His face was calm, as though he were merely observing her reaction.
Suddenly, deep confusion swept over her.
Could everything that had just happened have been a delusion?
She froze at his peaceful expression, and then Varkas picked up the bottle and gave it a light shake.
“There's still medicine left.”
His low, clear voice tinged with the faint sound of metal brushed against her ears.
Talia's eyes widened before she hurriedly lowered them. Violent pounding rang in her temples.
Leaning close to her ear, he quietly demanded another fragment of her pride.
“What should we do with this?”
Touching her tingling lips, Talia stared at the wavering red shadows.
How long she struggled in the suffocating silence, she did not know.
Eventually, she nodded.
Yet even after some time had passed, he did nothing.
After hesitating for a moment, Talia forced the words out through her constricted throat.
“...Feed me.”
In an instant, her head tilted back, and the dark liquid flowed into her mouth.
As she swallowed it down, unpleasant heat slid down her throat.
Yet the lingering bitterness was instantly washed away by sticky saliva.
Clutching his shirt tightly, Talia let out ragged breaths.
Warm flesh ceaselessly explored the narrow space. Gradually pushed back by his insistence, her back finally touched the bedsheets.
Talia looked up at him with frightened eyes.
She wanted to sit up, but she couldn't separate herself from him even for a moment.
Supporting himself with one hand on the bed, Varkas leaned over her and continued drawing in her lips.
His face was hidden in deep shadows, and only his eyes shone vividly.
It felt as though she were submerged in cold flames.
All her senses melted away, while her heart grew cold with unease.
“Open your mouth wider.”
His damp voice brushed against her lips.
Looking up at him with trembling eyes, Talia slowly parted her lips further.
Warm flesh immediately scraped over her tongue and invaded near her throat. As though savoring the sensation of her choking around him, he lingered there before slowly withdrawing.
The repeated acts left her mind hazy.
Turning her head aside to breathe, she found her hair seized.
His long fingers wrapped around her hair and tugged gently, without pain.
Even that felt frighteningly obscene.
“Varkas...”
A pleading tone mixed into her ragged breaths.
She didn't even know what she was begging for.
Looking up at him through clouded eyes, she saw the faint distortion in his gaze. His rough palm stroked her heated neck.
Suddenly, a terrible question arose.
Had he touched someone else like this before?
The image of him kissing Aila flashed through her mind.
He must have laid that woman on a bed too.
He must have kissed her lips as well.
And just as he silently granted Talia's wishes, he must have silently granted hers.
Because to him, such things meant nothing.
“...Why are you crying?”
He lifted his head and asked in a deeply lowered voice.
His callused thumb brushed beneath her eyes.
Talia hid her gaze beneath lowered lashes.
“...I'm tired. I want to sleep now.”
Frowning slightly, Varkas slowly rose.
It was hard to believe that this was the same man who had so greedily explored another's mouth moments ago. He looked utterly detached.
Walking to the window, he pushed it open.
Cool, damp air swept away the heat filling the room.
Talia stared blankly at his silhouette swallowed by darkness, then turned to the opposite side and closed her eyes.
Her mind gradually grew hazy.
When she woke tomorrow, would she once again think today had been a dream?
Thinking such things vaguely, Talia soon drifted into unconsciousness.
* * *
“I've made sure everyone keeps their mouths shut, so last night's unfortunate incident won't spread.”
Varkas, gently patting Tork, who snorted roughly, looked at the lord of Dorkaen.
The man grinned and chattered carelessly.
“Still, you truly have taken a remarkable wife. To think such a heavenly beauty could possess such a formidable temper...”
“Uzan Darken.”
Perhaps sensing the warning in his voice, the man immediately shut his mouth.
Varkas added calmly,
“It seems you'd do better to keep your own mouth under control first.”