Chapter 44: Bite Back

The phone keeps ringing.

Bael reaches for it without pulling out, which is disorienting enough that I don’t process what’s happening until he’s already speaking.

"Yes." Pause. "I see. Give me five minutes."

He hangs up, looks down at me still sprawled across his desk, and smirks.

Then he pulls out.

The sudden emptiness makes me wince, combined wetness and cum already starting to leak out, and I’m about to say something when he’s already tucking himself back in, zipping up, adjusting his shirt like the last fifteen minutes didn’t just happen.

"Get dressed. We’re eating lunch with my uncle."

I blink.

"...What?"

"My uncle." He says it casually, like he’s talking about the weather and not the man who tried to kill me with a chandelier. "We’re meeting him for lunch."

I push myself up off the desk, trying to get my legs under me, and immediately regret it. They’re shaking, subtle tremors running through my thighs that I can’t quite control, and I have to grab the edge of the desk to keep from going straight down.

My hand slips slightly on a paper that’s gotten damp from sweat or something else I don’t want to think about.

"Your uncle," I repeat slowly, because apparently my brain stopped working somewhere between the orgasm and now. "The one who tried to murder me at our wedding?"

"That’s the one."

He’s already straightening his collar, checking his reflection in the dark screen of his computer monitor like this is a normal lunch meeting.

"I’m not going."

I’m already working on fixing my clothes, pulling my pants up from where they’re bunched around my ankles, trying to look like I wasn’t just fucked senseless on his desk thirty seconds ago. My shirt is wrinkled beyond saving and there’s a wet spot on it that I really hope isn’t visible.

"Runze." His voice shifts, less amused, more firm. "I didn’t say you had a choice."

"Well I’m saying I have a choice," I shoot back, finally getting my pants buttoned, "and I choose not to die today."

"Don’t worry," he says, adjusting his cuffs. "He won’t do anything to you in public."

"The wedding was public too, you know. Very public. But I still almost died."

I’m searching for my shoe now, which somehow ended up under his desk, and I have to crouch down to grab it, my legs protesting the movement.

Everything hurts in that specific way that says I’m going to feel this for the rest of the day.

Great.

Bael walks closer, and I straighten up just in time for him to get right in my space, close enough that I have to tilt my head back to keep eye contact.

"It’s better you stay with me where I can see you," he says, tone steady and reasonable in a way that makes it hard to argue. "What if he predicted you wouldn’t come and planned to do something to you while I’m there having lunch with him?"

I open my mouth to argue.

Then close it.

Because that actually makes sense, which is incredibly annoying.

Uncle Ming is smart enough to plan around variables. If he knows Bael is meeting him for lunch, he’d account for whether I show up or not. And if I don’t show up, if I’m somewhere else in the building...

Shit.

Bael sees the realization hit and his expression shifts into something smug.

He reaches up, fingers catching my chin, tilting my face up further so I have no choice but to look at him.

"Have you been pretending to be smart? Huh?" he asks, voice light but with an edge to it. "You sounded pretty foolish just now."

Damn.

Did he have to say it like that?

It’s not like I was pretending to be smart in the first place, I was never smart to begin with, intelligence wasn’t exactly my strong suit in either life, but shit that’s not the point.

The point is Bael’s looking at me like he just won a round in a chess game and I really, really don’t like that expression on his face.

I need to do something.

Anything.

I spread my arms out wide.

And smile.

Big and forced and entirely unconvincing.

I’m not letting him win this, not letting him have the last word, not letting him stand there looking pleased with himself while I just accept it.

Bael’s smirk deepens, his eyes flicking between my face and my outstretched arms with growing amusement.

"Did you just get happy from being scolded?" His eyebrows raise slightly. "Don’t tell me... are you actually a masochist?"

Oh, he thinks I’m trying to hug him.

Perfect.

"Yes," I say sweetly.

Then I wrap my arms around his shoulders, pulling him close, bringing my mouth right up to his ear.

"I really hope that you are too."

Then I bite down hard on his collarbone, right where his shirt collar doesn’t quite cover, sinking my teeth in with enough force that I taste skin.

Bael makes a choked sound and shoves me back so fast I stumble, his hand flying to his neck, and the look on his face is worth absolutely everything that’s about to happen to me.

Shock, pain, and something that might be outrage all mixed together.

"Li Runze!"

I’m already moving.

I bolt for the door before he could catch me, yank it open and throw myself through, momentum carrying me forward as I slam it shut behind me just as I hear his footsteps coming after me, faster than they should be.

"Serves you right!" I shout through the door, a little breathless, a lot panicked.

Then I press my back against it, hands flat against the wood, breathing hard as adrenaline spikes through me in a way that’s probably not healthy.

I can feel him on the other side, and can almost sense the frustration radiating through the door.

My heart is pounding so hard I can hear it in my ears.

I could have punched him or I could have shoved him away, I could have done literally anything else.

Why the hell did I bite him?

Am I a dog?

My face feels weird suddenly, itchy on one side, like someone’s staring at me, and I turn my head.

Then I almost jump out of my skin.

Shen Rui is sitting at his desk.

Right there.

Less than three feet away from where I’m pressed against Bael’s office door like I’m trying to hold it shut.

He’s looking up at me with an expression that’s carefully neutral but can’t quite hide the *what the absolute hell is going on* underneath it.

Oh.

Right.

I forgot he was there.

My face burns hotter, heat flooding up my neck and into my ears.

I knew his desk was right outside during everything that happened in the office. I tried so hard to stay quiet because of it, but somehow in the chaos of biting Bael and running I completely forgot he’d still be sitting there when I came through the door.

The door handle moves behind me, turning against my back.

I step away from it fast, positioning myself beside Shen Rui’s desk in one quick movement. Not hiding behind him exactly, just standing there in a way that happens to put his desk between me and whatever Bael’s about to do.

But Bael wouldn’t actually do anything with his assistant watching.

...right?

I hope.

The door opens and Bael steps out, and I see him wince slightly as he does, his hand going immediately to his neck like he can’t help it.

His fingers press against the spot I bit and I can see him processing the pain, the reality that I actually just did that.

Shen Rui’s eyes follow the movement with the precision of someone whose job is to notice details.

They land on the red mark there, bright and obvious against Bael’s skin, teeth marks clearly visible even from where I’m standing.

Then his gaze shifts to me.

I watch understanding click into place on his face, subtle but unmistakable, and I swear I see the corner of his mouth twitch like he’s trying very hard not to smile.

Like he’s putting together exactly what happened and finding it hilarious.

I straighten up slightly, doing my best to look innocent.

Composed.

Like I’m not standing here with my hair a complete mess and my clothes obviously rumpled and a bite mark I just left visible on my husband’s neck for his assistant to see.

Bael’s looking at me with an expression I can’t really read.

Not angry, exactly.

More like he’s deciding what to do about this and hasn’t quite landed on an answer yet.

The silence stretches.

Shen Rui is still watching us both, and I can feel his attention even though he’s not moving, not saying anything, just observing this entire situation with what I’m sure is professional detachment that he’s going to laugh about later.

I clear my throat.

"Uhh..." My voice comes out slightly higher than normal. "L-let’s go get lunch?"