Chapter 20: Broken Skin

The bedroom lights were off. Once his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Cheng Si looked down at the girl sleeping almost entirely on top of him, guided by the drifting moonlight.

Her fingers were long and slender, soft and snow-white, shimmering as if coated in a layer of pearl—completely different from his own rough fingers, which were calloused and toughened. When she gripped his chest slightly, he felt a fleeting illusion that he was tasing something sacred.

Cheng Si panted softly, unable to resist lowering his head to kiss her fingers. He didn’t know if this action provoked her, but the girl raised her hand in slight dissatisfaction, her thumb brushing against the seam of his lips. She seemed to want to pinch him, but Cheng Si, without a second thought, opened his mouth reflexively and took her finger inside.

He licked them, one by one. Like a puppy. Making faint, sticky, watery sounds.

…

Wen Xi felt her fingers getting wet, and even her fingertips began to itch.

She felt an indescribable discomfort and thought it was the puppy at home causing trouble. She raised her hand to pin it down, wanting it to stop moving; the dream wasn’t over yet, and she didn’t want anything else to disturb her. Unexpectedly, her hand was licked all over, and her finger was forced down against the tip of a tongue.

This passive situation sparked a competitive interest in her. Her actions, which had been somewhat gentle, suddenly changed in quality. In the next second, she heard the sound of a sharply contracting throat swallowing.

This sound, full of suggestive meaning, made the string in Wen Xi’s mind representing her Alpha instinct snap with a hum. She opened her hazy eyes and saw that Cheng Si wasn’t resisting at all; he was even actively curling his tongue to please her. Those lips were sharp as a blade, yet they felt so soft to the touch.

When he moved his Adam’s apple and enveloped her fingertips, her instincts as an Alpha were infinitely expanded and magnified, making her scalp tingle. For a moment, she felt that what was touching his mouth shouldn’t just be her fingers.

Whether it was a dream or reality, Wen Xi could no longer tell. Alcohol dominated part of her reason, but the suppression in her bones forced her to restrain the accumulated violent factors—until her mouth tasted a bit of metallic sweetness, mixed with a faint, bitter plant-like scent. Only then was her irritability gradually smoothed over.

Thus, she rarely indulged her “childish” side; even as sleepiness washed over her, she stubbornly held onto the milky-scented “hard candy” and refused to let go.

As she fell into a new dream, Wen Xi corrected the source of pleasure in her dream. What cotton candy? It was clearly chocolate milk.

…

5:00 AM. The alarm Cheng Si had set early rang on time. He opened his eyes after just one ring.

Before leaving the CLUB last night, Luo Wanran had told him that Auntie Chen, who cooked and cleaned for Wen Xi, would arrive at 5:30 every morning. He had to leave before then.

Cheng Si rubbed the space between his brows, forcing himself to wake up. Wen Xi was still sleeping peacefully on him. The girl’s breathing was even, and her eyelashes were very long; when she was asleep, the cold and distant aura about her diminished greatly, making her look more like an exquisite porcelain doll.

Cheng Si watched her quietly for a while. Although he was very reluctant, he gently curled two fingers and pulled the “pinkness” out from between her rose-like lips.

He hadn’t felt it while staying still all night. But with this slight movement, the places regaining sensation suddenly surged with threads of painful numbness.

Cheng Si’s jawline tightened into a straight line, and his narrow eyes blurred with a hazy mist. He discovered that his heaving chest, due to her “unfair treatment,” presented completely different colors on the left and right sides: one side bore finger marks, while the other was densely covered in what could only be described as “marking” bite wounds.

He waited for a moment before pulling on his T-shirt. The soft fabric rubbed against him, making him hiss in pain. At this level, the skin must be broken and bruised.

However, Cheng Si didn’t mind. Compared to the injuries he had suffered before, this was nothing. He just wanted to get home quickly, take a shower immediately, and change his clothes. Because he realized that he was “filthy” from the inside out. Without looking, he could imagine the mottled traces on his pants.

Are all Omegas like this? Cheng Si thought, unable to bear it. Are all Omegas like him—flooding like this even before being truly touched in a significant sense? If it were a real heat period, what would happen?

With burning cheeks, Cheng Si stole a glance at the harmless profile of the culprit, then stood up and gently closed the bedroom door. He made a “shushing” gesture to the Doberman standing guard at the door and walked into the fading night.

“Knock, knock, knock—” The knocking continued, accompanied by a few angry barks from the dog.

Wen Xi had a splitting headache and was annoyed by the noise. She vaguely remembered that although it was the weekend, she had forgotten to tell Auntie Chen not to wake her up. She turned over and forced herself to say: “Auntie, I won’t have breakfast. I want to sleep more. Just leave the food there, and when I wake up, I’ll…”

“Xiao Qi, it’s me.”

The man’s voice, low and slightly cold, cut through her words.

Wen Xi’s heart skipped a beat. She snapped her eyes open, her mind going blank for a few seconds before she finally processed the fact that Xu Linshen was looking for her. The last time he came here was more than half a year ago. Most of the time, he would just call her back to the Wen family home because he didn’t like the Doberman—the dog always snarled at him, and given his status, he couldn’t exactly lose his temper with a dog, so he gradually stopped coming.

“Wait a moment, I’m coming out.” Wen Xi rubbed her face and threw off the covers. She realized she was still wearing that JK outfit she used for “fishing.”

Her memory returned; she had seemingly been knocked out by a few drinks at the CLUB, and Cheng Si had sent her back. In the end, it seemed she had slept while holding him. As for the details, she didn’t remember much. She didn’t know when he left. Tactful enough. Otherwise, bumping into Xu Linshen now would be no different from being caught in bed.

Recalling the feeling of holding Cheng Si, Wen Xi raised an eyebrow and tutted, actually finding it not bad—like holding a large plush doll.

Wen Xi changed her clothes and opened the bedroom door. Xu Linshen was sitting in the living room, his expression not very good. He sat with his legs crossed, the tip of his polished shoe hanging at a cold angle.

As expected, the Doberman was hissing in the man’s direction. If Auntie Chen hadn’t been holding its collar, it might have rushed over to bark.

“Brother, why do you have time to come today?” As Wen Xi asked, she walked to the Doberman’s side and patted its head, applying a bit of “owner’s pressure.” It whimpered twice, looking at her with grievance and dissatisfaction, but eventually lay down submissively. It wasn’t that she was defending Xu Linshen; if the Doberman really rushed him, she might not see this puppy the next day.

Xu Linshen loosened his tie, his brow showing displeasure. “Can’t you raise some other animal? A cat, a rabbit, or even a hamster.” “No.” Wen Xi smiled. “I only like dogs. They are loyal.”

Xu Linshen gave a disapproving huff but didn’t argue. He looked down at his watch and gestured with his chin toward the shelf in the dining room: “It’s almost ten o’clock. Clean yourself up, put on the clothes I prepared for you, and go to lunch with me.”

Wen Xi looked over and saw a rectangular gift box. She opened it to find a cream-white, wide-strap slip dress. The satin hem was trimmed with lace ruffles and dotted with diamond sequins—elegant yet playful. It matched Xu Linshen’s aesthetic perfectly.

Wen Xi tossed the dress back and asked neutrally, “Lunch with whom?” Xu Linshen met her eyes for a moment, then sighed. Knowing she would find out sooner or later, he chose not to hide it: “With the eldest son of the Lu family, and his Omega mother.”

In Nanjiang, the Wen family was said to have its own business empire. Besides them, the Lu family was also a force not to be reckoned with. For generations, the Lu family had produced generals; it was only in the last two generations that the descendants lost the desire to go to the battlefield, turning instead to establish Lu’s Military Industrial Technology, which was very close to various military districts in the Alliance.

The Lu family wasn’t sparsely populated like the Wen family; the head of the Lu family had three children. The eldest son, Lu Xianyan; the second daughter, Lu Yunwei; and the third son, Lu Yinzhi. Except for Lu Yinzhi, who was an Omega, the other two were Alphas. Thus, their constant overt and covert struggles were an open secret.

Wen Xi hadn’t expected Xu Linshen to target the Lu family. Befriending them was tantamount to a stepping stone into various military districts. Her eyes darkened as she wondered if Xu Linshen’s ambition had grown to this extent.

“You know, to gain something, you must lose something,” Xu Linshen had Auntie Chen take the dog to the guest room, then walked to Wen Xi’s side, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. “I also want you to be carefree for life, but that b*tch Fang Zhenyi… anyway, your sister-in-law is getting more arrogant, and my marriage with her is coming to an end. I have to plan for the Wen family’s future, and for our future. You can understand me, right?”

Xu Linshen quickly suppressed the gloom in his tone and coaxed her patiently: “I’ve confirmed that Lu Xianyan is a decent person. He promised me he would treat you well.”

Wen Xi didn’t show much emotional fluctuation toward his heartfelt words. She just said “Oh” and accepted it quite plainly.

While Wen Xi went to change into the dress, Xu Linshen stood up and looked around the house, wondering if she lacked anything—a compensatory gift for her. Consequently, he saw a jar of loosened honey on the table, with the water dispenser next to it set to a constant 55 degrees.

He couldn’t help but frown. Since when did Wen Xi start drinking honey water? It was the same last time she went back to the Wen family; she didn’t even eat the braised yellow croaker she used to love.

They had lived apart for too long, to the point where her preferences had changed and he couldn’t notice immediately. Xu Linshen felt guilty for his negligence. He called Auntie Chen and ordered: “This jar of honey isn’t fresh, throw it away. Since she likes it, I’ll have someone send fresh honey later.”

Auntie Chen was confused for a moment. “Miss never drinks honey water.” Xu Linshen pointed to the honey jar on the table: “Then what is this?”

Auntie Chen let out a surprised sound. “Did Miss take this out herself? How strange. She never enters the kitchen; how would she know where the honey is kept?” She picked up the honey jar and also saw the car keys on the table. “This… aren’t these Miss Wanran’s car keys? Why are they here?”

Xu Linshen’s gaze froze, and his expression changed instantly.

At the same time, in the bedroom, Wen Xi turned on her phone and saw a text message from Cheng Si.

【If your head hurts when you wake up, remember to drink a glass of honey water.】

【I wanted to brew it for you, but I was afraid it would get cold. I left the honey on the table and adjusted the water to the right temperature. Just take a spoonful and mix it with water.】

【I also left the car keys on the table.】

He seemed to have deleted and edited for a long time before finally sending another message a while later.

【Wen Xi, can I still come today?】