95
Rohan behaved like someone with a broken part. His blinking slowed noticeably, and his lips parted slightly, but not a sound escaped. Arpel, who had been observing each of these reactions as if admiring them, added:
“You said it at the village chief’s house. You wanted an empty house because of the noise at night.”
“That, that was…”
A blush quickly rose to his pale cheeks. His lips trembled repeatedly as if he had much to say, but what actually came out was just a short phrase.
“…I just said anything.”
It wasn’t a bad excuse. But the mumbling voice and the constantly shifting eyes that couldn’t stay still gave away that it was a lie.
Although it seemed he wanted to gloss over the situation, Arpel paid no heed.
“But you know what?”
An unexpected question popped up that didn’t sound like a response to what Rohan had just said. He had ignored his words.
From their first meeting in the village that had been reduced to ashes by fire until now, Arpel had always prioritized Rohan and listened to his every word. So this must be the first time he pretended not to hear something that he clearly had, but Rohan seemed too preoccupied to notice this.
“Kissing doesn’t make much noise.”
“…!”
“Want to try something else? Something that makes more noise.”
Just processing the words that followed was overwhelming enough. With his voice ringing like tinnitus, his vision blurring, and his heart pounding uncomfortably hard, there was no way he could pay attention to anything else.
It felt suffocating, as if his chest was blocked, making it hard to breathe. It was Arpel’s hand that helped Rohan, who was just staring wide-eyed. The slow, patting touch on his back seemed to be soothing him to calm down, and only after feeling that touch could he let out a long breath.
Glancing at Arpel, he looked no different than usual. A calm face that didn’t seem to belong to someone who had just said such shocking things… As Rohan thought this, he noticed that Arpel’s earlobes and nape had turned red. He clamped his mouth shut.
Unlike his composed expression, the flushed skin was enough to stir up impulses. Rohan tried his best to suppress it, even going so far as to chew on his lips.
“You want to do it too, don’t you?”
The resolve to approach more slowly and carefully that he had been clinging to snapped.
In the dark room devoid of light, the only illumination was the faint moonlight seeping through the window cracks. Even with his back to it, Arpel’s eyes sparkled clearly.
The moment he realized there wasn’t a trace of hesitation in those mysterious purple eyes, a thrill ran through his entire body, making his fingertips tingle. Was it just his imagination that the tightly held hand and the soft voice felt like a gentle urging?
“Ah…”
Only a short gasp escaped his lips, but that brief sound carried so much. His body following the slight pull obediently, and amidst the swirling flood of various emotions, the corners of Arpel’s mouth quietly turned upward.
He didn’t try to compose himself and show a picture-perfect smile, nor did he attempt to hide the desire in his eyes. That appearance seemed more honest than ever.
Was it greed, obsession, or perhaps love? Arpel couldn’t define what emotion was budding inside him.
Nevertheless, if there was one thing certain, it was that he felt satisfaction in that greedy action, in those eyes brimming with intense desire, in those hands approaching, unable to resist the impulse.
Arpel willingly leaned into the touch on his face and closed his eyes. He didn’t bother to deny the feeling of fulfillment welling up inside him. After all, it was indescribably pleasing that all these unfiltered emotions were originating from him.
The warmth spread noticeably, and their breaths gradually drew closer. Finally, when something soft and warm touched his lips.
Arpel frowned deeply and pulled back. A thin gap appeared between the two lips that had been pressed together without space.
His gaze, now cold, pointed directly out the window. It was because he sensed someone’s gaze on the other side of the window, which, having not been covered by curtains, clearly showed the outside.
Of all times, now. His eyes, which had rarely shown distinct emotions towards anyone other than Rohan, blazed with anger towards the owner of that gaze. It was clear murderous intent towards the one who had ruined what he had been longing for right in front of him.
“…Arpel.”
Just before his head turned completely and his body moved further away. With a small whisper, Rohan’s hand resting on Arpel’s body tightened.
The faint veins visible on his wrist seemed to show his waning patience. As he carefully controlled his grip to restrain the other without causing pain, his eyes deepened as he looked at Arpel.
Despite surely having felt the same gaze, it was Arpel who was surprised by Rohan pressing closer without concern. As if finding the slightly widened, rapidly blinking eyes adorable, a gentle smile spread across Rohan’s face.
Finally, the lips that were positioned just a hair’s breadth away moved.
“Since I made such an excuse…”
Being the one who had created this situation, Arpel quickly understood the meaning of Rohan’s words. Let’s ignore the gaze, so please allow it. The rest wasn’t said, but his eyes were clearly saying so.
It was such a nonchalant action that it was hard to believe it was the same person who had been pretending not to notice his desire for more contact just moments ago. However, no one present was concerned about that fact at this moment.
The fulfillment filling his chest tightly, the possessiveness of not wanting to show this side to others, the affection felt from the fingertips gently brushing his cheeks… and the eyes pouring out desire so intense it was dizzying.
At least Arpel wasn’t the type to be able to stop with Rohan like this right in front of him.
By now, he had completely forgotten that there was someone watching them from outside. More precisely, the moment the hot body temperature that had briefly separated touched his skin again, it vanished from his mind without a trace.
“Why…”
What seemed about to land directly on his lips changed course. Once on the cheek beside his mouth, once on the tip of his upturned nose, once on his twitching eyelid, once on his well-shaped forehead. The soft sensation that was almost ticklish repeated, touching and leaving.
Arpel’s voice, which had been expressing confusion, disappeared in an instant. The redness that had only been at the back of his neck and the tips of his ears gradually spread across his face.
The affection pouring out with each touch of the lips, almost suffocating, and the small laugh that remained at the end. As it made his mind hazy and lingered moistly in his ears, finally their lips met. The glimpse of eyes that appeared and disappeared through the tightly closed lids and the trembling tips of his eyelashes seemed to represent Arpel’s emotions.
In the moment of hesitation, his lip was gently bitten. Whether enduring that sensation or trying to catch his breath, a gap formed between his tightly closed lips.
Something hot as if burned by fire pushed its way through that gap. No, is ‘hot as if burned by fire’ the right expression to use here?
He felt a terrible heat that seemed to melt some part of his body, and inside, a wave of heat burst forth. His fingertips tingled as if electrified, burning up.
His superhuman hearing as a demon sword was so captivated by the loud thumping of his heart that it couldn’t catch even a whisper of the wind outside.
All of these were unfamiliar sensations and experiences for Arpel.
“Hnn…”
A faint breath resembling a moan escaped. Starting with gentle taps on his stiff tongue, it carefully intertwined, and with each slow entanglement, heat built up in his head and his mind grew hazy.
It was a sight of complete defenselessness, unbelievable for someone who had initiated the provocation, but even seeing this, Rohan steadfastly pressed on with Arpel. His slightly open eyes wavered, seeming closer to being unable to contain his growing satisfaction and excitement.
“Arpel, breathe.”
His drifting consciousness returned only after hearing the soft voice along with the patting on his back.
He didn’t even realize the moment their lips parted. Blinking blankly, Arpel understood Rohan’s words a beat late and finally realized he hadn’t been breathing throughout the entire kiss.
There was no way he could run out of breath. Arpel’s essence was that of a demon sword, so even if he took human form and didn’t breathe, he wouldn’t die.
Despite knowing this fact clearly, gasping breaths kept bursting out of his mouth. It felt like he would die if he didn’t force air into his lungs right now. His heart was racing at a terrifying speed.
Loving eyes examined every inch of Arpel’s appearance. Lips glistening with someone’s saliva, a bright red face, panting breaths… The fact that Arpel had become disheveled with an expression he had never seen before, and that he was the one who had made him that way, felt like a great miracle to Rohan.
“Ah.”
A short gasp escaped Arpel’s mouth. As his dazed mind gradually cleared, the intense kiss they had just shared kept coming back to him.
The feeling of having his breath stolen, sharing hot body heat, and his mind going blank was quite addictive. Even more so because it was with Rohan. He wanted to feel that thrilling moment again when he felt like he might die from lack of breath. Feeling the affection scattering like snowflakes all over his body, he reached out and wrapped his arms around Rohan’s neck.
“…Let’s do it one more time.”
“Ha.”
The half-dazed murmuring voice took away even the last bit of composure left.
As soon as he exhaled, Rohan hastily kissed Arpel, gently biting his plump lower lip. He couldn’t hold back otherwise. The desire to devour the person before him grew at a frightening speed.
