Shameless Letch

Lu Jingsi's thumb gently rubbed the mark.

The emotions in his dark eyes were hard to read.

He had been on the battlefield, and his hands had wielded swords and gripped blades. All ten of his fingers bore hard calluses.

He rubbed back and forth, betraying nothing.

His movements made Su Luoqian's heart tremble, and so did his expression.

She abruptly pulled her hand back and covered the red mark with her sleeve.

"I've put medicine on it. It'll be fine in a few days."

With that, she tried to walk past him and leave the study.

If she stayed with him any longer, she felt she would hardly be able to breathe.

But the man's tall frame stood straight before her. He was so close that he completely blocked her path.

Lu Jingsi raised the hand she had pulled away from and gently brushed the black hair falling in front of her over her shoulder.

His large hand followed the delicate, graceful curve of her shoulder, brushing lightly along it.

Then his warm palm closed around the back of her neck.

Su Luoqian's heart skipped a beat, and even her breath trembled.

He bent slightly and drew closer, until his scorching breath brushed her already crimson cheek.

Su Luoqian pressed her lips together and lowered her lashes, too timid to meet his eyes.

She was unwell; this was no time to act tough.

But how could Lu Jingsi be kind enough to let her off?

His long fingers tightened slightly around the back of her neck, forcing her to look up, straight into his dark eyes, deep as an abyss.

That look was exactly the same as the one she had seen at dawn, inside the dim bed curtains, once her eyes had adjusted to the light.

Su Luoqian instinctively raised a hand between them, holding back his chest as he drew closer.

Lu Jingsi paused, glanced down at her hand, then looked back up at her.

"What? Want to be tied up again?"

He swept his dark gaze around the study, seemingly searching for something he could use to tie her hands.

Su Luoqian's ears turned bright red with shame and annoyance.

"You! Why is your head full of nothing but those thoughts?"

And he insisted on tying her hands, too.

What a strange preference!

Lu Jingsi freed the thumb of the hand holding her neck and pressed it against her earlobe, rubbing gently.

His voice was low. "Behave, and I won't tie you up."

With that, he lowered his head, intent on kissing her.

Su Luoqian turned her face aside and dodged.

Her red lips moved as she tried to bring him to his senses. "We're in the study. The study."

Lu Jingsi glanced at the Painting of a Walking Horse on the desk, its ink not yet dry. "Then we'll go back to the bedroom."

Su Luoqian quickly pressed a hand against his arm.

The muscles beneath his brocade robe were hard; she could not budge him in the slightest.

"That's not what I meant..."

"Then what do you mean?"

Su Luoqian was too embarrassed to tell even Zelan about this, let alone a grown man like him.

But Lu Jingsi's dark eyes were grave, with an unfathomable sharpness in them. He looked ready to do it in the study that night if she refused to speak.

With no way out, she could only speak softly.

"I'm... I'm not feeling well..."

Not feeling well?

Lu Jingsi's sword-like brows drew together slightly.

He bent down and murmured something in her ear.

Su Luoqian: !!!

She jerked her eyes up and hurriedly covered his mouth.

"What are you saying?!"

He, he, he...

How could he just say that outright?

Besides, that was not what she meant by feeling unwell at all!

Su Luoqian was never the gentle, yielding sort; she was simply unwell today and could not be bothered to argue with him.

But she had never expected...

She was so mortified that her eyes turned red around the rims, and her fair, delicate cheeks looked as though tongues of flame had licked them.

They were burning hot.

Unable to bear it any longer, she cursed, "Shameless letch."

With his lips covered by her hand, Lu Jingsi's sharply handsome features stood out all the more.

But from her words, it was not hard to tell that he had most likely misunderstood.

Still in that position, he looked her thoroughly up and down with his dark eyes. Only then did he pull her hand away and reach out to lift the hem of her outer robe.

"Let this prince take a look."

Su Luoqian hurriedly took half a step back, but the painting jar was behind her, leaving her little room to retreat.

"Lu Jingsi!"

She could not stand the way he acted as though it were only natural and right.

Who in the world behaved like him?

The common people praised him as aloof and noble, self-possessed and outstanding, while the corrupt officials sent to prison feared his ruthless methods and inscrutable mind.

But it was all false, every bit of it.

This was his true face.

Unrestrained and wanton, doing whatever he pleased.

Not only did he want to do it in the study, but at the slightest disagreement, he tried to lift her clothes and look at that place.

Seeing her resist so strongly, Lu Jingsi knitted his brows even tighter, though his tone softened for once. "I need to see whether you're hurt before I can apply medicine."

With that, he bent down and scooped her up in his arms.

He strode out of the study. "If you don't want to do it in the study, we'll go back to the bedroom and look."

Su Luoqian kicked her legs ceaselessly. "Lu Jingsi, put me down."

But the man acted as though he had not heard her. He went around the corridor and strode straight into the main room, dismissing the servants in a deep voice.

He put her on the bed.

The moment Su Luoqian touched the bed, she hurriedly hugged her knees and curled up at the foot of it, looking ready to resist to the death.

Her clear almond-shaped eyes watched him warily.

Lu Jingsi rested his long fingers on the spot beside him and curled them, tapping it. "If this prince has to pull you back, then the hook straps will be wrapped around you the same way they were last night."

The threat in his words was undisguised.

Su Luoqian felt utterly helpless; she could not beat him in a fight.

She tried to reason with him. "I'm shy. I feel awkward and embarrassed."

"Who in the world does this..."

"This is outrageous, unrestrained, lawless behavior..."

"Only a husband in this world can do this."

He interrupted her accusations in a low voice, his tone matter-of-fact. Taking a handkerchief from beside him, he wiped his fingertips bit by bit, then raised his eyes to look at her.

His patience had clearly run out.

A moment later, he suddenly lunged forward, seized her slender ankle, and dragged her to his side.

Before Su Luoqian could react, he had already pinned her completely beneath him, leaving her unable to move.

She twisted her waist and struggled, flopping like a little fish thrown ashore.

"Lu Jingsi... don't..."

"You can't..."

But Lu Jingsi continued to do as he pleased, his dark eyes fixed on her plain white undergarment.

Su Luoqian was overcome with shame. Her eyes turned red, and she bit her lip, her chest heaving as she panted.

Ashamed and angry, she spoke in a voice choked with tears.

"Lu Jingsi, stop looking."

Lu Jingsi said nothing.

A few breaths later, he bent down and uttered two words in a hoarse voice.