Die Melusine - Chapter 69

It’s already been about fifteen days since they returned to Triton. Fortunately, Melusine now seemed to have mostly recovered.

One change since returning from the Imperial Palace was that Melusine’s bedroom had been moved to the main residence where Kieron stayed, now located near his chambers. Also, under the Grand Duke’s orders, a fairly large pond was constructed in the garden of the Annex where she used to stay. It was filled daily with fresh seawater, and after sunset, access to the garden was strictly prohibited.

On a night where a slender crescent moon softly lit the sky, the secluded garden remained still and quiet, with only the gentle sounds of water rippling in the background.

“Do you want to come in too, Kieron?”

For the past few days, Melusine had been tirelessly swimming each night in the little ocean made just for her by Kieron.

The tip of her tail, which peeked playfully above the water’s surface, swayed with joy. The green tailfin, split into two at the end, shimmered in countless colors under the faint moonlight—almost as if embedded with jewels.

“No, I’m good.”

Kieron, who was lying diagonally on the grass nearby, tilted the cup in his hand.

After how severely ill she had been at the palace, Kieron had decided he should bring the sea to the Grand Duchy itself. It was a precaution to make sure his little fish wouldn’t collapse again. But now that it was done, he found the sight rather pleasing—even indulgent.

His gaze softly settled on the part of her white chest that peeked above the water’s surface. Despite repeatedly wetting his throat, his tongue still felt parched.

“Then I’ll stop now too.”

Melusine slowly emerged from the water.

Her wet, pink hair draped down over her round shoulders, over her full chest, and down to her waist. Droplets from the tips of her hair created streams that rolled down her already-damp thighs.

Even in the dim moonlit garden, her silhouette seemed to flow in especially soft curves.

As she approached him steadily, looking straight at him, Kieron simply waited in place.

“Hey, Kieron… I want to do it.”

Melusine squatted down beside him, chirping in a high and delicate voice like a bird by the water.

“Didn’t you just have your fill of swimming? I mean, even if you want to go all night, I won’t stop you.”

Kieron’s response, as if she were asking something out of the blue, made Melusine shake her head.

“No, not swimming…”

Kieron, who had been about to take another sip, paused in mid-motion.

“Then.”

As those golden eyes landed on her, Melusine’s heart began to pound loudly again—thump-thump, hard enough that she wondered if he could hear it too. At this point, everything seemed to make her overly self-conscious.

It had been quite a while since they had last mated. Not during their stay at the Imperial Palace, not on the way back, not even after returning to the Grand Duchy—nothing had happened.

Of course, while she was sick, Melusine hadn’t even had the energy to think about it. But now that the weather had grown mild again, and her body had more or less recovered, the man continued to simply hold her through the night without doing anything more. And Melusine couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

She wanted to bear a child with her Serenhide, but more than that, what she longed for was something sharper, deeper. That electric, spine-tingling emotion that only came when Kieron embraced her with everything he had.

“…You don’t want to do it with me anymore?”

Kieron raised one eyebrow in a way that betrayed how well he understood what she meant from the start. A mischievous glint passed through his gaze, as if to say he was curious how far she would go.

“What exactly do you mean?”

He answered deliberately slowly, his voice casual—eyes locking directly with hers.

“Mmh…”

Melusine’s gaze flicked downward, settling between the man’s legs. Her ocean-blue eyes gleamed brighter than ever, now reflecting not just desire, but unfiltered curiosity. There was something bold, almost wicked, in her stare.

Kieron looked at her in silence, his expression unreadable, then reached out to brush aside her damp hair. Even after holding her in his arms night after night, falling asleep with her wrapped in his warmth, the urge to dive deeper—always deeper—never waned. But she’d never know what that longing truly felt like for him.

“Put it in… I want—ah!”

Before she could finish, her body was flipped over in an instant, her world suddenly turned upside down.

The grass beneath her back felt soft as she lay down.

Pinned beneath the broad shadow of the man, Melusine blinked up at him, already forgetting the bold words she had spoken moments earlier.

Kieron leaned in, bracing himself on either side of her startled face, lowering his eyes until they were directly in front of hers—those vivid blue eyes wide with anticipation.

“Mel… say it again.”

He nipped the tip of her nose, making her flinch. As her eyes instinctively squeezed shut, he gently licked just beneath one of them.

“I want you, Kieron. I don’t understand… why you’re not doing anything.”

Did he really not think about it? Even the slightest shift of Melusine in his arms could make his body react instantly. More than once, he had pressed his painfully hardened length against her back in his sleep like some mutt in heat.

Now, just watching her swim in the pond—just seeing her glide through the water in her mermaid form—was enough to stir a lust so base, he felt less than human.

And maybe that was exactly why he hadn’t touched her.

Because she was his for the first time—entirely his—and the desire that surged within him when he was near her had become almost unbearable. It made him feel something he hated: out of control.

Kieron had always been indifferent to emotion, treating life and death with equal detachment.
He had spent a lifetime rejecting anything that might pierce his defenses—even if it came in the form of instinct or the faintest flicker of feeling.

But this woman—Melusine—kept swimming straight toward him.

She rose through crashing tides, returned like the tide itself, found her footing on land with trembling legs that had only just learned to walk—only to leap again, toward him.

Calling his name again and again—without even pronouncing it quite right.

“Say it again.”

“…Kieron… I want you.”

He didn’t even know why he wanted to hear it so badly. Why the foolish, breathless plea of this woman—so eager and persistent—made him wish it would echo in his ears all night. Where had that ridiculous longing even come from?

“Again.”

“Let’s… do it. Will you…?”

She answered just as he asked, again and again, her lips yielding to him without hesitation.
He captured them fully in his mouth, biting down as though to claim them once and for all.

Even though he’d dragged her from the sea, the ocean scent that once clung to her didn’t linger anymore. But it didn’t matter now. Even if it wasn’t on a rocking boat or amidst crashing waves, he would still react to the sound of her heartbeat in the silence. Even if it unsettled him—made him feel something raw—none of it seemed to matter anymore.

As he held her close, her body still wet from the water, the kiss deepened. The dampness of her skin slowly soaked into his clothes, into his own skin.

His tongue, once gliding inside her mouth, now traced the line of her neck and slid lower—lapping gently at the upper curve of her breast, which seemed slightly fuller than before.

“Hh… mm…”

Normally, once things began, he was relentless—biting, nipping, devouring every part of her he could touch. But tonight, something was different.

His lips landed on her breasts with gentle smacks, kissing softly as his tongue circled the stiffened peak of her nipple with unusual care. It felt almost too gentle, too cautious—like the way she’d once glided silently through still waters, slicing the surface without even a flick of her tailfin. A tingling sensation rose slowly from her toes, curling up her legs like a tide.

Kieron took her hand and placed it against the collar of his shirt.

“Take it off.”

“Ah… mm… huh?”

“You said you wanted to see.”

He was remembering the night before—those ocean-blue eyes tracing the lines of his bare skin, lingering over the scars etched into his flesh. The way her fingers had touched the wound below his collarbone, how her voice trembled while brushing over the grotesque marks that marred his back.

Maybe, deep down, he was the one who wanted to see himself through her gaze.

Melusine slowly opened her trembling eyes, forcing her fluttering lids to rise, and looked up at him.

But of course, she had no idea how to properly undo his clothing. And once he’d placed her hand at his collar, his mouth had already slipped down—past the deep valley between her breasts, all the way to her navel—leaving Melusine trembling, unable to do anything but quake under his touch.

His lips, already hot against her damp skin, now kissed messily over her flat belly, leaving it even wetter than before. And every time a soft breeze skimmed across her bare body, a chill of pleasure gathered at her chest, sinking lower and lower until it pooled deep inside her.

Strange. It felt… strange.

“Mel.”

The lower Kieron moved down her body, the tighter she clutched the fabric he’d guided her to hold—as if letting go might unravel everything.

“You swam with your tail, didn’t you? Then why are you so wet here?”

He ran his fingertips between her thighs, over her tightly closed pussy. His fingers slicked with the already-empty juices. He was already hard as a rock, but Kieron was in no hurry.

Judging by the height of the crescent moon, it was still early evening.
It would be a long while yet before dawn broke over the horizon.

But right now, what mattered more to him than his own rising desire was her—Melusine’s reactions.

How could he soak her in pleasure even more deeply?
How could he make those soft, full lips of hers spill sound after sound, without end?

With more tenderness than ever, Kieron cupped her hips—and then lowered his face between her legs.