Water Mirrored Moon - 水鏡月

Part IV - The Western Emerald: 65. Hot Spring

When Cui Xi opened her eyes the next morning, she was alone and lying curled up on her side, facing away from the window. Gradually she became aware of bird song in the garden and the buzzing of happy insects. Blinking, she noticed that the curtains around the bed had been considerately pulled down, but fingers of light still streamed over her, teasing her awake. From the quality and angle of the light, there was no way it was earlier than mid-morning.

Wha...? Oh...

As she had shifted to sit up, her body twinged, and she gasped at the ache. Pounding her fists on the bed, she tried to figure out what to do first.

Aaaagh!

Too embarrassed to move, she pulled the covers back over her head, and lay still under the quilt with another groan. Last night had been such a blur...but when she started to remember all the things she had done with him, then she wanted to sink through the floor.

Cui Xi tried not to squirm as she recalled their bodies tangling, merging and overlapping—their skin slick with the salty sweetness of their sweat. He'd held onto her so desperately, and she had felt the same way, refusing to let go until she felt like every corner of her body had known every part of his.

AAaaaaaagh...I got eaten up just like that...

Sighing, she carefully sat up, lifted the quilt off her head, and surveyed the damage. Her initial astonishment gave way to annoyance, and then to anger when she realized what was swollen, where it was swollen, and then counted the number of bite marks and hickeys peppering her skin. Lifting the quilt, she looked down at the bites on her thighs and trembled. Struggling for her sanity, she puffed air out through her nose.

That-That pervert! I'm going to kill him! Wait... now that I'm thinking about it, I might have bitten him a few times too...but this...this is too much!

Lying back down, she threw the covers over her head again and quivered.

I can't be seen like this...what do I do?

Cui Xi froze at the sound of the door opening.

"Mistress?" asked Su Rou very tentatively. "Mistress are you awake?"

"No," she said despondently, in a small voice, from under the quilt.

Su Qing rolled her eyes at Su Rou who tried not to giggle as they contemplated the lump in the bed.

"Mistress, you'd better show your face outside or the servants will think that the prince did something cruel..."

Cui Xi sat bolt upright and cried:

"Stop! Stop talking!"

Forgetting that she was naked, Cui Xi froze when both maids gasped loudly. They stared at her upper body where the quilt had dropped down around her waist, their expressions filled with shock. Su Qing made a "Eep!" noise and Su Rou blushed furiously, covering her mouth.