Chapter 29
Silence settled.
Tarmin sat on the small bath stool, looking back at her.
His wet skin gleamed in the wavering light.
Naked and hunched over, with only his head poking out, he looked pitiful, but the trained muscles of his lower back—distinctive of an archer—stood out.
She slowly rubbed the towel draped over his back.
Tarmin's firm back beneath the damp towel.
The feel of Tarmin.
“Enya?”
Her gaze had wandered absentmindedly along his back until she met Tarmin's eyes.
Startled, she turned her head away.
Her cheeks burned.
She blurted out a response to hide her agitation.
“W-Why? Didn't you hear me?”
“Were you serious? About that?”
A sidelong glance showed Tarmin watching her.
His gaze was heated, though he seemed flustered as he tried to figure out her intentions.
Avoiding his gaze, she simply closed her eyes.
She should have pretended not to notice and just scrubbed his back. Instead, she buried her face against her chest and regretted it.
Tarmin's excuse, blurted out after she caught him masturbating.
At his unexpected claim that he'd done it to keep from pouncing on her, her heart wavered.
Anyone would be embarrassed by it, but still, he said he'd done it for her.
His words and actions pointed to one fact.
That Tarmin, of all people, was aroused by her.
An itchy feeling returned to her lower abdomen.
She crossed her legs slightly without even realizing it.
The wavering light, the thick steam, and above all, their stimulating body scents.
She wanted to sink down from the dizziness, but braced herself against Tarmin's back.
After letting out a long, heated breath, she opened her eyes and answered.
“Yeah.”
Tarmin's eyes trembled.
**
For a moment, she was at a loss for breath, but she spoke as if nothing was wrong.
“You know what I mean by relieving your urges, right?”
“Idiot. I was the one who brought it up.”
“You didn't say that without knowing what it meant?”
Enya shot him an offended glare.
She could be a little spacey at times, but surely she hadn't offered to help him masturbate without knowing what that meant.
“So, what's your answer? Do you want my help or not?”
“Ugh.”
Tarmin couldn't give an immediate answer.
He worried that if he kept beating around the bush, Enya might give up, yet at the same time, he was too weak to accept her kindness.
The many possibilities packed into ‘I'll help you.’
He grabbed hold of his muddled thoughts and tried to think.
He'd sinned by making excuses to steal kisses from her, but he still thought kissing and that were different.
Whatever the circumstances, Tarmin had only been playing with an attractive woman's body—but what about Enya?
No, there were plenty of ways to help without touching.
So what method was Enya thinking of?
He pulled himself back from his runaway fantasies.
He glanced at Enya out of the corner of his eye.
Beneath her robe, he could easily imagine her slender yet nicely rounded body.
Lips pressed together like a flower bud.
She'd offered to help him masturbate, yet her bright-red eyes looked prim and innocent, as if nothing had happened.
Whatever the method, refusal was out of the question.
Just as he let out a sigh and was about to decide, Enya glanced around, pushed the towel aside, and burst out angrily.
“Forget it. I thought I'd help because it was pathetic watching you fondle yourself, but…”
Tarmin quickly turned around, and Enya's words trailed off.
He sat facing Enya and said,
“All right. Help me. Thank you.”
“No, why?”
Was she asking why he'd suddenly turned around?
Seeing Enya flustered, his shame faded and a little excitement welled up.
He even thought it was pathetic that he'd agonized over it this whole time.
It felt good.
What the hell—so what if a man got caught fiddling with himself?
If she couldn't take it, Enya could just run away. He had nothing to lose.
Enya looked at him, unable even to think of looking away.
Her wavering red eyes gradually slid toward Tarmin's lower body.
His embarrassment threatened to return, so he hurried to put Enya on the spot.
“So, how are you going to help me?”
“H-Huh?”
At his words, Enya flinched and lifted her downcast gaze.
Her flustered appearance restored his composure.
“I'm grateful you're helping, but I don't know how you plan to do it. Got a good idea, Enya?”
“Well…”
“Well, what? Had you thought of something?”
“Ugh…”
Enya's body trembled slightly.
Watching her face turn red, Tarmin had to work hard not to laugh at her.
That would only embarrass Enya even more.
He simply looked at her with an earnest, curious expression.
It had been an unintentional attack, but it had left Enya badly flustered.
“If it's too hard, you don't have to help.”
He tried offering a conciliatory line to settle things.
It would be a little disappointing if Enya ran off just like that, but the situation was different from before.
Tarmin hesitating and giving up versus Enya being unable to take it and running away might lead to the same result, but there was a big difference.
Heh.
Unable to hide his sense of victory, he chuckled, and Enya's eyes instantly flashed up at him.
He froze at her glare, but at the same time thought it was already too late.
It was a familiar pattern.
He wasn't sure whether to applaud her stubbornness, but the problem was that he was naked.
What was the point of getting competitive over masturbation?
Enya glared at him and said,
“No? Didn't I say I'd help you?”
Now that she'd said it, she was stubbornly determined to keep her word.
He swallowed.
He had to choose his words carefully.
“Uh, Enya. But you look a little tired.”
“I'm fine. I'm worried about ‘you.’”
He'd tried to smooth things over by saying she was tired, but Enya flatly rejected it.
She was saying the problem had to be with Tarmin.
In the end, he let his shoulders droop and repeated what he'd asked just before.
“Then how are you going to help me?”
“Anything.”
“What?”
Had he heard wrong?
He stared with his mouth hanging open, and Enya wore a mischievous smile.
“You're the one who's suffering from urges, Taal, right? So I'll do anything until you're satisfied.”
“No…”
He shuddered at her wickedness.
It was an attack Enya, as a woman, had already used on him once before.
That attitude of hers: whatever he did, it was because Tarmin wanted it, and Enya herself had no part in it.
Enya had been the one to offer help, but before he knew it, Tarmin was the one who had to ask.
He glared at her, then sighed.
“Haa…”
He was confident he could tease Enya, but this time his lower half was being held hostage.
The stimulation of this indecent situation already had him on the verge of bursting.
He couldn't hold out long enough to scold her.
He'd never had so much blood rush to his lower body.
The pressure was so intense, he was in enough pain to need help.
In the end, he raised both hands in surrender.
“Sorry for teasing you. I was wrong.”
“Good.”
Enya smiled triumphantly.
Tarmin squeezed his eyes shut in embarrassment, then looked at Enya.
“Enya, I'm really suffering now. Could you help me?”
“Ugh, y-yeah.”
Enya tensed again, glancing at Tarmin's naked body.
She'd said she'd do whatever he wanted.
After taking a deep breath, he spoke quietly.
“First… want to try touching it?”
**
Enya swallowed.
With her cheeks flushed, she approached the space between his legs one step at a time.
He was a little frustrated, but figured Enya needed time to steel herself, so he waited patiently.
She adjusted her robe and crouched, then slowly reached out.
Seeing her stop her hand just before it touched him, he finally exhaled.
“What kind of torture is this? I'm going crazy.”
“Ugh…”
Though he'd meant it as a joke, Enya only clenched her fist once, fidgeting anxiously.
Enya reached out again.
As he watched her, his lower body tensed without his realizing it.
Seeing his erection bob, Enya flinched and drew back again.
“Gross.”
“Don't call it gross, you jerk.”
He figured it was an unavoidable reaction, but being insulted still made him feel miserable.
Scratching his head, he looked down at Enya, seated between his legs.
“Should we just stop?”
“N-No. It's fine, so shut up and don't move, okay?”
Enya snapped at him, so he was about to say something more, then shut his mouth.
Though she said she was fine, she seemed unable to figure out where to put her hands first.
Enya hesitated, then seemed to hit on a good idea and looked at him.
“Turn around.”
Without another word, he turned his back to her and sat down. Her arms came around either side of his waist.
Feeling the hem of Enya's clothes touch his back, he understood what she intended.
Enya wrapped her arms around his waist.
“That way I don't have to look… and it's a familiar angle, too.”
She explained even though he hadn't asked, while slowly lowering her hands.
From his stomach to below his navel, and lower still.
Her slender, graceful fingers brushed his skin.
Her neatly manicured, pale pink nails glinted in the light.
Her quick, panting breaths.
Her hot breath touched the back of his neck.
Before he knew it, Enya was leaning against his back.
He was sitting on a stool while Enya stood awkwardly with only her arms stretched out, so it was only natural.
He let out a groan when he felt her soft breasts through the fabric against his back.
“I-I told you not to move.”
He knew, and wished she wouldn't squirm behind him.
Tarmin clenched his teeth and tried not to move.
As he endured it, a question he'd never asked Enya came to mind.
He'd let it slide because of the playful mood, as they'd turned it into a contest of pride.
Was this act of helping just awkward pity for a friend?
Was she putting up with it despite finding it disgusting?
He should have asked.
Just then, Enya's delicate fingertips touched his member.
“Ugh!”
He groaned at the feel of her cool fingers.
He barely stopped himself from leaping to his feet.
He still straightened his back and moved quite a bit, but Enya moved her hand instead of scolding him.
Even as she flinched, Enya opened her hand and wrapped it around his penis.
Holding it still in her hand, Enya said softly.
“It's hot.”
Tarmin thought her hand was cold, but didn't bother saying so.
As if unsure where to put her hand, Enya moved it around, then sighed and grasped his member with both hands.
“One hand won't be enough…”
Enya began gently moving both hands around him.
Her soft fingers stroked him up and down.
The pleasure surged through him so quickly, it felt as if his mind were melting.
A ticklish, itchy feeling stirred in one side of his chest.
He couldn't bear it without teasing her about something.
“W-What do you mean, Enya?”
“Hmm?”
“Ugh, the, the part about one hand…”
Enya, behind him, fell silent for a moment as if thinking, then said,
“No, my hands are small, but your… thing is big.”
Her hands kept moving.
“Ugh, is mine big, Enya?”
“I think so.”
“Is there a standard for big? Compared to whose?”
“Well, mine…”
Enya, about to answer, suddenly stopped.
He waited with ears pricked up, but Enya suddenly tightened her grip.
A sharp squeeze made a scream burst out of him.
“Ugh!”
As he trembled helplessly, Enya spoke right beside his ear.
Her voice had been lilting just before, but now it sounded like a devil's whisper.
“I told you to shut up.”
“U-Ugh, r-right.”
“Shouldn't you watch what you say when the other person has you by the vital parts?”
“You're absolutely right.”
He naturally slipped into honorific speech.
She had him by the vital parts, quite literally.
She seemed to have gripped him hard just to torment him, but even that stimulation nearly made Tarmin come.
Enya sighed and loosened her grip.
“Stop fooling around and stay still. I need to focus, too.”
When he shut his mouth, Enya said nothing more.
Enya moved her hands again.
“…”
A sensual atmosphere rose and made his head spin.
Afraid things would turn this way, he'd tossed out whatever words came to mind.
The sound of skin brushing and hot sighs.
Enya's sweet scent.
A moan escaped him again.
“U-Ugh.”
He lowered his head deeply.
His head felt like it was about to burst from the tingling pleasure.
He'd reached the dangerous point long ago.
The urge to come was overwhelming; now he just wanted relief.
Still, holding on to the last of his reason, he thought one last time.
Was Enya really okay with this?
With her holding his member?
With him coming in her hand?
If this kind of relationship continued between them?
“Enya.”
“What?”
“Is it really okay for us to do this?”
His head was so hot that he could barely speak properly.
A single question like “Is this okay?” couldn't contain all his anxieties and worries.
In the end, Tarmin was just as guilty of irresponsibly leaving the decision to her.
Enya answered, breathing hard.
“…I don't know. Do whatever you want, Taal.”
That was unfair.
After stimulating him like that, she left the final choice to him, passing the buck.
There was no way he could hold back after hearing that.
He turned around.
When their faces met, Enya looked flustered.
“Enya.”
He reached out.
“Why all of a sudden, mmph.”
He wrapped an arm around the back of Enya's neck and kissed her.
She flinched in surprise, but one of Enya's hands was still holding his member.
That hand, still holding on to him to the very end, was adorable.
With a hot shudder, he came in her hand.
***