Her Insecurity

"Good morning."

Qiao Ruo stirred and opened her eyes. She could have sworn that the last thing she remembered before yielding to exhaustion the night before had been his lips moving while they were playing Ludo. What had he been saying?

She greeted him back. "Good morning to you, too."

Realizing she was in his arms, she glanced down, and he reluctantly released her from his grasp. Enjoying the comfort of his luxurious bed, she was extremely hesitant to step out from his comfortable duvet blanket.

Cree gazed at Qiao Ruo. Apparently, she had not heard what he said when she had drifted off to sleep. He surprised her with food on the dining table. They were having brunch when she popped the question.

"Cree, who actually sent you to the hospital?"

She appeared to have a suspicious look in her eyes. Now that she was feeling more intimate with Cree, she was concerned that someone else had been aware of his health issues and would have beat her to rescuing Cree that night. If only she had gone with her initial plan and reached him first, maybe then he would have owed her one. What if that person was supposedly female and would claim on a favour from him? With her jealousness, she wasn't conducive to the reality of him having attention from other women in his life, notably if they posed as competition to her. Since she had made up her mind not to start an official relationship with him, she would always be in terror of the risk of him falling into the clutches of other women. In short, she was insecure.

He looked upwards towards the sensor on the ceiling and then followed by leading her with his eyes to view more sensors and a few security cameras placed conveniently around the mansion. She immediately understood that his home was geared with a CCTV system. Almost every spot was prone to be recorded, except for the bedrooms and bathrooms.

So their kisses were all captured on camera? Qiao Ruo felt annoyed by the fact that their intimacy had not been privy.

"The truth is the mansion is equipped with a sophisticated system which will tell when I am in danger. It's too complicated for me to explain at the moment." Just last night, he had reprimanded her for overindulging in coffee, what if now, she was to know that his movements were all observed and restricted by his controlling adoptive mother? She had put him under close surveillance by others, and he had purposely wanted Qiao Ruo to move in so his mother could know for herself, how intimate they were. Nothing could escape being caught live on camera, he thought slyly. At the same time, he would endeavour to make her his by intensifying the passion between them. Sooner or later, she was due to be his, and only his.

He had a health condition that made him vulnerable to a destructive lifestyle and unhealthy eating habits, desire to binge-drink on alcohol and had not been exercising for the past month since meeting her. She would be nagging at him, and maybe even get mad. He didn't know how to explain the truth to her. Probably, the doctor had said some things to her at the hospital, but he had ensured that she didn't know the whole story. Who could say no to the beauty of the fat dollar bills he had to offer?

"It is connected to the hospital's system?" she looked a bit unclear. Being the technical expert, Cree definitely had more knowledge in technology than she did. She had trouble fathoming how these sophisticated systems worked.

He didn't answer her but continued eating. She looked at the fat slabs of meat on his plate, and then at the quick meal package wrapping lying in the sink. The only food that had been healthy in the brunch he had prepared for her was poached eggs on their plates.

"You definitely need to eat more healthily. Do you want to make a trip together to the grocery store?"

"Does it mean, you'll cook for me?"

She nodded, and he threw his arms around her. It would be the first time she had cooked for a man, and it was the first time someone would be cooking for him, other than his housekeeper or servants in the past.

"Aren't you being a bit too dramatic, Cree?" she asked.

"I don't care," he told her. "It just feels good to hold you like this."

Her face just got redder, but she allowed him to continue holding her without any regard of the time passing while she silently lazed in his embrace.

..........

They were wheeling a shopping trolley filled with goodies ranging from buckwheat noodles and long-grain rice grains to fresh vegetables and meat from the grocer, which she had selectively picked because of his health. Cree Ye had selected this location downtown to avoid again being the centre of attention, and Qiao Ruo also felt relieved that he would not be attracting too much female attention. Along with all of her insecurities, being tolerant of rivals was not in her dictionary.

"After we load the groceries back home, I want to bring you out on a date," he said in a mischievous tone. They strolled leisurely to observe the items loaded in each aisle at the store.

"Where do you want to go? I have to return to work tomorrow."

"We could catch a movie later," he said slyly. Qiao Ruo missed going to the cinema, so she gleefully took on his offer.

When she was assured she had procured ample supplies for her stay and cooking at the mansion, she finally allowed Cree to pay for the items at the auto-checkout counter.

Minutes later, Qiao Ruo was assisting Cree to load their purchases into the back bonnet of his Mini when she heard a familiar voice coming from the corner.

"Xiaoqiao, what a coincidence."

A wave of displeasure came over him. The voice of the man sounded cocky, and his repulsion for the man had been almost instantaneous. Who was this man, and why was he greeting Qiao Ruo with such an intimate nickname?

As the man approached them, he realized that the exact face of the man had been that of the article she had been so interested in, Lu Hanyang.

"It's you, Da Lu." She faced him amiably, smiling so happily that it was invoking his fury instead. Cree defensively placed his arm around Qiao Ruo's shoulders. Sensing the tension in the air, she was about to introduce them, but Lu Hanyang broke the silence abruptly.

"I'm Lu Hanyang, Qiao Ruo's secondary school classmate. You are?"

From the way the man was introducing himself to Cree, he knew it was a direct challenge.

"I'm Cree Ye, her boyfriend." He placed a specific impression while pronouncing the word boyfriend. Qiao Ruo observed the men staring degrees at each other.

Eventually, Cree emerged the victor as he overwhelmed Lu Hanyang with his ability. However, he was reduced to an emotional mess as he dragged Qiao Ruo off with him, storming with rage as he bundled her into the car. Throughout the drive back, he had not spoken a single word.

Even after they entered the mansion and Qiao Ruo had put away all the perishables in a flurry, it was evident from his visage that he was still burning with ire. Qiao Ruo hesitated to speak to him, remembering how intimidating he could be. But she fathomed that the longer he stayed mad, the more endangering it was to his health. It dawned upon her that it was within her means to soothe him, and brashly, without giving it further thought, she advanced towards him.

What had started with an energetic kiss from her, evolved gradually into a series of wilder, more desirous kisses on the sofa. All of a sudden, it began pouring outside the window. Qiao Ruo could barely hear a single noise coming from them as all noise around them was drowned by the pattering of the loud raindrops.

Without breaking the kiss, he lifted her and carried her in his arms furiously. He followed by dumping her on the bed of his bedroom. The automatic door locked after them, but she wasn't afraid of him. Lust was taking over her, and they continued to kiss each other intensely as they were lost to each other. She felt hunger radiating through their bodies and tremored with each kiss, but she didn't want him to stop. She goaded him on with her teasing, and his nimble fingers deprived her of every layer of clothing she had on, till only her undergarments remained. Somehow, it didn't seem so scary to her anymore.

A shrill ringtone broke the silence, and it dismayed her that he chose to halt their sensuous activity to attend to the incoming phone call. "Mei, I'm not in the mood right now," he said over the speaker. A melodious voice responded, "But I'll be reaching in a few days."

"I'll see you then. Not now, Mei. I'm in the middle of something."

She didn't like where it apparently was going between him and the girl, and no sooner had he ended the call when she pounced on him and removed the phone from his hand, securing it inside a drawer.

"Cree, I don't like you to see others," she exclaimed.

He uttered out furiously, "Are you doing to do anything to stop me, then? As far as I remembered, it was you who denied yourself the chance to own me."

The more she thought about the melodious voice, the more she felt herself flaring with envy, and she pinned him down with all her strength and bit hard on his arm.

"I want you to remember me forever, Cree."

And then, she was utterly lost to the passion of her own angry kisses.