The Contract Wife Tries to Leave - Chapter 171
Of course, she had never been drawn to any Alpha other than Leonid. Although she had once been overwhelmed by Ilian Rediess’s pheromones, that was merely a matter of base attraction; it didn’t contain any element of ‘love’.
But she couldn’t say that outright. Saying so would be practically a confession.
Lucas’s words echoed in her mind again, as if etched there, warning her to avoid any mistakes.
‘If I truly cared for you, I should have kept my feelings hidden and let go of my desires.’
It would be a mistake to misinterpret Leonid’s kindness toward her as anything more. He was simply like this by nature… giving just enough kindness to make the other person misinterpret it, as though handing out small alms of affection.
Johanna stifled a sigh that threatened to escape. She could see Leonid growing more displeased with each passing moment of her silence. Quickly, she opened her mouth to extinguish the pressing tension.
“As an Omega… I suppose it’s natural to be drawn to an Alpha.”
“Oh… really?”
Wrong answer. His gaze instantly turned icy. Startled, Johanna blinked rapidly, trying to read his reaction.
“So, I guess you were drawn to that bastard Ilian Rediess too.”
“No, it wasn’t like that…”
“You said it’s ‘natural’ to be drawn to an Alpha.”
“Well, but that man…”
Isn’t this what they call a no-win situation? She felt as though she’d dug her own grave.
It was clear that any mention of Ilian Rediess was a sensitive subject for Leonid, and she should have avoided any answer that tied that man to her explanation.
“That man, I… dislike him.”
“Dislike?”
“That man… he…”
She hesitated for a moment. Come to think of it, she had never told Leonid about this. It was a miserable part of her personal life that he didn’t need to know, so she’d chosen to keep it to herself.
But here she was, about to reveal it in this roundabout way…
“…He pressured me to work in an entertainment parlor to pay off my debt when I had no other way. How could I not hate him?”
Raising her gaze slightly, she saw Leonid’s face frozen in cold disbelief. The expression she saw there was not simple shock—she could discern more than one emotion in it.
Rage, yes… but something even more intense, and, impossibly, a touch of self-reproach.
Taken aback by his unexpected reaction, Johanna found herself staring at him, momentarily speechless.
“I didn’t know that.”
He muttered, his voice laced with irritation, a twisted smile tugging at his mouth. With a rough hand, he swept his jet-black hair, reflecting a hint of the room’s dim crimson glow, and continued,
“I didn’t know your birthday either.”
As he leaned in, his fingers gently touched her cheek, and Johanna snapped back to her senses. His face was close enough for their noses to touch, his eyes simmering with a turbulent, unreadable emotion.
“I see…”
“…”
“I should be gentle with you, then.”
In the next moment, his gaze softened, filled with a gentle warmth. Whenever he looked at her like that, Johanna felt her resolve waver, making her want to lean on him, to entrust her burdens to his care. The life she had struggled to shoulder alone suddenly felt like something she wanted to set aside, resting upon his mercy.
“Why…”
And so, with a trembling voice, she had to ask. This gentleness that wasn’t truly hers felt almost unfair.
“Why are you being so kind…?”
His response was casual, as though it were nothing.
“Wouldn’t it be better to be kind when I can?”
“But, Marquis… you’re…”
“I know. I know I have a bad personality.”
“…”
“But I’m not quite as awful as people think.”
Leonid pressed a light kiss to her cheek before gently laying her back on the bed and settling above her. His hands trailed slowly over her upper body, with an exquisite tenderness that seemed to promise what was to come.
“Just as you want…”
“Ah…”
“I’ll be gentle.”
His hands moved carefully over her chest, and his breath traced along her ear, sending a wave of instinctive excitement through her.
“Don’t cry tonight.”
His words sounded curiously layered, as though he knew she had cried for reasons beyond mere physical pain.
She suddenly recalled the time she had been ill, fevered and exhausted, and how he had comforted her with such gentle care. She wondered if those hands, soothing her in her fevered delirium, had been real—or just a fleeting illusion.
* * *
Johanna was vividly experiencing what it meant to be utterly melted under someone’s touch.
“Mm… ah….”
The slow, deliberate movement of his length sliding within her, slick and coated with their mingled release, heightened every sensation. The place where their bodies joined was equally drenched, sticky with the remnants of their shared passion.
Leonid hadn’t released Johanna easily, even after reaching climax three times. Yet, he had kept his promise to be gentle.
“Ah…!”
The slow, deliberate sensation that grazed her sensitive spot was overwhelming in a different way than an intense pace would have been. More than once, she found herself wishing he’d be rougher.
