/
Akkard exploded at the words that came out of her lips.
“The fucking bastard!”
Akkard got up and punched the cabinet next to him.
The dog—Cesare, hiding in her bedroom was enough to rile up his violent instincts but now he was even warning her not to get close to him.
‘How dare you!’
What a brazen bastard! No matter how cunning and accomplished Cesare was, he could not even measure up to Akkard’s feet. But now he dared to threaten the woman he coveted.
It was so outrageous—like a crazy hyena scratching a sleeping lion’s nose. Akkard was not the type to tolerate those that insulted his domain. If he could, he would grab Cesare right away and skin him alive.
It was a familiar feeling as if his stomach was boiling and his vision turned dark red.
‘Don’t touch Miss Damia,’
said that cheeky Lessid Ferira.
‘I’m going to confess to her when I’m done with this job.’
‘This bastard and that bastard—all looking at her.’
He fell into a nasty mood but he had no clue why— so his heart ached even more.
“Ah, Lord Akkard?”
Damia was stunned by his fierce anger. She looked embarrassed not knowing why Akkard was so furious.
“Don’t mind me. I was just angry for a moment,”
Akkard mumbled unclearly.
Damia didn’t seem particularly relieved or convinced at his answer, but she didn’t bother to pursue it.
Instead, she looked up at the Akkard with anxious eyes.
Akkard saw this and clicked his tongue. Her eyes, which usually looked confident and certain, now looked droopy and cute as a puppy.
She looked uniquely lovely in soft pajamas while holding a wine glass with both of her hands.
‘Cause she’s so pretty, she’s going to be shivering from men coming at her from all directions.’
Akkard grabbed a bottle of wine and gulped it down. The warmth of the drink went down his throat, warming up his stomach. Then, it seemed to clear up that stuffy feeling he felt.
Maybe the reason why he felt so horrible—yes. It’s probably that. Because other guys were drooling on his prey.
Maybe that’s why? For the first time, Akkard felt a sense of crisis. Anxiety that someone might steal his prey. Taking the game that he always took for granted. An unfamiliar apprehension of ‘maybe she will be taken away.’
‘I’ll never let that happen even if I die.’
His arrogant pride even pierced the heavens, making them growl at his conceit.
He wouldn’t allow any blemish on his own perfection.
For the first time, Akkard was inclined to indulge a woman’s wishes.
He had only known to gently lower his body, always pushing down on women and nothing on his mind but to have them. Akkard met Damia’s eyes and asked,
“Are you cold? You’re shaking.”
“No, it’s just ····.”
She was frightened when she thought about that day. To the point, she felt as if she couldn’t breathe.
Damia gulped down the words that had threatened to fall out of her lips. She wasn’t close enough to Akkard to confide her difficulties with him.
But Akkard instinctively seized the opportunity. In front of him Damia was quite susceptible. The quaking of her unstable gaze, her tight grip, making her knuckles white communicated instead of words. She was very tired right now.
“Don’t worry. You’ll be fine.”
Damia looked up in surprise. It couldn’t be, but Akkard’s words seemed to discern her thoughts.
As their eyes met, Akkard smiled, bending his purple eyes surrounded by white eyelashes. Then he whispered in a low voice that melted her ears.
“No one can harm you. I won’t let them.”
It was too sweet. Even though Damia knew it, it was comforting like stress-indulging in chocolate, it wouldn’t change anything but it made her feel good.
‘But ·····.’
After all, Damia was human. She was still young and inexperienced. She lost her mother when she was young and had grown up fast to reassure her father, who was often away from home.
It wasn’t that she didn’t hate this desperation for reassurance she felt. But sometimes one needed a place to lean on.
Damia looked down at Akkard’s hand that held hers. His body temperature transferred to her, acting as a bridge to her lonely and cold heart and warming her. At least for this moment, he seemed to say that she was not alone and he would hold her tight.
Maybe that’s why it didn’t occur to her to push him away.
Just as Akkard wanted to embrace her out of pleasure, she also wanted to be comforted. Even if it’s as brief as a hand warmer in the middle of winter.
Slip-
Damia’s hand and body relaxed in his grasp. As Akkard felt this, he raised both ends of his lips and smiled.
“Come here.”
He finally captured her.
Deep down in his heart, lurking in the depths of his chest, the beast growled with satisfaction.