Chapter 5
His back was very broad, blocking most of the faint light that might come in from the window.
The air was full of his scent, sandalwood mixed with a more primitive, masculine smell.
For the first time in eight hundred years, we were lying on the same bed, not trying to kill each other.
This feeling... was too strange.
I stared at the back of his head for a long time. Then, as if possessed, I asked softly, "Fa Hai, you... do you like me a little?"
As soon as I asked, I regretted it. I wanted to bite my own tongue off.
The person in front of me paused in his breathing.
The entire meditation room seemed to freeze.
After a long time, so long that I thought he had fallen asleep or simply didn't want to answer, a very low, very deep sigh sounded.
"Sleep."
His voice was extremely hoarse.
My chest tightened.
Sleep? How could I sleep?
Lying next to the enemy who had just devoured me completely, his breathing audible in the dark.
This meditation bed was so hard it dug into my bones. Even turning over made it creak, and I was afraid of disturbing the motionless Buddha beside me.
No. A mad Buddha.
I kept my body stiff, trying to shrink to the very edge of the bed to keep distance from him.
But he took up too much space. His presence was everywhere. Even the occasional brush of his plain monk's robe against my skin sent shivers through me.
The dull ache between my legs still reminded me of the absurdity at the old site of Leifeng Pagoda.
Fierce. Brutal. As if he wanted to nail me to that broken stone tablet.
That force, that look in his eyes, had nothing to do with "salvation." It was pure, naked possession.
And now he was pretending to be calm!
I held my breath and counted my own heartbeats.
I counted almost to a thousand, but the person beside me continued breathing steadily.
Had he really fallen asleep? With nerves that steady?
I quietly turned my head a little, using the faint light leaking through the window crack to look at him. I could only see a blurry outline, broad shoulders and hard lines.
After staring for a while, my eyes grew tired. Sleepiness finally crept in.
Just as my consciousness was about to fade, a weight suddenly settled on my waist.
A strong arm slid over and pulled me back without warning.
I woke up instantly. My back hit his solid chest.
"You...!" My scalp went numb. I was about to struggle.
"Don't move." His voice sounded right against my ear, even hoarser than before. Hot breath sprayed on my sensitive neck. "Sleep."
Sleep my ass! How am I supposed to sleep like this!
That heavy arm pressed down on my waist. Even through the thin clothing, the heat was shocking.
He held me completely in his arms. The position was dominant and... disturbingly intimate.
My whole body tensed. I didn't dare move at all.
"Fa Hai... Master..." I tried to reason with him. "This... isn't comfortable for sleeping..."
He didn't reply. Instead, he tightened his arm, pressing me even closer. A certain very obvious part of him, even through the clothes, pressed against the base of my spine.
I froze into a stone.
"You..." My voice cracked from fear.
"I said, sleep." He gave the order in a muffled voice. His chin rested on the top of my head and rubbed slightly. "If you keep making noise, you won't get to sleep at all."
A naked threat.
I bit my lip hard, swallowing every protest and curse back into my stomach.
A wise snake knows when to submit. Don't suffer immediate losses.
Forced to stick to him, I felt the vibration of his chest and the rise and fall of his breathing.
Every inch of my skin was tense, alert to any possible movement.
But he really seemed... to only want to hold me.
His breathing gradually became even again.
His strong heartbeat pounded against my back, mixing chaotically with my own.
Fuck.
What the hell was this?
In the end, sleepiness won over fear and absurdity. My eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Stiff-necked in his arms, I fell into a dazed sleep.