Chao Xiang stepped closer to her until her buttocks brushed against his and whispered a challenge in her ear. "Take your clothes off."
She hunched her shoulders when he nibbled her ear.
When he pulled back, he noticed that it turned redder with every lick, nip, and graze of his teeth.
Chao Xiang's arm wrapped around her stomach in an intimate hug, and she gasped when his fingers began pulling at the sash below her chest, keeping her Hanfu together.
The escort's small, slender hand was cold as it settled on top of his warm ones to stop him from ripping her clothes off.
"I—I…" With her hands shaking, she stuttered, but she couldn't quite finish her words.
Chao Xiang paused his voyage over her rigid form to wait for any violent protest, but there was none.
He raised an eyebrow at her even if she couldn't see her face-to-face.
It was as if she was incapable of speech when she jutted her chin at him earlier—so confident and brave.
Now, she was reduced to a quivering mess that became incapable of telling him what she wanted.
He closed his eyes and exhaled.
When he opened his eyes, he fixed his stare on her hairpin.
Perhaps, he was too impatient to have this woman.
They couldn't enjoy the night if she were too nervous and skittish. "I'm sorry, babe."
She was acting like prey when there was no need to.
He needed to put her at ease.
She must have felt like she was in danger in her presence. "Babe, it's not like I would eat you alive—" Well, technically, he would eat her, but he wasn't going to bite if she didn't like it. "Would you have preferred we take it slow?"
Chao Xiang could literally hear her swallow hard. "Slow?"
He knew they were back to square one when she was repeating his words.
He frowned at this strange dullness in his chest.
He was slowly regretting his decision to call an escort at the Emperor's club.
This escort was a piece of work, even if she consented to be one.
The girl wouldn't leave his house, so she was determined to get her bag and follow this through.
It wasn't like he was coercing her into this.
'Ah!' A light bulb went on his head. 'The prettiest escort hired in The Emperor's Club must be virgin!'
That must be why she was also expensive.
Was he her highest bidder then?
Interesting…
"I'm willing to take it slow for you, babe." Chao Xiang's lips curved upward in a smirk. "—but I'm only doing this for you because you are mine now."
Chao Xiang pulled her jade hairpin and her long midnight strands cascaded like a waterfall which tickled his bare chest, his stomach and places lower than that, and something stirred in his groin—aching and straining towards her like a beast her small hands can only tame.
Chao Xiang's hand left her Hanfu so that she could run his fingers through her hair and gently massaged her scalp to get her in the mood.
He couldn't wait to gather them and circle them around his fist when she sucked--
"My hairpin!" The escort yelled as she turned around to face him, her hands reaching for the item in his grasp. "Give my hairpin back, you thief!"
"If you want it, come and get it, na na na na~" He sang loudly as he laughed, and he knew it annoyed her if her scowl was any indication.
"Bastard!" Grinning widely, Chao Xiang raised the arm which held her hairpin more, and she tried reaching for it, jumping and standing on her tiptoes, ignoring the fact that he was naked in front of her. "You will pay for this!"
He was amused, and he couldn't wipe the smirk off his face when her palm stroked his pectoral muscles before they shifted on his shoulders as she tried extending her hands in above him.
It didn't work because she was a short girl, and she was moving closer, rubbing against him, and he fought back a pleasured groan.
He wasn't sure about their power dynamic now.
Who was teasing who?
The escort was stroking him with the fabric of her Hanfu without being aware of it.
She wasn't even affected!
Where did her shyness go?
She was as still as a doll earlier, and now she was animated as if by magic, touching him as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
His source of delight became the source of pain when the escort realized that she couldn't get the hairpin no matter what he did, so her fingers proceeded to claw at his muscles.
"Argh! Stop!" He hissed, grimacing.
Chao Xiang glanced down at his upper body to check if this female version of 'Wolverine' successfully drew blood from his flesh! "It hurt." Chao Xiang's palm immediately went to his chest to soothe the pain. What a violent girl! "Stop!"
"You deserved it." She retorted before kicking him in the shin, and Chao Xiang grunted.
She made a quick swipe at the hairpin in his clutches.
It was too bad that Chao Xiang was faster than her and hid it behind his back.
The next thing both of them knew the escort's hands circled his waist in a tight hug while her fingers were desperately reaching for the hairpin.
A long pause filled with tension.
Awkward silence.
Chao Xiang glanced down at her at the same time she raised her head to peek at him.
Of course, something poked her.
It was natural ever since human males existed in the world.
Chao Xiang was prepared for his ears to fall off.
The escort screamed.