The Hidden King's Stolen Wife-Chapter 170: Love Is A Surprise

Soleia’s eyes quickly widened with surprise by the boldness of Ralph’s words. Her throat felt dry as she felt heat quickly rise from her neck to her cheeks, and soon enough, her face was the color of beetroot. She hurriedly turned away, her entire body tense with embarrassment.

This man! He was too suave for his own good!

"That is the sort of talk that has got women like Evangeline falling head over heels for you," Soleia said with a slight pout as she recalled the events that happened a few days ago. She thought about it every now and then, and she hated to admit how it sometimes bothered her even in her dreams.

"In that case, is it working on you?" Ralph asked, and Soleia immediately turned to look at him with pinched lips.

She loathed to admit it, but the truth of the matter was that it did work on her― it worked a little too well. With the days they spent pretending to be a married couple, along with the fact that they had been sleeping on the same bed for the last week, Soleia had found herself more and more interested in Ralph.

It certainly did not help that even though the house was also occupied by others, Soleia had hardly ever seen those other men! According to Ralph, those men often left early and returned late due to their jobs, and as a result, it truly felt like this place was their marital home rather than a shelter that they were temporarily borrowing to rest their heads.

"I... I can’t practice like that!" Soleia said, abruptly stepping away with a shake of her head. "It’s too unnatural."

"Then how shall we make this natural?" Ralph asked. He folded his arms and leaned against the wall leisurely, smiling at her with a slight teasing look in his eyes. freēnovelkiss.com

Soleia’s eyes narrowed ever the slightest as she observed his actions. This man was doing this on purpose!

While she was acting all flustered and feverish, Ralph Byrone had been toying with her, watching her squirm and shiver like a worm on a hook. While a part of her delighted in the fact that he wanted physical touch with her so much that he would resort to such petty tricks, another part of her ached for revenge.

And she knew just how to get it.

"Well," Soleia said, "it should be a surprise."

"A surprise?" Ralph echoed, his eyebrows rising ever the slightest as her words genuinely caught him off his guard. "Interesting. Do elaborate."

"It shouldn’t be a planned thought," Soleia said. "Kisses are driven by a rush of emotions. It should come naturally, as you said. Hence, it should be done in surprise, when the other party least expects it. For example..."

Without allowing Ralph any chance to fully process what her words meant, Soleia leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Her hands were clenched into fists by her side, mustering all her courage for such a brazen act.

How bold, how scandalous! If the version of her from two years ago had seen this, she would no doubt have frowned upon her current actions.

But the current Soleia had no care about that. She simply pulled back and delighted in watching Ralph’s eyes widen, his lips slightly parted as he stared at Soleia. Slowly, his face colored to match hers, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.

"A surprise," she muttered, her face still close enough to his. "Just like that."

Rafael could feel her breath fanning across his lips, sweet as honey. His heart skipped a beat before thundering against his ribcage, pounding against his bones so intensely that he thought it was about to rush out his throat.

Soleia was so close. If he even just moved slightly ahead, their lips would touch.

"So easy, huh?" he murmured, his voice low and hoarse.

"Mmm," Soleia hummed. Her eyes were slightly hooded over, the expression on her face causing a certain part of Rafael’s to stiffen.

Taking a deep breath, he decided to take a leap of faith. Without allowing Soleia the chance to react, he reached forward and cupped the back of her neck, his face leaning in so that their lips could touch.

Soleia’s eyes widened in surprise, but she didn’t push him away. In fact, it was quite the opposite. The moment their lips touched, she felt a flutter in her stomach, sparks showering throughout her body as her lips automatically moved along with him.

Her lips parted to gasp when she felt his other hand on her waist, pulling her close. Something... hard pressed against her lower stomach, and right as her lips created an opening, Ralph’s tongue darted in, entangling with her own.

Before she even knew it, a moan escaped her throat. The soft sound hadn’t gone unnoticed, for Ralph groaned in response. He broke the kiss for only a second, causing a whimper to leave Soleia’s lips before she could stop herself. But even that was quickly silenced when he pulled her into his arms, helping her legs to wrap around his waist while his arms supported her weight, lifting her off the ground.

The moment she was secure, he brought their lips together again. That brief second apart was all the time Soleia had to refill her lungs with much-needed oxygen before her breath was quickly stolen away.

She hadn’t even noticed he had crossed the room until Ralph gently lowered her onto the couch, leaning over her while supporting his weight so as to not crush her. Their tongues continued to dance, and Soleia even found herself with her hands roaming across Ralph’s broad chest, pulling at the lapels of his shirt to bring him closer down toward her.

They only parted — rather hesitantly — when they needed air. Both their faces were red, their lips swollen with love.

As for Soleia, she felt her core burn with an unexplainable desire. She clenched her thighs closely together, her stomach coiling when she met Ralph’s gaze.

This was all her doing. She had wanted to take revenge, and as a result, she flew too close to the sun. Now, just one look into Ralph’s eyes and she knew she was done for. She had burned herself in the process, but the fires of hell looked — and felt — awfully tempting right now.