“About what?” His voice was strangely low, a warm hand clasped his cold shoulder.
She felt comforted and protected when he held her gently, like a fragile flower, the same way he held her during their first night, his hand traveled to her cheek as if to comfort her, then touched her behind her ear.
She felt his face get closer and smelled his fresh perfume, his kiss on her upper lip changed to a deeper kiss in an instant, he seemed to be coaxing her to talk to him.
“I thought you already knew,” Ilyin spoke after a silence after their lips parted.
“You think of me as someone who would investigate you behind your back.” Aden spoke in a monotone voice.
While his response seemed instinctive, it also seemed like a white lie.
Aden had investigated Ilyin before accepting her as his wife.
“You would like to know about me, the same way I wanted to know about you,” she replied.
Ilyin did not feel hurt, as she heard what others had to say about the Duke of Biflten.
The rumors were like scary stories told around a campfire at night and she had heard them before she had even dreamed of their first night together.
“Were you curious about me?” Aden laughed.
His affirmative response was swallowed in a deep kiss, the kiss feeling more urgent than before.
Aden drank her in like someone who had finally found an oasis in the desert, his kiss told her that he wouldn't allow anyone else near her like that.
Ilyin felt limp.
“So how about this?” Aden whispered to Ilyin as she collapsed onto the bed:
“I’m going to ask you to tell me a secret of yours every day.”
Her husband's breath tickled her shoulder as he left red marks on her cleavage again.
His lips trailed down her shoulder and licked her collarbone.
Ilyin felt the bed on her back and she thought he was the only one with heat in this room.
She felt warm around Aden and he covered her face with his hand.
She felt another warmth in the lower parts of her body and knew what Aden meant when he brushed her neck with a finger and Ilyin blushed.
“Are you going to tell me?” He breathed softly against her warm cheeks.
She knows he wanted to know how she knew about the avalanche and Ilyin looked down into the darkness.
Aden's hands and lips were caressing her body as she hesitated, she felt him hold her breast.
Ilyin let out a low moan, his hands were powerful, but Aden didn't force himself on her.
He touched her nipple and while she was still dressed in her clothes, she could still feel his touch arousing her.
Slowly, he undid the ribbon of her dress so he could reach under her body; she gasped as his hands wandered to her breasts.
However, she still couldn't open her mouth to tell him what he wanted to know.
Ilyin knew she was being loved.
There was no one around them to see, but Aden was kind to her regardless.
She knew he was fierce and strict, but he showed another side of himself when he was with her.
Ilyin knew this was a privilege, Aden had treated her like this before she even told him about the avalanche and she knew he was looking out for her as much as he could.
“I don't know if you'll believe me,” Ilyin spoke as quietly as she could, but the darkness let her words ring out, she could feel Aden struggling to hear what she said.
His kisses were coming as if he was showing her how much patience he had, his hands were shaking with desire as he caressed her hips, then his lower regions and Ilyin's body trembled along with his voice:
“I had a dream.”
Aden's hand stopped stroking her, but only for a moment before his touch became deeper.
His lips were on her breasts now as his hand gently pressed where she was wet, he gently asked:
“Did you see the avalanche in your dream?”
"Yes." Ilyin shivered, although his voice sounded calm, he did not respond to her answer.