Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife-Chapter 252: Time in the garden

After taking a bath together and having their breakfast in their room, Lucian went to talk to the king for some time and then came back to get his wife. He had told her about their traveling tonight and how he wouldn’t be able to take her with him even though he wanted to.

Ave would have insisted on coming had she not noticed how torn he already was at the thought of parting with her, and though she couldn’t imagine staying here without him, she had thought to appear cheerful about the news altogether to make him feel less bad about leaving her behind, even though the thought tore at her very heart.

She didn’t really want to be away from him, and if it wasn’t so important that he convinced the northern packs about supporting him, she would have done everything and anything to go with him. However, now that she knew that they would be apart tonight, he wanted to spend every second of the afternoon with her as much as she wanted with him.

She put aside the thoughts of how she was going to live a week without seeing him and decided to focus more on now and the moment they still had together. They walked hand in hand to a garden she’d never walked to in the palace. The garden was one of the most beautiful ones she’d ever seen, with different kinds of rare plants and flowers.

Despite the winter, the plants seemed to bloom beautifully as if it was spring because the servants seemed to pay extra attention to watering it. There was a large tree in the middle of the garden with leaves the size of umbrellas and large branches. She’d never seen any tree half as big as this one, and it seemed to stretch endlessly heavenward.

After taking a stroll in the large garden, Lucian tugged her beneath the shade of the huge tree.

Her husband sat with his arms around her, the neck of his shirt open to catch the occasional cooling puff of wind. Talking idly, they discussed subjects that ranged from the serious to the trivial.

Ave had never imagined that a man would listen to a woman as he did. He was attentive, interested, never mocking her opinions even when he disagreed with them.

"You know," she told him dreamily, laying across his lap and staring at the dark, umbrella-sized leaves overhead, "I think that I enjoy talking with you even more than making love with you."

A lock of black hair fell over Lucian’s forehead as he looked down at his wife. "Is that a compliment to my conversational skills, or a complaint about my lovemaking?"

She smiled as she reached up and caressed his shirt-covered taut chest. "You know that I would never have complaints about how you love me in bed." She winked at him. "It’s just that I never expected to be married someday, nor have this kind of relationship we have now with any man."

"What was the life you envisioned for yourself before you were brought here?" Lucian asked, clearly amused and curious.

"Well, for starters, any sort of relationship with any man sent my skin crawling. I’d envisioned living my life in one of the biggest penthouses in New York City, adopting dogs and cats to keep me company in my old age. I also envisioned myself adopting a baby and raising it the way I’ve always wanted my parents to raise and love me. That thought was just a fleeting one because I knew I’d never have time for any kid with such a schedule of mine in the modern world. In short, the life I imagined myself having seemed and look like the most boring one any person should ever want for themselves. Now that I think about it..."

Ave paused as she recalled how that life had seemed like the most beautiful life to her then, and now she could never imagine herself living it again—not when she knew the feeling of having company and someone that loves and you love them. It’s strange and yet beautiful how life experiences could change a person so much they would never want to be what they once were.

Lucian’s lips curled into a soft smile, his amber eyes locking with hers. "It’s odd how the life you once wanted now feels so small compared to this, right?" he murmured, his hand brushing her hair. "You were never meant for loneliness, my heart. You were meant for me."

He leaned in slightly, his voice soft but possessive. "And I can’t imagine you anywhere else but here, with me."

Ave flushed as warmth spread all the way from her heart and exploded into her very being. This man was good with his words that they set her aflame without him even trying.

"What about you?" she asked softly. "What did you envision for yourself and your life before you lost your mother?"

Lucian’s expression was contemplative as he seemed to think deeply about that question. "I never envisioned much beyond taking care of my mother and giving her the better life she deserved. But when I was still a boy, there were moments I liked to imagine building a house with my own hands," he said, a faint, fond smile curving his lips as he recalled those days. He could see himself constructing a sanctuary, a safe haven, for his mother and that woman who betrayed him, Selene.

"I dreamt of living in a house I built, with my mother and Selene," he murmured, his voice tinged with distant thoughts.

Ave sat up from his lap, smoothing her untidy hair. Lucian rarely spoke to her about his time with Selene, and she often forgot that he had once been married to that bitch. He seemed to belong to her so completely now that imagining him loving someone else felt almost impossible. But the fact remained: even though Selene had never loved him, he had once loved her and had been happy to marry her. Feeling a sharp bite of jealousy despite herself, Ave forced her expression to remain serene.

"How was your life when you first married Selene? I mean, you loved her before she broke your trust and all..."

"I did think I loved her," his amber eyes were thoughtful. "But I doubt what I really felt for her was love now that I’ve come to know what it feels like." Ave smiled at his words, and they carried on with their conversation of asking each other any random question that came to mind. It felt so refreshing and utterly relaxing to get to talk with him and know his thoughts on many things.

Ave’s laughter rang in the garden as they kept talking until it reached a point in the conversation that shifted to something more intimate. He asked her if she’d ever dated any man before as she told him how courtship works in the modern world, and when she answered no, she could see the obvious relief on his face.

Lucian propped up one knee and rested his arm on it, watching the unconcealed, curious, thoughtful look forming on his wife’s face as she began to pull out grasses from the ground. She kept giving him a sideways glance that made Lucian know instantly that she wanted to ask him something but was hesitating for some reason. He then asked softly,

"What are you thinking, my love?"

Ave shook her head, embarrassed by the question that had come to her mind all of a sudden—a question that was completely pointless and prying. "Nothing," she murmured.

"Speak to me," he urged, his hand settling over her restless fingers. "Whatever it is, you have every right to ask."

She lifted her gaze to him, her cheeks flushing slightly. "I was just curious," she said, "how someone with such a strong appetite in bed could have spent twenty-five years of his life without being with a woman."

It had been on her mind when he spoke about Selene. Not that it made any difference now, but she couldn’t help wondering. He hadn’t been intimate with Selene during their marriage, and yet he had never let Ave spend a night without loving her. He was the kind of man who never seemed satisfied.

He remained utterly still at her words, a breeze lifting a stray lock of hair from his forehead. The shock on his face was impossible to miss. He cleared his throat but didn’t speak. Yet as their eyes held, Ave saw his answer written clearly in his gaze, and it comforted her deeply to know he hadn’t taken random women to his bed before her — not that it would have mattered if he had.

Ave turned her palm upward and intertwined her fingers with his. He bent toward her, brushing a light kiss across her lips — a kiss that was tender, not meant to arouse. Yet the taste of him was so intoxicating that Ave slid her arms around his neck and kissed him fiercely, pouring everything she felt into it, knowing he would be gone by tomorrow.

Lucian pulled her into his lap and responded with full fervor. Her arms wrapped around his back, her fingers splaying over the strong muscles there. She sighed and squirmed in delight, feeling his growing arousal beneath her and slowly rubbing herself against him.

His low laugh brushed her ear. "Careful, my love... you’ll be the death of me."

She adored the way he looked at her, those gold flames flickering in his eyes. "It’s hard to believe," she murmured in a voice heavy with desire, "that a man like you could have stayed untouched for so long."

He was as hard as iron from just a kiss.

"Not the entire time," he confessed.

"You weren’t?" She sat up straight in his lap, staring down at him. "You never told me that before. Who was it?" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Lucian reached up, removed the pin from her hair, and let the red waves fall through his fingers. "There was a whore when I was very young," he said quietly. "She died before I could even finish."

Ave knew that was a lifetime ago and it stirred no jealousy. "Only her?" she asked softly. "There must have been nights when it was unbearable." Her gaze was searching. "A man as...physical as you..."

Her husband gave a rueful smile, not quite meeting her eyes. "Well, there are other ways for a man to deal with that."

"You mean you..." Ave’s voice trailed off, her face heating.

He met her gaze then, a faint blush coloring his cheekbones. "After what Selene did, I felt nothing," he said. "And even after we married, when I couldn’t be with you, it was the only way I could find any relief. Haven’t you ever done the same?"

The canopy of leaves rustled over them, and a lone bird chirped innocently while Ave struggled to answer that question. "Yes," she finally admitted. "Back in the imperial palace when you went away for that war. Whenever I slept on your bed at night and dreamed of your kisses and touch, and I woke up feeling hot and...in need..." Her scalding blush spread everywhere. "I woke up one night, and I couldn’t stop thinking of how you touch me with your fingers. That night, I..." Mortified, she groaned and hid her face in her hands.

Lucian gently tangled his fingers in her hair, tilting her face back so he could kiss her lips. Still crimson-faced, Ave relaxed against him, closing her eyes to the dappled sunlight that flickered through the trees. His mouth covered hers in slow, coaxing kisses, and she didn’t resist when he began to undo her clothes.

His hands slid inside her garments, finding her breasts, her hips, her thighs.

"Show me," he breathed against her throat.

"Show you what?"

"How you touched yourself the night I was away," he whispered.

He wanted memories he could cling to when he left her tonight.

"No way," she protested, giggling breathlessly at the audacity of the request.

But Lucian coaxed and teased, sweetly relentless, until she finally gave in with a shy sigh. Her hands trembled as she moved to where he had pushed her undergarments down, her skirts bunched around her waist.

"Here..." she said, breathless.

His hand covered hers lightly, following the subtle, delicate motion she made. Her hand fell away, and he continued, learning the rhythm. "Like this?" he murmured thoughtfully.

Ave writhed in his lap, too breathless to answer.

A tender smile played across his lips as he watched her beautiful, flushed face, her teeth sinking into her lower lip to stifle her soft cries. "Tell me if you want me to move differently," he whispered as his fingers teased her mercilessly.

Suddenly lost to shame, Ave purred and twisted in his lap as sensation flowed over her in an endless river until she reached out, shakily and struggled with his trousers and released his swollen shaft and then settled herself on it. They made love under the tree until Ave’s thighs were aching and her mind was lost in the sea of pleasure that left her weakened with over-contentedness.