Chapter 22 “Is tonight not the last time?”

As if a male demon had sucked away his vitality, Jiang Yao took a long time to recover his energy, and then felt hungry.

Remembering that Duan Zhuxian had brought cake, he floated out of bed, put on his underwear, and randomly picked up a piece of clothing from the floor. It turned out to be Duan Zhuxian’s suit jacket, but he didn’t mind and directly put it on.

When Duan Zhuxian came out of the bathroom, Jiang Yao was sitting casually on the sofa, stuffing cake into his mouth. The cream was smeared around his lips, his cheeks puffed up, completely devoid of any image.

Looking down further, it was a tempting vacuum suit.

His well-proportioned figure was enveloped by the tailored high-end suit, giving off a delicate appearance. The fair skin and navy blue fabric created a strong contrast visually, with messy traces were faintly visible.

Like a fragile object that has been bullied.

Duan Zhuxian walked over and sat next to Jiang Yao, placing one hand on the backrest behind Jiang Yao, squinting his eyes as if enjoying the view.

Feeling the burning gaze, Jiang Yao turned his head and just happened to meet a deep gaze.

Half a meter away, Duan Zhuxian was watching him with his legs crossed, his eyes unclear, and a certain place was arrogantly bulging a little.

Jiang Yao almost choked on the cake, silently turned his gaze away, straightened his clothes, and pretended not to have seen anything.

After a moment, Jiang Yao nonchalantly asked, “What made you think of bringing me dessert?”

Duan Zhuxian replied, “Friend circle.”

Jiang Yao paused and said, “Oh, Assistant Lin must have told you secretly.”

Duan Zhuxian raised his eyebrows, neither confirming nor denying.

Jiang Yao glanced at the man next to him, who seemed relaxed, and questioned him, “Being attentive for no reason.”

Duan Zhuxian responded, “There is a reason.”

Jiang Yao: “Huh?”

Duan Zhuxian said, “For what happened during the day.”

Jiang Yao was stunned for a moment, and it took him a while to realize that Duan Zhuxian was referring to the incident at noon when he snatched his phone, hung up his call, and didn’t let him go to the club.

So, was this cake meant to make peace?

It was really like the sun rising from the west.

Jiang Yao played with the cream, feeling a bit surprised, and slowly bit into the strawberry covered in cream.

The sour, sweet, and rich juice spread in his mouth, which really smoothed the bit of dissatisfaction in his heart, not knowing what kind of magic it had.

As for how Duan Zhuxian guessed from his few words that he was reminiscing about a certain dessert when he posted on his friends circle…

He didn’t want to admit it, but he had to admit it—

This was the unspoken understanding between him and Duan Zhuxian.

The weight of their youthful years couldn’t be completely erased, no matter how deliberate they were.

After all, they will have to cooperate for a long time in the future. It’s good to be able to lay out and solve problems in time like now.

Not to mention that one who eats the meal will have to pay for it.

Jiang Yao swallowed the last bite of the cake and waved his hand, saying, “Alright, for the sake of the cake, I’ll accept your apology for now. Just be nicer in the future.”

Duan Zhuxian smiled and wiped the cream from the corner of Jiang Yao’s mouth with his hand.

After so many years, it’s rare for him to coax someone nicely.

*

After a hasty bath, Jiang Yao was so tired that he couldn’t stand it. His legs were a bit soft because they had been wrapped around someone for too long.

He was too lazy to go back to his room, so he just lay naked on the bed with his half-dry body, sprawling out in a ‘大’ character shape, making Duan Zhuxian’s newly changed quilt full of dampness.

Anyway, they’ve already done it twice. Any more pretense would be hypocritical.

Duan Zhuxian went to the study to deal with the email sent by Sun Jie. When he came back, he saw that Jiang Yao had taken over his bed.

With one hand pulling the corner of the quilt over his belly, he looked like a little rascal without a conscience.

The corner of his mouth hooked up slightly, he took a set of his own pajamas and helped Jiang Yao put them on.

Throughout the process, Jiang Yao was lazy and not proactive, but he was still cooperative.

Duan Zhuxian lowered his eyes and patiently helped Jiang Yao button up, his fingers slowly passing over his collarbone and chest.

When he reached his abs, he paused slightly.

Jiang Yao has a good foundation and is diligent in exercising. His body proportions are almost perfect. However, he was born with thin muscles. The beautiful muscles are lightly spread on his abdomen, slightly concave in the center. From the side, it looks like there is no thickness. If you use a little force, you’ll worry about distorting the shape, making people unsure how to treat it.

In fact, over the years, he has never found the most appropriate way to deal with Jiang Yao.

To him, Jiang Yao is like a red fox that can’t be caught. On a certain day in his youth, he suddenly walked into his world with his chest held high, and wherever he went, dazzling colors ignited the desolation.

That flame was wild and strong, spreading to every corner of his heart, invading freely and openly, intending to occupy his future as well.

He was completely unprepared for this and didn’t know how to retain it. He could only suppress his desire for possession with his best patience, allowing his heart to be filled.

The night of the wedding when Jiang Yao got drunk was the first time he abandoned his reason.

If it weren’t for the marriage alliance afterwards, Jiang Yao would have completely cut off contact with him, even depriving him of the right to be his archenemy.

And today, he made the same mistake again, but fortunately, besides getting his neck scratched, unexpectedly he didn’t anger the young master.

The smile in Duan Zhuxian’s eyes deepened. When he buttoned the last button for Jiang Yao, his fingertips fell on the thin abs and pressed lightly, which resulted in a dagger-like glare flying out from the corner of his slightly red eyes.

The tip of the dagger was soft.

Jiang Yao was completely unaware that at this moment, he had completely filled the heart of the man across from him. He was half-asleep, allowing Duan Zhuxian to help him put on his pajamas and forcibly pull him up to blow dry his hair.

Jiang Yao’s freshly washed hair was messy and not completely dry. Duan Zhuxian patiently straightened them out, blow-dried the red highlights separately, made a slight upward curve, and shaped it into a small tail.

Because the hand on top of his head was so gentle, if it weren’t for the noise of the hairdryer, Jiang Yao would have fallen asleep.

As for Duan Zhuxian, although he is not a good confidant, he is still a decent bed partner.

Wandering in drunkenness and sleepiness, Jiang Yao thought slowly.

After blowing his hair, Jiang Yao was completely comfortable, squinting like a fox.

So much so that when Duan Zhuxian stuffed him into his own bed and vaguely touched his ankle with his leg, he didn’t react.

Duan Zhuxian turned off the main light, leaving only a dim night light.

The faces of the two blurred instantly, but the scratch on the side of Duan Zhuxian’s neck was still unusually conspicuous.

Jiang Yao saw it in his eyes, remembering the look of Duan Zhuxian’s determination to get him before, and couldn’t help but mutter “serves you right”.

He lowered his voice and asked Duan Zhuxian, “Mr. Duan, this wound doesn’t look light, do you want to put on a band-aid?”

It sounded like concern, but it was actually sarcasm.

“No need.” Duan Zhuxian reached out and touched his nose, “This time I didn’t scratch my face, I was still merciful.”

Jiang Yao frowned, “You deserved it last time!”

Duan Zhuxian raised his eyebrows, his eyes filled with a hint of teasing: “That night, you were the one who took the initiative.”

Jiang Yao’s face turned red, and he lowered his eyelids, unusually not retorting.

After he calmed down, he remembered everything about that day.

He didn’t know what got into him, he actually started to undress Duan Zhuxian. And Duan Zhuxian, who was also not in a good state, went along with it.

Even if he was too lazy to wake him up, he could have beaten him up. Clearly, Duan Zhuxian had a thousand ways to prevent that accident…

Looking at the person next to him who wished he could shrink into the quilt like an ostrich, Duan Zhuxian chuckled softly: “I also had a problem for not holding back at that time.”

The person who crossed the line first was indeed Jiang Yao.

But when Jiang Yao, with a drunken look on his face, lay on top of him and asked him with red eyes, “Why are you always against me?”, all he wanted to do was to press this prickly man under him, using all means, to see the other party’s helpless look.

Later, those stubborn peach blossom eyes really shed tears, and his usually cool and arrogant face became a wet mess, and his heart softened again.

He had never thought that someone could look so beautiful when crying.

Jiang Yao didn’t notice Duan Zhuxian’s increasingly thick gaze, and he was lost in thought for a moment, then looked up and asked, “You didn’t do it on purpose that night?”

Duan Zhuxian said, “What did I do on purpose?”

Jiang Yao pursed his lips, his eyes flickering a few times.

Deliberately humiliating people, deliberately watching his nemesis being messed up by himself…

But he kept these words in his heart and didn’t say them.

With his mouth hidden under the quilt, Jiang Yao mumbled, “So we are… friends with benefits now?”

Duan Zhuxian’s eyebrows twitched slightly, “Friends with benefits?”

Again, a repeated and rhetorical sentence pattern.

The fear of being coldly rejected by Duan Zhuxian in the past suddenly surfaced in Jiang Yao’s heart.

“What, do you want to solicit me?”

Jiang Yao suddenly propped up half of his body, his beautiful face instantly tightened, his eyes wide open, full of vigilance and suspicion.

Duan Zhuxian rubbed his brow somewhat helplessly.

Alright then.

After all these years of mixing, from Jiang Yao’s “a bit of friendship”, downgraded to enemies, and now upgraded to friends with benefits, it is somewhat of a progress.

“Do you mean, tonight is not the last time?”

Duan Zhuxian asked.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yao was taken aback, and his ears turned a little red.

Although he appears to be a playboy, often going to nightclubs and seeing countless men flirting in front of him, his emotional concept is actually quite traditional. He believes that “sex” must be based on “love”, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that he values chastity.

But now, all of a sudden, he had crossed that line and indulged in his desires. He had tasted the forbidden fruit and experienced firsthand the meaning behind the saying “men are creatures of the lower half”.

Although he never thought he would be the one being done.

Jiang Yao’s gaze was fleeting, and he vaguely said “Hmm”.

“But you’re not allowed to force me like you did today.”

Jiang Yao finished very seriously, a small mist rose from the tip of his ear, pale red, floating into Duan Zhuxian’s eyes.

“If you don’t want to do it, you can simply push me away.” Duan Zhuxian said with a smile.

“How can I push when my hands are tied by you?” Jiang Yao asked loudly.

Duan Zhuxian reached his hand into the quilt and patted Jiang Yao’s thigh, “Your legs can still move.”

His tone was serious and gentle, it really seemed like he was seriously reminding, the premise is to ignore the fingertips moving on the skin of the thigh.

Jiang Yao silently moved his leg away.

Right, why didn’t he think of kicking him at that time?

But on second thought, this neurotic Duan Zhuxian might tie up his legs as well, then he would really become a little lamb hanging on a grill, at the mercy of others.

Forget it, he was just tempted by lust tonight, there’s no need to act as if he was persecuted by someone.

The intimacy that comes after willingly being in bed together is always the most harmonious period. Even mortal enemies become more tolerable and can even sleep together under the same blanket.

Jiang Yao yawned.

Someone was too inconsiderate in bed, he really couldn’t resist the sleepiness, his eyes were closing, about to fall asleep.

He vaguely felt that something was different about Duan Zhuxian tonight, but he couldn’t pinpoint the specific change.

It was still that unchanging face, with absolute calmness mixed between his brows, his thin lips slightly pursed, not looking like they could say anything nice…

In a half-asleep state, Jiang Yao felt his slightly sore wrist relax a lot. After a while, he realized that Duan Zhuxian was actually massaging his wrist.

The palm of his hand pressed on the thin flesh, circling over the shallow marks that had been bound by the tie, suddenly giving birth to a slight, unreal touch, like the moon’s shadow cast into the water.

With his eyes closed, Jiang Yao muttered, “Marrying you seems to be indeed the most suitable choice.”

“Hmm?”

Duan Zhuxian’s movements paused.

Jiang Yao’s lips moved slightly, and Duan Zhuxian immediately leaned in to listen, afraid of missing half a word.

“You see, if it were someone else, wouldn’t I have to take care of their feelings in everything? Just like my brother and sister-in-law, they are so tired, and we just happen to dislike each other, so we don’t have to worry about each other when we speak and do things…”

Jiang Yao slowly finished speaking, closing his eyes and pausing for a while.

“Just like what you said that day, we are a good match.”

The last sentence was said in a breathy voice, with a hint of toothpaste flavor in the words, which was the scent of orange blossom.

Duan Zhuxian held his breath slightly.

But this lingering sweetness easily entered his nostrils, stirring up countless butterflies in his stomach.

“Jiang Yao, what if one day, I fall in love with you?”

After a long time, Duan Zhuxian suddenly said.