This was a kiss… one Sui Mi had never imagined she would feel from Xi Jianbai.
Every kiss since their marriage—whether a polite, fleeting brush or a shallow tangle at night—had always been calm and gentle from Xi Jianbai.
Not much force at all; his movements could even be called careful and lukewarm.
One could say it was the complete opposite of Sui Mi’s preferences.
But perhaps because this was her dream—
His pale, cold fingertips pressed almost into her soft cheek, leaving distinct marks.
The kiss landed with a domineering, rough force, mercilessly grinding over her soft lips.
In the span of a single blink, Sui Mi could barely breathe.
The moment a breath rolled past her lips and tongue, it was hooked away and swallowed whole.
The sweet flavor of grapes swirled and spread through her mouth, cloyingly sweet.
A dizzy, oxygen-starved sensation rose in Sui Mi.
Her body went weak without her willing it, yet instinctively, upon sensing danger, she wanted to flee.
She stumbled backward.
Just as her lower back was about to slam into the hard edge of the table, a burning, broad palm circled her waist, the back of his hand and forearm blocking the considerable impact.
And so Sui Mi was completely enveloped in Xi Jianbai’s embrace.
Xi Jianbai was tall—nearly one point nine meters—with naturally broad shoulders and a narrow waist on a large frame, and he paid attention to exercise, his muscles lean and fluid.
Even from a distance, one could sense the coiled, ready pressure about him.
Let alone in a confining posture like this.
The arm locked around Sui Mi’s waist kept tightening, his forearm muscles taut and hard, as if he could lift her clean off the ground by the waist and toy with her—or as if he wanted to knead her into his very bones and blood.
Greedy. Full of possessiveness.
Sui Mi was forced to tilt her head back, breathing rapidly, struggling to draw a sliver of cool oxygen from between their pressed-together, scorching breaths.
Her fingers, suspended in midair, trembled slightly. As the oxygen grew thinner, her limbs lost their strength and could no longer hold up; her arms went limp and fell onto Xi Jianbai’s shoulders.
“…Mm.”
A vague groan rolled from her throat.
Sui Mi could feel that her lip had been split by a small cut, bringing a faint sting.
Instinctively, her fingers tightened, clutching hard at the collar of Xi Jianbai’s shirt.
Before she could even cry out in pain, she felt those thin lips, now marked with vivid heat, change direction—and, like a vampire that had caught the scent of the most delicious food, press a kiss to her wound.
A faint taste of rust replaced the grape flavor, seeping between her lips and teeth.
The wound was pecked and kissed over and over.
It hurt.
But… it felt so good too.
The fingers Sui Mi had clenched into Xi Jianbai’s collar had gone stiff from the force, her pale-pink, rounded fingertips drained of all color and turning white—impossible to tell whether she wanted to pull him closer or push him away.
A thin sheen of sweat beaded at her temples; her half-lidded almond eyes gathered a misty sheen of moisture, a few crystalline tears clinging to the tips of her lashes.
Only after a long, long while.
By the time the wound had gone numb with pain, no longer registering any sensation at all.
Sui Mi blinked slowly, and as Xi Jianbai lifted his head slightly, she saw her own blurred reflection in his lowered, light-colored eyes.
Her cheeks were flushed completely red.
Like pink mist, spreading from her cheeks to the tips of her ears.
Especially at the corners of her eyes, steeped in a wet, burning brilliance.
Her lips were already a soft red, rich as flower petals—and now, the wound at their corner dragged out an even more striking shade of crimson.
“…”
After a brief silence.
Xi Jianbai raised his hand and brushed his rough fingertip against her burning lips.
His voice, usually cool and clear, carried a sticky, damp satisfaction from the breathiness.
“Baby’s been so good.”
“Why so good today? Didn’t dodge me at all?”
As he spoke, he idly bent a knuckle, brushing aside the sweat-dampened strands of hair at Sui Mi’s temple, a smile slowly rippling through his pale eyes.
Completely different from the Sui Mi in her memory.
A mixture of tenderness and wickedness.
He watched her for a few seconds, then curled his lips again.
Xi Jianbai leaned down, his thin lips affectionately kissing the red marks his fingers had pinched into Sui Mi’s cheek.
He seemed already used to Sui Mi’s silence, murmuring to himself in a husky voice between soft kisses.
“Everything that makes Baby unhappy—I’ll get rid of it all.”
“Husband will make it happen.”
“Does Baby like the building? Husband will earn it too. I’ll give it all to Baby.”
After a pause, Xi Jianbai seemed to think of something else.
He tilted his head, gently nuzzling the tip of Sui Mi’s nose with his high nose bridge.
It was too close. Sui Mi reflexively closed her eyes, her lashes trembling like the startled wings of a butterfly.
Soon, she felt a shadow fall over her eyelids.
Scorching lips pressed against them, kissing away the tiny teardrops at the corners of her eyes that hadn’t yet evaporated.
Sui Mi heard him say:
“Baby, why did you add me on WeChat?”
“Why did you add me and then never message me?”
“Baby is a bad baby.”
The last sentence trailed lower and lower.
It came together with the distinct sensation of the soft flesh at the corner of her eye being caught between damp teeth.
“Bad babies… deserve to be eaten up, bite by bite, by Husband.”
Sui Mi bolted upright in bed.
The movement was so violent it stirred up a gust of wind, shaking open a small gap in the overlapping bed curtains.
Her roommate Yu Qingxian was just getting out of bed in the faint morning light filtering through the balcony’s glass window. Hearing the commotion, she paused and looked over.
She asked quietly, “Did I wake you?”
Sophomore year was full of classes, but Sui Mi’s class had gotten lucky—no 8 a.m. classes this semester.
The other two roommates were still fast asleep.
Yu Qingxian had a work-study shift at the library every morning, so she always got up early.
She looked at Sui Mi with a hint of apology.
Sui Mi pulled back the curtain and waved a hand at her, her tone a little listless. “No… I just had a dream.”
Yu Qingxian tiptoed off to the balcony to wash up.
Sui Mi sat for a while, then flopped back onto the bed with a plop, pulling the covers up over half her face.
Her lashes fluttered and fluttered—she didn’t even dare close her eyes.
The moment she did, she knew she’d immediately start replaying the dream.
The burning body heat.
The scorching breath.
The domineering posture.
The sticky endearments.
…Help.
Sui Mi yanked the covers up over her head, trying to smother herself and hide the blush spreading across her face.
Help, help, help.
Was it because she’d seen Xi Jianbai yesterday?
It wasn’t that Sui Mi had never had hazy dreams like this before, but they’d all been stream-of-consciousness, the kind where she only vaguely sensed something pleasant.
But this dream—it was far too vivid, far too real.
When she’d leaned helplessly against Xi Jianbai’s chest, she could even feel, through the thin fabric at her lower back, the thick veins straining on his forearm.
Normally, even if you remembered a dream right after waking, it would gradually fade once you were fully conscious.
But Sui Mi held her breath and found that every detail of the dream remained crystal clear in her mind.
Could it be that desires she’d suppressed for too long had taken concrete form in her dream?
But why did the subject have to be Xi Jianbai?!
And a completely different Xi Jianbai at that.
Not a trace of restraint or composure remained.
Domineering and forceful.
Every kiss carried a desperate, aching hunger.
Sui Mi stared blankly at the thought, then couldn’t help reaching up to touch the corner of her lips.
Smooth and soft, without any wound.
…So it really had been nothing but a dream.