Chapter 75: Honey Bells
The late afternoon sun bathed the riverbank in a warm, golden haze, and the quiet rushing of the water settled around them like a gentle blanket.
Sunbathing in mild warmth in each other’s arms, fishes nibbling at their toes, water rushing past their ankles...
Both of them began to feel extremely comfortable, the lingering tension of the day melting away in the steady heat.
Even Kian just wanted to close his eyes and feel her in his arms, while Xiao Cui sank back against his chest with a soft, content sigh.
"This is so good," she murmured, yawning into her hand. "Even better than honey bells."
"You are right."
They slowly became peaceful, the moment taking over them.
Kian could feel her body intimately in his arms, and she could feel how warm and gentle he was.
She felt compelled to fall deeper into his embrace.
He felt compelled to hug her deeper.
As they both drifted into the serene moment, Kian moved his hand up and gently cupped her chest through the fabric of her dress.
Xiao Cui didn’t back away. Instead, she leaned into his palm and placed her small hands directly over his, holding them there in quiet warmth.
He gently cupped it, surprised by how fluffy it felt.
It was filling his hand and more.
He broke the illusionary moment with a soft murmur against her neck. "You have quite a big chest. It was not apparent before I started touching it."
Xiao Cui froze, her round eyes snapping open as she finally registered where his hands were.
A sudden, furious crimson flushed across her cheeks, traveling all the way down to her collarbone.
"Eeeek! Where are you putting your hands, you dirty pervert!"
She shrieked, twisting around in his lap and trying to swat his chest with her fists.
Kian didn’t budge, his iron-hard muscles absorbing her weak, frantic blows while a lazy, triumphant grin spread across his face. He caught both her fists and laid back again, smiling.
She scoffed, her face red, but didn’t leave his arms.
Instead, she used his arms like a pillow and laid beside him.
"If you do that again, I am telling your wives!"
"Aww, don’t do that."
Kian rolled onto his side, propping his head up on one hand as he looked down at her.
He reached out with his free hand, his fingers gently trailing through her soft hair as the shade turned it back to spun gold.
"You know, Xiao Cui," he murmured, his thumb brushing over her hot cheek, "I’ve never been so attracted to someone’s physicality as I’ve been to yours. Maybe it’s the hair."
Xiao Cui’s breath caught in her throat, her round eyes wide as she stared up at him.
Was he flirting with her?
Was this how men flirted?
She lay completely still under his gaze, super curious about where this was going while a swarm of butterflies fluttered wildly in her belly.
"You know? We could come to the forest every once in a while. Next time, we can even fish. What do you say?"
"Yes."
"What about going to climb a mountain or something?"
That sounded so fun.
"Yes!"
"What about flying?"
"Woah. Really?"
"One day, for sure."
At some point, she didn’t even mind what he was saying.
It felt so nice to be looked lovingly at.
As his low, smooth voice kept flirting with her, his hand casually drifted back up from her waist, slipping over her soft chest once again to fondle the fluffy weight through her dress.
Xiao Cui let out a breathy, embarrassed gasp, but she didn’t hit him this time; her fingers merely clutched at his sleeve.
She felt so sleepy.
Was it his fault?
"You really can’t keep your hands to yourself for even three seconds," she whispered.
"Not when you look so stunning," Kian chuckled, leaning down to press a warm, lingering kiss right beneath her jawline, making her toes curl against the cool river rocks.
Then, the kiss moved from jaw to lips.
Their lips met, soft and warm, and Xiao Cui’s breath hitched in her throat as the world around them seemed to fall away.
His tongue slowly parted her lips and entered her mouth.
She froze for a fraction of a second, her round eyes wide in shock at the sudden, sweet pressure, before the sheer heat of him dissolved her lingering hesitation.
She bit him down once by accident, but that didn’t seem to hurt him at all as he continued.
Her eyelashes fluttered shut, her fingers tangling tightly into the fabric of his robe as he deepened the press, tasting the faint, lingering sweetness of the honey-bells on their tongue.
The kiss was slow and deliberate, a gentle claims-taking that made her head spin with a dizzying, weightless heat.
"Hmmm!"
A soft, involuntary noise escaped the back of her throat, her body relaxing completely as Kian’s hand cupped the side of her face, his thumb tracing her cheekbone while his other arm held her close against his chest.
She pushed his chest asking for relief, but he didn’t even give that to her quick.
When he finally pulled back just a fraction, a thin, shimmering thread of saliva connected their parted lips before breaking in the cool afternoon air.
Xiao Cui lay there in a daze, her face flushed a deep crimson and her dark eyes glazed with a sweet, breathless wonder as she stared up at him.
She touched her own swollen, glossy lips with two trembling fingertips, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird.
"That... that was my first kiss," she whispered softly, her voice barely audible over the rushing river.
"I could tell."
He leaned close until the tip of his nose brushed against hers, not pressing for another kiss, but lingering in the tiny space between their faces as an invitation.
"Wait—wait!" she squeaked in a sudden panic, her cheeks burning.
Xiao Cui’s breath hitched, her small hands flying up to press against his chest.
She took a deep, shuddering breath, holding it for a few agonizing seconds to steady the wild hammering in her chest before letting the air out in a soft, trembling sigh.
"I need to breathe!"
Slowly, her dark eyelashes fluttered open, her round eyes searching his with a sweet, helpless surrender as her fingers uncurled from his robe.
"Okay," she whispered, her voice barely a breath against his lips. "You can now."
He leaned down.
A soft chime echoed in Kian’s mind as translucent golden text expanded across his vision, sharp and clear.
[Subquest 1 Completed: You have succesfully stolen ’Maid Xiao Cui’ from Su Chen.]
[Reward: 100 Fortune.]
[Xiao Cui Favorability: 110 (Black)]