Willing to Be for Her - Chapter 2

The city’s neon lights flickered in the rain-soaked night. The streets were deserted, with only a few cars passing by, as if the downpour had created a barrier isolating them from the rest of the world.

Luo Xuan noticed the winter moonlight falling precisely between her fingers. Ning Yiqing’s soft whispers echoed in her ears, leaving her momentarily dazed.

She had secretly rejoiced in this marriage, silently consenting because her partner was Ning Yiqing. Like a kitten that had stolen a taste of fish, she felt both satisfied and delighted.

Noticing Luo Xuan staring at her in a daze, Ning Yiqing raised her hand again, gently touching the two curls framing Luo Xuan’s forehead. Her fingers unexpectedly brushed against the girl’s feverishly hot skin. “Xiao Xuan, do you have a fever?”

The woman’s fingers were icy cold. Luo Xuan caught a faint trace of pheromones and lowered her head, mumbling, “It’s just my old condition acting up.”

Ning Yiqing’s fingers paused. Though they had been married for over half a year, she realized she knew nothing about Luo Xuan’s illness.

“I’ve been negligent. I’ll have Lan Leren take you to the hospital for a checkup in a few days.”

The wisps of hair framing Luo Xuan’s forehead parted slightly, partially obscuring her eyes. A fragile smile bloomed on her pale, sickly face, radiating an innocent, romantic charm. “I don’t want to go to the hospital. If I feel better in a few days, we can go on vacation together.”

Her gaze drifted downward, catching a glimpse of pale blue Buddhist prayer beads peeking from beneath the sleeve of Ning Yiqing’s formal attire. Paired with the cool, delicate skin of her wrist, they exuded an aura of pristine purity, like a solitary moon suspended high above the world.

“Next time. I’ve been too busy lately.”

Luo Xuan nodded obediently, hoping she could hold on until the next winter.

Ning Yiqing took Luo Xuan’s raised hand, gently touching it in a soothing gesture, as if kneading a kitten’s paw pad.

The cool, soft sensation in her palm instantly transported Luo Xuan back to a scene from five years ago. Back then, this same person had kneaded her palm with the same tenderness, like kneading a kitten’s paw pad.

That scarred first encounter was etched into her heart, but did Ning Yiqing even remember it?

She felt like a small, rechargeable robot. Just a touch of Ning Yiqing’s warmth could fully power her to navigate the human world once more.

Perhaps it was merely the refined upbringing and etiquette of a noble family that allowed Ning Yiqing to treat even her enemies with such extreme gentleness.

The bodyguard standing nearby couldn’t help but remind her, “President Ning, it’s almost nine o’clock. You have a video conference soon, and it’s not safe outside…”

“Mm, thank you for reminding me,” Ning Yiqing said, releasing Luo Xuan’s hand. She lowered her head to check her antique pocket watch, her dark, ink-like lashes fluttering slightly.

The rustic pocket watch seemed to be inlaid with a starry sky. Luo Xuan was dazzled by the moonlight reflecting off the woman’s fingers, nodding obediently as her damp, curly hair brushed against her cheek, making her look like a kitten that had successfully begged for food.

*Perhaps this marriage, which I secretly rejoice in, is moving in a positive direction,* Luo Xuan thought.

Twenty minutes later, the vintage car pulled into the underground garage of a detached garden villa on the outskirts of Capital City.

Luo Xuan followed Ning Yiqing, experiencing for the first time the dizziness caused by an S-Class Omega’s pheromones. She could feel her body temperature rising steadily.

The underground garage was some distance from the villa itself. The floor was paved with meticulously clean blue bricks, and the sides were lined with layers of lush blue cypress foliage, creating an elegant and serene atmosphere.

In this shaded area, a profusion of plants intertwined: pansies, amaranths, and bellflowers bloomed in vibrant competition, their delicate beauty pure and refined.

The villa’s light-colored marble floors on the ground floor, illuminated by warm lighting, provided a daytime-like warmth and brightness against the pitch-black rainy night.

Luo Xuan casually surveyed the house, which was supposed to be their “marital home.” The heavy rain had covered the curved floor-to-ceiling windows in shimmering, iridescent water patterns, somehow giving this home, which had been empty for half a year, a semblance of human warmth.

“You haven’t been living here since I left for my business trip?” Ning Yiqing’s black suit with silver pinstripes was half-soaked. The woman frowned almost imperceptibly, her voice remaining elegant and measured.

Behind her silver-rimmed glasses, her narrow eyes were deep and sharp. Luo Xuan met her gaze for a long moment before snapping back to reality and replying, “Very rarely. I’ve been staying in the university dorms, but I’m graduating soon…”

“You’re a Kyoto University student too?” Ning Yiqing lowered her head and sighed softly. “Time really flies.”

Luo Xuan paused, unsure if she meant the half-year since their marriage or time in general.

“Since you’re graduating soon, will you need to host a banquet for your classmates and friends?” Ning Yiqing straightened her damp cuffs, her movements composed despite her apparent discomfort.

After a moment of surprise, Luo Xuan unconsciously twisted her fingers. “No need. I don’t have many friends.”

“How could that be?”

“Maybe it’s because I’m a bit odd. No one likes odd people. But it’s fine, I don’t need many friends anyway.”

After a long silence, Ning Yiqing lowered his gaze, his voice filled with weariness. “I’ll give you a card tomorrow. Go take a shower now.”

With that, Ning Yiqing turned and walked upstairs, leaving Luo Xuan standing alone. She stared at the pristine floor, as if it reflected her own face—that face with mismatched eyes, like a little monster.

She didn’t need Ning Yiqing’s money, but she had no right to ask for more.

Luo Xuan cursed herself for being sentimental and slowly made her way upstairs. She found her room, changed out of her wet clothes, and went to shower.

Soon after, her phone rang in the bedroom. Luo Xuan, still wearing a shower cap, picked it up and saw it was her best friend, Chi Li.

As soon as she answered, a soft but slightly urgent voice came through the line.

“Luo Xuan, did you run off to work again? Why haven’t you answered your phone all this time?”

“Yeah, I just got… home,” Luo Xuan replied, noticing her fingers were burning hot. She instinctively pressed them against the cool window.

“Have you saved enough to buy the lumber yet? Don’t push yourself to the point of coughing up bl00d again,” Chi Li said softly, her voice gentle. “I don’t have time to take care of you.”

“Almost there. My body’s fine. What about you? Have those guys who were harassing you come back?”

“No, you scared them off last time.”

Chi Li’s eyes narrowed into a smile on the other end of the line. She remembered how Luo Xuan had helped her before, driving away the upperclassmen who bullied her. It had started with mockery of her congenital limp and escalated to physical harm—she was lucky to have met Luo Xuan.

The girl with mismatched eyes and pale, bloodless skin had swung her fists, striking the bullies who seemed more monstrous than she did, until bl00d flowed.

A mischievous smile crept across Chi Li’s face. “Hey, you said you saved me because I was the second person who didn’t look at you with strange eyes. Who was the first?”

Luo Xuan hesitated for a long moment before answering. Just then, the butler knocked on the door.

“Young Miss has prepared some fruit for you. If you’re free now, she’d like you to join her.”

Before Luo Xuan could answer, Chi Li’s voice erupted from the other end of the line in a piercing shriek. “Luo Xuan! Who’s this ‘young lady’? Are you cheating on me behind my back? I’m so heartbroken!”

Holding the phone away from her ear, Luo Xuan repeatedly told Chi Li she’d explain everything when they met, then hung up hastily.

Luo Xuan followed the butler to Ning Yiqing’s door. The woman had already showered and finished her video conference. Her high-piled bun had been undone, strands of hair cascading over her delicate collarbones, revealing skin flushed with a faint blush.

The entire space was orderly, bright, and impeccably clean, radiating an aura of meticulous precision.

Ning Yiqing was leaning back in a charcoal-gray cigar chair, reviewing documents. Noticing Luo Xuan’s entrance, she gestured toward the vibrant, glistening strawberries on the table and murmured, “Want to try one?”

The air was thick with the scent of White Sandalwood pheromones, as potent as a clear spring bubbling from its source, filling the late-night solitude with a sense of pristine purity.

Luo Xuan suddenly realized what Ning Yiqing’s mention of her heat cycle starting early might imply.

The massive release of pheromones signaled a desperate need for marking. Luo Xuan understood the significance of marking all too well.

If an Omega willingly allowed you to permanently mark her, it meant a bond far stronger than marriage, law, or vows would forever bind you together.

It was a union that defied human instinct, one that only love could begin to explain.

“I don’t like strawberries,” Luo Xuan said, enduring the fever and stimulation of her condition as she sat beside Ning Yiqing, her hands clasped tightly in her lap.

Noticing the fleeting flicker of aversion in Luo Xuan’s eyes, Ning Yiqing felt a twinge of curiosity but refrained from asking. Instead, she cheerfully set aside her documents, repeatedly wiped her fingers with a warm towel, and offered Luo Xuan a peach.

“I remember that the teahouse doesn’t serve employee meals in the afternoon. If you’re hungry, I’ll have them prepare something for you.”

As Luo Xuan accepted the peach, its skin fragrant with White Sandalwood, she realized Ning Yiqing had removed her suit jacket, leaving her in a formal shirt with the top two buttons undone, revealing a hint of her pale skin.

The television nearby broadcast financial news. Luo Xuan quickly caught the words “Ning’s Medical” and saw Ning Yiqing’s figure on the screen, impeccably dressed in a solid-colored suit.

Suddenly unsure where to look, Luo Xuan lowered her head and began to nibble on the fragrant peach.

The peach was soft, its white flesh tinged with a delicate pink blush.

Luo Xuan took a dainty bite, excess juice trickling down her fingers and leaving a faint, sweet stain on her lips.

“No need, I’m not hungry.”

Bathed in the soft, amber glow of the room, Ning Yiqing gazed at Luo Xuan. The girl’s pale face carried a childlike melancholy, her lips stained with the sweet liquid.

“Still like a child,” Ning Yiqing murmured with a soft sigh, his eyes holding a faint, distant light.

Those few simple, casual words plunged Luo Xuan into a gentle whirlpool of tenderness.

On the television screen, Ning Yiqing, impeccably dressed in formal attire, sat at the center of the stage, surrounded by cameras and spotlights, calmly answering reporters’ questions.

“Ning’s Medical will focus on developing targeted drugs for pheromone and neurological disorders, with full support from the Ning Group.”

The woman on the screen exuded an air of serene composure, as if enveloped in a radiant aura. Her voice remained as gentle and even as ever.

Yet the imperious air that came with her immense power sharpened her already stunning beauty, creating a breathtaking collision of absolute authority and unparalleled allure.

This stood in stark, irresistible contrast to the Ning Yiqing currently lying beneath Luo Xuan.

The woman seemed to have endured for far too long, the small patch of fabric soaked through, yet her eyes remained half-closed, her restraint almost mocking her own desire.

On the pristine, draped bed, soft blankets half-covered their entwined bodies, the faint sound of water dripping endlessly.

“Xiao Xuan, so you taste like cherries?” Ning Yiqing’s damp, feverish hair lay scattered across the bed, her porcelain skin flushed pink, her rosy lips gently bitten.

The black leather sleeve cuff of her shirt slid down, wrapping around their tightly intertwined wrists. The dark band tightened against her porcelain-white skin, lifting their joined hands high above the bed.

Luo Xuan murmured a soft “Mmm” in response.

Her differentiation report clearly stated that her pheromones had a sweet, fragrant cherry scent, completely unlike the typical gunpowder or musk aromas of Alphas.

A soft feather pillow propped up her slender waist as the reporter on TV asked sharp, direct questions.

“President Ning, the initial investment in drug research is enormous. Aren’t you worried about losing everything in the end? In other words, the Ning Group has already achieved tremendous success in various fields. Is it really necessary to take such a risk?”

“Conducting research on pheromones and the nervous system is a deeply meaningful endeavor. This isn’t purely a business venture.”

Outside, the storm intensified, the wind howling and carrying destructive sounds.

Inside the room, it felt like a rain-soaked mountain stream, the scents of White Sandalwood and cherry intertwining, so thick they seemed inseparable.

Ning Yiqing had been wearing silver-rimmed glasses, but Luo Xuan’s seamless coordination with the downpour left her defenseless, forcing her to remove them.

Even without her glasses, the woman retained her noble, aloof demeanor. Luo Xuan tasted a salty liquid between her soft, sweet lips and realized that in just a few minutes, red marks had already begun to bloom across Ning Yiqing’s skin.

Without the glasses to conceal it, the teardrop mole at the corner of the woman’s right eye was clearly visible, her lips slightly pursed from the kiss.

This tiny dot beneath her narrow, deep-set eyes softened her cold, aloof demeanor, blurring the untouchable boundary between mortal and divine.

“As far as I know, you took neurobiology as an elective during your graduate studies. Will you be personally involved in drug development?” the reporter’s interview on television continued.

The cherry pheromones permeated Ning Yiqing’s mouth, which she could no longer close.

Ning Yiqing gasped for air, her jade-like fingers clenching until they turned white. She felt a throbbing ache reaching its peak, leaving her utterly limp and powerless.

Yet Luo Xuan’s cool, pale fingers, slightly calloused, worked in tandem with the rain-like kisses, drawing tears to the woman’s eyes that dripped onto the teardrop mole.

The repeated contractions of soft flesh brought forth a glistening, rosy sheen.

Accompanied by whimpering moans, Luo Xuan, as if possessed by instinct, lowered her head, drawing closer to the woman who was now drowning in arousal. The snow-white scent gland and sharp teeth were separated by mere millimeters.

Cherry pheromones pooled at the tips of her fangs. Luo Xuan’s body temperature was abnormally high as she rasped, “Ning Yiqing, may I? Just a temporary mark. It’ll make you feel better…”

This should have been the natural culmination of their intense emotions, a moment flowing as smoothly as water finding its course.

Yet, in the next instant, Ning Yiqing pushed Luo Xuan away. His expression swiftly regained its clarity, his rapid breathing gradually calming. He spoke gently, “Xiao Xuan, go put on the muzzle. You can’t mark me.”