How Lilies turn Black – Chapter 74 – Legal Illegality (15)

Author: Nikss

Finally, his fingers stopped at the deepest curve of her waist.

Only then did her held breath release, and the question she’d been holding back abruptly jumped out.

“A-Are you also interested in my relationships with men?”

Theodoro, reflected in the mirror, was looking at the number written on the measuring tape.

An unreadable expression, something between a smile and a frown, crossed his face as he muttered the measurement.

Just as his hand moved away with the tape, Theodoro straightened his bent back and answered indifferently.

“Are you reading that much into a polite question? Don’t answer if you don’t want to.”

She was so flabbergasted that her mouth wouldn’t close.

Since when was he someone who asked things out of politeness?

He had never even asked the kind of questions anyone would normally ask, which was why she questioned him.

‘Sigh… Well, whatever… Let’s just say he said it to break the awkward atmosphere.’

Liliana swallowed her resentment and frustration, squeezing her eyes shut and then opening them.

It might have been a good thing he wasn’t grilling her.

After all, Wayne had proposed meeting on Christmas Eve.

Unaware of this fact, Theodoro scrawled the number in a notebook on the table and added.

“If you don’t have special plans on the 24th, sing at the bar as usual. We throw a modest party there every Christmas Eve.”

“Yes…?”

“It’s not much of a party. The regulars gather that day to drink, dance, sing… exchange gifts if they feel like it. That’s about it.”

Should I reveal I had plans, or not?

He probably wouldn’t investigate who she was meeting, but given the unconventional profession of the person she was meeting, the words wouldn’t come easily.

She tried to think of a way to arrange her schedule… but her thoughts couldn’t continue for long.

Because his large palm suddenly wrapped around her waist.

“…!”

Her body stiffened at the unfamiliar warmth seeping through the fabric.

It was a large room filled with the chill of December.

Wearing only a thin slip so sheer her skin was visible, the cold enveloped her entire body, yet the places his hand had touched radiated a startling heat.

It was a warmth that felt like it would melt her skin.

As her rigid body began to loosen under his touch, she saw in the mirror Theodoro glance up slightly toward her face.

But she couldn’t bring herself to turn and look at him directly.

“Your arm.”

Thankfully, Theodoro offered only a quiet instruction instead of unnecessary chatter.

Following his direction, Lilia raised her trembling arm. His right arm moved into the vacant space, wrapping a measuring tape around her waist in a posture that felt almost like he was embracing her from behind.

Though their bodies weren’t directly touching, she could faintly feel his gentle body heat warming her skin.

At the same time, that familiar scent of vanilla and musk, which she had noticed before, drifted subtly to her nose.

A deep, potent fragrance, like an animal’s pheromones.

She tried hard not to consciously acknowledge it, but it was no easy task.

With every breath, the scent saturated the membranes inside her nose, so dangerously intoxicating that it clouded her mind.

Whether it was unfortunate or a relief, the contact didn’t last long…

As Theodoro moved away, the intense fragrance faded, leaving only a faint trace behind.

“23 inches…”

Hearing his husky voice, Lilia’s eyes, which she hadn’t realized were closed, fluttered open.

But when his hand touched near her hip, her eyes squeezed shut again, and a faint moan escaped through her lips.

The lingering sensation of the fragrance hadn’t yet dissipated, and her drowsy, relaxed body helplessly succumbed to the stimulus.

“Hmph…”

As she reflexively flinched, his right hand, resting on her hi,p tightened its grip.

“Anyone would think I’m forcing myself on you.”

She couldn’t even respond to Theodoro’s bored mutter. His left hand also cupped the curve of her hip, his thick thumb smoothly tracing the slope of the mound.

Slowly, all the way to the most prominent point of her buttocks.

“Ah, hhhmph…”

A wave of heat rushed up from somewhere deep in her lower stomach.

Even though he was holding her hips firmly, she couldn’t stand properly. She couldn’t control the fine trembling of her body either. Her entire focus kept being drawn to his indifferent touch.

Maybe if they talked about something else, she could distract her mind.

Without even thinking, Liliana grabbed onto one of the thoughts floating in her head and just blurted it out.

“Why are you… s-so skilled?”

“Huh?”

“H-have you done this often…? You seem… skilled…”

“I seem skilled? At taking a woman’s measurements?”

A soft chuckle brushed past her ear.

The tips of his left fingers stopped at the center of her buttocks, and he wrapped his right arm around her from behind again, encircling her with the measuring tape.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever done this. There’s no way I could be skilled.”

“…What?”

“My mother frequented the tailor’s shop. I just saw it from over her shoulder, that’s all.”

“Ahh…!”

His hand brushed over a secret place.

The space between her legs grew warm, a tangled mix of illicit pleasure and shame washing over her.

‘Please, it has to stop here, it just has to!’

His hand and the thin tape began to move across her hips and over her rear.

Liliana squeezed her eyes shut and stammered, “Th-then, why are you doing something you’ve never done before… to me…”

“…”

At that moment, his smoothly moving hand seemed to hesitate for an instant.

But it lasted no more than a tenth of a second, and Theodoro let out another fleeting laugh as he continued what he was doing.

“Why. Are you curious?”

A languid, low voice resonated, almost as if teasing her.

Around that time, Theodoro’s hand stopped at the most prominent curve of her hip…

An inexplicable heat began to rise and spread around that area, and Liliana couldn’t bring herself to press him, to say she was curious, and to tell her.

All she could do was clench her fists and focus on silently enduring the spreading warmth.

It wasn’t until her nails were nearly digging into her palms that the tape measure was finally loosened. She never did get to hear the reason why.

Of course, that reason wasn’t important to Liliana right then.

For now, it was more urgent to shake off the strange sensation swirling in her lower abdomen.

Fortunately, Theodoro walked over to the table for a moment to take notes, giving her the perfect chance to catch her breath.

The unfortunate part was that the time wasn’t very long.

Step–Step—

The sound of his footsteps, which had faded away, grew closer again, making her heart tighten.

“Turn around.”

Liliana had to hesitantly turn her still unsettled body toward him.

With her eyes cast down, she couldn’t see the expression on Theodoro’s face, who was considerably taller than her.

But she didn’t need to see.

It was obvious it would be that boring, dry face, undoubtedly filled with annoyance and fatigue.

Unlike her, his tone was flat and composed, without a hint of disturbance.

Just as expected, his hands, slipping his arms inside hers as if to embrace her and wrapping the tape measure around her back, were efficient and clean, without any unnecessary movement.

The warmth of his hand slowly passed under her armpit, right around the time her breath began to grow undeniably irregular.

“You asked me earlier. Why would I insist on doing something I haven’t even tried?”

“…Yes.”

“You’re someone I took in, not a plaything for some horny bastard.”

“…”

“That’s all.”

By now, the end of the tape measure he held had climbed the soft mound and swept over its peak, yet his voice remained utterly detached and dry.

As if, in this very moment, Liliana was the only one struggling desperately to hold onto her rationality.

That feeling of being the only one affected was even more humiliating, twisting her face as if she were about to cry.

What good did it do to tell herself over and over not to get intoxicated by this act of taking measurements, just like a tailor would?

What did it matter to remind herself not to be the only one flustered in front of this man, who was not only her enemy but also seemed to feel no stir of emotion from his current actions?

Though she wore both a bra and a slip, the cursed fabric was so thin. She could feel every bit of Theodoro’s touch as he connected the tape measure, faintly pressing against her sensitively heated nipples.

Completely independent of her will, her cheeks flushed a soft peach color. Her shallow, exhaled breaths carried a damp moisture.

So, when the tape measure came loose moments later, amidst the storm of shame that crashed over her, Liliana couldn’t stop her body from trembling.

‘I’m insane. I must be truly crazy!!’

To have been aroused by the touch of a man I could kill and still feel it wasn’t enough.

It was horrifying enough to make her want to bang her head against the wall immediately, but yes. Her erogenous zones were stimulated, so a physiological reaction was inevitable— she could somehow rationalize that away.

But the most unbearable thing was that Theodoro was solely focused on the task of measuring with a supremely businesslike attitude, and in front of him, she alone had helplessly fallen apart.

Liliana turned her head away, biting her lower lip until it nearly bled.

It was then that something she shouldn’t see entered her field of vision.

“…!”

Her half-lowered eyes gradually widened.

Then, Theo’s hand, which had momentarily moved away as if to gauge the shock, touched her right nipple.

The edges of her vision crumbled instantly.

Her sight was plunged into darkness. But the image that had already occupied her mind wouldn’t disappear.

Did I see wrong? No, I couldn’t have.

The area of her chest where his hand rested rose and fell irregularly.

Each time, a sharp peak was pressed down by his thick fingers, making her blackened vision flicker and flash…

Even amidst that, Liliana struggled to push her eyelids open. She had to check again.

‘Ah…’