B-ronken-R-ing 159...

"Inés..."

"I cannot allow you to mount that horse and ride for five hours back to Calztela in the pitch-black darkness in your current state. Until you arrive in Calztela and write a message ensuring your safe arrival, and that letter reaches Mendoza, I would have to wait in agony, worrying that you might have dozed off and fallen off your horse. Who are you to cause me such misery?"

"Your husband," he replied immediately, though he still looked dumbfounded.

Inés ran a hand down his stiffened back and whispered, "While you are still alive, yes. Remember that and please be more responsible, Cárcel Escalante."

"I feel like you've poured a bucket of cold water on me, Inés," he responded.

"If you promise that," she whispered, drawing her fingertips up his spine between his pronounced muscles and caressing the back of his neck, "you can do anything you want to me tonight."

He stared at her for a moment before replying, "You have no idea what I might do."

"Promise me first, Cárcel."

His hands had snaked around her waist, his grip tightening momentarily before he caught himself and forced himself to relax his hold.

"I'll stay."

Inés stroked the back of his head as if to reward him.

Cárcel buried his face against her slender neck with great fervor. "I'll stay until morning, after I get some sleep. Just like you ordered."

"Good."

"I won't do anything you might dislike," he mumbled, rubbing his nose against her skin.

Inés dug her fingers in Cárcel's hair wordlessly.

His length, which had been erect ever since he had pushed her up against the door of the bedroom, pressed hard against her thigh, but despite warning her that she had no idea what he might do to her, he didn't move to do anything at all.

Inés began to grow frustrated at her husband, who was simply holding her tightly and breathing in deeply. She poked his side to get a reaction out of him, and just then, Cárcel spoke up.

"Inés."

She didn't feel like answering, so she stayed still.

"Inés," he murmured her name against her skin once more.

She remained silent.

"Inés."

He continued to call out her name as though he didn't expect her to answer. He almost sounded like a beast whose cry resembled the sound of her name. When she left him to it, he repeated over and over again, seemingly worried he might forget her name.

Eventually, he asked her in a tentative tone, "Do you like me, Inés?"

Inés let out a dry huff of laughter. "You know the answer to that."

"I don't," he mumbled.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked, frowning.

"You always seem to grow distant whenever I feel like I might understand you."

Inés fell silent as she digested his candid observation.

"There are so many things I still can't see, Inés. It's all shrouded in morning mist. Sometimes, you feel distant even when you are right before my eyes. There is so much I still don't know, and what I do know is a mere fraction of the whole story... That is why I cannot understand you, Inés." His voice, forlorn yet steady, carried a weight of meaning, leaving her with a sense of unease.

Inés gently took hold of his head, silently asking him to raise it, but he only buried his face deeper against her. The arms around her waist tightened, signaling that he was about to say something he couldn't bear to utter while meeting her eyes.

"I see you, but it feels like you aren't there, Inés. As though you didn't exist at all," he mumbled, his voice dazed and forlorn.

"I believe I am quite corporeal right now," she retorted coolly.

"I find myself questioning whether you are truly alive and breathing."

"You're the one making it hard for me to breathe, Escalante."

"Whether your breath on my skin really belongs to you."

"It might not, if you continue to hold me so tightly."

Inés continued to interrupt his mumbling just as he continued to wallow in misery. She kept her voice level but firm. Staring at the ceiling, her expression wasn't as firm as her voice.

She couldn't let him to sink into despair. It was clear that he would continue to mope, saying that she wasn't fond of him at all, ready to pull her into this rabbit hole with him. Inés had no intention of falling into this trap or watching him stay in this pit he had created.

"Whether you are my wife, indeed."

"Are you implying you wish to annul our marriage?"

"I would die if that happens, Valeztena."

His suddenly threatening tone seemed to suggest that he was intent on killing her if she dared to do such a thing, but he was, in fact, saying the opposite. It was a pitiful and hopeless threat.

Inés smacked Cárcel on the shoulder, warning him not to say such reckless remarks.

His tone remained steely as he added, "They're not empty words..."

"Hence the slap, Escalante. Get ahold of yourself."

"Then I'm going to haunt your next husband and torment him until he dies from the pressure..."

"You would dare make me a widow?"

"It won't happen unless you wish to hand me back to House Escalante."

Inés let out a scoff. "Why would I do something so bothersome?"

"So, you mean to say that you will keep me by your side as long as I don't bother you beyond that, Inés? You like me, don't you?"

Inés stroked the back of his head, feeling like she was weighed down by a giant dog. Frankly, she'd rather indulge in sensual pleasures than exchange pointless banter with him. Alas, she had given him permission to do anything he wanted, so she couldn't complain, and she was still quite concerned about his health to chide him.

He seemed as vigorous as ever, and his body temperature had returned to normal, but it struck her as more peculiar that a man of strong constitution like him would suddenly turn so cold and pale. Inés recalled what Raúl had reported about her husband before and thought of another thing to nag him about. At the same time, she answered, "Like I said before, yes, I like you."

"Again."

"I like you."

"One more time, please, Inés."

"I like you, Cárcel. Much more than you think."

She felt her ears growing hot as he fell silent. She had felt completely fine about saying these words, but she was a bit embarrassed about them in hindsight, and she lowered her gaze subconsciously.

Cárcel sounded winded when he finally said, "Do you say that knowing just how delusional it could make me?"

"Your expectations of me are always low, so..." she pointed out evenly, even as the tips of her ears flushed red. She was saying that liking him more than he thought was therefore an easy standard to exceed. And that even going far beyond his expectations wouldn't be a problem.

"That's why I worry about you too, Cárcel. The thought of anything happening to you frightens me. If you suddenly turn pale and cold like you did earlier

He interrupted her with a kiss. It was very much a regular kiss, neither as aggressive nor desperate as his previous kisses. It was like the kiss they had shared one day, surrounded by the rushing of waves as they sat side by side at a small table.

It was the first of such kisses they had shared since entering the bedroom. They had finally returned to familiar territory after the countless kisses that had felt so foreign.

"So, are we not going to indulge our desires?" Inés asked against his lips as they slowly parted.

Cárcel frowned a little, suggesting that her comment was rather tactless in this moment. However, his erection was still pressing hard against her thigh.

Inés glanced downward as she continued, "Is there really nothing you wish to do with me? May I go and wash up, then?"

"I had meant to refrain tonight..."

"I see. And yet, you're still..." she said flatly, raising her knee to rub against his hardened length teasingly. He gritted his teeth and let out a strangled noise.

"I never intended to go all the way," he insisted.

"You dared to consider leaving without doing anything after making me wait for a whole month?" Inés muttered, realizing too late the implication of her words. She frowned slightly, a hint of frustration crossing her features.

However, a wife had the right to request and engage in sexual congress with her husband, and they had gone so far as to name their future children already. The fact that he had been the one so excited by the idea only added to her irritation. Inés glared at him, vexed.

On any other day, he would have teased her relentlessly and gushed about how she must be incredibly eager to bed him to get so angry. But today, he remained uncharacteristically quiet.

After a moment of silence, he finally spoke up.

"I haven't washed," he admitted, sounding exceedingly crestfallen.

"What?" Inés responded with a light, incredulous laugh.

He continued in a grief-stricken voice, "I went to train first thing in the morning and only toweled myself off before starting work. I intended to bathe once I returned to the residence, but your message had arrived, so I set out for Mendoza immediately. I had no time to wash properly before coming to see you. I would have been covered in dirt from the journey regardless, but... When I couldn't find you here at Escalante Manor, I headed straight to the palace. I caught my reflection in passing and realized that I looked dreadful. So I asked a nearby servant to fetch me some water to wash my face and hands, and even rinsed my mouth. I ensured any part of me you might touch would be clean, Inés."

In other words, he had decided not to take her to bed tonight as soon as he had seen himself in the mirror.

Inés thought back to how perfect he had looked when he had made his appearance at the evening party. The fresh scent that had reached her nostrils as soon as she had run into his arms, and his soft, blond hair between her fingers... She didn't recall any part of him being dirty.

Inés looked up at the face staring down at her. Perhaps it was the result of her longing for him covering everything in a sheen of perfection, but even with his hair completely disheveled and half of his uniform on the floor, she still couldn't see anything dirty about him.

"I couldn't possibly enter you when I haven't washed, Inés." I wouldn't dare, he seemed to imply.

"What about all the things you've done to me thus far?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Any parts I've touched you with are completely clean," he said with regained confidence.

She was dumbfounded at the thought of him ensuring he didn't touch her with any of his unwashed parts even as he had so desperately pushed her up against the door. They could have used that time to bathe together. Forgetting entirely that the idea hadn't occurred to her either and that she had kissed him back just as desperately, Inés regarded him with an annoyed look before she dragged him to the bathroom.

It was her turn to tease and tempt him.