Herdin’s gloved fingers brushed below Blair’s lips. Blair’s body trembled at the cool sensation of leather against her delicate skin.

Payment.

As Blair mulled over the word his lips had whispered, she finally realized what “payment” he meant.

Just before, she had promised to do as he wished if he spared Mikhail’s life, and he had fulfilled that request by letting Mikhail go unharmed.

Now it was her turn to accept his demand.

Normally, he would have greedily devoured her lips without hesitation. But now he was waiting silently. Though he cupped her cheek to keep her from averting her gaze.

Each time his hot breath touched her, she felt her mouth growing parched.

‘This is the payment I promised first.’

Blair stared blankly at his blue eyes yearning for her, then carefully pressed her lips against his.

With that one timid kiss, his desire ignited like a lit fuse.

Herdin roughly captured her lips as she tried to pull away, pulling her closer. Startled by his forceful advance, Blair shrank back, but he pursued her like a predator chasing prey.

As if that wasn’t enough, he lifted Blair onto his lap and grasped the back of her neck, cutting off any escape.

“Mmph…”

Trapped in his embrace, Blair was helplessly robbed of breath and saliva. In her hazy consciousness, only the hot movements probing her mouth remained vivid.

At the same time, she felt his hands caressing her belly. His touch, which she usually rushed to avoid, felt strangely comfortable in this moment.

She came to her senses when his lips touched the tender skin of her neck.

The air felt cool on her bare back. Goosebumps rose at the contrast with his hot breath scattering across her nape. The buttons on the back of her dress had already come undone, exposing down to her upper chest.

Finally realizing his intentions, Blair urgently called out to him.

“Herdin!”

“Yes.”

He responded readily to her call, but showed no sign of stopping. His lips trailed kisses down the curve of her upper chest.

Blair desperately clutched at her dress as he tried to pull it down further, pleading,

“Not here… We can’t do this here.”

But the beast starved for over two months heard nothing. His only thought was to devour this woman as quickly as possible.

He pulled Blair’s back closer to kiss her while prying her hands from her dress, then grasped the swell of her bottom.

His beastly exploration of her halted only when he discovered a curious dampness on her clothes.

Seeing it, he recalled asking the doctor he had summoned yesterday for an examination if Blair’s milk could come in so soon.

So this was evidence that her body was preparing to become a mother.

A woman carrying my child.

With that realization, a sliver of reason returned – that he shouldn’t recklessly embrace her as before, when her gait was already cautious from her heavy body.

Herdin closed his eyes, swallowing a sigh. Just looking at Blair’s flushed face now seemed unbearable. The desire he had barely suppressed scraped roughly down his throat.

Clinging to his taut reason that seemed ready to snap at any moment, he gently kissed Blair’s collarbone.

Then with his other hand, he began rebuttoning her dress. To keep it completely out of his sight.

“Herdin, don’t-”

Thinking he was about to fully undress her, Blair squirmed in fear. Herdin swallowed a pained sigh and whispered,

“…Stay still. Just stay still.”

Though unintentional, each time she moved, her bottom rubbed against his thigh, stimulating him. Belatedly noticing his reaction, Blair froze and grew docile.

Herdin caressed her belly, clinging to his fraying reason.

But his thin patience quickly reached its limit from just her hair tickling his cheek and the scent of her skin at her nape.

By the time he wanted to tear open the dress buttons he had just refastened himself, the carriage came to a stop.

Herdin carried Blair in his arms, barely acknowledging the servants’ greetings as he entered the guest house. He had the fleeting thought that it was fortunate the guest house they were staying in was small.

No sooner had they reached the bedroom than he pressed his lips to hers again. By the time they reached the bed, Blair’s breathing had grown ragged once more.

As soon as he set Blair on the bed, Herdin haphazardly stripped off his own clothes. His lips still devouring hers all the while.

Next he unfastened a few buttons of her dress, then ended up roughly tearing it open. Buttons popped off and rolled across the floor with that single motion.

The man who had been raging like an unbridled horse paused when he had fully removed her dress.

His gaze halted on the swell of her belly.

At the same time, Blair, released from his kiss, snapped back to her senses at his stare. Though he had seen her body countless times before, this was the first since her belly had grown.

‘…Does it look strange after all?’

She had occasionally heard stories of men losing interest at the sight of their pregnant wives. While part of her hoped Herdin would stop like them, another part wished he wouldn’t.

Blair derided herself for such contradictory feelings. Her heart toward this man was so paradoxical.

As he simply stared at her belly without reaction, Blair’s spirits sank and she tried to hide under the covers.

That’s when Herdin kissed her belly. The kiss didn’t stop at one, but continued gently.

Blair gazed at him in a daze.

In her past life, he had never shown any interest in the child.

Yet now he was carefully kissing her belly as if to the baby. Complex emotions welled up at the sight.

Though she still resented him for trying to use her and the child in both lives, when she thought of the baby, she wished he would love the child in this life.

In that moment, Herdin raised his head from his continued kisses and their eyes met.

At the same time, his gaze like a winter lake enveloped her. Her mind grew hazy from his overwhelming breath rushing over her.

“Mmm…”

His hand caressing her swollen belly moved lower. Startled by the blatant touch skimming over thin fabric, Blair parted her lips and gasped.

Whether due to her body’s heightened sensitivity from pregnancy or the lack of stimulation until now, her body quickly grew heated.

In the past he might have teased or tormented her, but today Herdin had no composure either.

Feeling the hot dampness seeping through the fabric, Herdin sat back against the bed, then lifted her to straddle his thighs.

Their bodies joined immediately as his chest pressed against her back.

“Ah!”

Blair cried out at the sensation of being filled from below.

Herdin exhaled a rough breath through clenched teeth. Each time she twitched and moved, he vividly felt where they were connected. Just that alone brought dizzying pleasure.

“Ah, Herdin…”

Blair called his name with a sob-like moan, clutching his solid arms.

Moisture dampened his palm gripping her round, swollen form. The moist sensation reminded him of the provocative wetness he had felt through the fabric earlier. At the same time, the sound of damp friction began to resound more thickly.

The mother’s body that should have felt sacred seemed in that moment the most lewd thing in the world. That sight increased the sense of depravity, fanning his desire.

He wanted to see her flushed face calling out to him, but there was no other way in their current position.

Herdin drove into her more forcefully, wanting to hear more of her pleading voice. A pained moan burst from her lips.

Blair urgently grasped his arms and begged,

“Herdin! Slowly, do it slowly.”

“…”

“It’s not, good, for the baby…”

Herdin faltered at the word “baby” and berated himself.

Other men lost interest at the sight of their pregnant wives, so why was he having more trouble controlling his desire than usual?

When he touched her rounded belly, the fact that his seed was growing inside this woman felt real.

At the same time, a sense of fulfillment at fully possessing her rose up, along with a wicked sadism wanting to torment her even more.

But he couldn’t do that.

Caressing her belly to subdue his raging desire, he held her close and moved slowly, rubbing his lips against her pale shoulders and back.

The languid movement stimulated them both like gentle ripples in calm water.

With nothing to grasp in front, Blair could only cling to his solid arms embracing her.

“Herdin…”

Her vision flashed white from the breathtaking sensation building each time he moved. She couldn’t gather her thoughts at all. Not knowing exactly what she wanted, she just desperately called his name.

For only he could quench this unrelenting thirst.

Blair’s gradually rising moans suddenly halted in an almost scream-like sound. At the same time, Herdin let out a hoarse groan and bit her shoulder.

He placed small kisses on her quivering shoulder until she calmed, then carefully separated her from himself and laid her on the bed.

Before Blair could feel the absence of their joined warmth, his chest enveloped her back.

“How is the baby?”

Herdin placed his hand over Blair’s as she checked on the child first. But the baby that had been active moments ago grew still as soon as its father’s hand touched.

“…It seems fine.”

No sooner had Blair’s reply ended than hot passion engulfed her again.

Blair moaned and clutched the sheets. Soon his ragged breath by her ear and a sensation like waves rushing in overwhelmed her.

In her hazy consciousness, Blair vaguely thought:

This was just paying the price she had promised this man.

Ignoring her own rapidly beating heart.