Chapter 120

She hurried away, then hurried back, squatting down and lifting the older girl’s feet, helping her put on her slippers. Then she stood up and supported her arm, allowing her to lean against her for strength.

The bathroom was only a few steps away—just around the corner after exiting the room.

Xie Shiqing silently memorized the distance and the number of steps needed. Led by Zhong Ning, she familiarized herself with the interior layout and arrangement, sketching a three-dimensional image in her mind so she'd have it clear.

She washed her face using Zhong Ning’s facial cleanser, brushed her teeth with Zhong Ning’s toothpaste. The scent of shower gel still lingered in the bathroom air. She took a deep breath inconspicuously.

Xie Shiqing shivered slightly.

Zhong Ning was right next to her, closely watching. Seeing this, she supported her waist. “Does your leg hurt?”

She embraced her from behind, her voice filled with concern. Xie Shiqing shook her head with the toothbrush still in her mouth. Zhong Ning thought for a moment, but didn’t withdraw her hand.

She knew that Xie Shiqing would sometimes deliberately hide her discomfort.

But what she didn’t know was that this time, Xie Shiqing truly wasn’t lying. Her leg didn’t hurt—it was her heart pounding too fast, painfully thudding against her chest.

Because she was excited.

After a simple wash-up, Zhong Ning took her back to the room first, then returned to the bathroom herself for a quick, battle-speed shower.

Xie Shiqing lay alone on the bed, wrapped in a thin blanket, burying her face in it to breathe in deeply.

The blanket was full of Zhong Ning’s scent—a light, clean grapefruit blossom fragrance. How long had it been? How long had it been since she last lay on the same bed with Zhong Ning? Xie Shiqing didn’t want to count. Every day without Zhong Ning felt as long as a lifetime.

It wasn’t in vain that she had forced herself to eat so many river shrimp.

She had nearly retched while eating them.

To hurt herself in order to achieve her goal, Xie Shiqing wouldn’t even blink. This body, plagued by illness for years, had already raised her pain threshold significantly and fostered in her a complete disregard for physical suffering.

She wouldn’t die anyway, so might as well torment it however she pleased.

She lacked affection for herself and had long regarded her body as merely a broken tool.

Xie Shiqing buried her face in the blanket and took several deep breaths, like a cat finally getting its paws on catnip. Her eyes narrowed in satisfaction. While the main occupant wasn’t back yet, she reached out and shook the blanket a few times to erase the evidence from earlier.

Zhong Ning returned with the scent of water still clinging to her, then turned off the bedroom lights.

There were two pillows on the bed, but only one blanket. She didn’t mind this at all—lifted the blanket and climbed in, resting her hand gently on Xie Shiqing’s stomach and softly rubbing.

Before long, she had fallen asleep without even realizing it.

Xie Shiqing kept her eyes open. In the darkness, her irises were even darker than the night itself, and her breathing grew increasingly heated.

Her thick lashes drooped low. She opened her mouth and exhaled a stream of warm air, feeling her body temperature steadily and rapidly rise.

Her heat period had arrived—what a coincidence.

Judging by the timing, it was supposed to be around these few days anyway. Xie Shiqing had long been restless. Her body urged her to find her alpha, to find her marked mate.

She couldn’t suppress her craving for Zhong Ning’s pheromones—and didn’t intend to.

Now that her alpha was lying right beside her, her body instinctively entered a state of longing.

The rich scent of absinthe began to spread. Xie Shiqing listened to the gradually deepening sound of the person’s breathing next to her and turned her body slightly, inching closer bit by bit.

In the dark, the blind see best.

Guided precisely by the warmth of her breath, she found the lips she had been yearning for, then extended the tip of her tongue and slowly, cautiously slid it in.

The night was the best cover. She silently thanked her damaged eyes—they allowed her to move freely in the dark, as if she had returned to her domain, completely in control, no longer needing to worry about clumsily waking the other person.

The scent of absinthe rose and fell with her breathing, like ocean tides lapping against the shore, wave after wave spreading out. The invisible, colorless scent seeped into the air, merging with it, enveloping the two of them.

Xie Shiqing was captivated as she sucked on Zhong Ning’s lips, using the tip of her tongue to trace the outline of the lip line, sucking the soft, pliant flesh, gently enclosing the tender lip bead. She didn’t dare to use force, carefully controlling every movement, licking over and over again, her tongue lightly brushing.

The rising temperature of her body made the air feel hot to the touch. The concentration of pheromones in the room had already exceeded safe levels. Zhong Ning furrowed her brows in her sleep, seemingly uncomfortable with the heat. Her mouth opened slightly.

In the next moment, an uninvited guest barged through the door of her home.

The instant their moist tongues met, Xie Shiqing nearly trembled from the sensation. She never imagined she would see herself like this—like a lust-driven woman, doing unspeakable things in secret while her alpha was asleep.

Her breath was scalding, as if she had swallowed molten lava. The burning liquid stone melted her bones, scorched her veins, turning her whole body into a molten mass, limp and boneless.

Zhong Ning seemed uncomfortable; her head shifted slightly and her lips closed.

Xie Shiqing’s tongue was caught between them, and that single soft squeeze sent a ripple through her entire being, making even the root of her tongue itch. Fear of waking the younger girl gripped her heart—her whole body tensed as if a rope had been tied to her ankle and thrown off a cliff, and the rapid sensation of freefall made cold sweat break out down her back.

Thankfully, she didn’t wake.

Xie Shiqing cautiously inched closer again, one hand slowly lifting the blanket and lightly resting it on the back of Zhong Ning’s hand.

After waiting for a moment, she lifted that hand and placed it between her legs.

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Xie Shiqing had already gone soft, thoroughly ripe, like a sweet, fragrant fruit dripping with juice, slick as if just pulled from syrup. Her abundant pheromones poured out in a flood, overflowing as they invaded Zhong Ning’s nose and mouth.

The latter was still asleep, but her body had already been awakened.

Xie Shiqing held her fingertips, using the pads of her fingers to guide the joints, leading her, directing her, like teaching a complete novice who knew nothing at all.

Her heartbeat thundered like drums. In her ears echoed wave after wave of rumbling, every tiny sound amplified countless times—the rustling of fabric, hair brushing against the pillow, the pounding of her own heart—all of it distorted, amplified, roaring as it crashed through her mind.

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