Chapter 74 - Just One More

It felt like they had been kissing for hours by the time they stopped. They were too thirsty to continue and her lips already felt numb. Qing Chen had handed her a glass of water and watched as she gulped on it.

"Why are you watching?" she asked defensively, hugging the the glass to her chest.

Qing Chen smiled at her, his eyes a thin arc. "Nothing, you're just adorable."

"Adorable? What am I? A hamster?"

Qing Chen burst out laughing. "No, wife. But you are just as adorable."

She tried to glare at him but could not. She handed him the glass of water and he finished the rest of it. "What time is it?"

"It's one in the morning."

Had they've been kissing that long?! With her eyes closed all the time she did not really mind the time passing. But it was that long?! She licked her lips and found that some of the feeling had already came back.

They both settled under the blanket. They had been too absorbed in each other's heat earlier that they did not notice the cold winds that were passing through them. Feng Xuan would shiver continuously if she were out of the blanket. She settled in the circle of Qing Chen's arms and pressed her head on his collarbone.

"We can't kiss like this every night," she said.

"And why not?"

"Because we would be sleep-deprived by the morning."

Qing Chen pulled away and she tilted her head so they were looking at each other. "I really don't mind."

Feng Xuan returned his smile, her voice lacing with invitation that she could not help giving. "You do not?"

Qing Chen did not answer but gently touched her face with his fingertips—too gentle that they were almost ticklish. He closed the remaining inches between them and pressed his lips to hers softly, like a butterfly landing on the heart of the flower. They hardly touched but she still felt it all the way to her toes.

Qing Chen was already pulling away but she held on the back of his neck, holding him in place as she lifted herself slightly to continue their kiss. She could feel his lips smile under hers. "What are you smiling about?"

"You just said we cannot kiss like this at night anymore."

"I didn't say we're going to start now," she backtracked. "But if you want, we could—"

"No," he said, already reaching for her face. "Not really," he murmured against her lips.

As they began to kiss again, a sudden fear crept to her. She pulled away and held on Qing Chen's hand. "What if we got tired of kissing each other? That could happen, right?"

Qing Chen looked confused. "I suppose. But I don't think I'll ever get tired of this," he said and claimed her lips again.

"Qing Chen," she half-laughed and half-whined, pulling away. "We should sleep."

He shook his head as if to show he was sobering up. "Okay. Just one more."

"Okay," she echoed. "Just one more."

They kissed.

"That's the last one," she said, settling in his arms again.

Qing Chen nodded begrudgingly. "Last one."

Then they were quiet, feeling the air thicken and before either of them choked, they said almost at the same time: "Okay, just one more."

It felt like a relief when their lips pressed together.

"Oh no, we have it bad," Feng Xuan grumbled.

"Honeymoon phase," Qing Chen said quietly. "It's fine, wife." He took her hand and kissed her wrist. His eyes were like the shine of the moon on the water—like they were melting when he looked at her. "This night is so satisfying. I've been wanting to kiss you for a while."

"For a while?! Only?!"

"Since the beginning," he smiled. "Especially when you got on the bed on our first night."

Feng Xuan's jaw dropped. "Don't bring that up!"

Qing Chen chuckled. "Okay. But we really need to sleep, we have to get up early later."

The following morning, Feng Xuan and Qing Chen were awakened by the heat of the place. Her silk nighties stuck to her back and her hair clung to her neck. When she pulled away from Qing Chen's arm, it was sweaty. They immediately jumped into separate showers and was too hungry to talk too much over breakfast.

Qing Chen fulfilled his promise of getting a bigger plane—the one with the bedroom--and Feng Xuan plopped down on it as it was the clouds outside their windows. The lights were turned down and the airconditioner was turned on high.

Qing Chen was looking at her with pure curiosity—like he wanted to say something.

Feng Xuan touched her nose consciously. "Do I have a booger in my nose?"

Qing Chen cracked up. "You just say the craziest things at times."

"What?!" she asked and squeezed her nose, feeling for anything big. Nothing. "You were staring again. What is it?"

"I just enjoy watching you."

"Well," she gestured to her face. "You can watch this later. We really need to catch up with sleep."

"Good night."

Feng Xuan grinned. "Good night, husband," she said and leaned over and pressed a kiss on his lips.

Qing Chen did not sleep the entire plane ride. He did not want to mess up his body clock especially when he had a big day on Monday. He was just watching her, her chest falling and rising.

As he did not sleep, when they got home it was his time to rest. But not before they got caught up kissing again. Feng Xuan's kisses felt like he had swallowed a hot forging steel and melted all of his insides. He did not think she would be on board with all of these. He only meant to give her a short kiss the night before.

But when she pulled him down, he was overwhelmed with desire and the want that built up inside him flowed like a broken dam. For a moment with all the kisses, he thought he was going to go all the way.

When Feng Xuan kissed him when she walked him to the door this morning. She gave him a big smooch that he thought he was not going to work anymore. He was tempted. But then he remembered all the workload he had to face and pulled himself away from her. He was even thankful he got into the car.

And all he could think was: "Dear God, what did I start?"

He took a deep breath as they pulled away in the driveway and he stared at his surroundings, finally coming back from heaven to reality. He needed to come visit his family first before he head into the office. He was itching to know what else was going on with the case.

"How was the ho-ho-honeymoon?" Wuming greeted him with a fresh cup of coffee in his hands, still wearing his pajamas but he was shirtless. The scars on his torso reminded Qing Chen why he did not want to belong in this world.

"It was not a honeymoon," he answered and grabbed his own cup before settling himself on the couch.

"Oh please," Wuming waved a hand, his eyes glittering with naughtiness. "A bet you had a lot of fun."

Qing Chen ignored this and looked at Qing Lok who looked like he had just been pulled out of the bed, his hair was sticking up in all directions as he thumbed through a thick file on the table. "Update?"

"Uh, let's see," Qing Lok began, "Majority of the police had told Detective An to throw the case. There was not much evidence in the crime scene therefore there was no more point in looking into it because there were no leads. Father also called Deputy Tang to clear off the case and that we will take things from here. However, we still have not made progress with this." He scratched his head. "I honestly do not understand either. Usually we would caught the guy by now but this one was really hard. We looked through every tape of the CCTVs around the hotel when we held the event. Nothing suspicious."

"Nothing at all," Wuming seconded. "Which is also suspicious. There were no new victims. So it's either this killer was really targeting the board members of our company or… Mr. Wei was just some unlucky man who chanced upon a serial killer."

"The police cannot really see any patterns from any other kills."

Wuming was staring far off the wall when he said, "Aside from my last contract. The Mantis."

"If they dig deep enough, surely they will find that case," Qing Chen said. "But that would be out of our police's hands. It will be an international manhunt."

Wuming dropped his cup on the saucer with a clang. "I think I need to go back North. Scour the place and find who The Mantis was working for."

"But what's the connection with The Mantis and Mr. Wei?" Qing Chen asked.

"That's what we would like to find out." Wuming was already starting to grin as he stretched his arms and legs on top of the carpet. "This is going to be awesome."

"Are you going to be fine alone?"

"Pft," Wuming said with a frown. "What are you talking about? I had been alone all these years and I am not dead yet. I promise I'll come home in a few days time."

Qing Chen breathed out knowing full well Wuming should not be making promises like that. But he did not want to contradict it. He also wanted to believe he was going to come back, in one piece at least. Yeah, he thought. Wuming is tough. He stood up and brushed a hand on his coat not wanting to overthink and worry. "Well then, that's it for this morning?"

Qing Lok yawned and nodded his head slowly. "That's it for now. I'll update you later again tonight."

Wuming followed Qing Chen when he walked out of the house. "Hey, keep the wife safe, okay? Don't let her be alone."

Worry began to start in his chest. "She's never alone nowadays. Even her father sent his personal guard to protect her. Do you think she might be a part of this?"

Wuming squinted his eyes against the sun. "I don't know, brother. But just to make sure. I just have this strange feeling about it." He patted Qing Chen good-naturedly on the arm. "I'll be back before you know it."

Qing Chen nodded. "Yeah, you take care." The car stopped in front of them and the driver opened the door. Qing Chen was just about to disappear inside it but he stopped. "Who's that girl at the party?"

Then Qing Chen saw a rare sight. Wuming was trying to stop his smile and it was not really working. He looked smitten. Oh, God. What happened to him? "I'll tell you when I get back."

"You better."

"Yes, boss," he saluted. "I'll do my best."

When Qing Chen's car peeled out of the property, Wuming headed upstairs to start packing his bag. He thought about the party last weekend and about the pretty girl he was with.

Yep, he definitely needed to come back.