Under the Oak Tree



Chapter 22: Chapter 22

Maxi turned around in surprise to see Riftan fingering her necklace while resting his head on one arm.

“W-What is it…?” Maxi trailed off and inhaled sharply.

His hand grazed her nape, then began to stroke the bare skin above her plunging neckline. Mortified, she looked around the room, but the others were too engrossed in conversation to notice. She let out a sigh of relief and pushed Riftan’s arm away, but he did not budge.

Riftan smirked and began toying with the strands of hair that had come loose on her neck. He tapped her collarbone with his fingertips, sending a tingle through her. She trembled. His hand traced the length of her spine before grasping her waist. Feeling his touch on her belly, she blushed.

“R-Riftan…”

“It seems my wife has had too much wine,” Riftan addressed the knights. “We’ll take our leave now.”

The knights, who had been chattering animatedly among themselves, exchanged knowing looks. Maxi blushed crimson, certain that she would die from sheer embarrassment.

“Let’s go.”

Ignoring the knights’ suggestive jests, Riftan helped Maxi to her feet and led her out of the dining hall. She followed with faltering steps. Her vision flickered as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Not a sliver of moonlight trickled through the opaque windows, and the corridors were illuminated only by dim lamps. The walls gave off a deep chill.

“R-Riftan… P-Please slow d-down…”

She pulled at his arm, unable to keep up with his quickening pace. Suddenly, she found herself suspended mid-air. She stifled a scream. Riftan pushed her against the staircase wall and began to kiss her passionately. Though the entanglement of their tongues felt almost unbearable, she found herself tightening her grip on his arm. She had tasted his lips countless times, yet each kiss felt new and strange.

“I wanted to do this all day… I was holding back for your sake, but you were staring at other men…”

His growl reverberated through her ears and throat, the vibrations tickling her insides. She moaned faintly. His powerful chest pressed against her bosom, Riftan seized the back of her head with a calloused hand to pull her close.

With each step he climbed, he showered her with a barrage of kisses. She clung to his neck, afraid of tumbling down the stairs. Riftan had once been a source of fear, but his touch now caused her thoughts to trickle down and pool inside her stomach like silt.

“Damn these stairs! Why are there so many?”

As he slid a hand under her skirt to stroke her thigh, she let out a shriek.

“N-No…! N-Not out here…”

The rest of her words were swallowed by Riftan’s kiss. A shiver ran through her as she dug her fingers into his shoulders. His calloused hands slipped below her undergarment, the contact between his fingers and her intimate spot producing a squelch. Her insides melted, and her heart pounded against her chest.

“I want to enter you right here and now…”

As he pushed his fingers in deeper, she felt his hot breath on her neck. She could not tell whether the sensations sweeping through her body were from fear or passion. Shuddering at the thought of someone spying on them from the shadows, she clung to Riftan more tightly.

Burning with desire, his lips brushed across her ears, neck, and collarbone, while his thick fingers gently rubbed her tender flesh. When she moved her body the way he had once taught her, Riftan fastened his teeth on her skin and sucked to the point of pain. He panted heavily like an eager hunting dog standing before an ensnared bird.

“Not even death will stop me today.”

Riftan bounded up the last flight of stairs as Maxi held onto him for dear life. He yanked open the door. As soon as it was closed behind them, he undressed her to reveal her round breasts under the light. She held back a scream as she watched his mouth envelop the pert bud of flesh. His tongue flicked the sensitive bud, and his teeth grazed her skin before clamping down to suck. Disoriented by the frothing thrill shooting through her, she writhed.

“R-Riftan…”

“Let me have you,” he growled, his command sounding like a plea. “Don’t say you don’t want it.”

Maxi felt her heart pound under his intense gaze.

“I… I…”

“I’m about to die,” he said, his voice cracking. “Let me fill you. Please.”

As he sucked on her lips, the skin around her eyes grew hot. Without a word, she wound her arms around his neck. He embraced her more fiercely, and they tumbled onto the bed.

Shame and excitement. Trepidation and anticipation. As these emotions swept through her, she kissed him in a daze. Above them, the sheets bunched together like cotton clouds. He pulled out her hairpin to undo her elaborate braid before tearing off her chemise. The cool air that brushed against her bare body roused the last bit of reason left in her.

“W-We should b-bathe first…”

“So you can fall asleep again? Not a chance.”

He cut her off mid-sentence and grabbed her breast. The soft mound of flesh had become moist from his attention.

“I’ll bathe you later, so…”

The rest of his words were lost as he murmured into her skin. Like dough in a baker’s hands, she surrendered herself to his touch, her limbs floundering under the sheets. Each time the tip of his tongue swirled around the most sensitive part of her breasts, she felt her blood foam.

“Th-This feels s-s-strange…”

She was stuttering more severely than usual, but she was too preoccupied to feel shame. Riftan stroked her ears soothingly and placed himself, almost bursting with excitement, between her legs. His hardness rubbed slowly against her womanhood, separated only by a thin layer of clothes. Though their bodies were pressed together, she felt an unbearable emptiness within.

“My heart might stop.”

Riftan’s voice tickled her tense neck. He pressed his lips to hers again while undoing his trouser straps. Their tongues intertwined gently. Maxi clenched her eyes shut when she felt his hot flesh against hers. His flesh, which had been brushing between her legs, parted her entrance and entered with a single, deep thrust. Maxi writhed at the still unfamiliar sensation. Every muscle in Riftan’s body tensed as he let out a restrained moan.

“Don’t tighten so much…”

“S-S-Sorry…”

“Breathe out… Yes, a little more…”

She thrashed like fish caught in a net. His warm breath, laced with the sweet scent of wine, moistened her skin. Damp with perspiration, his raven locks tickled her forehead. She felt a pulse where they were connected.

“Is this how it would feel to soak in hot cream?”

Though his words were sweet, he wore the expression of a man under torture. As the friction of coarse cloth stimulated her bare skin, Maxi tried to get used to the feeling of him filling her. Their tightly entwined lower bodies rubbed together like writhing serpents.

Unable to bear it any longer, Maxi squirmed, and Riftan began to move.

“Ah!”

His thick length slowly slid into her before pulling out to the tip, only to thrust in deeper. Her sheath became dewy with honey. A tingle reached the ends of her limbs. Moaning quietly, she arched her back.

Riftan leaned over her to put his mouth over her breasts, each suck rekindling the heat inside her. Her body shook with his movements, and the hotness between her thighs surged to engulf her whole. Her legs trembled as she reached climax, and she squeezed. Riftan gasped and swelled inside her.

“N-No…”

Maxi thrashed beneath him. Her body felt like a stranger’s. Riftan’s body, burning like red-hot iron, weighed hers down with urgent but graceful motions. A gaze so intense that it startled her; a heartbeat powerful enough to rise to the surface of his skin; and the primal movement inside her… Her mind was overwhelmed. A pain so passionate and sweet…

Maxi shook as if a bolt of lightning had struck her, her heart beating uncontrollably. As she twisted her torso to break free from the maddening sensations, Riftan scooped her up and placed her on his lap.

“Ah! Ah…”

Maxi found herself on his knees, facing him with her legs spread open. She received him even more deeply and shuddered, the stimulation too much to bear.

Riftan held her head and whispered, “More… Just a little more, Maxi…”

Maxi clung to his neck. Once broken, the sluice gates could not be closed. Each time he sank into her, her hips quivered with a life of their own, and her body squeezed as if to seek something more. Just as she thought that she could no longer bear the stimulation, his movement finally came to a stop. She closed her eyes, feeling a lukewarm essence erupt inside her body. A drop of sweat trickled down her cheek.

“I thought I was going to die,” Riftan whispered, licking the droplet.

Still in a daze, Maxi looked up at his flushed face with half-closed eyes. A pair of black eyes flickered between strands of disheveled hair, unsated.