Everything comes together.
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Episode 265. About 9 months (24)
Kyle captured my lips in one swift motion.
The kiss was rough, and he wrapped his arms around my waist in a tight, crushing embrace.
Our breaths mingled as we one another’s lips.
He didn't hide his desire, there was no stopping the dam once it burst.
Suddenly, in a flash, he lifted me up.
"Huh...?"
Startled, I clung to him tightly. The tides had turned in an instant.
My hands gripped his shoulders and the nape of his neck, and I returned his rough kiss. My whole body felt like it was on fire. One hand rested on my thigh and the other rested on my back, while his lips were relentlessly pursuing mine.
I didn't know how much time had passed.
Before I knew it, he had me sitting on the bed, and he grabbed the headboard, effectively trapping me.
We continued to kiss for a long time before he finally pulled away.
"... This is your last chance, Tara. Tell me now if you don't want to," he asked.
Even as he said that, his lips never left mine. His hands were tightly gripping the headboard.
I could practically feel the tension radiating off his body, as he waited for my answer.
"Kyle."
"Yes."
"Stop thinking so hard!"
Kyle's expression turned fierce, as I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck.
Then his lips moved away from mine and towards my neck. He planted a series of kisses down my neck, then his lips came back up to hover around my ear.
"That attitude... I don't like it," he whispered.
His voice was secretive.
"Mmm... Why is that?"
"Well, unlike me, you're too relaxed."
"Really? Hmm. And you don't like that?"
With those words, he suddenly jerked away and extinguished the brightly lit lamp next to the bed. The only remaining lanterns were the two rather dim ones on the wall.
"Strangely, I want to see you embarrassed."
I swallowed hard. I wondered if my feigned innocence had stirred his competitive spirit, but I didn't want to spoil it again. My heart was pounding like crazy.
His sharp, gleaming eyes scanned my face.
"You realize that's a pretty weird thing to say, right? I mean, if you want a woman to react like that..."
"If I want...?"
"If you want me to pretend...! Wait, what are you doing?"
My breath hitched, and I stopped speaking.
"I don't need you to pretend. Why, isn't this what you were hoping for?"
Kyle was slowly unbuttoning his shirt. Starting from his chest, he worked his way down to his abs until he had finally undone all of them.
"...!"
Oh, my God.
His broad shoulders and chest were revealed in the flickering light, the inverted triangle shape of his body from his shoulders down to his waist, his warrior's abs. His toned, powerful upper body without a speck of fat on it, was overwhelmingly beautiful. And scars, large and small, decorated him like medals.
I swallowed hard.
I had already seen this upper body once before, but my appreciation of it then was much different than it was now.
This was inevitable.
Now...
Now what?
My thoughts ended there.
Wait, what was I thinking? Get a grip!
I forced myself to remain calm, and without blinking, I slowly pushed myself up against the headboard.
Despite my previous life experience, this situation and his body, straight out of a fantasy, made me nervous about exploring the unknown.
“I... Didn’t notice at… all… Um.. Yes… This much isn’t enough to… Uh.”
Ahh. What was I saying...!
My voice sounded unfamiliar to me. I had been holding my breath for so long that my words were unsteady and erratic.
"Really?"
He raised an eyebrow and looked down sternly. Then he ripped off his shirt, which was hanging loosely over his arms and shoulders.
Oh my god!
I screamed internally, but I looked up as nonchalantly as I could.
Then his face turned expressionless.
He put my hands on his waist as he stared at me with that same impassive, unmoving face.
"... You're driving me crazy..."
Without realizing it I let out an exclamation and covered myself with the blanket. I felt the bed at my feet dip. He must've climbed onto the bed.
Thump, thump, thump.
My heart was pounding like it was going to explode.
"Shouldn't I be the one who's embarrassed?" He asked in a husky voice.
I gulped again.
"Y-Your pants...?" I asked from under the covers.
"No."
I pulled down the blanket, leaving only my eyes showing.
"Oh."
There, right in front of me, was his toned upper body. I slowly ran my eyes over it and then up to his face. What I thought was an indifferent expression was actually a look of unbridled desire.
His flushed upper body, the tightness of his mouth, his rough breathing.
I opened my mouth to speak, then shut it firmly.
We had reached the tipping point, and we could no longer pretend to have a casual conversation. The last thing we needed right now was small talk. He must have read my eyes, because he leaned in, his lips hovering over mine.
After that, we didn't talk anymore, or rather, we couldn't.
We indulged one another deep into the night, and Kyle turned out to be quite unrelenting.
And only then, very late at night, did I come to a precious realization.
The cost of provoking him was terribly beautiful.
***
Early dawn.
Kyle Amure, the Second Prince of the Empire, had a lot on his mind that night.
He'd had only one reason to live, to seize the throne, the one thing his enemies desperately desired.
He had no further goals after that was accomplished. Until yesterday.
But now, in the depths of this night, he felt a sense of fulfillment.
He couldn't stop thinking of what he wanted to do after he took the throne, and of a time when she could stand beside him.
He had been awake this whole time, but after making love three times, Tara had fallen into a deep sleep.
It was 4 a.m. and the walls were bathed in dusky blue light.
Kyle knew he had to go now. But the scent of her body, the sound of her breathing, and her soft skin...
He kept delaying his departure, wanting to forever imprint the feel of her alluring figure in his mind. Then he smirked to himself. When he made a decision, he would always follow through.
"I can't believe I'm doing this..."
He kissed her shoulder, her long neck, her cheeks and her temple, just like he'd been doing all night.
She pressed her back into his chest a little more.
"Haa..."
Breathing softly, he slowly removed his arm from under her neck. Her voice was a sleepy whisper as he wrapped the blanket around her and carefully untangled his legs from hers.
"Hmm... Kyle?"
"Are you awake?"
Her eyes were still closed.
"Are you leaving?"
"I should go."
As he said it, he kissed her flushed shoulder again, and her eyes fluttered open. When Kyle crossed his arms and looked down at her, she smirked and glanced up, as if she'd been waiting for him to look at her.
"I won't be able to leave if you keep smiling like that."
"... Do you not want me to smile?"
"No. How are you feeling?"
Her cheeks flushed and her brow furrowed.
"Don't ask me that."
"If this were the Imperial Palace, I'd call you a masseuse."
"Ugh, I'm so embarrassed... Ha. But did you get any sleep? You sound like you didn't... Groggy..."
She turned her head, her eyes closing and her speech getting slower.
"Such a pity."
"Ha. Where... did you learn to talk like that?"
He liked seeing Tara smile with her eyes closed.
"Is there a place that teaches that?"
"I'm self-taught... What do you mean..."
"I really have to go."
As Kyle moved to leave, her white, slender hands wrapped around his waist and gripped his forearm.
"Do... you have somewhere you need to be in a hurry?"
"Yes. I have an appointment."
Tara held still for a moment, waiting for an explanation. After a moment of silence, she slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him.
"What... Ah... I forgot for a second. I was transferred to the full-time secretarial division."
"It's a top-secret operation, and it's better you don't know about it. So don't go looking for the main culprit. The more you know, the more dangerous it is for you."
"Those three...?"*
"Yes, if you keep digging as a full-time secretary, it would leave a trail."
"... Yes. It would. Right."
Her reply was delayed, as if she was about to fall asleep again. She turned her head and closed her eyes.
He felt guilty.
"Tara, I need to ask you something."
Kyle blurted out the question he'd been wondering about all night.
"... Huh? What... is it?"
"That guy, Theo..."
He started to ask seriously, but then stopped.
Why had Theodore been staring so intensely at Tara yesterday afternoon? And why was he so set about arranging another meeting with her?
Why did his undercover agent Gibson dare to assume that she and Theodore might get married soon?
Why weren't her meetings with that guy over yet?
It was unlikely he'd get a proper answer from her when she was this sleepy, and he didn't want to waste their precious time together on such a distraction.
Instead, he would summon Gibson to interrogate him about the situation in great detail, so he could come up with countermeasures.
When he had stopped speaking, she urged him, her eyes still closed.
"Nevermind."
Kyle decided to immediately ask her another question instead.
"Did my thighs pass the test?"
"... Ha!"
Her long eyelashes quivered, and she slowly opened her eyes to look up at him.
She looked so lovely, gazing at him with sleepy eyes.
Whether it was purposeful or not, she smiled affectionately at him.
'I think I know.'
"I didn't... mishear you, did I?"
"You heard me correctly. Do my thighs meet your standards?"
----
Editor’s Notes:
* This is a reference to the 3 main suspects Kyle is pursuing, Hans Button, Bradley Hound, and Tom Gary
The three of us actually edited this chapter together, and we really hope you've all enjoyed it like we have!
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