Change your clothes, then hold me, be a good boy. Not even…
Not even ten minutes later, a set of extremely chaotic and hurried footsteps echoed down the hallway.
The sweating private physician and two assistants, pushing a sophisticated portable color ultrasound machine, practically tumbled into the master bedroom.
The air pressure inside the room was suffocatingly low.
The machine emitted a faint humming sound, appearing exceptionally jarring in the dead silence.
The doctor quickly plugged in the equipment, donned medical gloves, and holding the probe and transmission gel, walked briskly to the bedside.
“Boss, this examination requires this gentleman to lie flat on his back.”
Jin Yuan nodded slightly and leaned down.
Avoiding the injury on the lower part of Zhang Lu’s back, he carefully supported Zhang Lu’s armpits and the bends of his knees, gently turning the completely stiff man over onto his back.
Zhang Lu’s complexion was as pale as paper, his temples damp with loose strands of hair matted down by cold sweat.
He panted heavily, clenching his teeth hard as he allowed Jin Yuan to push up his shirt, exposing his slightly protruding abdomen, which still retained its tight, muscular lines.
The surging discomfort and worry overwhelmed him like a landslide, grinding that shred of humiliation completely into dust.
The moment the icy transmission gel was squeezed onto the skin of his abdomen, Zhang Lu shuddered violently.
Jin Yuan’s palm covered his cold cheek, his thumb rubbing across his cheekbone.
It was unclear whether it was meant as comfort or a warning.
Holding his breath, the doctor gently pressed the probe against his lower abdomen.
The machine emitted a soft hum, and a fan-shaped image intertwined with black and white instantly sprang onto the high-definition screen.
Almost everyone in the room held their breath in that single instant.
Staring fixedly at the screen, the doctor slowly slid the probe with his fingertips, checking carefully inch by inch, his voice dry and trembling: “No, no obvious signs of internal bleeding; the placenta is in a normal position, with no detachment.”
Zhang Lu’s gaze was locked tightly onto the screen.
He didn’t know what he was expecting, yet he harbored a faint premonition.
As the probe continued to slide, the image on the screen suddenly jumped. Passing through the blurred amniotic fluid, an extremely clear picture burst unceremoniously into everyone’s view.
Zhang Lu’s pupils dilated instantly at that very moment.
A clear head, where even the silhouette of the bridge of the nose could be discerned.
A tiny body curled up quietly, its minute limbs crossed over its chest.
Zhang Lu almost forgot how to breathe.
It was real—a human being.
A living, breathing little person, right inside his body.
At that exact moment, the tiny figure on the screen seemed to sense something.
That small, delicate, yet distinctively boned little hand suddenly moved within the amniotic fluid.
And right toward the direction of the probe, it threw a tiny punch.
Zhang Lu let out an involuntary cry, looking toward Jin Yuan.
Jin Yuan had also been staring intently at the screen.
Hearing Zhang Lu’s gasp of surprise, he snapped back to reality, lowering his gaze to look at the person beside him.
An unexpected trace of softening flickered across his expression.
The hostility pressing at the corners of his eyes vanished entirely, and the piercing chill surrounding him faded by more than half.
His long eyelashes trembled imperceptibly.
His eyes were deeper than usual.
Zhang Lu’s heart skipped a beat.
The doctor stared at the screen and reconfirmed for a moment before finally letting out a breath, his voice steadying significantly:
“The fetus is in a stable condition, unaffected by the impact, and developing completely normally.”
He paused, glancing toward the lower back of Zhang Lu, his tone turning somewhat solemn:
“However, the gentleman’s lower back and lumbar contusion are quite severe. He needs strict bed rest, close monitoring for persistent dizziness, headaches, or abnormal bleeding, and daily dressing changes and re-examinations going forward.”
As soon as the doctor finished speaking, Jin Yuan said in a deep voice:
“I will take care of it. You may leave.”
Not daring to linger, the doctor and his assistants hurriedly packed up the equipment and stepped out of the room on tiptoe.
The door clicked shut softly, leaving the two of them alone in the room once again.
As the adrenaline completely wore off, the dull ache in Zhang Lu’s back instantly surged into a sharp pain.
It felt like countless fine needles piercing straight into the gaps of his bones, throbbing densely.
His complexion turned even paler. Clutching the bedsheet, he couldn’t help letting out a muffled groan as he curled his body inward.
Jin Yuan leaned closer, wrapping one arm around his shoulder while supporting his waist with the other. With the utmost gentleness, he pulled the curled figure into his embrace.
The pressure wasn’t heavy, yet it firmly supported Zhang Lu’s weight, relieving the strain on his back and easing the pain slightly.
Zhang Lu stiffened all over, but instead of pulling away, the pain caused him to instinctively press his forehead against Jin Yuan’s shoulder.
Cold sweat quickly soaked through the other man’s clothing, and realizing this, a subtle flash of satisfaction unexpectedly crossed Zhang Lu’s mind.
Jin Yuan tightened his arm, holding him more securely: “His temper is probably like yours.”
“What?” Zhang Lu’s ears were ringing from the pain.
“Throwing punches whenever trouble hits.”
Zhang Lu couldn’t help laughing out loud, but the action immediately pulled at his injury, sending a stabbing wave of pain rushing back. Irritated, he opened his mouth and bit down hard onto Jin Yuan’s shoulder.
Through the fabric, he could still clearly feel the warmth of flesh and blood.
“I hope he doesn’t learn from you and go around biting people,” Jin Yuan sighed softly.
“When I can throw punches, I don’t bite,” Zhang Lu grumbled resentfully.
He didn’t quite understand what was happening to himself either, but at this moment, Jin Yuan’s embrace truly made the unbearable pain somewhat more manageable.
Jin Yuan’s lips brushed against Zhang Lu’s face. Lacking the strength to dodge, Zhang Lu let him leave a string of kiss-like touches across his cheek.
He wanted to ask Jin Yuan how that tiny figure resembled a monster, but…
But before the words on his lips could even take shape, an intensely unfamiliar and overwhelming tremor shattered them right in his throat.
Jin Yuan’s lips didn’t pull away; instead, they slid very slowly from his cheek down to the edge of his ear.
Warm breath puffed against the sensitive skin of his neck, stirring up a flurry of fine shivers.
At the same time, the large hand that had been resting securely on Zhang Lu’s waist, whether intentionally or not, used its fingertips to lightly stroke his lumbar dimple through the cold-sweat-drenched fabric.
“Mmh.”
A sticky, altered moan that even Zhang Lu hadn’t expected escaped unexpectedly from his lips.
His eyes widened abruptly, and his blood felt as though it rushed straight to his head in an instant.
It was too bizarre.
“Don’t be afraid, like this, it will make you feel better.”
Jin Yuan’s voice sounded low beside his ear, like floating clouds gently cradling his heart.
The sharp, needle-like pain in his back was actually being forcefully suppressed under the intense numbness rising from deep within his abdomen by Jin Yuan’s tiny, soft, and rhythmic strokes.
The pain was gone.
Replaced by a sensation that terrified Zhang Lu, yet made the corners of his eyes flush red with pleasure.
His muscles grew weak beyond control, and driven by instinct, he shamefully pressed closer against that scorching palm.
Like a wild beast that had been stroked the right way, craving further soothing.
The air in the room seemed completely ignited in that single second.
Jin Yuan’s movements abruptly halted.
He straightened up slightly, a dangerous, dark gleam flashing through his abyss-like black eyes.
“So sensitive.”
“Shut up, you damn bastard, get your hand away.”
Zhang Lu bit down hard on his lower lip until he tasted the metallic tang of blood.
Yet that scalp-tingling pleasure kept surging up wave after wave.
Even his voice unintentionally softened into a pool of spring water.
Jin Yuan chuckled softly: “Be a good boy, there’s nothing to be afraid of. This is because of the hormones; I’m only helping you relieve the pain.”
Under the cover of the most righteous-sounding words, that hand not only failed to withdraw but instead forcefully slipped beneath the hem of his shirt, pressing against the burning skin right beside his spine.
“Ah.”
A rush of weakness struck Zhang Lu’s lower back, instantly forcing physiological moisture to the corners of his eyes as his fingers gripped the bedsheet so hard his knuckles turned white.
A sense of humiliation raged like a wildfire, yet it couldn’t stop him from sinking deeper into Jin Yuan’s embrace.
He turned his head away, the outer corners of his eyes fiercely red, his lashes damp with moisture and trembling continuously.
“Let go, Jin Yuan, you jerk.”
Terrified, he discovered that somewhere within his body, a completely unfamiliar sensation was surging quietly.
Like a spring tide washing over his head.
“Don’t, don’t press there.”
His voice grew hoarse, carrying a plea he hadn’t noticed himself, and his entire face buried itself almost entirely into the crook of Jin Yuan’s neck.
“Shh.” Jin Yuan’s words grew increasingly vague. “Little one will be glad I’m taking care of you. After all, you are its badass mother.”
Zhang Lu shuddered all over, every support melting away into ice and water in an instant.
Before he knew it, Jin Yuan’s upper garments had also parted open.
Avoiding his injury, he locked Zhang Lu securely within his arms.
Their skin pressed tightly together.
That physique was even more scorching than he had imagined.
The solid lines of muscle pressed against him, carrying an irresistible sense of oppression.
Zhang Lu’s breathing completely collapsed.
He wanted to reach out and push Jin Yuan away, but his arms merely rested limply across the man’s shoulders.
Humiliation and reluctance, mixed with the electric numbness crawling frantically out from his bone marrow, completely overwhelmed him.
Zhang Lu closed his eyes in despair.
His tense eyelids finally gave way, and a single rolling, humiliating tear slipped down, silently vanishing into the crook of Jin Yuan’s neck.
A broken, animal-like whimper broke from his throat, sounding like a beast that had been completely domesticated.
Little one made no fuss, seeming to sense this fierce aura belonging to the other father that surrounded it on all sides, and nestled obediently within this suffocating heat.
Zhang Lu knew he was finished.
There was no turning back.
The man who locked him in his arms had completely sealed off all his retreats.
Even hijacking his instincts.
At the very last shred of clarity, just as the raging tide swallowed him whole, the hand Zhang Lu had been using to grip the bedsheet finally relaxed limply.
Instead, it clenched onto the back of Jin Yuan’s shirt.
As if grasping the sole piece of driftwood amidst a vast, boundless wave.
Jin Yuan let him tug, his arm maintaining a steady circle around him.
Holding him like that until Zhang Lu’s breathing gradually stabilized and his body slowly relaxed, he eased his grip slightly, loosening his embrace just a fraction as his voice turned somewhat raspy:
“You’re soaked through. I’ll go get you a change of clothes.”
Dizzily, Zhang Lu shook his head, his lips moving slightly.
The corners of Jin Yuan’s lips curved upward slightly as he leaned in to peck Zhang Lu’s lips:
“You’ll catch a cold. Change your clothes, then hold me, be a good boy.”