Matthias had made a wrong decision by turning around.
He was planning to stay in the annex before dinner time to finish his pile of work. In hindsight, nothing had changed in his plan. At least until he left the annex.
Matters were thrown into disarray after he twisted his body to look behind and found himself standing on the road leading to the gardener's cottage.
Matthias halted, pausing in his footsteps with a pensive look on his face.
The days had marched on as they should. Everything went off without a hitch and in an orderly fashion.
Her tears on that night had also been washed away and cleaned off all traces of his foreign feeling.
Matthias expanded his stride and strolled through the shady forest path. He tugged at his tie and loosened it, then pushed open a few buttons on his tight-fitting shirt. His gestures were a bit rougher, and he wasn't as calm as he always was.
It was sickening.
He loathed these emotions that were out of his track.
It was aggravating for him to be plagued with feelings he couldn't curb.
Mathias wanted everything in his world to be in its place. So did his own feelings. That's the reason why he had never been enamored of a creature called a woman.
In his orbit, the lust for sex was simply an instinct. He had never dwelled on it or been swayed by it.
Rather, it was cumbersome-nothing more than a need to be adequately satisfied and dried away. Such desires, to begin with, didn't rule the roost in his mind.
That's how the annoyance and discomfort he felt because of Leyla grew and wreaked havoc on his stable world.
Only she now could be in his world.
His whole five senses were fixed on her and blinding passion welled up deep inside him uncontrollably. There were oftentimes when his gluttonous desire and lustful thoughts to possess her became too much for him to handle.
Matthias was displeased as he learned he was obsessed with such trivial things. He couldn't even put it on his list of priorities.
Leyla Lewellin was a good-for-nothing who belonged to that league.
Still, he needed to make sure.
The long line of the forest trees gradually petered out as the cottage building grew closer.
Pondering, Matthias walked into the blanket of light. The jolly beam of summer sunlight was drifting down, permeating his eyes through the slats of twigs.
Leyla had found a baby bird sprawled on the ground.
She was traveling home after sending Kyle off when she suddenly heard the sound of a helpless squeal.
Leyla spotted a fallen baby bird under a tree in the backyard. A tiny, fragile nestling that had just recently had it's feathers begin to grow.
"Oh, did you fall?"
Leyla wrapped the baby bird with a careful touch and raised her eyes, looking up at the tree.
Precisely as she had thought, there was a bird's nest sited in one of the tree's limbs. The tree loomed quite high, but thankfully, the baby bird wasn't severely injured.
"It's okay. I'll take you home."
Leyla petted the baby bird gently and tucked it into her apron's pocket. She hurried back to the cottage to take the ladder stashing in the warehouse.
She securely leaned the ladder against the tree and started climbing up.
The nest was nestled between branches higher than the ladder, so she had no choice but to clamber further.
Climbing that high usually had never been a problem for her. But with the baby bird in her pocket, Leyla became more circumspect in her movements and couldn't be as nimble as usual.
After ascending the closest bough to the bird's nest, Leyla snatched the branch with one hand and thrust the other into her pocket.
She painstakingly stretched her arms as far as she could and safely handed back the baby bird to its nest.
Too bad, just as she breathed a sigh of relief, her foot suddenly slipped off, and she lost her grip on the branch.
The world spun upside down in a split second as her body bounced and lost its balance. She had managed to grab the branch's end and hold it tight, but the ladder had dropped to the ground. Alas, the branch that was too weak to support her body weight, started making a crackling sound.
"Uncleeee! Uncle Billlll!"
The terrified Leyla reflexively screamed aloud. But her shout was met by the silence that she realized Uncle Bill wasn't at home.
"Kyleee!"
Though she knew Kyle had walked too far and couldn't hear it, Leyla kept crying and calling out to him. Kyle was her only hope when Uncle Bill wasn't here. Because they were the only ones who would come to help her when she was in trouble.
"Leyla."
Suddenly, a familiar voice appeared out of nowhere.
The mellow voice called out her name softly as if singing a song.
Her mind had turned white with fear, but Leyla could still recognize the owner of the voice. She lowered her frightened gaze, and someone she knew was standing right below her.
Duke Herhardt.
With an unbothered state–his eyes strayed at the fallen ladder and calmly watched her hanging precariously on the half-broken tree branch.
He laughed, asking her.
"Shall I save you?"
'That crazy person, why does he …?'
"No need!"
Even amidst her fear, Leyla flatly refused his offer of help. She persisted in holding onto the tree branch though she knew her tries were fruitless.
The branch began to shake even more showing how rickety it was quickly becoming as the crack became deeper.
"Kyle! Kyleeee!"
Her cries mingled with fright, calling for Kyle reverberated through the Arvis' forest.
Matthias giggled at a peek. He turned to look down the path that the young man had gone.
"He's not coming."
He said and relaxedly folded his arms.
'No matter how heartless he is, doesn't he feel the least bit concerned when he sees people in danger?'
Leyla soon understood that astounding fact about the person standing before her. He was Duke of Herhardt. That insane duke wouldn't be able to have a reasonable mind like a normal person.
"Go away!"
She snapped at him in annoyance and shooed him away.
"If you're not willing to help, just go! Why are you still standing there!"
"It seems you're gonna fall, I'll call someone to save you."
"What did you say?"
"I'm not such a heartless person, Leyla." Matthias's lips curved into a drowsy grin. "I'll call Mr. Etman, whom you were calling desperately."
'You dipshit.'
His voice could no longer be heard as the noise of her panting breath had drowned it out.
"Well, let me see, what am I gonna do? Looking at the height, I think It's better to call Dr. Etman instead."
'Goddammit.'
Leyla felt she had every reason for mowing him down with a hail of the most virulent cusses, if only her position right now didn't hinder her from doing so.
"… … Sa, save me!"
Leyla wailed in despair.
Rather than begging the man in front of her, she would rather crumble to the ground and be wounded.
That's all she thought before her fear compelled her to forego her principles.
"Are you sure?"
Matthias asked, leisurely taking off his coat.
"Call me, then."
"What?"
"Call me."
He took a few steps closer to the tree before coming to a stop and staring longingly at her.
As if he were waiting.
Waiting for the moment of her fall if his demand would not be met. Leyla freaking knew it, that he was a man capable of those deeds.
"Duke, please!"
Leyla begged him with teary eyes and her voice miserably sobbing.
"Dukeeee!"
Her plea grew more despondent as the moment for her fall drew nearer.
After she hailed him for the millionth time, the branch ended up broken.
She fell.
Leyla's mind went blank. Her vision became hazy as her body floated down from the tree.
Then he cometh.
Matthias ran hell for leather towards the tree and embraced her deeply in his arms. Their bodies bumped onto the ground but Matthias refused to let go, and kept hugging her with all his might.
The dirt and dust brume clouding them colliding on the soil gradually dissipated. Leyla's head was buzzing, but slowly she got her consciousness back.
Soft.
It felt pillowy and unbelievably cozy even though she had fallen from a elevated place.
Leyla opened her eyes. The warmth she felt belonged to a man, whom she had unknowingly hugged tightly.
Duke Herhardt lay underneath her. And she was blanketed safe and sound in the his arms.
She could feel the sound of his beating heart transmitted to her chest that were intimately in touch with each other.
His arm muscles wounded around her waist and the back of her head stoutly, were incredibly strong.
As she slowly raised her head, a faint minty scent of water could be smelled from the nape of his neck. His skin was smooth and warm, and mantled with a wonderful fragrance.
The heat, which had started from her cheek, quickly dispersed throughout her body in no time.
It gave Leyla a startled shudder when her body started to reheat. She wrestled her hardest to escape from him.
Glossing over the shame as their bodies were entwined in a close knot. He was too big and too hefty. Matthias' bondage had only gottem stronger the harder she tried to secede.
"Ssst..Stay still."
Matthias ordered her with a low sigh. But Leyla's resistance grew fiercer.
'No.'
She was fed up. Her blood was boiling.
'What a jerk. I don't want to.'
Leyla tried to scream, but she didn't get a single word in.
Matthias's choking embrace which was trapping her, meanwhile became growingly hot. His head and waist hugging her were ever mightier. All of those strange yet unfamiliar sensations were getting awol to her and Leyla couldn't take it any longer.
She was scared shitless and desperately tried to break free. But the more she wanted to resist, the more helpless she felt. Whatever she did, Leyla couldn't push herself off of him.
The moment her delusion soon coalesced with her worst dread, without heed of, she blindly bit the duke's ear.
"Ackh!"
Matthias grimaced in pain and straight off shoved her backward. He was dumbfounded, but soon, his mouth twisted in a pucker of amusement.
Matthias found it hilarious watching her trembling so badly when she was the one who had savagely assaulted him.
Leyla's vivid green eyes glared at him ferociously, acting as she wanted to rip him into pieces. Matthias stopped laughing.
"Be a lady, Leyla."
Matthias lightly caressed his bitten ear— immediately grabbed Leyla by the hair without batting an eye.
Without reflexes, she had been pushed to the ground. Matthias' visage loomed above her, glowering at her with his void-slitted eyes.
"So this is what I get in return after saving your life? Don't you think it's too unladylike?"
"Why should I be ladylike when you're not even a gentleman?"
Leyla turned her face aside. Embarrassment was splotching her cheeks with red color as she tried to push his body one more time. But Matthias had snatched her chin with his scorching-hot hand and dragged her face to his.
"Didn't your mouth just say I was a gentleman?"
"… … No! I misspoke!"
"Did you?"
"A gentleman, huh. It's hogwash. If you're a gentleman….H-How can you d-do …this?"
Leyla stammered with a face that was going to break into tears and struggled to get away from him.
Matthias's eyes narrowed. A small furrow formed between his eyebrows as he looked at Leyla rubbing her lips as if they had been polluted with something filthy.
"Please step aside."
Leyla glared at him with a sullen look invading her face.
"Something like this, I...Argh!"
A shrill scream came out, letting the last syllable hang in the air. Matthias had lowered his head and bit back her ear.
All happened in a snap, almost unexpectedly.
With a relentless thud, Matthias slammed her onto the earth. He gripped her clawing little hand, hindered her move, and roughed up her ear.
"Ackhhh!"
Her shrieking breath fell when Matthias began to suck and nibble on her lobe.
Matthias initially planned to repay what she had granted him, but he had changed his mind and pushed her with a tenacious force.
Leyla groaned and twisted her body when he bit her clammy earlobe hard. The sound of sobbing and gasping was muggy and ovenlike. Matthias weight-pressed her flailing limbs and branded his teeth' mark all over her reddish ears.
A satisfied smile presented on his face after he saw Leyla's messy countenance.
Her innocent eyes were soggy, transparently swollen with tears. Her slightly open lips, which were even darker than its hackneyed shade, gulped in a lungful of heavy air.
Matthias tightly clutched her crumbly intertwined fingers and sensuously devoured her moist lips.
Astonished by his sudden kiss, Leyla firmly clenched her lips, but Matthias had easily dispatched her resistance.
This sweltering summer would end by soon enough.
Matthias perfectly got the picture. Still, it didn't stop him.
He kept shoving his hasty tongue in, sucked it up, and swallowed it as if he meant to engulf her.
Pellucid saliva, moaning voice, and rough breathing began to flow through their overlapping lips.