Seiyad lost all restraint the moment the sweet taste filled his hunger-starved body, as if he hadn’t eaten in days. He urgently swallowed Ressas’s lips and licked them again.
The bolder Seiyad’s movements grew, the more Ressas trembled in his arms. That subtle quivering, as if even a mere touch was too much to bear, fanned a sinister desire within him. He wanted to see how far he could push that naive reaction.
Following that mischievous impulse, Seiyad decided to taste the inside of Ressas’s mouth. As his tongue slipped past the barrier of teeth and ventured into the suggestive heat beyond, Ressas, who had been cautious until now, suddenly wrapped his arms tightly around Seiyad’s back. The brief moment he had remained still had been a ruse; now Ressas pressed their bodies together and touched him.
“Haa…” Ressas exhaled a rough, impatient breath, then bent forward, wrapped his arms around Seiyad’s waist—and lower—and lifted him in one swift motion. Seiyad, abruptly hoisted, found himself halfway laid out on the table he had been leaning against. Trying to regain balance, he crumpled the fabric at Ressas’s collar and fused their parted lips again. He didn’t want to stop this damnably pleasurable act.
Releasing his grip on Seiyad’s waist, Ressas was now being gripped—shoulders and collar seized as Seiyad devoured him. Each time their skin rubbed and ground together, a tingling sensation bloomed across the surfaces that touched, so intense it sent shivers through him. The barren darkness inside him was being filled—lush and overflowing.
Yet it wasn’t enough. No—it was still missing something, something more, something else. As the reason that had been holding him back disappeared, instinct drove him on. After what felt like an eternity tasting those lips, Seiyad changed direction. His feverish mouth moved to Ressas’s long, pale neck. He had always wondered what the snowy, delicate skin—so white it looked like it would melt under a touch—might taste like.
“Eid, just, wai—!”
When his lips bit into the sloped vein of Ressas’s neck and his tongue followed, Ressas’s broad shoulders twitched. His chest heaved as if to shake Seiyad off, but annoyed at the resistance, Seiyad bared his teeth and bit the nape of his neck. His front teeth left a mark, blooming into a red petal. That pleased him.
“Wait, if you… Eid, I’ll—”
Ignoring the growing strength in Ressas’s grip, Seiyad moved lower down his neck. He wanted to consume Ressas whole—this man who clung to him helplessly, unsure of what to do. As he kissed the collarbone, Seiyad let one of his hands slip from Ressas’s shoulder into his clothing. The moment his palm brushed against the smooth muscles of Ressas’s back, Ressas grabbed his arm and held him still.
“Eid…!”
Annoyed at having his focus broken, Seiyad glared at Ressas with unfocused eyes. But the face that met his gaze looked more masculine than what he had seen back at the lake. Deep violet eyes burned with intense desire, swallowing Seiyad whole, and his lips were tightly sealed, as if restraining something.
“If you… keep acting like this… I won’t be able to hold back.”
The cracked, hoarse voice carried the clear weight of a limit. Ressas’s other hand, which had been twitching since earlier, now gripped Seiyad’s waist with vivid pressure—then loosened. His large hand pressed down firmly on the muscular curve of Seiyad’s lower back, then flinched and froze as if it would travel further. Then, slowly, he released his hand and clenched his fist tightly before letting it go.
“But you’re injured… I don’t want to strain you, not even a little. Unfortunately, my power can’t heal your wounds. If only it could…”
It was strange. With Aster, this level had always been enough. Yet now, Seiyad still felt a burning thirst for more. A deeper kind of desire—it wasn’t just about tasting skin or licking it. It was a craving for the kind of pleasure one only experienced when holding a woman. What would it feel like to gain that same ecstasy from a Guide? The thought itself was dizzying.
“You’re calling this straining me? From just a back injury? Receiving Purification would help me recover faster, so stop hesitating.”
If he had been in his right mind, he might have stepped back. But Seiyad needed—no, had—to connect with his Guide. Without allowing Ressas a chance to object, he tightened his grip on the arm that had stopped him and reached for Ressas’s abdomen. His hand slipped beneath the loosened garment, disrupted earlier, and found hard muscles that didn’t match the man’s elegant appearance. Just as his hand began to move lower, Ressas hugged him so tightly that Seiyad could barely breathe.
“Enough.”
With his arms locked around him, Ressas buried his face in Seiyad’s shoulder. His ragged breath landed on Seiyad’s collarbone. It was so hot it could’ve scalded.
“If I let you touch me more, I might end up hurting you. I don’t even know what I’ll do… So instead, let me comfort you in another way.”
The words made no sense. Being interrupted so many times was frustrating enough that Seiyad’s reason began to return. But his body was still engulfed in heat. Frowning, he snapped at him.
“You’re acting like you don’t know that Guides and Tithers do far more than kissing.”
“No. I know that better than anyone. And that’s exactly why I’m restraining myself. Can’t you see that?”
Ressas whispered like a man about to lose his mind, and Seiyad stared back, even more confused. Restrain? From what? All Ressas had to do was lie still. He’d never been with a man, but the method was the same. If it was a Guide and a Tither, then surely it would be nothing new. As long as it wasn’t painful, as long as the act gave enough sensation—that was all that mattered. It wasn’t any different whether it was with a man or a woman.
“Just what exactly are you restraining…”
“I’m holding myself back from shoving myself inside you right this second. From marking your beautiful bare body with my scent, from filling you entirely with me. I’m restraining myself so hard it’s a miracle I haven’t lost my mind already.”
What did he just say…?
It felt like being drenched in ice water. Seiyad flinched, his shoulders twitching. Ressas lifted his face and looked down at him. Their eyes met. And in Ressas’s gaze, the truth of that smoldering desire slowly came into view.
“I’ve never done it before, so I’m sure I’ll hurt you. Just having you in my arms makes my heart feel like it’s going to burst—if I were to taste something more than this, how could I possibly restrain myself? The moment I spread your legs, I’d become nothing more than a beast, blind to everything else.”
The meaning behind those delicately omitted words rang crystal clear. Heat surged even hotter through Seiyad’s already burning body, and he shifted slightly in Ressas’s embrace. He raised the hand that had been on Ressas’s stomach, intending to push against the firm abs, but just touching him felt unbearably conscious.
He had known, of course, that Ressas viewed him as an object of desire. But he hadn’t imagined it in this direction. If he had bothered to look deeper, he might’ve understood what Ressas meant by “desire as a man.” But never had Seiyad pictured himself being the one Ressas would take.
“But don’t worry,” Ressas continued. “As I said yesterday, I won’t take you until your heart is aligned with mine. Desire alone won’t blind me to the feelings I have for you. Just knowing you’re alive and breathing by my side makes me the happiest man in the world.”
He gently caressed Seiyad’s bewildered face with his eyes, then finally let go of the tightly held body. Despite bearing all the marks of a man clearly aroused, Ressas looked down at him as though it were nothing—and then slowly knelt between Seiyad’s legs, still half-seated on the table.
It was surreal: the Light of Solias, said to be the most noble existence in the world, kneeling and looking up at him. The sight made Seiyad dizzy. He flinched. Ressas smiled brightly and took hold of Seiyad’s knees. His large hands grasped his solid kneecaps and gently spread them apart.
“But since you’re looking at me so sweetly, Your Grace, I’ll comfort you in another way.”
What he was about to do was obvious. Seiyad may have considered taking Ressas—but he had never once imagined making him do this. He hurriedly bent forward, this time intent on stopping Ressas.
“There’s no need for that. Your Highness, just—!”
Before he could even finish telling him to stop, Ressas was already moving. A heated touch bloomed below, followed by a surge of unbearable pleasure. The hand that had reached to stop him instead clutched Ressas’s shoulder tightly.
“Ah…!”
His lips parted, and a ragged moan slipped out. His jaw clenched, and a tidal wave of heat rose in his gut. The indecent act performed by such a noble bloodline, all for him, was almost too overwhelming. Seiyad couldn’t even bring himself to look down. He sat frozen in place.
True to his claim of inexperience, Ressas was utterly clumsy—but that made the stimulation all the more maddening. Sensuous sounds echoed within the tent, and Seiyad clenched his teeth, desperate not to let his own voice add to that lewd chorus.
The end came quickly. His body, untouched for so long, couldn’t withstand the intensity. His hand flailed, then gripped Ressas’s soft black hair, unable to hold back. Ressas didn’t flinch at the audacity—he simply continued with gentle devotion, ensuring Seiyad reached a sweet, undeniable climax.
“Ah… aah…!”
As waves of mind-breaking sensation crashed through his entire body, Seiyad threw his head back. A tremor ran down his spine, his lower belly tensed, and his bare toes curled hard against the floor. Heat flared across his pallid face. There was no trace left of the cold, aloof Duke—only breathless, disheveled elation.
He felt Ressas release him and gaze up at his current state, as if trying to sear the image into memory. That gaze, like a touch, sent a tidal wave of embarrassment crashing over him. Panting, Seiyad pushed himself upright. Sweat beaded on his forehead, making strands of ash-grey hair cling to his skin. As he looked down, he saw Ressas’s reddened lips. The moment their eyes met, Ressas curved his lips into a sinful smile.
“Perhaps it’s because Your Grace likes sweets—your taste is like honey, even the traces.”
In that instant, Seiyad’s heart started pounding wildly. His body felt like it might explode. He should say something in return—but couldn’t. He lowered the hand still tangled in Ressas’s hair to cover his face. When Ressas laughed softly, clearly pleased, Seiyad stumbled to his feet in flustered retreat.
Ressas caught up with him immediately and grabbed his arm.
“Eid, wait. Your clothes.”
“I’m fine. I can do it myself.”
Seiyad couldn’t muster enough strength to push him away properly. Ressas approached without hesitation and gently adjusted his disheveled clothing, whispering close.
“If you go out looking this beautiful, I’m afraid there’ll be too many eyes trying to steal a glimpse.”
Every brush of Ressas’s hand made Seiyad hyper-aware. Earlier, the same touches hadn’t felt like this at all—so now, he just wanted to escape. The fact that he’d lost his mind like that only moments ago filled him with mortifying shame. He’d done something unnecessary. The Purification he’d received earlier had been more than enough. It was he, not Ressas, who had been blinded by lust.
‘You really dared suggest something like that, Seiyad Brosius.’
Berating himself, Seiyad avoided Ressas’s gaze as much as possible. Only now did his mother’s words resurface in his mind. He felt like he’d done something he never should have, swept up in a moment of impulse. His lips parted to speak in the chaos of it all—
Then, thankfully, a voice rang out from outside.
“Your Highness, I-I’m so sorry to interrupt at such a crucial moment…! But I had to let you know—Duke Bridehit has just arrived…!”
At Vine’s clearly distressed announcement, a wave of relief finally washed over Seiyad.
