INDC 07

~Chapter 07~

I Only Need the Duke’s Child Episode 7. A Moment’s Desire

Under the moonlight streaming through the window, the man’s large body was fully revealed.

His sharply defined collarbones, broad and solid chest, a body too thick to be encircled even with both arms, and perfectly sculpted abdominal muscles without a single gap.

It was the body of a fully grown man.

Blair looked at his body with eyes as if seeing something unfamiliar.

She had already seen this body countless times in her previous life, so why did it feel new again?
‘Because of his expression… perhaps.’
Unlike in her previous life when he pretended to love her, in this life his blue eyes held nothing but desire.

At that moment, Blair felt as though she understood what it meant to be overwhelmed by someone’s gaze.

Her body stiffened with tension.

Her heart pounded rapidly.

Even though he was only looking at her, it felt as though she might be devoured alive.

Suddenly, the man before her, wearing the face of a stranger, frightened her.

Yet paradoxically, a tingling heat began to rise from deep within her abdomen.

Even though her body had returned to a time before knowing him, it still remembered the pleasure he had given her in her previous life.

It felt miserable that even after crossing the threshold of death and returning to the past, her body still reacted to him again.

Since her body would not obey her will, Blair decided it would be better not to look at him.

Herdin frowned as he watched his wife stubbornly turn her head away.

Just moments ago she had boldly chattered about marital duties, yet now that she was lying on the bed she looked as if she might cry.
“If this keeps up, it won’t be a ‘good relationship’—I’ll just look like a bastard raping my wife.”

Blair flinched.

A moment later, her gaze reluctantly returned.

It seemed she had no intention of pretending that strange contract clause had never existed.

As if he had been waiting, Herdin pressed his lips against hers.

“Mm…!”

With the bed sheets blocking any escape, the kiss became deeper and more persistent.

A pained moan slipped through Blair’s teeth.

Releasing Blair’s breathless lips, Herdin moved down to her pale neck.

A sweet scent rose from the woman’s skin.

It smelled like flowers, or perhaps fruit.

Intoxicated by the scent, he trailed his lips down her neck and the curve of her round shoulders before tearing away the bothersome slip she wore.

The garment, made thin to begin with, ripped easily.

The slender body hidden beneath it was revealed.

It was far more beautiful than he had imagined from her silhouette.

Startled by the cold air touching her bare skin, Blair hurried to cover herself, but Herdin easily stopped her.

He savored the woman in his arms.

Her skin was as soft as fresh cream.

Except that no matter how much he rolled it in his mouth, it would never melt away.

Blair pushed against his unmoving, solid shoulders and whimpered.

“This… this kind of thing… I don’t like it.”

She knew he was acting this way out of consideration for her.

But she hated that the gesture overlapped with the man from the past.

She feared she might once again mistake his touch, that warmth, as love.

“Just… just do it.

Please.”

Yet instead of being pushed away, Herdin grabbed Blair’s waist as she tried to retreat and pulled her into his arms.

“Ah!”

Herdin quickly realized she was lying.

Seeing her trembling legs, the corner of his mouth crooked upward.

“Well, this part seems to like it.”

Ignoring Blair’s resistance, he focused on making her body adjust to him.

The resistance against his fingers was quite strong.

That reaction made a dull ache spread through his lower abdomen as well.

His desire had already grown to its limit and urged him to do as she said, but he clenched his teeth and restrained himself.

Of course, this woman would probably look beautiful even when crying.

Imagining it, perhaps satisfying only his own desire as she said might even be more exciting.

But if he did that, it felt as though this fragile woman might shatter under it.

He could not lose the precious witness to ‘that’ incident to a moment’s desire.

That could not happen.

Once Herdin judged that Blair was ready, he climbed over her and settled into place.

Blair blinked hazily, but when she saw the large shadow looming over her she suddenly came back to her senses.

The moment her eyes met his burning blue gaze looking down at her, she felt a heat as if she might be burned.

It was the presence she had been unable to ignore since earlier.

The first night she had spent with him in her previous life had been sweet, but also painful.

Partly because it had been her first time, but beyond that, it had simply been overwhelming in itself.

Remembering that pain, Blair’s body stiffened instinctively.

Noticing this, Herdin wrapped her legs around his waist and spoke in a low voice.

“Relax.

It’s okay.”

The naive Blair of her previous life had believed those words.

But the Blair of this life knew.

A lie.

Those words were a blatant lie.

The sweet whisper of a cruel demon meant to make her let down her guard before devouring her.

Even so, knowing his intentions, she could not bring herself to push away that cruel and beautiful demon.

As Blair hesitated, neither relaxing nor pushing him away, Herdin kissed her again and pressed his body closer.

That clearly deliberate act made Blair’s body heat up.

Sensing it, Herdin slowly, yet mercilessly, joined their bodies.

The unfamiliar pain made Blair instinctively pull her hips back.

But Herdin’s arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her toward him.

Deeper, even deeper.

Herdin gritted his teeth and exhaled a rough breath.

Just waiting for her to calm down like this had already pushed his patience to its limit.

Yet the woman driving him mad seemed to have no idea how much restraint he was showing.

He wanted to throw away the nonsense he had said earlier about a “good relationship” and simply release the desire about to explode.

In the end, Herdin lost control and began moving Blair.

Blair’s vision blurred, and she bit her lip.

Gradually, the unfamiliar yet familiar act awakened sensations her body had forgotten but her unconscious still remembered.

The dizzying feeling made it hard for Blair even to breathe.

Watching her, Herdin frowned.

“Breathe, Blair.”

His rough voice scraped against his throat as it sounded beside her ear.

Yet contrary to his concerned words, he only grew fiercer.

As her consciousness drifted, Blair instinctively clung to him.

Even though she knew the demon tormenting her now was him, she could not help but hold him.

Because in this moment, only the two of them existed in this world.

Finally reaching the end, Herdin cooled the heat of his body and looked down at the woman collapsed in his arms.

The woman he held completely was beautiful.

Objectively, her face had always been beautiful—something he had acknowledged without much feeling.

But in this moment, that fact struck him anew.

Her snow-white appearance as if molded from moonlight, her moist violet eyes, her lips reddened from biting them so much, even the trembling voice calling his name were all lovely.

…Truly, damn it.

For a moment, enough to forget whose daughter she was.

Disgust rose within him at himself.

And yet his thirst for this woman was not satisfied.

He could not stop.

This feeling was only a moment’s desire.

If he held her until this night passed, these ridiculous thoughts would surely stop.

Like snow melting away by morning.

With that thought, Herdin pulled her into his arms once more.

“…Herdin?”

Blair, blinking in a daze, realized the situation too late and squirmed, but it was useless.

Herdin felt a strange sense of satisfaction as the woman clung to him again.

His hard, massive body became a prison that trapped her, devouring her like a starving beast.

All through the long winter night, without pause.

Buried in that endless swamp of dizzying pleasure, Blair repeated only one thought over and over.

Don’t forget, Blair.

He does not love you.
* * *

“Mm…”

Feeling sunlight flickering over her eyes, Blair slowly lifted her heavy eyelids.

As her blurred vision cleared, the scenery of a room both unfamiliar and familiar came into view.

It was the room of the Duchess of Delmark where she had stayed before returning to the past.

For a moment, seeing the scene almost made her think returning to the past had been a dream—but the absence of the child’s toys and belongings that had once been scattered around the room made it real.

Moreover, the dull aching pain throughout her body proved that the second first night she had spent with him last night had not been a dream.

‘Even if the memories remain, my body has returned to the past, so it’s only natural.’

Just like the first night she had spent with him before, no—her body felt even heavier and more painful than back then.

Even when she had suffered under the dizzying pleasure he relentlessly drove into her and finally fallen asleep from exhaustion, Herdin had not let her go.

He had behaved as though something had been entrusted to her.

Blair’s final memory, after repeatedly passing out and waking several times, was of his broad back walking away at dawn while she lay exhausted.

Only then, watching that back, did Blair realize.

‘So this was your true intention.’

The man in her previous life who had stayed by her side until morning—how desperately he must have tried to extract the truth from her.

And how naive she had been to believe it.

Only after returning to the past through a miracle did she finally face his true feelings, colder and more bitter than she had expected.

But in a way, it was a relief.

At least she would no longer need to feel guilty for using him for her own purpose.

Having calmly sorted through her emotions, Blair forced her heavy body upright and pulled the bell cord.