MERRY 12

“It is mine. I received it as a gift. But my playing is terrible. I hate obediently following a musical score.”

Because my mother insisted that playing an instrument was a requirement for being a gentleman, I learned the piano—it seemed familiar and manageable—but I was a lost cause. Even the famous pianist invited as my private tutor threw in the towel, citing my lack of focus. Whenever I sit in front of a piano, I get the jitters and can’t stay still.

“You certainly are free-spirited. I can’t imagine you quietly following orders.”

“No way. I’m a good listener. You know I especially obey your commands when we’re on top of this.”

As I gave him a mischievous grin, Ethan wore an expression like a stern history teacher. It was ironic; he felt like a fastidious man who placed great importance on chastity. There was no way he could have forgotten what had happened in this room, on this bed.

How many times had we craved each other, drifting between romantic kisses and animalistic ones? I stopped counting because it felt tacky, but we must have done it at least ten times a day. And we didn’t just kiss on the lips. We moved to the ears, the nape of the neck, and into foreplay.

I, who used to fold my hands demurely during our first kiss, now don’t hesitate to strip him. It didn’t take long for my brain to be dominated by the pleasure I had tasted late in life. I wanted to burn up, and I wanted Ethan. Ethan surely craved me too.

There was nothing forced about it when he knelt before me, licked my navel with his tongue, and took me into his mouth. Rather, he had sought me out of his own will. At that time, I was worried my member would melt away inside that narrow, soft mouth. Remembering how I had actually come in a messy spray and gone a bit limp made me lightheaded.

I wasn’t the one who shoved the quickly re-erected cock back into Ethan’s soaked throat. He did it. He acted as if he were going to squeeze every last drop out until nothing was left, rubbing his jaw against my testicles.

Ethan had acted voraciously, without a shred of dignity. The image of him clinging to me, his slightly damp eyes flushed red, is still vivid—yet the man before me now was, conversely, a guardian of purity. If I hadn’t known his sweat was sweet, if I hadn’t known that sparks could fly in those clear emerald eyes, I would have been completely fooled.

But I witnessed what lay beyond. I felt his longing against my skin and kept it there.

Besides, even now, you’re training me.

It felt like he could see right through my desire-filled interior. Like tossing bait to a beast, he placed his hand in mine and tested my patience. He was a devious trainer.

“Somerset. What are we talking about right now?”

The reason I didn’t resent him for being so nonchalant was that the shadow beneath his long eyelashes trembled slightly. Confirming those crumbs of agitation he couldn’t quite hide, I smirked.

“The piano. Anyway, I have no talent. My hands don’t like touching keys; they like touching soft skin.”

Just like yours.

If Ethan Reed’s long fingers had been the keys of a piano, I would have been more than interested. I wouldn’t have left that piano bench all day.

“I’m more drawn to the sound vibrating in your throat than the sound a piano makes.”

I continued in a low voice, pulling his hand right up to my nose. Just as I was about to pounce, unable to hold back any longer, he flicked his finger and changed the subject.

“So, is this hand the culprit?”

Ah, we were in the middle of interrogating the suspect who stripped off my shirt. I had forgotten the superficial reason I was holding his hand. It was just an excuse I’d made up because I wanted to touch him anyway.

“Not yet. I’m confused. I’ll have to check.”

Only then did Ethan relax his hand. Once permission was granted, I took his thumb into my mouth. I pursed my lips and used my tongue. The pleasure was on the taste buds of my tongue, and it was also in my eyes as I looked up at him. When the sound of his breath escaped through his teeth and fell upon me, my whole body tingled.

I huddled my thighs together and twitched, trying to trap the heat pooling below. My body, which had been pure until not long ago, now wanted Ethan Reed again and again. While I wanted to re-experience the pleasure I had discovered through him, I was also mentally prepared to cross over into an unknown world I didn’t yet know. That preparation was already complete the moment I reached out and touched the area near his heart.

Meanwhile, the thumb and index finger that had passed through my mouth wiped the moisture onto my chin. I was tasting his long middle finger. It was a shame the fingertip sliding against the roof of my mouth didn’t threaten to go all the way down to my throat.

“If you’re still confused, that’s a problem.”

Ethan hooked his finger like a claw and pressed against the inside of my cheek. A squelching sound came from my involuntarily opened mouth. Toying with my tongue, which was thick with saliva, he locked eyes with me.

“Fine, I’m the culprit.”

His attitude in finally admitting his crime was sincere, yet there was no remorse. He took his wet fingers out of my mouth and wiped them against my neck and shoulder. I panted slightly and said:

“Not there. Touch my chest.”

“If you answer my question.”

“What question?”

“I asked you earlier. What you would do if you were going to die tomorrow.”

Ethan dragged back the question I had carelessly ignored and placed it before me. He was persistent.

“A man who haggles isn’t attractive.”

“Is that really so?”

No. I wouldn’t mind giving everything to the eyes that look at me.

I wiped away the boiling desire along with the saliva at the corner of my mouth and slowly pulled myself up. Placing my hands on Ethan’s shoulders, I leaned in close.

“Give me time to think.”

“Is one minute enough?”

“That depends on how passionately you help me. My brain works better when I’m kissing.”

Between sucking on his chest with my lips and a passionate kiss that felt like my tongue would be pulled out, I chose the latter. He didn’t push me away as I grew closer.

“You won’t be able to think about anything else.”

“Other than you?”

“Right, other than me.”

My eyelids slid shut. Ethan’s did the same. Even though they were half-closed, his pupils shone more clearly than ever.

We kissed with the lust we felt for each other. He supported the back of my neck with his hand and parted his lips. We mixed our tongues and shared our breath without hesitation. On the surface, it seemed to follow the formula of a kiss, but gentlemanly restraint was entirely absent.

We pushed each other as if we were both going to devour the other. We were both predator and prey. Our chests, pressed together at an angle, thudded, conveying our respective presences. The friction of skin rubbing against skin sharpened my senses.

It was just as he had warned. Ethan Reed completely filled my head. I let out a rough breath, biting and then releasing his lips. As soon as a gap opened, Ethan injected the question into me once more, as if he’d been waiting. He seemed incredibly curious. I spoke as I pushed Ethan down.

“Haa, I… mmh… I’ll stay with someone I cherish.”

His eyes narrowed. It was a look of suspicion or dissatisfaction.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because it’s unexpected.”

It was the latter. He seemed a bit disappointed that my answer had defied his expectations. He was like a model student obsessed with solving a problem.

“I thought someone like you would fight back rather than submit to a fixed fate. Whether against God, an absolute being, or a villain.”

Lying on top of him, I curled my wet lips into a smirk.

“I think I’d be like that if I didn’t have someone I cherished. But not now. And probably not ever again. I want to be with that person. Because even if death threatens me, or some tragedy awaits me, it’ll be okay then.”

That was how it was. Back then, I had decided to simply accept my scheduled death. It didn’t take much effort for my mind to change. Betrayal, disappointment, and an empty feeling.

Emerging from the hazy memory, I dryly touched my neck, which was flushed with heat. I looked back, but Ethan was gone.

∞ ∞ ∞

It was an early start to the morning, just as I had told the stalker the day before. I walked past the black sedan parked in front of the apartment and reached out my arm. When I gestured like someone hailing a taxi, an SUV pulled up in front of me. A man with neatly combed-back hair smiled kindly at me from the driver’s seat through the window.

Benjamin Richardson, the manager I hired early last year, is in charge of communicating with the agency and managing my schedule.