CH 27

Trigger warning.

“There’s nothing more foolish than insisting on your pride in front of me.” 

Gareth’s cold, yet quiet voice made Elena feel as if she was being chained down by a pair of shackles. Elena became increasingly nervous with each passing second and swallowed dryly. Worried that Gareth’s subordinates might hear, she whispered quietly, “There’s something I would really like to ask, Gareth.”

Gareth, who was kneeling across from Elena, reached out to stroke her slender neck. The places he grazed felt like they were freezing over, causing her body to feel cold.

“Will I be able to relax now?” Elena asked.

“What do you mean?” Gareth replied.

“Can I leave my family’s safety and peace to you?”

Gareth sneered at Elena’s words. It seemed that he was laughing at her, who knew nothing about Gareth’s reputation. Still, Elena couldn’t confide in him. Was he really able to stop Logan with just an oath? With just words? Was he implying that he was that powerful of a person?

Gareth tangled his fingers into Elena’s hair and mumbled as he swept them away. “I don’t want to have to explain what my name means to someone who doesn’t know. You’ll see soon enough as time passes, Elena.” He then pulled her hair, angling her head to the side and exposing her neck. Elena stayed still and closed her eyes. “Even if you don’t believe me, you and I are the only ones here. Don’t even think about trying to run away from me like you did in the castle.”

“I’m not trying to run away from you. It’s just that I…” Elena began with a soft voice, then trailed off.

“Won’t the count decide who you will be married off to, anyway? I personally think this is much better than being sold off to an old pervert, but I guess you disagree. Seeing how you’re mentioning pride, you must think of me as insignificant and unqualified.” Without giving Elena a chance to reply, Gareth lowered his head and rubbed his lips against her nape when he finished speaking. Elena instinctively recoiled from his touch and fell back in an effort to avoid him.

“If you want to live with me, all you need to do is be submissive. Just remember that. We’re in an employment relationship. If you don’t carry the value I want, I can end the contract at any time.”

‘How ridiculous! Is he threatening me?’ Elena instantly turned away and tried to run from him. However, Gareth quickly grabbed her and pressed down on her with his body.

“Everyone already knows that you’ve followed me here. Your purity doesn’t matter anymore. Knowing this, are you still going to try to hang on to your useless pride?” he whispered harshly in Elena’s ear.

Elena let out a short gasp when Gareth’s hands, which had been gripping her waist, moved to her bre*sts and squeezed them without hesitation. There seemed to be no way to avoid this man’s demands; she couldn’t even communicate with him and he seemed to have no intention of changing his mind.

With her bre*sts still in his hands, Gareth began to brush his thumb against Elena’s peaks, causing her breathing to become shaky. Still, Elena fought the urge to scream, as Gareth’s subordinates were still nearby.

“You’re mine, Elena,” Gareth whispered softly as he kissed the nape of the woman lying on her stomach. He didn’t understand why he was even taking the time to explain the situation to her. He had never explained such things to a woman before. He had not sworn their marriage in front of God, but had clearly asked her to be his wife. That, to him, was as good as any wedding vow. Gareth had stopped believing in God a long time ago. All he believed in now were the oaths he had taken and his sword.

Elena, who had no idea what Gareth was thinking, could only tremble under his touch. She wondered if she should consider it a relief to be hidden in the darkness. She wanted to hold onto something, anything, for some comfort. ‘Darkness…’ Elena desperately tried to cling on to the darkness. She begged the darkness to cover her up.

At that moment, she felt Gareth’s hands hiking her skirt up to her waist. The cool—or rather, cold energy seemed to repeatedly stab her now exposed skin. ‘Is this… really how it’s going to happen?’

Gareth stood on his knees and rubbed his manhood, swollen with desire, on Elena’s bottom. This was how he usually excreted himself into women. He didn’t care about Elena’s body being as stiff as a log, nor that she was constantly trembling. All he wanted was to be rewarded for staying up all night haunted by Elena’s hallucinations. Such a thing had never happened to him before; there were times when he tossed and turned all night from nightmares, but never from desire. In any case, he was going to relieve his desire now and make this woman take back her arrogant words about her husband being the only one able to have her.

Gareth forced Elena’s tightly closed legs open with his knee and began to feel around her dark forest which was now exposed, causing Elena’s back to stiffen. He could feel that her forest was soft like her hair as he urgently fumbled around her private place, which was dry. Nevertheless, the soft sensation didn’t fail to heat up his blood. He could feel that his manhood, which was rubbing against her butt, was eager to penetrate her and go inside her. Gareth stretched out one hand across Elena’s stiffened back and pressed down on the back of her neck. He then roughly pushed his finger into her dry entrance, causing a short scream to erupt from Elena.

‘Is she a virgin?’ Gareth had never slept with a virgin before, but it didn’t matter anyway. “Are you trying to let everyone know what we’re doing up here? Well, it wouldn’t matter to me,” Gareth teased.