159 Romeo and Muriel

"How... is it you?"
!!!
Mu Qingcheng stared in utter astonishment at the man standing right before her, her face a mask of disbelief.
So absolute was her disbelief that she remained dazed even after he had walked over, snatched the dagger from her hand, scooped her up horizontally, placed her back into the bed, and tucked her beneath the covers before she finally regained her senses.
"Why are you here?"
Yet the man did not answer. His slightly chilly gaze swept toward the dagger resting on the nearby low table, paused for a moment, and then, in complete silence, he reached up and began unbuttoning his shirt.
"Si Qing... Brother Chen, what are you doing?"
Mu Qingcheng, whose address for him instantly changed due to the sharp warning in his eyes, reached out and grabbed his lightning-fast fingers.
Of course she could see that he was undressing; she just couldn't understand... why on earth was he taking off his clothes?
However, Si Qingchen suddenly leaned down close to her and murmured in a deep voice,
"Who sleeps with their clothes on, hmm?"
"..."
With that, he gently removed her hand and tucked it back under the blankets.
Mu Qingcheng watched Si Qingchen's movements in dumbfounded silence. It was only when the man placed his shirt on a nearby sofa, lifted a corner of her duvet, and prepared to crawl in beside her that she finally let out a sigh of relief.
*Good thing he didn't take off his pants... No, wait! That's not right either!*
"Brother Chen, you... where are you planning to sleep?"
Seeing Si Qingchen pull her directly into his embrace, Mu Qingcheng's face flushed crimson in an instant.
The man still did not reply. With an air of deep attachment, he buried his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply over and over again like a large dog trying to identify a familiar scent.
After a long moment, he pressed a gentle kiss against her wildly throbbing carotid artery.
"Don't... that tickles..."
Mu Qingcheng shrank her neck and tried to push him away, but her waist was firmly locked in his grasp, leaving her no room to escape.
At that moment, Si Qingchen finally raised his head. He reached out a hand to carefully brush a few mischievous strands of hair away from the little one's brow, then lowered his head again to kiss the tip of her nose.
Looking down at her damp, nervous eyes—filled with the jittery panic of a frightened little cat—he smiled leisurely.
"Qingcheng, I've missed you."
"Then you shouldn't have climbed through the window."
The two of them were extremely close at this moment; the slightest movement would allow their lips to brush against each other.
Mu Qingcheng naturally did not dare to move, but the man before her was clearly an exceptionally crafty devil.
Every single sentence, every single word he spoke, lightly brushed back and forth across the delicate lips of the little one.
This in turn sparked an involuntary wave of trembling throughout her body.
The man was exceedingly pleased with this reaction, and the distance between them closed even further...
"I wanted to come during the day, too, but your grandfather wouldn't let me in."
"I..."
While speaking, Si Qingchen's lips came almost completely into contact with Mu Qingcheng's.
The little one, having uttered only a single syllable, suddenly froze.
Mu Qingcheng's eyes fluttered wildly and her entire body stiffened, clearly unaccustomed to this level of intimacy.
The corners of Si Qingchen's lips curved upward as he watched her panic-stricken, fluttering gaze, the profound intent in his eyes quietly washing over his entire being.
In a low, gravelly voice, he deliberately tempted her,
"Qingcheng, I want to kiss you."
"......"
This was not a question; it was merely a notification.
Because the very moment those words fell, the man completely closed the infinitesimal gap between them, pressing his lips firmly against hers in a seamless fit.
The soft sensation was identical to her memories, as gentle and yielding as a cloud.
It was like a marshmallow coated in a layer of honey, so sweet and tender that one became hopelessly lost in it.
Parting the layers of resistance, it grew increasingly alluring.
A pair of lips entirely devoid of any defensive instinct were thus casually manipulated, yielding to his every demand.
......
A short while later, the man lifted his head once more, seemingly unsatisfied. With a trace of grievance, he rubbed the tip of his nose coaxingly against hers and said,
"Qingcheng, open your mouth."
"......"
Though she remained silent, the way she bit down tightly on her lips fully betrayed her inner turmoil.
The man raised an eyebrow, a rare flicker of playfulness dancing at the corners of his eyes.
At the same time, one of his hands slid downward without a sound, hooked the hem of her white pajamas, and lightly pinched the soft flesh at her waist.
"Ah... mmh..."
Instantly defeated, Mu Qingcheng didn't even have time to utter a single word before her lips were sealed once more by this cunning man.
A blur of time passed, and all she managed to murmur intermittently was a faint scolding:
"Old scoundrel..."