After the charity gala ended, Arthur practically floated back to his palace. The sapphire necklace felt heavy around his neck, its cool touch a constant reminder of everything that had happened at the event.
Shen Yanzi’s threat, whispered against his ear with a scorching breath “If you can’t undo it, you’ll just have to follow me” played on a loop in his mind like a curse.
He checked himself repeatedly in the bathroom mirror. The necklace was indeed breathtakingly beautiful, the Royal Blue gemstone making his skin appear even fairer. But after fumbling clumsily for a long time, he was stunned to find that he couldn’t figure out the secret to the clasp at the back of his neck. It looked like an ordinary hidden buckle, yet it seemed tighter than usual, nearly impossible to pry open with bare hands.
This realization made Arthur’s face burn again.
So Shen Yanzi really…
Did something to it?
Was he that certain I wouldn’t be able to undo it?
He’s far too confident!
Arthur was both angry and ashamed, yet his heart felt like it contained a rabbit, thumping violently. One moment he thought Shen Yanzi’s desire for control was irrational and beyond reason; the next, he couldn’t help but touch the cool gemstone, the corners of his mouth curving upward uncontrollably.
As he stood before the mirror, feeling thoroughly unsettled, his private phone suddenly buzzed. It was a text from an unknown number, the content consisting of only two concise words:
【The entrance.】
Arthur’s heart gave a violent leap! That tone… it could be no one but Shen Yanzi.
He immediately rushed to the window, secretly peeling back a corner of the curtain to look down. Sure enough, that familiar black Bentley sat like a silent ghost, parked quietly in the shadows of the palace’s side entrance.
He…
How did he get here?!
It’s so late!
Arthur’s heart instantly began to drum frantically. He looked down at the formal wear he hadn’t yet changed out of, touched the necklace again, and after hesitating for a few seconds, finally gritted his teeth. He grabbed an overcoat, draped it over his shoulders, and slipped downstairs like a thief.
Avoiding the patrolling guards, Arthur light-footedly opened the side door and slipped out. The cool night breeze hit his face, helping him calm down slightly. He walked to the car, and the window slid down slowly to reveal Shen Yanzi’s expressionless profile.
“Get in.”
The tone was still an imperative, allowing no room for doubt. Arthur pulled open the door and sat inside. The carriage was permeated with a faint scent of cedar and a trace of alcohol; it seemed the man had drunk quite a bit after the gala as well.
“It’s so late… is something wrong?” Arthur asked in a small voice, clutching the hem of his coat nervously. The confined space made Shen Yanzi’s presence so overwhelming that Arthur found it difficult to breathe.
Shen Yanzi didn’t answer immediately. He simply turned his head, his heavy gaze landing on Arthur before fixing on the brilliant sapphire necklace around his neck. In the dim light, the gemstone reflected a deep glow against his fair skin, possessing a breathtaking beauty.
Shen Yanzi’s gaze darkened instantly, resembling a stagnant deep pool.
“The necklace,” he began, his voice deeper and raspier than usual. “Do you like it?”
Feeling uncomfortable under the scrutiny, Arthur instinctively touched the gem and awkwardly averted his eyes. “…It’s too valuable. And… why did you do that to the clasp?” His tone carried a hint of complaint, yet lacked any real force.
As if he hadn’t heard the latter half of the sentence, Shen Yanzi leaned in, drawing closer. His warm breath, carrying a hint of wine, fanned across Arthur’s earlobe and the side of his neck.
“I just came to confirm,” his voice was hushed, carrying a dangerous magnetism, “that my ‘investment’ is worth its value.”
Investment? What does he think I am?!
A small spark of fire rose in Arthur’s heart. He turned his head abruptly to retort, only to crash into Shen Yanzi’s nearby black eyes. They were swirling with so many emotions he couldn’t decipher, so intense they threatened to consume him.
The distance was too small. He could count the man’s eyelashes and feel their intertwined, somewhat erratic breaths. Arthur’s heart was ready to leap from his throat; all his retorts and complaints jammed instantly. His mind went blank, and he could only stare foolishly.
Shen Yanzi’s gaze moved slowly down from Arthur’s panicked eyes, finally fixing on those lips parted slightly from nerves and shimmering with moisture. The air in the car turned viscous and scorching, permeated with a silent, hair-trigger tension.
Arthur felt as though he were nailed to the seat, unable to move. He wanted to flee, but his body was too soft to obey. A voice in the depths of his mind was screaming “danger,” yet a secret expectation was growing wildly like a vine.
Shen Yanzi’s Adam’s apple bobbed violently, and the last shred of sanity in his eyes seemed to burn away. He lunged forward not to touch the necklace, but to cup the back of Arthur’s head! The force was immense, carrying an irresistible dominance.
“You—” Arthur only had time to emit a short syllable.
In the next second, Shen Yanzi’s scorching lips pressed down fiercely!
It wasn’t a probe. It wasn’t gentle. It was a complete act of plundering and invasion!
Carrying the lingering scent of wine from the gala and a long-suppressed desire that threatened to incinerate everything, he brutally pried open Arthur’s teeth. His tongue drove straight in, frantically sweeping through every inch of the oral cavity, entwining with Arthur’s tongue in a dance of sucking and biting, delivered with a punitive force and a shivering sense of possessiveness.
“Mmph…!”
Arthur was completely stunned, his mind buzzing and the oxygen seemingly sucked out of him instantly. He made a futile attempt to struggle, pressing his hands against Shen Yanzi’s hard chest, but it was like an ant trying to shake a tree. Shen Yanzi’s arms were like iron hoops, wrapping tightly around Arthur’s waist and back, pinning him firmly between the seat and his own chest without a single gap.
His other hand remained locked on the back of Arthur’s head, deepening the nearly suffocating kiss. This was a kiss that had lost all control full of overbearing power, plunder, and a nearly desperate craving.
Arthur resisted stiffly at first, but soon collapsed under the storm-like assault. His body turned as soft as water, his consciousness blurred, and he could only passively endure, his tiny whimpers swallowed whole. Unfamiliar pleasure surged through him like an electric current, bringing waves of violent tremors.
After an unknown amount of time just as Arthur felt he might actually black out from suffocation Shen Yanzi finally released him.
Their foreheads were pressed together, both panting heavily, their hot breaths intermingling. Arthur’s gaze was vacant, his lips red, swollen, and shimmering he looked as though he had been bullied quite badly. His chest heaved violently, his mind still a blank.
Shen Yanzi’s gaze remained terrifyingly deep, swirling with lingering desire and a trace of… chagrin? His rough thumbpad gently wiped across Arthur’s swollen lower lip. The gesture carried an extreme, post-act tenderness, and his voice was hoarse beyond recognition:
“This is the interest…”
“As for the principal…”
His gaze landed on the sapphire necklace once more. His fingertips slid slowly down the chain, finally pinching the largest gemstone with a slight force, as if declaring ownership.
“…repay it slowly.”
Arthur shivered, a shred of clarity finally returning to his kiss-muddled brain. A massive sense of shame and the stimulation of being intensely violated surged into his heart simultaneously, making the rims of his eyes turn red instantly.
“You… you bastard…”
His voice carried a sob as he gave Shen Yanzi’s shoulder a weak, ineffective thump. Shen Yanzi caught the troublesome hand, holding it in his palm while his thumbpad gently rubbed the delicate back of Arthur’s hand. He looked at the reddened, moist corners of Arthur’s eyes that look of being bullied severely yet having no power to resist and the darkness in his eyes surged again.
He lowered his head, appearing as if he wanted to kiss him again. Panicked, Arthur turned his head away, and the kiss landed on his sensitive earlobe.
Shen Yanzi paused, then took the rounded earlobe into his mouth, sucking and biting it with a medium force.
“!” Arthur’s neck shrank back abruptly, a short cry escaping him as his body trembled even more violently.
Shen Yanzi seemed to let out a low chuckle, the sound making Arthur’s eardrums tingle. He finally released the poor earlobe, but his warm lips traveled along the jawline, leaving a trail of tiny, moist kisses before stopping at the violently thumping carotid artery. His teeth lightly caught the fragile skin, rubbing against it with a threatening intent, yet he couldn’t bring himself to use force instead, he licked it repeatedly with the tip of his tongue, feeling the vigorous vitality beneath.
Arthur’s head was tilted back as he was forced to endure this overly intimate “slow execution.” His body was so soft he had no strength left, able only to emit tiny, broken gasps. Tears slid down uncontrollably.
“Stop crying,” Shen Yanzi lifted his head, wiping away the tears with his finger. His tone carried an almost helpless tenderness, yet his gaze remained dangerous. “If you cry more…”
He paused, his thumb pressing against Arthur’s moist, swollen lips, his voice raspy:
“…I’ll continue collecting the interest.”
Arthur instantly bit his lower lip, not daring to cry out again. He could only stare at the man with misty eyes full of grievance and accusation, like a terrified small animal.
Looking at him, Shen Yanzi took a deep breath. It seemed to take an immense amount of self-control before he finally released him and sat back in the driver’s seat.
The car fell into a dead silence once more, leaving only their un-settled, heavy breathing and the thick, undeniable atmosphere of ambiguity. Arthur curled up in the seat, burying his burning face in his knees. His fingers gripped the cool sapphire at his neck tightly; his heart was still thumping wildly, and every sense in his body was screaming about what had just occurred.
It was over. This time… it seemed there really was no escape.
Shen Yanzi settled his breathing and started the car, his voice still somewhat hoarse: “I’m taking you back.”
The black Bentley drove slowly away from the palace, merging into the heavy London night. Arthur looked at the streetscape flashing past outside the window. He touched his lips, which were still numb and stinging, then touched the necklace destined to be “undone-able.”
His heart was a tangled mess of thread. Yet… it seemed he didn’t truly want to undo it.