#65
Jeha had initially intended for their encounter to end with a deep kiss. He had no desire to expose the intimate details of his private life to the observer.
However, as Hereis’s passionate kisses intensified, all thoughts of the observer, and everything else, began to fade from his mind. Where they were, how much time had passed, or who might be watching—none of it mattered.
The only thing that truly mattered was Hereis himself. Jeha found himself utterly consumed by the act of pressing their bodies together, touching his skin, and tasting his saliva.
“Ah…!”
Jeha gasped, a sudden cry escaping his lips. At some point, their positions had reversed; he was now pinned beneath Hereis on the couch.
Through his hazy vision, Jeha saw Hereis’s hand, which had been exploring and caressing his half-bared torso, now grasp and twist one of his small nipples. As Jeha cried out, Hereis seemed to understand, intensifying the pressure with his fingers.
“Ah… Ahh…. Hereis….”
A shiver ran through Jeha as he writhed, overwhelmed by a thrilling sensation unlike anything he had ever known. Simply touching his small nipples, which he had always considered useless, sent a tingling jolt down his spine.
Hereis’s breath, cascading down upon him, grew ragged. He gazed for a moment at the source of Jeha’s moans before lowering his head and taking it into his mouth.
“Ah… Ahh! Hereis—! No, that… it feels strange.”
Jeha pleaded, twisting his body, but his pleas only spurred Hereis on. At first, Hereis clumsily licked and sucked at his nipple, but he quickly became adept, showering Jeha with skillful caresses.
“Ah… Ugh… No… This is strange…”
His vision blurred. Jeha covered his mouth with his wrist, continuously writhing his hips. With one hand, he tried to push Hereis’s head away, yet Hereis remained unyielding. Instead, he clung on more tenaciously, his tongue teasing.
“Haa… My Lord Jeha, this part of you has turned crimson, like a flower.”
Hereis pulled away, whispering. Jeha looked down at him. Hereis’s lips, having been on him for so long, were now a vibrant crimson, and Jeha’s nipple glowed with the same flushed color.
Between his lips and Jeha’s nipple, saliva stretched obscenely, like a spider’s web.
“You cannot even begin to imagine how sweet your body is, My Lord Jeha.”
Hereis buried his lips in Jeha’s neck, whispering. The lascivious play of his tongue, licking and sucking at his throat, was intensely provocative.
Jeha surrendered to the sensation, clutching Hereis’s disheveled silver hair in his hands. His lower body, now stiff and erect, throbbed with a dull ache.
He yearned to thrust his hips and grind himself hard against Hereis’s body. Fortunately, a corner of his mind still remembered the observer spying on them.
This awareness prevented him from indulging in the indecency of rubbing his lower body against Hereis.
Yet, that thread of reason grew thinner and thinner, strained by the increasingly sticky and lewd intimacy. To hell with the observer, to hell with the festival—he yearned to simply cling to Hereis and lose himself in a tangled embrace.
He was barely holding onto a shred of his self-control. Suddenly, Hereis pressed his lower body tightly against Jeha’s.
Hereis’s erection, firm and hot, was as prominent as Jeha’s own. The moment Hereis began to grind himself against Jeha, that last thread of reason snapped.
“…Hereis…!”
“Hngh… My Lord Jeha…!”
Almost simultaneously, they called out each other’s names and embraced. As the two men intertwined, grinding their bodies together, the sturdy couch legs began to creak and protest.
Hereis’s breath against his neck was scorching hot, as was Jeha’s own. Now, his mind held nothing but the owner of the body he embraced, and the fervent pleasure they shared.
‘My Lord.’
Just as they were intensely grinding against each other, Paimon’s voice echoed in Jeha’s mind once more.
‘[People are heading this way. They’ll be here soon.]’
Jeha froze, hearing Paimon’s urgent message.
“My Lord Jeha?”
As Jeha stopped moving and stiffened, Hereis called his name, his voice thick with arousal. Jeha wrapped his arms around Hereis’s neck and whispered into his ear.
‘[People are coming this way.]’
At Jeha’s whisper, Hereis’s body also stiffened slightly.
Their relationship as lovers was an open secret. It was also widely known that the Pope had a mistress, and that other high-ranking priests had lovers.
However, for the two of them to be caught in such an intimate act publicly was an entirely different matter. If exposed in public, it could lead to Hereis’s excommunication. This was precisely why Mrs. Fanucci remained merely a ‘mistress’ in name.
As the reality of the situation dawned on him, the scorching heat that had enveloped his body instantly subsided. Time was short.
It would have been easy for them to vanish, but the problem lay with the watchful eyes of the observer.
“Hereis, let’s not go all the way here… How about we go to my new mansion instead?”
Jeha spoke, his voice still laced with heat. Hereis feigned a moment of deliberation before nodding.
“Very well. I imagine that would be a far better place to savor you.”
Hereis replied, his voice distinctly lewd.
Feigning nonchalance, they straightened their torsos and sat up, beginning to adjust each other’s clothing.
“The moment we arrive at the mansion, I’ll strip you completely.”
“I’ll be looking forward to it.”
Even as they exchanged risqué remarks, they hastily helped each other with their clothes and tidied their hair. Just as they were about to rise from their seats, a sudden disturbance occurred.
CRASH—!
The door swung wide open, and a cluster of noblewomen spilled into the room.
“Oh my—!”
The woman leading the noblewomen gasped, covering her mouth with her fan. The other ladies, who had been conversing as they entered, paused at her cry and peered into the room.
“Oh dear… the two of you, here…”
The noblewoman who had cried out fluttered her fan, quickly scanning the two men. Though slightly disheveled, they were clearly dressed and standing side-by-side.
Confusion and dismay flickered in her eyes as she took them in.
“My, my, I was wondering where you two had disappeared to. It seems you were having a cozy chat here.”
One of the noblewomen, peering in from behind, spoke with an insidiously subtle tone.
Indeed, despite their attempts to tidy their clothes, the lingering heat of their recent intense intimacy was still palpable. With the two known lovers found together in this room, it was easy to surmise what had transpired.
“We were simply having a private conversation about a matter of some urgency. Since it appears the ladies have come to rest, we shall take our leave.”
Jeha said with a smiling face. The noblewomen fluttered their fans rapidly, scrutinizing the two men.
Leaving the noblewomen’s discreet gazes behind, Jeha and Hereis stepped out of the room.
****
The distance was so short that Jeha and Hereis arrived at Belgarga Mansion in no time.
Sitting cozily opposite each other on the bedroom sofa, the two men savored the tea Hereis had personally brewed. Even with the same tea leaves, the taste varied so dramatically depending on who prepared it.
A subtle undercurrent of the intense passion they had shared earlier, when they had clung to each other, still permeated the air between them. Even seated apart, they felt as if they were still entwined.
Jeha glanced at the sapphire ring gleaming on Hereis’s finger as he drank his tea. Simply seeing the ring adorning his hand filled him with pleasure.
He felt a renewed sense of relief that he possessed the wealth to give such a fitting gift.
“The observer didn’t move.”
Jeha said, lightly shifting the atmosphere.
Even when nearly lost to the intense intimacy with Hereis, Jeha had remained alert to the observer’s actions. The observer had merely stayed hidden in the secret compartment, diligently recording the situation inside the room.
No one had contacted them, nor had they left the hidden room or taken any other action.
“Then it’s possible the person who directed the observer and the noblewomen to the room were different individuals.”
Hereis quickly grasped Jeha’s meaning and replied. Jeha nodded, taking a sip of the tea Hereis had brewed for him.
“The hidden room in the Fanucci mansion is, of course, a tactic by the Fanucci family to monitor the every move of their visitors. They’ve likely been collecting information on important figures in Encarosha this way for a long time.
However, it’s ambiguous whether leading the noblewomen to the room with My Lord Jeha at precisely that moment was also an act by the Fanucci family. This is even more so given that the observer didn’t move.”
“Setting aside the Pope monitoring Hereis’s actions for a moment, leading the noblewomen to the room where we were together was a clear, direct attack intended to expose our relationship publicly and bring Hereis down. If we had been caught in that state….”
The thought that the noblewomen might have witnessed them intensely grinding against each other sent shivers down Jeha’s arms.
“At best, I would have been stripped of my archbishopric; at worst, excommunicated. Many people are constantly looking for an opportunity to bring me down, after all.”
Hereis stated calmly.