The Empress Tames the Tyrant - Chapter 48

The hot, soft lips of the two became instantly intertwined. At the sudden contact, Alicia flinched, but Cayenne’s large hand gently cradled the nape of her neck. His palm was as searingly hot as his lips.

This kiss was no accident, unlike the time they had bumped into each other before. As if to prove it, Cayenne gently nipped at Alicia’s surprised lower lip before releasing it and invading the deeper reaches where her sweet breath lingered.

“Wait…”

For a split second, a gap formed between their lips. But before Alicia could utter another word, his kiss descended upon her again, more lingering and intense than before.

Caught in the depths of his desire, which felt like the unbridled instinct of a man, Alicia tried to pull away. Each time she did, Cayenne would tease her lips with a light bite and release them, repeatedly trapping her only to let her go ever so slightly.

Words were no longer necessary.

Cayenne was intoxicated by the fierce longing dominating him and the sensation of devouring Alicia’s plump lips. Alicia, for her part, could barely find the strength to catch her breath amidst his relentless kissing.

Sensing Alicia had unconsciously closed her eyes, Cayenne moved his hand from her neck down the curve of her slender back, pulling her waist firmly into him.

She had not expected his sudden kiss, but Alicia was most surprised by herself—by the way her mind had gone completely blank and how she was being drawn toward the heat of his body.

“Ha.”

A low groan escaped Cayenne’s parted lips, and the vibration of it traveled directly into Alicia’s. By now, it was impossible to tell whose was whose; their lips were so wet that they slid against each other at the slightest touch. Amidst the exchange of hot breaths, an indescribable, faint sweetness lingered in the air.

Cayenne pressed Alicia as if his desire were bottomless, seemingly unable to let go of the sweetness he had finally discovered. As he continued to push, Alicia’s upper body began to tilt backward. His arm around her waist was smoothly and subtly drawing her back, though she was in no state of mind to notice the maneuver.

“Ah!”

Alicia lost her precarious balance and was laid fully onto the sofa. Startled, she opened her blue eyes wide and let out a soft cry, her lips half-parted.

The kiss that felt like an eternity finally ceased. Cayenne was hovering half-over her, looking down with dark eyes that smoldered. The longing in his gaze was even hotter than the fierce kiss they had just shared.

“Please,” Cayenne whispered, his lips pressed close to Alicia’s ear, still damp. “Do not say anything.”

A man’s pride and his instincts sometimes betray each other. As a man of pride, he had given Alicia all decision-making power, yet his instincts currently wanted no decisions to be made at all.

“Hm?”

The lips that had been lingering near her ear purposely brushed against her fair cheek before returning to dally with her mouth. Their hot breaths were so entangled that it was impossible to distinguish one from the other.

“I want you.”

With every low, vibrating word, Cayenne’s wet lips grazed and teased Alicia’s with sensory precision.

“More than anything in this world.”

At the sudden confession, Alicia’s blue eyes wavered. Lying on the sofa with her platinum hair disheveled and her face utterly defenseless, she was cruelly testing the limits of Cayenne’s patience. In particular, the sight of those plump lips—which he had completely possessed moments ago—now hanging half-open nearly drove him to madness.

“Alicia.”

Cayenne called her name with more desperation than ever before. Her heart responded to his voice, and the afterglow of the intense kiss left her feeling hazy, as if she were in a dream.

“Cayenne.”

Unconsciously, Alicia called him by his name instead of his formal title. The moment his name flowed from those lips, Cayenne felt a rapture that nothing could replace.

“I never knew my name could sound so sweet.”

Cayenne brushed the stray hairs from Alicia’s forehead and began to stroke her slender, pale neck as delicately as if he were playing a fine instrument.

Alicia, momentarily stunned that she had used his name, could only stare up at him as he loomed over her. Her white eyelashes fluttered rapidly, as if she still couldn’t quite believe this moment was real.

Deep in a corner of her unconscious, a voice whispered to leave everything to Cayenne. However, as her breathing gradually steadied, the thread of reason took hold of her once more.

“Alicia, please.”

Seeing her fine eyebrows knit together, Cayenne whispered desperately. But the look in her blue eyes was clear. When he moved to kiss her again, noticing she hadn’t pushed him away yet, she turned her head to the side.

“Stop.”

She finally uttered the word he wanted to hear least.

“Please… stop all of this.”

To his surprise, Cayenne realized that the word stop, whispered so softly by this fragile woman, had the power to dominate him. His unquenched desire and instincts were driving him to the brink, yet Alicia’s single word bound his body like a chain.

“Alicia, I…”

“Stop.”

Alicia whispered again, pushing against his shoulders to escape his space. She sat up straight and began to smooth her disheveled hair.

“I cannot see you out today, so please go back.”

“Can I not even have a parting kiss?”

Alicia’s back remained firm as she kept her head turned away. She did not want to show him her current, disarrayed state. Or perhaps, she feared her heart would falter again if their eyes met.

“I do not want to see your face right now, Your Majesty.”

Alicia seemed to have a talent for choosing only the words that would burn Cayenne’s insides. The heat from their fierce kiss had not even cooled, yet her tart voice pushing him away made him want her even more than before.

“For the first time, I miss the authority of an Emperor,” Cayenne muttered bitterly.

“Are you going to command me?”

“No.”

He knew nothing of women, but he knew how a precious thing should be treated. He knew an Emperor’s command would only ruin everything.

“I will not command you, not now and not in the future. I have already promised.”

Alicia felt a small sense of relief at his calmed voice. Cayenne took a moment to straighten his clothes, then, trusting his own self-control, leaned in to plant a light kiss on the top of her head as she sat with her back to him.

“This much of a farewell is permitted, I hope.”

He almost reached out to pull her into a hug, but the word stop was still echoing in his head.

“I shall withdraw quietly as you asked. In return, I hope you will think of me tonight.”

Leaving behind those mysterious words, Cayenne strode toward the door. Once the sound of the door closing reached her ears, Alicia collapsed onto the sofa.

“You didn’t even need… to say that.”

Alicia’s pale fingers traced her plump lips, the very ones he had been devouring. Her voluminous platinum hair hung over her face in a mess, but she had no strength left to move.

“Now, which one of us is the strange one?”

He was gone, but his heat and the basket of pinecones dominating her vision remained. Even if Cayenne didn’t ask for it as a reward, she knew she wouldn’t be able to stop thinking of him tonight. Or tomorrow. Or perhaps even the day after.

Whenever Cayenne returned late from the Empress’s Palace, he would invariably move with a stiff expression and a hurried, rapid pace. Before anyone could stop him, he would drench himself in cold water.

“Chief Attendant, tell Glenn to meet me in the garden.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Tonight, once again, Glenn had to serve as Cayenne’s sparring partner under the moonlight. By now, everyone knew the reason was the unspent desire raging within the Emperor—even the usually oblivious Glenn.

A similar phenomenon was occurring at the Empress’s Palace.

“Madame, I have brought the Empress’s nightgown. Should I…”

“No.”

Agnes shook her head at the maid, thinking of Alicia, who had remained secluded in her room without even seeing the Emperor off.

“I will attend to her alone tonight. You all may withdraw.”

“Yes, Madame.”

After Cayenne left, Alicia allowed Agnes to attend to her in a daze, not saying a single word as she got into bed. Agnes knew well that on a night like this, Alicia would be tossing and turning until dawn.

“You must be tired today, so try to rest well without any other thoughts.”

Despite Agnes’s kind words, Alicia continued to stare blankly into space. Knowing that no one could intervene at a time like this, Agnes quietly closed the bedroom door and left.

“Is it late spring?”

Maren, a maid who overheard Agnes murmuring to herself as she walked down the hallway, looked puzzled.

“Madame, it is winter right now.”

At the innocent remark, Agnes offered a small smile. It was a story of the seasons that the young maids could not yet understand.

“Her Majesty will be tired, so make sure everyone moves quietly tomorrow morning. She will likely… wake up late.”

After dismissing the maid, Agnes checked the clock and saw it was well past midnight.

The marriage ritual between Cayenne, the Emperor of Darius, and Alicia of the Great Sage Lucan had ultimately passed the one-year mark without being finalized. This meant the marriage had entered an ambiguous state neither fully established nor completely void.

“It is a pity for Madame Emma’s hard work.”

On this first anniversary and the final night to complete the marriage, Cayenne had not been the only one putting in effort. The Minister of Rites had obtained prior permission from the Papacy for an Archbishop to stand in for the Pope, and Emma had brought the Archbishop into the palace under the pretext of praying for her family.

Regrettably, they never had the chance to step forward.