Feeling the soft, wine-scented contact of his lips, Elara could no longer bear it. The fire that had been smoldering in her gut since the wedding night finally roared to life. If she continued to pretend to sleep now, she would be denying the raw, aching hunger in her own soul.
She reached up, her small hands catching Evan's waist, and opened her eyes. She saw his face—absorbed, serious, and dangerously close—and she kissed him back with a sudden, desperate hunger.
Though they were both acting with a fiery intensity, the first kiss of two novices was a tangle of teeth, hot breath, and uncoordinated heat. They broke apart after barely a minute, both gasping for air.
When Evan opened his eyes and saw Elara staring at him, her chest heaving, he didn't panic. He stayed draped over her, pinning her to the bedding. He reached out and pinched her flushed cheek, a wicked glint in his eyes.
"You can't pretend anymore, can you?" he joked, his voice a low vibration against her skin.
"You... you knew I was pretending?" Elara asked, her voice trembling.
"I had a guess," Evan said, his fingers tracing the line of her jaw. "What's important is that I wanted to kiss you. And I did."
Without giving her a chance to reply, he lowered his head again. This time, there was no hesitation.
Well...
Elara didn't have time for words. She fell into him. A woman who had been lonely and invisible for twenty-four years wasn't suddenly immune to desire. She was eager—perhaps even more eager than Evan. In the heat of his embrace, she finally realized the beauty of the friction between a man and a woman.
"Evan... my Evan..." she whimpered against his mouth.
Just when Elara was completely immersed in the sensation, her hands clutching at the lean muscle of his bare back, Evan suddenly stopped. He sat up, licked his lips as if savoring a fine dessert, and stretched.
"That was great," he mused. "So that's what kissing is like."
Elara was stunned. She had finally summoned every ounce of her courage, her body primed for something "big," and he just... stopped?
"Evan?" she whispered, her eyes blurred and hazy with longing. She looked at him with a silent, desperate plea. Her thin red pajamas had slipped, revealing the deep, creamy valley of her cleavage.
He reached down, his fingers brushing over her pretty, swollen lips. "What's the matter? Haven't had enough?"
Elara bit her lip, her expression a lethal mix of a petite body and a mature, yearning soul. Her body was screaming at her to pull him back down, to feel that wonderful temptation until she couldn't think.
"What you said just now..." Elara asked cautiously, her heart still racing. "Is it true? You said... this was your first kiss."
"Oh, that!" Evan let out a soft laugh. He leaned down and scratched the tip of her nose. "What do you think?"
"I think it is," she said softly.
"Why so certain?"
"Because you have no reason to lie to me," Elara said, her eyes searching his. "If you didn't like me, you wouldn't have touched me."
Evan's smile widened. He nodded. "Yes. It's the first time. My first kiss was yours."
"Really? That's... that's wonderful!" Elara's eyes sparkled with joy.
"And you?" Evan asked.
"Me? Of course... it was my first time too."
"Good," Evan said, his tone suddenly turning domineering. He leaned over her, his shadow swallowing her. "Everything about you from now on is mine. Every 'first' you have left belongs to me. Do you understand?"
"Ah?" Elara blinked, the intensity of his words making her breath catch.
"Why that face? You think a man doesn't value being the first?" Evan teased. "If I'm going to be yours, you have to be mine. Completely."
Elara's heart sang. "No! I understand! I only like you, Evan."
"Hmph. Better stay that way. If I ever find out you're looking at another man, I'll poison your tea with arsenic," Evan said with a "vicious" grin.
"I understand! I absolutely understand!" she promised.
"Good girl. Here's a reward." Evan lowered his head, his lips capturing hers again in a deep, wet exploration. His hands weren't idle either; they slid under her thin red pajamas, finding the warm, silk-smooth skin of her waist and moving upward.
Elara gasped into his mouth as his thumbs grazed the heavy, soft undersides of her breasts. She felt her nipples tightened into aching peaks against his touch. Evan pulled back just an inch, his eyes dark and dilated.
"Actually, I know you were jealous of Sister Lu today, weren't you?" he whispered, his hands kneading her soft flesh with a possessiveness that made her toes curl. He squeezed the full, heavy globes of her breasts, making her let out a broken moan.
"Yes! Fine! I admit it!" Elara cried out, her voice full of a cute, resentful pout. "I was jealous! You kept praising her... I felt like I didn't matter..."
Evan chuckled, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Fool. It's not what you think. I just admire her strength. It's respect, Elara. That's all."
Elara curled her lip. "What's so great about that? My sister Maya can lift boulders! She's just as strong!"
"It's true, Maya is a beast. But Lu Zhi is different. My feelings for her are purely about admiration. Do you get it now?"
Elara finally nodded, her heart settling. "I understand. I'm sorry, Evan. I was being petty."
"It's fine to be petty," Evan said, letting go of the "soft balls" that were his wife's breasts. He stood up and hopped back onto the bed, leaving her flushed and panting on the floor mats. "Now that we've cleared that up, go to sleep."
Elara blinked, the cold air hitting her damp skin. Her body was still humming, her blood hot with the need for him to finish what he started. She moved to climb up beside him, her pajamas hanging loose.
"Hold it," Evan said, his foot extending from the bed to gently push against her shoulder, pinning her to the edge. "What do you think you're doing? You aren't allowed on the bed."
"But... didn't you ask me to come up earlier?" Elara asked, her eyes wide and pleading.
"I did. And you refused," Evan said, a playful, arrogant smirk on his face. "I've changed my mind. Tonight, you stay on the floor. Think of it as a punishment for being a stubborn wife."
Elara looked at him, her lips trembling in a pout, her eyes still clouded with desire. She looked so pathetic and yet so delicious—her chest heaving with every frustrated breath—that Evan almost broke his own rule.
But he held firm. He settled into the pillows, a dark, satisfied thought crossing his mind as he looked down at her from his position of power. I'm going to make you so addicted to my body that you'll lose your mind when I'm not around. I'm looking forward to the day you lose control and beg me for it, my dear, sweet wife.