Chapter 312: Chapter 312; You stay here....
The hallway lights were dim, wrapping the four of them in quiet comfort as they parted ways, each heading toward their rooms. The mansion settled into silence again, leaving only the distant whisper of the night wind against the windows.
Tang Fei rode the elevator down to the second floor, the soft hum of its descent and rise a muted counterpoint to the stillness. When the doors slid open, the corridor greeted her with its low golden glow, sconces casting long shadows where the shadow guards lingered silently, their presence almost blending into the walls.
She tiptoed toward the master bedroom, each step measured, her fingers brushing lightly against the polished railing as though to steady herself.
Reaching the tall double doors, she eased one open with careful precision. The room beyond was cloaked in darkness, only the faint rise and fall of Huo Ting Cheng’s breathing breaking the silence.
Relieved, she slipped inside, the door whispering shut behind her as she tried not to disturb his sleep. But just as her back pressed against the wood, a sudden force pinned her in place. A gasp tore from her throat, a small yelp swallowed by the shadows, as strong arms caged her between the cold door and the heat of a body far from asleep.
Her startled yelp barely left her lips before a hand clamped firmly over her mouth, pressing her head back against the door. The room was still dark, but she didn’t need light to recognize him, the heat of his body, the iron grip of his arm, the low hum of his breath against her ear was enough...
"I have been awake all this entire time.." Huo Ting Cheng’s voice rasped, quiet but sharp enough to cut through the silence. "And you thought you could sneak in at this hour?"
Tang Fei’s pulse hammered beneath his palm. She tried to shake her head, but his hand only pressed harder, pinning her in place. His other arm slid around her waist, trapping her completely, leaving not a single inch of space between them.
"You reek of excitement," he murmured against her neck, his tone dark, accusing, almost feral. "Laughing, playing... forgetting me." His teeth grazed her skin, sending a shiver down her spine. "Do you know how long I have been waiting in the dark for you to come back to me?"
The shadows swallowed her soft whimper as he pressed her tighter, his presence overwhelming, his control absolute.
His hand slid from her mouth, but only so he could tilt her chin up, forcing her to meet the gleam of his eyes in the dark.
"Huo Ting Cheng...." she whispered, breathless, but the rest was stolen as his lips crashed against hers, rough, hungry, and punishing.
She gasped, her hands instinctively pushing against his chest, but he only pressed her harder into the door, caging her in with a dominance that brooked no escape.
His kiss was not gentle, it devoured, demanded, tasted her like she was a secret he refused to share with anyone else.
When he finally pulled back, his lips hovered at the corner of her mouth, his voice low and ragged. "You think I can sleep peacefully when you slip away from me? When you spend hours... lost in something that doesn’t include me?" His grip on her waist tightened, almost bruising. "No, Fei’er. I don’t rest. I wait. I burn. And when you return..." his mouth traced the line of her jaw, hot and unrelenting, "....I take back what’s mine."
Her breath came shallow, torn between fear and longing, his possessive fury stirring a dangerous heat in her chest. She wanted to protest, to tell him it was just a game, but her words melted as his hand slid up, fingers tangling in her hair, pulling her head back to expose her throat.
He kissed her there, not softly, but like a man starved, his teeth grazing, his tongue claiming, each touch more insistent than the last. The dim light under the door carved their shadows into one, his towering frame bent over hers, her slender figure trapped and trembling.
"You belong here," he growled against her skin, every syllable an oath. "With me. Always with me."
Her heart pounded, her resistance dissolving under the weight of his intensity. And though his grip was punishing, though his kiss was fierce enough to bruise, the ache in his voice betrayed him, the fear of losing her, the desperation only she could soothe.
Her hands, once pushing him away, slowly curled into the fabric of his shirt, pulling him closer instead.
Huo Ting Cheng’s eyes darkened, pupils narrowing as he leaned closer, his forehead resting against hers. "Do you understand, Fei’er? Every second you’re not in my sight... I feel it. Like fire in my veins, a hunger I cannot control."
Tang Fei shivered, her breath hitching as his grip around her waist tightened, fingers digging into her sides, not cruelly, but possessively, leaving no space for escape.
Her hands clutched at his chest, feeling the taut strength of him, the pulse beneath the fabric, and a dangerous thrill ran through her.
"I... I was just playing a game," she whispered, voice quivering between fear and the undeniable pull of desire. "It wasn’t meant to....."
"It wasn’t meant to what?" His lips trailed down her jaw, then to the hollow of her throat, each brush of his mouth a question, a demand, a warning. "Not meant to excite me? Not meant to make me burn? Because every laugh you let slip without me... every second you spent elsewhere... I counted it. Every. Single. Moment."
Her knees trembled as he pressed closer, body melding with hers, the dark heat between them sharpening with every heartbeat. "H-Huo Ting Cheng..." she gasped, her voice breaking, "you... You are terrifying."
"And yet... You stay here with me..." he murmured against her lips, his voice low, rough, edged with unrestrained longing. "You want me, even as I scare you. You always do."
Tang Fei’s hands moved instinctively, sliding along his arms, feeling the strength, the danger, the magnetic weight of him, as though her touch tethered her to him, or perhaps tethered him to her. Her chest rose and fell, every breath shallow, every shiver a silent surrender.