It goes without saying that Love is like a garden blooming with wildflowers; it's often found in the most unusual places.
Beams of Sunlight poured through the windows, blinding and cheerful. Li Na seemed to have had a very great dream. She felt content and happy. However, no matter how hard she tried she wasn't able to remember what her dream was about. Her brain was in a state of complete relaxation. She never felt this way before.
She rolled over twice on the bed. Her consciousness was gradually awakening.
Li Na opened her eyes and squinted at the window which was glaring a brilliant light at her, lost for an instant.
When Li Na woke up, she yawned and stretched, reaching her hand out and…nothing. Li Jun was gone and his side of the bed was cold. A feeling of unease washed over her. The feeling was odd; she'd never felt it before. It made her feel uneasy for a few moments. Li Jun, where are you? His scent was all around her, but he wasn't beside her.
The cheerful chatter of her neighbors and the honking of the horns from the zooming cars passing along the street floated to her ears, followed by the soft clink of glass and the splash of water in a sink.
Li Jun was in the kitchen, she calmed down as she heard the sound. She stretched, snuggled into the soft pillows, and glanced around the room, feeling relaxed and happy.
"Li Jun?" she called, wondering if he'd hear her sleep-husky voice over the clinking of glass. She stood up from the bed and grabbed her discarded pajamas, she put them on, her body dragging along with soreness from the intense activity they performed throughout yesterday.
When she opened the door, she almost hit Li Jun. Li Na felt shy at his appearance, he appeared in his boxer shorts in the doorway and nothing else. Her first reaction was to close the door at such blazing hotness standing in front of her.
Li Jun was similarly startled by her unexpected opening of the door. From his elevated angle, he could clearly see one side of her snow-white chest which was marked by him during their lovemaking. He was a bit stunned by her seductive appearance.
When he saw that Li Na was closing the door subconsciously, his hand moved faster than his brain to block her.
The two people stood in silence for a moment, not knowing what to say. It was Li Jun who moved first, "Morning," he began, a slow, bashful smile sliding across his lips.
"Good morning." Inexplicably self-conscious, she looked up at him, brushing her hands through her disheveled hair, and buttoned her nightdress which was exposing her breasts.
"Do you like coffee early in the morning?" Li Jun kept on looking at her slightly swollen lips.
"No. I love to drink orange juice early in the morning." she groaned as she tried and shy away from his scrutiny.
Li Jun saw that she had started the act of running away as she turned away from him, "okay let me get it for you in the refrigerator." He urged as he persistently followed her.
"No don't worry, Li Jun let me get it myself, okay"
"Okay. I'm still feeling sleepy. My wake-up process takes a good six minutes." He rubbed a hand over his bare chest and strolled toward her.
"Mind if I watch?" He inquired of her.
"Be my guest." He followed her to the kitchenette as she prepared the drink for both of them. He sat down on the couch beside her. "I just realized that you have tiny little moles at your nape. It's beautiful, I've never seen it before. You're a beautiful woman, Professor Li Na."
"Hmm," she whispered, but a bashful smile curved her mouth. Then, more soberly, "Last night was amazing."
"Mm-hm." He leaned in, brushed his lips against hers, then kissed his way down the side of her neck to her shoulder. "It doesn't have to end yet, does it?" Her head listed to the side, heavy with pleasure. "Practically the night is over."
"But I'm not finished with you."
"Really? Are you sure?" she sighed inquisitively, and Li Jun started unbuttoning her nightshirt, exposing her breasts to his warm hands. He leaned to nuzzle her nape, then withdrew to study her face. "Spend the day with me, Li Na."
"I have a lecture to give. You have a lecture to attend," she said sternly. "Don't you dare skip class or any other class this semester, Okay?"
"Yes, Mam but I don't have a lecture to attend today but my friend will surely be pissed off if I don't attend the weekly meeting at my office this morning."
"Then don't start any hanky panky and get dressed for your meeting" Li Na twisted his ear playfully as she tried to get away from him.
"Hmm, okay but you know what, when I get to the office, I'll sit back and think about all the places on your body I didn't taste and touch last night." Li Jun said as he pinned her back on the couch.
"You sure? I didn't think you left a single stone unturned. And I have the sore muscles to prove it." Li Na quivered, Li Jun began tracing a finger across the top of her breasts, reddened where his beard stubble had chafed her.
"Is my youthful energy too much for you?"
"Oh, it's not that much," she whispered. "Never, too much." Her nose found its way into the warm curve of his neck and they sat like that, drunk on love's potent charm until Li Jun finally stirred and sat back to look at her.
"Last night influenced my stand about our relationship and I don't want it to collapse before it begins." Li Jun started.
He leaned in close so all she could see was him. "I don't want it to be physical or a one-time fling, Professor. You allowed me into your house for a reason and it wasn't for mere physical satisfaction. You met with me because you know I can give you what you want. Because you're brave enough and strong enough to take it." He pinched her nipple again, harder.
"So take it. Let's be firm about our relationship. And I don't want fear to hold you back. I don't want to see you running back to your shell by gradually closing up on me"
"I'm not running away. How do you know all this?" she panted.
He stopped what he was doing, met her gaze. "Observing. Because that's what I've been doing for the past five years. Li Na, I would love to ask where we're going with this yet."
"Li Jun I'm not closing upon you, It's just that all of it is surreal. But I might be able to tell you the state of our relationship if you answer one question for me."
"Okay...Shoot," he said, caressing her cheek with the back of his fingers. Li Na closed her eyes as she purred like a cat, pulse racing. She had to know. She stood on the edge of the largest underground abyss, and one step in the wrong direction might shatter her. "What's your relationship with Daiyu Perez?"
He didn't answer right away, just sat there, his green gaze searching hers as he realizes that for trust to be an important criterion in their relationship, he should first lay the foundation for it.
In the sunny glow filtering through the open window, he looked younger than any twenty-seven-year-old she knew. After a beat, he sighed and straightened. "I dated her sister five years ago. Her sister's Name was Chu Hua."
"What happened to her?"
"She died when we were on vacation during our third year in university, abroad. We were kidnapped and they killed her in front of me. It was painful Li Na, I can't say anything. Please let's stop it here, I will tell you the rest, Okay."
"Okay…I'm sorry" Li Na patted him as she watched as pain filtered across his face. She was sober as she retrieved her top from the couch, covered her breasts, and pinned the linen firmly beneath her arms. "I know I'm asking too many personal questions. When I didn't even tell you my situation"
"It's okay," he said gently. "If you need to know these things to feel comfortable with me, then ask. I don't want to keep any secrets from you but I will continually tell you my past."
Li Na didn't hesitate. "Is that the reason for your nightmare, the last time I was at your house?"
"Yes." Li Jun bowed his head against her chest as she patted his head.
"It is okay, we are a funny pair. You don't want to talk about your past, I don't want to talk about mine. I know when the time is right we will open up fully. It is a gradual process" she ventured, watching his face as he raised up his head from her chest.
Li Jun returned her steady gaze. "You and I have a long way to go before we know each other, and you're just going to have to trust me."
She released the breath she was holding and nodded. "I do trust you or rather I'm starting to trust."
"Shit, starting? You hurt me Li Na."He teased
"Really?" she asked, and they both burst into laughter. He caught her chin and kissed her lips, a lingering, tender caress. "I won't hurt you," he whispered.
"Okay," she whispered, tears pricking her eyes. "Want to take your Orange juice now? Or a long, hot shower?" He tugged her nightshirt lose from beneath her arms and trailed his fingertip down the slope of her breast to her nipple.
"Or how about we just go back to bed and see how many more stretches and lunges the educated Xu Li Na, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, knows?" He poked her belly.
She shivered, her flesh tightening to arousal beneath his caress. "You want to break my back?"
Li Jun pressed her back against the couch, lifting his hips obligingly while she tugged his boxers down his thighs.
"Oh, Professor, How can I break your back?" he murmured as she closed her fingers around his arousal, "You are more energized than me, Haven't you figured that out yet?"