Chapter 53 I Miss You

Seeing that the man was thinner than last year, although his shoulders and back were still straight, his angular features seemed to be covered with a layer of frost, which made her throat tighten.

"My Lord..."

"you……"

The two of them spoke at the same time and stopped at the same time.

She lowered her eyelashes.

He suddenly coughed, and a familiar fishy and sweet taste suddenly surged in his throat.

The moment the white handkerchief covered her lips, a small spot of dark red blood spread out.

The man moved very quickly, curling the handkerchief in his palm and putting it back into his sleeve.

The doctor said that the poison had been attacking him more and more frequently in the past two months, and that it might have already invaded his lungs, so he must not overexert himself.

Well, that also includes...sex.

"My Lord, have you caught a cold?" Wen Ning asked with some concern.

Xie Jinglan shook his head, "It's okay, I'm much better now."

Perhaps because they hadn't seen each other for so long, a subtle sense of strangeness arose between them.

Xie Jinglan looked at the woman he had been thinking about day and night standing in front of him. His body, which had just been weighed down by the poison, now felt a little lighter.

"What do you want from me?" He was very curious, but there was no emotion in his voice.

Wen Ning's eyelashes trembled slightly, and her lips opened and closed several times before she finally lowered her eyes and whispered:

"Yesterday, when I was rummaging through the boxes, I found the cloak that the Marquis left behind last year, so I dug it out and washed and dried it. I heard you just returned from the Northern Frontier, and I thought you might need it tonight, so I brought it over."

She gently held the cloak in her arms, lowered her head, and her cheeks flushed slightly.

I didn't know if this reason was too deliberate to come to him so suddenly.

When the man heard this, his eyes fell on the ink-black cloak, and he suddenly felt uncomfortable.

Along with it, a kind of inexplicable anger emerged without warning.

I remembered that she had never taken me seriously before, not even when she was desperate.

During this year, he missed her like a tide, but those thoughts were immediately washed away by ice water, leaving him feeling cold and astringent.

He said calmly, "You came here specially to give me this?"

Sensing the change in his mood, Wen Ning tightened her grip slightly.

He said softly, "Yeah."

Xie Jinglan's eyes were deep, but his face remained calm. He only replied, "Thank you for your concern."

The room suddenly fell into silence. It was the first time that the man was so silent since the two of them met.

I don’t know what he went through this year.

Wen Ning bit her lower lip and paused her fingertips on the buttons of her cloak. She owed him and should pay him back.

Now that you're here, all that affectation and entanglement seems unnecessary.

He was the one who took the initiative in the past, so why not take the initiative this time?

"I...actually, I want to ask, if I come to see the Marquis and fulfill the old agreement, will the Marquis...still want it?"

I really can't think of any good words.

She didn't expect that she would say it like this!

This sentence was too straightforward, without any preparation. It was like a ball of fire rolling from the tip of her tongue to her heart, burning her whole body, leaving only overwhelming shyness.

The man's breathing visibly stagnated, and the fingers hanging by his side curled up almost imperceptibly.

The longing that had been suppressed for a year suddenly surged up, almost breaking down all his defenses.

He even subconsciously leaned forward half a step, but suddenly stopped.

Wasn't it his deliberate plan a year ago to make her throw herself into his arms?

But at this moment, seeing her clutching her cloak tightly with her fingertips turning white, the expectation of "getting what I wanted" suddenly faded.

It turns out that what he wanted was never her grateful sacrifice.

"Is it because I saved you and your son that you feel you owe me, that's why you're doing this?" He wanted to understand if this was just a way to repay the favor. "What about after today? Fulfill the old agreement, repay the favor, and then we're even?"

Wen Ning's fingertips trembled, and her chest felt like someone was grabbing it tightly.

She didn't expect him to ask that, nor did she expect him to think that way.

The words just now were an unspeakable humiliation to her.

Things like this are treated as something that can be settled clearly, written off and cleared up once and for all.

The tip of my nose suddenly felt sore and my eyes became hot.

She turned her face away, her voice trembling slightly, "If that's what you think, my Lord, then just pretend I've never been here."

After saying that, she turned around and was about to leave, just wanting to leave this embarrassing place immediately.

However, before she could step out of the door, she felt a pain in her wrist and her back was pressed heavily against the carved door.

In his shock, he casually pulled out the black cloak in his arms and threw it on the ground at his feet before he could even pull it together.

The wood's ridges hurt his back, but it was not as terrifying as the dark current surging in his eyes.

He lowered his head and stared at her, his breath burning hot on her lips, "Who allowed you to leave?"

Wen Ning could smell the cold breath from him, and her body was blocked by him and she couldn't move.

He won't let me leave. Do I have to stay here and let him humiliate me?

She said angrily, "What does the Marquis want?"

The grip on her wrist suddenly tightened, and he unconsciously became a little uncontrollable and cruel. "I'm asking you! What do you want?"

A year of longing had already eaten him to pieces.

Her past hot and cold behavior, her escape and being pulled back by him, as well as her initiative and turning around just now, seemed to tear his nerves repeatedly, and suddenly it reached a critical point.

Anger welled up in his eyes as he questioned her, "You always tried so hard to push me away before, leaving me no room for compromise. Why are you so willing to throw yourself into my arms now? Are you thinking that by giving me your body today, you've completely repaid that little debt of gratitude. Then you can escape without any worries, right?"

The man felt that the woman's pulse under his palm was extremely fast, almost as fast as his out-of-control heartbeat.

"No, no, I just... I just miss you so much."

As soon as the words came out, even Wen Ning herself was stunned.

She had never told anyone such straightforward thoughts, and she didn't even dare to admit it to herself.

But at this moment, in front of him, the emotions that had been suppressed for a year overflowed so easily.

He left without saying goodbye that day, and only then did she realize the intense pain in her heart.

Only then did he suddenly realize that her repeated escape was like the kite string in his hand, which she repeatedly broke and connected.

The woman raised her face, a look of confusion in her misty peach blossom eyes. "I don't know. I don't know if it's to repay a favor. I just, I just really want to come to you."

The man's breathing suddenly stopped. When he heard her say she missed him, it was as if thousands of ants were crawling along his meridians, and every limb was numb and trembling.

"Say it again!"

Look at her flushed face, from cheeks to ears.

She turned her head away and refused to say anything.

The man only felt that the numbness in his limbs suddenly turned into a heat that was as strong as a prairie fire.

His eyes darkened, and he suddenly loosened his grip on her wrist, letting his slender fingers slide into the black hair behind her ear.

His knuckles dug deep into the soft roots of her hair, his calloused palms pressed firmly against the back of her delicate neck, and then he lowered his head to grab that hint of bright red.

He forced her to raise her head and face him.

"Hmm..."

The passion between their lips was surging and lingering, carrying with it a cruelty that had been suppressed for too long, yet also a trembling that was hidden for fear of being broken.