His damp lips wandered down the sensitive curve of her neck before lightly catching her prominent collarbone between his teeth.
Shivering, Talia drew his head against the hollow of her chest.
Varkas squeezed his eyes shut.
Never in his life had torture tasted so sweet.
"Talia."
He breathed in the sweet fragrance lingering on her skin and wrapped both arms around her slender waist.
By now, his body was drenched in sweat.
The heat surging through him had reached its limit.
It felt as though he might explode at any moment.
The last remnants of his reason warned him to pull away.
Yet he simply couldn't.
"Kiss me more."
Just as he struggled to regain control, she whispered the request in a damp, breathless voice.
He hesitated only briefly.
Then he obeyed.
Tilting her head back, he repeatedly thrust his tongue deep into her mouth and withdrew it again.
Each movement produced wet, intimate sounds, as though their bodies rather than their mouths were entwined.
He painstakingly avoided pressing his burning body ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) against hers while continuing to explore every moist corner within her mouth.
How long they remained like that, he couldn't tell.
After the sensitive places inside her mouth had been relentlessly teased, Talia suddenly stiffened from head to toe.
A moment later, all strength drained from her limbs.
Breathing hard, Varkas looked down at her.
Her unfocused eyes drifted blankly through the air.
His gaze slowly traveled downward.
Her flushed neck.
Her sweat-slick collarbones.
Her chest, rising and falling with ragged breaths.
The sensation of being pierced by a blade became even more vivid.
Forcing himself to suppress it, he gently brushed the damp strands of hair away from her neck with trembling fingers.
Still trying to steady her breathing, Talia looked at him in confusion.
"Why...?"
She was asking why he wouldn't go any further.
Without answering directly, Varkas simply pulled the blanket over her body.
"You look very sleepy. You should rest."
"...It's only because of the medicine. I'll be fine in a little while."
She wrapped her arms around his back again, slowly tracing the prominent muscles beneath his skin with her fingertips.
Carefully taking her hand, he lifted it to his lips.
He kissed each rosy knuckle one by one.
Her dissatisfied expression gradually softened into shy embarrassment.
He showered kisses across her flushed cheeks as well before gathering her pliant body gently against his chest.
Sliding one arm beneath her head, he softly stroked her tangled hair.
Before long, her breathing became slow and even.
Varkas silently watched her peaceful face in the candlelight for a very long time.
Something inside him still felt as though it had been brutally torn apart.
Yet strangely...
His heart felt completely full.
It was almost like drinking powerful liquor until reaching the very limit.
He drew her even closer.
One of her soft thighs, hidden beneath the thin folds of her skirt, slipped between his legs.
Every place where their bodies touched burned like fire.