Surrounded by Wolves
For no clear reason, a layer of cold sweat broke out along Jiang Wu’s back. Every nerve in her snapped taut at once. Holding her phone, she glanced toward the door and asked blankly, “Huh?”
Huo Qingzhi didn’t waste words. “You can choose to invite me in for a while. Or you can choose to let me come in myself.”
The room remained silent for more than half a minute. In the moment Jiang Wu hesitated, the door gave a soft beep.
Huo Qingzhi’s tall figure appeared plainly before her eyes!
“Looks like you chose to let me come in myself.” He ended the call.
The entire doorway in front of Jiang Wu was blocked by him. Behind her was the private room whose curtains she had drawn with her own hands. She stared at him in disbelief. “You told me to close the curtains because…”
“Hmm?” Huo Qingzhi lowered his eyes. After closing the door, he casually began undoing the clasp of his watch. “Do you want people to see what we might do behind closed doors as husband and wife?”
Watching his movements, something about it struck Jiang Wu as faintly familiar.
Click. The watch clasp came undone, the band dangling from his fingertips.
Huo Qingzhi placed it on the cabinet by the door, then removed his ring. “I don’t have that particular taste.”
Before he could finish, Jiang Wu turned around and tried to open the curtains again. Perhaps then he would worry about being seen and…
Her fingers had barely brushed one of the curtains when, all of a sudden, her entire body was pressed against the floor-to-ceiling window, the curtain caught between them!
The sudden, crushing confinement of it startled a small cry out of her.
Huo Qingzhi showed no hesitation. His large hand pinned her waist, using his height and strength to press her firmly against the floor-to-ceiling window. Her small frame was pinned tightly between him and the glass.
Cold glass at her front, and she could feel, with perfect clarity, the shawl she’d wrapped herself in being peeled away, piece by piece.
Huo Qingzhi was never a man who rushed.
Holding her pinned there against the window, unable to move, his long fingers hooked the shawl around her and drew it open, slow and deliberate. Making her reveal herself to him with nothing left to hide behind.
His voice was almost unnaturally gentle. “What’s wrong? Didn’t I already tell you?”
“As your husband, I intend to collect a little compensation from you.”
“Don’t be afraid.”
Yet the gentler his voice sounded, the more strikingly forceful his restraint of her became. His warm breath fell across her bare shoulder and neck as he spoke, raising a fine shiver across her skin.
But Jiang Wu understood it differently. His movements and voice wore down her composure until her words came out trembling. “Didn’t you already collect it?”
That mark he’d left on her neck, before she’d left the room.
While she had been out having fun today, several people had asked whether she had a partner. With such an intimate mark on her neck, Jiang Wu could only say yes.
“Collect what?” Huo Qingzhi had never considered that to be compensation. He drew the fabric aside himself, baring the jade-smooth curve of her shoulder beneath his gaze.
The shawl slipped from her body, falling into the crook of her arms, only to be caught and crushed between the two of them, leaving not even a sliver of space between their bodies.
From his height, looking down, he could also see the smooth, ivory-white curves beneath her shoulder. Cupped and lifted by the two emerald velvet pieces.
During the day, they would tremble like the delicate butterfly wings as she walked. But now, pressed against the floor-to-ceiling window through the curtain, there was no fluttering before his eyes.
Only fullness, and… something pitiful.
So pitiful.
That was Huo Qingzhi’s first thought.
After moving her shawl aside, his rough fingers slipped beneath the slender strap holding the fabric in place and, almost as an afterthought, answered Jiang Wu’s question. “Doesn’t matter what I collected.”
Jiang Wu realized what he was tugging at and tried to stop him. “It matters!”
“Huo Qingzhi!”
Huo Qingzhi hooked a finger beneath the tied strap. Then he pulled loose the carefully tied bow she had made. “Does it?”
“I thought what mattered to you was what you asked me about today, whether I would feel desire for you right now.”
Huo Qingzhi released the strap and let it fall. “Ah Wu’s so worried about my desire.”
Jiang Wu tried to shield herself, suddenly stripped of any covering, but he caught her wrist and pinned it firmly against the floor-to-ceiling window.
“Do you really have to provoke me like this?” Huo Qingzhi held her with one hand, his other sliding up along the arm looped from her waist.
He gripped her without room for resistance, letting her fill and squeeze in his palm.
The softness of the woman against the strength of the man’s hand created an extreme contrast, yet somehow a perfect fit.
Compared with the trembling butterfly, they now looked more like the wings of a white dove. Even the feathers seemed to spill through the gaps between his slender fingers.
Jiang Wu’s slender neck arched, the fingers still gripping the curtain curled tight of their own accord, clenched into a fist. Her shoulders drew in, curling her chest in a protective posture, but he opened them back up.
When she reacted to the stimulation, Huo Qingzhi pressed a light kiss to the side of her neck.
“You really did look beautiful today.” He was never stingy with his praise, but his next words were, “Beautiful enough to make a man want to devour you.”
Jiang Wu’s body trembled. Clearly unable to take much more of this, she turned her head away from his voice, which was far too close.
Their windows faced the sea, and there was no one in that direction. So, no one could see what was happening inside one of the rooms of the beach villa.
Behind the drawn curtains, part of the room remained pressed close against the floor-to-ceiling window. A soft swell caught and cupped in his palm, being slowly but increasingly.
“Why do you insist on asking me if I have desire for you?”
“Do you know what I think about every single time you’re in my room wearing that nightgown?”
Riiip! A sharp tearing sound!
Jiang Wu stared in shock. The delicate strap gave way, torn apart.
Then he cruelly told her, “This was what I had been thinking about.”
Having said it, he gathered the torn fabric and wrapped it back around her regardless. “You still don’t understand why I never let you stay overnight in my room before?”
The jeweled fabric and the rough calluses of his hand made the moment feel even more overwhelming. Everything was a chaotic tangle.
Even the meaning behind his words left her hopelessly confused. “Do you still need to ask?”
Jiang Wu no longer dared think too deeply about all those times she had tried to stay overnight in Huo Qingzhi’s room. “Mom and Dad… Mom and Dad are still here…”
“Ah Wu, keep your voice down. Mom and Dad won’t hear us.”
“I mean, I’ll call Dad…”
Huo Qingzhi turned her around from the window, and Jiang Wu, facing him, immediately fell silent, both hands instinctively shielding herself.
Watching this, Huo Qingzhi, utterly unfazed by her threat, leaned in until his lips brushed hers and told her, plainly, “Go on. Call.”
Jiang Wu opened her mouth as if she really intended to do so, but he took advantage of the moment and kissed her.
All her incoherent words were swallowed up, and before she could call out, he drew her into another kiss.
What a bastard.
Jiang Wu’s hands, originally protecting herself, turned into pushing and shoving. She grabbed his collar and tried to push him away, only to tear several buttons open at his chest instead.
The skin between them grew increasingly hot.
Huo Qingzhi kissed her as he guided her toward the sofa facing the floor-to-ceiling windows. By the time Jiang Wu realized what was happening, she was already sitting face-to-face on his lap.
The brief moment their lips parted, he kissed her again. His large hand wrapped around her lower back and pulled her firmly against him, settling her against his waist.
Jiang Wu instinctively drew her legs together, only to end up wrapping them around his waist.
Huo Qingzhi drew a quiet breath and pulled back slightly. From that position, he lowered his kisses along her jaw and neck…
Jiang Wu covered his lips with her hand, stopping him from going any lower. When he looked up, a trace of something feral showed in his eyes.
She released his lips again, then clenched both hands into fists and held them protectively in front of herself.
He wasn’t allowed to look, wasn’t allowed to touch, and certainly wasn’t allowed to kiss.
Huo Qingzhi watched her movements. The hand supporting her lower back slowly moved downward. Then, suddenly, he gave her a sharp smack.
Smack!
The crisp sound echoed through the room.
Jiang Wu froze entirely, staring at him in disbelief.
Huo Qingzhi remained expressionless and simply said, “Move your hands.”
Her voice trembled. “No.”
Huo Qingzhi looked at her for a moment, then took hold of the back of her neck, tipped his head up, and kissed her glistening lips. “You’re being disobedient.”
Just as Jiang Wu was becoming dazed from the entanglement of his kisses, he caught her wrists and held them together with a silk ribbon.
The soft rasp of silk being knotted.
Jiang Wu realized, with a jolt — her hands were fastened together!
She froze for a moment. Before she could resist, Huo Qingzhi pulled her bound wrists over his head, guiding her arms around his neck.
Bringing them even closer together. As if she were the one embracing him, demanding and receiving all at once.
Huo Qingzhi got what he wanted, following the corner of her lips as his kisses moved lower.
She was inexperienced. So inexperienced that she kept trembling the whole time.
But Huo Qingzhi knew perfectly well that she was enjoying it because his own restraint was fraying by the second.
It was only the beginning, yet she was already unable to bear it. And she still dared to provoke him like that openly today.
Huo Qingzhi gave her more kisses. Until, overwhelmed by the unfamiliar sensations, Jiang Wu suddenly called out to him, “Brother!”
Almost at the same instant—
Another sharp smack! echoed through the room.
The sound sent Jiang Wu’s tense trembling and burning embarrassment climbing to their peak all at once.
She cried out in surprise.
“You’re still calling me Brother?”
Another smack!
Huo Qingzhi had been holding himself back for a long time. “You’ve really liked calling me ‘Brother’ these past few days.”
“You like calling me Brother that much?”
“Call me again.”
Each sentence was punctuated by another smack.
Jiang Wu bit her lip and clung to his shoulders, trying to withstand his relentless teasing. The tip of her nose had turned bright red from being teased, and her chest rose and fell rapidly, which only made things easier for him.
“B-bastard.”
Once he’d finished, Huo Qingzhi soothed the sting with gentle strokes. “Not calling me that anymore?”
But he wasn’t finished. “These past two days, relying on Mom and Dad being here, you’ve called me ‘Brother’ seven times.”
“Good girl. Count them.”
~~
Huo Qingzhi was no longer a good brother. That was what Jiang Wu thought, feeling deeply aggrieved, as she rode a hot-air balloon over Atlantis the next day.
She had never been spanked in her entire life.
When Huo Qingzhi had looked after her as a child, no matter how serious her mistakes were, he had always patiently talked things through with her. He had never laid a finger on her.
All those years, from childhood onward…
When she got married, she had even thought that everything had been arranged by Eldest Brother. He had made the decision, and nothing he decided could possibly go wrong.
Eldest Brother was a gentle, well-mannered man, strict with himself above all.
Why was he like this behind closed doors?
Why was he like this as a husband?
This was completely different from what Jiang Wu knew about him, and Jiang Wu was deeply shaken. There were simply too many things about Huo Qingzhi that she now had to learn to accept.
At first, it had only been accepting the idea of “husband” and “wife” between them at all. Then accepting his desire for her, and whatever feelings he had apparently developed for her at some point without her realizing it.
And now, this frighteningly fierce side of him.
Jiang Wu refused to ride in the same hot-air balloon as her three brothers, so she clung to Mom and Dad and boarded theirs instead.
Huo Tingshan had always considered hot-air balloons a risky activity and hadn’t wanted Jiang Yaping to ride one. But Jiang Yaping liked it, so he came along too.
When Jiang Yaping rushed toward the hot-air balloon, Huo Tingshan nervously pulled her back. Then he turned to look at Jiang Wu, who was obediently standing off to the side. Only after the hot-air balloon landed did Huo Tingshan finally relax. He escorted the mother and daughter down.
Almost as soon as the balloon touched the ground, Jiang Wu spotted Huo Qingzhi waiting nearby to pick them up. She turned her head away uncomfortably.
Huo Tingshan and Jiang Yaping went over to meet Huo Qingzhi.
“You should have come with us,” Jiang Yaping said. “The view from the hot-air balloon was pretty nice.”
Huo Qingzhi didn’t answer but looked past them to the person hiding behind them.
Huo Tingshan simply said, “If you don’t want to go, then don’t go. It’s too dangerous anyway.”
“It’s about time for lunch. Where are Yingli and Lingyi?”
Huo Qingzhi spoke in the same calm, composed voice as always. “They reserved a table at a Michelin-starred restaurant. They’re waiting for us to join them.”
Jiang Wu felt a chill run through her at that voice – the exact same voice that had told her last night, “Count them.”
She screamed inwardly, “He’s faking it! He’s still faking it!”
Jiang Yaping said, “We’re going to the lounge to get our things. You two wait here.”
This time, even though Jiang Wu desperately didn’t want to be alone with him, she had no choice but to remain behind. She unconsciously moved a little farther away from him.
Maybe it was the wind from just getting off the balloon, but her nose started to itch, and she sneezed before she could stop it.
She heard movement beside her. From the corner of her eye, she saw Huo Qingzhi take out a shawl and walk toward her.
“…” The very same shawl he had stripped away from her last night.
Jiang Wu glanced at him, refused it, and walked toward the lounge as well.
Huo Qingzhi followed behind her. When she quickened her pace, he strode forward and caught her in one swift movement. Then he wrapped the shawl around her.
Huo Qingzhi said nothing. As he wrapped it around her, his arms naturally encircling her, he lowered his head and pressed his lips briefly to her forehead.
Jiang Wu’s displeasure bubbled over, her pout deepening.
Huo Qingzhi watched her for a moment, then lowered his head, seeking her lips instead.
Jiang Wu walked away again. Without thinking much of it, she reached the VIP lounge and pulled open the door to their family’s room.
The instant the door swung open, Jiang Wu caught Huo Tingshan’s voice, helpless and coaxing. “BB, I’m getting old; stop doing things that worry me so much.”
And then, without any warning at all, Jiang Wu saw her parents kissing inside the lounge. This scene was also witnessed by Huo Qingzhi behind her.
Jiang Wu’s hand moved faster than her brain and slammed the door shut with a bang!
The sheer volume of the slam made her regret it the instant it happened. She wanted, desperately, to find a hole to crawl into.
The lounge door opened again from the inside, Jiang Yaping poking her head out. “Sweetheart?”
Jiang Wu, mortified, kept her head down, staring resolutely at nothing. “Sorry, Mommy!”
Jiang Yaping laughed. “Nothing to be sorry about. Come on, let’s go.”
She turned around and scolded Huo Tingshan, “I told you long ago not to dawdle.”
Huo Tingshan could only follow after them without saying much. Jiang Wu and Huo Qingzhi fell behind. Walking side by side with him now was even more awkward.
Jiang Wu clutched the shawl around herself. Just as the embarrassment was turning her cheeks bright red, she suddenly heard a quiet laugh beside her.
She immediately looked over and pinched Huo Qingzhi’s arm, protesting in a whisper, “What are you laughing at?!”
Huo Qingzhi caught her hand and, using the hanging shawl to conceal the movement, held it in his palm. “Nothing.”
“Don’t laugh again.”
“Okay~~”
~~
The following day was New Year’s Eve.
Dubai had also prepared festive celebrations for Chinese visitors spending the Lunar New Year there. Lion dances, dragon dances, and red lanterns could be seen everywhere.
As night fell, they went up the Burj Khalifa and attended the hotel’s New Year’s Eve dinner, watching fireworks burst from the tower itself to celebrate the arrival of the new year.
Outside, there was also a musical fountain show. Light and shadow transformed the night sky into countless dreamlike colors. It was almost like a fairytale castle putting on a grand celebration for the arrival of the new year.
When they returned to their hotel villa, they were still surrounded by the lively atmosphere, which continued well into the night, like a city of fireworks that never went dark.
Huo Tingshan had already arranged their itinerary for the next day. True to his health-conscious routine, he urged everyone to return to their rooms and get some rest.
Dubai was four hours behind China, so midnight in China was eight in the evening there. They had already celebrated together by watching the fireworks and enjoying the New Year’s Eve dinner.
It fit perfectly with the schedule of the older generation. There was no real need for them to stay up until midnight local time.
Jiang Wu returned to her room and picked out an outfit for the next day before setting it aside in the corner and going to take a shower. After tidying up, Huo Qingzhi naturally made his way into the room.
Fireworks were still going off continuously outside.
He had barely stepped inside when the outfit Jiang Wu had laid out in the corner caught his attention. It was the sweet-and-edgy style she loved. A black-and-red off-the-shoulder mini dress paired with tall boots.
A bracelet and hair clip set out neatly beside it. On the table sat the accessory box she used to match her outfits. Everything was neatly sorted into separate compartments. She hadn’t put the case away yet, leaving it out in the open.
Huo Qingzhi glanced at the dress beside it a couple more times and took a deep breath. They were still in a period of easing back into harmony with each other, so he forced himself not to show any objection to her off-the-shoulder outfit.
Otherwise, he would look like a resentful husband who spent every day going mad with jealousy over one thing or another. Huo Qingzhi reminded himself that he had known her clothing style for many years.
Nothing in there should catch him off guard anymore. Thinking this, his hand absently slid the jewelry box closed. All the way to the last, largest compartment. His hand suddenly went still.
Neatly arranged inside were several different kinds of… chokers. The air seemed to freeze for a moment.
Huo Qingzhi stared at them. There weren’t many, only two or three pieces. The one on top was made of black lace, embroidered with black butterflies and decorated with dangling pearls. The size was only slightly larger than the waist, yet thicker than the wrist.
Huo Qingzhi frowned. He had never seen anything like it, but for some reason, it struck him as an extremely private accessory, especially given the lace material.
Although the one she had prepared for tomorrow wasn’t made of lace, it was similar in style. A black leather, with a buckle and a ring of glittering star-shaped diamond pendants hanging from it.
Huo Qingzhi picked it up.
When Jiang Wu came out of the bathroom, she saw Huo Qingzhi holding her choker, his expression serious and his eyes dark and unreadable, as though he were trying to figure out what exactly he was looking at, but his reaction wasn’t much different from the way he looked whenever he caught sight of her bolder outfits.
Noticing that she had come out, Huo Qingzhi looked over and asked, “Where does this go?”
Jiang Wu walked over. “A choker. A necklace that sits close around your neck. Haven’t you seen one before?”
Hearing that only deepened his frown. He had considered the possibility that something like this might be worn around the wrist or attached to clothing. But why would anyone wear it around their neck?
Huo Qingzhi clearly couldn’t accept it. “Why would you wear this on your neck?”
“Why not?” Jiang Wu actually liked chokers very much. They looked cool and stylish, and she thought they suited her.
Huo Qingzhi explained seriously, “This is a leather strap.”
How could anyone put a leather strap around their neck and then go outside wearing it?
Jiang Wu corrected him. “A choker.”
Huo Qingzhi held it out to her. “Then put it on and let me see.”
Jiang Wu took it, unconvinced, and unfolded the choker. She held it against her neck to show him. “Why are you just like Dad? Can’t accept anything remotely trendy.”
Then Huo Qingzhi watched helplessly as she used that slightly unconventional accessory to encircle her slender neck.
Jiang Wu adjusted it into place and turned around to look at him. Almost instantly, she noticed that something had changed in his eyes.
She wasn’t sure whether it was merely her imagination, so she still showed it off to him. “See? Doesn’t it look pretty good?”
Huo Qingzhi looked at her and stood still in front of her. Then, without warning, he reached out and hooked two fingers into the leather buckle at her neck and pulled her straight toward him!