Standard Contract Guidelines for a Fraudulent Marriage - Chapter 68

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 68

Adelia made a soft whimper as she dipped the towel back into the warm water, wrung it out firmly, and draped it gently across Loerston’s lower back.

“Is this really all you need?”
“Mm…….”

A mischievous glint flickered across Loerston’s eyes as the thought crossed his mind that perhaps he should stop now.

He let himself go limp and said:

“If you’d massage it a little, I think it might feel even better…….”
“I’ll do it for you!”

Her eager response gave him a pang of guilt, though it was quickly forgotten.

The towel was removed. Cool air touched his skin, which had been warm all this time. Then ten small fingertips began pressing gently around his waist, and Loerston’s mind went perfectly white.

“How is it? Does it feel better?”
“Ah, um… yes. Much better.”

Delighted that she was helping, Adelia set to work rubbing his lower back with renewed vigor.

But Loerston buried his face in the pillow, bitterly regretting every word he’d said.

Each time those small hands worked his skin and muscle, every vein in his body seemed to rise. His pulse raced wildly along the path of her fingertips.

When she pressed the heel of her palm into the hollow of his lower back, his body finally surrendered and began to respond.

‘Damn.’

His eyes snapped open as his face remained buried in the pillow.

“Listen, Adelia. I think I’m better now.”
“What? No, we’ve only just started! Stay still and be good, all right?”

Even her playful teasing struck him as dangerously provocative.

He had no choice but to let her continue, and with each moment that passed, the heat pooling in his lower body had nowhere to dissipate—only to build, layer upon layer.

“Adelia, I really…….”
“Oh, just a bit more. Your muscles are only just starting to loosen up.”
“That…….”

His sanity hung by a thread, teetering on the edge.

A voice—his own voice—kept whispering in the back of his mind.

Just do it. What does it matter? No one would know. Formally speaking, you’re married anyway, aren’t you?

‘No. Not happening.’

Loerston clamped his teeth shut, fighting to ignore the voice that gnawed at him.

Then he felt her hand glide smoothly up his waist toward his back.

“What… what are you doing?”
“While I’m at it, I thought I’d massage your shoulders too.”
“No, no. My shoulders are fine. My waist is fine now anyway.”
“Aw…….”
“I’m really better. Thank you.”

He pushed himself upright and pulled the thin summer blanket over himself. Then he said:

“Aren’t you tired? You should go rest.”
“Yes? But they said this room was mine?”

Loerston’s eyes widened.

“……What? Who said that?”
“Everyone. When you think about it, it makes sense, doesn’t it? Since you and I are married, they gave us the same bedroom.”
“There are plenty of other rooms…….”
“Well, yes, but they said this room has the best view. And they said the other rooms weren’t ready. Um, are you very uncomfortable? If so, I can find somewhere else right now…….”

Her wrist was suddenly seized by Loerston before she could slip out of bed.

His neck and the nape of his neck had flushed visibly red, but the dimly lit lamp kept it from being clearly visible.

“No… it’s fine. Setting up another bedroom would take time anyway. Sleep here.”
“Are you sure? Is it not that you can’t sleep unless you’re alone or something…….”
“No, no. Nothing like that. Sleep here.”
“Then I suppose…….”

When Adelia settled again at the edge of the bed, the subtle fragrance of hair oil wafted from her loosened hair.

The sweet scent of orange blossoms nearly made him lose his tenuous grip on reason.

“Your waist is really better, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it’s fine. You must be tired too. Get some sleep early so we can go to the Wholesale Market at dawn tomorrow.”
“The Wholesale Market? At dawn?”

Adelia’s eyes lit up with childlike wonder and excitement.

Loerston drew the thin blanket up to her chin as he spoke:

“That’s right. The market opens early. It’s wonderful. After the auction ends, you can buy in small quantities. Let’s go look together tomorrow and bring home some fruit.”
“I’d love to! I’ve never even thought about a dawn market before. And a wholesale market at that!”

Adelia wiggled her feet under the blanket in excitement, then rolled toward him and lay on her side.

With his head propped against the pillow, Loerston gazed down at her, watching her eyes that peeked just above the blanket’s edge.

Strangely, the more he looked, the warmer his chest became, and something swelled inside him.

And it was the same for Adelia.

When she had first seen him lying there shirtless, though she’d been worried about his injured waist, her eyes couldn’t help but trace the muscles that lay so gracefully across his entire frame and the straight, strong lines of his build.

‘What am I doing, staring at someone who’s hurt!’

She’d reproached herself and volunteered to help care for him, but that hadn’t helped at all.

She thought that if she merely watched with the towel on him it might be better, so she offered to give him a massage instead—a choice that had backfired spectacularly.

‘Touching him directly is making this worse! Good grief, I thought that if I focused on the massage technique my mind would be occupied, but—!’

His skin was incredibly smooth, yet not soft or delicate like a woman’s.

Taut and firm—like the finest leather, expertly tanned. Supple and yielding to the touch, yet beneath that surface lay an unmistakable strength and resilience she could feel clearly.

Each time his shoulder blades and lower back shifted slightly—muscles only visible without his shirt—Adelia had to fight hard to quell the rising heat in her face.

Those broad, square shoulders and the line of his body beneath them, the beautifully tapered waist that swept in so perfectly…….

And…….

A desire she had never experienced before seized her, and she swallowed hard.

For a moment she’d wanted to strip him completely and touch him everywhere, to understand what else she might not know about him. The curiosity was unbearable.

‘It’s just scholarly curiosity. I want to see human anatomy. Yes, that’s it. If I memorize bone names, these foolish thoughts will fade. Ah, his spine really is beautiful……. The line flowing into the lumbar vertebrae is exquisite. I’d like to trace the line from the nape of his neck down to the base of his spine—it would feel good. I’m not an anatomist, but…….’

Lost in scattered thoughts like these, her mind growing hazy, that was precisely when Loerston suggested they could stop the massage.

Adelia felt a faint pang of disappointment as her hands left his body.

She wanted to touch him more, to explore his form and structure. His masculine, elegant lines.

And perhaps…….

“……Adelia? Are you all right?”

When his hand moved in front of her face, she snapped back to reality.

Loerston gazed down at her with a confused, concerned expression and an awkward smile.

“What is it? Are you okay? Are you very tired?”
“Oh, no. No, I was just thinking about something…….”
“What were you thinking about so intensely?”

Thinking about touching you, she mumbled to herself.

“It’s a secret.”
“What? That’s not allowed. A wife shouldn’t keep secrets from her husband.”

Adelia’s lips pouted slightly.

“A wife should be allowed to keep a secret or two.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————