Chapter 322
The black sedan glided to a stop by the school gates.
Cheng Yannan's slender fingers rested on the steering wheel, his knuckles pronounced. He leaned over to unbuckle her seatbelt, his familiar cedar scent mingling with last night's lingering desire.
Lu Zhixian's spine stiffened instantly.
The back of his hand brushed against her silk skirt, sending tiny shivers across her skin beneath. Unbidden images flooded her mind—how those same hands had pinned her down, how his ragged breaths had whispered her name against her ear.
"We're here."
She practically fled the moment the door opened. His gaze burned against the nape of her neck like a physical touch.
Rounding the corner, a sharp pain shot through her thighs. Biting her lip, she ducked into a pharmacy and grabbed an anti-inflammatory cream with trembling fingers. The contraceptive aisle stood nearby, but the line of classmates at the register sent her fleeing again.
The dorm was empty.
Steam fogged the bathroom mirror, revealing the constellation of marks across her body. Finger-shaped bruises bloomed along her waist. Teeth marks marred her inner thighs. Worst were the crimson trails from collarbone to abdomen—evidence of his insatiable hunger last night.
She gasped when soap grazed tender flesh.
Applying the ointment made her grip the sink from the sting. As she gathered her discarded clothes, a streak of red stopped her cold.
Her period had come early.
At least this spared her the pharmacy embarrassment. She hastily secured a pad before colliding with her returning roommate in the doorway.
"Look who finally graced us with her presence." Song Wanyi leaned against the doorframe, her manicure glinting. "Out all night, were we? Don't tell me you—"
"None of your business."
Lu Zhixian shoved the soiled clothes into the trash. Their feud had started during freshman year over some meaningless campus beauty poll.
Xu Xuxu intervened. "You're coming to the alumni event, right? Cheng Yannan's giving the keynote!"
Lu Zhixian's hairbrush clattered to the floor.
"But he declined ages ago! The forums are blowing up!" Xu Xuxu shook her shoulders. "That cross-border merger case got added to textbooks last month. And have you seen him in a suit? That waistline—"
"I'm not going."
"What? He's walking temptation! Those hands holding a pen—imagine them elsewhere..."
Lu Zhixian choked on her water.
By 2 PM, Xu Xuxu had dragged her to the auditorium. When the black Phaeton appeared, she instinctively shrank into the crowd.
Gasps rippled as Cheng Yannan emerged. Today's gold-rimmed glasses and fully buttoned suit projected icy restraint that made knees weak.
"Look at his hands!" Xu Xuxu pinched her arm. "Imagine them on your—"
His gaze suddenly swept their direction.
Lu Zhixian's blood froze. Those eyes skimmed her flushed ears before moving on. Only she knew how those "Midas touch" fingers had orchestrated last night's tempest.
His microphone-amplified voice vibrated through her chest. Girls whispered about his "untouchable" aura, unaware of the beast beneath that polished exterior.
When he unbuttoned his jacket during closing remarks, the room buzzed. Lu Zhixian fixed her eyes on the floor—the wrinkled shirt tail peeking out still bore her claw marks.