I knew he was trying to reassure me, but did he not know that if all the masters and disciples waiting for a chance to look at him like this were to line up at our door, they would've made it all the way past Mount Hua's main gate?
Besides, the same look would be a lot more alluring on them instead of me … particularly in Su Nian's large, gleaming almond eyes.
I lowered my gaze, trying to push that image out of my mind. "I just wish I could be better for you," I said. "Prettier, especially."
Because I might be able to change other things, but my appearances weren't within my control. Beauty wasn't one of my endowments, and it never would be.
A light chuckle came into my ears. "I wish you could see what I see." His lips brushed over the side of my neck. "Do you know what looking at you every day does to me, Qing-er?"
I stilled. His breath was hot against my ear, and I realized belatedly that he had probably been prodding me from behind for quite a while. "Bai—" I opened my mouth to respond, but the rest of the sentence was replaced by a moan when his tongue flicked over my earlobe.
"You are beautiful," he whispered as he nibbled me lightly. "If you get any more tempting than you already are, I might never be able to control myself around you."
My heart skipped a beat. He rarely talked like this, and the heat in those words burned me. It didn't sound like he was saying it only to comfort me … Could he really think that I was … as attractive as all those real beauties?
He heard my silent thoughts, and his arms tightened around me. "No more diffident comments about yourself." The soft tickles from his breath sent little tingles down my cheeks. "You are perfect the way you are, and I thank the heavens every day for letting me have you. There is nothing more I could ever ask for."
The raw cherishment in his voice melted my heart. "Bai Ye …" I reached up behind me, letting my hand slip over his nape. "I …"
I didn't know what to say. I felt wordless against such unreserved affection, and I wondered what I had done to deserve this from him. "I …"
"Say 'I miss you'," he coaxed, filling the silence from the pause. "Or 'I want you'." Another moan escaped me as his lips trailed down my neck, dropping warm, wet kisses along the way. "It's been too quiet here the past week. No one to give me jealous looks, and no one to change my bandages for me. I had to do it all by myself."
The forged plaintive tone didn't fit him at all, but I found it adorable. I chuckled a little. "H-How are your wounds?" I asked.
"They have healed. Just in time so that you can wrap your arms around me."
I was pondering how I could wrap my arms around him while sitting in his lap when suddenly, he lifted me and dropped me onto the table across from the mirror. Pressing me into the wall behind me, he sealed my lips, taking me in a deep, hard kiss.
I gasped at the familiar sensation sweeping over me. The scent of cedar, the taste of herbs, the heat of that fire and everything else that was unmistakably him scorched me and sizzled me. I did miss him … even more than I realized, and before I knew it, I was parting my lips wide and inviting him in, savoring him as if I was hungry, thirsty. Instead of wrapping my arms around him, I pulled on his robe, tugging it loose.
Our mingled breaths quickened, and his hands moved along with mine. One worked the ribbons of my clothes while the other slid beneath my collar impatiently, tracing my collarbone and gliding down my chest. I moaned into his mouth when his fingers grazed over my breast, stroking my sensitive tip.
"Qing-er," he breathed as he shed the layers of my garments off my shoulder in the meantime. "You make the most beautiful sounds in this world."
I moaned again when he pinched me between his fingertips, sending a sharp spark throughout my body. Roaring fire consumed my senses, and my hands clawed at his belt. With a satisfying rustle of fabric, I yanked his robe and breeches free, whereas his wondrous fingers slid down my bottom, lifting me ever so slightly to pull my underlayers off.
"And the most beautiful sight," he added and took a step back, breaking our kiss.
Caught off guard by his sudden change, I opened my eyes, staring at him in confusion. He was standing a few paces away from me, fully bare. Afternoon sunlight glowed through the curtains next to me, casting a soft halo over his skin. He looked like a god. Though unlike the solemn, sublime god that he was on the first day I had met him, he was a sensual and sumptuous one this time, gilded in lure and temptation.
But what struck me even more than the breathtaking sight of his body was the look in his eyes. I knew I was facing him equally bare, and I knew how hard he had already been this whole time, yet there was no lust in his eyes. He was looking at me as if I was a godly creation of beauty and might, as if he was paying homage to the sight in front of him just as much as I did him. His gaze was filled with love and longing, with only a hint of desire glinting from its depth.
"Qing-er," he said softly, closing the distance between us again, and I thought I heard a thousand unspoken words in that simple sound.. A dazzling light gleamed in his eyes as he leaned in, holding me in his arms, and kissed me again.
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