Gifted Bride of the Sinned Prince

“Li Hua, he was your past and I am your present. How could you even think of wearing this jade ring?” Lóng Wei’s jaw clenched in anger.

“I had told the Sixth Prince that I am in love with someone. He should not have married me. In my heart-” she paused when Lóng Wei’s pointer finger rested on her lips.

“Shhh.”

She looked at him in bewilderment when he quieted her down.

“He is no more. So, loving a dead person is of no use,” Lóng Wei stated. “Let’s not talk about a third person tonight. It is a special night for us,” he affirmed and slowly moved his hand back.

“Your Highness, please get away,” Li Hua turned polite and calm. She was perplexed to find that Lóng Wei was not sleepy. How could the sleeping pill not react to him?

“Why did you ask for a sleeping pill from Xiwan?” Lóng Wei’s sudden question widened her eyes in shock. How did he find out about it? Did he see her?

She pretended to not know anything about it.

.....

“What is His Highness speaking?” She acted to be unaware of any such thing.

“Xiwan is loyal to me. He tells me everything. Also, you lied to him that you are unable to sleep. Do you also take me as a fool?” Lóng Wei was upset with her. “Why are you quiet?!” He raised his voice at her. However, he didn’t let his anger overpower his mind.

Li Hua could not believe that the person whom she trusted was not trustworthy. He told Lóng Wei everything. But the most troubling matter was why Lóng Wei didn’t fall asleep till now? Did Xiwan give her the wrong pill?

Since there was no way to hide the truth from him, she decided to speak her mind.

“Because it is our wedding night, I think the Sixth Prince will ask me something which I cannot give him. That’s why I decided to mix the sleeping pill in the wine that His Highness took,” she told him the truth.

“Didn’t you say earlier that I can claim your body but not your heart?” Lóng Wei arched his brow and looked down at the buttons on her upper garment. He brought his hand to the first button and looked back into her eyes.

“I can open them if I want to. I can satisfy my desire if I want to,” Lóng Wei pronounced. He was hurt by her act. Could she not trust him a bit?

Li Hua parted her lips as she breathed heavily. She looked at the fingers of Lóng Wei which were on the button of her robe.

“My desire for you has grown since the day I saw you. If I wanted, I could undress you at this moment, Li Hua,” he said, “but in a man’s life, that’s not everything. I don’t lust on you. I need your love and want to love you equally or even more.”

Li Hua realized that she angered Lóng Wei because of the assumptions she made of him. From her childhood, she knew only one thing: that only a few men respected women. Rest only lusted over them. She thought the same for him.

Lóng Wei let go of her hands and leaned back. He turned away and pinched the skin between his brows. “Use me as much as you want, but love me too. I won’t spare you if you ever tried to betray me. You are the first person, for whom I am ready to become a sacrificial lamb,” Lóng Wei affirmed.

Li Hua used her elbows to sit on the mattress. “His Highness can sleep on the bed. I will be on the recliner,” she suggested in a low voice and stood up to walk ahead when Lóng Wei caught her wrist.

“We will sleep together,” he stated.

Li Hua tilted her head and their eyes met. “As long as you don’t want it, I will not cross the line. As long as you won’t start desiring my love, I will not be intimate with you. However, I will do everything to make you feel my love and make you excited for me,” Lóng Wei said and stood up. His hand rested on the side of her cheek and he stroked it.

An unknown tension again existed between them. She found him moving closer as their noses almost touched. But why didn’t she push him away? Her lips again let out a breath that fanned Lóng Wei’s lips. Everything about her intoxicated him from the day he saw her. She could smell the perfume he had used. Her eyelids had moved down as their noses kept nuzzling. She could feel the air getting hotter around them.

Lóng Wei knew that on the wedding night, Li Hua would bring the man whom she loved. The mere thought of it infuriated him. But it had been only five days. He could not push his feelings on Li Hua and knew if he would act like a lustful beast, Li Hua would only be scared.

In everyone’s eyes, he was already one! But in Li Hua’s eyes, he wanted to be a perfect and lovely husband. His eyes lingered on her lips which were redder than the other days.

“Li Hua.”

As soon as her name fell out of his mouth, she moved her eyelids to peer at him. She found their lips were mere millimeters away from touching.

“Tell me about your past if you don’t want me to kiss you at this moment,” he demanded. He knew she would never kiss him, so it was best to know the truth from her.

Li Hua gazed into those dark pairs of eyes which were desperate to know the truth. Why did he suddenly bring it? She could feel his thumb making circles on her cheek and it made her heart race. That proximity was too much for her. This man was indeed dangerous to her.

“Aren’t you the daughter of Xu Guang Li?” Lóng Wei asked, revealing another truth that he knew about her.

Li Hua was stupefied to hear his question? She had stopped blinking. Did she hear right? No way Lóng Wei could know this. How was this possible?

“Since you are not ready to tell me, then let’s kiss,” he said. His hand moved behind her head, and he drew her close for a kiss.