Chapter 183: Chapter 183: An Ambiguous Contest
The afternoon air suddenly grew thick and sensual. The damp fragrance from her recent bath seemed to intensify.
Ming Lingyi watched the man before her slowly lower his head. He didn’t get angry that she had bitten the web of his hand; instead, his gaze took on a profound new meaning.
"I never knew Yuan Niang was so greedy."
Li Yun lowered his head, his warm lips nearly brushing against Ming Lingyi’s earlobe.
Having been so sensitive to the teasing of Li Yun’s fingers just moments ago, Ming Lingyi trembled uncontrollably when his softer, hotter lips pressed against her.
Without her realizing it, her teeth loosened their grip on the web of his hand.
She still wanted to act tough and put on a brave front before Li Yun. Stiffening her neck, she pretended her body wasn’t entirely under his control. "How is that greedy? Didn’t the Emperor arrive uninvited today?" Ming Lingyi said in an equally low, husky voice.
’I certainly didn’t ask Li Yun to come and serve me like this.’
’What if he just has a kink for serving people?’
Li Yun let out a muffled laugh.
’It really did sound like I was the one throwing myself at her.’
"So, does Yuan Niang want this in the future, too?" Li Yun asked.
Ming Lingyi pretended to think it over, then said slowly, "I suppose I wouldn’t be opposed."
"Then if I come of my own accord, can I also collect a little benefit?" After saying this, Li Yun suggestively bit the snowy-white neck of the woman in his arms, leaving a bright red love bite.
’He knew that when it came to Ming Lingyi, a slow-boil approach wouldn’t work. This particular frog was far too cunning. She’d take the benefits, enjoy a comfortable warm bath, and then, before he could even turn up the heat, she’d kick her legs and leap right out of the water.’
So, while kissing Ming Lingyi’s neck, Li Yun simply lifted her up and set her astride his lap.
Ming Lingyi was only wearing a thin inner robe, and his own situation wasn’t much better.
His magnificent robes had been soaked when he lifted her from the tub, and now they clung to his body, dripping wet.
The summer robes were thin, and now that they were wet, they clung to Li Yun’s body, revealing the faint outline of his abs.
As he lifted her by the waist and set her on his sturdy thighs, his large hand suddenly pressed her hips forcefully against him.
Even though a few layers of soft fabric separated them, they seemed to offer no barrier at all.
The slender waist in Li Yun’s grasp seemed to melt in an instant, so soft one might think it impossible to hold.
Li Yun forcefully pressed Ming Lingyi against him, making her feel the "benefit" he intended to collect.
The blush spreading from Ming Lingyi’s neck crept upward, finally consuming her delicate face.
"You... you’re truly shameless."
’How could I not feel it?’
Li Yun laughed aloud. He had barely managed to suppress the desire that had stirred in him while massaging her, but that was like scooping water from a boiling pot—a temporary fix that couldn’t solve the underlying problem.
’Only by getting closer to her, possessing her, and marking her entirely with his scent could the boiling, restless need in his veins be soothed.’
’There was no other way.’
"Isn’t it perfect?" Li Yun, having been called shameless, nodded with great seriousness. "I’m shameless, and Yuan Niang is greedy. We’re a match made in heaven."
Ming Lingyi was already enveloped in Li Yun’s unique scent. When she heard this, she couldn’t help but let out a puff of laughter.
’A match made in heaven with him? As if.’
"Who says I’m greedy?"
"I do."
Ming Lingyi bit Li Yun’s shoulder, as if venting her frustration at being called "greedy." "Nonsense."
Li Yun’s patience at times like this was surprisingly vast. He endured the tingling, itching pain on his shoulder as if it were the sweetest pleasure. "If you’re not greedy, then why, when we’re not even done, is Yuan Niang already thinking about next time? And the time after that?"
The thin, damp summer robes were like a veil over her face. Instead of feeling light and breathable, they only made her feel short of breath and suffocated.
Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled. A storm was clearly coming, but the downpour refused to fall. The air between heaven and earth was filled only with a humid, stifling heat that left one’s heart in turmoil.
Ming Lingyi tilted her head back like a fish deprived of oxygen, forced to the surface by the unexpectedly stuffy water below, gasping for air.
"Hm?"
Li Yun was panting slightly, his clothes now completely soaked.
It was hard to say if it was from the water from the tub, Ming Lingyi’s not-quite-dry hair, or something else entirely.
Both his and Ming Lingyi’s clothes were still on.
They just looked disheveled and messy.
’And they hadn’t even reached the final step.’
The corners of his eyes were tinged with red. A volcano was about to erupt, yet he was forcefully holding the crater closed. Boiling magma churned restlessly within the mountain’s belly. But before the final eruption, Li Yun still wanted a willing answer from Ming Lingyi.
He stared at the woman in his arms, who had long since gone too limp to sit up straight. A crimson flush, like a sunset, spread across Ming Lingyi’s cheeks, making her look exceptionally delicate and alluring.
The sleek little fish that had surfaced gasping for air was stunned to find the air above just as stifling, leaving it looking utterly helpless.
Hearing the questioning "Hm?" by her ear, Ming Lingyi had a sudden moment of clarity and understood exactly what Li Yun wanted.
’She almost wanted to laugh in exasperation.’
’The man was truly allergic to losing.’
’Even though he was the one who showed up uninvited today, he still had the gall to demand a "benefit" from me.’
’She wanted to refuse, to tear all his little schemes and tricks to shreds. But alas, the oxygen-starved fish in the stifling heat had long been craving a downpour to extinguish the inferno and let her breathe freely again.’
Ming Lingyi lost their silent battle and took the initiative, kissing the lips of the man before her.
It was a signal, the sounding of a horn for Li Yun to charge onto the battlefield.
The downpour fell suddenly, the thunder growing louder. The already damp earth became even more muddy and sodden in the deluge.
The pond was finally filled to the brim, and the little fish that had tried to break the surface sank back to the bottom.
Raindrops the size of beans fell from the sky, churning the entire pond. The surface could not stay calm; wave after wave rose and fell.
When Ming Lingyi woke again, she opened her eyes to complete darkness.
The moment she stirred, the arms around her waist tightened reflexively, as if with a mind of their own. They pulled her in even closer, almost tight enough to break her.
