The Contract Wife Tries to Leave - Chapter 156
Returning to the room with Johanna still in his arms, he sat down on the sofa, holding her close. He gazed quietly at her peaceful face, now sound asleep, then reached toward the table. There lay the wedding ring the servants had brought over.
Lifting her much smaller left hand in his, he slipped the ring onto her ring finger. Feeling a newfound sense of completeness, he looked at her, and, following an impulse that filled his chest, leaned down.
Their lips met. He held her gently, savoring the moment, then slowly parted his lips to trace hers with his tongue.
“Mm…”
Even in her sleep, Johanna instinctively released her pheromones, clinging to him as if out of habit. She had been perfectly trained, utterly his.
Leonid savored the sweet omega pheromones, releasing his own to blend with her scent.
A mysterious fragrance, like flowers blooming in the depths of winter, filled the space around them.
“Hah…”
He gently devoured her soft lips, pressing and tasting, then slipped his tongue into the moist warmth inside. The moment their tongues intertwined, Johanna’s eyes slowly fluttered open, hazy with drowsiness.
Cradling the back of her head, Leonid tilted her face to deepen the kiss, entering further. Her teal eyes blinked slowly, as if struggling to grasp what was happening.
“Mmm… uh…”
Leonid watched her expression closely, capturing each fleeting moment as she returned from her dreams. Before long, a flicker of confusion surfaced in Johanna’s gaze.
Without hesitation, Leonid pushed her back onto the sofa, climbing over her as he continued the fierce kiss, drawing her tongue into his mouth and roughening the movements between them.
“Ah… mm… ahh…”
After what seemed an eternity of torment, Johanna began to squirm, gasping for breath. Leonid finally pulled back, calmly observing her flushed face, lips parted as she panted, gazing up at him with dampened, wide eyes.
Her expression stirred in him the desire to make her cry out even more—a face both irresistibly beautiful and endearingly fragile.
“Marquis… Lord…”
“Yes.”
“When… did you… oh.”
As he pressed his lips to her slender, pale neck, Johanna flinched, her body jerking slightly. Leonid began to slowly peel away her indoor dress, pressing kisses to each exposed spot as he went.
“Ah… ugh…!”
His hand slid downward, finding her skin already damp with warmth. Feeling his touch, she instinctively tried to press her legs together, but he gently parted them, slipping off her dress, tossing it aside. With practiced ease, he removed her undergarments, revealing her fully to him.
Leonid’s gaze slowly traced over her flawless, clear skin and the graceful curves of her body. Her soft pink peaks and the barely-there down between her legs had an oddly mouth-watering effect on him, stirring a blend of hunger and desire.
When their eyes met, Johanna quickly looked away. Though she should have grown used to it by now, she still squirmed with embarrassment whenever she was bare before him. In moments like these, he often felt a mischievous urge to heighten her shame.
Normally, he wouldn’t resist that urge. But today… he didn’t want to make her cry. Leonid forced himself to stifle any wicked intentions.
He reached out, running his hand along the length of her body. The silk-like softness of her skin clung to his palm, and her slight flinch at his touch made him smile. It was rare for him to find anything, especially someone else, genuinely endearing.
“…I’ll tell you this in advance.”
“…?”
“There’s no need for you to go back to that bastard to pay the interest anymore.”
Understanding immediately, Johanna’s eyes widened. Leonid continued, running his fingers through her scattered platinum hair on the sofa.
“I’ll take care of the interest payments, so you can just give the money to me.”
He purposely left out the fact that the debt was already fully paid off.
As infuriating as it was, Ilian Rediess had been right. If Johanna found out she didn’t need to repay any debt, she would no longer feel compelled to stay with him. She would try to break the contract and leave.
The only possible expense she might need money for would be her younger brother’s tuition, but from Daniel Lucerne’s record, it looked like he was likely to receive scholarships throughout his schooling and even into the academy.
And as for the contract payment… knowing Johanna Lucerne’s personality, she’d spend her entire life paying it off just to ask for her freedom.
But that wasn’t an option.
A crooked smile tugged at one corner of his mouth. Moving his hand from her hair, Leonid gently encircled her slender neck.
He could feel the strong pulse of life beneath his fingers.
Entirely within his grasp.
