Reborn: The Tyrant's Obsession novel Chapter 201

Chapter 201: She taught him how to do ’it’?

The man from the auction house delivered the huge black case and left without a word.

Ella tilted her head, eyeing it with suspicion. "Did Adrian say anything about this?"

Bertha paused. "No, Miss Yu. It’s rare for someone to deliver anything directly to the Eve Mansion. Shall I move it to the study?"

Ella narrowed her eyes. A vague idea flitted in her mind. "No. Unpack it here."

Bertha hesitated but followed the detailed instructions left behind. As the latches clicked open and the lid lifted, a sheet of silk peeled away, revealing a painting.

"A painting...?" Bertha murmured.

But Ella had already stepped forward, her breath catching.

It was that painting.

The one she and Lilith had fought tooth and nail for in the auction. The one she lost. The one Adrian had bought for an obscene price.

She just stood there, blinking.

He bought it for her?

...

That night, Ella buried her face in her pillow, letting out a muffled groan. "Ahhhhhh!"

She flipped over, then again, slapping her cheeks.

She had raged at him. She had accused him of taking Lilith on a romantic little auction date. Called him out with full moral confidence. While all this time, he was just quietly buying it for her?

The realization made her toes curl from secondhand embarrassment.

"No wonder that smug jerk was smiling when I said all that..." she mumbled, shoving her face back into the pillow. "He probably thinks I’m an idiot!"

Then again...

Her lips twitched.

He deserved it for not saying anything in the first place!

Thickening her skin, she grumbled and pulled the blanket over her head.

...

At exactly 5:00 a.m., a shrill alarm blared through the room.

Ella groaned, reaching out to hit snooze, but her arm was suddenly caught mid-air and pinned above her head.

"Stay still."

A low, sleep-heavy voice rasped by her ear.

Ella froze. Her eyes flew open, only to find herself wrapped in the familiar scent of pine and smoke, encased in firm, muscled arms.

Her brain short-circuited.

Adrian?

Her voice came out hoarse. "When... when did you come back?"

Adrian didn’t answer.

Instead, his grip on her wrist tightened just slightly. His face buried deeper into her neck, and she could feel the slow, controlled inhale against her skin.

The silence between them hummed with unspoken tension.

"I-I thought you won’t be coming back so soon..." She mumbled.

Still, no answer.

Only the sound of his breathing growing rougher as he shifted his head back and looked at her. His gaze was dark and unreadable, a storm brewing in those dark eyes.

Then, without a word, he shifted on top of her, his body pinning hers down completely. Her body responded before her brain could. Her thighs shifted restlessly beneath him, and her chest rose and fell with a tremble.

He lowered his face slowly, dragging his nose down the line of her cheek until it hovered above her lips. His breath mingled with hers.

And then—he kissed her.

Not soft. Not slow.

Hungry.

Like he had been starved since the moment he left.

Their mouths crashed, messy and deep, as he released her wrists only to slide his hand beneath her thin shirt, palm pressing into the bare skin of her waist, then higher. His touch was searing, slow, torturous.

Ella arched up with a whimper.

His tongue invaded her mouth again, setting fire to her nerves. He kissed her like he owned her, rendering her breathless at every touch.

When he pulled back, she gasped for air. But he was already kissing down her throat, lips brushing that sensitive spot just beneath her jaw. Her hands threaded into his hair, desperate, pulling him closer.

"Adrian..." she whispered, her voice cracking.

He didn’t speak.

He simply slid the shirt up and over her head in one smooth motion, tossing it aside.

Instead, she broached the topic that she had left untouched for a while now, "Am I... really your first?" Her cheeks flushed as he placed a soft kiss on the crook of her neck and rolled off her body.

"Mm..." Adrian pulled her into his arms, until she was half-lying atop him.

"Really?" Ella wanted to pull back and look at him properly but her body slumped in his arms bonelessly.

Adrian arched an eyebrow, "You want evidence?"

"W-What evidence?" Ella stammered and pulled back from him as if she was injected with chicken blood, "I merely asked because... because you don’t seem to lack experience...."

"You taught me."

Ella sat there, thunderstruck. In absolute disbelief. Sorry? She must have misheard because what—

"Me?" Ella pointed a finger at herself.

Adrian sat up on the bed, a touch of innocence in his eyes as he nodded once.

"_"

"When did I ever—" Ella trailed off as the realization dawned on her.

When they did ’it’ for the first time, Ella had initiated it in a drunken state. She was barely conscious to remember what happened after she kissed him first.

And in her previous life, they had done it only once before he stormed out. But this time, she was sure that it was more than once.

When Ella looked at Adrian, he was already glancing at her with a knowing gaze that seemed to say—’Now you know.’

Ella was speechless.

...

Due to their morning ’activities’, Ella couldn’t go for her routine run in her usual time. And she hated to go for the runs when the sun was high.

Ella was sitting on the couch, sulking about it when the door to her room opened.

When she looked up, Adrian stood at the entrance, leaning against the wall, "Get dressed."

"Like... for a party?" Ella shot up to her feet, "Or breakfast? Do I wear a sundress? A gown?"

Adrian arched a brow, "Sportswear."

Ella paused and then blinked, "But you didn’t let me go for my morning run when I wanted to. I am not going to run in all this heat..."

Adrian did not budge from his spot and it made Ella pause, "Or, are we not going to run?"

He shook his head.