Long Huojin received word that w.a.n.g Weimin obtained some injuries during the first few weeks of his arrest, leaving him at the care of the hospital again.

The w.a.n.g"s begged Yin Shou and Long Huojin to be more lenient on him, and to his father, who was also still serving his sentence.

Long Huojin a.s.sured them that he would never be lenient, that the w.a.n.g"s deserved everything that they got. It angered them, but even they knew not to try to go against him, their fates would end up worse, because they weren"t as important as the previous chief executive officers.

Long Huojin approached Xue Guangli from behind. She was sitting on a couch, rubbing the swell of her belly while reading a book under the lamplight, since it was night. Long Huojin kissed her on her cheek, and she lifted her head to face him with a content smile.

Ever since the trial, he tried hard to make his wife happy; he wanted nothing more than to see her bright, white smile. There were moments where she clung to him uneasily, worried about people going after him, but he promised her that there would be no one else threatening him; he wouldn"t allow it.

From now on, they would go on trips together, and once the child is born, they"ll take him or her with them. He wanted the three of them to be closely knitted as a family, the family he barely had.

"Are you almost done?" he asked her.

Xue Guangli closed her book, reaching up to peck him on the lips. "Mhmm. I was waiting for you actually," she said.

"Oh?" Long Huojin responded. "For what?"

Xue Guangli grinned. "I want to paint you," she said.

Long Huojin raised a brow. "Come again?" he asked.

Xue Guangli chuckled. "I"ve already drawn a sketch, but I want to paint while seeing you; therefore, I could capture your very likeness."

Long Huojin stilled. He gulped to say, "What do you require me to do?" Xue Guangli nodded her chin over at the dark blue couch across them; there were velvet silk-blue sheets placed delicately underneath the pillows, over the cus.h.i.+ons. It matched the suit he was wearing.

"Cobalt blue always suited you," Xue Guangli said deeply, and the words made him shudder.

Xue Guangli stood up to lock the door of the sunroom; she then sauntered towards him.

Long Huojin had his arms stretched across the headboard of the sofa, watching as the red silk robe she wore slip from her shoulders. His wife placed a knee on the gap between his thighs, hovering over to unb.u.t.ton the s.h.i.+rt beneath his suit jacket, revealing some of his chest. She didn"t remove anything from where his torso begun. She then lifted the collar of his s.h.i.+rt and loosened the b.u.t.tons on his wrists.

"You have to keep on your suit jacket," she said to him. Long Huojin nodded.

Xue Guangli then positioned him to lie down on the couch. It was strange—no it was astonis.h.i.+ng how perfect he was. Her heart pounded, and she didn"t think it was possible to be this crazy over someone, but with him, she couldn"t resist him. How could anyone?

She propped one of his forearms to pillow his head, laying his other hand flatly on his torso. "You can"t move," she whispered to him.

"All right," he said while gazing at her intensely. Xue Guangli then laid a palm on his cheek, moving to trace the lines of his sharp jaw. She gazed at his lips, the suppleness of it. She leaned down as her hair curtained her as she kissed him. Long Huojin met her kiss with an eagerness to it, opening his mouth to let her tongue peer through.

He immediately cupped her head, but Xue Guangli pinned his arm down. "You can"t move," she whispered against his lips.

Long Huojin appeared to be pained; he was practically panting with desire and want, but he nodded slowly, obeying her request.

Xue Guangli wanted to do more, but she felt that they would get carried away, and she wouldn"t be able to finish the painting she wanted to keep between them. So, she stood up, approaching the couch across them. She sat down in front of a canvas propped on an easel.

She had already sketched and outline his body. She had a tarp on the floor to catch any fallen paint. She began to paint the canvas with blues, browns, and blacks.

The room was low-lit; therefore, she didn"t need a lot of colours to capture what she was looking at.

Long Huojin was watching her, too, and she hated when their eyes met because her cheeks would burn, and it distracted what her focus should be on.

Xue Guangli let her fingers grasp the multiple paintbrushes, roughly filling in the sketches and detailing the outlines of his body, the contours of his face. She had always wanted to paint him; his very existence was a work of art, crafted by a cruel beauty. His face was like marble, complimented with threads of black hair, and eyes like a cloudless sky.

When she was painting, she didn"t face him for some time, but when she glanced at him again, he had fallen asleep. She hadn"t painted his eyes yet, but there was something about the flutter of his lashes, and the slow rise and fall of his chest that fascinated her.

She began to wrap up the painted by blending the colours, finis.h.i.+ng the piece; she felt like she could include more details later, as her eyes began to feel tired.

She rose from her seat again, strolling towards him. He had some s.p.a.ce next to him, so she laid, facing outward. She closed her eyes, but then she felt him pull her in closer, wrapping his arms around her body.

"You weren"t sleeping?" she asked in a whisper.

"No," he breathed.

She slightly turned, her belly facing up. "Can"t sleep?" she asked him.

"No," he answered.

Xue Guangli smiled grimly. "Me neither."

A comfortable silence enveloped them until Long Huojin broke it. "I did something," he said.

Xue Guangli raised a brow. "What is it?"

"I may have done something to w.a.n.g Worldwide?"

Xue Guangli let out a breathy laugh. "What have you done?" she asked.

"Their business is falling into peril. The executives are struggling to hold it together due to the reputation of their previous Chief Executive Officers; they will be done for. But I may have contributed by hiring some of them to join Long Group."

Xue Guangli grinned, nestling into his shoulder; her smile then began to die as she appeared uneasy. "What if the w.a.n.g"s scheme against us again?" she asked him.

"If they do, we"ll be ready, but it"s almost impossible from jail," he said.

Xue Guangli smiled grimly, but she still couldn"t help but feel uneasy. Noticing her worries, Long Huojin said, "I remember watching you paint on sunny afternoons, outdoors."

"Oh? So you watched me?" she teased, reminiscing their past. They were sixteen when they both loathed each other, but it was also a time they were somewhat friends, because the high society was strong together, at that point.

Long Huojin grinned. "I recall you watching me, too."

Xue Guangli sat up, her face flus.h.i.+ng. "Eh?" she said.

"Don"t "Eh" me," said Long Huojin. "The amount of times I would find you sleeping against the windowsill, while you hear me play the violin is astounding."

Xue Guangli pursed her lips, biting down a flush. "You...played very well," she said with a red face.

"Mhm," he responded. "And there was that other time you flashed me on purpose from your room to annoy me," he said — Xue Guangli dove to cover his mouth. "Stop reminding me of those embarra.s.sing times," she responded.

Long Huojin chuckled to the point where his stomach hurt. She glanced away, "Yeah, well, did it work?" she asked him.

Long Huojin nudged her to face him. "No," he said. "Because that"s when I learned that I was indeed interested in you."

"How?" Xue Guangli asked.

Long Huojin"s eyes darkened; he didn"t tell her how, but she flushed instantly from her guess.

"I had to tend to myself," he said.

Xue Guangli bit her lower lip. "I"m sure," she responded. She then caressed the fine lines of his chin, roaming her fingers across his slight, bare chest, over the fabrics of his suit, and down the waistband of his pants. She unbuckled his belt, unb.u.t.toning, and she slid her hand to find something that pulsed and throbbed.

Long Huojin groaned against her ear.

Their intimacy had depleted since her pregnancy began to show. But it wasn"t something that would stop them from their pa.s.sion.

Long Huojin would take her on dates, tend to her whenever she felt sick, and he would stroke her belly. Sometimes love isn"t all about s.e.x, but because of how good he treated her, she can"t help but pleasure him anyway.

Long Huojin kissed her neck greedily as she worked her way on him. When he reached his euphoric climax, he then returned the favour.