Chapter 1 #3
“Don’t look away from me.” Riftan spoke the words through clenched teeth. His dark eyes flickered with intense emotion and the hairs on her nape stood straight. He pelted her tear-streaked face with kiss after kiss.
“You’re my wife now,” he said between kisses. “There’s no turning back, whether you like it or not.”
A hand reached into her hair and pulled her lips to his. There was little she could do but allow it to happen. Again, and again…
When Maxi awoke the next day, it was well past noon, and Riftan had already left for the dragon campaign.
She learned from her nursemaid that a cleric had come to inspect the blood on the sheets and declare the marriage valid, and that this consummation of marriage was a rite of passage for all newlywed couples.
And that was all that had transpired between her and Riftan back then.
Nothing more, nothing less. She had lost her virginity, and he had left for the Lexos Mountains in the duke’s stead.
It was difficult to believe that they were man and wife—even now, at this moment, as he stood before her returned from war.
Lost for words, Maxi stared silently at Riftan’s face, his expression like a storm.
Her ears rang with the echoes of her father’s voice, threatening her with myriad punishments should Riftan Calypse divorce her.
Her lips, however, were sealed shut. What could she possibly say?
He was a stranger—her husband in name only.
“For heaven’s sake, stop shaking!” Riftan snapped, voice raised.
Maxi flinched and took a step back, but he tightened his grip on her arm and closed the distance between them once again.
“Do you find me that horrendous? Have I come back a monster?”
“I…I…”
He ran a hand through the thick, shaggy hair that covered his eyes and glared at her. Maxi’s vision blurred. Far from achieving her goal—to persuade him not to divorce her—she had instead managed to offend him less than five minutes into their reunion. Her lips twitched.
I need to say something. Anything. Please…
“I-I w-was n-n-n-nervous and I-I…I d-d-didn’t know w-what t-to say….”
Her cheeks burned red with shame. Tears welled in her eyes, but this wasn’t the time to cry. Doing so would only enrage him. She searched desperately for the right words.
“Y-Y…Y-You’re n-not a m-m-monster. I-I…I’m just n-n-nervous and w-w-w—can’t stop sh-shaking….”
Maxi’s tongue was failing her even more than usual, and she could not bring herself to meet Riftan’s gaze. It had been hopeless from the start. How could she possibly persuade him when she was hindered by this dreadful impediment?
The burning flush rose from her cheeks to the tips of her ears. She hung her head in shame, overwhelmed by a sense of vulnerability. Perhaps she would be better off keeping her mouth shut. A proper woman would not stutter and shake like a half-wit.
“Damn it all…” Riftan muttered.
She flinched at his quiet cursing. Her father was right. There was not a single man in the world who would desire her as his wife. Asking him to turn down a princess’s hand in marriage, in favor of her, would be ludicrous.
Overcome by her helplessness, Maxi’s eyes prickled with tears. At that moment, something cold touched her cheek—Riftan had reached out with his gauntleted hand to cup her face.
“Open your mouth.”
Unable to grasp his intentions, she gazed numbly into his jet-black eyes, hovering a hairsbreadth from her own.
Riftan sighed, as if his patience was being tested yet again.
He pushed her chin down and thrust his soft, wet tongue into her mouth.
Shocked, she found herself gripping his arms to steady herself.
Riftan bit his lip and muttered in annoyance. “Should’ve taken off my armor first….”
It happened so quickly that Maxi had no chance to brace herself. She stood there uneasily, until he pushed her down onto the sofa behind her. With a knee pressed into the side of her thigh, he deftly removed his silver gauntlet.
The long, thick fingers that emerged from the gauntlet tenderly grazed her cheeks. Her hands clutched his tunic, as if they had a mind of their own. Again, Riftan pressed his lips to hers, and he removed the other gauntlet to bury his other hand into her hair and roughly grasp the back of her head.
Riftan’s tongue twisted and tangled with Maxi’s, roving over her teeth. She found it harder and harder to breathe. She shoved at his chest, but he clung more firmly to her.
“Just a little more…”
Her heart skipped a beat at his pleading tone.
Warm hands slid over her face and neck, stroking the curve of her back before sliding along her ribs and up to her breasts.
When Maxi squirmed in embarrassment, he pulled her in by her waist and laid her down on the sofa.
Then, without delay, he pulled up her skirt.
“R-Riftan…!”
This time, she immediately knew what he wanted. Her eyes darted toward the door. How could he do this in the middle of the drawing room? And in broad daylight, no less! Someone could burst in at any moment!
But Riftan didn’t seem to care. He nibbled on the back of her neck, pressing his body insistently against hers.
When she felt his hardness between her legs, she cried out in shock.
He began to rub against her, slowly, and with each movement, the steel cuisses that covered his powerful thighs brushed up against her, the cold metal raising the hair on her skin.
Unable to bear it any longer, Maxi squeezed her eyes shut, but the intimacy abruptly ended when Riftan sprang up without warning and threw a cloak over her body.
Someone was watching them. A blond man dressed in the same armor as Riftan stood at the door, his eyes wide and mouth agape.
“What are you looking at, you little rat?!” Riftan roared.
Maxi leaped to her feet, startled by Riftan’s shout as much as by the man at the door. For a split second, the blond man was taken aback by the intensity of Riftan’s ire, but he was soon growling a retort.
“Commander, how could I have known that you’d be engaged like this in the drawing room? I assumed you’d hear me approaching right away, as usual. I didn’t see the need to knock.”
“Get out!”
Riftan’s bellow turned Maxi’s face white as a sheet. She dreaded what was to come if the blond man left the room, so she sent a pleading look in his direction, but he simply cursed through gritted teeth and turned back toward the door.
“A carriage is waiting for you outside, Commander. You said you didn’t want to stay a moment longer than necessary at Croyso Castle.”
“Keep it waiting,” said Riftan.
The blond man paused, as if struck dumb by Riftan’s words. Then, he scowled and let out an exasperated sigh. “Please be quick, Commander.”
With that, he shot a displeased look at Maxi before exiting the room, the door slamming shut behind him.
Maxi searched Riftan’s face for signs of anger as he scratched the back of his head. When his eyes slid away from the door and back to her, Maxi withered under the intensity of his stare.
Riftan scoffed. “I won’t pounce on you again, so there’s no need to tremble like that. Hell, I wasn’t planning to jump on you here at all.”
She dared not raise her head. Instead, she stared at her clasped hands, as if trying to bore a hole through them with her gaze.
Riftan rose from the sofa and straightened out his disheveled clothes. “You heard him, didn’t you? A carriage is waiting. It’s leaving soon.”
Maxi’s blood froze. He had tried to ravish her only moments ago, and now he spoke of leaving? She hadn’t managed to convey even a single coherent thought to him, let alone persuade him.
“B-But…” In her panic, Maxi clutched at his tunic, oblivious to how rumpled her own clothes had become. “C-Could we t-t-talk for a m-moment…?”
“There’s no time to lose,” said Riftan. “Have a servant pack your things. We’ll talk in the carriage.”
Maxi had been shaking with fear, but now she was confused. She hesitantly repeated his words. “My…My th-things?”
“Yes. Your things. Do you not have things to bring with you?”
She blinked, still not understanding. Riftan sighed heavily and deftly adjusted her clothes back into some semblance of propriety before calling to the maidservant waiting just outside to pack Maxi’s bags.
Despite all the evidence unfolding before her, Maxi could not believe that Riftan truly intended to take her with him.
“Pack only what you need. We can’t dally for too long.”
“Th-There’s n-not much to t-take. J-Just a few…”
“Good. We’ll leave now, then. Anything you might need, you can find at my estate.”
Riftan sent the maidservant away and led Maxi out of the drawing room. She almost had to run to keep up with his massive strides. Everything was moving so quickly that her thoughts could not keep up.
“Your…Y-Your estate…?”
“What? Does it amaze you that a lowly knight would have land of his own?” He glowered at her over his shoulder, his voice brimming with scorn. “King Reuben bestowed an estate upon me when I became a knight, along with a castle. A castle that should have become your home after our wedding.”
Maxi looked up at him, bewildered. A castle that should have become her home?
Riftan seemed uninterested in explaining further.
He was already marching down the staircase and into the expansive courtyard beyond.
Next to the colossal fountain stood an extravagant carriage pulled by four horses.
An entourage of fifteen or so knights stood guard around it.
Their boisterous voices died down when Riftan and Maxi approached.
Some of the men threw furtive glances at Maxi, who followed awkwardly behind Riftan.
Her cheeks burned under their curious gazes.
“What are you waiting for?” Riftan asked her. “Get in the carriage.”
“B-But…F-F-Father is w-waiting for…for me. I n-need his p-p-permission….”
Riftan’s face hardened when she mentioned the duke. Tightening his grip on her arm, he dragged her toward the carriage.