Chapter 577 - 239: Li Zhi: I’m Not Ready Yet

Chapter 577: Chapter 239: Li Zhi: I’m Not Ready Yet

Shen Yuan’s scorching gaze was locked tightly on the figure beneath him, taking in her subtle trembling and nearly-broken whimpers.

The instinct that had just seized him—a torrent of impulse and fierce possessiveness—now softened ever so slightly in the face of her panicked gaze.

The young man’s scalding breath swept across Li Zhi’s flushed cheeks, carrying a low, almost coaxing huskiness that grated against her fragile nerves.

"Li Zhi..."

Shen Yuan’s Adam’s apple bobbed heavily. He shifted the arm braced beside Li Zhi’s ear, propping himself up to take some of his weight off her and allowing her a small gasp of air.

But his deep-set eyes never strayed, remaining locked on hers, the light within them flickering ardently.

He slowly leaned down, his warm lips nearly grazing Li Zhi’s sensitive earlobe. He lowered his voice even further, a note of undeniable insistence carried clearly into her ear.

"Zhizhi..."

"How about... just one kiss?"

The phrase, "just one kiss," was like a magic fuse, igniting an even more searing heat in the nearly frozen space between them.

Shen Yuan’s voice was laced with a plea for confirmation, as if that single, light kiss was the only promise he both wanted and was able to make in that moment.

His warm breath was a featherlight touch against the fine hairs of her ear, eliciting a faint tremor.

The young man’s posture was one of carefully restrained aggression.

He was already so close that their breaths mingled, yet he forcefully suppressed the impulse to advance any further.

With this request—as light as a feather, yet as heavy as a mountain—he hovered at the very edge of the boundary her panic had drawn, stubbornly waiting for permission. Or perhaps for a fuse to reignite the flames.

Li Zhi raised her eyes and met Shen Yuan’s gaze head-on.

His powerful body, hovering inches above her, was an oppressive, searing weight, and yet his plea for "just one kiss" held a hint of caution.

The young woman’s long lashes fluttered frantically. Her gaze darted away for a moment before finally landing on the tense line of his lips.

The sound of her heartbeat was deafening, as if it were about to burst from her chest.

All her previous shame, indignation, and struggles seemed to be washed away by an invisible tide, drowned out by his almost beseeching whisper.

Li Zhi swallowed hard. Her last bit of defiance, like a popped soap bubble, vanished without a trace.

"Th-then... just one kiss..." the young woman murmured, closing her eyes.

Her voice was a faint, breathy whisper, the final syllable swallowed by the young man’s heavy, searing breath as he pressed down.

Shen Yuan’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He released his tight grip on her slender wrist.

His warm palm slid up Li Zhi’s tense forearm. He laced his fingers through the cool spaces between hers, pressing the back of her slightly sweaty hand into the plush folds of the blanket.

The movement was so startlingly gentle that Li Zhi’s eyes fluttered open a fraction, just in time to meet his descending lips.

It wasn’t a sudden invasion, but a familiar sort of claiming.

The young man’s breath carried a clean, crisp scent as it completely covered her lips, which were parted slightly in nervousness.

A small whimper escaped Li Zhi, but it was caught and swallowed by his kiss.

Her fingers instinctively curled, only for Shen Yuan to grip them even tighter.

The low hum of the air conditioner suddenly faded, all sound collapsing into the meeting of their lips and the thundering roar of their hearts, which grew ever louder where their knuckles were pressed together.

It wasn’t until a cat suddenly meowed that Li Zhi jerked her leg, her teeth unintentionally grazing Shen Yuan’s lower lip.

A muffled grunt escaped the young man’s throat, and he deepened the kiss as if in punishment.

But he never once loosened his tightly clasped fingers.

Just then, while the hand gripping hers remained motionless, his free hand, both intimate and exploratory, came to rest on the hem of her cashmere sweater, which had ridden up slightly from her struggling.

The warmth of his hand instantly settled onto the small patch of delicate, exposed skin at her waist.

The touch of his calloused fingertips was scalding, startling Li Zhi into a sharp shudder beneath him. Her abdomen instantly tensed like a bowstring.

The young woman’s muffled whimpers abruptly changed pitch, turning into a short, sharp grunt of genuine alarm.

Her shoulders instinctively arched back as she tried to shy away from the overly direct contact. The fingers he held captive squeezed tight, her knuckles turning white from the force.

The hand on her waist brought a strange stimulus that far surpassed the friction of their lips. A wave of uneasy shame instantly washed away her momentary daze.

"Ngh!"

A broken protest struggled to escape her sealed lips. Li Zhi’s free hand, braced against his chest, lifted and fell in a futile gesture.

Her wrist trembled, finally coming to rest limply on his taut arm. It was a gesture caught somewhere between a push and a plea for support, but she ultimately couldn’t muster the strength to shove his scalding hand away.

The palm on her slender waist, as if drawn by some silent gravity, began to creep upward with an air of undeniable intimacy and exploration.

The knuckles of his long fingers grazed the dip of her waist beneath the delicate skin, then slowly stroked the tense, arched line of her back.

The soft cashmere bunched into winding folds beneath his palm as the warm, calloused pads of his fingers finally came to rest fully against the even more sensitive skin of her spine, between her shoulder blades.

This new territory, now claimed by his touch, drew an even more fragmented whimper from Li Zhi.

"Ngh..."

It was a short, nearly-broken whimper, and Shen Yuan smothered it.