Chapter 85

Jiang Sisi lay on the bed playing with her phone. When she saw Leng Xiang come out, she tossed the phone aside, sat up, and flashed her a mischievous smile.

Leng Xiang’s hand quietly clenched.

Oh no, this was the feeling of her heart fluttering.

Leng Xiang walked over step by step, her bare feet sinking into the carpet. All sounds of her footsteps were absorbed by the thick, soft rug, making the room feel utterly quiet.

It was only a few steps from the bathroom to the bedside, but she dawdled until she reached the edge of the bed.

Jiang Sisi didn’t rush her. She wasn’t in a hurry and simply watched as Leng Xiang approached one step at a time.

Jiang Sisi had already changed into pajamas—a sleep skirt matching Leng Xiang’s, with a deep V-neck that revealed a expanse of snow-white skin.

Her hair was still damp, carrying the fresh fragrance of shampoo, as if she’d just washed it.

Leng Xiang didn’t quite dare to look at her. “Have you already showered?” she asked.

Jiang Sisi gazed at her, eyes full of amusement. “I used the other bathroom. You took quite a while.”

Leng Xiang fell silent.

She’d been lost in thought and hadn’t paid attention to the time.

Looking at Jiang Sisi’s hair still steaming faintly, Leng Xiang said, “You should blow-dry your hair first. Where’s the hairdryer?”

Jiang Sisi replied, “In the cabinet under the bathroom sink.”

Leng Xiang fetched the hairdryer from the bathroom and handed it to Jiang Sisi.

Jiang Sisi didn’t take it, still smiling. “You blow-dry it for me.”

Leng Xiang did as asked, plugging in the hairdryer.

Jiang Sisi sat on the bed, and Leng Xiang climbed on too, kneeling slightly behind her. She straightened her upper body, the height just right to see the top of Jiang Sisi’s head.

Jiang Sisi had a slight hunch, her back curving a bit when she sat on the bed. With her head lowered, her damp hair was a messy tangle, like a large, fluffy animal.

It was kind of cute.

Leng Xiang curved her lips behind her, pursing them nervously yet surprisingly obediently. She turned on the switch, and the hairdryer hummed to life.

Suddenly, the entire bedroom was filled only with the whirring of the hairdryer.

Leng Xiang threaded her fingers through Jiang Sisi’s hair, careful to keep the dryer at a safe distance from her scalp so it wouldn’t feel too hot.

Jiang Sisi’s hair didn’t match her usual demeanor at all—it was thick but incredibly soft, feeling like the finest silk to the touch.

Though Jiang Sisi was tall, she was really very slim. Her shoulder blades protruded sharply against her clothes, like a pair of butterflies ready to take flight.

She was so thin.

Leng Xiang’s thoughts wandered, her gaze drifting downward. The loose sleepwear hid her waist completely, but it was clearly very slender.

A glimpse of snow-like skin peeked from her neckline—extremely pale, almost unhealthily so.

But how was her strength so great?

Blow-drying her hair eased the tension in Leng Xiang’s heart. “Is this okay?” she asked.

Jiang Sisi replied, “It feels pretty comfortable.”

Once her hair was mostly dry, Leng Xiang turned off the hairdryer and moved to set it on the bedside table. But Jiang Sisi suddenly grabbed her wrist.

Leng Xiang’s heart tightened. Her fingers loosened, and the hairdryer slipped, thudding heavily onto the carpet.

Leng Xiang’s gaze swept around the bedroom before turning back to Jiang Sisi’s face. “You…”

Before she could finish, Jiang Sisi yanked her wrist hard. Caught off guard, Leng Xiang’s upper body pitched forward, and she tumbled onto the bed.

She lay on her back, heart pounding. Propping herself up on her elbows, she tried to sit up.

But Jiang Sisi was faster. She pinned Leng Xiang beneath her, hands braced on either side of her, leaning down to look at her.

That gaze was too intense, scorching her like it could burn a hole right through.

Leng Xiang felt it lingering over her body—first her face, then settling on her lips. Jiang Sisi’s eyes lingered there for a long time, her head lowered so close that Leng Xiang could hear her breathing.

Leng Xiang wondered if Jiang Sisi was going to kiss her. She couldn’t help but move her lips, her throat bobbing.

Jiang Sisi noticed her discomfort and let out a soft chuckle.

Heat rushed to Leng Xiang’s cheeks, and she turned her face away in embarrassed annoyance.

Jiang Sisi laughed again, seeking her lips. She pressed a kiss there, their lips and teeth brushing, but she didn’t linger. After nipping gently at Leng Xiang’s full lower lip, the kisses trailed downward in feather-light touches—to her delicate chin.

The kisses continued down from her chin. Leng Xiang tilted her head back, a tiny whimper escaping her throat as she struggled to bear it all.

Jiang Sisi bit her neck, lifting her eyes to watch her like a predator eyeing its prey.

It was all too much.

For the first time, she so clearly felt that sense of possession.

In this moment of perfect clarity, in the same room, someone desired her body—wanted to claim it, to possess her completely.

Her first reaction was panic, followed by a chilling dread that swept over her entire body.

One of Jiang Sisi’s hands slipped inside. A cool, soft touch spread across her skin—the temperature of Jiang Sisi’s hand.

The kisses on her neck trailed to her shoulder. Her sleepwear was tugged askew, exposing the round curve of her bare shoulder.

Leng Xiang closed her eyes.

If Jiang Sisi really wanted to, it wasn’t impossible.

She could endure it.

She tried her best to suppress that eerie chill, to accept Jiang Sisi’s more intimate touches. The more she focused, the clearer the sensation of those kisses on her neck became, and her mind grew sharper.

Why couldn’t her body accept Jiang Sisi?

She knew she might resist intimacy to some degree, but she hadn’t expected it to be this severe.

In her previous relationship, she’d strongly rejected Qin Wen’s touches. At first, she’d simply thought she was too traditional and conservative, wanting to save intimacy for after marriage—that was the excuse she’d used to refuse him.

But looking back carefully, she’d even recoiled from his casual closeness.

Her body instinctively rejected others’ approaches.

When she was very young—too small to fight back against the man she called her father—he would look at her with lecherous eyes. That gaze had driven even Liu Lingshu mad with jealousy, to the point of wanting to scar her face.

Because she was too beautiful, beautiful enough to draw men’s attention, beautiful enough to make Liu Lingshu insane with envy.

The man had retained a shred of humanity—perhaps fearing Liu Lingshu would truly snap and cut off his money. He never acted on it.

But that look had haunted Leng Xiang for many, many years.

The trauma from Liu Lingshu and that man was far deeper than she’d imagined. Even after more than a decade away from that home, those shadows still followed her, affecting her.

It might shadow her for life.

Last time, she’d been under the influence of strong liquor and drugs, not in her right mind, acting purely on instinct—so nothing had seemed off.

But this time, she felt the resistance crystal clear.

Leng Xiang kept her eyes closed, brows slightly furrowed.

She tried desperately to suppress her aversion, to let Jiang Sisi’s touches sink in more deeply.

Just as she reached her limit, Jiang Sisi suddenly stopped on her own.

Jiang Sisi’s hand withdrew from under Leng Xiang’s skirt hem, and her lips left her neck.

Leng Xiang opened her eyes, staring at her in a daze.

Jiang Sisi still hovered loosely over her, elbows propped on either side.

Leng Xiang whispered, “Why’d you stop?”

The overhead incandescent light illuminated everything on the bed. Backlit, Jiang Sisi looked at her with a helpless smile.

“Didn’t you notice? You looked like you were about to cry.”

Surprise flickered across Leng Xiang’s face. She touched her eyes with her fingers.

They were wet.

In that instant, her eyes had reddened.

Leng Xiang lay on her back, lifting a hand to cover her eyes with the back of it.

Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes, trailing down her cheeks and soaking the pillow.

Her voice trembled. “Sorry, sorry.”

Jiang Sisi let out a low sigh and sat up.

She pulled Leng Xiang up from the bed and into her arms.

Jiang Sisi murmured softly, “Xiangxiang, you don’t need to apologize to me.”

“It was my fault for rushing things and scaring you.”

Jiang Sisi seemed to think of something and chuckled lightly. “I remember the last time we were in bed together, it was your first time.”

“I should have realized sooner—you might not like being touched intimately, right?”

Held in her arms, Leng Xiang rested against her shoulder, body still trembling faintly. She shook her head on Jiang Sisi’s shoulder, then nodded.

Her voice was soft and hoarse. “I thought it would be okay with you.”

Jiang Sisi kissed her cheek. “We’ve only just gotten together, and jumping straight to this is too fast. If you can’t accept it yet, we’ll take it slow, bit by bit.”

She should have realized earlier.

From Leng Xiang’s tension upon entering the room, she’d thought it was just shyness, but it had been excessive.

When she’d pinned her down, Leng Xiang’s body had gone rigid—probably without her even noticing.

Maybe it was because things had moved too quickly: confession, dating, meeting friends, nearly meeting the parents, all in one night. Now sharing a bed, resisting the next step was normal.

But her intuition told her there was more to it.

Before Jiang Sisi had entered Leng Xiang’s life, something had hurt her badly.

And that hurt was probably worse than she imagined.

Jiang Sisi held her and slipped under the covers.

Leng Xiang slept on the side nearer the window, lying on her side, gazing outside.

The lights were off, the room pitch black except for a sliver of moonlight filtering through the window.

Jiang Sisi hugged her from behind.

Leng Xiang didn’t move—that meant she wasn’t refusing.

Jiang Sisi pulled her close. “What are you thinking about?”

Leng Xiang’s voice was still muffled. “I’m wondering what I’ll do from now on. We’re already sharing a bed.”

Jiang Sisi chuckled lightly. “Silly, we have plenty of time. No rush.”

Leng Xiang turned her head slightly. “What if it’s never okay?”

Jiang Sisi pretended to be troubled. “If it’s never okay, that might be a bit tricky.”

Leng Xiang fidgeted uneasily in her arms.

Jiang Sisi continued, “How about this: today, let me kiss your little hand; tomorrow, your shoulder; the day after, your leg. Someday, I’ll have kissed every inch of you, and by then, you won’t resist me anymore.”

Leng Xiang buried her face in the covers, her toes curling shyly beneath them.

The scene Jiang Sisi painted was too vivid and explicit; she didn’t know how to react.

Jiang Sisi smiled and changed the subject. “Tell me about yourself.”

Leng Xiang mumbled, “About me?”

Jiang Sisi said softly, “Like, how you lived before, where you’re from, your childhood, your parents—tell me.”

“You already know most of my stuff, so I want to hear about you.”