Chapter 569 - 237: First Kiss
Chapter 569: Chapter 237: First Kiss
A wave of shame and anger instantly washed away her earlier timidity.
"Shen! Yuan!"
She ground out his name through clenched teeth, her voice a mixture of exasperated fury and the mortification of having her predicament exposed.
’This man is too much! Not only... not only did he leave such an obvious mark, but he even had the gall to "point it out" to her with such a smug, cheeky grin!’
The beautiful girl’s hand shot up, but not to pinch the soft flesh of his waist or punch his shoulder as she usually would.
Instead, driven by rage and impulse, she grabbed Shen Yuan’s collar and yanked him toward her.
The sudden force made Shen Yuan stumble. The teasing smile on his face hadn’t even faded before it was replaced by sheer astonishment.
He saw the flames of unbearable shame and indignation burning in Li Zhi’s beautiful eyes, clearly reflecting his own stunned face.
The next second, something even more unexpected happened—
As if she’d thrown all caution to the wind, Li Zhi rose onto her tiptoes and, with the air of someone bent on mutual destruction, fiercely pressed her lips to Shen Yuan’s equally well-defined neck!
It wasn’t a gentle kiss, but more like the bite of a small animal, teeth and all.
The moment her teeth touched his neck, Shen Yuan’s muscles instantly tensed. The slight tremor of his Adam’s apple rolling beneath her lips was clearly perceptible.
The moist heat of her breath mingled with the coarse sensation of her teeth scraping against his skin, sending a shiver through him.
Li Zhi wasn’t just kissing him. She caught a small patch of skin between her teeth, grinding and worrying at it like a young animal tearing at its prey, yet her bite remained restrained.
She didn’t break the skin, leaving only a burning, tingling sensation.
The spot on Shen Yuan’s neck where she’d bitten quickly turned red.
After the light bite came a distinct suction, accompanied by an unconscious whimper from her throat that was both a warning and a coy complaint.
Time seemed to freeze.
A moment later, feeling she had made her point, Li Zhi let go of Shen Yuan’s collar as if shocked.
She gasped for air, her chest heaving violently. Her eyes still held the resolute, indignant shame from before, but a deeper layer of regret and fresh panic was quickly flooding in.
’I actually did that?!’
’Great. Now not only do I have incriminating evidence on me, I’ve left some on him too!’
A livid mark was imprinted on the side of Shen Yuan’s neck where she’d bitten him, the spot still stinging with a clear ache.
His gaze didn’t waver. He just stared at Li Zhi in silence.
Li Zhi’s cheeks were burning. The shame and indignation hadn’t completely faded, and it was now mixed with a trace of regret for her impulsive bite.
She subconsciously wanted to avoid his overly direct gaze, but it was as if her feet were nailed to the floor. Instead, she raised her lashes to meet his eyes.
Their eyes met.
It was as if tiny sparks of static were crackling in the air.
The intensity of their mutual marking seemed to have been put on pause, leaving only the sound of their ragged, intertwined breaths echoing in the silent room.
Shen Yuan’s expression was complex and unreadable, but deep within his eyes swirled the familiar heat she knew, along with a dark glint of triumph.
Li Zhi’s eyes, on the other hand, were like an overturned painter’s palette, filled with shame, anger, embarrassment, and a hint of helpless confusion from being stared at so intently.
The distance was too close; the reflections in each other’s eyes were crystal clear, showing nothing but the other’s face.
One with a slightly disheveled collar, a mark on his neck, and unsteady breath.
The other with a flushed face and flickering eyes, like a trapped little animal.
Time seemed to stretch and thicken in that moment. The silent standoff held a tension that made the heart race even more than the earlier "punishment" and "retaliation."
When Li Zhi saw the bright red mark she had left on Shen Yuan’s neck—one that was possibly even more conspicuous than the one on her own—she took a deep breath.
She suppressed her violently pounding heart and the burning heat in her cheeks, then abruptly lifted her head and glared at Shen Yuan with newfound courage.
The flames of indignant shame burned in her clear eyes as she met Shen Yuan’s gaze without flinching.
Then, clearly and deliberately, she said:
"Now. We’re. Even!"
Li Zhi’s voice held a slight tremble, and the final word dropped into the quiet room like a stone into stagnant water.
Her fingers, still clutching Shen Yuan’s collar, were a little numb. With nowhere else for her gaze to run, it remained locked on his deep eyes.
Shen Yuan didn’t offer any rebuttal or argument; he just looked at her deeply.
The burning sting on his neck, intertwined with the feel of Li Zhi’s soft, warm body in his arms, was like adding fuel to a fire.
Not only did the arm around her waist not loosen, it tightened. The undeniable force was even greater than when he’d kissed her neck, yet it was tinged with a careful, cherishing quality.
Li Zhi could clearly feel his heart pounding violently beneath her palm, almost in sync with the thunderous beating in her own chest.
The bit of bravado from her "we’re even" declaration vanished in an instant, replaced by a deeper bashfulness and helplessness.
She tried to shift slightly, wanting to create a little distance, but found she couldn’t move him an inch.
Shen Yuan’s Adam’s apple bobbed noticeably.
His gaze finally left her eyes. It traveled downward slowly, with an unprecedented heat and Concentration, meticulously tracing the outline of her lips, which were mere inches away.
The look was so tangible it made Li Zhi’s breath hitch, almost making her forget how to breathe at all.
She subconsciously pressed her lips together, but this tiny movement was like a spark igniting a fuse.
Shen Yuan raised a hand, his fingertips gently caressing Li Zhi’s cheek in a slow, deliberate motion.
Li Zhi’s heart hammered like a drum, the words she’d used to bolster her courage earlier—’We’ve already kissed, anyway’—still swirling in her mind.