When the clothes and skirt on her body fell to the floor, Lin Wu felt a little cold. She closed her eyes, tightened the arms clinging to his neck, slightly tilted her head back, and lightly bit the corner of his lips in retaliation for his wicked behavior.
Chen Zhuo winced in pain, let out a muffled laugh, picked her up, supported her body, and carried her into the bathroom with him.
The hot water gushing from the showerhead soon overwhelmed the panting sounds from their kissing. The water pattered, flowing past their foreheads, cheeks, collarbones, and chests.
After a long entanglement of advances and retreats, Chen Zhuo finally released the oxygen deprived Lin Wu. He reached for the body wash from the wall niche, worked it into white foam, and applied it evenly and meticulously over her body.
Chen Zhuo’s palms were very warm. From years of working out, there were rough calluses on them.
Without any barrier, they pressed against her soft, delicate skin. As he washed and kneaded, her eyelashes trembled lightly. She involuntarily held her breath. The tingling itch spreading across her skin forced her to press closer to him on her own initiative. She tried to ease the craving in her body this way.
“…”
This shower took a very long time.
When they returned to the bedroom afterward, Lin Wu sank into the soft bedding. Chen Zhuo changed from his wicked demeanor in the bathroom and kissed her slowly and methodically, pleasuring her.
The two had not seen each other for over half a month. Last week, Lin Wu had been far too busy to find any time to spend intimately with Chen Zhuo.
That was also why she had felt somewhat angry when he seemed about to stand her up this afternoon.
Noticing her momentary distraction, the man kissing her suddenly sucked her collarbone with just the right pressure, pulling her wandering thoughts back.
Lin Wu’s breathing hitched. She instinctively reminded him, “Don’t leave marks in obvious places… mm…”
Before she could finish, Chen Zhuo lost his patience. He bit down heavily on her collarbone, then sealed her lips once more, stirring inside her mouth.
The stimulation from the fierce kissing was far from the only thing.
After kissing her breathless again, Chen Zhuo moved downward.
He no longer patiently scattered dense kisses over her body. He lifted her waist slightly with his hands.
In the chaos, Lin Wu’s head bumped against the leather, soft headboard.
She frowned in pain and was about to lift her foot to kick him when Chen Zhuo grasped her ankle and placed it over his shoulder.
“…”
This time, the “kissing” with his lips and tongue brought her such intense shudders that she felt suffocated. She was like an object tossed into the clouds, drifting and rising with them, unable to find solid ground.
Chen Zhuo was truly bad, full of schemes.
They had been lovers for over half a year. He knew exactly what methods to use to control her in this matter, to handle her precisely.
For a long time afterward, all of Lin Wu’s attention was focused on what Chen Zhuo was doing.
She could not utter a single complete sentence.
Not only that, he tormented her until tears fell.
Not from frustration or discomfort.
They were… the natural tears that flowed when physiological reactions reached a certain critical point.
When the room finally returned to quiet, Chen Zhuo held Lin Wu in his arms, brushed aside her damp hair, and kissed her cheek gently with softened eyes. His voice hoarse, he asked, “Are you okay?”
Lin Wu ignored him.
Chen Zhuo knew he was in the wrong. His palm lightly pinched the soft flesh at her waist and said lowly, “Do you want to take a shower?”
“You go first.” When fully awake, Lin Wu was not accustomed to showering with a man.
Her answer did not surprise Chen Zhuo at all. He hummed in acknowledgment, did not ask why, and did not try to persuade her to join him.
Likewise, he did not get up and leave immediately.
A few minutes later, Chen Zhuo released her and went into the bathroom alone.
Hearing the sound of water from the bathroom, Lin Wu looked down at the marks he had left on her skin and cursed him inwardly for being utterly shameless. She had clearly told him not to bite her, not to leave obvious marks on her body, yet he completely ignored it.
If she had known from the beginning that he was so unrestrained and perverted in bed, Lin Wu would never have provoked him.
***
The two of them met in the spring of this year.
It was shortly after the New Year had passed. Lin Wu had just been promoted at the end of the previous year, and her workstation had changed from a shared office with several people to a private one.
In order to silence the gossiping crowd, she took on many cases during that period and was extremely busy.
So busy that she thought about cases even while sleeping, litigating in her dreams.
Afterward, she suffered from insomnia night after night, drinking coffee as casually as water.
He Jiayun noticed that her condition was not right and dragged her to see a psychologist.
The result was more or less what Lin Wu had guessed. Her situation was caused by multiple pressures. In addition to needing psychological counseling, she also had to learn to reduce stress on her own.
Regarding this, the psychologist even suggested that she should not focus all her attention on work. She needed to enjoy life appropriately, perhaps chat more with family and friends, or try falling in love.
The former was difficult. Lin Wu had only He Jiayun as a friend, and she was very busy too.
As for the latter, Lin Wu was too busy. She had no time to find a man to date or manage a relationship.
Knowing that she had no intention of falling in love, He Jiayun suddenly had an idea and suggested she find a lover. That way, she could release the pent up desires in her body without the trouble of a real relationship, no need to report her schedule to the other person or allocate time to them.
When she first heard He Jiayun say this, Lin Wu rejected her without a second thought.
She only occasionally felt a faint trace of that kind of desire when under great pressure, but she was not so desperate that she needed to find a stranger to satisfy it.
Until one month later, when she saw Chen Zhuo at the bar she frequently visited.
Before going out for drinks that day, Lin Wu had pulled several all-nighters in a row. The matters at hand had temporarily come to an end, and she left the law firm past midnight.
Unable to sleep even after returning home, Lin Wu decided to go to the bar for a few drinks.
The bar was owned by He Jiayun’s childhood friend. She had been there many times, and nearly all the managers and servers knew her, so she was not particularly worried about safety.
When she arrived, the bartender greeted her familiarly. “Miss Lin is here.”
Lin Wu smiled faintly. “Yes.”
She glanced at the crowded booths on the first floor and asked with mild surprise, “Why are there so many people today?”
The bartender explained, “There’s a handsome guy upstairs.”
At those words, Lin Wu casually asked, “How handsome? More handsome than your boss?”
“A different kind of handsome. Our boss is beautiful.” The bartender lowered his voice. “I’ve never seen a man more beautiful than our boss.”
Lin Wu smiled faintly, picked up the glass he slid in front of her. “Aren’t you worried I’ll tell your boss?”
“Miss Lin wouldn’t do that.” The bartender said with certainty. “Sister Jiayun said you don’t meddle in other people’s business.”
Lin Wu laughed speechlessly and said no more.
She lowered her head to drink, not taking the bartender’s words too seriously.
Absent-mindedly, she finished two glasses and replied to a few questions sent by her assistant on her phone.
Just as she was about to set the phone down, a new WeChat message popped up from He Jiayun: “At the bar?”
Lin Wu lowered her eyes to reply: “Which kind informant told you.”
He Jiayun: “Do I still need an informant? Once you finish your work, you definitely go to the bar. You won’t be able to sleep at home anyway.”
Lin Wu: “What if I can sleep tonight.”
He Jiayun: “Then tomorrow I’ll buy a truckload of fireworks and set them off at the entrance of the law firm to celebrate the great Attorney Lin’s sleep returning to normal.”
Lin Wu choked slightly and reminded her seriously: “Fireworks are prohibited within Shen City.”
He Jiayun: “…”
He Jiayun: “Do you need me to come over and drink a couple with you?”
Lin Wu: “Not really necessary. By the time you arrive, I’ll have finished drinking and gone home.”
He Jiayun: “Fine then. Drink less and let me know when you get home.”
Lin Wu: “Got it.”
She set down her phone, silently drank two more glasses, and prepared to leave.
Just as she stood up, a clean, clear, and cool male voice reached her ears. “Sorry, I’m not available.”
Few people knew that Lin Wu had little resistance to pleasant voices.
She paused slightly, turned her head toward the direction of the voice. The bar was noisy, so the man speaking must be very close to her.
The bar’s lighting had been professionally designed and adjusted to create an atmosphere for the revelers.
When Lin Wu turned, a beam of light from above happened to fall on a man dressed in casual suit, tall and straight. High nose bridge, deep set eyes, sharp brow bones, profound and three dimensional features, with narrow gold rimmed glasses perched on his nose.
His jawline was smooth and distinct, refined and elegantly aloof.
Lin Wu looked at him, momentarily at a loss for how to describe him.
She stared fixedly until he rejected the woman trying to hit on him and lifted his eyelids to glance toward her. Only then did Lin Wu shift her gaze away.
“…”
Immediately after, footsteps approached closer and closer.
The moment the man sat down on the chair beside her, the one that was now empty after she had originally placed her bag there, Lin Wu changed her mind. She moved the bag she had just picked up to the other side and sat back down.
Noticing her action, a flash of surprise passed through the bartender’s eyes. He glanced at the man who had just sat down, then at Lin Wu, and tactfully asked, “What would you like to drink?”
He did not embarrass her in public by asking why she was not leaving after all.
Lin Wu did not respond.
The man spoke, his voice clear and sharp, like snow falling all over the sky in winter, carrying the sound of shattering jade.
“Vodka.”
The bartender acknowledged and immediately brought him a glass of vodka.
Then he turned to Lin Wu. “What would Miss Lin like?”
Lin Wu had some idea of her own alcohol tolerance. After thinking for a few seconds, she ordered a brandy.
She liked the rich mouthfeel of brandy, but because of its high proof, she did not drink it often.
Their drinks were served one after another, and the bartender moved to the other side to attend to other guests.
Lin Wu picked up the glass beside her and took two sips, as if to steel her nerves.
The person next to her was extremely quiet, so quiet that it felt strange to her.
In the blink of an eye, the brandy in her glass was gone.
When Lin Wu turned her head inadvertently, she found that his vodka was also empty.
“…”
In that moment of stunned silence, He Jiayun’s earlier words flashed through Lin Wu’s mind.
She raised her hand to rub her temples. Just as he seemed about to stand and leave, she spoke relatively calmly. “Can I ask you a question?”
Chen Zhuo turned his head sideways. His gaze fell on her through the thin lenses, carrying an innate sense of pressure.
“What?” He lowered his eyelashes slightly as he responded.
Lin Wu recalled what he had just said to politely reject the woman who approached him. Borrowing the courage from the alcohol that was invading her sober mind, she asked, “You don’t meet with anyone?”
Chen Zhuo: “…”
Hearing her straightforward and blatant hint, the way Chen Zhuo looked at her changed. He narrowed his eyes slightly to size her up, then slowly curved the corners of his lips. “Has Miss Lin gotten drunk?”
Lin Wu: “No.”
Chen Zhuo hummed in acknowledgment and said nothing more.
Sensing his silence, Lin Wu had to remind him. “You haven’t answered my question yet.”
Chen Zhuo was surprised that she would press the issue. He looked at her, a flash of astonishment passing through his eyes.
After a brief silence, he asked, “What do you think?”
Lin Wu let out a soft ah. The corners of her lips lifted slightly, and a determined emotion appeared in her eyes. “I think not.”
Chen Zhuo did not speak. He simply stared straight at her like that.
Another few seconds of silence passed.
Lin Wu murmured softly, “Want to have another drink?”
Chen Zhuo gathered his composure. His well defined fingers lightly tapped the transparent glass. His adam’s apple bobbed as he replied with one word, “Sure.”
“Still vodka?” Lin Wu asked. She was offering to buy him a drink.
“No.” Chen Zhuo turned his eyes toward her. His gaze was deep as a pool. His thin lips moved slightly. “I’ll have brandy.”
Chen Zhuo switched to brandy, while Lin Wu ordered a vodka.
She did not finish the vodka, though. She was afraid she might pass out from drunkenness. She only took a small sip, then pushed the glass toward Chen Zhuo, asking him to finish it for her so it would not go to waste.
***
When Chen Zhuo came out of the bathroom, Lin Wu was curled up on the lazy sofa by the floor to ceiling window. She had draped a clean blanket over herself. One fair shoulder was exposed. Between her beautiful fingers she held a newly lit lady’s cigarette.
Hearing the movement, she lifted her hand to bring the cigarette close to her lips. She raised her eyes and looked in his direction.
Thin mist exhaled from her lips.
Chen Zhuo watched with a heavy gaze. He walked toward her, raised an eyebrow. “Something bothering you?”
They had been seeing each other for over half a year. Occasionally, they would share some things about work.
Chen Zhuo knew about her job, and she knew about his.
Hearing this, Lin Wu found it amusing.
She shifted her position, kneeling on the lazy sofa. She took a drag and exhaled. White mist blew toward Chen Zhuo’s face. His expression remained calm. He lowered his tone slightly. “Hm?”
Lin Wu was smoking a jasmine scented lady’s cigarette. Not only was there no pungent smell, but it carried a faint tea fragrance, fresh and elegant.
“No.” She answered his question. Her body leaned forward slightly. She blinked lightly. A sly glint flashed in her eyes. “Didn’t President Chen’s performance just now deserve me having a post coital cigarette?”
It could not be that only men were allowed to smoke afterward.
Chen Zhuo: “…”
He lowered his gaze. Looking at the cigarette she had smoked about a third of, his eyes darkened. His voice came out low and hoarse. “My honor.”
As the words fell, he snatched the cigarette from Lin Wu’s hand, brought it to his lips, and took a deep drag. Then he lowered his head and kissed her lips again, passing the smoke to her.