The Villainous Lord's Obsession

12.

As it did turn out, I was a mess. Perfectly wrecked.

The warmth surging at the pit of my stomach was alarming. It started from my stomach, raging up towards my chest, before finally settling back at the pit of my stomach.

It was that intense. And for whatever reason it was, I liked it.

No. I loved it.

I loved the big warm hands cradling my cheeks in his. I loved the plump soft lips pressed against mine. I loved the tongue licking the seam of my lips. I loved the scent inhabiting my nostrils. 

Damn! I loved everything about the situation.

Which was why, as delicately as I could, I moved my hands that had been lying dormant on each side, and pushed them in the soft curly hair of the man before me.

I felt myself being shoved more into the wall, and Karden's large figure enveloped me even more. A moan escaped my lips when he nipped lightly on my lower lip and pushed his tongue into my mouth. Hard and warm.

Bliss. That was the first word that crossed my mind when he did. So this was what it felt like to have the tongue of a Villain thrust into my mouth, with only one of his hands now on my cheek, and the other was pressed behind my neck, tugging me flush against his hard chest.

I kissed him back, as fervently as he was kissing me. Our tongues seem to be dancing in the same rhythm, and I couldn't have asked for more.

When I moved one of my hands from his hair down his nape, I heard him growl, tightening his hold on the back of my neck and deepening the kiss even more.

For a moment, it was as though time had fully stopped. And I couldn't understand anything besides the lips on mine and the hands on my body. The heat. The scent. The heavy breathing.

I had never been kissed this way. I had never yearned for something as much as I yearned for more of this kiss. The few men that had kissed me were never this good. It was always plainly boring and simple. And it made me do everything within my power to avoid kissing them.

With Karden, it was different. Perhaps, it was the way his breath came out in deep pants, or the way he held me so tight as though I meant something to him. Perhaps, it was the earthy scent about him that had become imbibed in my head. Regardless of what it was though, I don't think there's anyone out there capable of making me feel this way with just a simple kiss.

Now I understood why authors take their time in describing a kissing scene between their characters because truth be told, I don't think there are enough words out there to describe this feeling. The heat.

"So perfect," Karden murmured, as he pulled back a bit. I pried my eyes open to have them clash with his green orbs, and for a moment, I felt more lost at the emotions swirling in them, even if I couldn't make out what they were.

"What is?" I asked, panting as I let my eyes dance lazily on his lips that looked way plumper than they had before.

"This," he kissed me again, hard and soft, yet with enough conviction to make me feel as though I meant something to him. "And," he pulled back again, a small smile curling at the edge of his lips. "The fact that I did make you moan. Which simply meant you enjoyed what you have been calling a lousy smooch."

Everything, every single emotion Karden's kisses had aroused in me suddenly vanished. In its place, was a reminder of how much I hated this man before me. I was reminded that he was nothing but a barbarian that takes joy in hurting people. I was reminded that the case was nothing but a challenge to him.

And as stupid as I had been, I had allowed myself to enjoy it. Simply because I had wanted to get a taste of what kissing a Villain was like.

"I'll have to admit though," he continued, pushing a lock of curly hair off my face, "that it took you quite long enough to get that moan out. You lasted more than the few seconds I had assumed you would."

I have no idea how he does it, but Karden seems to always find a way to infuriate, up to a certain point that I wish I could snap his neck in two and walk all over his body.

However, I didn't do that. Heck, I didn't even show him that his words hurt me. He still stood before, towering above my small frame pressed against the wall. My breast lightly grazed his chest, and because I was in the mood to play games as well, I refused to move.

Besides, he didn't have to know that I moaned simply because I enjoyed his kiss. After all, two can play the game.

"If I'm not mistaken, I suppose I heard you growl. Was it the impact of my fingers in your hair, or the way I met the rhythm of your tongue with mine?"

"I growled?" He asked, furrowing his brow as the smirk on his lips vanished.

"Oh, that's bad. Seems like you can't remember. I must be a good kisser for that to happen. I can clearly remember when I moaned, and I certainly did not moan because I was enjoying your smooch. Apparently, though, you seemed to have experienced a kiss different than the one your women have been entertaining you with, and so, you couldn't hold back the sound of pleasure that left your mouth."

I watched as his eyes flickered around, as though he was trying to understand, or perhaps, recall the time he growled.

"But you kissed me back!"

"Only because you kissed me first! I never forced you!"

"But you did try to seduce me!"

"I did?"

"Yes. You did."

"You kissed me because you wanted to. Stop hiding with the pretense that you wanted to prove to me it wasn't a lousy smooch!"

"Yes, I did. But I..." He paused as soon as he realized what he was saying, and I couldn't help but smile. 

Somehow, it gladdened my heart that he wanted to kiss me as much as I did, not just to prove himself.

"Anyways, you kissed me back and also moaned!"

"It meant nothing. The moan meant nothing. Get it out of your thick skull, Karden, not every woman would be happy having your lips on hers."

"But you were happy, weren't you? You liked it when I kissed you, right?"

I refused to answer and simply huffed.

"Fine, let's assume I growled as you said," he continued, pressing his face towards mine again as though he was about to kiss me. Again. I was sure I wouldn't stop him if he did. "Which I'm sure wasn't because I enjoyed it. You kissed like you had no experience whatsoever in that aspect. I suppose no man has ever kissed you like I did, right?" Again, he slightly brushed his lips against mine, his gaze getting a bit heated.

My breath faltered, as I struggled to end this mess. I had simply wanted to experience what it felt like to be kissed by a Villain, not that I planned for it to happen all the time.

I shouldn't be reacting this way. My body shouldn't be reacting this way towards a man I hate and detest. If it were Tristram, I would've understood. I would've made sense of it. Because he was likable. And he was the hero in the book.

But Karden? I must certainly be possessed by a treacherous body and mind to react this way to just a simple kiss by him.

Pathetic, Miriam. So pathetic.

"Look, Karden," I cleared my throat quickly, cursing myself for having my voice quivered towards the end. I'll be damned if I let him win. Regardless of what he says, or what he showed, I am sure he enjoyed the kiss as much as I did, or even more. 

"You don't hold a woman tightly in your arms and kiss her so hard, as though your life depended on it, then be a hypocrite and act as though it meant nothing to you. I am everything, but I am certainly not a hypocrite like you."

"Really? Then, did you enjoy it? Would you still call that a lousy smooch?"

It dawned on me then, that although Karden had made it sound like kissing me was a challenge, he was more inclined towards proving to me that he could kiss. And not just any kiss. If the simple touch of his lips against mine could make me moan into his mouth and have my fingers in his hair, then he knew what he was doing.

He was more interested in changing my opinion about his kiss than anything. And in a way, I liked it.

"I may have. But considering the fact that you ended it so abruptly without giving me enough chances to wonder if I can say I enjoyed it or not..."

"Miriam..." He sighed, running his hand through his hair as he pushed back the hair falling on his face. "For once, just once, can we drop this banter?"

Huh?

"It's not like I'm going to do anything more than kissing you. You aren't exactly in the category of the women I like to bed."

"Excuse me?" I thundered, feeling as though the rage exploding in me would make me scream. Didn't he just ask if we could stop with the banters? And now this?

"What?" He said with a shrug. "I am simply trying to be honest here. Do you honestly think you look like the woman I'd like to bed?"

"You did not just say that!"

"Yes, I did!"

"And yet, you kissed me with so much passion and intensity like I meant something to you?"

"Ah, that you do." He chuckled. "You are my betrothed."

"I am not interested anymore!"

"That's sad because you have no way out now. The king already knows."

"To hell with you and your king, you imbecile!" I was never one to curse, but Karden seemed to have found a way to bring out even the part in me I never knew I had.

"I like it when you talk that way. Makes you look more desirable, perhaps, enough to make me consider if you deserve warming my bed."

"You f.ucking i***t!" I snapped, jabbing my index finger at his chest angrily. "You think I care what type of woman you think I am? Or if I am worthy of warming your filthy bed?"

"You do have a weird way of speaking," he muttered, keeping his eyes down for a while before looking back up. "Anyways, I think you care what I think. Else, you wouldn't have been this angry."

"Trust me, I know how small that snake of yours is. And I would rather swear myself to celibacy than have it between my legs!" I scowled, pushing him as hard as I could before I sidestepped him to walk away. I needed to get away from that man before he made me lose the remaining sanity I was holding onto.

"Snake?" He asked as I heard the loud thud of his feet behind me. "What snake? You..." He stopped in his tracks just as I was about to pull the door open, he yanked me as hard as I could and I found myself flush against him. His right hand firmly gripped my elbow, and I winced a bit as the biting pain stung.

Unconsciously, I moved, trying to pull my hand away, but ended up hitting his wound. I had totally forgotten about the fact that he had walked up on me and Lancelot drenched in blood, and the loud groan that left his plump lips reminded me how bad his injury was.

But that was the least of my concern now. Because from the way he was tightly gripping my elbow, I was sure he had caught on the meaning of the snake I said.

"Small you say?" He asked, the rage in his voice was hard to miss. "Small snake? And how do you know it was small?"

"Isn't that obvious already? Only men whose snakes are small always get this angry, and are overly conscious whenever someone talks about it!" Not that I knew what it looked like, or its size, because the author never did say. 

But In my head, I had automatically assumed that, because he was the villain, he can't possibly have both a handsome face, a dark menacing aura that I somehow like now, and a big snake. It just can't be, and wouldn't be fair to the remaining characters in the book.

It was just like trying to make Ganalorn from the Dragon book I had read have a bigger snake than Eragon, which will certainly not make any sense!

I watched as Karden closed his eyes, struggling to contain his rage, which seemed quite impossible no matter how hard he kept trying. The vein on his forehead had already popped out, and his eyes held a certain degree of rage I had never seen.

"Small? Conscious? You really think it is small?" He gritted, tightening his hold on my elbow.

"You are hurting me, Karden."

"You just did the same!" He snapped, letting go of my arm. "Small?" A snicker escaped his lips as he pulled back. "Let's see," he pulled the belt that had been holding his white tunic in place and threw it away. Then he winced as he pulled his tunic over his head.

"How about I show you just how small it is? Because the last thing a woman wants to do is to dare try to bruise a man's ego by addressing his 'snake' as you call it without knowing what it looked like. So, I suppose you'd want a show, don't you?" He asked his hands on his breeches.

I seemed to have crossed a line today. 

"No. I am not interested." I quickly replied.

"Oh, but you will be. I simply want to show you what it looks like so you can decide if it is small or big." He replied, his hands moving to pull the breeches away.

I had thought I was in a mess when he kissed me. But I suppose I am currently in a bigger mess than before.

But I was not about to complain, or stop him as I had tried to. If he wants to show me, then who am I to stop him? Besides, nothing would beat the idea of seeing how big he was. Or how small. The same way I had experienced what it felt like kissing a villain.

After all, it was just seeing, right?

I licked the seam of my lips as I waited in bated breath. 

Here goes nothing.