Take My Breath Away

At the Pearl Villa District

As soon as they arrived home, Erica was ready to crash. She kicked off her shoes and rushed upstairs like a freed husky.

By the time Matthew changed into his slippers, Erica had already disappeared at the corner of the stairs.

When he got up the stairs and reached the third floor, there was pin-drop silence. As he pushed the bedroom door open, suddenly a figure jumped out of the corner and shouted, "Ha!"

Matthew leapt in the air as he had not expected that, and his heart palpitated nonstop.

Erica felt overjoyed as she realized that her trick had worked.

The man closed his eyes in resignation, gnashed his teeth and snarled, "Erica Li!"

"What? I'm going to bed!" Erica disregarded his anger and ran for the bed. Every time she laid eyes on the bed, she found it harder to keep her drowsy eyes open.

She unbuttoned her coat and hurled it on the sofa, closely followed by her sweater and trousers.

It was almost as though Matthew wasn't standing in front of her the whole time. Perhaps she trusted him so much that she had no problems of sleeping in the nude even when he was there.

Matthew's eyes darkened as he watched this scene unfold before his very eyes. The girl threw the last piece of clothing she had on the sofa and quickly jumped into bed.

'How could she fall asleep just like that? I don't know how she can be so carefree and frivolous!' Putting his tie aside, Matthew went straight to the bed and sat down. "Erica?"

Erica opened one eye and looked at him. "What?"

Grabbing her hands, he leaned over and kissed her luscious red lips.

A few minutes later, the sound of someone crying in the bedroom was heard. "Didn't you say that you would respect my boundaries? You promised that you wouldn't force me. What do you call pressing me down now and not allowing me to resist? You are a liar!"

Matthew loosened his grip on her wrist, kissed her on the corner of her eyes, and said nothing.

"I want an apology! Don't try to take advantage of the fact that I've had a few drinks. It'll take more than a couple of drinks to get me drunk. In fact, I'm very sober right now!" Although she wasn't particularly good at drinking, Erica was able to handle her liquor better than most women. She never had trouble sleeping after a night out and unlike her mother, she wouldn't ask for Wahaha after drinking.

Matthew wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes and whispere

d given him in the past. The man sighed inwardly, and his eyes returned to their usual cold selves as he glared at the men in front of him.

Although the distance between them wasn't a lot, under the dim lights on both sides of the road, Matthew could only vaguely make out a blonde-haired man in his twenties.

When the other three men who had been lying on the ground saw Erica's rescue party, they helped each other up and shouted at Matthew, "Hand that woman over to us!"

Erica snuggled in Matthew's loving embrace and raised her head to look at him. "I caught them dealing on the streets." Erica's misfortunes just wouldn't give her a break! Just before she could hail a taxi and make her escape, she accidentally bumped into this group of thugs engaged in some kind of illegal activities at the end of the bridge.

The poor girl was spotted staring at them and that was enough to warrant her capture.

Matthew put his arm around her shoulder and gently patted her on the back. "I see."

The four men on the other side began to approach the outnumbered couple with confidence. "Do you hear me? Hand her over to us!" one of them demanded.

Matthew stood still, completely disregarding the man's words as he kept patting on Erica's back.

Despite the advantage in numbers, the men felt a sense of apprehension when they looked at Matthew's soul-piercing eyes.

Suddenly, Matthew said, "I dare you to say that again!"

The men looked at each other in utter bafflement. Frightened by Matthew's cold eyes, they contemplated their next course of action. "Ted, why don't we just let it go?" one of them whispered.