My Contract Husband Won't Behave - Chapter 58
Anger surged in Bo Jiusi’s eyes. He released her, about to drop her into the water.
Nie Jingzhi swiftly took the soaked scarf from around her own neck, looped it around his, and hung from his body.
Water surged past. Their wet clothes pressed their chests together, heartbeats colliding.
“You—”
“I retrieved it.” Her voice was quiet but stubborn.
She had entered the sea not only to force him, but to recover the scarf. It was the first thing she had given him. Cheap or not, she would not let him throw it away.
The wet silk now bound him like a rope, forcing him to lower his head and embrace her again.
“Who asked for an explanation? Get down—” His breath suddenly shortened, as though a hand closed around his throat.
Her heart sank. “Bo Jiusi, what’s wrong?”
She loosened the scarf and tried to climb down from his arms. A wave hit before she could react.
Unable to breathe, Bo Jiusi instinctively protected her. Without his hands to brace him, he lost balance, and the wave rolled them both under.
As seawater covered his nose and mouth, terror surged over him like a tide.
They had moved barely two meters, and the water reached only his waist if he stood. Yet his body froze. Darkness swallowed his vision, water entered his mouth and nose, and broken images flashed—cold depths, struggling arms, the despair of no rescue.
Nie Jingzhi fought to drag him ashore. Seawater flooded her mouth and made her choke, but she ignored herself, gritting her teeth and pulling him inch by inch onto the sand.
Exhausted, she dropped to her knees beside him and slapped his cheek.
“Bo Jiusi! Wake up!”
He did not move. Her trembling fingers found a faint breath.
She propped up the back of his neck and immediately began rescue breathing. Her lips had barely delivered one breath when he jerked.
“Cough, cough…”
Tears nearly fell. “Master Jiu, you’re awake?”
He opened tired, resentful eyes. Something unfamiliar mingled with the exhaustion of survival.
“Satisfied?” His voice was nearly gone.
Embarrassed, she lowered her head. “I’m sorry.”
So the woman did know how to apologize.
Soaked through, Bo Jiusi lay on the beach with his head on her thighs, unwilling to move.
“Aren’t you getting up?”
“Let me rest.”
“Oh.” She obediently held him, no longer daring mischief after nearly killing him.
After a silence, he asked hoarsely, “How are you?”
“I’m fine. I didn’t swallow any water. Only my clothes are wet…” Her voice faded beneath her guilt.
His gaze rested on her slightly rounded belly. He gently touched it.
“Remember at all times that you’re pregnant. Don’t do dangerous things.”
She nodded obediently, eyes heating.
“Why are you so afraid of water?” she asked. His reaction had not been ordinary drowning, but terror in his bones.
He watched her for a long time. “Someone pushed me into the sea as a child. When they pulled me out, I wasn’t breathing.”
“Who?”
“He’s dead.”
“Your father?”
His gaze sank. “Don’t test my boundaries.”
Her heart twisted. Fingertips traced his hard features. “My heart aches for you.”
His breath stopped. He sat upright.
“Aches for me?” His voice roughened. “Never say that again.”
Was he afraid he would fall for her? It sounded as though no one had ever felt sorry for him, and he needed no one to do so.
Her heart cramped harder. Unable to resist, she held his face and kissed him.
He instinctively meant to push her away, but saw her red-rimmed eyes.
His heart softened.
She pulled his collar, and they fell together onto fine sand.
“You have me, Master Jiu.” With her cheek against his chest, she held him. “Kiss me.”
The ice in his heart seemed struck by a chisel, finally cracking.
Gritting his teeth at his own madness, he kissed her, and they rolled across the sand. His wet body became coated in grit.
She looked at the filthy man and smiled in victory. “How does it feel to be dragged from your altar?”
“I’ve indulged you too much.”
He kissed her again.
***
The wind strengthened. Her soaked dress clung to her, and she shivered violently.
“Master Jiu, I’m cold…” She clung to his arm, her teeth chattering.
He frowned, stood, and pulled her up. Her hand was icy in his palm.
“Back.”
They crossed wet sand. Wind cut through the wet fabric and chilled her entire back, so she huddled closer. He did not reject her, instead wrapping an arm around her shoulders and enclosing her against his body. Heat seeped through wet clothing and warmed her heart.
At the hotel, she kicked off her heels and left wet footprints across the carpet.
Looking back slyly, she asked, “Who showers first?”
He shut the door and watched from the wall by the entryway.
She approached and unbuttoned his soaked shirt. “Or… together?”
His gaze darkened. He seized her wrist. “You’re doing this deliberately.”
She smiled like a fox. “Are you showering with me or not?”
He answered by lifting her and carrying her into the bathroom.
Steam filled the room. Hot water poured over them as he pinned her to the wall and kissed her. The mirror vanished behind mist.
He released her lips, forehead against hers, breath burning. “Wait…”
“We agreed we’d try when we returned.” She panted too. “Now?”
His throat moved, but restraint prevailed. He turned off the water, wrapped her in a towel, and carried her to bed.
“Wait for me,” he said, still hoarse.
