She felt like a fish caught in a tightly woven net.
As she instinctively thrashed her arms and legs, trying to escape the bed, Varkas gently pressed her body down and cupped her cheeks in both hands.
"Shh... It's all right."
Warm breath brushed across her sweat-damp eyelids. She could feel her frozen body melting in an instant.
Only her mind remained rigid with tension.
Twisting her head to one side, she barely managed to drag her upper body out from beneath the blanket.
"The... moon... Cover it."
She reached toward the window like a drowning person struggling for shore.
Long, sturdy fingers slipped into her hair.
A moment later, her head was gently pulled back, and her lips were enveloped by burning warmth.
She could no longer think.
The only thing left in her mind was the sensation of their tongues tangling together like flames.
Talia wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders, letting out an unsteady breath.
"Lift your hips."
She obeyed before she even realized it.
The thin fabric of her dress slid downward.
Their sweat-slick bodies brushed against each other beneath the cramped blanket, where the hot air trapped between them made every touch strangely intoxicating.
Was this what it felt like to sink into a boiling swamp?
It seemed as though every bone and muscle in her body were melting away.
Letting out a faint whimper, Talia rubbed her soft body against his hard, smooth physique.
Then she felt the fabric tangled around her waist slip beneath her hips.
As the last barrier separating them disappeared, the mind that had been melting like candle wax abruptly regained a fragment of awareness.
She spread her thighs wide so that the leg still wrapped in bandages wouldn't touch him.
Stretching out her neck, she anxiously checked whether her leg might be visible outside the blanket.
Varkas caught her face in his hand, forcing her to look at him.
"Don't let your attention wander."
Blue eyes filled with moonlight occupied her entire vision.
Forgetting even how to breathe, Talia counted the tiny silver fragments shimmering in his gaze.
His pale ash-blond hair, glowing faintly blue beneath the moonlight, softly brushed against her forehead.
While she remained captivated by his face, unable to look away, his burning hand slowly traveled over her body.
His eyes never left her face.
The moment she realized Varkas was carefully watching every one of her reactions, overwhelming shame engulfed her, and she squeezed her eyes tightly shut.
It was the wrong decision.
With her vision gone, every caress roaming over her body became even more vivid.
Yet she couldn't bring herself to open her eyes again.
She simply endured the overwhelming sensations until a warm sigh dampened her ear.
"Open your eyes, Talia."
His gentle voice felt like a weapon.
At that moment, she realized he intended to carve away even the tiny fragment of her heart that remained.
If he took everything...
What would become of me?
"Look at me."
Unable to resist his persistent urging any longer, she slowly opened her eyes again.
The very instant she did, he moved closer.
Talia gripped his pale shoulders as tightly as she could.
The overwhelming pressure filling her body forced her head back.
Holding her firmly beneath him, Varkas wiped away the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes with his thumb.
Then he stared relentlessly into her clouded pupils.
It was a gaze that seemed determined to search the deepest depths of her soul.
A dizzying sensation swept over her, as though sharp needles were tearing through her vision.
Yet he never allowed her to look away.
Still gripping the back of her head securely, Varkas moved with slow, measured motions.
It felt as though every part of the body he held captive would be crushed apart like overripe fruit.
Without realizing it, Talia murmured a desperate plea.
She didn't even know what she was begging for.
Their sweat-soaked bodies released humid heat beneath the blanket, as though even her thoughts might evaporate.
"Varkas..."
Soft cries, barely more than broken sobs, escaped her throat again and again.
The creaking of the bed, the sound of damp skin brushing together, and the deafening pounding of her heart all blended into one.
She felt as though she were losing her mind.
Her reason, her body—everything was falling apart.
And Varkas was watching it happen.
His blade-sharp gaze fell upon her burning cheeks, her tear-soaked lashes, her parted lips struggling for breath, and her unfocused eyes.
Unable to endure it any longer, she threw her arms around his neck and buried her face against his smooth shoulder.
She heard the grinding of his teeth near her ear.
A moment later, something deep inside her seemed to shatter.
Her fingertips traced the delicate contours of the pale muscles glowing beneath the moonlight.
The nails she had trimmed short so she wouldn't hurt him merely slid over his sweat-slick skin.
Uneven, ragged breathing poured down over her head.
How long she struggled to cling to the fading remnants of her consciousness, she didn't know.
The steady rhythm of his movements gradually became impossible to follow.
Startled by the sudden change, Talia instinctively bit down against the back of his neck.
At the same instant, everything inside her erupted.
Her entire body trembled uncontrollably as she clung tightly to him.
The tears overflowing from her eyes soaked both her cheeks and his neck.
She felt warm fingers gently stroking her wet face.
The touch was like a hand closing around her completely defenseless heart.
Overcome by a strange dizziness, Talia squeezed her eyes shut.
At some point, she lost consciousness.
Restlessly shifting in search of relief from the oppressive warmth, Talia awoke to the arm wrapped firmly around her waist.
The bedroom, bathed in bluish moonlight, slowly came into focus.
She blinked blankly before becoming aware of the warm body behind her.
Startled, she turned her head.
Varkas was sleeping soundly, his cheek buried in the pillow.
Carefully sitting up, she quietly gazed at him.
Pure white moonlight slid across his finely sculpted cheekbones before illuminating the faint bite mark on his neck.
Without thinking, she reached out to touch it with her fingertips.
Then she stopped herself.
She didn't want to disturb the peaceful sleep on his face.
Slowly, Talia slipped out of bed.
The moonlight was bright enough that she could easily make out the room.
She found her crumpled dress lying in the corner of the bed and pulled it over her head.
After straightening the wrinkled skirt, she looked up.
Beyond the great arched window, a full moon shone against the black sky.
The flood of moonlight was almost blinding.
"Don't go."
She had been standing there like someone lost, staring into the night sky, when she suddenly felt warm body heat behind her.
A sharp shiver ran through Talia.
Wrapping the cool blanket around her shoulders, Varkas embraced her from behind and rested his face against her temple.
"Just stay here tonight."
She squeezed her eyes shut.
She knew she ought to push him away.
But she could no longer remember why.
Ever since the day they first met, she had longed for this embrace.
She had wanted him to hold her warmly and never let her go.
Then why am I fighting against my own wish?
Her body trembling helplessly, Talia finally nodded.
"...All right."
"Tomorrow too."
"...Mm."
"And the day after that."
As she nodded absentmindedly, as though under a spell, he gently guided her back toward the bed.
His warm arms tightly embraced her body, now cooled by the night air.
After hesitating for a moment, Talia wrapped an arm around his waist.
For the briefest instant, what looked like quiet satisfaction flickered across his otherwise expressionless face.
Looking up at him, Talia studied him for a moment before quietly burying her forehead against his broad chest.
* * *
The season of winds was already drawing to a close.
Reviewing reports in his office, Varkas turned his head as a cold breeze brushed against his cheek.
Beyond the wide-open window stretched a sky so brilliantly blue it almost hurt the eyes to look at it.
His attention lingered on the view for a moment before several cool gusts scattered the documents across his desk.
Clicking his tongue in annoyance, he picked up the paperweight, placed it atop the parchment, and rose to close the window.
Then a flash of golden hair caught his eye through the glass.
Varkas lowered his gaze.
Wrapped in the snow-white cloak that had recently been completed, Talia was strolling through the garden with her nurse.
Each time the cold wind swept roughly across her slightly flushed face, her golden hair streamed behind her like a bird's wings.
He narrowed his eyes and watched her in silence.
Seeing her draped in the pelt of the magical beast he himself had hunted gave him a peculiar sense of fulfillment.
Although he had been fasting all morning, it felt as though his stomach were already full.
But before long, a trace of dissatisfaction surfaced.
She had looked noticeably exhausted for several days now.
Just before dawn she had even developed a slight fever, putting him on edge once again.
