Don't You like Little Dogs? Now that I'm Taking Liberties, You're Suddenly Reluctant? - Chapter 26

The atmosphere in the car on the way back was suffocatingly oppressive.

Pei Ye drove with a pale face, his lips pressed firmly together. The wound on his arm and the sprain in his ankle throbbed with persistent pain, but what hurt more was the silent, burning brand over his heart.

Jiang Si sat in the back seat with his eyes closed, resting. It was as if the bloody conflict that had just occurred was merely a negligible interlude.

The car pulled into the apartment garage. After parking steadily, Pei Ye endured the pain in his foot and quickly got out to open the door for Jiang Si.

As Jiang Si stepped out, he glanced at Pei Ye and suddenly said, “Go up.”

Back in the penthouse, the cold air enveloped them once again. Out of habit, Pei Ye reached out to hang up Jiang Si’s coat, but Jiang Si stopped him.

“Sit down,” Jiang Si commanded, gesturing toward the sofa in the living room.

Pei Ye froze for a moment before complying. He had no idea what Jiang Si intended to do.

Jiang Si turned and went to the bedroom, returning with a medical kit. He walked over to Pei Ye, opened the box, and took out disinfectant and gauze.

“Hand,” Jiang Si said, his tone brook no argument.

Pei Ye hesitantly extended his injured arm. Jiang Si knelt down and began to treat the graze left by the bullet.

His movements remained practiced and calm. As the alcohol stung the wound with sharp pain, Pei Ye clenched his teeth, refusing to make a sound.

Jiang Si kept his eyes lowered and remained silent, but his inner thoughts were a turbulent sea.

His puppy… was truly seriously injured.

Does it hurt? It must hurt a lot.

Even though it’s that painful, he didn’t say a word the whole way… is he waiting for me to speak first?

Can’t his puppy be more proactive? Why won’t he show his fragile side, act spoiled, and beg to be looked after?

…Why won’t he do that?

Due to their positioning, the two were very close. Pei Ye could smell the faint scent of cedar and tobacco on Jiang Si, mixed with the very slight metallic tang of blood.

At such proximity, he could even see the fine detail of Jiang Si’s lowered eyelashes and the hard line of his lips.

This sudden, close contact caused Pei Ye’s heart to race uncontrollably, a mix of pain, trepidation, and a sliver of humble longing.

Master… is so close.

After finishing with the arm, Jiang Si did not stop. His gaze fell upon Pei Ye’s ankle.

“What happened to your foot?”

“…I twisted it. It’s nothing.” Pei Ye instinctively tried to pull his foot back.

However, Jiang Si reached out and directly gripped his ankle.

Pei Ye shuddered violently, his entire body stiffening instantly.

“Don’t move.”

Jiang Si’s palm was warm and powerful. Even through the fabric of his trousers, Pei Ye could feel that irresistible strength. The other man carefully examined the swelling.

“It’s not broken. It needs a cold compress and stabilization,” Jiang Si diagnosed. He stood up to get an ice pack and an elastic bandage.

Pei Ye sat frozen on the sofa. The skin on his ankle where Jiang Si had touched it felt terrifyingly hot; the sensation scorched along his nerves, heading straight for his heart.

As he watched Jiang Si busy himself, an utterly absurd feeling arose within him.

Master… is treating my wounds.

Why?

Is it because I am still useful? Is it because this blade cannot be allowed to break just yet?

But… why was Master so cold to me before…?

Does Master… hate me? Does he think I’m useless? That I get hurt too easily?

…No.

Jiang Si returned with the supplies and knelt down again. He removed Pei Ye’s shoe and sock, applied the ice pack to the swollen ankle, and then carefully wrapped it with the elastic bandage.

His movements were professional and focused, as if he were maintaining a piece of equipment that required meticulous care.

Throughout the process, Pei Ye held his breath, his body as stiff as a stone. He could feel the occasional warmth of Jiang Si’s fingertips brushing against his skin; every touch was like a spark landing in a fuel depot.

Finally, Jiang Si finished and stood up. He looked down at Pei Ye, his gaze falling once more on the left side of the younger man’s chest, which Pei Ye was clutching tightly, even though it was currently hidden behind layers of clothing.

“It seems the ‘Night Raven’ isn’t omnipotent after all.” Jiang Si’s voice was calm, devoid of any discernible emotion. “He can get hurt, and he can… lose control.”

He articulated those last two words with pointed clarity.

Pei Ye’s face turned even paler.

He understood Jiang Si’s implication. It wasn’t just about his physical injuries, but his loss of control that night in the alleyway, and… the tattoo over his heart that represented the very source of that instability.

“I…” He opened his mouth to say something, but found his voice was terribly hoarse.

Jiang Si gave him no chance to speak. He leaned down, bracing both hands on the back of the sofa on either side of Pei Ye, trapping him between himself and the cushions.

The gesture was intensely overbearing and extremely… ambiguous.

Pei Ye was forced to tilt his head back, his eyes colliding with Jiang Si’s bottomless black orbs.

At this distance, he could almost see his own panicked reflection in the other man’s pupils.

Jiang Si’s aura completely enveloped him—cedar, tobacco, whiskey, and a faint, icy scent of power.

“Pei Ye,” Jiang Si’s voice dropped lower, carrying a lethal magnetism. “Tell me, what were you thinking when you tattooed my name on yourself?”

“…” Pei Ye’s breathing fractured completely; his mind went blank.

He could feel Jiang Si’s breath brushing against his cheek—warm, yet carrying a shiver-inducing chill.

“Was it to prove your loyalty? Or…” Jiang Si’s fingertip, through the fabric of the shirt, tapped lightly against the left side of Pei Ye’s chest, right over the tattoo. “…Were you thinking of something more shameful?”

The sensation of the fingertip, though light, felt like a red-hot branding iron. Pei Ye flinched so hard he nearly bolted, but he was trapped by Jiang Si’s arms and the sofa, with nowhere to run.

Immense shame, fear, and the horror of being completely seen through overwhelmed him. His long-suppressed emotions, the mental torment of the past few days, and his physical pain reached a breaking point.

“Master…” His voice was broken, filled with desperate pleading, yet underlying it was a hint of twisted longing he hadn’t even realized himself.

Jiang Si’s gaze remained cold and sharp, as if he intended to dissect him from the inside out.

“Answer me.”

Those two words were the final straw.

The last string of sanity in Pei Ye’s eyes snapped.

He jerked his head up, his eyes filled with a reckless madness and despair. His hand, which had been hanging at his side, suddenly flew up—not to attack, but to grip the lapels of Jiang Si’s trench coat with a trembling, almost predatory force.

An act of insubordination!

Jiang Si’s pupils contracted imperceptibly, seemingly surprised by this sudden outburst, but he did not pull away. He simply watched Pei Ye with that cold, scrutinizing gaze.

“What was I thinking?!”

Pei Ye’s voice was so raspy it was nearly distorted. His long-repressed emotions surged out like a flood through a broken dam. “I was thinking about you! It has always been you! From the day you picked me up! I just… I just wanted to be useful! I wanted to stay by your side! I wanted—”

His words choked off, his face twisted by immense agony and love. His fingers gripped Jiang Si’s lapels so hard his knuckles turned white, and he trembled violently.

“I wanted to be your possession! Entirely! But…” He slammed his forehead against Jiang Si’s chest, like a drowning man grabbing a final piece of driftwood, his voice becoming muffled and desperate. “…But why… why are you always so far away…”

His final words dissolved into suppressed sobs and heavy, ragged breaths.

He had committed the ultimate transgression and voiced his most shameful thoughts. He waited for the final judgment—to be pushed away, to be loathed, or even to be destroyed.

Time seemed to stand still.

Jiang Si neither spoke nor moved. He could feel the burning heat of Pei Ye’s forehead against his chest and the uncontrollable shaking of the younger man’s body.

After a long silence, Jiang Si slowly raised his hand.

Pei Ye closed his eyes in despair, waiting for that hand to shove him away or deliver a harsher punishment.

Instead, the hand landed on his black hair.

The movement wasn’t exactly gentle; it was a slow, calculating stroke, as if inspecting him.

Then, Jiang Si’s deep voice echoed above him, unreadable in its emotion, yet possessing a terrifyingly calm power:

“So, this is the method you chose? Pei Ye.”