After Accidentally Marking the Cold and Elegant Eldest Princess - Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Pushed to the Limit

The woman’s red lips were mere inches away.

Yan Yunti, however, retreated instead of advancing. She stepped down one stone step, looking up at Yuan Jingxue from a submissive angle. “This way, perhaps Your Highness will be more pleased?”

The girl’s expression was both obedient and admiring, as if she were a subordinate surrendering to her superior.

Yuan Jingxue looked down at her. Beads of water fell one by one from her soaked hair, splashing onto Yan Yunti’s cheeks, drenching her further and making her appear even more compliant.

With her hands resting on Yan Yunti’s shoulders, Yuan Jingxue felt her heartbeat quicken. Even though she knew this obedience was an act, her emotions couldn’t help but fluctuate. She was even… enticed.

The Qianyuan’s appearance suited her tastes perfectly. Especially those clear, bright phoenix eyes; being gazed at so intently by them felt as if all her thoughts were being drained away. Only one impulse remained.

Yuan Jingxue leaned down, her lips pressing against the girl’s damp mouth, whispering softly: “Slower.”

If it were too fast, she wouldn’t be able to catch her breath.

“Teach me, Your Highness.” Yan Yunti remained still, allowing Yuan Jingxue to take the initiative. She memorized the rhythm of the kiss, learning the woman’s way of reciprocating—patient, meticulous, as if savoring every bit of a soft pastry—and then released her at the perfect moment, not even needing a reminder.

Slightly hurried breaths sounded in each other’s ears, making their hearts beat faster with every thump.

Yan Yunti lightly brushed her nose against Yuan Jingxue’s. Listening to the woman’s breathing rhythm as it steadied slightly, she asked, “How does Your Highness feel?”

The question that had gone unanswered in the carriage was asked again with a Qianyuan’s persistence.

Yuan Jingxue didn’t want to evade it anymore. From her parted lips, a low sound escaped: “Mm.”

Some things didn’t need many words; that single sound was enough to let the Qianyuan know she had done well.

Yan Yunti: “Then, Your Highness, shall we continue?”

This time, there was no answer.

Yan Yunti interpreted the Kunze’s silence as tacit consent and asked no more.

Their lips pressed together, and pheromones flowed and mingled wantonly between their teeth. By the end, Yuan Jingxue was relying almost entirely on Yan Yunti’s support just to stay steady on the higher step.

The advantage of being in the “lower” position was fully realized at this moment. The soaked inner robe was a poor cover, allowing Yan Yunti to see everything clearly, her eyes unmoving.

Her left hand landed in front of Yuan Jingxue, her thumb and forefinger pinching at the base. She did nothing else, but because of the height difference, as Yuan Jingxue leaned into her, the base of her fingers pushed upward, making the curves appear even fuller and impossible to look away from. As they pressed closer, her very breath fanned over them.

Noticing the other’s downward gaze and finding herself unable to stand steadily, Yuan Jingxue finally requested: “Carry me down.”

She looks obedient, but her eyes haven’t missed a thing.

“Alright.” Yan Yunti forced her gaze away and carried the woman down one step. Thinking of something, she stepped down another.

The drop between the second and third steps wasn’t as large as the first two. Yuan Jingxue didn’t understand why she had descended two steps until Yan Yunti’s right hand slid under the crook of her right knee, lifting her leg to rest on the second step. Only then did Yuan Jingxue realize her intent.

With her legs on different steps, Yuan Jingxue’s body instinctively leaned back. Her back pressed fully against Yan Yunti’s front, and she felt the other woman lightly nuzzle against her back. A small string of fine tingles rippled through her.

Yuan Jingxue tried to pull her leg back, but her knee was held down. “Yan Yunti, what are you doing?” Her voice held a hint of shamed irritation.

Leaning against the side of the woman’s ear, Yan Yunti had a perfect view of Yuan Jingxue’s front. Her left hand remained at the base without overstepping. “Does Your Highness truly not know what I want to do? If Your Highness is unwilling, I will not continue.”

“Let go,” Yuan Jingxue insisted.

The gap between the steps was small, creating just the right distance for the flow of the water to become more pronounced between them.

Yan Yunti persisted in holding her knee. “Will Your Highness just try it? It isn’t hard.” As she spoke, the gland at the back of her neck began to release scent. The sharp cedar fragrance flooded out instantly, dispelling the heat of the spring and clinging to Yuan Jingxue’s skin, making her shudder inexplicably.

“Your Highness, shall we try?” Yan Yunti asked again against her ear.

The scent entwined around Yuan Jingxue, easily provoking sensations within her and causing her reason to waver.

Seeing her hesitation, Yan Yunti moved her breath toward the back of the woman’s neck, whispering: “Would Your Highness like to try another kind of massage first? a more effective one.”

With the Rain and Dew period approaching, the brief massage in the carriage had limited effects. Being in the hot spring, Yuan Jingxue could also sense the chill beginning to seep from within. Since they had already come this far… if she wanted to try, then let her.

Yuan Jingxue silently leaned back. Yan Yunti’s lips were already close; with this initiative, the woman practically delivered her gland to the Qianyuan’s lips.

The Kunze gland was right before her. No matter how good Yan Yunti’s self-control was, she couldn’t resist. The tooth marks from the last temporary marking had faded. Considering that the heat hadn’t truly arrived yet, Yan Yunti didn’t intend to bite. When she said “massage,” she meant it—her lips lightly pursed around the gland. Following the book’s teachings, her tongue touched the center of the gland, using her lips instead of fingers to press and knead.

Aside from the massage at the back of the neck, there was nothing else.

Yuan Jingxue thought this would be easy to endure, but the reality was that everything became stranger. Yan Yunti’s behavior was a study in extremes: the “massage” at the neck was incredibly focused, yet her hands were entirely idle, merely resting on her skin without so much as a stroke. The friction of the water was more noticeable than the touch of her fingers.

The chill in Yuan Jingxue’s body was dispelled before it could even gather. Perhaps the spring was too hot; a layer of fine sweat broke out on her forehead. Her eyes shimmered, though the moisture couldn’t quite form into tears to fall. She felt suspended, unable to move forward or back, and even less able to voice a request.

Perhaps if I just wait… wait for the massage to end…

The skin beneath her hands grew warm. Sensing that the body chill had receded, Yan Yunti should have let go of the gland, but her lips seemed stuck like a fly in a web. Her canines brushed against the gland; resisting the urge to bite took all her willpower. Her scent released slowly between her teeth—less intense than the release from her neck, but carrying a crisp air that squeezed into the center of the Kunze gland like threads competing to enter. It was faint, yet impossible to ignore.

The woman’s slender neck trembled. Her tightly pressed lips parted slightly as she let out a trembling call: “A-Yun.”

The two low words were filled with endless unspoken desire.

Yan Yunti’s lips pulled away. The Kunze gland had been sucked to a watery red, and wisps of scent were leaking out tremulously, drawn out further by her own pheromones.

“Is Your Highness still cold?” Yan Yunti whispered against her ear, asking what she already knew.

Yuan Jingxue truly couldn’t stand straight. She leaned on Yan Yunti for support. In front of her, the Qianyuan’s left hand moved up, brushing aside the soaked collar of her inner robe. She asked in a low voice: “Is Your Highness hot?”

Naturally, she was hot. The soaked inner robe clinging to her had long since become uncomfortable.

Yuan Jingxue closed her eyes, not looking at Yan Yunti’s movements, and offered a reminder: “One shouldn’t soak in the hot spring for too long.”

“Alright.” Yan Yunti gave a light laugh. The tie of the inner robe opened with a single tug. She added: “Do Your Highness and I not have a great understanding? Even if you only say one word, I can grasp your meaning.”

The water swept the garment away. The scalding spring water came into intimate contact with her skin. Yan Yunti’s right hand slid up Yuan Jingxue’s waist, while her left hand shifted downward; the switch made things more convenient.

As the Qianyuan had said, it wasn’t that hard.

But even the easiest posture became difficult to maintain by the end. Her right leg was sore and weak; even without the Qianyuan pressing it down, she couldn’t pull it back.

Yuan Jingxue slowly began to understand Yan Yunti’s “understanding.” The word “Mm” meant vastly different things at different times. Yet Yan Yunti understood every time. She could distinguish between praise and urging, yet she deliberately pretended not to understand the latter, leisurely asking that question: “How does Your Highness feel?”

She needed the answer; she needed the feedback for everything to continue.

When she was carried to sit sideways in the other’s lap, Yuan Jingxue still hadn’t recovered. Yan Yunti’s hand stroked her ankle beneath the water, her lips still lingering by her ear, pecking and kissing. “Look, Your Highness, saying it isn’t that hard, is it?”

Yuan Jingxue did not want to remember what she had said. The words of “faster” and “slower” that she had felt unable to utter in the carriage had actually escaped her lips when she was pushed to the limit and lost all reason.

She understood now. Yan Yunti had acted obedient today and kept her hands “principled” during the massage for no other reason than to trap her—to push her body to its extreme, forcing those words out of her before she would let her go.

The more Yuan Jingxue thought about it, the more annoyed she became. Yet Yan Yunti was still wantonly stroking her ankle. In a fit of pique, she kicked out, sending water splashing everywhere. Her sole ended up caught in the Qianyuan’s hand.

The Eldest Princess’s annoyance was very tangible.

Yan Yunti gripped her foot and looked at her. “Is Your Highness angry?”

It was rare for her temper to be so obvious. Compared to her usual coldness, Yan Yunti found this vivid version of the Princess much more to her liking.

Just as she thought this, the beauty’s voice returned to its usual calm: “Let go.”

Clearly, the afterglow hadn’t faded and the flush on her face remained, yet she tried to rein in her emotions so quickly.

Yan Yunti obediently let go of her foot. After a moment, her palm stroked Yuan Jingxue’s right leg, massaging it gently. “What is Your Highness angry about? That I forced those words out of you? If so…”

“No.” Yuan Jingxue interrupted her, her voice still carrying a trace of unhideable temper.

Yan Yunti watched her angry profile, her heart stirring. “The word Your Highness has spoken most before is my name. It’s truly unfair if only Your Highness gets to call me. How about I call Your Highness as well?”

The Eldest Princess’s personal name was not something commoners could utter lightly. Yan Yunti always called her “Your Highness,” except for… the two offenses in the carriage.

Yuan Jingxue had always been a light sleeper; she had heard those whispered murmurs clearly—

“Yuan. Jing. Xue.”

“Jingxue.”

Hearing those two lines from Yan Yunti’s mouth had caused her emotions to fluctuate strangely. She should have refused, but the words that left her mouth were: “Do you remember how many times I called you?”