Disguised as a Man, She Has Eight Men Fighting Over Her - Chapter 74 - Secretly Delighted

Jiang Si didn’t dare look at her. Holding her stiffly, he entered the room and bent to put her on the bed.

Lin Cheng caught his neck and pulled him down.

He had to brace his hands on either side of her. His throat moved beyond his control, and he tried to ease her away with one hand.

But she was clingy now. Her legs came up around him, and she pressed herself entirely into his arms.

“Lin Cheng…” His voice was terribly rough. “The drug’s side effect is increased body temperature. Bear with it. It’ll pass soon.”

He tried to use facts to dispel the atmosphere, as though convincing himself too.

The person in his arms heard none of it.

She lifted her face hazily, full of discontent.

Then she raised a hand and patted his cheek with a soft little smack.

It was so soft and sweet-smelling that it felt more like a caress than a slap.

“You talk so much, Captain…” she mumbled, almost petulantly.

His eyes deepened. His breathing gradually grew heavier.

A current seemed to race from the spot she had touched to every nerve ending. His breath abruptly stopped. The hands braced beside her clenched hard, veins standing out across their backs.

Lin Cheng never noticed his painful restraint.

“Thirsty… I want ice water…” she kept mumbling, squirming restlessly against him.

“Mm.” His voice was hoarse.

He peeled her off himself and rose, instinctively bending at the waist. At the fridge, he took out cold water. The chill against his fingertips cleared his head a little.

He unscrewed the cap and returned to the bed.

Lin Cheng took the water and tried to sit up on her own, but she was too weak. Several attempts got her nowhere.

She choked on a few mouthfuls too. Cold water ran down her chin and into her collar.

Squinting, she looked up at Jiang Si beside the bed with an aggrieved, reproachful expression.

“Give it to me…”

The struggle in his dark eyes intensified.

After several seconds of silence, he answered low.

“…Mm.”

Then he did something even he hadn’t expected.

He tipped his head back, took a mouthful of cold water, and held it there.

Bending, he supported the back of her neck with one hand and pressed his cool lips to her hot, dry mouth.

The cold water slowly passed into her mouth, carrying his breath with it.

She shivered faintly at the sudden coolness and contact, swallowing instinctively.

The water eased her thirst. But the softness against her lips—strange yet familiar—and his breathing made her muddled mind spin even more.

Jiang Si closed his eyes, his thick lashes trembling, trying as hard as he could to keep the gesture innocent.

As soon as the water was gone, he wanted to flee.

But Lin Cheng, having found relief, instinctively sought its source.

Her soft arms looped around his neck to keep him there. She lifted her face toward his cool lips and whimpered.

“More… Cool…”

His breath caught. His eyes darkened completely.

“All right.”

The hand supporting her neck moved to the back of her head. He bent over her, sheltering her beneath him, and took her soft, damp lips between his.

Her tongue was soft and wet—sweet, even—as it slipped into his mouth.

This was going to kill him.

He stopped holding back. Their uneven breaths tangled, hot and heavy, their fierce heartbeats running wild.

It was impossible to tell whose was whose.

A few breaths later, Lin Cheng braced an elbow against his chest and whimpered in displeasure.

“No more… You’re so hot, Jiang Si…”

He stopped and gave a hoarse “Mm.”

Lifting his head, he looked at her. Her lips were red, swollen, and wet. In his excitement, he had left her cheeks and chin damp and flushed.

She looked a little disheveled, but even more innocent and enticing in a way that unsettled his heart.

He lowered his head and, like a large dog grooming a pup, gently licked the moisture from her face and neck, no longer certain whose it was.

She tucked her neck in and complained again.

“Hot…”

“Mm,” he answered, but didn’t stop.

After all that, she could barely keep her eyes open. She burrowed into his arms.

“Sleepy… Want to sleep…”

He let her cling to him and wrapped an arm around her.

She was still mumbling something indistinct.

He brought his lips close to her ear. His husky, resonant voice carried a plea.

“Help me out, Lin Cheng. Go to sleep.”

Then, lower still, came a strained voice with its desire not yet cooled.

“Or I’ll want to kiss you again.”

Perhaps she was simply exhausted. At last, she quieted.

Only then did his taut body relax. Resting his chin lightly on her hair, he closed his eyes.

The next morning, the rain continued.

Fat drops tapped against the window.

Lin Cheng had slept wonderfully. She felt as though she were tucked inside a warm stove.

Her fingers unconsciously stroked it. Warm, firm, and springy.

“Enjoying yourself?”

The man’s voice was cool and rough.

Awareness returned. A faint blush spread from her cheeks down to her neck.

Wonderful. She hadn’t forgotten a thing.

Should she… apologize first?

She had been a little too forward last night.

Wait.

Why should she apologize? He was the one who had passed through first…

Armed with confidence entirely unsupported by reason, she lifted her head from his arms.

Then she met those narrow black eyes.

And immediately lost her nerve.

Her hand, however, remained honest. It gave his firm waist a squeeze.

A suppressed breath sounded above her at once.

They looked at each other in the dim light.

His eyes were dark as ink, narrowing at the corners.

Guilty under that gaze, Lin Cheng tried to cover it with shamelessness.

“Wh-what are you looking at? I didn’t break anything…”

“If you think you lost out… then… kiss me back…”

His mouth moved in a faint smile, handsome enough to send her pulse racing.

“Mm. All right.”

Lin Cheng, this time I really am going to kiss you.

His low voice descended with him as his lips covered hers. One hand moved to the back of her neck; the other held her waist firmly and drew her against him.

There was a restrained insistence to the kiss, as though he were settling an old score, slowly savoring every movement.

She made a soft sound. The bedding felt unbearably hot to Jiang Si.

His racing blood drove him to greater urgency. The simple press of lips couldn’t satisfy a longing stored up for so long. Tentatively, he parted her mouth and slipped inside, drawing her tongue into a tangle with his.

Enough.

He tried to tell himself to stop while he still could, only to sink deeper.

His mind had already imagined her softness, her shape and feel.

His fingers touched lightly before he could control them.

Lin Cheng gave a startled “Mm!”

Regret caught him. Would she think he wasn’t gentle at all?

Enough, then.

He ought to leave at least a little good impression.

He released her, but couldn’t bear to end it there. Leaning close again, he pecked the corner of her mouth, then closed his eyes and buried his face against her neck, breathing hard.

There was no hiding his heartbeat.

Lin Cheng wasn’t doing much better.

“Lin Cheng.” Even his voice had changed.

“I’m sorry.”