Even If You're Afraid, You'll Have to Endure It

With that, Su Luoqian rose and returned to the bedside.

The gauze curtains had yet to be drawn up, and the slightly rumpled bedding could be dimly seen through them.

She turned and saw that the man was still sitting by the round table. "Didn't you come back to rest?" she asked.

Why isn't he coming over?

She had already planned to get back into bed and sleep beside him for a while longer.

Hearing this, Lu Jingsi looked up at her. Without a word, he rose and came to her side.

Su Luoqian was about to lift the gauze curtain and climb into bed when he turned her around by the waist.

Lu Jingsi bent down and brought his lips to hers.

As he kissed her, he drew her hands around his waist and had her undo his waist sash.

The sudden intimacy caught Su Luoqian completely unprepared.

Her clear almond eyes widened as she gazed at the man so close to her.

She had to admit, there was nothing to fault about Lu Jingsi's looks.

Now, as he kissed her with his eyes closed, there was less of his usual sharp, unapproachable air, and a faint trace of desire between his brows made him breathtaking.

Sensing her gaze, the man, absorbed in the kiss, suddenly opened his eyes.

His dark, unfathomable eyes met hers.

Su Luoqian could clearly see the flames of desire kindling in their depths.

Her heart trembled wildly. As though bewitched, she wrapped her slender, soft arms around his shoulders and let him lead her onto the bed.

A moment later, her broken whimpers came from behind the curtains.

"Lu... Lu Jingsi, how can you be like this..."

Su Luoqian's whole body was flushed pink, and her cheeks were an even deeper red.

Unwilling to lower her head and look as he wanted, she bit his shoulder in shame and indignation.

"...A, mm, a beast in fine clothes..."

It was a summer morning, and the sunlight was just right.

Only the gauze curtains around the bed had been lowered, allowing the bright light to spill straight inside.

The beautiful pair, tightly entwined, had yet to cease their movements.

After a long while, Su Luoqian, with her arms around him, seemed to feel a different kind of ridge on his body.

She opened her eyes a little, and her small, scallion-white hands wandered over his back.

She did not know what she had touched, but Lu Jingsi let out a low, muffled sound.

Su Luoqian stumbled over her question.

"Is, is this... a scar...?"

Lu Jingsi fixed his gaze on her face.

Her usually clear almond eyes were now wet, their outer corners tilted upward. A gentle blink made her look so alluring it could melt one's bones.

Lower down was a ravine of white jade from which he could not tear himself away.

He did not answer.

How could a man who had led troops and fought in battle have no scars at all?

It had been years, and the wounds had long since healed, leaving no sensation.

He had never cared about such things.

But now, under her light touch, those scars seemed to prickle with a fine, tingling itch.

Lu Jingsi lowered his head to find her lips, tangling with them in biting kisses. His long fingers clasped her hand tightly, guiding it over the scars on his waist and back.

His kiss came fiercely, just like his actions.

Su Luoqian gave a few muffled whimpers.

Then she heard his low, magnetic voice, brooking no refusal.

"Are you afraid?"

"Even if you are, you'll have to endure it."

Su Luoqian wanted to say she was not afraid, but she had little chance to get the words out.

The amorous scene in the room went on without pause.

Waiting outside, Fulin edged toward the eaves of the corridor. When he raised his head, he saw the bright, beautiful sunlight.

He narrowed his eyes, then lowered them again and shook his head somewhat helplessly.

His Highness really is going on and on without end.

It was not until halfway through the hour of si that the sounds from the main chamber finally ceased.

Lu Jingsi did not call for water to be brought in, however. Instead, he had Fulin prepare the bathing room next door.

The bathing room was connected to the main chamber, and one could go straight there from the chamber.

Su Luoqian could not swim and was somewhat afraid of the enormous pool, so she had never used it.

She had always used the small bathing room in the main bedchamber.

She did not know what Lu Jingsi was thinking today, but he insisted on carrying her to wash in that pool.

The bathing room was clean and tidy, spacious and bright.

Steam rose in a haze from the pool in the middle, carrying a hint of dampness.

Su Luoqian was cradled in his arms, wearing only her inner robe, with nothing underneath.

At the sight of the pool, she nervously tightened her grip on the fabric over his chest.

Lu Jingsi glanced down at her. "Afraid?"

"A little," Su Luoqian answered honestly.

As a child, she had once seen someone fall into the water with her own eyes, and the scene had remained etched in her mind, impossible to shake.

Without breaking stride, Lu Jingsi carried her straight into the pool.

"Don't worry. I'm here. Even if you do drown, I'll save you."

Su Luoqian said, "..."

If you don't know how to comfort someone, you don't have to.

She pursed her lips and said dryly, "Then I really must thank you."

The warm water enveloped them both, easing Su Luoqian's exhaustion until she narrowed her eyes in comfort.

There was a soft cushion in the pool. She sat on it, pressed close to Lu Jingsi.

Her body was light and soft, and the feeling of weightlessness was even stronger in the water.

Lu Jingsi was, after all, a strong, sturdy man, and she felt a little safer beside him.

Neither of them had taken off their inner robes, which floated in the water and did not really cover anything.

After a single glance, Lu Jingsi looked away and moved his large frame a little farther from her as well.

But for every inch he moved away, Su Luoqian followed an inch closer.

In the end, she looked up at him. "Lu Jingsi, what are you doing?"

Is he so stingy he won't even let me lean against him?

When she had wanted to move farther away on the bed just now, his attitude had been quite different.

Lu Jingsi said nothing, his jawline taut.

He seized her hand and pulled it straight down beneath the water.

Su Luoqian said, "!!!"

"Let go of me! You lecher!"

She struggled violently, and water splashed with a splash.

Lu Jingsi had not intended to do anything to her in the pool. He let go and glanced at her bright red face.

"Still want to come close?" he asked in a low voice.

How could Su Luoqian dare remain in the same pool with him? She hurriedly climbed out.

But she was wet all over, and her inner robe clung to her graceful, curving figure. It covered nothing and instead made her look naturally alluring, breathtakingly so.

A dark light suddenly flashed in Lu Jingsi's eyes.

Su Luoqian hurriedly pulled the clean clothes from the screen and wrapped herself in them. Doing her best to ignore the man's intense gaze behind her, she clutched the collar shut and left the bathing room.