The Maid and The Usurper - Chapter 1
“Not to Michael, not to Marquis Kraft, but to me first.”
He wanted to be the only one to face her, all her vulnerabilities. He wanted to grab hold of everything himself.
“Don’t speak to me in that tiresome, convoluted aristocratic manner. Talk straightforwardly and bluntly to me and I’ll listen to anything you have to say.”
Leopold’s lips, which had been grazing her neck, slowly moved up to her ear. His lips teased her earlobe. When Layla twisted her body to escape, he pulled her tightly into his arms.
“Stay still.”
His deep, seductive voice broke with desire. Leopold’s hand caressed Layla’s chest. In truth, he wasn’t much different from his half-brother. He,too, desired Layla, couldn’t let her go, and was obsessed with her. Despite being abandoned, betrayed, and fled from by the woman like a fool, he still clung to her desperately.
His tongue swept over her earlobe, fiddling with her earring. With a languid blast of his hot breath, the amethyst earring dangling from Layla’s ear dropped to the floor. The sound of the earring clattering to the ground echoed loudly in the silent room. That was the trigger. Leopold pushed her onto the bed. Her blue-tinged violet eyes widened. There was a glint in his pupils, his eyes glazing over in ecstasy.
“What are you doing?”
“Don’t ask me what I’m doing. Just answer what I said earlier.”
His hands gripped her wrists, pressing it gently on either side of her head. Her neatly coiffed silver hair fell into disarray.
“Whatever happens, you tell me first. Do you understand?”
The brief moment of waiting for her answer felt unbearably long. Layla nodded, her expression inscrutable. Leopold touched the earlobe that still wore an earring with his fingers, then removed the earring from Layla’s ear and threw it under the bed. The lustrous gemstone rolled across the floor like a worthless pebble.
“If it’s broken, don’t worry about it. I’ll buy you a new one.”
Leopold lowered his head and nibbled on her earlobe again, his hands impatiently stripping Layla’s clothes from the waist down.
“The Marquis of Kraft has tarnished his reputation, gifting you something no better than a rock.”
His words, mixed with ridicule, settled like mockery. Her bare body was covered with all the marks he had left. Sometimes, he envied the savagery of beasts more than human civilization. Like a beast marking its territory by leaving its scent on its mate, he wished the marks and scent he left on Layla would cover her completely, so that no other riffraff would dare glance at her.
“That brat has neither taste nor guts.”
The earring rolling on the floor earlier seemed to mock the young Marquis Kraft, who wasn’t even present, as Leopold’s lips grazed Layla’s neck once more. Layla, whom that brat couldn’t even touch. From the get go, a weakling like him would end up achieving nothing, just as he himself had been foolish and naive in his younger days.
“Stop it… Ah!”
He pressed his lips against her skin, applying more red marks to the ones he’d already imprinted. Layla’s small lips emitted gasps and whimpers at his intense and persistent foreplay. Her delicate body was crushed against his solid, muscular frame. Heat rose to his head. Regaining some sense for a brief moment, Layla placed her hands on his shoulders.
“I said I have things to do, so let’s end this here… mmph.”
Her small, parted lips were seized as he cupped her cheeks and silenced her. Trapped between the bed and his body, Layla had no choice but to accept his kiss. His probing and obsessive kiss left her breathless. As her face and neck turned red, what felt like an endless kiss finally ceased. Leopold gently and tenderly stroked her cheek, a stark contrast to the rough kiss of a moment ago, making it hard to believe he was the same person.
“Don’t ruin my mood with annoying nagging. It’s not a problem if we get delayed because of spending more time together.”
Leopold loosened the cravat that was constricting his neck. Layla was at her most beautiful when she was naked, adorned only with the jewelry he had given her, panting in his arms. She looked even more beautiful with her flushed face, clinging to him.
“I can feel your anticipation, Layla.”
With a voice that was cruelly low and seductive, he slid his knee between her legs as she tried to close them. He stroked the exposed flesh peeking out from the silk stockings encasing her slender legs. His thick fingers quickly slipped between her thighs, stroking her crack. The wet sound was laid bare. Layla stubbornly kept her mouth shut and turned her head away, his words undeniable. Leopold acted like an arrogant predator.
