Chapter 36: Lu Huaiyan, Are You… Jealous?

His question reminded Jiang Se of some old memories.

She had almost kissed Fu Yun once.

She couldn’t recall which date it had been, only that they had been engaged for nearly a year at the time.

That night, the first snow of the season had fallen in Beicheng.

After dinner at the hotel, they were supposed to head to the parking lot to retrieve their cars and go home separately.

Perhaps because Jiang Se had glanced at the snowy scene outside, the ever-attentive Fu Yun suggested, “Would you like to take a walk?”

That night, Jiang Se had no pressing matters, so she agreed, treating it as a way to digest her meal.

Outside the hotel was the beautiful Shuangyue Lake, its two crescent-shaped outlines connected by a stone arch bridge in the middle. They leaned against the bridge, admiring the lake and the snow, chatting about topics far more interesting than those at the dinner table. It could be described as a moment of warm laughter and pleasant conversation.

The atmosphere must have reached a certain point because Fu Yun suddenly leaned toward her.

Though their engagement was a tool of family alliance, and they weren’t particularly close, Jiang Se had genuinely considered that once they married, she would try her best to make the marriage work.

So when Fu Yun lowered his head, if it weren’t for a few children running by the lake, she wouldn’t have dodged that kiss.

In the end, Fu Yun’s lips brushed lightly past the corner of her mouth and landed on her cheek.

Perhaps because she had turned her head to avoid it, Fu Yun misunderstood her reluctance. In their subsequent dates, he remained impeccably polite, never crossing boundaries again. The occasional physical contact—his hand lightly resting on her waist—was purely out of social courtesy.

But strictly speaking—

“He kissed me,” Jiang Se said, looking at Lu Huaiyan with a teasing smile. “Not just Fu Yun—Fu Jun kissed me too.”

Lu Huaiyan had been about to turn off the bedside lamp on her side, but upon hearing this, he cast her a sidelong glance and sat back down.

“Where did they kiss you?” he asked.

His voice was calm, and there was even a faint smile tugging at his lips.

Jiang Se sat up, propping herself on her hands behind her, tilting her head to look at him. “Does it matter where they kissed me?”

Lu Huaiyan gazed at her without blinking, his mind abruptly flashing to the image of her in the villa’s dressing room and, just moments ago, half-leaning against the wardrobe.

She seemed to enjoy that quite a bit.

He chuckled softly, lifted the blanket off her, and pulled her onto his lap. One hand pressed against her lower back, the other gripped her chin, his thumb brushing over her lips.

“Here?” He moved upward, grazing her eyelashes and earlobes. “Or here? Or perhaps—”

His fingers slid downward, tracing the elegant curve of her neck, brushing past her collarbone and the contours of her body, slipping under the hem of her nightgown. His voice grew slightly hoarse. “These places? Se Se, did they ever…?”

Jiang Se’s body felt more sensitive than ever before.

His touch was gentle, like the fleeting skim of a dragonfly, yet she still trembled slightly, as if a small jolt of electricity had surged through her.

Instinctively, she shifted back, but his hand on her lower back sensed her intent. Not only did he refuse to let her retreat, he applied a bit more pressure, pulling her closer.

Jiang Se parted her lips and took a breath.

His dark eyes were like ink, the possessiveness in them thick as storm clouds blocking the sun.

Jiang Se decided not to shy away. Her beautiful almond-shaped eyes shimmered with moisture, yet her gaze remained clear and serene.

She curved her lips into a smile. “They were both my fiancés once. Isn’t it normal for some intimacy to happen?”

Normal—it was indeed normal.

In their circle, getting physical after an engagement was commonplace. Even Cao Xun and Jian Ruyi, who had been at odds since childhood, had done it.

She and Fu Yun, Fu Jun, hadn’t even gone all the way—compared to most, they’d been quite restrained.

Lu Huaiyan responded slowly, “It is pretty normal.”

Jiang Se studied him. “Lu Huaiyan, are you… jealous?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he lowered his head and captured her lips, swallowing the warm breath she exhaled. It wasn’t until her fingers dug tightly into his arm that he released her, watching intently as she gasped for air like a fish out of water.

Only when her breathing steadied did he withdraw his hand from under her nightgown, smiling as he asked, “Your former fiancés never went this far with you. So what does that make us now?”

The moment he asked, Lu Huaiyan knew his composure—something Mo Jichen had once praised—was slipping more and more.

He knew this girl couldn’t be forced.

It wasn’t as if he could pile up gold and silver, stage a few grand romantic gestures, or whisper sweet nothings to coax her into being his.

When it came to what he wanted—be it objects or people—Lu Huaiyan had always possessed remarkable patience.

A slow, deliberate pursuit, step by step.

Gradually luring her into growing accustomed to him, needing him, and then falling for him.

But right now, let alone falling for him or needing him, even getting used to him was proving difficult for her.

Asking her to define their relationship at this moment was indeed too hasty.

She was right—he was indeed nursing a bit of old jealousy, which had led him to ask an ill-timed question.

But since the words were out, he naturally wanted an answer.

After all, she knew better than anyone that he wanted her.

When he asked, his gaze was steady. Even with a hint of jealousy, he wouldn’t lose control like other men might.

He lowered his eyes, waiting for her response.

The lingering haze in Jiang Se’s expression hadn’t fully dissipated, but as his words sank in, her trembling lashes stilled.

She looked up at him, her dazed eyes gradually clearing.

A moment of silence passed.

Jiang Se tilted her face slightly and said, “Fu Yun kissed my cheek, and I felt nothing when he did. As for Fu Jun, I dodged when he tried, and he only kissed my hair. Afterward, I splashed a cup of coffee on him. Honestly, I don’t like being too physically close to people—like this, for example.”

She lifted her chin and pressed her soft lips to his in a fleeting kiss before pulling back. “But I don’t mind doing these things with you. In fact, I might even enjoy it. My little aunt used to say I kept myself trapped in a cage, that people should live freely and do what feels good because who knows what tomorrow might bring. I think she’s right. You want me, and I happen to want you too. Why not secretly take this ride together? Isn’t that nice?”

Lu Huaiyan looked down at her, watching her petal-like lips open and close as she spoke words that could easily rile him up.

When she finished, he smiled and asked, “What does ‘secretly taking a ride together’ mean?”

Jiang Se gave a slow, radiant smile, her eyes bright and captivating. “We enjoy the moment, go as far as we go, and when we inevitably part ways, we do it amicably.”

In the end, she didn’t want a relationship—just a journey she could hop on and off at will.

In cruder terms, a friends-with-benefits arrangement she could end anytime.

Lu Huaiyan raised a brow at her. “What if we can’t part amicably when the time comes?”

“We will,” Jiang Se said, placing a hand on his face, her lips curving with a smile. “Growing up in families like ours, we’re not the type to cling or grovel.”

Whether it was Cen Minghong and Ji Yunyi, or Han Yin and Lu Jinzhong, their marriages were riddled with betrayal and unspeakable filth.

Love fades easily; marriage is hard to sustain.

Raised in such families, they carried an inherent cool detachment in their bones. How could they ever be the type to desperately cling to someone?

Lu Huaiyan half-lowered his lids to look at her. Her face still bore the flush he’d stirred, her pale cheeks tinged with pink—cold yet bewitching, like a mermaid emerging from the riverbank that night.

Tempting, ensnaring.

He didn’t respond, as if silently agreeing with her.

Jiang Se lifted her eyes to his strikingly handsome face.

Beneath her palm was his sharp, bony jaw, the skin she’d shaved with a razor hours ago now pressed tightly against her hand.

In the elevator that evening, her rationality had told her to press the down button and leave.

Her fever had subsided, her bad mood had settled, and she should have gone.

But she’d felt… unsatisfied.

She knew he was waiting outside the elevator, waiting for that lingering desire to overcome her reason and draw her back into his tangle.

In the end, she’d pressed the open button.

Stepping out, she’d thought it through clearly: what harm was there in getting a little more entangled with him?

Heaven knew how long she’d live, or if she’d even win.

Jiang Se tilted her head up and pressed her lips to Lu Huaiyan’s again.

He didn’t move. When she parted her lips to take his lower lip and tentatively slipped her tongue forward, his Adam’s apple bobbed, but he still didn’t respond.

Jiang Se blinked slowly. After kissing him for a moment with no reaction, she started to pull back. Just then, he let out a soft laugh.

“So impatient, Se Se.”

His voice slipped through the seam of their touching lips. Jiang Se froze, and in the next instant, he pressed a hand to the back of her head, biting her lip and prying open her mouth to entangle with her.

His kiss was deep, fierce.

A violent kiss.

Jiang Se closed her eyes, then opened them again, pushing against him. He eased up slightly, letting her catch a breath before diving back in.

He wore a black bathrobe, and her knees pressed against his waist, her nightgown pooling around her thighs.

Sitting so close, she could distinctly feel the taut lines of his legs.

The ambiguous position made anything possible.

When he finally released her lips, Jiang Se’s heart thudded hard the moment she met his gaze, thinking he might take her again right there.

But he did nothing, lifting her back onto the bed and reaching out to switch off the lamp.

Her eyes plunged into darkness. After a rustle, the mattress beside her dipped sharply.

“Fine, let’s take that ride together.”

His voice carried a lazy amusement, tinged with nonchalance.

Jiang Se turned her head to look at him, but his calloused fingers were already turning her soft cheek toward him. He leaned in, pressing a heavy kiss to her lips.

After the goodnight kiss, he murmured with a smile, “Sleep well, princess.”

Jiang Se lifted her lashes, peering at his blurred face in the dimness for a moment. Soon, she closed her eyes and drifted into a deep sleep.

A dreamless night.

The curtains weren’t fully drawn, and a sliver of morning light on her eyelids woke Jiang Se.

That same light roused the man beside her.

They opened their eyes almost simultaneously.

Both accustomed to sleeping alone, even sharing a bed, they kept an arm’s length apart, each claiming their side.

Yet in that empty space between them lay two overlapping hands.

Jiang Se’s lashes fluttered as her peripheral vision caught her loosely curled fist resting against his palm.

She was a disciplined sleeper—whatever position she fell asleep in, she woke up in. Last night, her hands had definitely been under the covers.

His palm was warm, slightly rough, enveloping her hand and half her wrist.

In the morning’s lingering grogginess, she felt an odd illusion, as if his warm hand were a shackle.

As her thoughts stalled, her fingers were suddenly pried apart. His calloused fingertips slowly threaded through hers, reaching the scarred flesh of her palm, interlocking their hands tightly.

Jiang Se blinked, lifting her gaze to meet Lu Huaiyan’s calm, fathomless eyes.

He’d woken earlier, at some point turning his face to watch her quietly.

A deep blue blanket draped over his waist, his upper body bare, collarbone sharp like a rugged mountain range. The elegant muscle lines spread like leaf veins from his chest to his abdomen.

His shoulder bore a few red scratches—marks she’d left when her hands gripped his neck and shoulders uncontrollably.

In a daze, his low, hoarse “Good morning, Se Se” snapped her fully awake.

Her throat felt tight; she wanted water.

“Good morning,” she replied, her voice also slightly husky.

Pulling her hand from his, she started to get up when a doorbell rang abruptly.

No need to guess who it was.

Besides Lu Huaiyan, only Han Xiao had a keycard to the penthouse suite.

Jiang Se’s brow twitched.

Her coat—and the undergarments he’d peeled from her last night—were still on the shoe cabinet.

She turned to Lu Huaiyan. “My clothes are by the entrance.”

He clearly remembered what was there too, but he didn’t rush out. Instead, he leaned in slowly, his face brushing her ear, kissing her temple with a chuckle. “What’s there to worry about? I won’t let Han Xiao see your clothes.”

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