The Forgotten Field - Chapter 131

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

Chapter 131
I felt like a fish caught in a tightly woven net.
As I instinctively thrashed my limbs to escape the bed, Barcas pressed his body gently against mine and cradled my face in both hands.
“Shh… It’s alright.”
Warm breath brushed across my sweat-dampened eyelids. My frozen body seemed to melt in an instant, yet my mind remained rigid with tension.
I twisted my head to the side and barely managed to pull my upper body out from beneath the blankets.
“Let… go.”
Then I reached toward the window like a drowning person grasping for shore, but long, firm fingers slipped into my hair. My head was pulled back, and his lips covered mine with searing heat.
I could think of nothing else. All that remained in my mind was the sensation of our tongues intertwining like flames. I clung desperately to his shoulders and exhaled ragged breaths.
“Lift your hips.”
Obeying his command without thought, my thin dress slipped downward.
Our sweat-slicked bodies created an obscene friction in the narrow space between the blankets, filled with oppressive heat.
This must be what it felt like to sink into a bubbling swamp. Every bone and muscle in my body seemed to dissolve.
I whimpered softly, rubbing my soft body against his steel-hard, smooth frame.
Then I felt the fabric tangled around my waist slip down past my hips.
As the final barrier between us disappeared, my melting consciousness suddenly sharpened with awareness.
I spread my thighs wide to ensure my bandaged leg wouldn’t touch his body. Then I craned my neck to check that my leg wouldn’t be exposed beyond the blankets, but Barcas seized my face and forced me to look at him.
“Don’t let your mind wander elsewhere.”
His blue eyes, holding the moonlight, filled my entire vision.
I forgot how to breathe as I counted the silver fragments dwelling in his gaze. His ashen blonde hair, gleaming with a bluish tint, gently tickled my forehead.
As I gazed at his face as if entranced, his hot hand glided down my body. His eyes remained fixed on my face.
Realizing that Barcas was carefully observing my reactions, I was overwhelmed by intense shame and squeezed my eyes shut.
A mistake. With my vision blocked, the seductive touch caressing my insides became even more vivid.
But I couldn’t bring myself to open my eyes again, enduring that intense sensation as his humid breath dampened my eardrums.
“Open your eyes, Talia.”
His gentle voice was like a weapon.
In that moment, I understood he was trying to carve away the last shred of my remaining will with a blade.
What would become of me once he had taken everything?
“Look at me.”
Unable to resist his persistent demand, I finally lifted my eyelids again.
In that instant, he pushed into me.
I gripped his luminous, sculpted shoulders tightly. My head bent back involuntarily at the overwhelming pressure filling me.
He pressed me down heavily and wiped away the tears gathering at my eyes with his thumb. Then he gazed persistently into my clouded pupils—a look as though he were searching for the very depths of my soul.
A dizzying sensation, as if my retinas were being torn apart by an awl, overwhelmed me. But he would not allow me to look away.
Barcas, gripping my head firmly, moved his hips slowly. My body, captive to him, felt as though it would collapse and burst like overripe fruit.
I found myself murmuring words of supplication without understanding what I was begging for.
My sweat-soaked body released humid vapor within the blankets like a boiling cauldron. I felt as though my very mind would evaporate.
“Barcas…”
Gasping moans tumbled ceaselessly from my throat.
The creaking of the bed, the friction of damp skin, and the sound of my heart threatening to burst all mingled together.
I felt as though I were losing my mind. Both spirit and body were crumbling away. And Barcas was watching it all.
Over my burning cheeks and damp lashes, over my ragged breath and unfocused eyes, his gaze fell like a blade.
Unable to endure any longer, I threw my arms around his neck and buried my face against his smooth shoulder.
I heard the faint grinding of his teeth near my ear, and something deep within me was mercilessly crushed.
I traced the delicate contours of his moonlit muscles with my fingertips. My nails, carefully trimmed short to avoid hurting him, slid across his sweat-dampened skin.
Ragged breathing poured down over the crown of my head.
How long had I been barely clinging to consciousness? The measured rhythm that had continued at regular intervals suddenly became urgent beyond measure.
Caught off guard by the unpredictable sensation, I unconsciously bit down on the nape of his neck. In that same instant, a violent explosion erupted within me.
My entire body trembled as I held him tightly. Tears spilled over, drenching my cheeks and neck.
I felt warm fingers caressing my wet cheeks—a touch that seemed to grip my defenseless heart.
Seized by a strange vertigo, I squeezed my eyes shut. Then, at some point, I lost consciousness.
As I tossed in my sleep to escape the oppressive heat, a tightening around my waist jolted me awake.
The bluish light of the Bedroom came into my blurred vision. I blinked dazedly, then became aware of the warm body heat behind me and turned my head with a start. Barcas lay sleeping peacefully, his cheek buried in the pillow.
I carefully propped myself up on my elbows and gazed at him intently.
Moonlight slid across his delicate cheekbones and illuminated the marks of teeth upon his neck.
I almost reached out to touch them with my fingertips, then withdrew my hand. I didn’t want to disturb his peaceful rest.
I slowly lowered my feet from the bed. The bright moonlight made it easy to discern objects in the room.
I found my dress crumpled in the corner of the bed and pulled it over my head.
After tugging the wrinkled skirt down, I lifted my head and saw the full moon illuminating the black sky beyond the arched glass window. The cascading moonlight was almost blinding.
“Don’t go.”
As I stood gazing up at the night sky as though entranced, I felt warm body heat from behind me.
I trembled, seized by a sharp thrill.
Barcas wrapped me in the cool blanket and leaned his face against my temple.
“Stay here tonight.”
I closed my eyes tightly.
I thought I should resist. But I could no longer remember why.
From the moment I first met him, I had always yearned for this embrace. I wanted him to hold me warmly and never let go.
So why am I fighting against my own desire?
Trembling helplessly, I finally nodded.
“…Yes.”
“Tomorrow too.”
“…Mm.”
“And the day after that.”
As if entranced, I nodded, and he drew me back to the bed.
His warm arms wrapped firmly around my cooling body. After a moment’s hesitation, I placed my hand on his waist.
A flicker of satisfaction crossed his seemingly impassive face. I lifted my head to study him, then buried my forehead against his broad chest.
* * *
The season of wind was drawing to a close.
As Barcas reviewed reports in his Office, a chill brushed against his cheek and he turned his head.
Beyond the wide-open window stretched a sky of brilliant, eye-searing blue. While my gaze was captivated by the sight, a few cool breezes scattered the documents on the desk.
He pressed the paperweight onto the parchment with an air of annoyance, then rose from his seat and closed the window.
Through the glass, a glimmer of golden hair caught his eye.
Barcas lowered his gaze. Talia, draped in a pristine white coat recently completed, strolled through the Garden alongside her Nursemaid.
Each time the harsh wind swept across her flushed face, her golden hair billowed like a bird’s wings in graceful undulation.
He narrowed his eyes, observing her for a long moment. The sight of her adorned in the fur of the beast he had hunted stirred an inexplicable satisfaction within him. Despite fasting all morning, his chest felt oddly full.
Yet before long, a discordant emotion surfaced.
She had been noticeably listless for days now. Even this dawn, a slight fever had set his nerves on edge.

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