Lucian slowly opened one of his eyes like he was just waking up, and when he saw her face, he opened both, blinking a few times.
There was a shift in her demeanour. Her posture changed from a relaxed one to a more defensive one. She covered her blush with his notebook, hiding everything but her eyes.
Lucian looked at her with his tired gaze, which she took as a sign of him not wanting to deal with her. She covered her face completely and pretended to be a statue.
"..."
"...?"
"That's my notebook. What are you doing with it?" he asked, voice still rough from 'sleep'. He wanted to sound cold and distant, to prove his point that he still did not move on from her earlier behavior (strangulation).
She peeked at him from the side, her gaze going up and down his body, "Sketching the lewd dream you had, of course."
'This girl! I swear...'
She was so quick to react and so eager to get away with everything.
He couldn't afford to go easy on her, not even a bit, or she would take advantage of it. "I'm not in the mood to play. Give it here."
She blinked curiously and immediately handed it to him, not questioning him.
"I'm begging for forgiveness in there," she said as Lucian opened the notepad, acting like his tour guide, "On my knees, even. Look at that devotion, and dedication, and admiration. I know you wouldn't believe me if I said all that out loud, but if I were to act on it...wouldn't it be a different story?"
Putting aside the lewd part of the drawing, she had drawn herself in a very submissive manner. It would be hard to not have his heart squeezed by the sight of her like that.
"I just wanted you to promise me not to choke me again, not to beg for forgiveness like that. I was talking about a simple apology that a child could make," he said, trying to explain to her.
"But..." She pinched her pointer and thumb finger together in an attempt to negotiate, "Only a little squeeze? Not enough to hurt, but enough for you to know who's in charge?"
"...in charge of what?"
"Your body," she answered without a trace of shame in her face, "It needs to learn to obey my will instead of its own. I can't have it misbehave on me. Your mouth is loose enough as it is."
"..." Lucian closed the notepad with a thud.
He prayed to the gods that she wasn't some sort of a devil, sent to test his purity, patience and sanity, because he was sure as hell failing at it.
So this was how his parents felt when they were dealing with him...so powerless.
They had the authority; they were the one who set the rules, yet they couldn't enforce them because of his tricks. He would always find a loophole, just like Celine was doing now.
"This is definitely not my dream," he pointed out as he opened the notebook again, his words falling on deaf ears, "My dreams are pure as the day I was born. There's nothing lewd in them."
"Sure, they are," Celine nodded, agreeing with him, "Then how do you explain all the moaning and groaning I could hear coming from you while you slept?"
She exaggerately described how he was purring and rubbing himself against the sheet like a cat in heat, how his voice was full of lust and how he couldn't get enough of the dream.
"..." Lucian threw the notebook aside, pulled her onto the bed and began to tickle her.
"Ahahaha!" She laughed quietly, her hands flapping like a bird, "Sta-stahap!"
"Trying to turn me into a pervert, hm?" Lucian said, tickling her harder.
"Nohohoho!" She covered her mouth to prevent herself from laughing too loudly, but couldn't stop her body from wiggling around.
Lucian continued to tickle her for a couple of more seconds until he was satisfied and stopped, letting her catch her breath.
See? She didn't kick around or punch him when he did these kinds of things to her.
She just accepted them and didn't cause him any bodily harm in return.
Only when he did things like scooping her in his arms or pulling her into an embrace would she attack him.
Her legs would wrap around his waist, and her arms would squeeze him. She would twist her fingers around his skin, holding onto him so hard that her nails would leave an indent on his skin.
"..." Lucian blew away her hair from his mouth that got stuck when she pounced on him and began to pat her back to calm her down, "Are you okay?"
"...mhm..." she murmured, "I'm just... so happy."
She scratched his back through the shirt like she didn't know what to do with herself. She ruffled his hair, repeatedly, but none of that seemed to be enough to satisfy her.
"I'm going crazy," she laughed softly, biting his shirt instead of his skin, and then hugged him tighter. It felt like she was trying to break his rib cage with her bare hands, "I can't get enough of you."
"..." Lucian's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly caught himself before he could say something stupid, "Yeah, I'm pretty lovable."
"Mm." She didn't disagree and bit on his shirt some more, not saying anything, just breathing in his scent.
"Are you getting a replacement for me already?" Lucian asked, not liking how she was taking it out on his poor shirt either.
She gave him a stink eye as if it wasn't him complaining about her leaving marks on his body. 'Make up your mind,' her expression said with his shirt still in her mouth.
She looked like she was struggling inside, but it could be all an act to make him fall into her trap.
"I feel so guilty when you are acting like you are in pain," Lucian said.
"...you should," Celine muttered as if knowing he didn't trust her and was being quite sarcastic about it, "...I'm trying to make you regret ever denying me. I'm suffering the consequences and so should you."
"..." Lucian's heart was racing. Who said communication was important in a relationship? It just made everything worse, and his chest more painful.
He has never met someone who could twist and turn a sentence in her favor and make it sound so reasonable to his ears.
His right hand went up her back and to her neck. Maybe if he made her feel the same way, she would understand what she was putting him through.
No matter how similar they were, there was one thing that was completely different. He ended up caressing her neck instead of squeezing it.
His hand that was on her neck snaked around to cover her mouth, saving his shirt from further abuse.
His other hand was unbuttoning his shirt to save it from her clutches, and when he was done, he threw it to the corner of the bed.
She looked up at him in protest, reaching out for her new comfort thing.
"Aren't you hot?" he asked, kicking his shirt off the bed like he had a grudge with it.
"I'm burning," she said in anticipation as he started to remove her dress, sliding it off her shoulders.
She helped him by pushing it off of her hips, leaving herself with only her undergarments on.
Lucian's hands traveled under her arms and threw her over his shoulder before jumping off the bed, "Then let's take a bath to cool off."
"..."
He began to walk towards the bathroom, unbuttoning his pants and removing them on the way.
Celine hit his back with her fist, "Are you even a man? Where did your balls go? We are supposed to make babies, not play in water like kids!"
"What other way can I prove that my body won't misbehave on you?" Lucian asked.