Unbridled

The young miss was so hard to please.

Earlier that day, Xing Yue had repeatedly assured Bo Wuxue that if it happened again, she could definitely refuse. Now that she had the choice, she wavered.

Xing Yue was thirty-five. Though she hated admitting that age made her anxious, everything around her was closing in. Her parents pressured her to marry, and her company pressed her at every turn. She desperately needed a way to relieve the strain.

"I'm going to take a shower." In the end, she shamefully accepted. Her resolve from earlier had vanished; despite what she said, she wanted to kiss Bu Yao with her forked tongue.

Xing Yue opened the wardrobe and ran her hand along the rail reserved for nightwear. At last, she chose a black nightdress with a lace-up front. The fabric was almost sheer. She also dug out a pair of thigh-high stockings.

The sight made Bu Yao's eyes burn. Xing Yue hadn't even put them on, but Bu Yao could already picture her in them.

She knew Xing Yue sometimes wore black stockings, though rarely, and only with a black, figure-hugging dress. Come to think of it, Xing Yue had never worn them specifically for her.

While Bu Yao's imagination ran wild, Xing Yue picked up both items and placed them in her hands.

"Will you wear these tonight?" Xing Yue asked.

Bu Yao froze for a beat. Once she understood, heat flooded her face, and she refused almost on instinct. "How could I?"

She had never touched anything like this... Her usual clothes were elegant and dignified. Even when she dressed provocatively, she kept it refined. She had never worn anything that covered so little.

Xing Yue found her reaction rather adorably awkward and laughed. "They're new. I washed them, but I've never worn them."

Bu Yao retorted, "Is that the problem?"

It had nothing to do with whether they were new or used.

Xing Yue didn't press her. She had only been teasing her to ease the mood, not because she truly intended to make Bu Yao wear them.

Before going into the bathroom, she took the medicine the hospital had prescribed for Bu Yao. After a quick shower, she read the instructions, filled a basin with hot water, dissolved the powder in it, and draped a brand-new towel over the rim.

When Xing Yue came out, she carried the basin in both hands, her steps languid. She had casually twisted her hair into a low bun, leaving it slightly disheveled, with a few half-damp strands falling across her forehead. Her wine-red satin nightwear made her skin look luminous.

The crossed collar gaped a little low. Misty droplets of water clung to the deep valley beneath it...

Xing Yue did nothing but walk toward her, yet every step landed squarely on Bu Yao's heart. Apart from Xing Yue's footsteps, the only sound in the bedroom was Bu Yao's restless heartbeat.

And the night's turmoil was far from over.

Bu Yao stared in a daze, not even reacting when Xing Yue reached her side. Then a palm suddenly slapped her calf—

Smack. The clear, sharp sound rang through the room.

The spot she'd struck reddened. Xing Yue hadn't held back, and it hurt a little, but Bu Yao didn't want to pull away...

Xing Yue set the diluted medicine on the bedside table and sat on the edge of the bed, pressing down a corner of the blue-black sheet. "Where's your little tail? Let me put the medicine on it, little sister."

At that form of address, a blush spread over Bu Yao's entire body. She felt ready to melt. Xing Yue had never called herself her older sister before; it was a nickname Bu Yao had coaxed out of her only when they reunited last night.

When Bu Yao still didn't show her tail, Xing Yue leaned toward her bashful face and said hoarsely, "Do I have to kiss your feet again? The young miss is so hard to please."

Bu Yao could tell Xing Yue was teasing her. Her tone was nothing like when she'd been angry at the hospital.

She turned away and lay on her stomach, burying her face in the crook of her arm. She couldn't bear to look at Xing Yue anymore...

The scent of fully bloomed camellias gradually filled the bedroom. Xing Yue knew it well. It was the scent Bu Yao gave off when she wanted a mate.

Beneath the half-cover of the velvet blanket, petal-shaped snake scales emerged along Bu Yao's legs. They appeared first at her ankles, then quickly spread up her calves, the vivid scales mingling with tender white skin in an alluring pattern.

Before long, a snake tail slipped out from under the blanket and began exploring the bed. Xing Yue caught it.

The tip of an adult's tail was hardly slender. It filled her palm, and a little farther up, she wouldn't have been able to wrap her hand around it at all. It was a plump snake.

"Is the water temperature okay?" Xing Yue lowered the tip of the tail into the medicine, then scooped up some liquid with her hand and splashed it over the scales.

So spoiled. The doctor had prescribed medicine, yet Bu Yao hadn't applied it. She had to wait for Xing Yue to tend to her. Remembering that Bu Yao still couldn't put on shoes by herself, Xing Yue suddenly tightened her grip on the tail.

"Ah..." The woman who had been silent all this time cried out in surprise. She turned her face, bewildered, toward Xing Yue, who was deliberately making trouble.

"Who does the young miss plan to call for help tomorrow?" Xing Yue's face betrayed nothing. If anything, she looked gentle and virtuous, as though she wouldn't hurt a fly, even while she quietly bullied Bu Yao. "No outsiders are allowed in my home."

Bu Yao didn't know what she meant. She sat up, her eyes shimmering. "Will you put them on for me?"

Xing Yue's eyes curved with a faint smile, but she answered without mercy. "No."

Xing Yue wouldn't let the wolf-tailed assistant into her home, but she wasn't willing to put Bu Yao's shoes on for her, either.

The woman whose eyes had been hazy with desire a moment ago looked as though someone had doused her in cold water. Her expression froze. "Then should I go out barefoot?"

"You won't," Xing Yue said with certainty.

The young miss cared too much about appearances. With her status and standing, how could she possibly go out without shoes?

Bu Yao couldn't tell what Xing Yue was getting at, and it irritated her. She lashed her tail through the basin with a splash. Water sprayed onto Xing Yue's wine-red nightwear, leaving a damp patch clinging to her body.

Xing Yue gave her a half smile. "Figure it out yourself."

That only angered Bu Yao more. Her tail struck the water again, sending up a bigger splash that soaked the bedsheet.

Xing Yue looked as though she'd made a remarkable discovery. The fact that Bu Yao hadn't slapped her in the face with that tail was already a huge improvement in the young miss's temper.

"Well, well." She rubbed the tail in her palm, amused. "So the young miss can sulk, too."

Bu Yao drew her brows together and raised her tail once more, ready to lash it hard against the water, as though that might ease something inside her. But just as she brought it down, Xing Yue seized it in an iron grip. Scales rasped against her palm as she dragged Bu Yao toward her.

Caught completely off guard, Bu Yao fell flat onto the bed. Xing Yue came down over her, gripped her cheeks with five fingers, and kissed her with fierce hunger. Her forked tongue swept in, stealing all Bu Yao's breath, while soft lips pressed and ground roughly against hers.

Their forked tongues entwined in a kiss that was consuming and unrestrained.

Only when Xing Yue had kissed her fill did she pull back. She caught the hair at the back of Bu Yao's head and tugged her a little farther away, chuckling softly. "The young miss can't learn to put on her shoes, so she's throwing a tantrum at herself."