Chapter 30 Always Ready

"All of you… I want all of you…" Ding Xiang murmured, eyes closed, her arms tightening around Ye Chenghuan's waist as she drew his invading tongue deeper.

Breaking free, she crossed her legs shyly, arms folded over her chest to shield herself. Her face tilted away, lips bitten, the dim light casting a shadow over her crimson cheeks.

Ye swallowed hard at the sight of her bare, luminous skin. He tore off his shirt, pulling her close until their bodies fused. This time, his lips found the curve of her neck. With a gentle push, she sank onto the bar counter. He pried her arms apart, interlacing their fingers and pinning her hands above her head.

Stretched beneath him, Ding Xiang's breasts rose defiantly only to be pressed flat by his chest. Ye trailed kisses along her eyelids, lips, forehead, and earlobes, whispering her name like a prayer. Though he hovered over her, he made no move to strip her lingerie or stockings. Soon, the woman squirmed, legs rubbing together. A dropped high heel clattered—her body's silent surrender.

Freeing his hands, Ye left hers still raised. Her closed eyes and yielding posture undid him. When his mouth brushed the lace spilling from her bra, she shuddered. "You'll be the death of me…"

Expert fingers unhooked her clasp. She barely noticed until he tugged the garment away with his teeth. Freed breasts bounced, peaks hardening to dusky rose.

Ye abandoned her lingerie to kneel between her thighs, lips tracing the raw wound on her abdomen.

"Please… don't… it's dirty…"

"Silly girl," he murmured against her skin. "Every inch of you is sacred."

Ding Xiang froze. Tears spilled as his words pierced armor she hadn't known she wore.

When the storm of kisses subsided, she lifted dazed eyes to find him staring hungrily at her core. "Don't look…!" She curled inward, arms shielding her blush.

Fingers digging into his shoulders, she breathed, "My general… is your sword ready?"

"Always."

He sheathed himself in one thrust. Her body arched violently, nails scoring his back.

"Does it hurt?" He paused, but she locked her ankles behind him.

"Don't stop… I want this… need this…"

With a feral grin, Ye redoubled his assault—a relentless piston stroke matched by hands tangling in her hair, teeth claiming her tongue.

"You'll kill me… Oh god, I love you…"

Outside, the monsoon raged. Inside Euphoria Bar, heat built to inferno.

When Ye's final thrust shattered her, Ding Xiang's scream echoed off liquor bottles before she collapsed into oblivion.

Morning light found her waking to his arms around her waist, lips grazing her shoulder. "Sleep well, little siren?"

"Mm…" She turned into a kiss that stole her breath, tongues dueling until the bar echoed with wet, hungry sounds.

Rolling atop her, Ye drank in her face. "You're a goddess."

Blushing, Ding Xiang traced the claw marks on his back. "Did I…?"

"Unless I grew tentacles."

"I'm sorry—"

"Worth every scratch." He kissed her knuckles. "Compared to your wound…"

She flipped him over, tongue lapping each welt. "Still hurt?"

He shook his head.

Glancing at dawn-streaked windows, she sighed. "You should go. Wouldn't want your ice queen waiting."

Ye stiffened. "Meaning?"

"Please." She tweaked his nose. "You're married to Victoria Group's CEO. Yet here you are, rolling with a gangster. What does that pretty head hold?"

"You investigated me."

"Of course." She shrugged. "I background-check everyone who walks through my door. It's how I've stayed alive."

He pinched her cheek. "My wife's a jade statue—beautiful, untouchable. You… you're fire."

Ding Xiang snorted. "She's an empire-builder. I'm a thug."

"A thug with more heart than any CEO."

"Who's prettier?" She pouted—the universal female challenge.

"Asking me to compare eggs and duck eggs?" He groaned.

Her playful slap landed on his chest. "You're the egg!" Sobering, she traced his jaw. "I don't need forever. Just… a corner of your heart. Dangerous women don't get happy endings."

He captured her hand. "You'll have half. Maybe more."

"Truly?" Her eyes shone before she lunged, teeth sinking into his shoulder. Ye didn't flinch as blood welled.

Licking crimson from her lips, she smiled darkly. "Now you'll never forget me."

"Was there ever a chance?"

Post-coital clarity struck as they dressed. "You killed Long Biao," she stated.

"Do you care?"

"I sent you to his doorstep hoping you'd eliminate a Qinghong Gang thorn. If you'd died… well." She met his gaze. "I'm not a good person, Ye Chenghuan."

"Good people bore me." He kissed her forehead. "And you'd never have confessed if cruelty still ruled you."

Her chest tightened. The woman who'd once bartered lives like poker chips now craved this man's approval.

"Forget me," she forced a smirk, "and I'll neuter you. Save other women the trouble."

"You'd miss the fun." He palmed her backside.

"We'd be sisters." Her laughter chased him out.

Alone, Ding Xiang stared at his cooling coffee. Memory flickered—his hands healing her wound. She lifted her shirt, gasping. The gash had vanished, skin flawless.

What are you? She watched raindrops slide down glass, wondering if she'd bedded a man or something… more.

Elsewhere, Detective Wu Xiao studied butchered corpses under a police tarp. The killer's work resembled industrial machinery, not human hands. One body's caved-in skull suggested a punch capable of crumpling steel.

Her mind flashed to a certain smirking security guard.

Impossible… Right?

Ye, meanwhile, strode into his office building, whistling. Three giggling secretaries awaited—his next distraction.

The game deepened. The players? A wife who owned cities, a gangster who craved his darkness, and a detective sniffing blood.

And the wild card? A man who healed knife wounds with a kiss.