The Evil Fire inside Lu Jiuyuan flared to life at that moment.
It wasn't the slow, smoldering heat of the night before, like embers fanned by the wind. It was a more immediate blaze, like dry wood catching fire in an instant.
His Adam's apple bobbed. His gaze settled on her and wouldn't move.
Lu Xueqi sensed his gaze.
She had seen that look many times.
Every time it appeared, what happened next would leave her...
Lu Xueqi's body trembled slightly. It wasn't because she was cold, but because she knew what that look meant.
"Husband..." Lu Xueqi's voice quavered. Her fingers clenched the corner of the quilt as she tried to wrap it around herself. "You..."
Before she could finish, an arm reached around from behind and clasped her waist, giving her a gentle tug.
Her back fell against a warm chest. The quilt slipped from her shoulders as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.
His chest pressed against her back, scorching hot, like a furnace that had just been lit.
"Wife." Lu Jiuyuan's voice brushed against her ear, husky and languid in the way it always was in the morning, yet also filled with undisguised, naked desire.
His warm breath grazed her earlobe, and her body tingled all the way from the tips of her ears to her toes, as if she'd been struck by lightning.
Lu Jiuyuan lowered his head and pressed his lips to her ear, gently blowing a warm breath against it. "You're so tempting."
Those five words were like five pebbles tossed into a still lake, sending ripples across her heart.
Lu Xueqi's body went limp. All her strength drained away in that instant. Like a piece of candy melted by the sun, she clung to him, unable to wriggle free.
A blush spread across her face, from her ears to her neck, then down to her chest, blooming in patches like peach blossoms in spring.
Her lashes drooped and quivered softly, like two startled butterflies. Her lips parted slightly, revealing the tips of her pearly teeth. She looked so pitiful, like a little white rabbit pinned beneath a tiger's paw.
"Husband, don't..." Lu Xueqi's voice trembled, as delicate as a spider's thread in the wind, ready to snap at the slightest touch.
She didn't know whether she was begging him to stop or acting coy. Perhaps it was both.
Lu Jiuyuan didn't answer.
His hand slid up from her waist, his fingers tracing the curve of her spine, vertebra by vertebra, feeling her body tremble.
Her back was beautiful. Her shoulder blades rose slightly beneath her thin skin, like a pair of wings about to break free from their cocoon.
His fingertips traced little circles over those two bones, feeling her tremble more and more violently.
"Husband... I really can't anymore..." Lu Xueqi's voice caught in her throat. Her eyes were red, but there was no resistance in them, only an emotion she couldn't quite explain, complicated and tangled with both shame and anticipation.
She buried her face in the pillow, her voice muffled. "I... I'm still sore..."
Lu Jiuyuan's fingers stopped.
He lowered his head and looked at her profile buried in the pillow, at the redness around her eyes and the slight furrow in her brow. The fire inside him was still burning, but it wasn't as fierce now.
After a moment's silence, he lifted her out of the pillow and turned her to face him.
Lu Xueqi's eyes were red, and tiny glimmers of moisture clung to her lashes. She bit her lip, looking utterly pitiful.
Lu Jiuyuan lowered his head and kissed her forehead. "Where does it hurt?"
Lu Xueqi buried her face against his chest and refused to speak. She tapped his chest with her fingers, not hard—more like she was acting coy.
"And you still have the nerve to ask..."
Lu Jiuyuan smiled and pulled her closer.
Of course he knew where she was sore. They'd gone at it too many times the night before, from afternoon till late at night, then from midnight until dawn, with only a few broken hours of rest in between.
It was her first time. The fact that she'd held up this long meant she was in good shape.
"Then let's rest for a while," Lu Jiuyuan said with a soft laugh.
Lu Xueqi lifted her head from his chest and glared at him, her eyes still red. "How long is 'a while'?"
"As long as you want."
"Liar! You said we'd rest for a while last night, too, and then..."
Lu Xueqi didn't finish, because Lu Jiuyuan kissed her.
It wasn't a domineering kiss that left no room for refusal. It was light and tender, like a feather brushing her lips.
His tongue traced the outline of her lips with careful tenderness, as if soothing a startled fawn.
Lu Xueqi slowly relaxed. Her fingers, which had been gripping his lapel, gradually loosened.
She closed her eyes, her lashes quivering gently as she returned his kiss.
Outside the window, the sunlight grew brighter, slowly moving from the foot of the bed toward its head and falling across their intertwined figures.
Lu Xueqi didn't know how he'd ended up pinning her down on the bed again.
Perhaps she had kissed him back too earnestly. Perhaps his kiss had been too tender. Perhaps those words, "You're so tempting," were still echoing in her ears. Perhaps it was for some other reason.
In any case, by the time she realized what was happening, she was already lying on her back, her long hair spread across the pillow. He was braced above her, the morning light shining from behind him and gilding his figure.
"Husband..." Lu Xueqi's voice was very soft.
"Hmm?"
"Be gentle."
"Okay."
Lu Jiuyuan lowered his head and kissed her lips, silencing whatever else she might have said.
Sunlight poured through the window and fell over them.
The bed began to creak again, and the coarse quilt bunched up beneath them.
No one knew what was happening in the guest room upstairs. No one knew that the frosty woman in white was now blushing and biting her lip, burying her face in the pillow.
The sun slowly climbed from the east to the top of the sky. Morning turned to noon, and several hours passed.
At last, the sounds in the room died away, like a long downpour finally coming to an end, leaving only the dripping of water from the eaves.
Lu Xueqi lay in his arms, feeling like a crumpled ball of paper. Every inch of her skin was burning, and every muscle ached.
She buried her face in the crook of his neck and refused to look up, because she knew her face had to be bright red.
Lu Jiuyuan held her close, gently rubbing her shoulder with his fingers, a satisfied smile on his lips.
Neither of them spoke.
The room was quiet, save for the bustle of the streets outside and the sound of their breathing, mingled together.
After a long while, Lu Xueqi finally lifted her head from the crook of his neck.
The sunlight streaming through the window made her squint. She looked at the bright sky outside, then at the pieces of clothing scattered across the floor, and fell silent.
"Husband."
"Hmm?"
"My clothes are ruined."
Lu Jiuyuan paused, then looked down at the scraps on the floor.
Her moon-white top had been torn into several pieces. The pale green skirt had split at the waist, and the thin undergarment hanging over the edge of the bed had a broken strap and fabric stretched out of shape.
The corner of his mouth twitched. He really had gone too far the night before.
Understanding what she meant, he let his consciousness sink into his mind and opened the Mall in the Peerless Beauty Group.
In the clothing section, he looked through the women's clothes in moon-white shades. After turning a few pages, he chose a moon-white dress embroidered with faint orchid patterns at the collar and cuffs. It was made of soft fabric, simply styled, and cost one hundred points.
He tapped to buy it. A flash of white light passed, and a neatly folded set of clothes appeared in his hand.
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