It was a small drawer, just forty centimeters square, but it felt as if Xu Mengzhou’s entire brain had been stuffed inside it.
There was a light blue, whale-shaped object with a smooth, upturned tail fin nestled in a transparent case. Alongside it lay a string of translucent, egg-sized beads, a slender fish-shaped gadget, and something resembling a microphone.
Beneath the clear box rested a collection of faux-fur tails in black and white…short and long, thick and slender, mimicking cats, rabbits, and foxes. Each ended in a teardrop base of polished metal or glass, so many that it was impossible to count them at a glance.
Then there was a box of small clamps. Their grips were trimmed with leather in golden and pastel pinks, adorned with feathers, pom-poms, delicate bows, or hollowed-out bells that chimed softly with the slightest movement.
Not to mention the monochrome and lace blindfolds, skimpy scraps of fabric held together by thin straps, leather chokers with attached chains, pitch-black handcuffs, a thick coil of rope, a wooden ruler, and a heavy leather whip with a worn grip…
Xu Mengzhou picked up one of the items and stared at it, utterly dazed.
If someone were struck by lightning, thrown into a washing machine for three thousand six hundred rapid spins, kept awake for ten straight days, and then surrounded by a swarm of ten thousand buzzing mosquitoes… that was roughly what was going through her head right now.
What on earth?! What are all these for?!
“Even with amnesia, your taste hasn’t changed. You still prefer the ones with clips.”
The cool, teasing voice hit her like hot oil on chili flakes, sending a jolt straight through her.
Caught red-handed, Xu Mengzhou hurriedly dropped what she was holding. The box hit the floor, its bells jingling like a sudden gust through wind chimes.
“I’m not using any of this!” Her face flushed as red as a ripe persimmon, though her voice sounded decidedly unripe…strained and raw.
Ruan Li gave her an amused look, bent down, and unhurriedly picked up the box. “They’re for you to use on me.”
Ruan Li usually wore long sleeves and trousers, likely because she ran cold. But today, for some reason, she had changed into a deep V-neck camisole dress. The hem was long enough to cover her ankles, looking warm enough, but the neckline plunged dangerously low. Looking straight at her, half of her chest was exposed, pale and full like a bright half-moon.
As she bent over, she looked like a heavy pink camellia weighing down a branch, a soft, plush sight that tumbled straight into Xu Mengzhou’s line of vision.
How could a young, inexperienced girl handle a view like that? Yet, out of sheer pride, Xu Mengzhou forced herself to stand her ground.
Her head, however, jerked to the side as if she’d been singed by a flame, not daring to steal another glance.
“I’m not using them on you either,” Xu Mengzhou muttered, her voice dropping an octave…completely lacking conviction.
When a person possesses both a vivid imagination and an sharp memory, turning away doesn’t help; the images simply bloom in their mind instead.
And her mind was adding extra details.
She took a deep breath, only to be enveloped by the fragrance wafting from Ruan Li. The tips of her ears turned beet red, and she squeezed out through gritted teeth, “…You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”
Wearing something like this on purpose. Letting her see the drawer on purpose.
The woman’s conscience had to be pitch black.
Ruan Li smiled pleasantly, opening the box to pick up the metal clamps one by one, casually rearranging them.
A bell chimed sporadically.
“Are you angry? Do you want to punish me?”
She leaned closer. “There’s a whip in the drawer. Want to use it?”
Her voice was cool as snow, yet it burned hotter than fire.
Xu Mengzhou clenched her fists and snapped her head around, her glare piercing like an arrow.
A fiery arrow, boiling hot and bright, like a kettle spewing steam.
“Do you really think I won’t?”
Teasing and provoking her time after time…did she really think Xu Mengzhou was made of soft dough?
Ruan Li lightly raised her neatly groomed eyebrows, fluttering like a swallow’s tail feathers, brushing off the threat as easily as a drop of water. She set the box down and turned her back casually.
She clearly didn’t take Xu Mengzhou’s counterattack seriously at all.
Was the heat swelling in her chest anger? Or was it something else burning without rhyme or reason, turning Xu Mengzhou into a scorching boiler, a volcano on the verge of erupting?
She reached out abruptly, wrapping her arm around Ruan Li’s waist, and threw her backward.
Thud.
The sound of the woman being pinned into the mattress merged with the heavy thumping of her own heart.
Liquid fire replaced the blood in her veins, racing and surging through her system.
Besides, back in their “future,” they had already done this countless times.
Xu Mengzhou grabbed Ruan Li’s wrists and pinned her shoulders down, like a hawk seizing a lamb by the neck.
She lowered her head, targeting those infuriating lips, and pressed down in a heavy, reckless kiss.
Unskilled at kissing, she used too much force, accidentally splitting a lip. Sweet, metallic heat turned into warm blood, seeping between their tangled lips.
She held half of Ruan Li’s lower lip in her mouth like a piece of soft tofu or tender jelly…unable to let go, yet unable to swallow. As the sudden rush of impulse faded, Xu Mengzhou froze right on top of her.
Their mingling breaths formed a delicate breeze, whispering through the narrow valley between them.
Her vision failed to focus, turning everything into a blur. The tiny mole on the bridge of Ruan Li’s nose magnified into a storm cloud, a tiny paw print gently stamped onto her heart.
For a long moment, she didn’t move, completely at a loss for how to proceed.
The woman beneath her broke free from the restraint, wrapping two snow-white arms around her back. Ruan Li’s palms rested against the nape of her neck, gently rubbing and smoothing her skin as if soothing a startled leopard.
Their lips parted like opening petals, two small flames awkwardly converging, colliding with different temperatures until tiny sparks scattered into the closed, dark room.
Xu Mengzhou felt like a tree, or perhaps a fallen leaf tumbling into a river, swept away by the current, rising and falling with every subtle ripple.
Raindrops fell from the sky, battering the leaf, threatening to drown it in the water.
The moment her world flipped, she scrambled out of the river, back onto the bank, leaning down like a leopard to lap up a few mouthfuls of water.
She could drink as much as she wanted; the river was an immovable source.
No wonder.
Xu Mengzhou squeezed the woman’s arms, feeling them like soft dough, before moving to press against her collarbone and pinch her soft earlobes.
Again and again, completely enamored.
No wonder.
Kissing felt so incredible…no wonder she had a whole drawer full of treasures.
Feeling as though she had won a grand victory, she pressed down against her prey, listening to the tiny, muffled whimper that escaped Ruan Li…a sound so soft it was like a bubble rising from the seabed, popping quietly into nothingness.
Xu Mengzhou pulled back slightly to let her catch her breath, only to cover her mouth again.
She shouldn’t have been hiding earlier, she thought remorsefully, working her tongue with even more fervor, determined to make up for everything she had missed.
How could it feel this amazing?
It was like fireworks exploding at every nerve ending. Before kissing her, Xu Mengzhou had never realized how thirsty she was for a specific kind of drink. Now, she decided to make this a daily activity.
Regardless of time, place, or frequency.
The woman beneath her squirmed like a fish out of water.
Xu Mengzhou pulled back once more, wiping away the tear trails at the corners of Ruan Li’s eyes, before pressing down yet again.
Kissing became a long, sweet form of torment.
Yet Ruan Li relished every second of it.
At this moment, countless past fantasies shattered; no imaginary scenario could compare to the reality of now.
Ruan Li shouldn’t have been so impatient, but right now, she felt her impatience was entirely justified.
She had waited eight years, slow-cooking her way into Xu Mengzhou’s heart like writing words upon the wind.
Yet the short-term amnesia caused by the car accident was bound to fade eventually. At the end of the month, they had to return to their hometown.
There was someone there she desperately wanted to avoid…a suitor of Xu Mengzhou’s, an uninvited guest who might shatter everything she had painstakingly built.
Any random trigger could bring those lost memories rushing back.
She needed a real, tangible bargaining chip she could hold firmly in her hand.
The vibrating sensations turned into a deep ache, making the root of her tongue go numb and her cheeks grow sore. As a soft warmth slid across the roof of her mouth, the soreness instantly dissolved into an endless, agonizing itch, as if her very brain were having an allergic reaction.
Tears spilled over as a reflex, soaking her eyelashes into heavy, wet clumps that weighed down her eyelids.
A thumb brushed the moisture away, but perhaps it was already damp too, shifting from palm to back of hand, and then to a crumpled corner of the duvet pulled over at random.
After a long while, Xu Mengzhou finally hit the pause button. Looking down, she asked in confusion, “Why do you keep crying?”
As if she hadn’t had enough, she leaned back down, bypassing those parted lips to sweep her tongue across Ruan Li’s eyelashes, carrying away the stray teardrops.
“Tears really are salty.”
She didn’t particularly care for the salty taste; it felt strange.
“Doesn’t taste good.”
Yet, as if possessed, instead of lifting her head, she licked away all the remaining tears from Ruan Li’s face.
It was as though any liquid coming from this body had to be sampled by her tongue first.
Ruan Li looked like a bruised, overripe peach…flushed, soft, and dripping wet. It was impossible to tell which patches of pink were her natural flush and which were the red marks left by Xu Mengzhou’s pressing hands.
“Why aren’t you talking anymore?”
Xu Mengzhou sat up halfway, smiling triumphantly as if she had won a major round. She reached out to poke Ruan Li’s soft cheek, leaving small dimples behind.
“Weren’t you talking so smoothly just a moment ago?”
“If you try to tease me or provoke me on purpose again, I’m going to kiss you,” she warned, thoroughly pleased with her own threat. “I’ll kiss you just like I did just now.”
Ruan Li could only gasp for air, completely limp as if drawn from the water, unable to lift a single finger.
When she remained unresponsive for a while, Xu Mengzhou began to panic. This woman was fragile beyond belief…had she actually kissed her to pieces?
If she can’t even handle a kiss, how on earth did she use those props? Any one of them looks way more intense!
Realizing her own body was still pressing down on her, Xu Mengzhou quickly scrambled off, hopping on one leg toward the bathroom. She wetted a few towels and hopped back, lifting Ruan Li up like a attentive servant to rest her head on her lap, gently wiping her face clean.
Her usual reluctance to touch people had vanished into thin air.
“Ruan Li, say something, you’re making me nervous.”
She bit her lip, asking tentatively, “Didn’t I kiss you like this before? Hey…”
Only then did Ruan Li seem to catch her breath. She looked up at her, her gaze soft and devoid of energy.
Her voice was fragmented between hitches of breath. “You were the one tied to the bed, letting me kiss you however I wanted. I stopped whenever I said stop.”
Xu Mengzhou instinctively shook her head. “Impossible.”
“If anything, it was the other way around.”