Sun Jingwei looked up and swallowed. His mouth had dried up. He wondered if he had offended some heavenly power to deserve this sort of sweet exquisite torture. Did he accidentally kick over an altar? Stomp incense sticks under his boots? Sign a document to tear down a temple? He did not recall.
All he could do was gaze up at Xue Ning, like she was a goddess and he was the hopeless devotee on his knees, hoping for salvation.
But Xue Ning wasn't a goddess nor was she the devil; she had no idea what she was doing to him. If Xue Ning had all intention to torture him, to make him beg for forgiveness, he would have gladly bore it all.
If she had looked down at him kneeling before her and merely smirked at his horny desperation, tempting him with the way his suit jacket had ridden further up her thighs, revealing pale thighs and the tantalising curve of her butt, just barely hidden from view. If she had purposely teased him with the hint of her cleavage, visible as she leaned down to better hold onto the ice pack.
Instead, Xue Ning merely looked at him, gentler than she ever had before, with eyes bleary with exhaustion. How was he supposed to resist that? All he wanted to do then was to take her bed, in more ways than one.
She had let out a softest yawn, lips unknowingly forming a small delicate pout. He was strongly reminded of a kitten. Or a bunny. Or some other equally adorable woodland creature that his brain could not recall because he was too distracted by her thighs, breasts, lips…everything.
Her eyelids were fluttering shut, but she still passed him the cold pack that he was supposed to press on her thigh. She trusted him with this. How could he betray her trust by lusting over her, when she was clearly hurt and vulnerable?
What's more, she was hurt on his behalf. How could he be such a scumbag to even think of her in such a way?
He wasn't going to be a wolf that took advantage of her. He chastised the part of him that longed to spread her legs wider, unbutton the suit jacket on her to reveal the cotton of her panties so that he could -
Nope. Not going there.
He chanced a look at Xue Ning, who only blinked at him slowly. Some deity up in Heaven must have taken pity on him, for he hadn't realised that there was a bulge in his pants.
He mentally slapped himself for his impure thoughts and focused on doing the job he volunteered for, pressing the ice pack to the reddish skin on her thigh. The bright red of her skin helped to put things in perspective.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"How are you feeling?" Jingwei asks cautiously, deliberately keeping his voice low and staring intently at the ice pack.
"Hmm?" Xue Ning jolts awake, before realising it was just him and relaxing. "It's fine. My hands are cold though."
"Oh?" Jingwei easily uses one hand to keep the ice pack in place, his other hand instinctively goes to envelop her smaller hand in his, squeezing it to warm it up. It was cold, just like she said.
Xue Ning lets out a small pleased sound, much like a happy kitten. It sends a warmth spreading through his chest. "Thanks for the help."
"Happy to help," Jingwei says, surprised at how true it was. Half the time he helped others because it was expected, because it was charity, because there was something in for him at the end.
But now, this time, he was happy to help. He wanted to help so badly, even if it should have been left to the paramedics, even if Xue Ning never wanted to see him again, he would have still offered her a hand.
"Pity we don't have more hands," Xue Ning says, disappointedly.
"Why?" Jingwei asks.
"I actually want to put more ice packs on my chest." Xue Ning confesses. "And maybe my stomach."
Jingwei chokes. So much for not trying to think dirty thoughts, they all entered his mind with the speed of a bullet train. Now he couldn't help imagine Xue Ning lying on the stretcher bed, back arched as she slowly unbuttoned his suit jacket to reveal the soft swell of her breasts. He had just barely managed to stop himself from turning into a horny pervert, but clearly his trial wasn't over.
To make things worse, the person torturing him didn't even know she was torturing him.
"Ah, I see," Jingwei says hoarsely. "Sorry we are not spiders. Do you want me to find a radioactive spider for you?" It was a silly reply, but it was better than whatever lewd thoughts that were floating around in his head.
Xue Ning laughs tiredly, nearly dozing off. "Do you have radioactive spiders lying around in your company?"
"I'm sure I can get our Research and Development to look for some, it can't be that hard." He suddenly remembers something. "You might as well ask for more things, what do you think of radioactive tigers?"
"Didn't you say you had sabertooth tigers?" Xue Ning asks, frowning as she tries to recall. "Or some normal tigers. You didn't reply to my text when I asked."
"Ah, yeah." Jingwei says, recalling that conversation. "My dad wanted to see me, so I had to stop replying."
"Bet he scolded you badly," Xue Ning muses. "He did sound so angry at you on the phone back at the hospital."
"You have no idea," Jingwei says fervently. "He was so angry. He really didn't leave me with any face. But then again, this isn't the first time I got scolded so badly. You'll get used to it after a while."
Xue Ning had nothing comforting she could say to that. If she said 'that's rough, buddy' it sounded so… unsympathetic. Instead she asks, "Do you make him angry a lot?"
"There was once. Back in high school, I think that was the worst case of scolding I got." Jingwei confesses. It was not an understatement to say that that incident forever changed the trajectory of Jingwei's life, leading him to live a miserable hedonistic existence until Xue Ning had come along.
Meanwhile, Xue Ning waits patiently for him to elaborate, only to be surprised when he falls silent, seemingly lost in his memories.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Xue Ning says, hesitantly. "If it brings up bad memories, then don't bother."
"Yeah, but I want to. Perhaps not now, but maybe later." Jingwei says quietly. If he wanted Xue Ning to be a part of his life, she deserved to know - even if she did not realise that she was this important to him.
"Alright," Xue Ning replies, equally quiet.
They sit in silence, breathing quietly in unison in the shared space of the ambulance.
"Do you want to lie down on the stretcher instead?" Jingwei asks. "It'll be a lot more comfortable."
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"No thanks, if I do that I'll just fall asleep right here." Xue Ning replies, shaking her head.
"What's wrong with that?" Jingwei asks. "You've had a long day. I'll wake you when the paramedic returns."
"I don't want to sleep now - I'll throw off my sleep schedule," Xue Ning explains seriously, even as she feels tiredness creeping up on her.
"Of course, you would have a sleep schedule," Jingwei says, amused and fond. "Such a good girl."
Good girl. These words, paired with the sudden knowledge that Sun Jingwei was actually kneeling between her exposed legs, caused a strange heat to spread through Xue Ning's body. and pool at her nether regions.
Because Xue Ning is a grown adult, she ignores it the same way she ignores the cracked tiles at home. Unfortunately for her, Sun Jingwei had caught her flushing and smirked. Perhaps Xue Ning wasn't as unaffected as he thought - and more than that, perhaps she was even interested.
There's only one way to find out.
"Fair enough, I guess I have to entertain you then." Jingwei says impishly before mentally slapping himself. Out of all the pickup lines he could have used, why did he choose the one that sounded like a sleazy come-on?
Xue Ning raises an eyebrow. Was this his latest attempt at hitting on her? Maybe he saw how his words affected her - no, not possible. To destroy the strange mood that fell over the both of them, she tilted her chin downwards to glare at him,
"Okay, what are you going to do? Sing? Dance? Do magic?" Xue Ning leans in even closer, pasting a look of condescending expectation on her face, looking at him the same way children looked at a clown in a circus, or a trained monkey in the zoo.
"Other than making money disappear and reappear, I have no magic skills." Jingwei replies dryly, cheering at the way Xue Ning's lips quirked into a smile. "Miss Li Xue Ning, do you think I'm an idol? Singing and dancing are not my forte."
"Boo… then how are you supposed to entertain me? You liar," she says, shaking her head in mock disappointment, her lips subconsciously forming a pout that Sun Jingwei longed to kiss away.
Before he could think about the possible consequences of his actions, Jingwei closed the distance between them. There was only a mere centimetre between their faces. This close, he could see the flutter of her eyelashes. He felt the warm air of her surprised breath caressing his cheek.
He raises a hand to cup her face. It was steadily growing redder by the second.
"Xue Ning, are you sure you're ready for my kind of entertainment?"