Chapter 16 (1/2)
There was a knock at the door.
Liu Qianxiu released the mouse at hand. The computer screen in front of him was still lit, dense with text and data across the open document.
The room was bright and quiet, the lights already on. The floor-to-ceiling balcony doors stood open. Liu Qianxiu rose, pushed back his chair, walked to the door, and opened it.
The door faced the balcony. The moment it opened, air flowed through the room. The cool air-conditioning rushed toward her, scattering some of the heat from Mu Wan’s face—and with it, some of the alcohol on her breath.
Her skin was fair. When she flushed, it turned a soft pink, the color lying across her face as lightly as blush, like a peach just ripening. Beneath that peach-fresh warmth, her lips were touched with a little red gloss, full and inviting.
“Liu Qianxiu~” Mu Wan called up at him, the corners of her eyes curved, light glittering inside them.
Liu Qianxiu looked down at her, his own eyes still and unreadable. The faint scent of liquor mixed with the softer fragrance of her body, and not even the cross breeze from the open balcony doors could blow it away.
“Do you want some water?” he asked, his voice low.
Her throat felt scorched.
Only after he said it did Mu Wan notice. She ran the tip of her tongue over her lower lip and said, “Yes.”
Liu Qianxiu stepped slightly aside, opening the doorway wider. With the room laid open before her and the cool air still brushing her skin, Mu Wan walked in.
Liu Qianxiu’s room was much like her own.
The same bathroom, the same television, the same desk, the same floor-to-ceiling window, and a broad balcony.
The only difference was that hers was a standard twin room, while his held a king bed. Since one large bed took up less space than two singles, a long wash counter was built between the bathroom and the bed.
The room itself felt cool, clean, and empty.
Any trace of the usual warmth and lived-in softness a hotel room might have had seemed to disappear the moment Liu Qianxiu stepped inside. He looked calm and indifferent, but in truth, he possessed an almost alarming ability to cleanse a place simply by being there. Everything he owned, every place he went, even the people who brushed against him seemed to emerge touched by some quieter, purer mood.
The kettle and cup were on the desk.
The desk was a long wooden one that ran from the wall beside the balcony to the nightstand. It was not the same model as the one in her room. He had probably brought it himself.
There was half-warm boiled water in the kettle.
Liu Qianxiu lifted it and poured a glass. The clean glass cup was long and narrow, almost like a milk glass, with a thick base. Water gradually rose inside it. Listening to the soft sound of the pour, and looking at Liu Qianxiu under the light, something in Mu Wan stirred. Her body warmed again. She stepped forward and said, “I’ll do it myself.”
Baijiu had a vicious aftereffect.
Mu Wan had only been standing there a short time before her sense of balance deserted her. Her body tilted. She gave a soft sound and reached out instinctively for something to steady herself.
When people stumbled, they often dragged whatever they grabbed down.
But not this time.
The thing she caught did not move in the slightest.
Not even a drop spilled from the water in the glass he held.
Mu Wan had caught the corner of Liu Qianxiu’s shirt.
Her head was slightly lowered. Her heartbeat pounded against her ears; the tips of them were burning. In her hand, the cotton-linen fabric felt faintly stiff.
Not nearly as firm as the man beneath it.
Little by little, the cold air seemed to soften under the heat coming off her body.
Mu Wan looked up at Liu Qianxiu once.
He was looking down at her, too.
Her lashes trembled, as though the light had struck her eyes. She lowered her gaze again, rose onto her toes, still clutching his shirt, and leaned toward the rim of the glass, taking two small sips like a kitten.
The dry heat of her lips eased. The water slid down her throat. Yet her body felt hotter than ever, while the man beside her still seemed cool.
Her tongue moved slightly.
Then she looked up at him again.
The room was so quiet.
The only sound was the faint rustle of cloth brushing against cloth.
Still looking at him, Mu Wan’s lips parted.
Her hand slid from the corner of his shirt outward, little by little, until finally her arms circled his narrow, solid waist.
“You’re so cool...” she murmured.
Her eyes were hazy, her breath hot against the long pale line of his neck. Mu Wan smiled. Then she leaned in and pressed her face to him.
The instant skin met cloth and coolness met heat, Mu Wan shivered in his arms.
His cool skin soothed the fire in her body.
She was tired.
Holding on to him, she let herself tip backward—yet she did not fall.
The man stood there like a statue, immovable.
Mu Wan looked up, her brows faintly drawn, a trace of grievance in her tone.
“I want to lie down.”
The moment she spoke, the smell of alcohol spread more strongly.
Liu Qianxiu looked down at the obviously drunk Mu Wan, his mouth tightening slightly. He set the glass aside. Its heavy base met the wooden desk with a muted sound.
With that, Mu Wan completely lost her balance.
He pressed her back gently.
The mattress sank under her shoulders.
The bed dipped beneath her.
And his hands came down to either side of her head.
He was leaning over her.
Though their bodies never touched, the moment he came down over her like that, Mu Wan found herself completely enclosed by his scent.
Her body turned hot all over again.
They were not very far apart. Mu Wan stared at the man’s lips above her, feeling as though she might melt. Her own lips trembled faintly. Heat clogged her throat.
The woman beneath him was soft and lovely as water, a blush resting on both cheeks. Her eyes gleamed as she looked straight at him. Liu Qianxiu braced both hands beside her and looked down into her eyes without moving.
The two of them seemed to be holding each other there.
At last, it was the man above her who spoke first.
He let out a low sigh and said evenly, “The last time you were drunk, you weren’t like this.”
Mu Wan’s pupils contracted.
Liu Qianxiu reached down, took her hand off his waist, and placed it gently aside. Then he lifted her and settled her properly onto the bed.
Mu Wan lay flat against the soft mattress. The heat inside her slowly ebbed as the man beside her said in a low voice, “Sleep for a while first.”
Não sei o que sentir com esse capítulo. Mas sei que sentir uma dor no coração
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