Chapter 45 The touch of fingertips, lightning

The cool kitchen walls barely calmed the burning sensation in Su Wanqing's cheeks and the erratic pounding of her heart. She leaned against the wall, took a deep breath, and tried to banish the thrilling and ambiguous moments from her mind.

On the wrist, the skin where he had gripped it so hard still retained a clear touch - hot, strong, rough with thin calluses, and a hint of... unquestionable protectiveness.

She subconsciously rubbed that skin, and her heart felt like a red-hot iron was thrown into it, sizzling and churning endlessly.

It was just his instinctive reaction in a hurry.

He quickly let go.

He might even find it troublesome.

She tried to convince herself again with reason, but the lingering burning sensation on her wrist and the instant he let go of her hand, which was almost like being burned, made these arguments seem pale and powerless.

She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. She walked to the sink and washed her face with cold water, trying to suppress the heat on her face and the restlessness in her heart. Then she started to clean the kitchen counter, looking for something to do to distract herself.

However, when she picked up the rag and prepared to wipe the place where the teapot had just been placed, her eyes involuntarily fell towards the living room.

Huo Tingxiao was still sitting on the sofa, holding the military journal in his hand, his posture seemingly unchanged. However, Su Wanqing keenly noticed that his movements were much slower than before, and his eyes weren't completely focused on the paper. Instead, he seemed... distracted?

Moreover, his right hand... the right hand that had just grasped her wrist was now casually resting on his knees, his knuckles slightly curled up, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing against each other, as if he was also savoring something.

This subtle, almost imperceptible movement, like a weak electric current, instantly struck Su Wanqing, causing her heart to skip a beat again.

She hurriedly averted her gaze, lowered her head, and pretended to concentrate on wiping the already very clean table, but her ears began to burn uncontrollably again.

Time passed slowly in a subtle and tense silence.

Su Wanqing tried her best to delay her busy time in the kitchen until she felt the heat on her face completely faded and her heartbeat returned to normal. Then she took a deep breath and walked out of the kitchen with two cups of freshly brewed tea at the right temperature.

She tried to make her steps appear natural, walked to the coffee table, and gently placed one of the cups of tea on the coaster in front of Huo Tingxiao, her voice as steady as possible: "Commander, your tea."

"Yeah." Huo Tingxiao responded, his eyes still fixed on the journal. He didn't look up, but his right hand, which was resting on his knee, paused its stroking motion almost imperceptibly.

Su Wan put down her cup of tea and was about to return to the single sofa next to her.

At this moment, Huo Tingxiao suddenly put down his journal and reached for the new cup of tea. His movements seemed a little absent-minded, his fingertips not firmly grasping the handle of the cup, but gliding along the wall.

"hiss!"

The scalding cup wall instantly burned his fingertips. He subconsciously retracted his hand and frowned sharply.

"Be careful!" Su Wanqing exclaimed almost at the same time. Without thinking, she took a step forward and subconsciously reached out to check his fingers. "Are you burned? Is it serious?"

Her movements were completely instinctive, filled with unthinking concern.

Without any warning, her fingertips gently touched his slightly curled knuckles.

The cold and soft fingertips suddenly touched his warm, even slightly hot, skin with thin calluses!

Like lightning!

Both of them seemed to be struck by an extremely subtle but strong electric current, and their bodies suddenly froze!

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Su Wan could clearly feel the instantaneous tensing and stiffening of his knuckles, the burning warmth of his skin and the throbbing of his intense heartbeat at her fingertips. The touch was fleeting, like an illusion, yet it carried an indescribable, soul-piercing shudder that instantly numbed her from scalp to toes.

Huo Tingxiao's body trembled almost imperceptibly. He jerked his head up, his deep gaze fixed on her like a hawk's. Shock, bewilderment, and a complex, intense emotion threatening to burst forth. His Adam's apple rolled uncontrollably.

Su Wanqing pulled her hand back abruptly, her cheeks flushed crimson, her heart pounding like a drum, nearly jumping out of her chest. She took a panicked step back, her words incoherent: "I'm sorry! I... I didn't mean to..."

Huo Tingxiao didn't say anything, just stared at her with those bottomless eyes. His gaze was so sharp that it seemed as if he wanted to see through her completely, but also as if he was suppressing something. The finger that touched the wall of the cup curled slightly, and the knuckles were slightly red from being burned.

There was an extremely awkward and ambiguous silence in the air, as if invisible sparks were crackling.

Su Wanqing was so embarrassed that she almost ran away. She lowered her head, not daring to look him in the eye again, and said in a voice as thin as a mosquito: "I... I'll go get some burn ointment..."

After saying that, she turned around and wanted to escape from this suffocating atmosphere.

"Need not."

His low and hoarse voice came from behind him, with a hint of calmness that was suppressed, but it was darker than usual.

Su Wanqing paused.

Huo Tingxiao had already withdrawn his gaze and picked up the cup of tea again, this time holding the handle firmly. He lowered his head to blow away the hot air, took a sip, and his movements returned to their usual cool, firm, and decisive manner, as if the lightning-fast contact and violent reaction had never happened.

Only his slightly red fingertips and still tense jawline revealed the truth of that moment.

"It's okay." He added, as if explaining to her, or as if talking to himself.

Su Wanqing stood there, her back to him, her heart still pounding, the lingering, electric-like sensation on her fingertips lingering. She didn't dare look back, nor move.

After a few seconds, she heard the sound of a journal being flipped behind her, and his still somewhat low voice: "Go and do your thing."

"...Yes." Su Wanqing felt as if she had been pardoned. She walked back to the kitchen quickly, almost at the same time, and hid herself behind the cold wall again.

She leaned against the wall, clutching her still wildly beating heart. The brief, yet thrilling touch of her fingertips seemed to be branded on her skin, burning her nerves.

One was an accident.

What about twice?

This time, it was no longer an instinctive protection in a critical moment, but... an unexpected intimate contact in a calm moment.

Although brief and small, it was like a real lightning bolt, splitting the seemingly solid layer of ice between the two people and revealing the turbulent and heart-pounding undercurrent underneath.

His shocked and complicated look, his instantly stiff reaction, his low and hoarse voice... all told her that the touch at that moment was by no means meaningless to him.

Su Wanqing slowly raised her hand and looked at the fingertips that had just touched him. Her cheeks were hot and her heart was in turmoil.

Like a flash of lightning, it's fleeting.

But it is enough to start a prairie fire.