B-ronken-R-ing 159...

***

"Cárcel, the physician will be here s-"

She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence. As soon as they entered the room, he crushed his lips against hers, pushing her against the door which hadn't been closed yet. The latch clicked shut behind her, and Inés found herself pressed flush against the door, not a single gap between their bodies as he kissed her ravenously.

His overwhelming strength simplified everything.

Her legs spread open as he pressed his knee between them, and her feet soon left the floor as he lifted her higher. Cárcel quickly settled between her legs, sliding his hands from her buttocks, where they had been clutching to spread her cheeks apart, to her thighs to support her weight. She crossed her legs behind his back, drawing him closer almost out of habit.

Still, it was all happening too quickly. Her dress skirt was hiked up to her hips before she knew it, and her legs, wrapped around his waist, were bare. Cárcel snapped loose the garter belt on her thighs, hooking his fingers under her silk stockings to slide them down to her ankles. They had only made past the threshold, and her bare legs were already lewdly exposed.

It wouldn't have mattered if they were back in Calztela, but they were in Mendoza. His parents, who had not yet heard about their eldest son's arrival, were just a floor above them, and Alfonso was about to arrive at their door with the physician in tow. Also, Inés was still worried about Cárcel despite the fervor with which he was kissing her.

She had never seen him so pale like that. Even on the day he had returned from the naval headquarters after fainting, he had looked peaceful in his sleep. But she had never even imagined that he could be ill, so upon hearing that he had fainted, she had been shocked to the core. Combined with her guilt from the night before, it had caused her to make such a fuss despite his peaceful appearance.

Perhaps that had just been an excuse.

She had known full well how sturdy he was and that he was simply asleep, but she hadn't been able to leave his side all day. Even when he said he was fine, she couldn't believe him. Even though he looked fine, she had an uneasy inkling, because people tended to fall ill or even die from the smallest things. She knew what fueled her worry as she had sat at his bedside, muttering about how she couldn't be certain of anything until he finally woke up.

Inés had to admit that she had been foolishly concerned for Cárcel Escalante's health, causing a commotion despite him looking perfectly fine as he slept that day. But now, having seen him turn so pale a few moments earlier, she couldn't help the growing concern in her heart.

Her heart dropped to her stomach as she recalled the moment he had seemed unable to breathe, his eyebrows furrowed and his skin turning cold. He had felt frigid, as if he had been immersed in freezing water for a long time, and for a moment, he had looked as though he would never draw in another breath.

She needed no excuse this time. She was terribly worried about him in this moment.

"Cárcel-"

Whenever he released her lips to give her a chance to breathe, her concerned voice rang out before he kissed her again, swallowing her words. Every time she tried to call his name, he wrapped his tongue around hers so that she could voice nothing but moans.

Inés began to swat at his shoulders and back. But Cárcel was immovable, towering over her like a statue. At any other time, he would have backed off to study her expression, but something seemed to have come over him now.

"Cárcel, wait... Hnn... Hold on."

Only when Inés was extremely short of breath did he release her lips, immediately moving to press kisses against the side of her mouth, her chin, then down her neck. He showered her with kisses so desperately that it seemed like he believed some great misfortune might befall him if he stopped kissing her for one second.

It wasn't as though she couldn't understand him. They had never spent so much time apart since getting married, and even when they had spent every day together, he had always seemed eager to touch her.

This man had spent a whole month away from her. Inés wouldn't have been surprised if Cárcel had promptly stuck his head under her skirt as soon as they entered the carriage. It wouldn't have been too soon for Cárcel Escalante to sneak into an unoccupied room somewhere in the palace to share an intimate moment with her as soon as they left the party. The fact that they had both made it to the manor's bedroom, still fully clothed, was a sign of his incredible patience.

It had been difficult for her to wait so long as well. Each passing second in which she wasn't tearing his clothes off of him felt like a waste, especially knowing that he needed to leave Mendoza again in a mere two hours.

But that was the kind of carefree thought she had been able to contemplate as they sat in each other's arms in the rattling carriage on their way to the manor. Just until she had seen his face turn ashen.

"Cárcel, wait..."

Her words were muffled by his persistent kisses. He pulled at the strings of her corset behind her back as if to tear it off, managing to loosen it, and roughly clutched her breasts that had spilled out. For once, Inés found herself flustered by his unfamiliar behavior.

She urgently placed her hand over his wrist as he squeezed her ample bosom with unbridled need. Cárcel responded by snatching up her hand and biting the tips of her fingers, the side of her hand, then tilting his head to nibble at her wrist and lower, at her tender forearm, leaving behind red marks. Then he pulled her arms up to rest on his shoulders and ravished her neck with more kisses. Even as she threw her head back to grant him better access, she desperately tried to catch his gaze.

He was avoiding her eyes. Though he was consumed by passion, she caught glimpses of his darkened expression in the dimly lit room. It was unfamiliar, and she found herself feeling strangely parched. She felt anxious and impatient with worry.

"Cárcel."

He crushed his lips against hers once more, as if he hadn't heard her. It felt as though he meant to devour her. He raised a knee so that she practically sat on his thigh and had even managed to tear her inner slip off by the seams. He pulled her translucent white slip off of her shoulders along with her dress, her sleeves getting caught on her arms, which were still wrapped around his shoulders. At once, her breasts spilled over her dress completely.

Cárcel palmed one of her breasts, twisting her erect nipple between his fingers. He sucked at her tongue and bit at her lower lips as his ragged breath tickled her wet lips.

Inés could do nothing but moan at his desperate ministrations.

"Hold on to my shoulders, Inés," he mumbled into her ear, his voice drenched in need. He pecked at her kiss-swollen lips again and again. There was a strange obsession in his movements rather than the gentleness she was used to.

"Cárcel, the physician... will be here soon."

"I don't need a physician."

"But he already... Hnn...agreed to come."

Heat rose up from her bosom as he massaged her mounds, her erect nipples squeezed between his fingers. His taut thigh pressed against her womanhood with clear intent, slowly rubbing between her legs.

Pressed against the door and Cárcel, Inés fought desperately to keep her back straight and look him in the eye. Even if he refused to meet her gaze, she needed to ensure he wasn't as pale as he had been moments ago.

"We don't have time for that, Inés."

"Yes... we do. If you would just let me go," she said with an inadvertent moan.

"How bold of you to say that when you are already wet down here."

"It's only natural when you keep touching me like that. Earlier, you looked-"

"I was just a little weary. I don't need a physician, Inés," he insisted.

"You still... You're still so cold, Cárcel."

"I'll be fine after a night with you."

"That's utter nonsense."

"I don't need a physician, Inés," he repeated.

She stared at him wordlessly.

"All I need is you."

His overcast blue eyes finally met her gaze for the first time.

For the first time. Inés mulled over the words that felt like sand in her mouth. The way he looked her in the eye for the first time since they had entered the room felt so strange. She had never seen such a look in his eyes in this life.

Her mind went blank for reasons she couldn't comprehend. Why was he looking at her like that? With those eyes? Her lips hung open hesitantly.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door right behind her.

As Inés instinctively hunched over to hide her bare body, Cárcel pulled her away from the door and tipped her onto himself completely, wrapping his strong arms around her.

Her mind still blank, she still hadn't found the words to say as her naked bosom was pressed against his firm chest. A chill ran down her back as her sensitive nipples rubbed against the medals on his uniform and his baldric. His hand on her shivering back was firm. Though her weight was now solely on him, he seemed unaffected, as if she weighed nothing.

Their foreheads pressed together, and their eyes met again, only an inch away from each other.

"Madam, Don Eduardo is here," Alfonso, who had been waiting for Inés to respond, called out cautiously from outside the door.

But she still wound herself unable to form words as she stared into Cárcel's eyes.

"You need to send them away, Madam," he whispered. "We have better things to do."

She regarded him blankly, her mouth hanging open slightly.

His gentle tone sounded strange to her. As Inés simply stared at him in silence, Cárcel turned around and walked them over to the bed.

"Are you in there, Madam?" Alfonso asked again outside the door.

Finding herself sprawled on the bed, Inés opened her mouth to say something but was unable to form any coherent words.

Cárcel stood there with a knee on the edge of the bed and tore off the baldric that lay across his chest.