as his mind wandered, his memories flew back to his last night with the woman.

* * *

After traveling through the warp gate from Eldin and arriving near the capital, Kalian was attacked by assassins while traveling through the heart of Ferum.

No, it was hardly an ambush, since he already knew.

His pursuers always knew he moved unescorted, like a ghost.

But he never once put blood on their blades.

Still, his drugged opponents sent assassins without rest.

Unlike before, when he had only swung his sword just enough to keep his opponent from dying, yesterday he had cut off the breath of dozens of assassins.

It was a warning to them not to provoke uselessly.

He intended to set an example of what happens when they jeopardize his journey with the Grand Duchess.

‘I didn’t cut off their breath, but if they’d been drinking, I might have.’

The problem was Orpheus’s sword.

Having defended the North for generations, they were more used to dealing with demons than humans, so their blades were shaped differently than those of the Imperial Knights.

Their swordsmanship, which was optimized for dealing with demons whose hides were very thick and could be cut through with ease, was too brutal and inefficient for humans.

So even the most highly trained assassin was no more than a neighborhood kid with a stick to Kalian.

Humans were soft and weak. He could have easily killed them with little effort, but he’d used his full strength against them, and he’d seen too much blood.

When he awoke, there was no sign of their bodies, their flesh and blood washed away in the pouring rain.

The pain was unexpected.