Chapter 85: Tree Top Romance
Even though Jia was complaining and huffing, Kian noticed the smile on her face. She was really enjoying herself.
Kian reached for her waist, fingers already sliding under the hem of her robe, and she huffed. He was about to fondle the heck out of her when a cold chime rang inside his skull.
His hand stopped mid-motion.
"Hm?" She looked up, her eyes confused.
Kian looked to the side.
A translucent blue panel flickered to life before his eyes, bright against the dark tree and the moonlit hills.
[Favorability: Hua Jia has crossed the first milestone.]
The panel spread wider. A thin gold shimmer ran down its edges, then the words sharpened.
[Favorability: Hua Jia]
[Score: 200]
[First Milestone Reached. She adores you.]
[Reward: Improve the quality of the talent you unlocked from her Vital Yin, the Twin Hearts ability. Or unlock a new Grey ability.]
Kian read the words twice.
The number sat in his chest like a warm floating droplet. He looked down at Jia, still tucked against him with her robe rucked up and her lips parted in confusion.
"What?" she whispered.
He leaned in and kissed her forehead, slower than she expected. "Nothing. Just noticed how nice this is."
Jia narrowed her eyes, but the corners of her mouth twitched up in a smile. "I noticed as well. It’s really nice."
Kian pulled her closer, hugged her deeply, and let the panel fade.
"You are cute when you are honest."
Her face heated. "Shut up."
But she didn’t turn away from him. She turned in his arms and buried her face in his chest, and her heart pounded so hard he could feel it through his robe.
Kian shook his head, the horny need already leaking out of him. Maybe he would do it later.
Maybe he could have Mia and Jia together.
He held her like that, arms wrapped solid around her, his chin resting on her hair.
She made a small sound against his chest, not quite disappointment. "Why not? You changed your mind fast."
"Because it’s not the right moment. I’d rather hold you." He pressed a kiss to her temple. "So talk to me. Tell me about it."
"Now it’s nicer," she said, chuckling.
Jia eased, her fingers uncurling from his robe. The tension in her spine softened by degrees, like a thread being unwound. "You really want to hear it?" she asked, voice quieter now. "It’s not big or dramatic."
"I want to, little Jia."
She tilted her head up, letting the moon sit in her eyes.
"When I was small, I promised myself one thing. It was very important to me. That promise was that I would fly. Just me, in the sky, like a real immortal."
"I used to climb the old pear tree behind our house and hold my arms out when the wind came. I told myself if I did it enough, one morning my feet would leave the branch."
Kian listened without moving. The high leaves rustled around them, silver-green in the light.
Jia laughed under her breath. "I never told anyone. Not Mia, not Mother, no one. It sounds stupid anyway."
"To me, it doesn’t. I’ve always known that you were quite competitive and ambitious. Though, quite an explosive, irrational peppermind as well."
"Yeah, that mentioned you called me dumb. You asshole."
"I never called you dumb, just a peppermind."
She puffed her cheeks. "Hm, that said, today is a big day for me."
Kian slid his fingers under her chin and tipped her face toward his.
Damn was she the cutest thing.
He said: "Tonight, you flew. Maybe I was the one moving, but you were up here. And you stretched your arms out exactly like that little girl did."
Her eyes glinted, and she blinked hard. "I did, didn’t I?"
"You did." He kissed the corner of her mouth, light as wind. "Two dreams down. More will come."
Jia hugged him tighter, arms lacing around his ribs hard enough to make him grunt. Her voice came out soft and a little broken against his chest. "Sometimes I still can’t believe you’re real."
Kian laughed under his breath and caught her wrists, pulling them up to his face. "Oh I’m real."
She didn’t pinch him. She touched his jaw with her knuckles, then his mouth, like she was tracing a shape in the dark.
"From now on, don’t you dare stop pampering me," she whispered. "I want you to be this affectionate all the time. Don’t stop."
He let go of her wrists and cupped her face. "Oh, I can’t believe such a tsundere like you can say that."
But his thumb moved over her damp cheek, and his voice came out warmer than he meant it to.
"I don’t care, you better pamper me. Buy me more clothes, give me more kisses, feed me good things. And maybe, in return, I will be a good wife."
She giggled at the thought.
"My wife, huh?" He smirked at her, petting her ears. "A wife has to give her husband children. You know?"
"How many do you want?"
Kian was shocked. "Damn."
Jia’s lips curved. She leaned into his palm, eyes closing. "Husband, so, you better find ways to pamper me if you want some little shits walking around."
Kian felt his heart swell with pride. "Noted."
He shifted her against him, one arm around her waist and the other resting on her head, and let the moon fall over both of them like a second blanket.
The wind moved through the high branches, and for a long while she said nothing at all.
Then, looking up at the sky, she noticed a small fruit at the very top branch of the tree.
"Hey, Kian, there is a fruit there."
His mouth found hers , slower this time. The kiss deepened, her fingers curling into his hair, and the cold high air vanished from between them.
’Forget it,’ she thought.
Kian eased her back against the broad branch, one hand cradling her head. The tie of her robe loosened under his fingers, and she lifted her hips without being asked, a breathless little laugh escaping against his lips.
The world below grew small. Moonlight silvered the leaves, the wind stilled, and the great tree swayed once, then twice, as the night folded over them and carried the rest away.
Ah~
What happened next was just echoes of Jia’s harmonious moans.