Chapter 2

When the dress slipped to the floor, Lin Wu felt a little cold. She closed her eyes, tightened the arms hooked around his neck, tipped her chin up, and bit lightly at the corner of his mouth in retaliation for his shamelessness.

Chen Zhuo let out a muffled laugh at the sting, lifted her into his arms, supported her body, and carried her into the bathroom with him.

The hot spray from the shower quickly drowned out the breathless sounds their kisses made. Water trickled over their brows, cheeks, collarbones, and chests.

After a long and tangled exchange, Chen Zhuo finally let the oxygen-deprived Lin Wu go. He reached up, took the body wash from the alcove, worked it into white foam, and spread it evenly and carefully over her skin.

His palms were hot. Years of training had left them rough with calluses.

Without any barrier between them, his hands met her soft, delicate skin. As he washed and kneaded her, her lashes trembled faintly, and she could not help holding her breath. The tingling itch rising over her body drove her to press closer to him, as though she might ease her own craving that way.

"......"

That shower lasted a very long time.

When they returned to the bedroom, Lin Wu sank into the softness of the bedcovers. Chen Zhuo, having shed the harshness he had shown in the bathroom, kissed her slowly and unhurriedly, indulging and pleasing her.

They had not seen each other for more than half a month. Last week Lin Wu had been far too busy and could not spare even a moment to dally with Chen Zhuo.

That was why she had been a little angry when he seemed likely to stand her up that afternoon.

Noticing her distraction, the man kissing her suddenly lowered his head and, neither lightly nor heavily, sucked at her collarbone, dragging her wandering thoughts back.

Lin Wu’s breathing caught. She instinctively warned him, “Not in a visible place... mmm...”

Before she could finish, Chen Zhuo had already lost what little patience he had left. He bit hard at her collarbone, then sealed her mouth again and stirred the inside of her lips with his tongue.

The stimulation from that fierce kiss was nowhere near the end of it.

Kissing her until she was breathless again, Chen Zhuo moved lower.

He no longer had the patience to leave a scattered trail of kisses across her body. Instead, he raised her by the waist with one hand.

In the confusion, Lin Wu’s head struck the soft leather headboard.

Pain made her frown, and she was just about to lift a leg to kick him when Chen Zhuo caught her ankle and placed her foot against his shoulder.

"......"

This "kiss" made her tremble all over, the sensation from his lips and tongue so intense it seemed to steal her breath away. She felt like an object thrown above the clouds, drifting and rising and falling with them, with nowhere to land.

Chen Zhuo was truly wicked, and deeply calculating.

After being lovers for more than half a year, he knew exactly what methods would let him control her, and how to hold her in his grasp in matters like this.

For a long time afterward, all of Lin Wu’s attention was locked on what Chen Zhuo was doing.

She could not manage another complete sentence.

Not only that, he also worked her until tears slipped from her eyes.

Not from frustration. Not from pain.

They were the natural tears that came when a physiological threshold was reached.

When the room finally fell quiet, Chen Zhuo held Lin Wu in his arms, brushed back her damp hair, and kissed her cheek with gentle eyes before asking in a husky voice, “Are you all right?”

Lin Wu ignored him.

Knowing he was at fault, Chen Zhuo lightly pinched the soft flesh at her waist and murmured, “Do you want to shower?”

“You go first.” When she was clearheaded, Lin Wu was not used to bathing with a man.

Her answer did not surprise Chen Zhuo at all. He gave a soft hum, did not ask why, and did not try to persuade her to go with him.

Nor did he get up and leave at once.

A few minutes later, Chen Zhuo finally let her go and went into the bathroom alone.

Hearing the water running from that side, Lin Wu lowered her head and glanced at the marks he had left on her skin, cursing inwardly that Chen Zhuo was nothing but a dog. She had clearly told him not to bite her, not to leave obvious marks on her body, and he had not listened at all.

If she had known earlier that he was such a wanton and depraved creature in bed, she would never have gone after him in the first place.

-

They met in the spring of that year.

The New Year had only recently passed. By year’s end, Lin Wu had been promoted, and her desk had gone from a shared office to a room of her own.

To quiet the gossip, she took on many cases during that period and was kept extremely busy.

So busy that even in sleep she thought about cases, and in her dreams she was still fighting lawsuits.

After that came night after night of insomnia, and coffee by the cup as though it were water.

He Jiayun noticed something was off with her and dragged her to see a therapist.

The result was much as Lin Wu had guessed: her condition was caused by multiple pressures. In addition to counseling, she also needed to learn how to relieve the pressure herself.

The therapist even suggested that she not keep all her attention on work, that she should enjoy life in moderation, talk more with family and friends, and perhaps even date.

The first was difficult. Lin Wu had only He Jiayun as a friend, and He Jiayun was also busy.

As for the second, Lin Wu was too busy to find a man to date and invest in a relationship.

Since she had no intention of dating, He Jiayun had a flash of inspiration and told her to find a lover instead. That way she could vent the desire building up inside her without all the hassle of dating, like reporting her schedule or dividing her time for someone else.

At first, when Lin Wu heard this, she refused without a second thought.

She did sometimes feel a little of that desire when the pressure was high, but she was not so desperate that she needed some stranger to solve it.

It was not until a month later that she saw Chen Zhuo at the bar she often visited.

The day she went drinking, Lin Wu had pulled several all-nighters in a row. The matters at hand had finally come to a temporary close, and by the time she left the law firm it was already after midnight.

Even after returning home, she could not sleep, so she thought she might as well go to a bar and have a few drinks.

The bar was owned by a childhood friend of He Jiayun’s. Lin Wu had been there many times, and the manager and waiters all knew her, so she was not too worried about safety.

When she arrived, the bartender greeted her familiarly. “Miss Lin, you’re here.”

Lin Wu smiled faintly. “I am.”

She glanced at the crowded booths on the first floor and asked in some surprise, “Why are there so many people tonight?”

The bartender explained, “There’s a handsome man upstairs.”

The way he put it made Lin Wu ask offhandedly, “How handsome? More handsome than your boss?”

“Different kinds of handsome. Our boss is beautiful.” The bartender lowered his voice. “I’ve never seen a man more beautiful than our boss.”

Lin Wu smiled, picked up the glass he had pushed in front of her, and said, “Aren’t you worried I’ll tell your boss?”

“Miss Lin won’t,” the bartender said with certainty. “Sister Jiayun said you don’t meddle.”

Lin Wu laughed helplessly and said no more.

She lowered her head to drink, not taking the bartender’s words too seriously.

Absentmindedly she drank two glasses, then replied to a few questions her assistant had sent over on her phone.

Just as she was about to put the phone down, a new message popped up on WeChat from He Jiayun: "At the bar?"

Lin Wu lowered her gaze and replied: "Which helpful person told you."

He Jiayun: "Do I need a helpful person? Once your work is done, you always go to a bar. Anyway, you can’t sleep when you go home."

Lin Wu: "What if I can sleep tonight?"

He Jiayun: "Then tomorrow I’ll buy a truckload of fireworks and set them off at the law firm entrance to celebrate Lawyer Lin’s return to normal sleep."

Lin Wu choked slightly and reminded her solemnly: "Fireworks are prohibited in the city."

He Jiayun: "......"

He Jiayun: "Do you want me to come keep you company for a couple of drinks?"

Lin Wu: "Not really. By the time you get here, I’ll be done and heading home."

He Jiayun: "Fine then. Drink a little less, and tell me when you get home."

Lin Wu: "Got it."

Putting down her phone, Lin Wu drank two more glasses in silence, then prepared to leave.

Just as she stood, a clean, clear, cool male voice slipped into her ear. “Sorry, I’m not interested.”

Few people knew that Lin Wu had very little resistance to a nice voice.

She paused slightly and turned toward the sound. The bar was noisy, and the man speaking was surely quite close to her.

The lighting had been professionally designed and adjusted to lend atmosphere to the revelry.

When Lin Wu turned, a shaft of light from above fell perfectly on the man in a casual suit, tall and straight as a pine. He had a high nose and deep-set eyes, sharp brows, and striking, sculpted features, with a pair of narrow gold-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose.

His jawline was smooth and defined, refined and elegant.

Lin Wu looked at him and, for a moment, could not think how to describe him.

She stared at him intently, and only when he had turned down the woman hitting on him and lifted his eyelids to look her way did Lin Wu look away.

"......"

Then footsteps drew closer and closer.

The instant the man sat down in the chair beside hers, where her bag had been but was now empty, Lin Wu changed her mind. She picked up her bag and set it on the other side, then sat down again.

Noticing her movement, the bartender’s eyes flashed with surprise. He looked at the man who had just sat down, then at Lin Wu, and asked tactfully, “What can I get you?”

He did not embarrass her by openly asking why she was not leaving anymore.

Lin Wu did not answer.

The man spoke instead, his voice clear and cold, like falling snow in winter, with the faint sound of jade striking.

“Vodka.”

The bartender responded at once and set a glass of vodka in front of him.

Then he turned to Lin Wu. “And for Miss Lin?”

Lin Wu still had some measure of her own drinking capacity. After thinking for a few seconds, she ordered a brandy.

She liked the rich, mellow taste of brandy, though because of its strength she did not drink it often.

Their drinks were delivered one after the other, and the bartender moved off to attend to other guests.

Lin Wu picked up the glass at her side and took two sips, as though steeling herself.

The person beside her was very quiet, so quiet it seemed strange.

In the blink of an eye, the brandy in her glass was gone.

When Lin Wu turned her head by chance, she found that his vodka was empty too.

"......"

In her dazed state, He Jiayun’s earlier words flashed through Lin Wu’s mind.

She lifted a hand and rubbed her temples. Just as the man beside her seemed about to rise and leave, she asked, with unusual composure, “May I ask you a question?”

Chen Zhuo turned his head. Through the thin lenses, his gaze fell on her with a pressure that seemed born with him.

“What is it?” he asked, his lashes lowered slightly.

Thinking of the way he had just politely declined the woman who had approached him, Lin Wu borrowed the alcohol occupying her clearheaded mind and asked, “Do you refuse everyone?”

Chen Zhuo: "......"

Hearing her direct and unabashed implication, the look in his eyes changed. He narrowed them slightly, studying her, then slowly curved his lips. “Miss Lin, are you drunk?”

Lin Wu: “No.”

Chen Zhuo gave a soft hum and said nothing more.

Sensing his silence, Lin Wu had no choice but to remind him, “You still haven’t answered my question.”

Chen Zhuo seemed surprised she would press him. He looked at her, and a flicker of astonishment passed through his eyes.

After a moment of silence, he asked, “What do you think?”

Lin Wu let out a quiet breath. The corners of her lips lifted, and a determined look showed in her eyes. “I think not.”

Chen Zhuo said nothing, simply staring at her without blinking.

A few more seconds passed.

Lin Wu said softly, “Want another drink?”

Chen Zhuo gathered himself, and his long, well-defined fingers tapped lightly against the clear glass. His throat moved once. “Sure.”

“Still vodka?” Lin Wu asked. She intended to treat him to a drink.

“No.” Chen Zhuo turned his eyes toward her, his gaze deep as a pool. His thin lips parted slightly. “I want brandy.”

Chen Zhuo switched to brandy, and Lin Wu ordered a glass of vodka.

But she did not finish the vodka. Afraid she might black out drunk, she only took a small sip, then pushed the glass toward Chen Zhuo and asked him to help finish it, so it would not go to waste.

......

-

When Chen Zhuo came out of the bathroom, Lin Wu was curled up in the oversized lounge chair by the floor-to-ceiling window. A clean blanket covered her body, exposing one bare shoulder, and between her slender fingers she held a freshly lit lady’s cigarette.

Hearing the movement, she lifted the cigarette to her lips and looked over at him.

A faint mist slipped from between her lips.

Chen Zhuo watched her with dark eyes, then walked toward her and raised a brow. “Something on your mind?”

They had been seeing each other for more than half a year and would occasionally share work matters.

Chen Zhuo knew about her work, and she knew about his.

At that, Lin Wu found it amusing.

She shifted her posture, kneeling on the lounge chair, took a drag, and exhaled. The white haze drifted across Chen Zhuo’s face. He remained composed and pressed the final syllable of his question, “Mm?”

Lin Wu was smoking a jasmine-scented lady’s cigarette. It carried no harsh odor; instead, it gave off a faint tea aroma, fresh and elegant.

“No,” she answered his question, leaning slightly forward. She blinked once, and a sly glint flashed in her eyes. “With how Mr. Chen just performed, wouldn’t I deserve a cigarette after the fact?”

Surely a man was not the only one entitled to smoke after.

Chen Zhuo: "......"

He lowered his gaze to the cigarette in her hand, now burned down by a third. His eyes darkened, and his voice turned husky. “My honor.”

As soon as the words fell, he took the cigarette from Lin Wu’s fingers, drew a deep inhale, then lowered his head and kissed her lips once more, passing the smoke to her.