Ch. 170 Take Responsibility (1)
The next morning, Elena woke up with a pounding headache. She must have a hangover from drinking too much last night, and she clutched her forehead with a groan.
‘When did I fall asleep?’
That thought didn’t last long, however. As soon as she opened her eyelids, her breath hitched when she saw Carlisle’s face right in front of her.
“What are you doing here?”
The pair of them had decided on the first night of marriage that Elena would take the bed and Carlisle the couch. Since then, neither had intruded on each other’s territory.
At this very moment, Carlisle was on the bed, his head propped up on his hand as he watched her. The look in his eyes were both stubborn and complicated.
“Did you just wake up now?”
“Were you waiting for me?”
“Yes. I didn’t sleep at all.”
“Why—”
But Elena’s words did not last long. She was surprised to see Carlisle so close to her, but soon memories of last night appeared in her mind like a panorama.
‘I…’
Elena’s cheeks flamed.
‘…I was crazy.’
She had never gotten herself blindly drunk in her last life. Perhaps, out of depression from losing her family, she had never made a mistake, even when she had a quarrel with someone. For the first time in her life, she realized how dangerous drinking was.
—I want to kiss you.
Those were the words she said to Carlisle last night. She had already kissed Carlisle twice already, but each time had a purpose. The kiss at the wedding was inevitable, and the kiss at Carlisle’s private training hall was meant to keep everyone else out. It was the first time she ever wanted to kiss him for no reason.
‘Oh my God!’
She wished she could turn back the clock to stop herself. She was so embarrassed she wanted to crawl into a rat hole, but unfortunately, there was no place to hide. Carlisle had been close since the morning, as if he were blocking all her escape routes.
‘I don’t want to remember anything.’
Cowardly as it was, she didn’t want to think about last night, but Carlisle had silently watched her reaction as she recalled her memories from the night previous. She had a feeling that if she pretended to feign ignorance now, it would not work.
Carlisle looked Elena for another moment, then he turned and poured a cup of water from a jug on the bedside table.
“Drink.”
It was not until he spoke that she realized that her throat was parched dry. She didn’t know how to react anyway, so to buy some time, Elena took the cup and started drinking slowly. Carlisle’s patience was short, however, and he didn’t wait for her to finish drinking when he spoke.
“What you said to me last night—what did you mean?”
“Huh! What?”
Elena almost spit out her water. She could feel her heart racing in her rib cage.
“Kiss me…”
“Oh, it was just a casual remark.”
“Casual?”
Carlisle’s brow furrowed in disbelief.
“I must have been quite drunk last night. I apologize deeply if you were uncomfortable. It doesn’t mean anything, so please don’t worry.”
Elena hoped her hasty excuse was enough. It was too late for her to pretend she wasn’t aware of anything, and she couldn’t think of anything else to say. It seemed to her that this was the only way to calm the situation. However, the more Elena spoke, the stonier Carlisle’s expression became.
“So you only said it on impulse?”
“Y-yes.”
“Is that your habit when you’re drunk?”
“Yes, well, maybe…”
“So even if it wasn’t me that was with you last night, you would have said the same thing to someone else. “
Was that what he thought? Elena swallowed nervously as their conversation started to turn in a direction she didn’t anticipate. Carlisle’s mood seemed to turn cloudier, but she couldn’t say, “I like you now.” It was like a confession.
“I don’t drink much anyway, so don’t worry about it…”
“Don’t drink in my absence.”
She was forced to nod. She had fabricated a ridiculous drinking habit, but that was her own fault.
“Alright. I’ll try my best.”
Only after hearing her answer did Carlisle finally relax. He stared at her with an inscrutable expression, then straightened her untidy hair with one hand. When he spoke, his voice was soft.
“You are a dangerous woman.”
“Oh, I’m sorry…”
What outrageous things did Carlisle hear last night? Elena had no choice but to blame herself as he looked at her with a mysterious fever in his eyes. She suddenly realized that the hand on her hair had drifted down to the back of her neck.
“…?”
She thought their current positions were a bit strange. She was lying on the bed, while Carlisle was slightly leaning over her with his head propped up on his arm.
“…Caril?”
In response to Elena’s puzzled voice, Carlisle replied in a lower tone than usual.
“Do you still want it now?”
“What?”
“You said you felt like kissing last night.”
Another hot fever flushed on Elena’s face, but she did her best to nod calmly.
“Now that I’m sober, I’m fine.”
But Carlisle’s face was still leaning in closer. As Elena stared up at him with surprised eyes, Carlisle spoke again with a faint smile.
“Your desires may be gone, but I’ve been feeling that way since last night.”
“Ah… “
“So take responsibility.”
Before she could say anything else, Carlisle’s hot lips covered Elena’s own. Every time they kissed, Carlisle had always done it with reckless desperation. She wondered if she would end up being devoured this way.
Elena, lying on the bed, was unable to move back, and so she took his kiss directly. After a while she started to become dizzy from the lack of air, and so she blindly grabbed his firm chest and hung on. Perhaps for that reason, Carlisle’s kisses softened, and the storm eventually changed into something as sweet as ice cream. It was her first time experiencing such a kiss. Luckily or not, no one disturbed the newlyweds in their bedroom, allowing Carlisle and Elena to kiss each other for a long while.
After exploring each other for some time, Carlisle finally pulled away. Elena heaved in deep lungfuls of air, and when she looked up at Carlisle her cheeks were pink. He gently brushed her hair back before speaking.
“It’s incredible. The more I kiss you, the hungrier I get.”
Elena felt captive by the deep, blue intensity of his eyes. Her heart raced, and Elena realized once again how bad Carlisle was for her heart.