C19 Unworthy to Bed

His words were almost automatic—orders, as per his usual.

Yanxi only stared at him.

When he noticed that she had not done as he had asked, Bai Tiancheng sat up. “I said, go get me a glass of water!” he hollered impatiently.

“Go get it yourself. I’m tired.” Although she wasn’t sure if her exhaustion was more physical or emotional.

She didn’t wait for her husband to respond and instead walked over to the foot of the stairs.

To her horror, she looked up to Tang Zhengxun’s figure looming just up ahead. He was, in fact, leaning against the wall at the second floor landing, casually smoking a cigarette.

He shot her an amused look through the haze of the smoke surrounding him.

“Qin Yanxi!” came a voice behind her. She had been so mesmerized by the man in front of her that she hadn’t felt Tiancheng follow after her.

“You seem to have gained quite a lot of bravado ever since you met that Tang Zhengxun!” her husband snarled as he pulled her back against his body.

“Stop speaking nonsense,” she protested and tried to free herself.

The man he was badmouthing was just a few steps above them, listening to every word they were saying. Her panic returned, twice as bad as when Tiancheng had first arrived.

Meanwhile, Tiancheng failed to pick up on the true cause of her distress, and sought to mock her some more.

“I have a great idea. Why don’t you give it a try, Yanxi? Let’s see who is better in bed between that man and I.”

Upstairs, Tang Zhengxun froze. His eyes narrowed into dangerous slits as he cast a sidelong glance at the other man.

His mind buzzed with thoughts of destroying Bai Tiancheng right then and there.

Before he could make heads or tails of his murderous ideas, though, he heard the distinct sound of fabric getting ripped apart.

He took a deep breath and stubbed his cigarette on an ashtray he had found earlier. Then he craned his neck to take a good look at what was happening downstairs.

His expression remained neutral the entire time, just as it should have been. He was something of an outsider here, after all. But his inner feelings were another matter.

Yanxi had never imagined Bai Tiancheng to follow through with his words, yet here they were. He had torn her shirt in the blink of an eye and was now groping her chest with his big, clammy hands.

As soon as his skin touched hers, a wave of nausea rose in the pit of her stomach.

She held on desperately to what was left of her clothes and bit his hand at the first chance she had. Her actions were all instinctive and powered by adrenaline.

Fortunately, it seemed to have worked. Bai Tiancheng pulled his hand away with an expletive and completely let go of her.

“You wench!” he roared, his eyes wild with fury. But a sheen of lust was there as well.

He appeared to realize this for himself at the last minute and couldn't help but curse. Damn it! Did he actually want this woman for a second? He must have lost his mind!

Yanxi wanted to hurl some choice words of her own at Tiancheng, but her eyes went straight to the teeth marks she had left on his hand. The sight made her stomach churn violently.

She covered her mouth and fled upstairs without a backward glance.

Her unprecedented reaction stunned Tiancheng, who stared after her as she ran. Did she hate his touch so much that it made her sick?

The thought doused whatever little desire he had been feeling, and his eyes turned cold.

‘Qin Yanxi,’ he thought with disgust. ‘You truly are a woman unworthy to bed.’

Yanxi slammed the pink door closed behind her and leaned against it, panting. Her belly was experiencing inexplicable spasms.

She was faintly aware that this was caused by her husband, but never had she expected to be so repulsed by a mere physical contact with the man.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that she knew he had been physically intimate with another woman.

She had been there, after all. She had heard them do the deed in real time, and she had had to witness the turbulent aftermath of their torrid affair.

Worse—she had even had to clean up after them on more than one occasion.

Just the memory of it now brought on a pain similar to being pulled apart limb by limb.

Across the room, Tang Zhengxun lounged at a small sofa, his long legs crossed in front of him. His head was cocked to the side as he observed her, and his mouth was curved into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“Qin Yanxi,” he said in a low voice that was almost soothing to her ears. Her gaze was immediately drawn to his.

“Before anything else, I think you might want to do something about your… state of undress.”

His sultry eyes lowered pointedly to chest.