The audition for First Love was in Jin City. Lu Chengyi had rushed back overnight the day before, lying to Zhou Miao that there was something going on at home.
Zhou Miao hadn’t come back with him. Lu Chengyi spent the night in the employee dormitory his company had assigned him, then took a cab to the address Lin Luoting had given him early that morning.
Only to be stopped at the gate by the guard.
He was dressed casually today, standing with his back to the cobblestone wall. A breeze blew straight toward him, ruffling the hair over his forehead and revealing the pair of dark eyes beneath, far too calm.
Lu Chengyi couldn’t say exactly why he’d decided to make the trip. By the time he’d gathered his thoughts from the tangle of emotions, the message had already been sent.
Now he stood here, his expression composed, though his thoughts were like the spring breeze in April: gentle and unhurried, with a faint chill beneath.
“Mr. Lu.”
A clear female voice came from behind him.
Lu Chengyi turned. The speaker was a woman around five-foot-three, with long hair tied in a ponytail and striking features. Her face was oddly stiff, and she stared straight at him.
“Assistant Han?” Lu Chengyi stepped through the opening the guard had made and asked, as if confirming.
“That’s me.” Han Meimei nodded. Her gaze roved over him, though she thought she hid it well.
Good grief, Lu Chengyi was even more handsome in person than in the photos! So masculine, so intense. That presence was incredible. Even acting cold, he couldn’t hide all that sexy testosterone!
Ah, I’m dead!
Suppressing her excitement, Han Meimei turned to lead the way. “Come with me.”
This villa community was very private. To protect each homeowner’s privacy, the developer had left plenty of space between the houses and planted thick, leafy trees to block the view.
Walking along the winding paths, you could make out only glimpses of buildings hidden among the trees, never the full picture.
Lu Chengyi said nothing along the way. He recalled what he’d heard from his agent, Zhou Miao, about Lin Luoting the day before.
“Boss Lin is a capable man…”
“I heard he used to be pretty ruthless. He mellowed out after the company got on its feet…”
“Every company has its share of unspoken rules. Ours is actually pretty decent. Nobody will force you, and if you’re willing, no one’s going to stop you…”
“Boss Lin? Everyone knows he’s a workaholic. I’ve never heard of him setting his sights on any artist…”
In silence, they climbed a few bluestone steps, and a strikingly modern building came into view.
Lu Chengyi looked up. A tall, slender figure stood by the floor-to-ceiling window on the second floor of the building in the distance, apparently gazing in their direction.
Lin Luoting?
Han Meimei hadn’t noticed. Her mind was still full of little versions of herself, wanting to turn around for another look at the handsome man but not daring to. She was horribly conflicted.
She led him inside, assuming she’d have to take him upstairs to the study before she could make herself scarce. But once they entered, she saw that her boss had already come out and was standing in the second-floor hallway.
Wow, couldn’t the boss wait even one more minute?
She quietly stepped aside so she wouldn’t block his view.
As Lu Chengyi bent to change his shoes, Lin Luoting lounged against the glass railing and looked down at him, his gaze traveling from face to neck, chest, waist, hips, legs, and feet without the slightest restraint.
So much for being a man of impeccable conduct.
The more brazen Lin Luoting’s gaze became, the more repulsed Lu Chengyi felt. The disgust he’d tamped down at the words “literal meaning” began to surge again.
From the moment Lu Chengyi entered until he’d finished changing his shoes and stood up, Lin Luoting kept his eyes on him.
Lu Chengyi was wearing a white T-shirt under a plain black jacket, with fitted black jeans. The whole outfit made him look neat and tall.
Black was slimming, though, and his already well-proportioned figure looked a little too lean.
Thinking of the basketball-uniform photos he’d seen before, Lin Luoting frowned in dissatisfaction. “Lu Chengyi.”
His cool voice and crisp enunciation came together in a peculiar rhythm. Lu Chengyi raised his head slightly and met the gaze of the man upstairs.
He’d looked up photos of Lin Luoting online, but the person in front of him didn’t feel anything like the Boss Lin of Shuangmu Entertainment.
He’d always thought businessmen were shrewd, calculating, slick.
What did this man feel like? He couldn’t quite put it into words yet.
“Come up,” Lin Luoting said again.
Lu Chengyi had no intention of falling out with Lin Luoting just now. It would be a good chance to clear a few things up, so he stepped onto the stairs leading to the second floor.
Lin Luoting asked, “What would you like to drink?”
“Nothing.” Lu Chengyi didn’t intend to stay long. He’d leave as soon as they’d talked.
Lu Chengyi’s voice was low, with a faint huskiness to it, like a feather brushing against the eardrum, making the tips of one’s ears itch.
A voice like that… It would sound wonderful singing a slow love song.
Another item was added to the wish list, awaiting its turn to be fulfilled.
“Get him a glass of water,” Lin Luoting decided on his own, then told Han Meimei. Lin Luoting went into the study first, with Lu Chengyi following two steps behind.
When Han Meimei brought the water upstairs, the room was very quiet, the atmosphere inexplicably tense.
One was sitting, the other standing. The floor-to-ceiling window was cracked open, and the gauzy curtains stirred gently.
For the first time, Lu Chengyi took a proper look at Lin Luoting.
He was much younger than Lu Chengyi had imagined, with light-colored eyes and delicate, refined features. The way he lounged on the sofa was relaxed and languid.
It was deceptive. Just from his looks, you’d never guess he was still determined to keep Lu Chengyi.
The considerate life assistant gently pulled the door shut from outside. Lin Luoting tipped his chin up and tilted his head at the man opposite him. When the other man said nothing, neither did he. He got up and walked over to him.
Fir, pine resin, and the faint, heady scent of rum.
Curious, Lin Luoting leaned closer, but the man in front of him took a step back.
Lin Luoting looked up, one corner of his mouth lifting in a half-smile. “Are you afraid of me?”
Lu Chengyi pressed his lips together and said nothing. He looked away, his gaze cool.
“I thought that if you were standing here today, you’d already made up your mind.” Lin Luoting studied the man’s profile. “What are you worried about?”
His voice softened. “Tell me. Maybe I can help…”
Those few words surfaced in Lu Chengyi’s mind like a curse.
He knew he shouldn’t trust him. No one kept someone without expecting something in return. If Lin Luoting had proposed keeping him, then he clearly wasn’t as aboveboard as the rumors made him out to be.
But…
“I won’t have sex.” Lu Chengyi wanted to clarify, just in case “literal meaning” meant something else.
Lin Luoting stared at him in surprise.
What could he say? It was almost laughable.
He’d been agonizing over what was wrong with his offer.
There were only two ways to make someone give in: threats and temptations. Lu Chengyi’s weakness was his mother. The original Lin had tried threats and failed, so offering him something should have worked, shouldn’t it? Yet Lu Chengyi still wouldn’t budge.
So that was it.
Now that he’d found the sticking point, Lin Luoting relaxed completely. Amusement spread through his light brown eyes. His tone was light, touched with a hint of teasing. “I don’t think things between us would ever come to that.”
He really wasn’t interested in activities that involved exchanging bodily fluids.
The cool composure on Lu Chengyi’s face faltered.
No matter how composed he tried to seem, Lu Chengyi was only a young man in his early twenties, still a student. He couldn’t keep his reactions hidden perfectly.
He looked at Lin Luoting in bewilderment, some of his real feelings slipping through. “Then what do you want me to do?”
If Lin Luoting wanted to keep him but didn’t want sex, Lu Chengyi couldn’t imagine what else Lin Luoting could possibly want from him.
Warm the bed? It sounded absurd, like a joke.
“I told you. Lots of things.” Lin Luoting repeated those two words.
To get his prey to take the bait, Lin Luoting didn’t mind saying a little more.
He turned to the bookshelf. The shelves held the results of his organizing the day before. He ran a finger along the hard spines and said, as if making a suggestion, “How about poetry today?”
Before Lu Chengyi could answer, Lin Luoting’s fingertip stopped on a particular book. With a slight tug, he drew out a volume whose cover was printed with strange, uncanny patterns.
He placed it on the desk beside the glass of water. Light passed through the clear glass and cast a bright streak across the cover.
“That’s all?” Lu Chengyi asked.
“Of course not,” Lin Luoting said. He calmly walked back to stand in front of him, smiling in a way that was hard to read. “There might also be some physical contact.”
His gaze traced every inch of the man’s features. In the bright light, he could make out the fine down on Lu Chengyi’s skin, the ridge of his brow, the straight bridge of his nose, and the slightly thin lips beneath it.
“Like this…”
He murmured, reaching out to trace the line of Lu Chengyi’s jaw with a soft fingertip.
Then his finger moved down to Lu Chengyi’s neck and rested on his prominent Adam’s apple.
If Lin Luoting’s eyes hadn’t been entirely free of any other emotion, Lu Chengyi would have grabbed that hand and thrown him out on the spot. Even so, his brow stayed tightly furrowed. He wasn’t used to being touched.
“Why me?” Lu Chengyi asked, struggling to keep his emotions in check.
Why him? All he wanted was to act and earn money. Why him? Why had Lin Luoting set his sights on him?
“I really like your face,” Lin Luoting said lightly. “And your body, too.”
His thumb traced a circle over Lu Chengyi’s Adam’s apple, then reluctantly continued downward, over his collarbone and chest, finally coming to rest on his taut abdomen.
The warmth of a human man’s body seeped through a layer of clothing into Lin Luoting’s palm. He rubbed it twice. The muscles tensed even more, and he chuckled. “You’re nervous.”
Lu Chengyi didn’t answer. His breathing grew heavier, his chest rising and falling faster, as if he were on the verge of snapping.
Beneath those taut muscles lay the terrifying explosive power of this body. Lin Luoting’s bloodline had yet to fully awaken. If Lu Chengyi suddenly lashed out now, Lin Luoting wouldn’t stand a chance.
And yet he wasn’t the least bit afraid.
This was a wolf, and he already had it by the throat.
“You can handle it.” Lin Luoting moved closer.
Their gazes locked, one holding back, the other brazen.
Lu Chengyi’s hand clenched into a fist at his side, trembling slightly from the strain. He closed his eyes, unwilling to look at the scene in front of him any longer.
He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to control himself.
A slight weight settled on his shoulder. Lin Luoting had rested his forehead against it.
Fir, pine resin, and the faint, heady scent of rum.
The body beneath Lin Luoting’s hand grew more rigid, like an arrow pulled taut, ready to fly.
“You can handle it,” Lin Luoting said, lips curving as he rested his forehead against the man’s shoulder and watched his own finger trace circles. Then, with cheerful cruelty, he delivered the final blow. “…Think of your mother.”