Becoming the Caged Canary of a Forced Love - Chapter 10

Soft skin pressed against soft skin as their body heat transferred back and forth. Pei Jichuan lowered his head slightly, his lips just brushing against the tip of Gu Nian’s ear, while Gu Nian’s unique scent lingered in his nose.

Slowly, the tips of Gu Nian’s ears flushed crimson from the scorching breath.

Gu Nian detested the unknown; thus, he slowly turned around within Pei Jichuan’s embrace. Unlike the dim light of that previous afternoon, the lamps in the study were as bright as daylight to facilitate work.

As their gazes locked, Gu Nian could clearly see the burgeoning desire in the depths of Pei Jichuan’s eyes. For a split second, he wanted to retreat, but he was held firmly by the other man’s hands and could not move.

Pei Jichuan exhaled slowly, and his tight grip relaxed slightly, as if he were trying to suppress the thoughts rising within him. Gu Nian’s mind was a whirlwind; he saw no malice in those eyes, and the shadows of the past seemed a little less terrifying.

His days of cancer treatment had been dull and uninteresting; Gu Nian hadn’t felt this kind of excitement in years. He licked his lips, suddenly feeling a parched sensation in his throat. The emotion in his eyes seemed to embolden Pei Jichuan, and the string named “reason” snapped completely.

It was unclear who took the first step or whose lips touched whose first, but it wasn’t until his back hit the wall that Gu Nian reacted, looking up with a slightly dazed expression. Pei Jichuan’s eyes were like clouds parting to reveal a clear, bright light, and his strong arms circled Gu Nian firmly.

He slowly lowered his head until their foreheads touched. Then, that intense breath descended once again.

Pei Jichuan’s hand slid along the wall to precisely flick the light switch. The room plunged into darkness, leaving only the dim, reflected light from the computer on the desk. This sudden darkness nourished a seed of fear; Gu Nian couldn’t help but shudder, only to be enveloped immediately by a burning embrace.

It was safe. It was passionate.

At this moment, he remembered nothing and wished to think of nothing.

Let us fall together into this reckless ocean.

So cold… it’s so cold.

His vision flickered between light and dark. He could only lie prone on the ground; no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t control his own body.

Suddenly, “he” moved, seemingly using every ounce of strength to curl into a fetal position. Within his field of vision, a powerless, twisted right leg lay uselessly on the floor. “He” seemed to be trembling, his sight filled with the familiar plush carpet.

The surroundings were terrifyingly silent, but soon, a pair of black leather shoes walked slowly into view. “He” looked up tremblingly, eyes following the trouser legs upward until they settled on Pei Jichuan’s grim face.

In the next second, Pei Jichuan raised a baseball bat high in his hands and swung it down with a sudden force!

Gu Nian snapped his eyes open, looking around in a state of shock.

Pei Jichuan was sleeping soundly beside him. The house was quiet, save for the ticking of the clock. The pendulum of the floor clock in the corner showed it was only 3:00 AM.

Gu Nian calmed his heart and slowly sat up. He didn’t even know when they had returned to the bedroom last night; he had no memory of the latter half of the night at all. As the quilt slid down his body, he saw new marks added to the ones that hadn’t yet faded.

His lower abdomen felt uncomfortably sore and bloated, so Gu Nian raised a hand to gently rub it.

What a strange dream, he thought. Though it certainly fit his first impression of Pei Jichuan—looking like a man-eating demon.

Having been jolted awake by the nightmare, Gu Nian’s sleepiness had vanished completely. He turned his head to look at Pei Jichuan by the hazy moonlight. Asleep, this man looked somewhat softer, his thick eyelashes trembling slightly with his breath.

Gu Nian leaned over slightly. His faint breath hit the man’s face; that close-range sleeping face revealed a rare tranquility. The entire room was filled with a peaceful, serene atmosphere that felt exceptionally reassuring.

Gu Nian burrowed back into the bed. Sensing a familiar scent, Pei Jichuan raised an arm in his sleep and pulled Gu Nian back into his arms.

Outside the window, the moon was bright and the stars were few. The faint chirping of insects added a touch of nature to the air, which didn’t cease until the sun rose and the earth was bathed in sunlight.

Although he had “over-exercised” yesterday, Pei Jichuan’s biological clock still faithfully woke him up. Pei Jichuan kept his eyes closed and rubbed his face messily against Gu Nian’s slightly disheveled hair, only to be rewarded with the back of an irritable head.

Gu Nian was woken up by the movement. Annoyed, he rolled over. After falling back asleep last night, he had been haunted by similar nightmares again; it wasn’t until dawn that he could finally sleep soundly, only to be prodded awake by Pei Jichuan shortly after.

Gu Nian flipped over, wrapped the quilt tightly around himself, and wiggled twice toward the other side of the bed before lying still like a paralyzed person.

Having been robbed of all the covers, Pei Jichuan sat up helplessly. His lean, muscular upper body was exposed, his back covered in scratches—some even broken and bleeding—and there was a bite mark on the corner of his lip.

Pei Jichuan went to the dressing room to tidy himself up before returning to the bedside.

“I’m going to the company. Remember to get up for breakfast,” Pei Jichuan said, giving the tightly wrapped Gu Nian a helpless pat.

“Mmh.” After a long while, a muffled response finally came from under the quilt.

After Pei Jichuan left, Gu Nian tossed back the covers. He couldn’t sleep anymore, so he simply sat up. The phone had been brought back to the room by Pei Jichuan last night and was sitting safely on the nightstand.

Gu Nian rubbed his sore eyes, unlocked the phone, and sent a one-word reply to the person labeled Li Zichen: “Go.”

Butler Zhao was acting very strangely today. He repeatedly stole glances at Pei Jichuan, his expression a mix of conflict and hesitation. Finally, after the seventeenth glance, Pei Jichuan could no longer tolerate it and set down his knife and fork.

“If you have something to say, say it.”

Butler Zhao flinched. He raised a hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead and tremblingly pointed toward Pei Jichuan’s face.

“President Pei… your mouth…”

Butler Zhao swallowed nervously.

Pei Jichuan touched it nonchalantly, frowning slightly when he felt the wound. “It’s nothing. Just a bit of internal heat.”

Having said that, he took a sip of the coffee beside him, forcing himself to look composed. Hearing this, Butler Zhao didn’t dare say anything more.

Pei Jichuan had been resting well these past few days. The perpetual dark circles under his eyes had completely disappeared, and even his emotions had stabilized significantly.

As Butler Zhao stood at the entrance of the estate watching Pei Jichuan’s motorcade depart, his heart was practically weeping with joy.

“Finally! I’ve survived the worst of it!”