Chapter 183
THE FORGOTTEN FIELDS (NOVEL) – Chapter 183
Chapter 183
Meanwhile, she was diving back into the depths of sleep.
Varkas felt time pressing on him, so he placed her on the bed and, with delicacy, pushed the strands of messy hair away from her forehead; her thin eyelids trembled to reveal clouded, unfocused eyes.
—… Did you bring me to your room?
The woman murmured with a bewildered expression as she examined the room where dim lights fluctuated, and then she slowly sat up.
But he pressed her back against the cold sheets and, letting himself be carried away by the desire he had held back since he found her by the spring, he joined his lips to hers.
Her neck shrank for a moment, captivated by the intensity of that desperate invasion, but she soon wrapped her arms around his back.
He wrapped his hand around her slender neck, which seemed as if it could break, and began to caress a vein that was beating strongly with his thumb.
Those irregular tremors that were transmitted through his palm ignited his body even more.
—Varkas… I can barely breathe.
Talia hit his shoulder with her fist after reaching her limit.
Varkas lifted his head with difficulty and looked at her lips, swollen with provocation; then he averted his gaze to her eyes, where lights danced: her blue eyes, which shone even in the darkness, sparkled with tears.
At that moment, he felt as if a cold blade had pierced his chest.
Before, he thought that this reaction was born from hostility, but now he was beginning to understand, in a way, the nature of those overwhelming feelings that this woman awakened in him.
He placed his lips on her cheeks, stained red.
He caressed her soft cheek and, when he lightly bit the lobe of her small ear, her thin shoulders suddenly shuddered.
—That… don’t do that. I feel a strange sensation.
—What do you mean, strange?
While he caressed her narrow back trying to calm her and kissed her thin eyelids again and again, the woman, who seemed confused, pulled hard on his neck, then raised her head and bit his earlobe.
In that instant, a shiver like lightning went through the back of his head. He gritted his teeth and tilted his head so that no groan unworthy of him would escape.
She began to bite his ear playfully, as if she were playing with him, and then blew her hot breath into his eardrum.
—You feel a very strange sensation, right?
Then she let out a small, muffled laugh.
Varkas took a deep breath trying to calm the tension in his tense body, then lifted his head and stared at her, before grabbing her head and catching her lips, which were smiling maliciously.
The woman let out a groan that sounded like a complaint and began to tangle her hands in his hair messily.
He kissed her delicate chin and felt the vertebrae of her back one by one over her thin nightgown.
Talia’s body shook strongly and she pulled his head toward her chest.
—Talia.
He deeply inhaled the sweet perfume that emanated from her skin and wrapped his arms around her slender waist.
—Kiss me more.
He hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he obeyed the order.
How much time passed while they were in that state?
Varkas’s breathing was ragged as he looked at her, while her eyes, which had lost focus, floated in the void.
He slid his gaze from that face absent of consciousness toward her reddened neck.
He shook off that painful sensation with difficulty and, with a trembling hand, pushed away the strands of hair trapped on her neck.
Talia, who was trying to regulate her agitated breathing, threw a questioning look at him.
—Why…?
It was a question that inquired about the reason why he didn’t continue the matter to the end.
He avoided answering and pulled the blanket over her body.
—You seem lost in sleep. Sleep now.
—… This is because of the effect of the herb. I will be fine in a moment.
Then she hugged his back and began to trace his prominent muscles with the tips of her fingers.
He gently moved her hand away, brought it to his mouth, and kissed the knuckles of her pink-tinged fingers one by one, before which the woman, whose features seemed dissatisfied, lowered her gaze shyly. He also covered her flushed cheeks with kisses and pressed her relaxed and soft body against his chest.
He placed an arm under her head and caressed her messy hair with tenderness; it didn’t take long before the sound of her regular breathing was heard.
Varkas stared for a long time at her serene face that reflected the candlelight.
He still felt as if something inside him had been brutally torn, but strangely, his chest was full; as if he had drunk strong wine until drunkenness.
He pulled her closer to him, and her soft thigh, covered by the edge of her thin dress, slipped between his legs.
He felt as if fire were igniting at every point of contact, but he did not wish to move away.
He buried his nose in her hair and inhaled her sweet scent with all the strength of his lungs.
Perhaps this was the feeling someone would harbor if they plunged into a swamp full of ‘belladonna’ juice.
And with both arms wrapping around her without leaving any space, he slowly sank into the depths of sleep.
He was walking through a wasteland.
It wasn’t long before an altar built with human skulls appeared before him.
He lifted his head and saw countless decapitated corpses hanging from above.
The blood gushing from the severed necks soaked the earth and ran like a river.
—This is the sin that runs through your blood.
He turned toward the hand that was holding him by the shoulder and his gaze landed on his father’s face, stiff and pale as wax.
The man repeated, while red sparks emanated from the empty sockets of his eyes:
—Our people must atone for their faults. We must pay the price for the massacres committed by our ancestors with loyalty to the Empire.
He shook off that hand violently.
Then, the man’s hand transformed into iron chains that began to wrap around his body.
He tried to break them, but the chains, heavy and cold as ice, began to tighten around his body more and more.
—Why do you resist?
At that moment, a soft voice resonated.
He lifted his head and saw Bernadette smiling with tenderness, so his eyes opened wide.
The hand that had rescued him from the grave began to caress his frozen cheek.
—Wasn’t life something without utility for you? If it is a life that you live simply because you are alive… it is not bad for you to dedicate it to fulfilling your promise to me.
The woman whispered that and wrapped her arms around his neck with tenderness.
Soon, that white arm began to stiffen as well to become a chain cold as ice that pressed hard on his shoulder.
Finally he surrendered and stopped resisting.
Shortly after, the river of blood reached him.
A thick liquid with a foul odor rushed toward his lungs and airways without end, sinking him into the depths of the black river of blood.
In that instant, someone shook him hard by the shoulder.
Varkas opened his eyes suddenly and frowned at the light that poured into his retinas.
Shortly after, when his vision cleared, his gaze landed on a pale face.
He remained bewildered for a moment without understanding the situation, until he noticed that her eyes were wet, so he sat up suddenly.
—What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well…?
—You weren’t breathing.
She murmured in a voice full of terror.
He froze for an instant, and then let out a light sigh.