Chapter 4: You'll Pay for the Button
This was a kiss Sui Mi had never imagined she'd get from Xi Jianbai.
Every kiss since their marriage—whether a polite, fleeting brush of lips or a shallow tangle in the dark—had always been calm and gentle with him.
Never much force. His movements were careful, almost sluggish.
You could say it was the exact opposite of what Sui Mi liked.
But maybe because this was her dream—
Cold, pale fingertips nearly sank into her soft cheeks, pressing out stark marks.
The kiss landed hard and rough, grinding mercilessly against her soft lips.
In a single blink, Sui Mi could barely breathe.
The moment her breath slipped past her lips, it was hooked away and swallowed whole.
A fresh grape sweetness swirled through her mouth, cloying and thick.
A dizzy, oxygen-starved haze crept over her.
Her body went weak on instinct—then, sensing danger, wanted to flee.
She stumbled backward.
Just as her lower back was about to hit the hard edge of the table, a hot, broad palm circled her waist, the back of his hand and forearm taking the brunt of the impact.
And just like that, Sui Mi was completely wrapped in Xi Jianbai's arms.
Xi Jianbai was tall—close to six-three—with a naturally broad-shouldered, narrow-waisted frame. He worked out, too, his muscles lean and fluid.
Even from a distance, you could feel the coiled pressure radiating off him.
Let alone in a hold like this.
The arm around her waist kept tightening, forearm muscles drawn hard as iron, strong enough to lift her clean off her feet and do as he pleased—or to crush her into his very bones.
Greedy. Utterly possessive.
Sui Mi was forced to tilt her head back, breathing fast, fighting to pull a sliver of cool oxygen from the scorching heat pressed between them.
Her fingers, frozen mid-air, trembled. As the air thinned, her limbs gave out—she couldn't hold on anymore, and her arms flopped limply onto Xi Jianbai's shoulders.
"...Mm."
A muffled sound rolled from her throat.
Sui Mi could feel a small cut at the corner of her lip, stinging faintly.
Her fingers clenched instinctively, twisting tight into Xi Jianbai's collar.
Before she could cry out, those thin lips—now burning hot—shifted direction, like a vampire catching the scent of the most delicious prey, and kissed her wound.
A faint metallic taste of blood replaced the grape sweetness, seeping between her lips and teeth.
The wound was kissed again and again.
It hurt.
But... it also felt so good.
Her fingers, knotted in his collar, had gone stiff from gripping. The pale pink, rounded tips had lost all color, turned white—she didn't know whether she wanted to pull him closer or push him away.
A thin sheen of sweat broke out at her temples. Her half-lidded almond eyes gathered a misty sheen, a few crystalline tears catching on the tips of her lashes.
Until a long, long time had passed.
The wound had gone numb from pain, no sensation left at all.
Sui Mi blinked slowly. As Xi Jianbai lifted his head a little, she saw her own blurred reflection in his lowered, light-colored eyes.
Her cheeks were flushed bright red.
Like pink mist, spreading from her cheeks to the tips of her ears.
Her eye corners especially—wet, burning, vivid.
Her lips were naturally a rich, soft red like flower petals. Now the cut at the corner dragged out an even more striking shade of blood-red.
"..."
After a brief silence.
Xi Jianbai raised a hand and brushed his rough fingertips over her feverish lips.
His voice, usually so cool and clear, came out breathy—sticky, damp with satisfaction.
"Baby's so good."
"Why are you so good today? Didn't dodge me at all?"
As he spoke, he lazily curled a knuckle and swept the sweat-damp hair from her temple. A smile spread slowly through his light eyes.
Nothing like the Xi Jianbai she remembered.
A blend of tenderness and something cruel.
He looked at her for a few seconds, then his lips curved again.
Xi Jianbai bent down and pressed a soft, intimate kiss to the red marks his fingers had left on her cheek.
He seemed used to Sui Mi's silence. Between light kisses, he murmured hoarsely, as if to himself.
"Anything that makes Baby unhappy, I'll get rid of it."
"Husband will make sure of it."
"Does Baby like the building? Husband will earn that too. Give it all to Baby."
He paused, then thought of something else.
He tilted his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose gently against the tip of hers.
Too close—Sui Mi's eyes shut on reflex, lashes fluttering like a startled butterfly's wings.
A moment later, she felt a shadow fall over her eyelids.
Hot lips pressed against them, kissing away the fine tears still clinging to the corners of her eyes.
She heard him say—
"Baby, why did you add me on WeChat first?"
"Why didn't you message me after adding me?"
"Baby's a bad baby."
The last words trailed off, dropping low.
And then—the clear, wet sensation of teeth catching the soft flesh at the corner of her eye.
"A bad baby... should be eaten up by Husband, bite by bite."
-
Sui Mi shot upright in bed.
The movement was so sudden it stirred up a gust of air, parting the bed curtain just a crack.
Her roommate Yu Qingxian was just climbing out of bed in the faint morning light filtering through the balcony window. Hearing the commotion, she froze and looked over.
"Did I wake you?" she whispered.
Sophomore year was packed with classes, but Sui Mi's group had gotten lucky—no 8 a.m. lectures this semester.
The other two roommates were still fast asleep.
Yu Qingxian had a work-study shift at the library in the mornings, so she got up early every day.
She gave Sui Mi an apologetic look.
Sui Mi pulled the curtain open and waved her off, her voice a little flat. "No... I just had a dream."
Yu Qingxian tiptoed out to the balcony to wash up.
Sui Mi sat there for a moment, then flopped back onto the bed with a soft thump, pulling the blanket up over half her face.
Her lashes trembled. She didn't even dare close her eyes.
The second she did, she'd start replaying the dream all over again.
That scorching body heat.
That burning breath.
That dominant posture.
Those sticky, honeyed names.
...Help.
Sui Mi yanked the blanket higher, trying to smother the blush spreading across her face.
Help, help, help.
Was it because she'd seen Xi Jianbai yesterday?
It wasn't like she'd never had hazy dreams like this before—but those had been stream-of-consciousness, just a vague sense of something nice.
This one was way too clear. Way too real.
When she'd gone limp in Xi Jianbai's arms, she could even feel the thick veins bulging along his forearm through the thin fabric at her lower back.
Usually, even if you remembered a dream right after waking, it faded once you were fully conscious.
But Sui Mi held her breath and found every detail of the dream razor-sharp in her mind.
Had her pent-up desires just... materialized in a dream?
And why was the other party Xi Jianbai?!
And a completely different Xi Jianbai, at that.
Not a shred of restraint or self-control.
Domineering. Aggressive.
Every kiss devastatingly, shamelessly hungry.
Sui Mi stared blankly at the ceiling, then couldn't help reaching up to touch the corner of her lip.
Smooth and soft. No wound at all.
...Sure enough. Just a dream.