Chapter 36: Troublesome

If I was being honest, I was a bit disappointed that nobody attacked us. I wanted to test my blade more. But the peace was also good so I didn’t linger much on those thoughts.

"Alright, let’s head up," I said, setting down my empty cup. I caught her small, warm hand and led her away from the boisterous lower hall, up the creaking wooden stairs to the second floor.

Pushing open the heavy door to the Pine Pavilion suite, the warm scent of burning cedar charcoal from the hearth immediately wrapped around us, shutting out the howling tempest outside.

Qingxue stepped inside, slipping off her traveling boots by the entrance. As she turned around, her gaze landed on the massive, silk-draped bed dominating the center of the room.

Her shoulders tightened by a noticeable fraction. She stood by the corner of the hearth, fidgeting with the embroidered cuffs of her lavender robe, her long eyelashes fluttering anxiously as her gaze darted between the mattress and the wooden floorboards.

Seeing her nervous, deer-in-the-headlights expression, I couldn’t help but let out a soft, amused chuckle.

"Qingxue," I said, leaning casually against the bedside table. "Relax. We aren’t going to have sex tonight if that’s not what you want."

Her breath hitched with a sharp, audible gasp. Her pale cheeks instantly detonated into a furious, brilliant crimson that rushed down her slender neck.

"N-No! It’s not like that!" she stammered in a flustered panic, waving her hands frantically in front of her chest. "Husband, please don’t misunderstand! It’s not that I reject you... I-I pledged my life and soul to you! You saved me from the dirt, gave me medicine, and gave me a home! If you desire my body, it is naturally yours to take—"

Flick. I closed the distance and tapped her forehead with a sharp, playful flick of my finger, cutting off her panicked stammering.

"You foolish girl," I sighed, shaking my head with a wry smile. "Didn’t I tell you back on the peak that you never have to force yourself around me? If you do it out of a sense of repayment or duty, where’s the fun in that? Whenever you feel genuinely comfortable and ready, we can take that step. Not a second before."

Qingxue rubbed her tingling forehead, her dark obsidian eyes wavering with a complex mixture of embarrassment, relief, and deep affection. She slowly lowered her head, staring at the floorboards, her fingers twisting tightly into her sash.

"I... I truly want to be close to you, husband," she confessed in a voice barely louder than a whisper, the blush on her porcelain skin burning hotter than the charcoal in the brazier. "My heart is already yours. But... everything happened so fast, and my mind still carries the blood of my family. I... I don’t feel ready to give myself away completely just yet."

I rolled my eyes, letting out a dramatic groan. "Everyone is so rigid. Who told you that shedding your robes and rolling in the sheets is the only way to be intimate?"

Before she could process my words, I reached out, wrapped an arm around her slender, yielding waist, and pulled her straight toward me.

Fwump.

Her light frame tumbled with mine onto the plush, feather-stuffed bed. The thick silk quilts swallowed us, and before she could scramble away in surprise, I pulled her firmly against my chest, wrapping my arms securely around her back and resting my chin comfortably against the top of her dark hair.

"There." I smiled, tucking the heavy quilt over both our shoulders. "Cuddling is just as intimate a way to express closeness. We can sleep like this."

Shen Qingxue froze entirely in my embrace. Her heart was hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird, and for a few seconds, her body was as stiff as uncarved jade.

Slowly, the soothing warmth of my chest and the tranquil beating of my heart sank into her senses. Her tense muscles melted like spring snow. With a soft, contented sigh, she buried her face into the crook of my neck, her small, slender arms reaching up to wrap loosely around my waist.

"Husband..." she murmured, her voice muffled against my robes, carrying a sweet, lingering vulnerability. "You are so considerate of my feelings. Ever since my father died, nobody has ever cared about what I felt. I... I missed this warmth."

"Go to sleep, little wildcat," I murmured softly, running a hand gently down her back.

Resting with her soft, fragrant body pressed firmly against mine, I stared up at the wooden rafters with a quiet, rueful smile.

Naturally, it wasn’t as if I lacked desire. I was a healthy, red-blooded thirty-eight-year-old cultivator who loved gorgeous women more than life itself.

Qingxue was strikingly beautiful, with firm, sculpted curves, soft jade-like skin, and an intoxicating presence that could tempt an ancient Buddhist abbot into breaking his vows. Feeling her warm chest rising and falling against my ribs and the supple curve of her hip resting against my thigh made my lower abdomen burn with unmistakable fire.

Still, a man who broke his own word to take advantage of a vulnerable girl wasn’t a man, he was just a beast. I had eternity ahead of me, waiting a few weeks until she threw herself into my arms willingly was a tiny price to pay.

Closing my eyes, I let the tranquil sound of the rain lull us into a peaceful slumber. By midnight, he storm outside had subsided into a steady, dreary drizzle.

I was pulled from my light sleep not by a sound, but by foreign fluctuation of physical presence rippling through the cold night air outside our room.

I didn’t open my eyes, nor did I shift my posture, keeping my arm draped steadily over Qingxue’s sleeping form.

A rat on the roof. I wasn’t surprised in the slightest. In mortal border towns, traveling merchants and martial artists who flaunted fine silver and kept quiet rooms were prime targets for local cutthroats. If the cowards didn’t have the guts to challenge someone in broad daylight, sneaking through the rafters with poisoned daggers was standard procedure.