Savage Kiss - Chapter 32

Shen Yanzhou finally realized he should look away.

He withdrew his hand from the doorknob and even took a slight step back, turning his face toward the dark sea outside.

His Adam’s apple bobbed subtly at the same time, his voice carrying a faint cough. “I called you earlier, you probably didn’t hear me.”

Xu Qingyi turned her back to him, her face twisting in embarrassment where he couldn’t see, before quickly composing herself back into a “no big deal” expression.

She was straightening the bedding.

Shen Yanzhou remained turned away. “I’ll go to the tea room.”

Xu Qingyi wanted to say he should’ve gone there ages ago. Standing around like that had ruined her chance to try again, her inspiration had completely evaporated.

After tidying the bed, she went to the bathroom and stared at her flushed face in the mirror, reluctant to leave for a while.

She wasn’t sure why Shen Yanzhou had come looking for her. When she entered the tea room, he was sitting in a leather chair by the window, gazing outside.

“You needed something?” She poured herself a glass of water.

Shen Yanzhou kept his eyes from lingering on her, his posture relaxed. “Couldn’t reach you by phone, so I came to check.”

Oh. Xu Qingyi had muted her phone earlier to enjoy some quiet time, it was a habit of hers.

Shen Yanzhou continued, “Wasn’t sure if you’d be taking orders at noon. There’s a client who needs a car delivered tomorrow. Couldn’t get through, so I came to ask.”

In this kind of weather, when the cold made people reluctant to go out, delivering cars was practically the best side gig. She definitely wouldn’t refuse.

“Will you text me the details?” she asked.

Without WeChat, coordinating side jobs was admittedly inconvenient, but she couldn’t bring herself to re-add him. If he suggested it, she’d take the opportunity.

Shen Yanzhou didn’t mention it. Instead, he pulled out a notebook. “Everything’s here. Take a look. If any are undoable, I’ll assign them to someone else.”

Xu Qingyi skimmed through and saw it was a handwritten list.

The car owners’ surnames, contact numbers, and delivery addresses were all meticulously noted. But some models were beyond her, she didn’t have the right license for them.

Shen Yanzhou uncapped a fountain pen and circled the ones she couldn’t handle.

“This one’s also a no.” She pointed.

That address was a place she’d worked before. She didn’t want to run into old colleagues.

Shen Yanzhou frowned. “It meets all the requirements. Why not?”

Xu Qingyi just smiled faintly, offering no explanation.

Shen Yanzhou studied her for a moment but didn’t press further, marking it anyway.

At that point, Xu Qingyi was still standing, watching as he carefully jotted down additional notes beside the six deliveries she could handle.

At first, she admired his elegant handwriting. Gradually, her gaze drifted unintentionally to his fingers.

She’d known for a long time that Shen Yanzhou’s hands were attractive. Xu Qingyi’s own hands were nice too, so she had a thing for hands but men’s hands were different from women’s, and she preferred the former.

The faintly visible veins, the clean skin, the beautifully defined knuckles, they were most captivating when slightly tensed.

Somehow, as she stared, her mind conjured up an inappropriate scene.

Imagining his hands on her…

The image vaguely overlapped with the first time he’d come to fix her appliance malfunction. Her reaction and inspiration stirred simultaneously.

She didn’t notice when Shen Yanzhou stopped writing and glanced up at her.

They’d been intimate more than once. There were things they could read in each other’s eyes now.

Xu Qingyi admitted that her mind was wandering at the moment, and she couldn’t rein it in. She wanted to be utterly consumed, to drown in it, and then frantically seek a cure.

Shen Yanzhou first took her hand, his fingertips slightly rough as they brushed over the back of her hand.

When she didn’t resist, he lifted his hand, his broad palm cradling her cheek, and pulled her down as he raised his head to kiss her.

His thin lips pressed against the corner of her mouth: restrained, tentative.

Only then did he fully capture her lips, the kiss deepening, growing heavier, unable to hold back.

By the time Xu Qingyi was yanked onto his lap, her mind had a fleeting moment of clarity, but her breath was already hopelessly ragged.

Shen Yanzhou pressed his nose heavily against hers. “Do you want it?”

There was a hint of frustration in his voice, clearly, he was afraid she’d do what she had yesterday morning, leaving him abruptly the moment things got heated.

For a man, that was truly unbearable.

Xu Qingyi’s voice was hazy as she remembered the cast on his left hand. “Your hand… can you manage?”

“It’s enough,” he rasped, certain.

Then Xu Qingyi murmured something indistinct, granting permission.

Shen Yanzhou’s breathing instantly became chaotic, the previously restrained kiss descending into wild abandon.

“Shen Yanzhou…” Xu Qingyi called his name softly.

She thought he might not hear, but Shen Yanzhou slowed the kiss at just the right moment. “Hmm?”

She reached for his hand. “Can we…”

Shen Yanzhou held her on his lap, lowering his gaze to study her for a moment before silently acquiescing and acting on it.

…

It had to be said, her luck really did seem to improve after quitting her job.

Whether it was stumbling upon Mi Lian, finding a great apartment and landlord by the seaside, or meeting Shen Yanzhou. Though it hadn’t been long, the two of them were remarkably compatible in this regard.

Every time, he could bring her to the edge… and not just once.

Shen Yanzhou held her in the chair for a while, savoring the moment.

Then he asked, “Were you scared?”

Xu Qingyi lazily kept her eyes closed. “Hmm?”

He clarified, “The break-in.”

Oh. Xu Qingyi shook her head, answering honestly in this moment: “I was at the time, but seeing you made it better.”

It was the truth. Even though they hadn’t been on good terms back then, just the sight of him had calmed her.

When Shen Yanzhou had seen her, her face had been deathly pale, her hands trembling.

But he hadn’t gone to embrace her. “I was afraid you’d accuse me of harassing you and slap me again.”

She: “……”

Xu Qingyi sincerely thanked him, then apologized. “I’m actually very patient with everyone else. I’ve just been particularly harsh with you.”

Once they’d both settled, Shen Yanzhou lifted her off his lap and set her aside, picking up the notebook and pen that had fallen to the floor.

Neither of them addressed what tonight had meant. Shen Yanzhou very naturally tore out the two pages she needed to deliver the car tomorrow and handed them to her.

“If there’s a problem, call me.”

Xu Qingyi curled up in the leather chair and nodded.

A faint breeze drifted in from outside, and she froze.

Oh no.

“You didn’t close the window earlier?”

The yacht was docked right by the shore. If there had been tourists nearby, and she’d been so loud earlier… had they heard everything?

Shen Yanzhou didn’t seem bothered. “It was already like that when I got here.”

“The lounge wasn’t closed either, but before I pushed the door open, I didn’t hear you-”

“Stop talking,” Xu Qingyi flushed, realizing she shouldn’t have asked.

After Shen Yanzhou left, Xu Qingyi stayed in the tearoom, where inspiration struck and she smoothly completed an upgrade to one of her works.

As a result, she woke up early the next day to work her part-time job delivering cars, and her mood remained excellent throughout the day, she didn’t feel tired at all.

She made several trips to the repair shop but didn’t run into Shen Yanzhou, likely because he was avoiding any awkwardness.

Around six in the evening, she finished her shift. Liang Fanglin logged her hours and paid her directly at the front desk.

She added Liang Fanglin on WeChat.

Liang Fanglin joked with her, “Miss Xu, ever since you started working here, business seems to have picked up. You should come more often!”

Xu Qingyi smiled. She had earned quite a bit today. “I’ll treat you to a meal sometime.”

After she left the shop, Shen Yanzhou emerged from the back. Liang Fanglin turned to look at him. “Bro Yanzhou, why didn’t you pay her yourself?”

Shen Yanzhou shot him a glare. “If your mouth has nothing better to do, I can sew it shut for you.”

Liang Fanglin thought to himself: The boss seems to be having some hormonal issues lately, kinda scary!