Chi Yang’s back stiffened almost instantly.
She nervously clenched her fingers, slowly crumpling a corner of the quilt into folds. Even her face, hidden beneath the covers, grew hot from Xie Youci’s question.
Help…
Don’t call her, don’t call her!
Just pretend she was already asleep, okay? This feeling of sharing a bed was downright mortifying.
Fortunately, Xie Youci only asked that one question.
Seeing that Chi Yang didn’t respond, he turned back to lie flat, tucked the quilt around himself, and closed his eyes as if to sleep.
Chi Yang finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Her entire body relaxed instantly, and the hand gripping the quilt slowly loosened.
Perhaps because her guard was down.
Chi Yang’s breathing became much softer and more even. Her relaxed nerves began to surrender to drowsiness, and she truly sank into the soft bed, drifting into a sweet dream.
But little did she know.
Xie Youci had long noticed she wasn’t asleep earlier.
After lying back and pretending to close his eyes to sleep, he sensed the tension beside him ease slightly.
He lifted his eyelids and glanced toward the other side of the bed by the moonlight, indeed seeing Chi Yang’s hand release its grip on the quilt. Her relieved expression clearly showed she had been pretending to sleep.
Was she really that nervous?
It was just sharing a bed, after all.
Wasn’t she quite bold when she drunkenly kissed him before?
Xie Youci slowly lowered his eyelids again.
He closed his eyes once more, wrapping himself in the quilt as he prepared to turn over and sleep. But just as he had turned, he suddenly heard faint rustling sounds from behind.
Xie Youci: ?
Sensing the unusual movement behind him, he wanted to turn his head to look. But before he could react, the already fast-asleep Chi Yang struck first—
She shifted against the sheets, wrapped in the quilt.
Gradually drawing closer.
A soft, warm presence suddenly pressed against Xie Youci’s back!
In that moment.
Xie Youci felt as if his breath had stopped.
He never expected that Chi Yang, sharing the same quilt with him, would actively snuggle up to him. His mind went completely blank.
“Chi Yang?”
Xie Youci’s voice was strained and tense.
His back stiffened rigidly.
Although he had never had any romantic experiences, this soft, warm sensation made him realize something.
He didn’t dare move recklessly.
Afraid that the slightest misstep might cross a line.
Moreover, a tingling sensation shot up his spine, spreading through his limbs and making his entire body go weak. His mind grew numb, unsure how to react.
“Asleep? Chi Yang?”
Xie Youci called out to her in a low, husky voice, testing.
However, the only response was her snuggling even closer in a coquettish manner, along with soft murmurs in her sleep.
“Mmm…”
Chi Yang was indeed already asleep. The earlier tension had drained too much of her mental energy, and once her guard was down, she quickly surrendered to slumber.
But before this.
No one had ever warned her.
That she was extremely restless at night and had a habit of snuggling against things while sleeping—essentially, she gravitated toward whatever felt safe and secure.
Sure enough, the next moment.
Her arm draped over his waist.
Xie Youci: “…”
He stared somewhat despairingly at the ceiling, noticing Chi Yang’s fingers wandering along his side, eventually settling her palm against his abdominal muscles.
Xie Youci: “…”
He held his breath, falling silent for a moment.Then he quietly reached out to grasp her wrist, moved her arm aside, and kept his distance, stepping back a bit.
The sleeping Chi Yang felt nothing.
She lay obediently beside him, continuing her chess game with the Duke of Zhou. Xie Youci turned his head to see her peaceful and quiet, secretly sighing in relief before turning over to adjust his position.
Unexpectedly.
Before Xie Youci could relax for long, a sweet and soft fragrance of shower gel drifted into his senses.
Chi Yang snuggled closer against the bedsheet.
Like a coquettish kitten, she didn’t wait for him to react before burrowing directly into his embrace!
Xie Youci: “…”
His Adam’s apple suddenly rolled heavily, and his abdomen tensed uncontrollably.
Xie Youci closed his eyes in despair.
“Chi Yang.”
He called her name in a hoarse voice, while enduring her restless snuggling, “Wake up.”
But Chi Yang was sound asleep, seemingly unconsciously drawing closer to him.
Whether she was seeking warmth or found comfort in Xie Youci’s body temperature or scent, she nestled her fluffy, soft hair against him, found a comfortable spot, and pressed her cheek against his chest.
Xie Youci was nearly going mad.
The first time, she seductively pushed him into the bathroom; the second time, she pinned him on the sofa and kissed him forcefully; the third time, she actively threw herself into his arms under the covers.
Any man would be unable to resist.
The sweet fragrance lingered in his senses, warmth and desire overflowing.
A different kind of temptation and allure captured Xie Youci’s soul, stirring and intoxicating him in this undisturbed night.
It was too quiet.
Without any other distractions.
Xie Youci felt that Chi Yang’s scent was too alluring, that soft and sweet sensation completely different from her usual fierce demeanor.
He couldn’t control the accelerating heartbeat in his chest.
He couldn’t help but roll his Adam’s apple.
He wanted to retreat further, lest the last bit of his restraint crumble under Chi Yang’s provocation.
But a murmuring voice suddenly sounded, “Mom…”
Xie Youci’s chest trembled.
He lowered his gaze to look at Chi Yang nestled in his arms. The hazy moonlight softly fell on her face, her sleeping expression gentle and serene. The soft light filtered through her long lashes, casting a beautiful shadow.
“Don’t go…”
Her lips parted, her voice soft.
Xie Youci almost instantly froze, his lips pressed tightly together, choosing not to retreat further.
Isn’t this liking him?
She even mistook him for her mom.
She must like him to death, right?
Thinking this, Xie Youci sighed as if admitting defeat.
He reached out and pulled Chi Yang into his embrace, resting his chin on the top of her head and rubbing it gently. “Forget it, sleep.”
Who made her like him so much?
Xie Youci looked up at the ceiling in despair, his strong, defined jawline tense, his usual arrogance and pride tamed in that moment.
Damn.
He’d been hooked by her again.
…
The next morning.
Chi Yang woke up from the heat, pushing away the source of warmth in annoyance, rubbing her sleepy eyes as she slowly came to her senses.
But as soon as she opened her eyes.
She suddenly met a pair of eyes, dark and narrow, with faint shadows beneath them, tinged with resentment.
Chi Yang was instantly awake.
She jumped back like a little frog.
“Xie Youci!” Chi Yang’s pupils contracted, panic-stricken as she surveyed her surroundings.Then she rolled up the blanket and frantically scooted backward. “We agreed on a boundary! Why are you sleeping on my side!”
Xie Youci lazily lifted his eyelids to look at her.
He let out a low, ambiguous chuckle. “Why am I sleeping on your side? Mrs. Xie, why don’t you turn around and take a look first, and then listen to me ask you—”
“Why are you sleeping on my side?”
Chi Yang: ?
Bewildered, she turned her head as Xie Youci suggested, expecting to see herself squeezed almost off the bed.
But what met her eyes
was a vast expanse of empty bed.
With a sinking feeling, Chi Yang glanced over her shoulder and discovered that the boundary line she had drawn last night, dividing the bed into a 70-30 split, was now almost entirely pressed beneath her body.
And the area she had slept in last night was actually Xie Youci’s side!!!