The innkeeper hadn't closed up despite the beast tide. He figured that since he'd paid the city lord so much money, he'd surely be safe, so he dozed behind the counter.
Creak!
The sound of the door opening startled the innkeeper awake. He rubbed his eyes and looked up.
He saw a woman in white pull a man in blue-green through the door. Her face was as cold as frost, and she gripped his wrist with enough force to make it seem like she might crush his bones.
The man wore a smile, as if he were delighted to be dragged along.
"One room upstairs." Lu Xueqi's voice was so cold that the innkeeper shuddered.
"Yes, yes, of course. Upstairs, turn left, last room." The innkeeper hurriedly handed her a key, not daring to ask for a deposit.
Lu Xueqi took the key and pulled Lu Jiuyuan upstairs.
As soon as the door opened, Lu Xueqi shoved him inside and shut it behind them.
Then she shoved him again.
Lu Jiuyuan stumbled, the backs of his knees hitting the edge of the bed. He fell flat on his back.
The coarse bedding rustled with a dull thump, and the bed frame creaked beneath him.
Before he could push himself up, Lu Xueqi was already on top of him, straddling his waist. She planted both hands on his chest and pinned him firmly to the bed.
The cool, delicate fragrance of Lu Xueqi filled his nose. It wasn't like Jin Ping'er's deep, alluring scent, but much lighter, like a pine forest after the snow had cleared.
Her long hair fell from her shoulders and brushed his cheek, tickling him.
Lu Xueqi gripped his chin and applied slight pressure, forcing him to look up at her.
Her eyes were bright, like two black grapes dipped in ice water. Shyness and nervousness flickered in their depths, but more than anything, they held the resolve of someone burning her bridges.
"Darling." Lu Xueqi's voice was soft, its final syllable lifting slightly with a deliberate, languid note she'd never used before. "You've been teasing me for so long. Now it's my turn to tease you."
Lu Jiuyuan froze.
He stared at her straddling him, at the fingers gripping his chin, at her breathtakingly beautiful face in the sunlight. For a moment, his mind went blank.
Was this Lu Xueqi?
The Lu Xueqi who was usually as cold as frost and thought even one extra word was a bother?
The Lu Xueqi who blushed for ages whenever he kissed her?
Now she sat atop him, looking down at him with a faint smile at the corner of her lips. Emotions he'd never seen before surged in her eyes: forceful and domineering, like a cat finally baring its claws.
She noticed his stunned expression, and her courage grew.
She released his chin. Her fingers traced his jawline down to his Adam's apple, where her fingertips pressed lightly.
Lu Jiuyuan's Adam's apple bobbed. She felt it, and her smile widened.
"Why so quiet?" Lu Xueqi's voice held a hint of teasing. "Aren't you usually so talkative?"
Her hand moved from his throat to his collarbone, and her fingertips began undoing the knotted buttons of his collar.
The first, then the second. She moved slowly, as if deliberately tormenting him.
Her fingers were cool. With each button she undid, her fingertips lightly brushed the newly exposed skin, leaving a faint chill in their wake.
Lu Jiuyuan's breathing began to grow uneven.
"Xueqi!!!"
"Shh." Lu Xueqi leaned down, her full breasts quivering slightly. Her enticing red lips brushed his ear as she whispered like she was sharing a secret. "Darling, I'm the one teasing you now. You're not allowed to talk."
Her hand continued downward, undoing the third button, then the fourth. His collar fell open, revealing his chest. Her fingers stopped over his heart, feeling it beat powerfully, thudding faster and faster like a war drum.
"Your heart's beating so fast." She lifted her head to look at him. Her eyes shone in the moonlight, a sly glint in them. "Darling, are you nervous?"
Lu Jiuyuan took a deep breath and reached for her waist, trying to roll over and pin her beneath him.
It was his usual trick. Whenever her teasing became too much, he would turn the tables and take control.
But this time, the moment his hand touched her waist, she pinned it down.
"No." Lu Xueqi's voice wasn't loud, but it was firm.
She pinned both his hands beside his head and laced their fingers together, clasping them tightly. "Today, I'm on top."
Lu Jiuyuan looked at his hands pinned above him, then at the woman straddling him. The corner of his mouth twitched.
When had she learned this move?
Where had the Lu Xueqi who blushed for ages whenever he kissed her gone?
Lu Xueqi leaned down, her long hair falling to veil their faces.
Her lips met his. It wasn't a light, fleeting kiss, but a heated, insistent kiss that left no room for refusal.
Her body pressed against his. Through their thin clothes, he could feel the light sheen of sweat on her skin and the cool fragrance that belonged to her, growing stronger by the moment.
Lu Xueqi released his hands and slid her fingers along his arms to his shoulders, then from his shoulders down to his chest.
Her fingertips traced slow, light circles over his chest, like a cat's paw scratching at his heart.
Lu Jiuyuan's body began to burn.
The heat didn't come from outside. It seemed to flare from deep within his bones, making his whole body feverish and his breathing quicken. His blood surged through his veins as if it were about to boil.
He wanted to roll over, pin her beneath him, and take back control, but each time she found a deft way to restrain him again.
Not with brute force, but through something subtler, something that made it even harder for him to resist.
She whispered "Don't move" in his ear, and his body seemed to be bound by a spell. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move.
It wasn't an enchantment or magic, but something more fundamental, something that made him willing to obey.
Lu Xueqi's breathing grew quick as well. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips slightly swollen, and her eyes grew hazier, as if veiled by a thin gauze.
The desire inside her had been fully stirred at that moment. It wasn't a bodily desire, but something deeper and more primal.
She didn't want to wait any longer.
Ever since that morning in the abandoned village, ever since Jin Ping'er had appeared before her in that pale moon-white and light-blue dress, ever since the hickey on Lu Jiuyuan's neck had stung her eyes, she had been waiting.
Waiting for the right moment, for a reason, for an instant that would let her set aside all her reserve and pride.
That instant had come.
She wanted Lu Jiuyuan to know she wasn't someone who could only passively accept what came her way.
She could be cool and reserved, and maintain the dignity of a senior disciple of Xiaozhu Peak in front of others.
But when it was just the two of them, she could be different: more genuine, more tender, and more domineering.
She wanted to keep Lu Jiuyuan firmly in her grasp, and his heart just as firmly in her grasp.
Not with Jin Ping'er's bewitching tricks, but in her own way.
Lu Xueqi's hand wandered over him, from his chest to his lower abdomen, then from his lower abdomen to his waist.
She traced every inch of his skin, as if confirming he was there, and as if marking her territory.
Her body shifted atop his, soft and warm, like a fish struggling in shallow water.
Her voice grew softer and gentler, carrying a seductive note she'd never heard in herself before.
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