Chapter 258
Chapter 258
Ji Hanyi wanted to deny it outright, to sever those thoughts she should never have entertained. Yet Shen Si had stirred them up with only a few words. Her face grew hotter and hotter until she no longer dared meet his eyes.
She lowered her gaze and looked away, saying one thing while thinking another. “I was considering how that strategy you mentioned, Marquis-sacrificing the lesser to preserve the greater-should be arranged.”
Shen Si slowly drew closer, his gaze fathomless. “Have you worked it out?”
As he approached, Ji Hanyi’s heart pounded like a drum. She leaned back slightly. “Not yet…”
Shen Si watched the flush slowly rise across her face. The faint allure in her eyes and even the way her fingers tightened around his sleeve betrayed her thoughts. She too longed for what he would do next.
Certain that his seduction had done its work, Shen Si had no intention of withdrawing. He gave her what she wanted and kissed her soft, fragrant lips. The woman in his arms offered no resistance as he slowly pressed her back against the arhat bed.
The small table was shoved into a corner, teetering on the edge without quite falling.
Ji Hanyi drifted in a haze, clutching Shen Si’s lapels. Her beautiful eyes had long since filled with shimmering moisture and bewitching ripples. Unaware of her own allure, she tempted Shen Si into surrendering one step at a time.
Shen Si had long since seen through her body. It yearned for him and drew him closer, even if she refused to admit it herself.
Just as now: she answered his kiss even as the hands against his chest gave a faint push.
Shen Si was still mindful of her injuries. She had fallen from a horse, and some unseen hurt might not yet have healed. Parts of her body still ached. Supporting her lower back, he studied the flushed woman beneath him. “You have not fully recovered.”
He saw the faint disappointment rise in her eyes the very next instant, and his lips curved in amusement.
Ji Hanyi’s arms rested around his neck, her pink sleeves spilling over the black fabric across his back. Her slender white fingers trembled like a branch heavy with cherry blossoms.
Her full red lips gleamed with moisture, and unspoken longing stirred in her enticing eyes.
Anyone who saw her like this would cast aside all pride and do everything possible to satisfy her.
Shen Si’s fingertips traced her small, fair face. He had never known Ji Hanyi could be so seductive. She was only nineteen, yet the allure in her eyes was enough to bewitch a man. At this moment, those eyes could have driven someone through fire and water for her.
She was like a greedy child who had just tasted forbidden fruit, her entire body exuding a tempting sweetness.
Deep down, Ji Hanyi was indeed a little disappointed, yet also somewhat relieved.
The last time, Shen Si’s expression had been frighteningly grim, leaving her unable to tell what he thought. And now she realized how completely he controlled her, how a single word from him could sway every emotion.
Ji Hanyi wanted desperately to resist that feeling. Her mind insisted she should not be like this, yet an invisible string seemed tied to her body, compelling her to follow Shen Si’s lead.
Her fingers tightened against his back. She whispered, “Shall we go to sleep early, then?”
Shen Si suddenly lowered himself over her. His thin lips brushed hers, and his voice was hoarse and burning. “Hanyi, what am I to do when I want you?”
The candle flame began to sway. The Go board on the small table was pushed with it toward the edge until both finally tipped. Stones scattered across the floor with a clatter, their faint rolling sounds drowned beneath low gasps and breathless moans.
The maids keeping watch outside naturally heard the commotion. None dared enter to clean up. They merely hurried to order hot water prepared.
Hot water was called for three times that night. In the morning, Ji Hanyi slept on in a daze and burrowed deeper into Shen Si’s arms.
Although Shen Si had finally made love to her until late into the night, he was still not satisfied. Mindful of her injuries, he had restrained himself and used little force. Yet the greedy little thing had clung to him as if she wanted more, leaving him drenched in sweat while he coaxed her.
Greedy though she was, she had little endurance. After a single bout, she pushed him away to sleep, as if she meant to discard him the moment she had taken her pleasure.
Now, in the morning, her soft body rubbed against him again. His large hand caressed her slender waist, narrow enough to span with one hand, then wandered down to her hip.
After so long without intimacy, one taste had only sharpened his hunger. The pleasure had struck him even more deeply than the first time, and he craved it more fiercely than Ji Hanyi did.
Still unsatisfied from the night before, he pressed himself over the body in his arms once more.
He had been careful during the night, but faint red marks still lingered on her creamy skin. The sight sent heat surging through him. Heedless of her soft, murmured protest as she turned her face away, he bent over her.
They did not stop until the sun was high.
Ji Hanyi lay too languid to move. The slightest motion sent soreness through her entire body. Shen Si, by contrast, looked thoroughly refreshed after bathing. He sat beside the bed, drew her into his arms, and regarded her with the same unreadable black eyes as ever. Then he had the audacity to ask, “Still not satisfied?”
Ji Hanyi had no idea how to answer. How could she not be satisfied? She had been satisfied long ago, yet he accused her of wanting more.
Too tired to speak, Ji Hanyi buried her face against Shen Si’s chest.
Through her haze, she wondered whether, at the moment she had agreed to marry him, she could ever have imagined this.
Shen Si lowered his head to study her and smiled. Full daylight now spilled over her fair skin and the red marks scattered across it. His hand closed around her waist as he said quietly, “Sleep a while longer. I am going to the study.”
“If you grow hungry, I will have food brought to your bedside.”
Ji Hanyi gave a faint murmur. Shen Si lowered her back onto the bed and watched her lie there, lazy as a cat, her small fair face still slightly damp. Only after kissing her between the brows did he rise and leave.
That afternoon, Ji Hanyi and Shen Si shared the study. Even on his day off, his official duties seemed endless. He had remained there for scarcely half an hour before reading a letter and announcing that he needed to go out. He promised to return and dine with her that evening.
Ji Hanyi was working on a meticulous painting. She looked up at Shen Si, tall and straight before her with the light behind him. Shadow obscured his expression, yet he radiated an authority that demanded all things submit to his command.
He seemed like an entirely different man from the one who had coaxed her in bed that morning, his eyes dark with desire.
Shen Si often left Ji Hanyi unable to fathom his emotions. The last time, his face had remained utterly blank; this time, his every touch had been careful and tender. One moment he was kissing her with intimate passion, yet the moment he left the bed, he became the cool, disciplined, and distant Lord Shen once more.