Fighting for air, Maxi clawed at his chest. When he pulled her bodice down and began nibbling her pale shoulder, a sharp sensation coursed from her nape all the way down her spine.
Maxi’s whole body shuddered. Riftan gently cupped her taut breast and teased it in his callused palm, then lightly flicked the sensitive tip with his finger. All of Maxi’s resistance melted away like butter in the height of summer.
His absolute hold over her was frightening. Maxi twisted away in a feeble attempt to free herself, but Riftan restrained her without much effort. He pulled her bodice farther down and gently sucked the tip of her breast. It felt as though her whole body would get swallowed and consumed by him. Maxi clutched his slick hair and moaned. The intense pleasure was almost unbelievable considering she was burning with anger.
After a period of futile struggle, she eventually slid her hands inside his tunic, surrendering to the heat scorching through her veins. She pushed her tongue into his mouth while fondling his sculpted chest, and his eyes ignited with unchecked desire. He laid her on the bed and crushed her beneath him.
Before she knew it, she was completely undressed. Riftan peppered searing kisses across her naked body. His tousled hair, as dark as crows’ feathers, tickled her burning skin.
The intense heat was too much to bear. Maxi wrapped her legs around his waist, frantic with need as she urged him. Riftan swore under his breath and immediately thrust into her. Crying out with pleasure, she writhed under him like a snake. The pungent aroma of bodily fluids and perspiration mingled in the tepid air.
He plunged deeper inside her as he relentlessly devoured her lips. They inhaled each other’s breath as if it were the only oxygen that could keep them alive. He let out a moan, his lips quivering against hers. His every movement, including the light shudders that coursed through him, felt like Maxi’s own. The only thing burrowed somewhere she could not reach was his heart. She trembled and dug her nails into his forearms.
The sheets were a crumpled mess beneath them. Maxi’s disheveled hair clung to her sweat-slicked face. Still not satisfied despite having driven her to her limits, Riftan began to move in earnest. As she rocked beneath him, Maxi’s whole body grew tense like a tightly drawn bowstring.
It did not take long before he reached his release inside her. Once the roiling heat subsided, a strange sense of emptiness engulfed her heart. Maxi went slack on the bed, a chill spreading across her skin as their bodies came apart.
Unable to bear the silence, Riftan pulled her into his arms.
“Don’t blame yourself for any of this,” he murmured into her ear. “That bastard was the one who hurt you; he is the one at fault. You are the victim. I don’t regret beating him to a pulp, and I would have done it sooner had I known the truth. If I’d been luckier, I might have gotten to kill him.” He caressed her damp limbs and rubbed his nose against her nape. “So don’t blame yourself.”
Maxi tilted her head to look at him, her eyes misty. Listening to him stubbornly absolve her of any responsibility made her heart ache. He always tried to protect her from anything that could cause trouble.
This was a man who had no desire to share his burdens with her, no matter how small. Or rather, she was the one who constantly weighed him down with one heavy burden after another.
A crease wrinkled Riftan’s forehead as he noticed Maxi’s face clouding over with sadness. He cupped her cheek and gently brushed his thumb along the corner of one eye. Maxi took his hand and brought it to her lips.
“Th-Then…what should I do for you?” she whispered.
His face half buried in the pillow, he suddenly looked filled with longing. His eyes seemed to plead with her about something she could not understand. When he replied, his distant voice seemed to tickle her ears.
“Nothing…I just need you to stay by my side.”
Crestfallen, Maxi’s eyes dropped to the floor. For the first time in her life, she realized just how miserable it could be to have nothing expected of her. Riftan seemed displeased at her morose expression. He frowned and pulled her on top of him once more.
They began making love again, and this time it was tormentingly gentle and slow. He teased her rosy breasts with his mouth for an unbearably long time. He moved against her in long, deep strokes until her eyes grew unfocused and she melted with ecstasy. After it was over, Maxi fell asleep slumped on his chiseled chest.
She had no idea how long she slept before she awoke to a suffocating heat. The fireplace had been so well stacked withwood that the flames were still blazing even into the late hours of the night. Maxi found herself sweating from the warmth of the fire and the heat radiating from Riftan’s body.
Getting out of bed, she threw on a robe and walked over to the window. She cracked it open and was cooling herself off in the breeze when she saw something twinkling in the dark. Small, white flakes of snow fell from the ink-blue sky.
Maxi stuck her head out the window to let the snowflakes brush her face. The crisp night air quickly chilled her sweaty body, but she did not feel like returning to bed. She stood by the window enraptured by the snowflakes fluttering in the wind until she felt a sheet fall across her shoulders.
Maxi looked up to see Riftan standing behind her. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the back of her head.
“You’ll catch a cold.”
“I-I was feeling a bit warm.”
His hair was a tousled mess, and for once his eyes looked drowsy. Seeing him so at ease made her frustrations melt away like the snowflakes landing on her skin. Confounded by her emotions, she put on a resigned smile.
“L-Look…it’s the first snow. It’s so lovely.”
Riftan sighed and rubbed his warm, moist lips on her nape.
“I remember watching the first snow together last year as well. Do you want to go to the lake again in the morning?”
Maxi stiffened. “R-Really? You’re letting me out of the castle?”
