Bai Tao’s heart pounded like thunder.
‘Is it really my turn?’
‘So he’s just going to let me have my way with him?’
‘Oh no!
I have to control my smile!’
Technically, she was supposed to be playing the part of a demure, innocent maiden.
But a leopard can’t change its spots.
A dog can’t be taught not to eat shit, and Bai Tao couldn’t give up her carnal desires.
‘These five gorgeous men have been right in front of me for so long.
How have I not even gotten a tiny taste yet?!’
‘I’m getting desperate!
So desperate!’
‘I’m practically the Queen of Impatience!
I’m dying of thirst!’
She hurriedly covered her face with her hands, peeking secretly through a tiny gap between her fingers.
Even though she hadn’t taken off that pesky uniform of Zuo Mubai’s yet, the defined contours of his upper body were already perfectly clear.
Her gaze slid uncontrollably, brazenly, deeper beneath his clothes.
Her eyes drifted slowly, slowly toward the main event.
Just as she was about to catch a glimpse of the faint lines of his abs—
Suddenly, her eyes met Zuo Mubai’s, his gray irises full of mischief.
“Little Taotao, you want to see that badly?” He leaned over, hooking a finger in his collar and giving her a tantalizing glimpse of the muscles beneath.
Caught red-handed, Bai Tao guiltily looked away.
“I was just…”
“You can.”
“If it’s for Little Taotao.”
Zuo Mubai raised an eyebrow and reached out, pulling Bai Tao into his arms as if scooping up a cat.
His arms coiled around her, tighter than any snake.
His cool fingertips traced circles over her stomach through the fabric.
It was terribly ticklish.
The air grew still.
In an instant, the only sound was the man’s breath against her ear.
“Where does Little Taotao want to look…?” He guided her slender fingers to his chest, then slid them down over his shirt to his abdomen.
“Wherever you want to touch…
you can.”
‘Where else could I find such a generous and charitable saint of a man?’
‘Now’s my chance!’
‘Let’s do this!’
“So…
I’m really going to undress you?”
“And you can’t back out halfway through, okay?”
Her desperate attempt to rein in her gaze was as effective as trying to hide a wagging tail.
It made one want to tease her.
“Hmm…
on second thought, let’s not.
I’m starting to have regrets,” Zuo Mubai said, staring right at her.
Hearing this, Bai Tao’s eager hands froze in mid-air.
‘Are you kidding me?’
‘I was just being polite, and he actually backed out?’
“Oh!” Bai Tao managed to squeeze out, her voice dripping with resentment.
She started to get up, muttering nonstop, “Liar.
You went back on your word.”
“Anyone who betrays a sincere heart should have to swallow ten thousand needles.”
As she spoke, her cheeks were flushed, and a slight frown creased her brow above her beautiful, almond-shaped eyes.
‘So she’s cute even when she’s angry.’
The soft, smooth scales brushed against her skin, raising a patch of goosebumps.
“My, Little Taotao is so fierce when she’s angry.”
Zuo Mubai’s voice softened.
“I was wrong.”
He slowly retracted his snake tail and simply placed his hands behind his back.
When he tilted his head, a few strands of hair fell across his brow, and his eyes were full of mirth.
“I’m not backing out.”
“I want my girlfriend to see, too.”
A blush exploded across Bai Tao’s face, turning it completely pink.
‘Was this some kind of sick joke?
A newbie fresh out of the tutorial running into a top-tier Enchanting Demon?’
She did her best to feign composure.
“Let me make it clear, it’s not like I’m dying to see or anything.”
“This is just part of our agreement.”
“Hmm,” Zuo Mubai murmured.
Bai Tao took a deep breath, leaned forward, and grasped Zuo Mubai’s tie with one hand.
The only sounds were her own pounding heart and the soft rustle of fabric as she fumbled with his tie.
Zuo Mubai tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling.
It felt like an eternity had passed.
‘Why isn’t it off yet?’
He glanced down to find the silk tie had been twisted into a wrinkled mess, the simple knot nearly pulled into an impossible one.
As for Bai Tao, she was so flustered she was tempted to just bite it off with her teeth.
Her cheeks were red enough to bleed, and her hands moved a little faster.
‘This is a disaster.’
‘Okay, yes, she was a total pervert.’
‘But she had absolutely zero hands-on experience.’
‘What a cruel trick of fate to play on such a greedy girl.’
Hiding a smile, Zuo Mubai placed his hands over hers.
“Here, like this.”
He guided one of her hands to hold one side of the loop around his neck, while her other hand held the knot itself.
With a gentle pull, the tie came away smoothly.
Bai Tao set the tie aside.
“Um…
I was going to do that.”
Zuo Mubai propped himself up slightly.
“Continue, Little Taotao.”
Bai Tao bit the bullet and continued unbuttoning.
The buttons made a faint scraping sound as they passed through the high-thread-count cotton.
With each undone button, the lines of muscle hidden beneath became more and more defined.
The landscape was slowly revealed.
Her fingertips parted his shirt.
The moment they made contact, she noted the texture was incredible.
A six-pack.
Rock-solid.
His abs were symmetrical and defined without being overly bulky.
The V-cut of his hips plunged deep on either side, like arrows pointing down, disappearing below the silver-buckled belt of his trousers and beckoning toward what lay hidden.
Faintly, she could even see the delicate network of veins just beneath the pale skin of his lower abdomen.
Bai Tao was itching for more.
‘
“Little Taotao, you’re even greedier than I imagined.”
At some point, Zuo Mubai had moved, and now his forehead was pressed lightly against hers.
They were incredibly close.
His light gray eyes were like the surface of a lake, clearly reflecting her own image.
“We can save the rest for next time.
There’s no hurry.”
“After all, there isn’t much else here…”
“Except for a lot of beds.”
Zuo Mubai wrapped a long arm around her, and with a slight turn, they both tumbled onto the bed, wrinkling the sheets.
“I have to make sure Little Taotao stays a little curious about me, don’t I?”
He threaded his fingers through her hair, cradling the back of her head and closing the distance between them.
“I just didn’t expect my Little Taotao to be so inexperienced.”
“So this is your first time undressing a man?”
Bai Tao was speechless.
A shy blush crept up the back of her neck, spreading until her entire ear was red.
‘Utterly humiliating.’
“Is there a problem with that?”
Zuo Mubai brushed his nose against hers and cupped her chin with his other hand.
“Not at all.”
“In fact, I’m very happy about it.”
“I want to take many more of Little Taotao’s firsts.”
The heat of his gaze burned her lips.
It was as if he wanted to devour her whole.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, followed by the housekeeper’s voice:
“Young Master Mu, the new room has been arranged according to your original layout.”
“Understood.
I’ll be there in a moment.”
Bai Tao blinked.
“A new room?”
He observed the surprised expression on her face, leaning closer and casting a pale gray shadow over her.
“Don’t tell me Little Taotao was actually looking forward to sleeping with me?”
He feigned a thoughtful expression, one hand stroking his chin.
“Hmm…
in that case, should I have Housekeeper Jiang move my things in here right now?”
Bai Tao was starting to realize something.
Even though the two brothers of the Zuo Family were known as the Demon Twins…
…this Zuo Mubai was much more likely to be full of hot air.
Barely a word he said was true.
You’d be lucky to believe even half of anything he said.
Zuo Mubai’s lips nearly touched hers, but at the last second, they traveled upward, planting a soft kiss on her forehead instead.
“We still have a month.
We can take our time.”
“When the time comes, if you don’t want to switch to Sen, you can tell me that too.”
He picked up the tie he had tossed aside, straightened his clothes, and said, “Good afternoon, Little Taotao.”
As Zuo Mubai left the room, he thought back to the way she’d just been pursing her red lips.
The snake scales he had been suppressing now crept across the corners of his eyes.
‘She’s so shy.
If he were to do something even more outrageous to her later…’
‘…what would he do then?’
After Zuo Mubai left, Bai Tao’s luggage from her dorm was brought to the room.
Along with it came a pink, babydoll-style nightgown.
It was, surprisingly, a very cute design.
She set an alarm for a thirty-minute nap and began to unbutton her clothes.
Suddenly, there was a soft tapping at the window.
She assumed the window hadn’t been closed properly, so she walked toward the sound and pulled it open—
Jing Wang was crouched on the windowsill, his legs slightly apart.