Chapter 10 #5
Riftan stifled a moan, his face tense with longing. “Do you know what you’re doing to me right now?” A deep line appeared on his forehead, and his lips quivered.
Maxi raised her head to kiss the corner of his mouth, and Riftan began to paw hungrily at her.
As his hands slid through her hair, she moaned and tugged at his tunic pleadingly.
Riftan grabbed her fumbling hands and guided her down to the hard heat of his desire.
A burning flush crept up to the tips of Maxi’s ears as Riftan impatiently pressed himself into her hand and his breath grew ragged.
“Ah…”
Maxi’s ears burned with the sound of his shuddering moan, and she cautiously began to move her hand, stroking him through his trousers. Riftan trembled under her touch, and the sight of her imposing husband quivering like a wounded beast enraptured her.
“A-Are you in p-pain?”
“Yes…It’s killing me.” Riftan pulled her into his arms and muttered something inaudible.
Summoning her courage, Maxi undid the straps of his trousers. After a moment of hesitation, she touched him as gently as he did when he touched her. He was so surprisingly smooth and warm she found it hard to believe that this was the part of him that had once caused her agony.
“M-Maxi…” Riftan breathed her name raggedly and grabbed her shoulders.
Spellbound, she watched his face as she touched him. His eyes clouded with desire, and he clung to her, trembling with his need. Maxi realized she had started something she could not contain but did not know how to proceed.
“Don’t stop,” Riftan begged her. “Just a little more, Maxi…”
“W-What should I d-do?”
Riftan pressed the back of his hand to his forehead, briefly overcome by her naivety, then guided her hand until it was wrapped around him.
“Move your hand up and down…Slowly…Yes, just like that…”
His face was flushed with excitement, and Maxi gazed into his feverish eyes as she began to stroke his length. Her heart pounded painfully inside her chest, and her breath became as uneven as his. It was all too much to bear.
All thoughts of shame had disappeared. Maxi kissed his Adam’s apple and began moving her hand a little faster.
Riftan’s breath caught in his throat. Having reached the limits of his patience, he quickly removed her hand and positioned himself between her legs.
Maxi readily opened herself to him and, in one swift motion, he pushed her chemise up and thrust into her.
“Ah…” Maxi gasped; it was difficult to breathe under his weight.
Joined together, their bodies quivered, but Riftan seemed to sense that she was not ready and slid out of her.
He stroked her hair and thrust into her again, more slowly this time.
Maxi’s thighs trembled as they clenched around his hips, and she held on to his arms. It felt as if she were embracing a ball of flames.
“R-Riftan…” she moaned.
Droplets of sweat trickled down his forehead and disappeared into his long lashes. He blinked them away as Maxi watched him in wonder.
Riftan could carry her up multiple flights of stairs or ride for hours at a time without breaking a sweat, yet she had driven him into a breathless frenzy. Greed and a wicked, sensual pleasure stirred within her.
She drew him closer, and Riftan moaned. He began to move with greater urgency, and all she could feel was pleasure shivering relentlessly through her.
Maxi moaned softly and dug her nails into his sweat-slicked back.
Sweat soaked her chemise and the fabric clung to her skin as their bodies pulsated wildly against each other.
She rocked her hips, her body burning feverishly as she beseeched him for more.
Riftan had the look of a half-crazed man, and Maxi was thrilled to see him so overcome with primal need.
She wanted to bind him to her body so he could never again say he did not need her, so he could never turn his back on her or leave her.
With overwhelming desire surging through her, Maxi clung to his shoulders. Riftan drew her to him by the neck and hungrily claimed her mouth, trying to devour her with his tongue.
“Maxi…” He gasped for air, his brow furrowed in something like anguish.
His expression puzzled her. She was the one who feared that he might one day grow bored with her. What did he have to fear? Why were his eyes so full of sorrow?
“You’re driving me crazy,” Riftan murmured and thrust more deeply into her.
He already filled her completely, yet he drove himself in deeper, seeking a greater satisfaction. Maxi could no longer comprehend his words. The sharp pleasure raking her insides overwhelmed her senses and curled her toes. She wound her legs around his waist.
Riftan’s body shuddered and he kissed her roughly, his wet tongue entwining with hers. They were careless in their passion and a faint taste of blood trickled into her mouth, but Maxi ignored it and abandoned herself to pleasure.
—
Something cool touched the skin between Maxi’s legs. With a jolt, she opened her eyes and found Riftan wiping her swollen flesh with a wet cloth. She released her breath and muttered sleepily.
“It’s still dawn,” Riftan said when she stirred. “Go back to sleep.”
When he finished, he gently tucked the blanket back around her. Maxi realized that he was already dressed, and she blinked at him in a daze. It was already morning?
Riftan swept her hair back from her forehead. Her eyes were still heavy with sleep, but he seemed perfectly awake. As always, Riftan’s face betrayed no emotion, as though nothing had happened the night before. It perplexed her that he could look so collected after such an intense encounter.
“I-I should g-get up,” Maxi said and hastily tossed back the covers.
“I told you to get more sleep.”
His stern tone made Maxi hesitate with one foot out of bed. Was he still angry?
Riftan’s lips twisted into a bitter, knowing smile. “I meant what I said. You can do as you please, so don’t look at me like that.”
“B-But…”
“Though why you’d want to learn something so useless is beyond me.”
Maxi’s shoulders slumped. It seemed Riftan had not taken her seriously when she said she wanted to be of help.
“But,” Riftan added as he finished tying his boot laces. “I suppose it would be useful if you knew a few defensive spells. I would never allow a situation that would require you to use them, but it wouldn’t hurt.”
“I-I…” Maxi clenched her mouth shut. She wanted to learn magic to help him, not to protect herself.
But she had never done anything to suggest that she could be depended on.
It was no wonder Riftan doubted whether she could become a capable sorceress.
He had, after all, seen her faint when faced with danger, and so he pacified her the way he would a child throwing a tantrum.
Asking for his confidence was too much to demand.
Trying to hide her disappointment, Maxi nodded. “Th-Thank you f-for letting me s-study magic.”
Permission was a start. She was certain that he would think of her differently if she could become a skilled sorceress. For now, all she could do was study harder.
Riftan planted a kiss on her forehead, then rose from the bed. “Tell me immediately if Ruth tries to drag you into strange experiments,” he said with an ambiguous expression.
“Y-You shouldn’t worry a-about that. H-He’s been a g-good teacher.”
She had intended to reassure him, but his face grew dark with her words. Maxi tensed, fearful that she had said something wrong, but Riftan left the room without another word.
Maxi sat in bed, listening to his fading footsteps as the faint light of morning streamed in through the window. With a sigh, she flopped back into the pillows and pulled the blankets over her head.
Everything should be all right now. Shouldn’t it?
She closed her eyes, overcome by fatigue.
—
From that day on, Riftan did not mention her studies with Ruth again. He even stopped barging into the library. But this change only made Maxi more anxious. It seemed like Riftan wished to disregard the fact that she was learning magic.
Maxi struggled to understand why he found the matter so disagreeable, but she was optimistic that he would come around once she mastered a useful spell.
No lord would be opposed to having another mage under his command.
Even the princess of Wedon had become a sorceress after she showed magical affinity.
Even if Maxi could not become as skilled as Princess Agnes, she could still help Anatol with simple healing magic. Riftan would surely acknowledge her abilities then.
Maxi leafed through her book impatiently, her brow furrowed. She wanted to learn magic as quickly as possible, and her lack of progress frustrated her. Ruth, who had been scribbling something on a map, looked up from across the table.
“Haste has little value when studying magic,” Ruth said. “It takes time to learn magic, and you’ve only just finished learning the basics.”
Maxi looked at him sheepishly, certain the mage must have a pair of invisible eyes, for he always seemed to notice the moment she lost her concentration.
“B-But I s-still don’t know a s-single spell,” Maxi grumbled, tucking her hair behind her ears.
“That’s to be expected. You cannot perform magic with theoretical knowledge alone. You must accumulate an adequate amount of mana first.”
Maxi pressed her lips together. The truth of his words stung. She feared she was incapable of accumulating enough mana, and she still struggled in her practice sessions with the magic stone. Her shoulders slumped as her confidence dwindled.
“I-I practice w-with the stone e-every day, b-but I don’t s-seem to be i-improving.”
“Then it could be that you are not compatible with the stone. It’s attuned to the fire element.
” Ruth fiddled with his quill, frowning as he considered a solution.
“I propose a change of location. The concentration of mana varies from place to place, so practicing somewhere new could prove helpful.”