Episode 8
“Arpina!”
She couldn’t support herself and collapsed completely. Forgetting her own warning not to come close, I ran to her.
Panting, Arpina, supported by me, managed to move with great effort.
I helped her to the sofa on one side of the bedroom, but she slumped over sideways again. Her lips had turned pale, and no color could be seen in her face.
“I’ll call a doctor.”
As I tried to get up, her weakened hand lightly grasped my fingertips. I looked back and saw Arpina shaking her head.
“I can do it.”
“……”
“I’ll be fine if I just rest for a moment.”
As if squeezing out her last bit of strength, the hand holding mine soon went limp and fell away.
She was someone who had successfully purified everything until now without any mucous contact. It seemed she couldn’t accept the fact that she had failed to purify on her own.
Perhaps she was terrified of the outside world finding out that even Arpina had failed to purify and collapsed.
Everyone has weaknesses they would rather die than reveal. Arpina seemed unwilling to damage the facade of her abilities being flawless.
I couldn’t embarrass Arpina with unwanted meddling that no one asked for.
I rummaged through the belongings I had brought from the shop, pulled out a blanket, and spread it over her.
Time passed slowly. It was as if someone had grabbed both ends of the night and was stretching it taut.
My gaze naturally fell upon Jared. After confirming that Arpina was fully asleep, I cautiously approached him.
I righted the overturned chair, pulled it close to him, and sat down.
He’s lost some weight.
My eyes slowly traced his now more defined jawline.
“……”
Once my eyes landed there, they didn’t stay just on his jawline. They traveled up, over the bridge of his nose, cast in shadow, past his eyelids with their thick lashes, to his slightly relaxed brow.
Even in the darkness, the contours of his features were distinct.
What kind of impulse was it?
I very carefully took his hand.
“Ugh.”
The moment we made contact, my energy was sucked away. It felt as if everything inside me was being drained in an instant, enough to make me dizzy.
My body swayed from the sensation, one I hadn’t felt in so long. I braced myself by placing my other hand on the bed.
I could feel Jared’s energy stirring, however faintly.
It was working.
His power began to devour the purification, as if it had been waiting for me. It was as if the fact that no other purifier’s purification had worked on him until now was a lie.
I didn’t stop there. I rose to my feet.
“I’m sorry. Just this once……”
I straightened my back, steadied my breathing, and gently pressed my lips against his.
What if he wakes up? Even though it was just a light touch, like a feather brushing against skin, a hot, tingling warmth made my lower lip tremble.
The scent I hadn’t forgotten in three years seemed to envelop my entire skin.
Whether it was because I knew I was committing an unscrupulous act or for some other reason, my heart raced wildly.
I tilted my head at a slight angle, moving so that the soft mucous membranes inside our lips touched. I felt his chest, quiet until now, swell greatly as he let out a ragged breath.
It was a simple kiss, devoid of any sensual meaning. Focusing solely on the medical act, I tightened my grip on the hand I was holding.
Little by little, but steadily, stabilization was progressing.
As I pulled my lips away, his moist breath spread over my lips.
‘For now, this much is enough…’
I would have liked to continue purifying until he was completely stabilized, all through the night, but I didn’t know when Arpina behind me might wake up.
The moment I relaxed the grip of the hand I was holding tightly—
“Whoa!”
Before my hand could even pull away, my wrist was seized in a strong grip. Before I could even process the thought, my body was swiftly pulled into the bed.
“……”
I was too stunned to even move. Jared’s face filled my widely dilated eyes. He was gazing steadily at me with relaxed, half-lidded eyes.
My heart felt like it had skipped a beat, then stopped. What? Had he regained consciousness?
As I froze in place, having even forgotten how to breathe, a powerful arm traveled up my back and pulled me tightly against him.
My body sank into his embrace as easily as if I were a ragdoll.
“Haa…”
A languid, drowsy voice flowed from above my head.
A hot hand slipped under my clothes and began slowly caressing the small of my back. With each stroke along my spine, every hair on my body stood on end.
I tried to twist away from him, but the more I squirmed, the tighter the arms holding me became. We were pressed together so tightly that my pounding heart felt completely crushed.
“Eek!”
A short, involuntary gasp escaped me unexpectedly. Jared had lowered his head and lightly nibbled on my earlobe.
‘No…’
A sound, as if he were tossing and turning in delirium, and hot breath tangled dizzyingly at my ear.
Fearing another sound might escape, I bit my lip and pulled it into my mouth.
Fortunately, it didn’t seem like Jared had fully regained consciousness. He seemed to be moving purely on instinct, seeking purification.
“Huu, nn…”
In the silence, the wet sound of skin slowly meeting and parting grated on my ears.
Was it because it had been so long? A peculiar shiver ran down my spine, making it tremble. I struggled desperately to suppress my moans.
“Ha…”
His lips sucked on the plump lobe of my ear, then, with a soft chuu chuu, left short kisses as they traveled down to my neck.
The desire to push him away was immense, but I was afraid he might wake up fully, so I only tilted my head back.
His soft lips attached to and detached from the length of my outstretched neck. They pressed firmly for a long moment against a point where my pulse was beating wildly, then his tongue-tip swept upwards in a long stroke.
“Hup.”
I clutched the hem of my skirt with both hands. Like a condemned prisoner before the guillotine, I stretched my neck out and squeezed my eyes shut.
Jared let out a sigh-like moan.
The intense heat added to my already feverish skin felt like it might burn me. It was that stimulating.
Just as Jared was adding more soft kisses, he suddenly sank his teeth sharply and painfully into my collarbone.
A sharp, stinging pain made my body jolt, but I barely managed to stifle a cry. Huu, Jared, please… The sensation of his lips sucking was all too vivid.
Purification. Let’s just do the purification.
If I poured all my remaining energy into him, his body, realizing there was nothing left to take, might let me go.
I opened my eyes and glanced sideways.
Arpina was still fast asleep. I had to calm Jared down quickly before she woke up.
I gently placed a hand on his shoulder and began purifying again.
I felt the muscles in Jared’s back twitch violently. His breathing grew gradually rougher, and I felt the hand clutching my clothes tighten sharply.
In an instant, I sensed that something was wrong, but by the time I realized it, it was already too late.
“Ah, wait…!”
His heavy body pressed down on me as if pinning me down. It was a struggle, as if he wanted every last inch of me, down to my fingertips, to be touching him.
Startled, I flinched, and a rough hand gripped my face.
The throbbing sensation made me open my eyes. Within the eyes meeting mine, a damp, sinister lust glittered.
My heart felt like it plummeted.
