In the bathroom, Lin Chen grabbed a towel he’d used and returned to find the black panther still standing there like a polite guest.
Lin Chen joked, “I said wait a moment, not that you can’t move.”
Then, holding the towel, he first dried the large cat’s face.
Seemingly aware of what Lin Chen was doing, the black panther obediently squinted its eyes. After drying its head and face, it even looked up to cooperate, letting Lin Chen continue drying its neck.
Taking this opportunity, Lin Chen stroked the black panther from head to toe. The black satin of its fur felt as smooth as he’d imagined.
Beneath the thin fur were bulging, thick muscles, especially the chest, which felt the best. Lin Chen touched it again and again, longingly. How wonderful it would be to cuddle it while sleeping!
Greedy fingertips traced the undulating contours of the flesh. This thick forearm was so large it would take two hands to encircle it, making Lin Chen swallow hard. Looking up, he met a pair of deep, penetrating eyes. The other’s composed and elegant demeanor instantly filled Lin Chen with a shameful sense of being seen through.
Well, a companion beast’s intelligence shouldn’t be extraordinary, right?
This black panther probably doesn’t know he’s taking advantage of it, right?
True, it’s just an animal, what concept of taking advantage or not? Lin Chen should feel perfectly comfortable touching it without any restraint.
But for some reason, meeting the black panther’s remarkably intelligent and perceptive eyes made Lin Chen feel uneasy.
“Where do you live? Why did you come all this way to find me in the rain?” Lin Chen stroked the black panther’s neck, then couldn’t resist reaching for its belly. “Hungry? Want something to eat?”
He had meat stored in his refrigerator, but the panther was picky and probably wouldn’t eat frozen meat.
Sure enough, Lin Chen took out some meat, but the black panther didn’t eat it. Instead, it licked Lin Chen’s blood-stained fingers a few times, seemingly trying to remove the smell and leave only Lin Chen’s unique scent.
Feline tongues have barbs, and the familiar roughness of Lin Chen’s fingertips felt just like the sensation of him being licked in his dream a few nights ago.
He couldn’t help but tug at the black panther’s ear, scolding, “It really was you! I thought I’d run into something evil.”
The black panther remained unmoved by the young man’s resentment, and raised its head to rub against his cheek. After touching his fair skin, it rubbed repeatedly, seemingly exchanging pheromones. This is a unique way some animals express affection, commonly seen in felines and canines.
Not content with just rubbing, it finally licked Lin Chen’s ear. The moment the scarlet tongue swept across his earlobe, goosebumps rose on the back of Lin Chen’s ear and neck. He almost lost his balance and fell to the ground.
“Hey, don’t lick me,” Lin Chen frowned, pushing the black panther’s head away.
The panther cooperated, its golden eyes lingering on Lin Chen with unsatisfied longing.
“I know you want to be close to me but your tongue will hurt me,” Lin Chen explained gently. A panther’s tongue can lick flesh off bones; it’s not like a kitten’s.
He knew the black panther didn’t mean to hurt him but human skin is delicate, and this habit must not be allowed to develop.
It was unclear whether the black panther understood, but it squinted, staring intently at Lin Chen with a fervent gaze like someone looking at a lover.
Lin Chen: “If you don’t lick me, I’ll cuddle with you.”
The black panther paused, as if giving in, and nuzzled Lin Chen’s chin with its head.
Lin Chen then embraced the panther’s head. He stroked the panther that had offered itself up, from head to toe, not missing a single hair.
The black panther buried its head in Lin Chen’s chest, and breathed in the young man’s unique scent. It felt very comfortable being stroked, and as if that wasn’t enough, it nuzzled against the young man’s chest with its nose.
Lin Chen’s coat was even pushed open, showing how desperately the black panther was snuggling on him. No wonder it was the kind of brothel-like creature that would climb into bed in the middle of the night; it wasn’t as gentlemanly and dignified as it appeared.
But Lin Chen wouldn’t refuse such an offer and gladly accepted.
When he came to his senses, he was already tumbling into a ball with the black panther. Their clothes were disheveled as both of them snuggled to their hearts’ content. Then the black panther, like a cat paralyzed from too much catnip, purred and nestled in his arms with only its tail twitching.
As Lin Chen held his new favorite, the black panther, he thought of the handsome, mischievous Parker. He used to think that the lion, with its slightly open mouth staring at him, its naturally naive yet majestic appearance was the most adorable angel in the world; no one could be more adorable than Parker.
But now, he felt that even the clingy, scheming black panther was irreplaceable, and he didn’t want to let go.
Because of those complicated relationships, while Lin Chen was happily petting the panther, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of infidelity.
Oh well, if he didn’t say anything, and the black panther didn’t say anything, who would know?
Lin Chen felt at ease, cupped the black panther’s head, and kissed it. Then, a worry crept in: “Does your master know you come looking for me every day?”
The duke sounded like a dangerous character. If he got angry and killed him, the scene wouldn’t be pleasant.
After some time, as dusk fell, Lin Chen nudged the panther: “You’ve been out for a while now. You should go back quickly.”
From both a moral and practical standpoint, he shouldn’t have left the black panther with him overnight. It was someone else’s companion animal, and its master didn’t know.
He was genuinely afraid of causing a misunderstanding.
The black panther stood up, spun around twice, then grabbed Lin Chen’s clothes and led him outside. This was understandable.
“You want me to come with you?” Lin Chen asked.
It seemed so. He pulled up his coat, grabbed a lamp, and since it had stopped raining outside, the black panther led him towards the back mountain.
“Where to?”
“To your master’s house?”
“Our houses are very close?”
Lin Chen asked along the way, stumbling and struggling to keep up with the black panther. He believed the panther’s trick; every time the panther stopped and turned back to wait for him, he, who originally wanted to go home, couldn’t help but walk a little further.
It was the dead of winter, the temperature outside was at least in the single digits, and who knew how far the destination was?
Lin Chen only knew that the terrain was uphill; he felt like he was climbing a mountain. He was panting and didn’t want to climb anymore. The big cat in front of him simply didn’t understand that the range a human could travel on two legs was limited.
“Hey!”
“I don’t want to walk anymore, you go back by yourself!” Lin Chen made up his mind and shouted, “Goodbye!”
The black panther turned around, saw that Lin Chen had stopped, and immediately ran back. It grabbed Lin Chen’s clothes and refused to let go, determined to make Lin Chen go with him.
“I can’t go with you, let go.” Lin Chen raised his hand as if to slap him.
The black panther wasn’t afraid at all, and continued to pull him along while making low, guttural sounds.
“You… never mind,” Lin Chen said helplessly, continuing to follow it. “I was bewitched to come out with you.”
Then let him see where this big cat was taking him.
Next, Lin Chen buried his head and kept climbing, not stopping even when his legs trembled with exhaustion.
The black panther could hear the young man’s heavy breathing and rapid heartbeat. It kept turning back, looking at him with concern, yet refusing to give up on forcing him forward.
After an unknown amount of time, Lin Chen felt he had reached the mountaintop. Looking up at the dark sky, he felt a sense of vastness and openness.
“Why did you bring me here?”
Before he could catch his breath, his heart and lungs still throbbing with pain, he followed the black panther’s gaze to a patch of light in the distance. Surrounded by darkness, that light stood out starkly.
“What’s that place? Is it your home?” Lin Chen asked.
The black panther nudged Lin Chen’s cheek with its chin, then started to cling to him again. Its nonchalant attitude confirmed to Lin Chen that the destination was just ahead, and the panther would no longer drag him along.
“So that really is your home. Tell me, what do you want me to do?”
“Visit?”
“Or come to play with you?”
Lin Chen asked, petting the black panther.
If that really was the black panther’s home, then wasn’t that the Howard family’s mansion?
Lin Chen was still somewhat curious. He’d provoked a panther of such high status, and forced him to secretly associate with it while constantly worrying about being punished.
He checked online and found that Howard Manor was indeed nearby, so he hadn’t guessed the black panther’s intentions wrong. But would he dare go?
The little beast didn’t understand human intrigue; it had no idea about class conflict. It just wanted to snuggle Lin Chen.
“Silly panther,” Lin Chen sighed, “Go back by yourself. You can come find me after your master falls asleep but try not to come at other times.”
The black panther twitched its ears.
Just as Lin Chen looked at the light again, and about to say something, the light suddenly went out. He exclaimed in surprise, “Huh? What happened?”
He glanced at the time; it was only 8:00 PM. Did everyone in the Duke’s mansion go to bed so early?
The black panther seemed to have noticed the light went out too. It nuzzled Lin Chen a few more times, then took two steps forward, clearly going home.
Those two rubs were its farewell.
“Your curfew is really early. Goodbye,” Lin Chen said.
The black panther looked back several times, its last glance lingering as if to say, “Remember to come find me,” before plunging into the darkness, its elegant figure vanishing.
Lin Chen watched it leave, then turned and slowly began his return journey.
Going up the mountain was difficult, but going down was even harder.
The next day, Lin Chen took on several more flower-planting orders. Some were from people on the verge of death asking him to heal them, while others were from unlucky online friends who had bought seedlings for him to plant. At least he made some money.
But the black panther that had suddenly entered his life didn’t appear for the next three days.
Even though they were complete strangers, Lin Chen couldn’t help but wonder why it hadn’t come. Had it gone out?
Or had its owner discovered it and forbade it from returning?
For a moment, Lin Chen considered paying it a visit, but that would be too presumptuous. Their social statuses were vastly different; what good would a visit do?
Without proper status or reason, he might not even be allowed to enter.
Therefore, Lin Chen dismissed the idea.
“Mr. Lin Chen!” A security guard, holding an exquisite gift box, called out from outside Lin Chen’s door, “Your package is here!”
Lin Chen was very surprised. He didn’t recall ordering anything online recently. Could it be Si Ang?
Upon receiving the package and opening it, he found an elegant suit and an invitation.
Lin Chen was certain it was Si Ang; otherwise, how would he know his size?