Chapter 77

Edmund let out something that was neither quite a sigh nor quite a bitter laugh, then ground the still-smoking cigarette into the ashtray. When he lifted his head again to look at her, his eyes wavered faintly.

…Wavered. Unable to believe what she’d seen, Blair parted her lips slightly and met his gaze. The longer she looked into those ashen eyes, the clearer it became. Beneath the composure lay restrained emotion, and anxiety. What she glimpsed in him, unexpectedly, was a fragile heart.

“Edmund.”

She called his name in a whisper. It was so quiet. No answer came back, and nothing could be heard but the rain tapping against the glass.

Blair slowly reached out and took hold of Edmund’s face. The warmth that came through his cheek was faint. Tilting her chin, she pressed her lips to his. Against lips that stayed tightly closed, refusing to open, she brushed her breath over them again and again. Before long, he parted his mouth and gently entwined his tongue with hers. As their breathing tangled, a large hand came up to cup Blair’s cheek. With no space left between them, the two of them devoured each other as if feeling out one another’s warmth through their breath alone.

As if it were the natural next step, Blair rose and climbed onto him. Holding Edmund’s face in both hands, she buried her lips against his. Just as he had done to her, she bit, sucked at the soft inner flesh, then slipped her tongue in to wrap around his.

From that point on, their body heat began to change little by little. As Edmund’s breathing grew faster, his hands, no longer restrained, caught the hem of her nightwear and lifted it. Blair raised her arms to help him undress her, and the moment she was left in her underthings, she lunged back at him and kissed him again. There was no reason left to hesitate. Without either of them needing to take the lead, they dug into each other as if searching, as if starving.

It all felt willingly given. Only when she touched Edmund did Blair feel complete. She wanted to be held in the arms of a man who seemed able to breathe only through kissing her, grown desperate for her alone.

Edmund pulled her tightly against him. With his large hands, he held her fast so she wouldn’t collapse, so that he himself wouldn’t collapse either, trapping them both in his arms with all his strength.

“Ah….”

Holding Blair with one arm, Edmund lowered her onto the sofa and slid his lips down to her neck. Pressing kisses as if rubbing against her sensitive skin, he moved his hand behind her back. At some point, her underthings were stripped away with ease and fell to the stone floor. The man’s lips, tracing down along her collarbone and chest, sank deeply into her bouncing breasts.

“Mmgh.”

He twisted his wet tongue around, sucking insistently at her nipple. She clenched his black hair with trembling fingers, and just as she was about to protest how quickly his lips pulled away, he moved on. Licking his way down over her smooth abdomen, he squeezed her slender thighs firmly with his hands, forcing her legs apart. His ticklish breath now lingered on her lower abdomen.

Her whole body jolted. As the unfamiliar sensation deepened, heat surged up from her toes. Blair gasped and stared up at the glass ceiling where the deep night sky and pouring rain blurred together. It was the moment she felt his hand slide the thin fabric covering her buttocks aside.

“…Ah!”

Startled by the pleasure that struck without warning, Blair scrambled upright. Propping herself on one elbow, she lifted her upper body halfway and looked down at him in confusion. The man who had pushed the thin fabric aside and was kissing the exposed flesh lifted his eyes. Even in the darkness lit only by cold moonlight, his sharply defined face looked calm, as if asking what the problem was.

“Edmund, why, why….”

She couldn’t bring herself to ask what he was doing down there. No matter how inexperienced she was, there was no way she couldn’t tell what he intended. The man, who caught her flustered hesitation as if by instinct, replied quietly.

“You looked like you were hurting.”

“Ah….”

“So I thought I’d apologize properly while I’m at it.”

“Apologize, why… like this….”

“I was worried words alone wouldn’t feel sincere.”

His low breath brushed directly against her pussy. Whether she was startled or not, the man went ahead and pulled her underwear down, continuing calmly.

“Blair, you’ve been very good to me all this time.”

“…Wait…!”

Even her flustered resistance was useless before the unfamiliar caress. The scrap of fabric sliding over her knees passed her feet and finally fell to the floor.

“You followed me through all those tedious inspections, even gave me a tie as a gift.”

Having left her completely naked, the man lowered his head. The sensation of his black hair brushing her lower abdomen sent shivers racing over her skin.

“For someone like you, I went and sharpened my temper. That was too much of me.”

“But still, this, this way isn’t….”

“I’ve got no shame.”

A soft chuckle traveled straight upward from below.

“So I should apologize.”

“W-wait, Edmund…!”

Before she could finish, his impudent lips parted the swollen flesh and bit down hard on the hidden peak.

“Haah…!”

Her toes curled, her back arching skyward. He buried his face, cupping both cheeks firmly. He sucked on the sensitive flesh, then extended his tongue to lick deeply into the opening. Unable to withstand the torrent of pleasure, love juice instantly flowed down her perineum. Edmund twisted his jaw to lap it all up, then pressed his high nose firmly against her clitoris. A moan burst out involuntarily.

“Ahhh….”

Her hands, wandering helplessly in the air, were tenderly grasped by him. Perhaps he held them to keep her from struggling. Every sensation in her body was concentrated in one place, leaving no room for thought. While he greedily worked his tongue, he also stripped off his own shirt and trousers one by one, tossing them onto the stone floor. Soaked through, she twisted her waist, driven by an urge to flee.

The dizzying stimulation continued unabated. Her trembling thighs brushed against his earlobes again and again. The long-stimulated nub swelled, tightening her lower body. At the same time, the pleasure that had been building suddenly burst.

“Ahh…!”

Her inner thighs trembled, her mind completely blank, utterly lost. She didn’t even have the energy to care about her thoroughly soaked buttocks. Just as Blair was panting heavily, Edmund pulled away from her lips and raised his upper body. He gazed down calmly at the woman convulsing from a shallow climax.

“Haah… ha….”

Not at her flushed, wet flesh, not at her heaving chest, but at Blair’s dazed face. His gaze, sunk low, looked exceptionally dark. Meeting his eyes felt like falling endlessly. Perhaps she was already sinking deep into him, flailing helplessly.

What about him? Did he feel the same way?

The moment that thought crossed her mind, Edmund reached out as if he’d read her heart, just as he always did. Her small, delicate face fit fully within his large hand. His thumb brushed softly over her smooth cheek, unbearably tender. It was a careful gesture, hard to believe it came from the man who had been offering such rough caresses just moments before.

“Blair.”

“…Ah… haa… yes?”

“Should we stop?”

She looked up at him with a slightly puzzled expression, having been repeating shallow breaths.

“…Why?”

“Because you’re trembling.”

Blair blinked, not understanding right away. After a brief silence, she realized it.

Edmund wasn’t talking about her body shivering from the continued stimulation. Looking into his eyes, dark as a bottomless abyss, she understood that he’d noticed her heart, the love she’d felt while staring into them. He’d sensed the tremor right before she sank too deep.

And he was trembling too. It was as much a warning to himself. That if they didn’t stop here, it would be dangerous. That if they continued, he might fall so far he wouldn’t be able to come back.

“That’s… true for you too, Edmund.”

After steadying her breath, she whispered softly.

“I want to know you more. If we stop just because we’re afraid, we’ll end up never really knowing each other.”

“….”

“Is that okay with you?”

For a long moment, he said nothing. The fingers that had been stroking her cheek slid down to trace her jawline. Slowly. So slowly, with no trace of messy desire left in the movement.

Instead of answering, he pressed his lips to hers. Gently, as if smoothing her breath, he continued the kiss. At some point, a heavy pressure surged into her already drenched lower body. Blair swallowed a moan and wrapped her arms around his neck. Locked tightly together, Edmund pulled her into a fierce embrace.

It was the moment the defenses of a man, whose heart had tilted, crumbled.