Chapter 36

What reason did Lin Yu have left? Whenever she was with him, it vanished. The hand resting lightly on his shoulder slowly wrapped around him, and the hand gripping her waist slipped in without the slightest difficulty.

As the pad of his finger entered her, Lin Yu trembled all over.

Later, her clothes were pushed up, and Chen Lüli saw everything more clearly than he had in the car. He lowered his head to kiss her, making his way down.

Lin Yu instinctively bit her hand.

Her fingertips curled.

Like a dragon swimming through water, almost soaked, Chen Lüli returned to kiss her lips and asked her softly.

Lin Yu held tightly to his neck and answered with a kiss to his Adam's apple. Barely breathing, she nodded. Chen Lüli took her lips between his, desire in his eyes.

He lifted his hips.

At that moment, Lin Yu discovered that love and desire between a man and a woman could be so overwhelming-and this man was him. She understood what it meant for a moth to fly into a flame.

Chen Lüli knitted his brows and slowly pushed in.

Lin Yu nearly covered her eyes. How could it feel this good?

A long time passed.

She became aware of the sounds she was making and instinctively covered her mouth. Lying facedown, her thoughts in a jumble, she turned to look at Chen Lüli. "Can we just call this an accident?"

Sweat dripped from Chen Lüli as he heard her. His palm pressed against her neck, he hadn't quite caught what she said. He bent down and looked into her eyes. "All right."

Having gotten her answer, Lin Yu breathed a sigh of relief, yet it also seemed to confirm what had been said about the difference between possessiveness and liking someone. Perhaps it had begun with possessiveness for him, just as Ming Yu was possessive of him. Possessiveness made a person want to possess, so he had lost control and kissed her that night, and later forced her to look at him.

He needed to be sure.

Chen Lüli bent down and kissed her shoulder, biebu.

When he pulled her into his arms again, he had come to his senses a little. Gripping her waist, he asked, "What did you just say? An accident?"

Lin Yu was drenched in fragrant sweat, like water. She was no longer in her right mind, yet she made an effort to look at him, staying awake. Chen Lüli gripped her neck and bit her lips as he said, "Who wants an accident with you? Explain yourself clearly when you wake up."

Lin Yu held his neck tighter. From the way she moved, it clearly wasn't enough.

Chen Lüli thought she really knew how to drive him mad. He gripped her waist and changed positions.

Jiang Zao tossed and turned in her room. The auntie had prepared pajamas, toiletries, and the like for her, and she should have slept well after her shower.

But once she actually lay down, she couldn't sleep. The red wine she had drunk hadn't gone to her head in the least. She picked up her phone, wanting to message Lin Yu and talk to her about Ming Yu, to see what Lin Yu thought.

But remembering that Lin Yu had already gone to sleep, she hesitated to type. A strange sixth sense was also keeping her from sending a message.

She blinked, rolled onto her stomach, and stared at the WeChat chat box.

She stared and stared until the screen nearly blurred before her eyes. Only then did Jiang Zao swallow, compose a message, and cautiously send a sticker that said, "Are you asleep?"

At that moment, the phone receiving the message vibrated on the bedside table.

The faint sound couldn't possibly draw the attention of the people on the bed. There, Lin Yu held Chen Lüli's neck, her long legs pale, clear moisture trickling down. Her arms trembled, and she couldn't speak.

Jiang Zao kept staring at the screen.

Her message was met with silence. She sighed and rolled over. Yuyu... was probably fast asleep.

Jiang Yan'an was asleep in bed when he suddenly shot upright. He grabbed his phone, feeling that something about tonight wasn't right. Weren't Brother Lü and Yuyu a little closer than usual?

Weren't they?

Why had he taken the initiative to carry Yuyu to her room?

And that glass of wine seemed to have been Brother Lü's. Why had he given it to Yuyu?

Jiang Yan'an pressed a hand to his chest, unable to catch his breath.

Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

He opened his phone and tapped Chen Lüli's profile picture.

He typed: Brother Lü, are you asleep?

He continued typing: Want to stay up all night and have a good talk?

A long time passed without a reply.

Jiang Yan'an was quiet for a few seconds.

Was he bothering him too much?

He fell back onto the bed with a thud. He thought of his nagging mother and the pile of work waiting in Jing City. He was exhausted in body and mind. He was already so rich, so why did he still have to labor, work, and put up with grievances? He was already so rich, so why did he still have to listen to his mother nag him? And let her lecture him from beginning to end?

Thinking of Yuyu's smile, he closed his eyes. It was so wonderful. Once he had figured things out and returned to Li City, everything would be all right.

That night, the moon shone bright and the stars were sparse. The villa district, far from the bustling areas, was silent. Here and there, a room glowed with orange light, and the occasional silhouette appeared beneath it.

A few fireworks also lit up the mountainside. There were only a few clusters, but they were beautiful all the same.

After a long time, the room fell quiet. The woman, still trembling slightly, was drawn into a warm embrace and sank into a deep sleep. The stars wheeled across the sky, the moon disappeared, and dawn quietly broke, the sky gradually growing clear and bright.

The moment Lin Yu woke, every scene from last night came rushing back. Her mind went blank, and she instinctively started to get out of bed, wanting to escape.

Chen Lüli noticed her movement and gave a soft, amused sound. He moved over her, captured her lips, and slipped inside with ease. Lin Yu's body instantly stiffened.

Chen Lüli held her waist and bent his head to kiss her until her body relaxed.

He continued to push in slowly. Burying his face against her neck, he kissed her and said, "I knew you'd want to run away, coward."

Lin Yu's face turned crimson.

Chen Lüli gripped her waist and moved against her, saying in a low voice, "See clearly what we did last night. You're wide awake now, so feel it."

The next second, Lin Yu bit her arm and arched her neck. Faint whimpers escaped her as she stared helplessly but intently at him.

He...

He...

Bastard.

Chen Lüli chuckled. "Cursing me? It's no use. Just feel it."

Lin Yu: "..."

That morning, the curtains billowed, and the greenery outside the window seemed to glimpse the hazy, intimate scene in the room. In fact, the curtains fluttered for a while before settling heavily again.

No one could see clearly.

Perhaps only the rising heat in the room knew what was happening there.

Chapter 36

By the time they reached the peak, sounds were already coming from the enormous villa. Though it was well soundproofed, there was something subtle about it: as Lin Yu lost her senses, as though drowning, footsteps were moving about outside.

Jiang Zao had slept fairly well in the latter half of the night, but she woke early. After getting up, she went to lean lazily over the railing. Turning to glance at Lin Yu's bedroom, she wondered whether Yuyu was awake.

Jiang Yingshan had gone out for a run early that morning and had just returned. He greeted Jiang Zao from downstairs as he came in. Jiang Zao raised a hand and waved; Jiang Yingshan smiled and went into his room.

That instant of blankness made Lin Yu hold Chen Lüli's neck tightly. He was in little better shape, his head lowered as he kissed her neck gently and calmed his desire. Droplets rolled down his lean muscles. Lin Yu's eyes were hazy, yet the face so close before her belonged to the man she had loved for many years.

Overcome with emotion, she lowered her head to rub against his face, seeking his lips.

She was like a kitten. Chen Lüli felt it and lifted his face from her neck, turning to cover her lips with his. They went on kissing back and forth. One truly couldn't tell by looking at her: the tip of her slender tongue reached out and tangled with his.

Chen Lüli's arms tightened sharply, and he nipped her lips.

Lin Yu could feel the change in him, and broken sounds escaped her throat.

Chen Lüli swung his long legs off the bed and carried her toward the bathroom. As they parted, strings of moisture slipped down. It was easy to imagine how dazed Lin Yu was that morning.

Compared with her first taste of it in the car last time, what she experienced this time was entirely different. She understood what it meant for a man and a woman to make love, but it was also because the man was Chen Lüli that she was so entranced.

After her bath, Lin Yu sat on the edge of the bed, wrapped in a large towel.

Chen Lüli dried her hair with another towel. He wore a black top and long pants, his hair half dry, wisps falling over his eyes. But his shoulders were broad, his legs long, and everything about him was pleasing to the eye. Lin Yu didn't dare look at him, her face red.

As Chen Lüli dried her hair, he bent down, lifted her chin, and met her eyes.

Lin Yu blinked, a blush spreading down her cheeks to her neck. Chen Lüli stared into her dewy eyes. "When you woke up this morning, the first thing you wanted to do was run away, wasn't it?"

Lin Yu's lashes stilled.

Chen Lüli gave a soft huff. "I knew it. And after you ran away? You'd say last night was an accident?"

Lin Yu's heart clenched.

Looking into her eyes, Chen Lüli said, "I never expected you to seem so gentle and quiet, yet be so rebellious underneath."

"Does Auntie Zhong know?" he asked.

Lin Yu reflexively clutched the towel tighter and glared at him.

Seeing that, Chen Lüli chuckled and pinched her nose. "If you don't want anyone to know, don't do it in the first place. If you dare to do something, you should dare to own up to it. Be brave and face your desires."

Lin Yu pressed her lips together. He didn't know she had longed for him since high school. She asked softly, "Have you finished making sure?"

Chen Lüli looked into her eyes. "I have. I'm certain I want to be with you."

Lin Yu's heart pounded wildly. But did he know how much courage it took for someone who had been drowning for too long to come ashore, not to mention all the hidden bitterness along the way? She had even decided to find a suitable person to date and marry, hoping she could stop loving him and free herself from those feelings.

She admitted that Ming Yu's words had affected her.

She had understood what Ming Yu meant. Ming Yu was possessive of him.

So she had asked Ming Yu why she wasn't dating. If Ming Yu did date, he would probably be her first choice, and then the two might become entangled. A beauty like Ming Yu, who already had some history with him, might find it easier.

From that accidental kiss until now, she had remained uneasy and doubtful. Could he really like her?

She really had known him for many, many years, starting when that bus had braked abruptly. He might have thought it was merely some unknown girl trying to scam him, or he might have long forgotten the curtain of rain that day. But she remembered it most clearly and held it closest, and on that bus she had heard her own uncontrollable heartbeat. To her, that moment was eternal.