Chapter 45

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 45

Chapter Title: A Taste for Lechers

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"I missed you, Clodel."

The woman's lips still carried the sweet, peachy flavor of the puree he'd last fed her.

He ravished her lips, tangy with sweetness and a hint of sourness.

"Mm..."

Clodel pushed against his chest with her fist, half-heartedly resisting like a tease.

Instead of minding the blow from her tulip-petal-soft hand, Kaiyan gently cupped the swell beneath her clothes.

"...!"

He felt her back tense and her waist arch slightly in his arms.

This broad-chested man knew how to soothe even where he'd been struck, showing his magnanimity.

"This is the dining hall."

"So?"

"What if someone sees?"

"They've all discreetly left already."

Despite his thoughtfulness, Clodel still seemed full of complaints toward him.

"What if Irena comes?"

"Can't be helped, then."

Kaiyan pulled her close and rose from his seat.

"You're so worried about showing our guests a bad sight. Let's go to the bedroom."

"What? Dinner isn't even... "

"It's over."

He kissed Clodel again.

His large hand caressed from her earlobe down her nape, then roamed her body to the soft, warm spot that held her heat.

The woman trembled, feeling his desire so plainly.

"No."

As he eased back a little, Clodel gasped for the breath she'd been short on.

"Let's go. Not here."

Kaiyan scooped her up and headed for the bedroom.

But the twist came once they reached Clodel's room and locked the door.

Smack.

Clodel pushed him against the door and hung her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his jaw.

Caught off guard by her sudden assault, Kaiyan stared down at his wife clinging to him, dumbfounded.

Even in the dim room, her golden eyes shimmered faintly with longing.

"Ah. Can't reach."

So that's why it worked by the lake last time—she'd been floating in the water.

And even now, she was mulling over their first kiss in comparison.

Heat surged straight to the top of Kaiyan's head.

"You really drive me crazy."

Kaiyan easily lifted her body as she pressed his bulk against the door, switching their positions.

Now it was Clodel's back against the unyielding wood.

"You always provoke me just enough to leave me hanging."

"Stop talking and hurry up."

"...Hurry with what?"

"Kiss me."

In the next instant, their urgent movements intertwined as they sought each other.

Kaiyan hiked up the full skirts of Clodel's dress, wedging his thick, firm thigh between her slender legs while guiding her delicate wrists around his neck.

Her slim frame surrendered completely, wrapping her arms and legs around him as their lips met feverishly.

His wife's lips, after two days apart, were fragrant and sweet.

Though the peach scent had faded from his relentless probing and sucking, her fresh, verdant natural aroma grew stronger—the one he knew so well.

At this moment, Kaiyan felt he could even forgive Valquiter for slighting him, letting go of his anger.

Patience is brief, but its fruit is sweet, as they say.

During those two days without Clodel, blaming it all on that willful Valquiter, he'd been furious.

But trading that time for a glimpse of her sensuality was a gain like no other.

Their bodies were so different in build.

Whenever they parted after sharing breaths for so long, it was usually Clodel who panted.

That had always been the case.

But this time, as their lips separated, Kaiyan felt oxygen-starved for the first time.

As if addicted to Clodel, his nose tingled and a brief headache flickered through his mind.

The hurt from her calling him "Duke" earlier, acting distant, had long vanished.

"If you'd welcomed me even half this much at the gates earlier, I wouldn't have been rude to our guests."

"You're awful. I knew you did it on purpose."

"Not on purpose—just from the heart."

"Should I have clung to you in front of my sister? When you two were greeting each other for the first time?"

Clodel puffed her cheeks, seemingly annoyed, and scolded him about the earlier scene.

Yet her naughty hands fumbled to undo his shirt buttons one by one.

Watching her, Kaiyan felt struck again.

"What's with you today? So forward."

"What's with you? You don't usually make me talk this much. Take off your shirt."

The large, stiff buttons on his unfamiliar men's shirt frustrated her, and Clodel pouted.

Her tiny hands struggling to undress him tickled Kaiyan's heart.

"What are you going to do once it's off?"

"I want to touch you."

Clodel murmured wistfully.

"Hold me. Please?"

Kaiyan swept her into his arms and carried her to the bed.

Not even giving time to fully undress, he pulled her close and kissed her urgently.

"As you wish."

Today's Clodel was different from usual.

She'd always had a demure side by day and a seductive temptress by night, but today she was enchantingly so in a way he couldn't quite name.

Kaiyan was drawn into an inescapable abyss.

Clodel lay nestled against Kaiyan's chest, cheek pressed to him.

When had she grown so accustomed to this man's warmth and scent?

"I couldn't sleep without you."

"Hanna would've let you share her bed."

"She did. But I still couldn't."

Fatigue shadowed Clodel's eyes.

"Why? You used to sleep fine with Hanna there."

"I did. But Hanna doesn't hold me as tight as you do."

Kaiyan let out a soft, windy chuckle at her words.

"So you couldn't sleep because you felt empty without me?"

"Yes."

His long fingers stroked her hair, over and over.

Occasionally snagging on tangles, pulling strands taut, but it relaxed her mind so deeply that it didn't hurt.

"Good thing I came back a day early."

"Oh, right. Why did you come early?"

"Well... sigh. It was nothing much."

Kaiyan trailed off, but Clodel didn't mind either way.

Ah. This feels good.

Every night, she'd used his arm as a pillow, letting his muscled arm hug her tight.

She wasn't picky about beds unless insomnia struck.

Whether it was lacking his arm versus a fluffy pillow, or just holding Hanna's hand not being enough, even she wasn't sure.

"Did you see a bit of Rowen?"

"I went to that garden café you took me to before. My sister loves flowers."

"I see. When you leave, have the gardener pick roses from the garden, one of each color, as a gift."

"Really? That's okay?"

"I'll tell him."

"Thank you."

Overjoyed, Clodel pushed up from his chest with her hand and kissed Kaiyan's cheek.

"That's a pretty skimpy thank-you."

As she sealed his grumbling mouth with her lips, the man quieted.

"You're running a little hot. Do you have a fever?"

"No. I'm fine."

Clodel shook her head.

There was no pain anywhere.

"Why on earth did you call me 'Duke'?"

"Were you mad about that?"

"No."

Ah. Now she got it for sure.

After Kaiyan had allowed her to use his name, Clodel had never called him "Duke" again.

Earlier, he'd looked so scary in his hunting gear, catching her off guard at the gates, so she'd blurted it out in surprise—but apparently, that had hurt his feelings.

"You looked so angry."

"Me? Not at all."

"Liar. You looked in a really bad mood."

Kaiyan pressed his lips to her forehead.

"What would I ever have to be mad at you about? There was just a little incident at the hunt. I must've made you misunderstand."

"...Yeah."

Only when he called it his fault for "making you misunderstand" did her lingering sulk fully melt away.

"Did you catch the fox?"

"Why ask that?"

"You came back too soon. Did you just... come home?"

His hand, still stroking her hair, subtly caressed her wingbones and slid toward her waist.

"Why's that interesting you? Were you hoping to see it draped over you?"

"No!"

Clodel turned away seriously, clutching the blanket with both hands and pulling it close.

"Good night."

"I caught it."

Kaiyan nibbled her ear and drew her back into his arms.

"Three of them, different colors each."

"Wow. Three?"

"So you'll have to show me that scarf three times at night..."

Unable to hold back, Clodel covered Kaiyan's mouth with her hand.

But he captured it and nibbled her fingers gently with his lips.

"Lecher."

"Fearless thing, saying that. If I'm a lecher, does that mean you have a taste for lechers?"

"No."

"No my foot. You shoved your weary, freshly returned husband against the bedroom door and demanded a kiss first thing."

"What? When did I do that? And you barely hunted anyway."

...And you're not even tired.

Clodel could feel for herself just how lively Kaiyan was.

"Did you miss me?"

More than that, she wanted to confirm the words she'd let slip in the dining hall amid their squabble.

"Yeah."

"How much?"

"Enough to want to defy the king's orders and come home."

Clodel's eyes widened round.

"You didn't actually defy the king's command, did you?"

"Of course not. He defied it."

"...What?"

"You don't need the details. It happens sometimes—don't worry about it."

It was a strange night.

Just one night apart.

Yet both Kaiyan and Clodel found themselves unusually talkative.

They chatted for ages, shared breaths again, let their touching bodies heat up until the beaded sweat cooled, all while feeling each other's warmth and murmuring on.

"Clodel."

Only as thin dawn light peeked over the distant ridge did she finally drift into motionless sleep.

"Maybe it's worth leaving sometimes."

Did Valquiter's spawn have some trick up its sleeve?

Every time that fool acted up, Clodel did something adorable in return—so next time he was told to visit the palace out of the blue, he might not gripe and just go.

"Even sleeping, she's beautiful."

Kaiyan fancied himself an arbiter of beauty.

His eyes had been raised on the rarest, finest things.

With Clodel's red hair matching her brows and lashes, she looked especially lovely in the pale dawn glow.

He often left her sleeping at this hour to exit the bedroom, but more often than not, he lingered, watching her for a long while before going.

"It was a hunting trip schedule anyway."

Today was meant for returning from Promhunt to Rowen—a full day with the lord's duties vacant.

"Guess I'll spend the day properly serving my lady."

Resolved to be a lazy lord idling in his wife's bed, Kaiyan pulled Clodel close.

He closed his eyes to the sound of her soft, even breathing.

As sleep claimed him, the day's busied events flashed swiftly through Kaiyan's mind.

At the edge of consciousness, his final thought brought a smile as he slipped away.

Thank goodness it's you I married.

His type, at that.